The system is four years ahead of schedule, but Weird is still a cub.

The monster struggled frantically, trying to absorb the strange energy of the invisible hand in reverse, but the result was like trying to drain the entire Pacific Ocean with a straw.

"Ahhh!"

Amidst the monster's extremely shrill screams, its enormous body, a fusion of countless creatures and machines, was continuously "stripped" and crushed by Shen Ge, revealing its ugliest tumor-like form.

"Impossible! I am one with the Heart of Truth! You cannot harm my true form! Impossible! Impossible!" the monster roared in anguish.

"Oh," Shen Ge replied casually.

Then, he slowly raised his hand and opened it. A white light appeared and disappeared in his palm, making the strange man's eyes, which were covered in fleshy tumors, look like they were about to bulge out of the flesh.

"Do not--"

"No!"

"That's my 'Heart of Truth'! How could this be? How is this possible? How did you do that?!" the strange man roared in disbelief.

Shen Ge shrugged and said calmly, "I already said, you don't think I've just been sitting in the control room these past few days watching you bewitch one survivor after another without doing anything, do you?"

"I regret to inform you that I wouldn't have even bothered to look at this tiny piece before. Two points of energy, tsk tsk, and it becomes your 'Heart of Truth'."

“In the past, I had a hundred times more power, but now that I’ve lost that power, even an ant is still meat, so I’ll accept your ‘Heart of Truth’.”

"Oh, by the way, compared to 'Heart of Truth,' I prefer its other name, 'Fragment of Dream,' or rather, 'Fragment of Divine Power.' After all, only in dreams can one create infinitely!"

The sarcoma-like man became increasingly astonished as he listened, never expecting that what he regarded as a god and a miracle, the "Heart of Truth," was nothing more than a piece of ant meat in the eyes of the other party.

Only at this moment did it realize what a terrifying being it had provoked!
It tried to escape, but it was too late. Shen Ge had no intention of giving it a chance to escape. He sealed off the surrounding area without leaving the Ghost Domain, so that not even a drop of flesh could slip out.

A few seconds later, this powerful freak who called himself the "Successor" vanished from the world completely, leaving not a trace of his existence.

With its death, the massive flesh-and-blood city below, which had been relentlessly attacking "Iron Heart," froze instantly, like a behemoth that had lost its central nervous system.

All its tentacles drooped limply, the shield dissipated, and countless pained faces on the enormous "fused face" began to melt and flow.

Of course, besides the bombardment from the "Iron Heart," even more damage came from Shen Ge's Ghost Domain and Ghost Energy Erosion, which directly tore apart the core of the fleshy tumor ship from the inside.

The "Iron Heart" was also severely damaged. The city's energy shield was on the verge of collapse, more than a dozen steam turrets were completely destroyed due to overload, and the lower deck was left with hideous scars from the tentacles.

But they won.

With Shen Ge finding a breakthrough and using the Ghost Domain to dismantle the opponent's "disguise," the monster's defeat was inevitable.

While dismantling the core of the fleshy giant ship, Shen Ge also discovered an unexpected surprise: the "Dream Core" that the strange man had used to "bewitch" everyone, a device used to contain the power of dreams. Although he had dismantled the power of dreams, the manufacturing process of this "box" was still quite good.

Shen Ge descended from the air like a god, ignoring the wild cheers of the survivors on the deck below. He simply walked up to Hephaestus.

The boy slumped to the ground, his face deathly pale, clearly having exhausted all his strength.

"Well done," Shen Ge said calmly. He was able to fight the monster head-on thanks to this young man who could take his place in commanding "Iron Heart" in battle.

"My lord." Hephaestus's eyes were filled with the excitement and admiration of surviving a disaster. He had witnessed Shen Ge's battle with the monster.

The scene, which could be described as a "battle of the gods," remained vivid in his memory.

