Even in the desert, where a week wouldn’t be enough for every minister in the grand hall to handle such a task together, Sophien resolved it alone in a single day. The Empress’s mastery of statecraft was beyond comparison. 1

However, the process was not without incident—there was some chaos, and Quay’s defense mechanism, namely the murderous intent, manifested once more.0

“It’s happening more often now,” I muttered.0

While Sophien slept in the hush of night, I stepped out into the desert beyond the command tent to check my wounds, and fortunately, the body of an Iron Man could still hold out because I had maintained constant vigilance, never knowing when Sophien’s murderous intent might switch on again.0

I wrapped a bandage around my arm, nothing more than a rough treatment for what was clearly a serious fracture, but the bandage wasn’t ordinary and was enough.0

───────0

[Emergency Bandage]0

◆ Description0

 : Used for basic wound recovery.0

 : Imbued with a unique effect.0

◆ Category0

 : Emergency0

◆ Special Effect0

 : Staunches bleeding and accelerates natural recovery.0

 : Accelerates recovery in any area wrapped with the bandage.0

───────0

The Emergency Bandage was one of several tools I had prepared in advance, each enhanced to level 5 with the Midas Touch, and there were others too—a telescope, a desert map, a radio transceiver, even a boomerang, which if any of them hit the open market, would be considered rare treasures without question.0

With the treatment behind me, I took a moment to look around the oasis.0

"Size, water flow, bedrock stability…"0

I was checking the conditions around the oasis while the Elite Guard prepared to establish a base of operations in the desert, leaving the construction itself under my responsibility.0

"Looks promising." I muttered, nodding to myself.0

The oasis held enough water to last several years and the surrounding ground was solid enough for construction,...0