Star Forge Titan

"I spent the entire day today trying to stay inside the track and observe the car's performance. I ended up discovering something strange."

"Oh?"

Ivan stopped writing with the pencil in his hand. He knew that Khayang was not the kind of person who would show his emotions on his face. Since the other party showed such obvious hesitation, it was obvious that there was something very strange about the matter.

So he also showed a very interested expression.

"That car was constantly testing various sections of the road today. During this time, I saw the logistics personnel refueling the vehicle and replacing worn parts. But what I found strange was..."

"During the long-term endurance test, even the observation staff changed three times, but the driver never left the car. Doesn't that guy need to eat or go to the bathroom? It's really strange."

As he spoke, Khayang kept scratching his head with both hands, raising pieces of dandruff, revealing his inner irritation.

"The driver never left the vehicle? Did you see what the driver looked like?" Ivan frowned and continued to ask:

"No, I arrived late and didn't see the driver enter. But the cabin of that car is very small, probably only able to accommodate one person. This alone is very different from other magic cars. Is there any other magic engine besides the one you designed that can operate fully automatically?" Without waiting for an answer, Khayon continued:

"Furthermore, the cover outside the car's cockpit is made of opaque black material. God knows how the driver inside can see the road."

"Maybe the other party doesn't need to 'see' the road like ordinary people." Ivan whispered some of his guesses.

As if he had heard the hidden meaning in the other party's words, Ka Yang waved his hand and immediately said:

"If the pilot is a necromancy-created undead, not to mention its intelligence, it's unlikely to meet the standard. If it were a high-level undead, I wouldn't be able to sense anything. Damn it, I'm a professional necromancer."

"Indeed, but there is another possibility." Alvin tapped the paper lightly with his pencil.

At some point, he had completely blacked out the cockpit area in the middle of the car sketch.

"Maybe there's no one in the car at all."

Chapter 161: The Mysterious Driver

"There's no one in the car..."

Ivan's words made Ka Yang frown.

He took out the peanut butter that was curled up in a ball from his shirt pocket and tossed it back and forth between his left and right hands, while also thinking about the hidden meaning in the other person's words.

Peanut Butter, thrown high up, spread its furry wings with a bang and glided to the bookshelf nearby. It squeaked twice in dissatisfaction, then spat out the nuts that had been hidden in its crop at some point and began to chew them angrily.

Neither Ivan nor Khayon paid attention to the little resistance of the little magical pet. They fell into silence as they were thinking.

"The water in this game is deeper than expected."

After a while, Khayon leaned back in his chair, his head against the backrest, and said in a tired but meaningful tone:

"Of course. After all, this involves the right to define the general production specifications of magical engineering. All parties will strive to fight for it." Ivan tapped the paper with his pencil and continued:

"While it won't get to the point of a life-and-death struggle, there will definitely be people who break the rules. Look, even referees like the Carolingian royal family are secretly placing bets."

As he spoke, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth:

"Besides, aren't we two gamblers holding a handful of tickets?"

"Hey, you're still that bastard who's planning to cheat." Ka Yang grinned, not looking like a good guy at all.

"Anyway, I've already seen through the cards of most of the players during this period of time. But apart from the mysterious driver from the Alchemist Association, there is another one who is also very difficult to deal with. After all, he is a respected priest." When the Necromancer said this, his expression became a little ugly.

"Are you talking about the youngest official priest of the Temple of Light in the past ten years?" Ivan raised his eyebrows and immediately realized which contestant was most likely to make Khayon say that.

"Yes, in contrast to the driver from the Alchemist Association who never shows up. The young priest from the Temple of Light goes out to preach every day, but the car he drives has never left the private racing track under the Temple of Light." The Necromancer spat indignantly.

"Damn rich people!"

The Temple of Light is the largest righteous deity belief in Linde, the Central Empire.

The group of gods headed by Jupiter the Father is also called the Father God system because of the God King Jupiter. Almost all Linde people have a certain degree of faith in one or more of the gods in the system.

However, among various religious forces, it is often believed that only Jupiter, the father of heaven, is the true god, and other members of the celestial gods are his subordinate gods or messengers.

But putting aside various factors, the belief in Jupiter, the Father of Heaven, and his subordinate gods has spread throughout Linde, and as a result, the Temple of Light has intervened in all walks of life.

However, they weren't competitors in the industry, but rather participated as arbitrators. For this reason, even though the Light Temple itself wasn't involved in the business, it still profited handsomely after the Magic Revolution brought about tremendous social development, becoming one of the most well-funded factions in Linde.

Not to mention the racetrack, there are countless venues and enterprises under the Temple of Light, and countless of them are indirectly controlled or have partial management authority.

