Star Forge Titan

"In other words, although Linde in the Central Empire appears to be the same as usual on the surface, there may be very serious malicious incidents happening behind the scenes?" With one hand supporting her chin, the expression on Afrediya's face became more and more serious.

"Indeed, according to the records of the Bird's Eye Tower in our country, several unusual and unexplained fluctuations have been faintly heard from the south of Lind. However, as subordinates of the neutral Temple of Knowledge, they are unable to provide us with any further relevant information."

Maria smiled when she said this, but the smile did not seem to have much warmth, just like the cold blades of the two swords hidden under her maid's skirt.

"It's not their fault. The Temple of Knowledge must maintain its bottom line as a neutral organization, otherwise it will be difficult to continue carrying out immigration missions in various countries." Afrediya did not intend to hold them accountable for this. Instead, she explained a few words to the other party with great understanding.

"Yes, then I'll give up my plan to hang those guys upside down outside the bird's-eye view tower." Maria said with a smile, making a joke that was totally unfunny.

"Don't do anything that would cause an international dispute!" A vein on Afredia's forehead jumped. Even though she knew the other party was probably just joking, she couldn't help but roar:

"Excuse me." Maria knelt slightly to express her apology, but her action was very perfunctory.

After listening to the foreign intelligence, Afrediya let out a long sigh, resting her chest on the desk with some fatigue, and then glanced at Maria with a slightly evasive look.

"Um, is this all the information? Nothing else?"

Hearing the other meaning in her words, Maria pretended to flip through the documents in her hand, then nodded seriously.

"Yes, other than that, there doesn't seem to be any relatively important information to report to you."

"Really?" Afrediya emphasized her tone and tried to show the majesty of a demon king, but her wandering eyes revealed her guilty conscience.

"Really, there's nothing left." Maria's lips trembled and she almost laughed, but in the end she put on a businesslike look and answered seriously:

"I mean, it's that kind of information. It's not very important, but it's necessary to tell me, the Demon King. It's that kind of information!"

Afrediya could no longer maintain her outward seriousness. She stretched out her hands and waved them, causing her body to tremble. An expression of embarrassment and unwillingness to give up appeared on her face, as if she was about to cry.

"What kind of information is this, Your Majesty? Please tell me clearly." Maria frowned slightly and continued to ask in a serious tone:

"I..." Afrediya's face flushed red, and then she raised her hands to cover her face and shouted in despair:

"It's the information about that guy! Ahhhhhhh!" As he said this, the extremely embarrassed Demon King slammed his head on the desk, and the sturdy curved corner knocked two dents on the tabletop.

As a close friend and subordinate who had known her since childhood, Maria finally revealed an expression of 'just as I expected' and slowly gave a reminder.

"Your Majesty, please refrain from vandalizing public property. That would increase royal expenses this quarter. We are currently investing the majority of our funds in major projects that will improve people's livelihoods through the use of new technologies. We do not have the luxury of wasting money on unnecessary things."

"Ah~" Frey completely lost her devilish demeanor. She lay flat on the desk, crossing her arms across her chest to cover her red face.

Fortunately, there were only her and Maria in the study, and no one else nearby saw this scene, otherwise the pressure of the 43rd Demon Lord would have been completely lost.

"About our respected Prince." Maria paused, and then as expected, she saw that the majestic Demon King quickly shook his ears, showing that he was listening attentively.

"After winning the Linde Youth Magic Car Competition, he has now infiltrated a confidential project that even ordinary intelligence personnel find difficult to investigate in depth." At this point, the female knight dressed as a maid couldn't help but reveal an expression of admiration on her face.

As deputy to the head of Elrond's secret intelligence agency, she understood better than anyone what this meant and how difficult it was to do so.

Not to mention, the young prince had accomplished this without any help from his own country. It truly made one sigh that the Demon King had truly found a treasure.

But on the other hand, the Gusmith royal family seems to have always had good luck in this regard, at least that was the case with both the previous Demon King and the current Demon King.

"What? No wonder there's not even a letter. It turns out he's involved in such a confidential plan. I wonder if he's in danger now..." A worried look appeared on Afrediya's face, and she couldn't help but look through the window at the distant Linde.

At this moment, Alvin, who was in the underground research headquarters of Vulkan Truth Rock in Linde, an important industrial city in the steel city, suddenly sneezed.

"Who misses me?" The black-haired boy rubbed his nose in surprise and murmured softly:

With his current physical condition, he wouldn't catch a cold even if he ran naked in the snow, so he had this reaction.

"What?" Kayang, who was sitting next to Ivan, looked at him in surprise.

Although they were still secretly investigating the mastermind behind the demon's arrival, the two of them were sitting in the classroom listening to lectures like ordinary students. After all, studying was a task that they had to complete as members of the first phase of the Wizard Plan, and it was also the main purpose of their traveling thousands of miles to Linde.

