There was silence between them, as Faisal contemplated the size. It was huge, too damn huge. "THAT'S LIKE... 1/4th of Saudi Arabia. Are you crazy? Why would they sell you this much land and why do you want it? Is there oil?"
Magnus scoffed, "Huh, if there was oil that region would either be rich or in a huge war. Don't you see, my friend. I need land, my country is too small. We're just 1/8th the size of Saudi Arabia. I have plans for construction and development, but got not enough land."
~Though if all my plans go through we'll become pretty big.~ he thought.
Faisal thought about it, "I can try... but what do I even tell them? Why should they sell you?"
"Well, first of all, that whole region will be an extension of the United Kingdom itself, British currency will be used. Next, there will be all kinds of schools, universities, factories and whatnot. Meaning a lot of job opportunities. If these countries want stability in the region, they should sell it. If they want their people to get a high-quality education, they should sell it, if they want their highly educated people to have good jobs, they should do it. And, you have profit too, as you can invest in the new region." Magnus proposed.
But Faisal scoffed, "You over-estimate them. Their administrations have too much corruption. They don't care about the people. They'd rather have money in their own pockets and then sell it."
Magnus laughed, "Hahaha... then I guess the world is going to see many sting operations, revealing the deep corruption."
Faisal nodded. This was the right way to do it. Put pressure on the government while winning brownie points. But he wondered if Magnus had plans to expand by conquest later.
Magnus in reality did not. He didn't want to be called a coloniser and enslaver. He was happy with this much region that was uninhabited anyway.
"All right, I gotta go home now. See ya," Magnus in an instant took the portkey out of his pocket and left.
Faisal was left there staring dumbly, but he was not angry, on the contrary, he laughed, "Haha, what a good businessman. I like it."
...
Zimbabwe, Lake Kariba
Magnus arrived at the location of his portkey, which was set by his man from the Dragon Service.
He was on the south side, near the mouth of the Sanyati River, which originated from Lake Kariba. Lake Kariba was a huge lake, which was divided between Zambia and Zimbabwe. A major river flowed through it eastwards, called the Zambezi River. This river went all the way until it drained in the Indian Ocean. It was right to say that it was the lifeline of many South-African nations. The famous Victoria Falls also lies on this river.
But, this river was not Magnus' focus, since the river already had a big dam on it, constructed by the British Government back in the old empire days, it was even officially opened by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother(Mother of current Queen Elizabeth II.)
No, today he was here for another river, it was also a huge thing they were about to do. They were going to terraform a minor river into a major river through a dam.
As soon as Magnus arrived, Mark Smith, the Dragon Service member, came to greet him. The agents of Dragon Service were the most loyal and fanatic believers of Magnus, and most of these were wizards with a wide variety of skills and a knack to learn anything thrown at them.
"Your Majesty, it's a pleasure to have you here. Please allow me to welcome you wi..."
Magnus stopped him, "Mark, I appreciate you being here, you know me. I am here strictly for work. So no formalities. The day Zimbabwe joins is, I will celebrate. So, can we start?"
"Of course, your majesty. Come with me, I will take you to Emry Construction's engineers." Mark led the way to a tent.
Inside it was a map of the local area and a team of 4 men, looking like normal muggle engineers, wearing the safety helmet and the vests. Nobody would think they were wizards.
"Your majesty." They greeted with a bow quickly.
"Thank you for the hard work, gentlemen. So, what's the plan?" Magnus asked.
The chief engineer explained, "We shall create a dam first, then slowly open it and increase the flow in the river. Our aim is to create a new major river in Zimbabwe since the dam on the Zambezi can't sustain us. We also need to share electricity with Zambia under an international treaty.
"One more thing, we believe that the Kariba Dam has the possibility of falling. The reason being that its spillway pool is so deep, about 90 meters(300ft) that the dam can collapse over itself because the pit reached the dam's base, the spillway is too powerful for the rocks just under. Of course, we will work on it later to fix it."
