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]
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