"Nothing, just some..." Alvin shrugged and said nothing more.

"There are two types of people I hate the most. One type is those who only speak halfway." Ka Yang curled his lips and stopped talking mid-sentence.

"..." Alvin looked at the necromancer beside him who was good at speaking weird words with a frown on his face.

"I think I was the one who told you this."

"Hahaha, is that so? I don't remember that." Ka Yang chuckled as if he didn't hear it.

Catherine, sitting in the front row, heard the whispers behind her and tightened her grip on her pen. The moment the teacher finished a paragraph, the earnest Duchess turned and glared at two people who had been whispering in class.

Being glared at, Ivan and Kayon simultaneously spread their hands to apologize and quickly communicated with their eyes.

It's all your fault.

Blame me.

However, at this moment, the underground headquarters of Zhenli Rock, which belongs to the New Era Research Institute, suddenly experienced a very obvious tremor.

Although the students were very surprised by this, they quickly made judgments. After hiding in relatively solid building areas such as corners, they cast protective spells such as wizard shields.

It took a long time for the vibration to stop.

Ivan and Kayon looked at each other, and both saw serious expressions in each other's eyes.

Because the source of the vibration...

From underground!

Chapter 81: Starting the Experiment

Just hours before the earthquake.

In a secret test site at the headquarters of the New Era Research Institute in the underground void, an experiment known only to a few people is quietly unfolding.

"The experimental stellar-simulating furnace engine has entered the startup process!"

"The element probe has been inserted into the core combustion chamber!"

"Ten minutes to ignition!"

The command center, which is arranged in a stepped pattern, is filled with various sophisticated instruments, and the nervous voices of researchers can be heard from time to time.

But Christina, the director of the New Era Institute, appeared very calm. She just sat at the control console overlooking the entire venue, staring directly at the crystal projection screen covering the front wall.

The style of this command center looks like a rocket launch command center in a steampunk world view.

Various pipes made of a brass alloy that is not prone to rust are laid along the walls and ceiling. The huge and complex differential engine occupies a large amount of space on both sides of the entrance. It looks like a metal forest composed of a large number of metal spires.

The operating platforms connected to it are distributed in an orderly manner in the command center, with rows of spaces distributed along the stairs, forming an exceptionally neat appearance like a row of soldiers.

Although the difference engine is a mysterious machine full of mysteries for most people of this era, it is impossible to understand how to operate it without systematic learning. Even the most basic starting of the machine will make people feel at a loss.

But right now, the researchers in the command center are all Lind's top researchers. They have mastered the most advanced magic engineering technology and are naturally very familiar with the operation of the differential machine.

The typewriter connected to a large roll of paper was tapped quickly, and the data was input into the Difference Engine in the form of punched paper. At the same time, these huge computing machines also remotely controlled the work of more machines connected to them.

Along with the notifications, images were transmitted back to the crystal projection screen by the wizard in the distance.

Suddenly, a ball of fire gradually lit up in the dark secret testing ground. The orange-red light was like the slowly awakening sun, illuminating the previously pitch-black secret testing ground.

With the help of this light of unknown origin, you can see that the entire test site is like a large swimming pool, and 90% of the space is filled with some kind of transparent liquid like water.

Immersed in it was a humanoid weapon that looked similar to the Magic Robot, but its height and size far exceeded the former.

The surface of the machine is covered with black metal armor. Although the combined mass of the armor is enough to crush a mountain, due to the huge and slender body of this unknown humanoid weapon, it does not look thick and strong, but rather slender, like an aesthetic work of art made of metal.

If compared with the body shape of an ordinary person, the waist line of this humanoid weapon is relatively slender, but the huge shoulder armor on both shoulders, the layers of waist armor hanging down, and the thick leg armor that is small at the top and large at the bottom make its overall body shape appear exaggerated, similar to an hourglass.

It looked as if armor was draped directly on a slender skeleton without flesh and blood. The overall look was subtle and incongruous, but at the same time it exuded an inexplicable beauty.

It's like a man-made work of art, crafted from crystal and steel.

The armor covering the humanoid weapon's head was equally exaggerated, looking as if an entire conical spire was placed on it. Even the 'brim' that extended horizontally forward and gradually converged was as sharp as a ramming horn.

The metal mask covers most of the facial structure of the body, and above the mask is a dark-colored V-shaped crystal armor, which also serves as an eyepiece.

Through the crystal eyepiece, one can vaguely see a pair of eyes behind, a pair of eyes quietly gazing at the front...

At the same time, the faint light illuminating the secret testing grounds also came from this humanoid weapon. The magical radiance emanating from within shone through the cracks in its armor, as if a sun were burning brightly within its body, radiating endless light to the outside world.

Seeing this scene, most of the researchers cheered excitedly.