"I don't care what you do, all I want is that we don't get any bad press. Make sure you utilise the media and tell them the benefits of what you are doing. Make sure no harm is done to any animals in the region and relocate them to other locations if you have to." Magnus instructed them.
The Chief Engineer ensured him, "Do not worry, sir. We have already completed the survey. Animal relocation is underway. The country is barely populated, so we have no worries since a few live beside the river, as it's barely a river as of right now.
"Its benefits are great, a lot of new agricultural land will open up due to it, as well as new water sources."
"Good, how long will this project take?" Magnus inquired.
"A year at most, but just half a year if you can help us, your majesty." the man said.
Magnus was intrigued, how could he help? "What do you need?"
"Umm... sir, we were thinking of how to make the strongest dam. So we came up with the method of first building a normal strong dam, then covering it with molten magically treated rock. Now, we have no way to melt so much rock so quickly." They explained their problem.
Magnus knew how hot of a fire it needed to melt rocks. So he had an idea, "Hmm... I can ask a Dragon to help you. But remember, she will come with a person who will be able to communicate with her. And you must treat her with the utmost respect, as she is a very shy and sensitive Dragon. Her name is Pebbles.
"She should be able to help you. Just tell me when you need her help. One more thing, pay her in gold."
The men were ecstatic. Initially, they hoped Magnus would use his own powers, but a Dragon was better, since asking the King of Britain to make a dam was too demeaning in their eyes.
With that, Magnus left the tent with Mark. They came by the muddy riverside. But there Magnus saw a few cute curious fellows.
"Aw... that's a hippo family. They are peeking from the water. Haha, come here, cute ones, I'm a friend." Magnus walked close to the river and called the family of hippos.
There were two adults, with one huge male and three kids. They were animals and understood the law of nature. They didn't see the human body of Magnus' but his monstrous presence that was invisible to most.
But Magnus also radiated an aura of friendliness. So they slowly wobbled out their fat bodies from the water and came to his side.
"Haha... hello, my chubby friends. Mark, make sure animals like these are never harmed. These are the true treasures of Earth, not us humans. We only know how to destroy." Magnus ordered.
"Raaa..." a baby Hippo growled and tried to play with Magnus, trying to bite him. He even got Magnus' arm in his mouth, but couldn't chew it off.
"Hahaha... what a curious little boy." he just laughed and patted the baby hippo. His parents were pretty scared when they saw the dumb little boy messing with the apex predator. Babies were like this, they have no idea what fear, pain are and the law of nature was. They are just curious meatbags.
Magnus played and cast a few charms on the family, to make them clean and healthier. Then, he sent them back. "Bye-bye... we will probably never meet again but take care."
He had a way with animals. He was the male version of Disney princesses. Being in a good mood, he waved his wand and erected his tent on the river banks, overlooking the hippo family, playing in the water. He then took out small camping chairs and a makeshift table.
"Come, Mark, let's have some nice Masala Tea and chicken sandwiches while we talk." He invited the stiffly standing man.
Taking it as an order, he took a seat opposite Magnus. "Haha, calm down, Mark. You work for me, I won't eat you for acting like a human. You can show some feelings. Just relax and talk to me normally."
"So, what's the progress report?" Magnus asked, and it was clear what he was asking. The coming few months were going to be very important for Magnus here.
[You can see Hippos on my Discord - https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn OR see them on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mister_immortal_novel]
FEED ME STONES!
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You can read 20 advance chapters, my Naruto fic, and more fanfics at -patreon.com/misterimmortal.
Special thanks to *Douglas Flower* *Umar Latif* *Julian Rocamora* *Darrien Steely* *Franklin Walley*
1 Stone = 1 Fat Banana. [Effect: You get fat like a Hippo, stay healthy and become the best comedian in the world. People will love you.]
"Sir, our candidate is currently at the forefront of the elections. His popularity rating is 89%. We also did an underhanded survey across the territory of what they think of Britain. A whopping 98% said highly favourable.
