Hellmode ~Gamer Who Likes to Speedrun Becomes Peerless in a Parallel World with Obsolete Setting~

"Shea, how do you feel after Changing Talents?"

They still had some time before the people would arrive, so Allen decided to talk with Shea.

"I'm good. I'm trying to prioritize clearing the dungeons for now, and it's going smoothly."

It had been a while since they saw each other, so Shea updated him of how she was doing after her Talent Change. She had gone to the Talent Change Dungeon the day after the meeting, going from a Fighter Saint to Fighter King.

Shea clenched her fist and tried to show how well she was doing. Hearing that, Allen felt like she was way more relaxed, the fight with the Beast King ended well too after all.

Shea, Luck, and Peromus were still too underleveled for the S Rank Dungeon, they were still going through the A Rank Dungeons, having finished two and working on the third one. They were advancing so quickly because Allen was helping them with summons. Shea and Luck were together. Peromus went together with the elves, Princess Leirana, and Thomas.

He had ordered Shea, Luck, and Peromus to focus on maxing out their Skill Levels only. They would reach their maximum level later as soon as they hunted one Iron Golem.

"Any progress on your chances of becoming Beast King?"

"Hm? I heard there's some talk, though I can only go off with what my retainers said."

Allen asked if there were any more discussions on who the next Beast King of Albahar would be.

"I mean, you completed your duties, and you showed your determination to the Beast King, right?"

Allen wanted Shea to take the throne no matter what.

"That was another reason why the Beast King and the other ministers have started talking about it."

(Then again, the two of them completed their tasks, so I wonder if there's any change to Temi's readings.)

Discussions about who would become the next Beast King had started after the Beast King returned from the Five Continents' Alliance meeting. Zew had conquered the S Rank Dungeon, and swiftly defended the Central Continent from the Demon King's Army and aided the Holy Land after they sent the distress signal. On the other hand, Shea had hunted down Gushara, who had been cooperating with the Demon King's Army behind the scenes. So many things had happened in such a short time that the Beast King had to carefully think which of his three children should inherit the throne.

The Astrologer Temi had once told Prince Zew he would become Beast King. She told Shea to fulfill a task in the Continent with the Confederation first. Allen wondered who would be told they would be the next Beast King now.

Shea had only been part of Allen's party for a short time, but she was starting to understand his priorities.

If Shea became the Beast King, it would strengthen the party greatly. The party's power was his number one priority. Allen knew his summons were not all-mighty, so he always felt it was better to have a powerful party. He only had his summoner skills to rely on, so having party members with other Talents increased his options greatly. Summoner was an incredibly powerful Talent, but it was not perfect either.

To make Dogora stronger, he created four cities to house 15000 people. And to further strengthen the party, he wanted Shea to become Beast King. Showing up in the Five Continents' Alliance meeting had its value, but Allen felt like witnessing the Beast King's potential had been even more worthwhile.

"If money can sway the opinion of ministers or nobles, I'll hand out as much as you need."

(Politics all revolve around money. I'll pile up enough gold coins to buy the throne.)

There was a quite large age gap between her and her two older brothers, and one of them was the provisional crown prince. The ministers and nobles would likely side with the prince more likely to inherit the throne, meaning almost none of them would side with Shea. But if gold could gain support, Allen was willing to hand it out. That was another reason why having Peromus' company as an ally was important for Allen.

"I-I guess."

Peromus chimed in, showing some provisional agreement with Allen. He had never thought that the company he worked so hard to build for Fiona would end up being used like that.

"...I'm slightly concerned that that would make my determination feel weaker though."

Shea was already known as the warring princess, and she was ready to do anything to become the first beastman emperor. But hearing Allen mention buying support so casually made her feel like her own efforts were being invalidated.

Albahar was keeping in contact with Shea through the magic communications device placed in the Adventurer's Guild near the S Rank Dungeon. In a way it was like they were taking over the guild's property, but Allen did not care since it helped Allen's Army.

