Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 278 Chess Piece Modification
After checking closely, the teammates looked at the mage with some surprise. Although they were not spellcasters and did not understand the technical difficulties behind this modification, it did not prevent them, as combatants, from understanding the difference between a flying melee unit and a flying ranged unit.

While the former boasts high mobility, its limitations in close combat allow the attacked party to still mount a defensive counterattack. As for the latter...
Aerial Rangers, wyvern tail whip, anyone?
But the mage's improvements didn't stop there. With the energy core replaced, the gargoyles' endurance increased from less than two hours to nearly six hours, quadrupling in length.

Of course, this does not mean that Zhang's magical skills and construction techniques are superior to those of his predecessors who have also been involved in this field. In fact, he took a shortcut.

Back when the gargoyle was captured, an idea popped into the mage's mind: the mercenaries summoned by the undead dragon he summoned seemed to have many similarities in appearance and structure to the gargoyle. Was it possible that they could have borrowed from each other?

Do it when you think of it!

The subsequent series of research experiments were the process of verifying this inspiration.

Two gargoyles and several mercenaries were dismantled. In the latter half of the experiment, Zhang Yuan, finding it difficult to understand the magical circuits and core devices inside the replica mercenaries, chose to take a shortcut.

He directly transplanted the remote-controlled spray device and energy-driven core from the mercenary's body into the gargoyle's body.

Even this approach of adopting foreign ideas took him a lot of effort, and reconciling the contradictions and compatibility between different alchemical systems was by no means easy.

Fortunately, the hard work paid off. The modified gargoyle not only gained the attack capabilities of a mercenary, but its endurance was also significantly improved.

Originally, the chess pieces were powered by the Radiant Nightmare Crystals within their bodies. These fragments from the Mad Moon of another world gave the chess pieces abundant energy. Whenever the summoning ended and the chess pieces returned to the Void Chessboard, this wondrous place would replenish them with energy from an unknown source, restoring them to their original state.

In reality, the chess pieces' endurance is far more complex than that. The summoning time, which has been extended to more than nine hours as the mage's spellcasting skills have improved, cannot reflect the true level of the chess pieces.

They work for nine hours because they only appear on the field for nine hours!
However, the battery life was significantly reduced when this energy core was transplanted to the Gargoyle.

Firstly, the energy core has detached from the original system and lost contact with the void chessboard; secondly...
Gargoyles are much larger than mercenaries, especially with their obsidian shells, which enhance protection but also add more weight. The effect is already quite satisfactory, considering it's a gargoyle, not a Global Hawk.

The mercenaries who had silently given their all did not come away empty-handed. The mage had thoroughly figured out the technology behind the obsidian armor and promptly gave his own mercenaries a surgical makeover, replacing their original ordinary stone armor.

This modification not only enhances the pet's defense and melee capabilities, but more importantly, the system has accepted the proposed solution.

"An improvement plan for the Necromancer Dragon piece has been detected. Should it be added as an additional plugin for this piece?"

"Note: Selecting Obsidian Armor when purchasing pieces will increase the cost from 20 to 23 energy."

"agree!"

This amount of energy is nothing, and even the combat power gained by the mercenary is nothing. What truly surprised the mage was the feasibility of modifying and upgrading his chess pieces.

His current abilities are indeed quite limited, but this cannot negate the significance of this new path, especially since he has already opened that door.

The pieces themselves are powerful enough, and they can be upgraded by attaching equipment parts. Right now, Zhang Yuan only regrets not being a mage lord, with all land under the rule of the mage tower; otherwise, with his own little treasury, achieving this small goal wouldn't be difficult.

"Look, this is the control center of the gargoyles."

Zhang Yuan pulled out a black statue, made of the same material as the gargoyle, shaped like a minotaur, and about a foot tall.

This is also why the two gargoyles were entrenched in this house. After disassembly and analysis, the statue was finally identified as a remote control through tracing its origin.

This thing is really not very meaningful to Zhang Yuan right now, but it cannot be denied that the two gargoyles do have considerable combat power. Several teammates who are envious have already engaged in rounds of verbal battles over the right to control them, and finally each took a step back and reached a compromise.

"It's settled then. This control statue will be placed in the office, and whoever takes turns managing it will be in charge."

"Okay, but you two better not go back to your old ways!"

Kagan's words once again provoked Nancy and Lawrence to jump up and down, reviving their already quiet argument.

Ignoring the three clowns, the mage rushed over to Talinda, grabbed the little white hair and started tugging at it vigorously, making her roll her eyes. But thinking of the benefits brought by the archer aura recently, he restrained himself and simply closed his eyes and hummed.

"All you do is act like a thug and bully people, Talinda. With that time, why don't you make another gargoyle so you can distribute them?"

The female thief, who had just finished arguing, was furious when she saw the mage's lazy demeanor. She twisted the mischievous paw in a 360-degree arc, hurting him so much that he couldn't even pull out a hair.

Do you really think gargoyles are like cabbages, something you can just make whenever you want? How do you calculate the materials, equipment, and most importantly, the time and effort spent on the manufacturing process?
He couldn't quite explain it right away, so Zhang Yuan covered his arm and thought for a moment:
"Definitely next time."

Before the female thief could react, he shouted to everyone, "Thank you all for your hard work these past few days. Let's all prepare the banquet together, and the expenses will be reimbursed through the company account."

These guys are practically local bullies; throwing a banquet is as easy as turning their heads.

After a flurry of activity, the banquet finally began as the sun set and the moon rose. The Canaanite squad, now quite well-off, had brought in a chef directly from the Royal Arm, and the various delicacies and fine wines were naturally plentiful.

However, for safety reasons, no one drank excessively, and everyone's minds were clear.

After being a hands-off manager for quite some time, Mr. Zhang took advantage of the banquet gathering to show concern for the harvest in the fields.

“We now control the eastern and northern spheres of influence in the market area. The vast majority of merchants have chosen to pay us management fees, a total of 34. This month, they just paid 1020 gold. Adding the 366 gold left after the distribution from Maginot, and deducting the cost of purchasing supplies, the tribute to Blackfin Fish, and the salary dividends, we have a total of 724 gold in the account.”

Thank you to w天下有山, 万流同源, 于无欺, and Alukard for your monthly ticket support, and thank you to v5871 for your donation. Thank you all!

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(End of this chapter)