"The experimental star-simulating furnace's super-large magic engine has started successfully! The elemental probe has been successfully ignited! The magic output is stable! Flow rate 18!"

"Begin the next phase of the launch test."

Christina tried to keep her tone calm as she gave the order, even though the long years had allowed her to see enough new things in the world.

But after witnessing this scene, even she, a crown mage, could not suppress her excitement in her voice.

"Begin activating the magic armor!"

The new instructions were quickly conveyed, and the tall humanoid weapons in the secret testing ground also changed accordingly.

The magic power that continuously gushed out from the experimental ultra-high-power magic engine, which was modeled after the Star Furnace of the discovered secret treasure, flowed along the wires made of magic-friendly metal, quickly spreading throughout the metal armor of the humanoid weapon like blood flowing in the human body.

This would transform the originally pure metal armor, adding an additional layer of defense equivalent to a high-level magic shield, while also granting even more astonishing abilities. The resulting heat also caused the liquid soaking the body to continuously emit bursts of fine bubbles, like boiling water.

After the magic power was conducted, the originally pitch-black armor gradually revealed a color that was completely opposite to before.

Large areas of pure white replaced pure black, and the inner layer of the armor revealed a color close to pure gold.

"Spectrum change confirmed! Magic conduction armor activated!"

Then, cheers broke out again in the command center.

"Don't relax, the next step is the most critical." Although Christina couldn't help but hold the folding fan tightly in her hand, she still reminded everyone in a majestic and slow tone not to relax easily.

Looking at his subordinates who were busy again, the Crown Mage, who looked like a twelve-year-old girl, couldn't help but mutter to himself:

"In the absence of a formal driver, we don't need to be able to fully activate it, as long as it can react a little."

The tall and slender white machine in front of her did not look like a weapon, but was as beautiful as a work of art, which made Christina's thoughts wander.

Compared to the 'Star Furnace', the discovered secret treasure that had a huge impact on Lind, the thing in front of him was actually the most terrifying, most precious, and also the most incomprehensible ancient relic.

Although it is now covered with layers of armor, it looks more like an exquisite man-made work of art than a weapon.

But in Christina's eyes, those armors were just a kind of confinement, a safety device used to confine power beyond the limits of human imagination.

She still remembered the terrifying reaction of this massive, unearthed treasure when it was first unearthed. It had been unearthed for countless years, but in the blink of an eye, the entire expedition team of over 120 people was wiped out, and...

With a sigh, Christina said in a quiet voice:

"Can we humans really control this power?"

Chapter 82: Start the experiment

That being said, Christina has no intention of stopping her experiments.

As a crown wizard and also of Carolingian royal blood, this extraordinary person who looks only twelve years old definitely has a huge influence in the Central Empire of Linde.

But she still has to abide by the rules of the political game and face the pressure of reality.

The grand military parade in Avonmore, the capital of Elrond, earlier this year startled the entire Linde Noble Council. Those high-ranking officials, privy to some of the secrets, urged the New Era Research Institute to accelerate its development of weapons and equipment, even at the risk of unplanned development.

Although Emperor Conrad didn't say anything on the surface, he tacitly agreed to this.

Even the playboy had some feelings about it, and as a great wizard, Christina could see that Elrond was also launching a technological revolution.

As an older generation of Lind people who had fully experienced the changes brought about by the Magic Revolution, she understood better than those young people how much change a technological revolution could bring to a country.

It is a sudden change that will transform the entire country's landscape in a short period of time, like a rebirth. It is also a major change that can enable a country's comprehensive national strength to rise rapidly like a bird flapping its wings.

So, Lind needs a stronger trump card, she can't stop this experiment.

Moreover, compared to the No. 1 and No. 2 test machines that were made when the technology was not mature, the No. 3 machine at least has the highest degree of completion, and the possibility of successful testing will probably be higher.

"The pilot begins to enter the aircraft."

The researcher's voice came from beside my ear.

For safety reasons, the driver did not enter the humanoid weapon when starting the asteroid furnace engine and activating the magic armor.

At present, although the New Era Research Institute has not yet trained a qualified official pilot, today's test content is just to start the body, so the temporary pilot should be able to do it.

In addition, the driver himself is also a transcendent, and a combat professional known for his physical fitness, who can bear loads far beyond the limits of ordinary people.

Having said that, there is nothing that can be done about it. Time is so tight and the Council of Nobles is anxious to see results.

So, we had to start it hastily.

With some uneasiness, Christina watched the temporary driver, who was wearing a heavy white protective suit and looked as bloated as an astronaut, walk onto the mobile trestle.

The self-moving trestle moved forward until it brought the temporary driver to the side of the humanoid weapon.

Following the pre-installed gangway on the outer armor, the temporary driver slowly climbed to the side of the humanoid weapon's head, and then the armor opened layer by layer, revealing a passage leading directly to the internal cab.