Final Lord

Chapter 332 Man-Made Miracle: The Machine Shell Fortress

Once the treasure map was pieced together, it directly led Wang Bufu to the location of the treasure.

Wang Bufu stared in astonishment at the magnificent structure before him, constructed from millions of seashells and conches, each shell engraved with ancient runes that gleamed with a faint blue light in the setting sun. Rune-inscribed steel plates of the mechanical structure wound around it like veins, pulsating rhythmically with the tides and emitting a deep, whale-like hum.

The human soldiers around them all gasped in unison.

"Good heavens... what is this thing?!" A soldier from the Firefighting Guard instinctively took a half step back, his pupils contracting violently beneath his fireproof mask.

"My lord," a bag slipped off the shoulder of an ice barrier archer, his hoarse voice sounding as if it had been sanded, "this building seems alive!"

Indeed, with a humming sound like the tides, the entire spectacle of shells undulated slightly to the naked eye. The fluorescent moss hanging from the dome flickered on and off, as if echoing some ancient heartbeat.

"Calm down! There's no danger here." Wang Bufu's voice echoed in the cave. Hearing his voice, the panicked troops immediately felt reassured and calmed down.

Wang Bufu shook his head. Compared to the cavemen troops, the human troops had experienced far too few battles alongside him.

Look how calm the cavemen and harpies are; not one of them made a sound.

Wang Bufu took a step forward, and a system notification immediately sounded.

[System notification: Man-made wonder structure detected]

“Rune steel plate, seashell… this shape, could it be…” Wang Bufu hurriedly walked towards the building. When the tip of his boot stepped into the radius of the building, a data panel suddenly unfolded in front of him.

[Casing Fortress]

Man-made wonders

Builder: The Machine Shell Empire (now defunct)

It can be deployed or raised.

Once raised, it is considered a combat unit, with strength roughly equivalent to an Epic Tier 1 unit.

It possesses special abilities upon deployment:

1. Marine Drilling: Once deployed on land, it will create water bodies out of thin air until they are formed enough to completely submerge the fortress.

2. Shell Unit Production Line: Can produce shell-type magical constructs.

The types of units that can be produced are related to the area of ​​the connected waterway.

Production requires resources.

Currently available for production: Shell Tools - Ugly (Transcendent Tier 1 - Floating Melee Unit - Amphibious)

A total of 16 different units

……

When the connected water area reaches 816.6 million square kilometers, it can produce the epic Tier 9 construct: Shell of Atheism (shaped like a sea fortress).

When the connected water area reaches 1134.4 million square kilometers, the legendary Tier 1 construct, Shell Materialism (shaped like a floating mothership), can be produced.
3. All areas within the affected range have a chance to generate rune-related unique minerals, with the highest mineral rarity being SSS level. "It really is a machine shell fortress!"

Wang Bufu's pupils suddenly contracted, his knuckles turned white from the force, and his fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

His voice was a mixture of shock and excitement, which he couldn't hide.

"Brother, what is a hull fortress?" Wei Yi keenly noticed Wang Bufu's unusual behavior and immediately grabbed his sleeve to ask.

Wang Bufu took a deep breath, trying to calm his inner turmoil, and slowly explained:

"On the human map of the God-Guardian World, five great empires once stood. Two of them have now vanished into the annals of history, and the Machine Shell Empire was one of them."

His gaze deepened, as if he could see through time and space to that glorious civilization: "The Shell Empire is a unique semi-oceanic civilization, with more than 80% of its territory hidden beneath the blue sea."

The Casket Empire was founded by a group of geniuses and madmen obsessed with runic alchemy, the most renowned of whom was Master Troy, hailed as the 'Father of Caskets'.

At this point, Wang Bufu unconsciously lowered his voice: "The [Shell Fortress] is a man-made wonder that Troy led hundreds of top rune alchemists to create over a full fifteen years."

This behemoth was not only the military core of the Machine Shell Empire, but also the foundation of the entire civilization.

He paused, his tone growing more serious: "Within the territory of the Shell Empire, you'll hardly see any human soldiers. All combat units come from the manufacturing workshops of the Shell Fortress—those fearsome Shell units."

"These war machines are terrifyingly perfect. All the shell units possess amphibious combat capabilities, absolute obedience, an indomitable fighting spirit, and a variety of unique combat skills..."

Even more frightening is that they can self-repair even when damaged in seawater. If one had to point out any weakness...

He shook his head with a wry smile: "It's probably due to the high cost and limited production. But even so, the army of the Machine Shell Empire back then was enough to make other civilizations tremble with fear."

Wei Yi tilted her head, her eyes filled with confusion: "Then why did such a powerful empire perish?"

Wang Bufu sighed deeply, his eyes revealing profound regret:
“Because those madmen wanted to challenge the gods.” He gazed into the distance, as if piercing through time to see the fall of that glorious civilization.

"The civilization of the shell rose from the ocean, but was ultimately bound by it." Wang Bufu's voice was deep and magnetic, like that of a bard.

"When they reached their peak, they encountered an insurmountable obstacle—the entire civilization was unable to produce a single demigod."

Wang Bufu's fingers tapped lightly on the table, the rhythm slow and heavy: "Their unique civilization means that individual humans lack combat skills, making it almost impossible for them to ascend to demigod status. So those fanatical alchemists pinned all their hopes on the mechanical fortress, attempting to artificially create demigod-level constructs."

"But do you know what?" He suddenly turned to Wei Yi, a complex light flickering in his eyes, "to allow the fortress to nurture demigod units, it must obtain divine fire that transcends mortal laws. And in the vast ocean, the only nation possessing divine fire..."

“It’s the Sea God Kingdom.” Wei Yi answered instinctively, “I remember you told me about it, brother!”

Wang Bufu nodded heavily: "That's right, that ancient kingdom built by countless sea creatures."

The Machine Shell Empire brazenly challenged the Sea God Kingdom. Their arrogance was evident even in the names of their most elite units—'Materialism' and 'Atheism'. These madmen actually dared to attempt to kill a righteous theological church nation with mortal bodies!

Wang Bufu's voice grew increasingly agitated: "That war lasted a full eight years! Although the Mech Empire ultimately fell, they inflicted enormous losses on the Sea God Church. To this day, the Sea God Kingdom is still recuperating. That's why the sea race is almost nowhere to be seen on the continent now."

(End of this chapter)