Chapter 456: A Glimpse

Li Mochen first began studying the holy artifacts he had seized in this battle.

Not counting those Roberta had taken from the Saint of Vines, there were twenty-seven in total. Among them, two third-grade and one second-grade holy-grade sniper rifles were the most precious, followed by two second-grade holy-grade semi-automatic rifles and two similarly second-grade holy-grade pistols, all extremely powerful firearms.

Although magic-energy professionals in this world, whether ranged or melee, increasingly favored firearms, holy-grade guns were still very rare. First, they were more difficult to craft than other weapons; second, because of limited accumulation—firearms had been popular for less than a thousand years and had gone through eras of matchlocks and flintlocks, so relatively few holy-grade artifacts had been passed down.

Thus, the total value of these seven firearms exceeded that of all other holy artifacts combined.

The rest included various weapons such as shields and armor, all between grades two and three. The legendary powerhouses involved in the Battle Axe Pirate Group's operation were not poor, but they were far from wealthy.

Li Mochen estimated the total value of these items to be around eighty billion gold shields, but he had no way to sell them.

Equipment at the holy artifact level was already rare and hard to find on the market. Rather than scrambling to buy them later, it was better to keep them for future use.

If used to equip his subordinates, these items could multiply their combat power several times over and forge several quasi-legendaries.

But without merit, there would be no reward. None of the armed forces under his command had yet achieved feats worthy of granting holy artifacts.

Li Mochen could follow the example of Li Tailai and let his subordinates take loans from him, but the problem was that people like Michael Wood and Howard Eisenhower had recently received gifts of 'Amphitrite's Tears' and equivalent rare medicines from him.

Li Mochen could not let these people think they could get benefits from their boss without doing anything—he was not a fool.

So Li Mochen prepared to resolutely continue his war against the Dragon Witch Cult. He looked forward to his subordinates gaining training and achieving new merits, while also testing and training new recruits.

It must be mentioned that after Li Mochen destroyed the Battle Axe Pirate Group and thwarted the Saint of Vines, Roland Benedict, the security departments of his several companies received many job applications.

Ironically, before this, Li Mochen had waved checks but could not recruit a single high-level outlaw; now, many powerhouses on par with Howard Eisenhower wished to join his ranks, yet Li Mochen dared not easily accept them.

The intelligence department of Rising Sun Company was operating at full capacity. Beyond that, Li Mochen also used allies like the Wieldenstein Group, the Mitchell Group, and even Light Demon Industries to carefully select candidates from among the applicants.

Even so, his security forces had swelled by more than three times in a short period.

This was no longer just for the war against the Dragon Witch Cult. In fact, in the days following Roland's crushing defeat, the Dragon Witch Cult's industries and criminal groups in Georgia and Florence had been thrown into chaos and disarray under the strikes of Major General Michael Wood.

Yet Li Mochen continued to recruit manpower. He deeply agreed with Anthony's proposal and planned to enter the Dark World once the shipping routes and the Antolia route stabilized. Before that, he intended to build a heavy armored brigade.

But after conducting a survey, he decisively backed down. Because a heavy armored brigade required five thousand magic-energy professionals of level seven or above, plus two thousand support personnel and corresponding individual equipment. Additionally, it needed sixty main battle tanks, sixty armored fighting vehicles, fifty self-propelled artillery pieces, and various other heavy equipment. The total cost exceeded one hundred billion gold shields, with annual maintenance costs reaching over twenty billion.

Li Mochen was indeed a billionaire with assets worth forty to fifty billion, but those were just assets. The annual income they brought him was only a little over two billion, perhaps even less.

So Li Mochen ultimately scaled back his army-building plan to a regiment, first forming a regular armored regiment in the dark world.

And now, he had only recruited half the men.

"A-Mo, you should hire a proper intelligence chief now. I admit that Jeremy might have some ability, but he can't meet your needs."

In the laboratory of the Death Home magic tower, Anthony casually handed a thick stack of documents to Li Mochen, whose consciousness was attached to another avatar, studying a magic rune array.

"You can't always rely on us, can you?"

"I'm looking, but I haven't found anyone satisfactory. Ms. Drew would be suitable, but unfortunately she has no interest in it. Or can you, Anthony, introduce someone to me?"

When Li Mochen looked up, he saw that the billionaire across from him had wisely shut his mouth. He shook his head slightly and then used a space teleportation spell to send those documents to Lind Emers, who was ten thousand kilometers away.

The Calamity Sea could block all forms of radio communication, but it could not cut off his magical connection with Lind Emers. For strong individuals like them, the Calamity Sea was no obstacle.

Li Mochen had now delegated the recruitment of magic-energy professionals below level twelve to Lind Emers. The latter had been temporarily appointed by him as the head of the security department's personnel, in charge of recruiting magic-energy professionals.

As a retainer whose honor and disgrace, life and death were tied to his, Lind's reliability was beyond doubt. Although the legendary lich's ability to judge people was not up to par, its calmness and rationality allowed it to maintain above-average judgment in recruitment work—for Li Mochen, that was enough.

"As for the level-five legendary warrior I needed earlier, I've already got some leads. I might be able to sign him in a few days."

When Li Mochen said this, Anthony couldn't help but show curiosity. However, the former then changed the subject: "I'm almost done here. What about your part, Anthony?"

What Li Mochen referred to was the unique artifact he had proposed, aimed at a certain lady.

Two days ago, Anthony had preliminarily completed the assembly of 'Light Demon No. 8,' which was now being left outside the magic tower for various rigorous tests.

Taking advantage of this rare free time, the two decided to implement the capture plan designed by Li Mochen and work on that artifact together.

"It's been done for a while."

Anthony swiped his hand and sent several blueprints to Li Mochen: "Next is the overall simulation and bug checking. Now show me your part."

He still didn't fully trust Li Mochen's skill in arranging magic runes, but to his surprise, when Li Mochen's part of the blueprints arrived in his hands, Anthony couldn't find any obvious errors at first glance.

Anthony couldn't help but glance at the other with surprise, thinking that this guy's learning ability had reached such a level, already approaching master-level proficiency.