"This was possible because most of the population of this country has in one way or another benefited from your policies. Be it countless schools and tens of big colleges you constructed, thousands of hospitals and clinics, bringing more jobs with large construction projects, helping people get better farming tools, get electricity, get water or helping the talented ones get scholarships to the United Kingdom.
"Everyone has gained something. And most of them know that the cause was you now." Mark detailed.
Magnus sighed, "Good, I truly want the people here to live a good life. I mean, this is such a resource-rich country, yet it's poor. All because of the corrupt governments. Not just Zimbabwe, nearly all of Africa is resource-rich, but it's f*cked over by corruption.
"No more. I do not care about race, religion or colour. All I see are meatbags with blood. I, you, they, all of us are meatbags. If Africa can be rich and prosper, I will be one step closer to completing mine and Merlin's dream."
"W-What was Merlin's dream, sir?" Mark asked.
"Peace... Peace throughout the world, where all could live happily, with no wars and large conflicts. He made Order of Merlin for that, but the greedy families and corrupt Ministry turned it into a simple award, stepping all over the legacy of Merlin." Magnus said. He was just installing some patriotism in the man.
Mark cheerfully replied, "Sir, I fully believe that by next year's end, Zimbabwe will become Greater Britain."
"Good, at that point, United Kingdom will become a country with states, only for administrative reasons, not like how it's in America. States have too much power there, which creates a problem when implementing large scale policies.
"Everything above Manchester will become Northern UK, everything in and under it will be Southern UK. More focus will be given to the Northern part to make it more developed.
"Zimbabwe will become three states, Eastern Greater Britain, Western Greater Britain and Southern Greater Britain. Zimbabwe will retain its name, heritage and culture, in fact, we will preserve it and make it a strong point for tourism. They already use our National Anthem, so that will be retained. All we need to do is reform their politics.
"Ted will come later to help you with such things. For now, this should be enough. Well, I shall return now. Contact me if anything happens here."
Magnus packed his items, said bye to Mark as well as the Hippos and left with the Portkey.
...
Magnus' Mansion,
*POP*
"YOOOO...."
"HOLY F..." Ragnar suddenly jumped from the couch as all of a sudden Magnus's loud voice came right behind his seat.
"Come on, man. I had little Maximus in my arms." Ragnar roared at him.
"Ah, sorry, I didn't know. Where is mum?" He inquired. Grace rarely gave the little babies to any of them, and it was the right decision for the most part.
"She's getting ready. She said she had agreed to go to a fundraiser at the zoo, and she did not want to break her promise." Ragnar said. This was the sad part of being a royal, too many such requests were received and you had to go no matter what, as these events publicise the special guests.
Magnus didn't want her to go through, she still needed some rest. So he ran to his mum's room. *KNOCK KNOCK* "Mum, it's me."
Grace called him in. She was standing in front of the mirror and fixing her pearl necklace. "You're back? Ragnar said you were going to Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe."
It was funny how Grace and Adam had already accepted the absurdities as a daily occurrence. Now they don't even bat an eye whenever Magnus says he's going to some faraway country.
"I've completed my work, mum. And you know what, you stay here, have rest, take care of my three little siblings. I and Ragnar will go to the fundraiser. I'm sure they will accept this exchange, besides, I'll just donate some money to them." He suggested.
"But... it was me who promised." She muttered.
"No buts... they are mad to think you will come just a few days after giving birth. Change into something comfy and have fun at home." He pushed her to sit and left.
Arriving downstaters, he smacked Ragnar on the head, "Let's go, we're trading places with mum at the charity event."
"WHY ME?" He cried.
"Would you rather see mum get tired there and then get sick?" Magnus asked.
That was enough of a threat for Ragnar, "Understandable, what should I wear?"
...
Both wore simple semi-informal clothes and arrived at the local zoo. Abe was their driver today, driving a modified Rolls Royce which ran on batteries. The company wanted to sue them for doing this, but Magnus just bullishly bought about 10% of them and threatened them with dumping their stocks and destroying their valuation. Then buy when people panic sell.