"In other words, you can't see the car?" Alvin put down the pencil in his hand and a thoughtful look appeared on his face.

From what he had learned about the plot, the Temple of Light didn't seem to be involved in this match. In other words, this was most likely a butterfly effect caused by his actions in Elrond?

If this is true, the identity of the so-called youngest official priest in the past ten years is somewhat questionable.

Because, of all the things Ivan did in Elrond, the most influential one was stopping the cultists' grand plot to bring down the power of the evil god. And if someone behaves differently from the original plot because of this incident, then they are likely related to the cultists.

Of course, whether this relationship is positive or negative requires specific analysis of the specific situation.

However, Alvin still secretly increased his vigilance against that person.

"Since you don't know about the car, let's talk about the person. How much information have you gathered about him?"

"Not much, not little either. After all, he is a public figure in a sense." Khayon shrugged and bent down to pick up the costume thrown next to the chair.

He untied the long copper wire brush, took out his magic wand from it, and with a wave and a twist, the escaping flying squirrel Peanut Butter flew back into his hand, and then he stroked it casually like a hand warmer.

While relaxing by petting his furry companion, Ka Yang sorted out the relevant information he had collected and planned to start from the beginning:

"That guy's name is Seth..."

"Wait a minute!" Alvin suddenly called out to him.

"Is there anything wrong with this name?" Khayon asked sharply:

“…” Alvin remained silent.

"I have some guesses, but please continue."

"Well, the young priest named Sert's personal story is probably the most typical story of struggle. Born into an ordinary farming family, he was devout and kind. He entered the seminary with rare good grades, graduated with a skipped grade, and became a full-fledged priest the same year he graduated."

"Besides, he's very handsome." Ka Yang curled his lips and showed a disapproving expression:

"Looking at it this way, he looks just like a character in a novel about to embark on his own legendary journey."

"Yeah, it sounds like there are really no flaws." Ivan agreed in a low voice.

However, he was not as calm as he appeared on the surface.

Priest Sett, this name doesn't sound unusual, but in his memory there is another existence called Sett who can be said to be completely opposite to it.

To be precise, the name of that existence is the three-headed plague demon general - Set Gorod, the demon general who broke through the last line of defense of the perfect city of Lutetia, and was also the apocalypse-level demon who fought with the giant soldier driven by Ivan for more than ten days.

It was his and other demons' joining that accelerated the invasion of the Skeleton Tide, directly or indirectly causing countless casualties, so that one-third of the northern part of Lind was polluted by the deep hell.

Simply put, this is a dangerous individual who can make the world feel pain.

"Are you doubting him? Let me make it clear in advance that he is a devout and hardworking young believer. Personally, I can see that there are some suspicious aspects about him." Khayang showed a strange expression, and then continued to tell the rest of the relevant information he had collected.

"Yeah, it doesn't look suspicious at all."

After hearing his words, Alvin nodded in agreement, then picked up the Axe of Annihilation - Nerukigate, which was lying on the table next to him pretending to be dead.

Although this soul-forged weapon now looks like an ordinary hand axe, when he rubbed the dry handle with his palm and slowly tightened his fingers, he could immediately sense a violent magic power quietly surging inside, just like the brave spirit surging in the heart of the black-haired boy at this moment.

"what are you planning to do?"

"Do you remember mentioning that a little bit earlier?"

"Which point?"

"Ever since he announced his participation in the Magic Car Competition, that Priest Set has been living in the racetrack where the Temple of Light holds shares and management rights for several months." Alvin weighed the Annihilation Axe in his hand again and again, with an unsettling smile on his face.

"Yes, even after qualifying for the Youth Magic Car Competition, he still stayed at the racetrack for a long time to prepare for the competition. But from the newspaper, it seems that the man has always been a very serious person, and there seems to be nothing suspicious about his choice to do so." Ka Yang frowned, feeling increasingly puzzled by the change in Ivan's attitude.

"That's true, but from another perspective, the young priest Set hasn't returned to the interior of the Great Temple for several months." The smile on Ivan's face remained unchanged, but there was no warmth in it.

This reason is of course far-fetched, but Alvin only intends to use it as an excuse.

An explanation that sounds perfect, once found to be slightly wrong, will be like a drop of black ink falling on white paper, making that flaw particularly conspicuous.

Hearing this, Ka Yang also noticed something was wrong.

"So what are you going to do? What method are you going to use to test the other party? Or do you need to find someone to sneak up on him?" The Necromancer rubbed his hands, looking a little excited.

"Don't be ridiculous. The competition is less than a month away. Even the most skilled spy can't..." Ivan was stunned for a moment, then changed his tone.

