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

"Liu Nian! It really is you!" Mekkatorque greeted him with delight upon seeing him, his mustache twitching with excitement. "What a coincidence! No, what a stroke of luck! I knew there would always be unexpected help in crucial moments!"

"Master Mekkatorque, your level..." Liu Nian asked with some curiosity.

"Oh, this," Mekkatorque patted his engineering belt, which was covered with new tools. "Participating in military operations of this scale, solving various engineering problems, and fighting against the goblins' evil technology... all of these bring 'experience.' In your adventurer's terms, I'm 'leveling up' too! Prince Gelbin believes I need stronger abilities to lead engineering missions on the front lines, so he's given me some help."

Liu Nian didn't quite understand the NPC's upgrade logic either, but since they were acquaintances and leveling up meant becoming more powerful, it was undoubtedly a good thing.

"Master, how did you end up having such a big conflict with the goblins here?" Liu Nian asked the crucial question.

Mekkatorque's expression suddenly turned serious and somewhat annoyed. He gestured for the three of them to come to the sand table and pointed to the models of Sulfur Smoke Canyon and Goblin Fortress marked on it.

"Of course, it's to compete for resources."

Mekkatorque explained the situation: "We've been carrying out a top-secret plan—'Operation Deep Roots.'" He lowered his voice. "The goblin fortress is easy to defend and difficult to attack; a frontal assault would be too costly. So we secretly dug an extremely long tunnel directly beneath the goblin fortress! The plan is to place our newly developed 'Legion Shock Bomb' there, blasting the entire fortress into the air and completely eradicating this menace!"

He pointed to a red line on the sand table that stretched from the gnome fortress to below the goblin fortress.

"Tunnel excavation and initial infiltration went smoothly. But today, when we were transporting the last batch, and most powerful bombs, into the tunnel, an accident happened..." Mekkatorque sighed. "A goblin patrol accidentally discovered one of our concealed ventilation shafts. Although they were quickly eliminated, it clearly triggered an alarm. The goblin army immediately mobilized, not only intercepting our retreating troops on the surface but also sending engineers to locate the tunnel entrance and blow it up!"

He pointed to a cross marked near the goblin fortress on the sand table: "The tunnel is destroyed, and inside there was one of our most elite engineering teams and unplanted bombs... I'm afraid the chances of survival are slim."

Liu Nian, Yun Xiangrong, and Jiang Yi all showed expressions of regret.

"However!" Mekkatorque's tone shifted, his eyes behind his goggles flashing with the unique blend of fervor and rationality characteristic of engineers. "During the tunnel digging and our evasion of the goblins, we made an astonishing geological discovery! Through sonic detection and leyline energy analysis, we've confirmed that directly beneath the goblin fortress isn't solid rock at all, but a dormant, extinct volcano!"

"An extinct volcano?" Liu Nian and the other two looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Yes! The perpetual smoke and high temperatures of Sulfur Smoke Canyon are very likely related to this volcano. The goblins building their fortress on it are practically sitting on a powder keg!" Mekkatorque gestured excitedly. "If we can find a way to activate this volcano and trigger an eruption... then forget about the goblin fortress; the erupting lava and volcanic ash will completely cover and alter the entire terrain of Sulfur Smoke Canyon. The forward base and all the passages the goblins have painstakingly built will be permanently buried and melted down! They will completely lose this crucial passage into the second level of the Underdark!"

"Once and for all..." Liu Nian murmured. This plan sounded more ambitious and strategically valuable than simply blowing up the fortress.

If successful, it would not only solve the gnomes' immediate problem but also greatly help their mission to drive out the goblins.

"But how do you activate a dormant volcano?" Jiang Yi asked from the side. "That's probably more difficult than planting a bomb."

Mekkatorque nodded. "Indeed. Conventional methods require enormous energy to strike weak points in the Earth's crust, or to perform complex operations deep inside a volcano, which is virtually impossible to accomplish under the goblins' noses. Moreover, our only [Legion Surge Bomb] was lost along with our elite squad. So this matter needs further consideration!"

"You can come to me if you need anything!" Liu Nian said.

"No problem, my big friend!"

While Mekkatorque's "volcano-ignition" plan is certainly appealing, it is clear that we cannot place all our hopes on it.

The fundamental guarantee for victory lies in forming an alliance of players, gnomes, giants, and salamanders to confront the goblins on the front lines.

As the saying goes, "Use the orthodox to engage, and the unorthodox to win," only by combining the orthodox and the unorthodox can we unleash greater power.

Liu Nian quickly reached a consensus with the gnomes. The gnomes warmly welcomed the addition of the Dragon Abyss Guild and the Dragon Soaring Guild, regarding them as important allies in jointly dealing with the goblin threat.

Mekkatorque even granted Liu Nian and the other two temporary "frontline advisor" privileges, allowing them free movement in most areas of the base and access to some publicly released missions.

Subsequently, accompanied by a dwarf official, Liu Nian and his two companions began to tour the dwarf underground city known as "Anvil Outpost".

Although this place is not as grand as the Prince's City of the Heart of the Gears, it is small but complete.

The city is built on natural caves and solid rock formations, and everywhere you can see intricate gear transmissions, winding steam pipes, and bright gas lamps.

The streets are lined with equipment shops, pharmacies, engineering material shops, and even a small auction house and mission posting hall.

What interested Liu Nian the most was the mission release hall.

Various tasks keep rolling on the gear plate: collecting materials, clearing out specific monsters, frontline reconnaissance, destroying goblin facilities... The rewards range from gold coins and reputation to equipment blueprints and materials of various qualities, and there is something for everyone.

One standalone column particularly caught his attention: the Strategic Resources Exchange Center.

Here, you can directly exchange designated materials for finished equipment, including many legendary items that shimmer with an orange glow!

Moreover, what is offered here are not individual legendary equipment pieces, but rather pieces from legendary sets.

Liu Nian looked at it and roughly divided it into five sets:

Universal Mechagon Megamachine Set

Warrior Type - Feng Molun's Fearless Heavy Armor

Mage-type Arcane Singularity

Assassin Type - The Deceptive Dancer

Marksman-type Orbital Sniper

While the individual attributes of a legendary set piece are not much different from other legendary equipment, a unique set effect will be triggered as more pieces are added.

Each of these five sets of equipment has a set effect with five stages. The ultimate effect triggered after collecting all ten pieces is so powerful that it can even turn the tide of a war.

For example, the ten-piece set bonus of the Mechagon Megamachine Set is:

[Summon Mechagon: Upon activation, summons a massive mechanical armor that covers the user's entire body, lasting for 5 minutes. During this time:]

Health increased by 500%, damage increased by 300%, siege damage increased by 500%;

Immune to all damage below 10% of your health;

Gain new skill set: Rocket Barrage, Force Field Shield, Holographic Decoy, Final Protocol: Formatting, Ultimate Weapon: Global Bombardment.