142: Chapter 140: The Plan Begins

To minimize the commute for the refugees, the construction site for the scenic buildings was chosen on a grassland not far from the temporary camp.

Naturally, it was also quite close to Gur.

Zhang Mu, who didn't take a carriage, passed through the city gate and arrived after a half-hour jog.

He gazed into the distance.

The green grassland surrounded a vast stretch of brownish-yellow flat land. In the center, pointed towers of various heights formed a castle, though its style was quite different from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the movies.

To the right were neatly arranged sections of elevated train tracks; some were straight, while the rest were curved structures.

To the left was a towering artificial mountain. The mountainside was dotted with trees, flowers, springs, and strange rocks, with a cluster of ancient buildings nestled at the summit.

At the edge of the clearing, there were lakes, low hills, and so on.

Zhang Mu approached with his hands behind his back.

"Greetings, Lord City Lord!" At the entrance of the construction site, the Guards responsible for security saw the City Lord and hurried to salute loudly.

Nodding in response, Zhang Mu said, "Call Huma to see me."

"As you command." The Guard took the order and ran off toward the noisy construction site.

About ten minutes later, an old man around sixty, dressed in linen clothes, came walking hurriedly.

"Lord City Lord, greetings."

"Mm." Zhang Mu looked at the man he had appointed as the primary person in charge of engineering. "Solon told me this morning that the first phase of the project is complete, is that right?"

"Yes." He smiled with a bit of pride. "Thanks to your full support, Lord City Lord.

Not only did you provide sufficient manpower, but you also dispatched a large number of Professionals. Only then could we complete the project within the scheduled time."

As he spoke, his expression became hesitant: "It's just..."

"Speak."

"The Professionals are somewhat dissatisfied with being assigned to construction work."

This was normal, and Zhang Mu wasn't surprised.

They were used to a leisurely and luxurious life. To suddenly be told to mix concrete—it would be a miracle if they were happy about it.

Zhang Mu smiled. "I'll handle this matter."

He didn't plan to use direct, heavy-handed pressure.

Even if no one dared to disobey the City Lord, if they decided to slack off, Zhang Mu couldn't exactly execute them all over such a small thing.

He had to make them work willingly, and Zhang Mu had his ways.

But he didn't have time for them right now; the priority was to collect the first batch of new students and Outer Sect Servants.

Thinking of this, he instructed, "You've worked hard during this time. Take the day off today and collect an extra day's pay."

"Thank you for your kindness and mercy, Lord City Lord." Huma was very happy and turned to announce the news.

After a moment, a burst of cheers praising the City Lord rang out from the construction site.

Then, workers walked toward the gate in groups of three to five to receive today's wages at the wooden table set up in front.

Fearing a crowd would line up to greet him, Zhang Mu hid to the side early on.

Once all the workers had gone far away and the construction team's supervisors had also left, he leisurely entered the site alone.

Looking around, he downed several bottles of potions to boost his Mental Energy and Mana, then soared into the sky.

Looking down at the square, brownish-yellow clearing, Mana surged into the ring on his right index finger. A light gate parallel to the ground emerged and gradually expanded.

When it was half the size of the clearing, Zhang Mu stopped the Mana infusion, his face pale.

He then controlled the light gate to slowly descend toward the ground, swallowing the academy in the center into 'the World,' then repeated the operation until all the scenic buildings had disappeared from the clearing.

Closing his eyes, Zhang Mu looked down at a miniature floor plan of 'the World' within his mental realm.

The buildings he had just taken into 'the World' were all floating in the pitch-black void.

Using the power of the Core, he moved each of them to their designated areas, splicing and assembling them like Lego bricks.

The speed was a bit slow; after all, Zhang Mu's magic level was too low.

Fortunately, once he gave the commands for each structural part, he didn't need to keep watching; the Core would handle the execution.

Opening his eyes, Zhang Mu landed and made his way back to the City Lord's Mansion.

He called Solon to inform him that he would be going deep into the Silent Forest for a few days and instructed him to post a quest to find a Priest.

After Solon acknowledged and left, Zhang Mu summoned a portal and returned to reality.

"Hnn—" He stretched in the workshop, which now seemed a bit cramped after the addition of so much equipment.

"In seven or eight days, the main parts of the Cultivation Sect and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry should be mostly assembled, which is more than enough to start recruiting.

For other scenes and celestial phenomena, I'll use the Core to create illusions for now. As long as I'm watching, they won't be able to enter the unopened areas anyway.

The Interview Letters and the Disciple Recruitment Jade Pendants for the sect... I need to hurry up."

After some thought, Zhang Mu decided to finish refining the necessary Puppets while scouting for new students and servants.

Fortunately, he had people under him now; once he assigned the task of collecting materials, someone would handle it.

Otherwise, if he had to work himself to death alone, it might take ten years to gather everything he needed.

He paced around the workshop with his head down: "On the domestic side, contact has been made with Zhao Qi and the others. Here in Ying Country, I'll mail an Interview Letter to Toby."

Wasting no more time, Zhang Mu activated his Shadow Technique and hurried toward the MI6 office building.

...

MI6.

Toby sat at his workstation looking at the computer screen, his right hand on the mouse, moving it occasionally.

The screen displayed a webpage about how the capturing of Owls in London had become increasingly rampant recently, with a trend of spreading to surrounding cities.

"Ryan, these people are absolute idiots."

A voice came from the next cubicle: "Don't you always firmly believe that wizards exist?"

"That's exactly why," Toby said helplessly. "I wish their cow-dung-filled brains would learn to think. Would a pet kept by a wizard be caught by an ordinary person?"

"Fine, you're right."

Several months had passed since the day they met the wizard at Rowling's Villa. During this time, Ryan had heard Toby muttering "wizard," "Owl," and "Interview Letter" every single day.

From arguing at the start to his current "Yeah, yeah, whatever" attitude, Ryan had already given up on saving his colleague.

Really not wanting to continue discussing boring rumors, he poked his head over the plastic partition: "What did the Director say to you in his office this morning?"

"I got a complaint."

"From who?"

"The ones living in the suburban apartment..."

"You went to see them again?!" Ryan's voice rose an octave. "Hey, damn it.

I warned you, as MI6 agents, we cannot harass the citizens of the Kingdom."

"You can ask the Director—does MI6 even treat us as subordinates?"

"That's still no excuse!"

"But..." Toby turned to look at Ryan, "You saw the Owls those two have. Those are definitely not ordinary Owls!"

"Right, they are trained Owls.

So, something a pet training center can achieve, and you still insist they are a wizard's pets?"

"Believe me, Ryan!"

"Please, spare me." He rolled his eyes and pulled his head back behind the partition. "Stop mentioning those stupid rumors, like Owls and Interview Letters.

If they exist, could the wizard please hurry up and send me one?

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to become a wizard, nor do I crave an Interview Letter for myself. I'd give it to you so you can quickly enroll in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

That way, my eardrums, which you've been torturing, can finally find salvation."

"You still don't—" Toby stopped mid-sentence.

Ryan's puzzled voice came from next door: "What's wrong?"

"No, nothing." Toby suddenly stood up. "Help me request leave; I have to get home right away."