"A-anyway, any word from Clebeur yet?"

It seemed like they were done talking about the Beast King, so Peromus spoke to Shea now. Because of Shea's animalistic appearance, Peromus was always afraid to talk to her, but now he had no other option.

"No response yet, but I feel like it'll be a complicated request. They haven't even acknowledged it yet."

Shea was also keeping in contact with Clebeur, and not just Albahar. Using the communications device in the guild branch near the S Rank Dungeon, she contacted Clebeur to negotiate a way to enter Prostia. That device did not belong to Allen's Army, but Allen felt there was no issue as long as no one noticed or asked about it. The only reason why they were negotiating the entry to Prostia was so Peromus could attempt to obtain Makris' Sacred Bead.

(Well, it'll be for the best. Either way we'll get enough Sacred Beads for everyone.)

Allen's party only possessed two Sacred Beads, which had incredibly powerful attributes. Makris' Sacred Bead was mostly useful for the rear guard, but Allen still wanted at least ten of them.

"Just be confident when negotiating."

(One has to go guns blazing when trying to enter a secluded country, can't show any weakness.)

Allen pushed Shea to be even more aggressive with the deal.

"Clebeur is still a vassal nation to Prostia, so I think I should still be more careful."

Shea felt like being too aggressive might sour her future relationship with Clebeur. And Clebeur had a tight connection with Prostia. In a way, Clebeur was the only piece of land that belonged to Prostia, with the rest of the country existing at the bottom of the ocean. And to get to Prostia in the bottom of the ocean, they needed some form of pass.

"So you think it'll be tricky to get all of us a pass then?"

"I fear so, yes. Though well, negotiations have barely started, so just give me time."

A pass was necessary to enter the Prostia Empire in the bottom of the ocean. There were two types of said pass. Clebeur could issue one type, but it was only for mermaids. The other type came from Prostia, and it could be used by anyone.

The entry pass given by Prostia also included a blessing by the Goddess of Water Aqua, allowing any race other than mermaids to breathe underwater. Clebeur could not grant those passes, Prostia being the only country capable of giving it out. After the incident with the Evil Cult and Gushara, Clebeur was no longer in the best position in front of Prostia.

So for Clebeur to ask Prostia for passes to give to humans, beastmen, and elves, was hard considering their current situation. Shea wanted to have a bit more time to work it out.

"U-umm, are you going to take long still? Boss Larappa has everything ready."

A dwarf interrupted Allen's conversation. The preparations for the transportations had been completed a bit earlier.

"Hm? Ah, sorry for keeping you waiting. Let's do it then."

Allen had intended to kill time talking with Shea, but the conversation went for so long that the others had been kept waiting instead.

"Commandant Allen has given the order. Everyone, get ready at the outlets!"

(That title feels a bit self-important now that I think about it.)

Allen had been pressed to come up with a title to interact with other organizations, but he felt a bit bothered hearing it from those in Allen's Army as well.

"Commandant Allen…"

Sophie repeated that as well, rummaging on the words.

That title had been decided on during the Five Continents' Alliance meeting. Allen was completely fine being called the representative of Allen's Army, but since there was such a big emphasis on military terms, they felt Allen needed one suitable for his position as well. There had actually been such talks amongst the members of Allen's Army already. Some even said that those talks led to Sophie secretly telling Rosenheim's queen to bring the matter up during the meeting. All she ever said in response was that 'Commandant has such a ring to it, wouldn't you say?', making it hard to tell if it was true or not.

That he obtained that title during the meeting also had a big effect. Now most countries knew about it, so he was called Commandant wherever he went. Even the people on the island started referring to him as Commandant Allen.

The area for the city of Coure, where the mermaids would live, had a radius of around a kilometer, and the ground had been dug around ten meters deep. The lower portion of the buildings there were tall columns of wood, mimicking how houses look in the Amazon rainforest or some parts of south-east Asia.