"I have a more direct method."

Then he stood up and walked to the pile of remaining steel, and lifted his legs to lift the metal under his feet.

In an instant, dark golden light flowed across the surface of the steel like water.

"I plan to use a disguise to create some noise at the entrance of the racetrack. Then you and Bryant can find a way to sneak in and investigate."

"So simple? Isn't that too reckless!?!" Ka Yang was stunned for a moment, then immediately expressed his objection.

"It was a spur-of-the-moment idea, so the simpler it is, the easier it is to catch the other party off guard. Besides, it's just a racetrack with limited defense." Ivan threw the axe in his hand high up with a little force, and immediately Karlbant's dissatisfied roar came from inside.

"Then who are you going to disguise yourself as?" Seeing that the other party had made a decision, Ka Yang had no choice but to hold his forehead and show an expression of headache.

"Of course it's their old rival."

As he was speaking, the steel affected by the power of [Reshaping the World] had turned into pieces of tiny iron pieces that rushed onto Ivan's body.

Countless tiny metal pieces merged and deformed with each other, clinging to the black-haired boy's slender and powerful body, turning into a full-coverage armor with a hideous and terrifying appearance.

The right shoulder of the armor is shaped like a demon skull with curved horns, the sharp horns slanting towards the sky, and the sharp teeth with jagged edges are portrayed vividly, as if you can see the remaining flesh and blood of the victim on it.

In addition, the rest of the armor is also covered with various spikes and protrusions, which makes the whole set of equipment full of an extremely wild and bold atmosphere, and the asymmetrical design further highlights the distorted and abnormal feeling.

"..." Khayon stared at the scene in front of him in amazement. Even Kalbant, who had just retracted his weapon, reappeared in amazement.

After a long while, the man and the demon moved their lips slightly and squeezed out the same sentence.

"Where did you learn that?"

Through the skull helmet that covered his face, they heard Ivan's low voice, which was slightly smiling and very different from his usual voice.

"of course……"

"hell!"

Chapter 162 This is too evil

"It seems like something is missing?"

Wearing an iron-gray ox-horned skull helmet and a corpse-demon skull armor, Ivan stroked his chin and said:

The sharp claw-like gauntlets at the ends rubbed against the terrifying skull-shaped mask, creating a fleeting spark.

The appearance of this set of armor was based on a piece of loot he had captured in the game world of Palladia. It was a valuable item he had snatched from the famous Demon Hunters of the Deep Hell Slaughter Heaven.

Of course, that army is still in its infancy now. They were established after the Deep Hell Killing Sky absorbed the technology snatched from the material world.

Because every part of the armor is filled with the wails of the victims' souls and the painstaking efforts of the hellish craftsmen, the entire set of armor is also known as the 'Armor of Deep Despair' or the 'Suit of Despair'.

This means that when you meet the earthly demon wearing this armor, you should give up hope and throw yourself into the final, desperate battle.

Excellent attributes and a cult aesthetic design full of dark gothic style make this armor a very popular set of high-level equipment among combat professionals (to be more precise, among middle school boys who never grow up).

However, although players like this 'deep, dark' style, its hideous and terrifying appearance often attracts criticism and even reduces the favorability of the indigenous people.

Of course, for Alvin who wants to temporarily disguise himself as a 'devil with evil', abbreviated as 'devilman'.

Isn't this better? .JPG

But compared to the evil-filled armor in his memory, the equipment in front of him was just a formality. Regardless of the evil aura that came with the Despair Armor, its protective strength was only slightly better than that of ordinary full-body plate armor and was very easy to be exposed.

"What should I add?" Ivan was muttering, and Kayang next to him suddenly showed an expression of sudden enlightenment.

After realizing what Alvin wanted to do, he thought quickly for a moment and found that the feasibility of this plan was actually quite high.

Originally, an insignificant and ordinary department like the racetrack, even if it was affiliated with the Temple of Light, could not have much defense force. Even considering the importance of the Magic Competition, at most there would be twice as many security personnel as usual.

After all, the Temple of Light is ultimately a religious force, and it did not rely on magical engineering to start its business.

In other words, the plan of using an unprovoked attack to test whether the young priest who was a part-time racer had hidden powers was relatively controllable in terms of both risks and benefits.

Now that the stakes have been sorted out, Ka Yang has no hesitation.

"I have a good idea." The Necromancer smiled evilly.

"What idea?" Alvin looked alert.

"Come, I'll add a buff magic for you." Khayon swung his wand as hard as a hammer, and the 'Dark Armor', a common defensive magic in necromancy, was added to Ivan.