Full health is the kill threshold, no matter if you're a god or a demon!

McCagon lowered his head, his gaze sweeping over Gelbin several times.

"Your appearance... You're a descendant of Thorin Nomo? Oh~ So he succeeded me!" His mechanical voice seemed to have taken on a warmth.

"I am Gelbin Nomo, a direct descendant of King Goldbeard." Gelbin straightened his back, though he was only half a knee taller than Mechagon. "I saw your portrait when I was a child, but you didn't look like this in the portrait, nor... uh... this big!"

Mechagon was silent for a moment, then let out a low laugh.

"Emperor Golden Beard... such a title... looks like that little fellow did a good job!" he murmured. "Is that why the legend of the Three Kings came about?"

“We all thought you were dead.” Gelbin’s voice choked with emotion. “Of the three legendary kings, you were the youngest and most talented. After you disappeared, the Engineering Dwarfs’ technology regressed by at least one generation.”

Mechagon's golden eyes darkened.

"I didn't disappear on purpose," he said, his voice turning somber. "I was captured!"

"Back then, I followed the trail of the Star Dwarfs and eventually found this crashed ark core. Here I discovered three intact perpetual engines, along with a wealth of technical data. I was as excited as a child who had discovered a new toy, and I didn't even notice anyone following me."

"Shams?" Liu Nian interjected.

"Yes, Shams!" Mechagon's metal fingers clenched, producing a grating grinding sound. "That damned skeleton attacked me from behind while I was studying the core of the Eternal Engine. He used some kind of necromancy to strip away my flesh, leaving only my brain and part of my nervous system, and then stuffed me into this machine left behind by the Star Gnome!"

"He thought this would allow him to control me, forcing me to repair the Eternal Engine and modify the city's defense system, using the legacy of his ancestors for his own purposes!"

"You had a backup plan?" Liu Nian said.

Mechagon's golden eyes lit up.

"Clever," he said. "I did indeed have one, two... three, four tricks up my sleeve! For all these years, I've been secretly modifying the city's control system. On the surface, Shams is the absolute master of the Golden City, but in reality, I've tampered with a considerable portion of the permissions!"

Liu Nian's heart pounded upon hearing this: "You mean...?"

"What I mean is, while I can't directly gain complete control of the city, I can significantly reduce Shams's control over the entire city! Especially the city's internal defense system; I've already added a new layer of authority on top of the highest level of control!"

Liu Nianzhen never expected that this legendary Third King was so amazing, that he could still do this even after becoming a slave of the Shams!

However, he was still very curious: if that was the case, why didn't he just seize the permissions directly, but instead tampered with and overwrote them?

Mechagon explained, "Because Shams has control over this body, he can detach me from it and kill me with a single thought! So it's pointless for me to have that control; we need a third party besides the two of us! But this city is full of undead who obey Shams. Those undead are essentially no different from me; their souls are controlled by Shams, and they can die with a single thought!"

Liu Nian nodded secretly.

"You may have noticed that many of the undead in the city show signs of mechanical modification. That was all my doing, so that one day those undead wouldn't be completely controlled by Shams, and so that if I were to rebel someday, Shams wouldn't be able to stop me with a single thought!"

Liu Nian nodded thoughtfully: "Your place must be under constant surveillance by a large number of undead, right? Did you only start killing all these undead monitors after you learned that the Golden Royal City had been attacked by the vampires?"

"That's right! My original plan was to transfer control of this city to whoever broke in, but then I discovered that it was vampires who had invaded, and those guys aren't much kinder than the undead. Just as I was hesitating, you came into my view. Judging from the energy readings on you, you shouldn't have much to do with vampires, so I chose you!"

McCagon laughed, "Looks like I made the right choice! You've truly given me a pleasant surprise!"

Liu Nian was secretly delighted.

I never expected such a good thing to happen. This level 8 main city is even more awesome than Ascalon!

First of all, the city is already quite well-built!

Secondly, the city itself is the main control unit of the Starry Sky Dwarf flagship, and has even greater potential for the future.

Finally, the city appears to have five perpetual engines, and Mechagon has mastered the technology to repair them!

If it can be repaired, it can be rebuilt!

Liu Nian would naturally not refuse Mechagon; where else could he find such a good deal!

Mechagon looked at Liu Nian, "In exchange, I need you to do a few things for me!"

"you say."

"The first thing is to take down Shams! This is also one of the prerequisites for completely controlling the city! Of course, I will assist you."

"no problem!"

"The second thing is to clear out all the invaders from this city—including vampires and undead. Then, let this city leap away from the Southern Continent. These undead are still vampires; they don't deserve the legacy of the Star Gnomes."

Liu Nian raised an eyebrow: "You can make this city leap forward?"

"Of course," Mechagon said with a hint of arrogance. "I've secretly repaired four permanent engines, and the core engine is 95% complete. Give me just half a day to fix a few key nodes, and I can restart the Ark's core warp system. Heh, that idiot Shams still thinks it'll take decades!"

"Only half a day?" Liu Nian asked.

"Half a day! I've already memorized several sets of all the materials. I can complete the repairs anytime I want!" McCagon said.

There's something else Mechagon didn't say: another reason he delayed finishing the repairs was his fear of being discarded after being used. While this possibility is small (after all, only he possesses the technology), it can't be ruled out.

"The materials are easy to handle," Liu Nian said, "but are you sure you can get it done in half a day?"

Mechagon's chest armor plate flashed, and the engine core spun faster.

"Young man, do you know how long I've been locked up here?" he said. "All I've been able to do all these years is figure out how to fix this thing. Every pipe, every gear, every line of code is etched into my brain. Half a day, no less."

Liu Nian thought for a moment and nodded.

"The third thing, if possible, is to help my descendants and let them thrive in this city as well."

"good!"

Liu Nian nodded emphatically.