"Let's start it then."

The merman appointed as chief of Coure also gave the order to start.

"Start the pond maintaining magic devices then."

Allen's words were the final sign to activate the magic devices. Hearing the signal, the dwarves waiting with the magic devices activated them.

"""Yessir."""

The newly-joined magic engineers activated the magic devices placed all around the area.

"Ohh, water! There's water everywhere!"

The chief was surprised as a large quantity of water began filling the excavated area.

These magic devices had been obtained from the Iron Golem's silver chests, and were known as Water Generation Magic Devices (Large). None of the party members so far was acquainted with magic devices, so they were unsure how the devices could generate more water than could fit in the volume they took up. Water spouted out at high pressure from an opening in one side of the cubic devices.

"Keep raising the water level like this. The surface should stabilize by tomorrow."

There was one female dwarf that stood out amongst the others controlling the magic devices. She was the one in charge of the dwarves.

"""Yes Boss Larappa!!"""

Seeing the dwarves' unconditional obedience to her, it looked almost like a queen and her subjects.

"I'm sorry I'm making you work so much right after you joined us."

Allen apologized to Larappa for making her work with so many magic devices at once.

"You don't need to apologize, Commandant. I'm glad you provided me with so many high quality magic devices."

Larappa, who had green bobbed hair with straight bangs, answered with a smile. She had come from Baukis' imperial capital, and was the leader of the magic engineers. Her Talent was 3 Star Magic Professor. Less than fifty people in Baukis had that Talent, and she had joined Allen's Army together with 99 2 Star Magic Engineers.

She was ten years older than Allen, making her 25. Her regal attitude seemed to be stronger than her passion for research. Once she heard that Allen had obtained multiple high level magic devices in the S Rank Dungeon, she demanded to join Allen's Army.

Allen's Army was mainly fighting the Demon King's Army, so even though magic engineers remained in the rear lines, their lives could still be in danger. But almost everyone that joined had done so willingly. There were actually a large number of dwarves that wanted to come.

Only Allen's party had succeeded in safely taking out magic devices from the S Rank Dungeon's last floor. Magic devices obtained from the Iron Golems' silver chest were incredibly rare.

"Alright General Zemimir, take the purification magic device to the center of the city now."

The water level had risen considerably, so Allen gave another order. He gave the order to a unit of tall golems.

"Roger that, we'll follow your orders, Commandant. Everyone, be careful with it."

"""Yessir!!"""

Zemimir was a dwarf with a mustache, he was atop a mythril golem and was the general of the golem unit that had just joined Allen's Army. Zemimir drove a mythril golem, while the 99 golem drivers in his unit all had iron golems. He spoke with a strong sailor-like accent, which made Allen realize that both he and Larappa had marked personalities. Allen decided to write down a note about how dwarves often had strong personalities.

Water was already covering most of Coure when the golems began carrying the purification magic device into it.

Coure would exist around five meters above the water surface. Boats would be used to transport items from building to building, but the mermen folk felt comfortable just swimming from one place to another. But living in the water would eventually contaminate it, and having diseases spread through it could be problematic.

So Allen decided to place a Purification Magic Device (Large) he obtained from the Iron Golems' silver chest in the bottom of the water to clean it. He was told the device would kill any bacteria and sanitize the water.

Apparently the Magic Stones inside the Purification and Water Generation Magic Devices would keep them running for one year. A (Large) magic device would run for one year with an A Rank Magic Stone.

Under Zemimir's command, the golems lowered the Purification Magic Device (Large) into the water filling the city of Coure.

(And this completes the fourth city.)

Allen watched as the children of Coure made happy noises as they began to swim around in the water, happy that they could live in a floating city like that. The 3000 people of Coure slowly began to divide into groups as they went to their assigned homes. Some of them went there underwater, reminding Allen that they could breathe underwater.

With that, the fourth city of Heavy User Island was completed.