It even made him wonder if, when human technology reaches its peak, it will really be able to fight against these beings that disregard the laws of physics.
As if reading his mind, Shen Ge patted his shoulder and said earnestly, "I understand what you're thinking. In my world, there is someone very similar to you. At the beginning, I was the only one who could deal with fourth and fifth-tier monsters. But after just two or three years of development, he created anti-monster armor, mechs, and various weapons and equipment that allow ordinary people to fight against fourth and fifth-tier monsters."

"Don't be confused or lost, just stay firm on your path. Who says 'mechanical ascension' isn't ascension?"

"If one day you can create a real Gundam, you might be able to trample high-level monsters under your feet."

?

Gundam?

Hephaestus was about to ask what it was when he saw Shen Ge take out something.

"Here, take this." Shen Ge tossed something into his arms. It was a box, only the size of a fist, shimmering with a faint light, made of pure information and energy. This was the box that the strange man had taken from the core of the fleshy giant ship, the box he used to store the power of dreams.

"The technology of this thing is beyond my understanding, but judging from the research information left behind by that thing, it should be the core technology of the 'Dream Engine' of 'Hephaestus' from another world that it stole and used."

"As for whether it is the 'dream world' he mentioned, which can create happiness for everyone, that's for you to investigate."

“However, I don’t need a ‘god’ who only creates illusions.” Shen Ge looked at the boy, his tone carrying an unquestionable command.

"But I need a 'chief engineer' who can truly transform this city beneath our feet into a 'Noah's Ark' that can withstand any storm."

"can you do it?"

Hephaestus trembled as he held the "box" containing the "life's work" of another version of himself, feeling the vast knowledge within.

He looked up at Shen Ge, his eyes flashing with an unprecedented determination.

"I...can!"

With the collapse of the fleshy giant ship, and the complete demise of the entity that maintained this eerie space, the eerie space began to crumble.

The sky returned to its pale blue hue, and the mirror-like sea surface once again rippled with normal waves.

Cheers of relief erupted from every corner of the city, and people revered the name "Shen Ge" as a deity. Shen Ge didn't need to worry about the remaining cleanup; he returned to his rest room, retrieved the dream fragment again, and this time received a system notification.

[“Dream Fragment” detected. Absorb?]

[Current energy points for "Dream Fragments": 2/100.]

[Tip: Accumulate 100 energy points to restart the 'Fragment World Teleportation' function.]

After the system "awakened" this time, coupled with the high-level strange creatures it had previously devoured, it underwent another huge change.

What's most surprising is that it can directly absorb dream fragments and store dream power, instead of using abilities by consuming dream fragments as before.

It's important to understand that Shen Ge and the system are "one." The system is actually his cells, an organ equivalent to an "arm."

The system's ability to directly devour dream fragments was naturally a good thing for him, as it meant he could directly absorb the power of dreams and become stronger.

Unfortunately... the ant meat was too small.

Shen Ge looked at the pitiful number "2" and a complex emotion flashed in her eyes.

He never imagined he would see this familiar yet strange thing again in this way. It was not only the source of his strength, but also his... only hope of returning home!

But the progress bar showing "2/100" made him feel a pang of unease.

"Two energy points... that's a drop in the ocean." He sighed.

Relying on this thing to teleport back to "reality" is out of the question for the time being.

But as he said before, even the smallest ant is still meat. Having the first piece means you can find the second, the third…

He linked his supernatural abilities and consciousness to the "Eye of the Prophet" on the mainmast. Since dream fragments attract each other, having a "sample" and combining it with the powerful detection capabilities of the "Eye of the Prophet," perhaps... he could find traces of other fragments on this huge sea chart!

He used the aura of that dream fragment as a "beacon" and input it into the search commands of the "Eye of the Prophet." A huge three-dimensional sea chart flashed and changed rapidly before him.

Countless signal points were eliminated and filtered, and finally, the scale of the nautical chart was stretched to its limit, almost covering the entire northern hemisphere of the planet.