The technique worked, they even asked Adam to allow them to use his batteries for a fee. They probably found it better to just officially announce an electric Rolls Royce and say, "Look, even the royals use it."
The Zoo was running like normal, there was just one part reserved for the event. Even normal people could come and watch the event from the back. But Magnus and Ragnar decided to go around and see the Zoo first.
"Ahaha... look, Rag. That's you." Magnus pointed at a sloth, stupidly falling from a tree while trying to change his nap position.
Ragnar replied by pointing too, "And that's you."
Magnus puffed his chest, "Huh, that's a mighty beautiful Gorilla, I'm honoured to be compared to him."
"AH LOOK... A LION..." Magnus walked towards the Lion enclosure. He saw a majestic lion, standing over a rock with his mane fluttering in the air. "BOY... YOU LOOK GOOD..." he gave a thumbs up.
The lion turned to him and gave him a small bow, then went back to looking majestic. Meanwhile, the people around them looked at Magnus in awe. And as some started to recognise him, he ran to the charity event.
It was an event to gather money for the welfare of the animals, giving them a better environment and upgrading the facilities. Magnus alone gave them two hundred thousand pounds.
After that, they were actioning some animal items, like a fallen tooth of a diseased lion, some paw marks of different animals and other things. Magnus bought many of them as they were really cute.
Then, at last, he was asked to come to the stage and say some words. It was not in the deal, but now that the announcer had spoken, he could not deny it. Though the man would get fired later for sure.
"Thank you for participating in this event. My mum could not come as you know... birthing triplets ain't easy. I really like this Zoo, been here so many times since I was small. I hope all animals here... get... taken care of... nicely." Magnus started stopping mid-sentence for some reason.
But it was in fact due to some voices he was hearing from behind him. Looking back, he saw it was a reptile enclosure, and the glass cage was probably brought outside for aesthetics.
But what bothered Magnus were the Komodo Dragons inside it. Somehow, they recognised him and started to scream.
"OUT KING IS BACK!"
"OUR KING!"
"MY DEAD PA USED TO TELL ME STORIES OF HIM!"
"IS THAT REALLY HIM?"
"EVERYONE... SCREAM. IF HE LOOKS, IT'S HIM."
And Magnus made the mistake of looking back. Hence, all of them started screaming, even making so much noise that it spooked the organisers.
"MY KIIIIIING..."
"MAKE ME YOUR SERVANT!"
"BOSS... I WOULD DIE FOR YOU!"
Magnus felt a headache and finished his speech quickly, so he could go and shut these guys up.
He whispered to them, "Calm down, don't scare the people. I will take you to my big island later. You can live in the jungle there... but no hunting innocent animals."
"YEEEES!"
"WE'VE BEEN RECOGNISED!"
"OUR WORSHIP WORKED!"
"PRAISE THE OLD REPTILE GOD RAGNAROK...!"
"YOUR MAJESTY, WE SHALL BE YOUR FAITHFUL TOE BITERS AND MEAT SHIELDS..."
He sighed and just left them be. They had somehow developed a fricking religion in the years he met them the last time.
"What the hell was that?" Ragnar asked him.
He shrugged, "They think I'm their king."
Ragnar chuckled, "Of course, you are the slimy snake of Slytherin after all."
Magnus shook his head, "No no... Pendragon, I'm a dragon. You're Oroborus, a snake, that makes you the Slimy Snake of Slytherin. I'm the Mighty Dragon of Slytherin."
"Hey... our name has nothing to do with it." Ragnar objected. But Magnus just ignored him, which was more annoying.
[You can see Sloth, Gorilla and the Lion on my Discord - https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn OR see them on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mister_immortal_novel]
LEMME STEAL YOUR STONES!
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You can read 20 advance chapters, my Naruto fic, and more fanfics at -patreon.com/misterimmortal.
Special thanks to *Douglas Flower* *Umar Latif* *Julian Rocamora* *Darrien Steely* *Franklin Walley*
1 Stone = 1 Reptile Banana. [Effect: It makes you as slimy as a snake and as strong as a dragon.]
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