In that white area in the far north, representing glaciers and permafrost, a faint golden dot of light, which shared the same origin as the fragment in his hand and also emitted the power of "rules," was clearly visible!
The brightness of that light spot was many times greater than the one in his hand; it was the "origin of Earth" belonging to this world.

found it!
Shen Ge's heart skipped a beat!
Despite the immeasurable distance between them, the course to "go home" finally appeared before him so clearly for the first time!
However, Shen Ge also discovered something strange through the new sea chart formed by the Eye of the Prophet, enhanced by the "Dream Fragments". Judging from the distance fed back by the Eye of the Prophet, this planet seems to be much wider than Earth. The distance from them to the "North Pole" is enough to circle the Earth ten times!

Could it be... that this isn't Earth?

There's no use thinking about it now. As far as Shen Ge is concerned, even if Ark Zero can't open the way "home", he can still teleport back to reality by gathering 100 Dream Powers.

……

……

Although the "Iron Heart" achieved victory, the cost was heavy.

The city's energy shield was completely destroyed, nearly 30% of the steam turrets were damaged due to overload, and the foundations of several drilling platforms suffered structural damage and were on the verge of collapse under the lash of the tentacles.

Without thorough repairs and modifications, it wouldn't even be able to withstand a slightly larger storm, let alone an expedition to the Arctic.

But fortunately, what they have in abundance right now is "raw materials".

The enormous, fleshy city ruins before us, which had completely died and evolved from "Paradise Island MAX", were made from the most advanced "building materials"!
Hephaestus fully demonstrated his unparalleled genius.

He led all his technicians to dissect and separate all the useful biological tissues from that fleshy city.

He used those incredibly tough fascia strands, which could slowly regenerate, to create a brand new, more powerful "energy shield generator";
Those bone spikes containing terrifying power were transformed by him into electromagnetically driven "bone spear crossbows", whose power far exceeded that of steam turrets.

At the core of that enormous "fused face," that strange energy center, he transformed it into a "second heart" that could assist the "Heart of God" engine in energy circulation!
Kyle and Roca then led their men to dismantle and recycle all the remaining steel and mechanical parts in the flesh-and-blood city.

Alai and Ellie took charge of the logistical support for everyone, and the dozens of newly joined "Paradise Island" survivors were quickly thrown into the vigorous "home reconstruction" under their organization.

More than half a month passed in the blink of an eye, and this once desolate sea area was transformed into a huge "shipyard" filled with the sounds of clashing metal, hissing steam, and shouts of people. The appearance of the "Iron Heart" was also undergoing a dramatic transformation at a visible speed.

The once rusty steel city is now covered by a new layer of "flesh and bone armor" that gleams with a metallic sheen yet has a bio-material feel, with countless grotesque bone spikes standing on the city's edge.

Beneath the city, the seventh-tier Ghost King's biomass engine was perfectly integrated with the newly installed "second heart".

Not only can they provide more powerful propulsion, but their countless tentacles can also, like an octopus, allow the city to firmly adhere to the seabed when necessary, and even "crawl" short distances on the seabed!
Of course, as a means of attack, these "tentacles" are also quite powerful, and can even be used as tools for "fishing".

However, the consumption of magical energy makes it somewhat "luxurious" for these tentacles to catch fish.

At the top of the city, Hephaestus used a strange flying gene from the flesh and blood city and combined it with an anti-gravity stabilizing anchor to create several huge, wing-like "biological anti-gravity sails"!
While current technology isn't advanced enough to make an entire city fly, these "wings" are sufficient to provide powerful lift when the city encounters giant waves, allowing it to briefly "leap" above the sea and avoid the most devastating impact!
On this day, when the last energy circuit was connected, Hephaestus, looking both exhausted and fervent, came to Shen Ge, who was meditating in the command tower.

“My lord, the modification of ‘Iron Heart’ is complete. We can proceed with our journey to ‘Arctic’ as planned!” Hephaestus handed over a brand-new data panel.

Shen Ge looked at the completely transformed 3D structural diagram of the "Doomsday Castle" on the data panel and revealed a satisfied smile.

This is the "sea fortress" he wanted. With it, there's a possibility of heading to the "Arctic" to find other fragments of his dream.

"Very good, everyone back to your posts."

"Raise the sails, set sail!" (End of Chapter)