Star Forge Titan

"I..." Ghost in the Shell growled and tried to break free from the depression in the wall, but was punched into it again.

Then came the second punch! The third punch!

The Ash Knight, clad in pure white armor, was like a silent industrial machine, throwing punch after punch until half of Ghost in the Shell Hercules' body was punched into the depression in the wall.

Roar!

The angry chirping of insects spread in all directions. The other insect beasts that were originally suppressed by the invisible throne frantically broke free from their restraints. Even though their shells cracked and burst out a large amount of slurry, they still pounced on Ivan fearlessly.

Naturally, this kind of trash would not cause any trouble to the descendant of the Titan. He raised his hand and pulled out the Axe of Annihilation from the spiritual space and slashed it horizontally.

As if opening a flat folding fan on the spot, the axe blade mixed with violent primitive magic drew an arc outward, neatly chopping off nearly thirty insects and beasts of various types that rushed to Ivan's side!

A splashing arc was directly drawn on the ground by the fishy yellow-green liquid, and a large amount of shells and corrosive juices exploded, like a flower of death watered with killing and blood, showing its twisted and miserable beauty.

"Evan!" Lilith's nervous shout came from the high wall in the distance.

Although the halfling rogue was standing in a relatively safe position, many insect beasts tried to rush down the stairs towards the entrance where she was.

Fortunately, Lilith was not a powerless noble lady. She kept taking out all kinds of messy props and throwing them at the insect beasts that were crowded at the stairs and had limited speed. She threw down all kinds of Molotov cocktails, alchemical potions, throwing knives, alchemical explosives, and even the seasonings that she accidentally took out.

It made a crackling sound, just like a fireworks show was set off on the spot. Although the effect was limited, it did slow down the movement of the insect beasts.

The most surprising thing was that Lilim accidentally threw out a bottle of expensive pepper.

The seasoning in a small glass bottle fell heavily on the head of a tank-class insect beast.

The impact that shattered the glass bottle into pieces was nothing to the insect beast's sturdy head, but the pepper powder that exploded afterwards caused a strong stimulation to the huge monster insect that the adventurers temporarily named the firefly.

After the pungent pepper powder was inhaled, flames gushed out uncontrollably from its open mouth and even the breathing holes on both sides of its neck, roasting the ordinary insect beasts around it, making them scream and even scald to death. At the same time, it also caused the tank-class insect beast itself to fall into an even more exaggerated state of madness.

It roared and bumped into things headfirst, squeezing the stairs leading to the exit of the upper passage into a crooked shape, and also crushing many low-level soldier-level insect beasts to death.

This made Lilim open her mouth for a long time without closing her chin.

Even Alvin, who turned his head and saw this scene, was very surprised.

He pulled out the heavy hand gun crusher and shot dead several insect beasts that tried to climb up the wall and might threaten Lilim.

Ivan glanced at Hercules from Ghost in the Shell, who was stuck in the severely deformed metal wall and unable to escape in a short time. He seemed to vaguely sense something and his eyes changed slightly.

Coupled with the hissing sounds coming from other passages in the distance, Alvin finally gave up the decision to kill this special insect beast directly here, and instead quickly evacuated the chaotic area with Lilith.

The footsteps of the two men quickly disappeared in the passage above. Ghost in the Shell Hercules, who had finally crawled out of the depression in the wall, did not immediately order a pursuit.

At this moment, it seemed quieter than ever before. Its tall body stood still, its wounds healing bit by bit.

Covered by the crystal shell, the pair of compound eyes that were originally pitch black now revealed a bright red like fire.

"One thousand... seven hundred and fifty-eight years and nine months..."

"Pure color residual poison...Seal...Cleanse..."

Intermittent ancient Norse words came out of Hercules' mouth.

Finally, it turned into an exceptionally clear voice:

"The Lord has returned!"

Chapter 65: The Third Bridge

Run, run, run.

Alvin felt as if he was back in middle school physical education class, with the physical education teacher blowing the whistle behind him and his classmates panting beside him.

Oh, it's still a little different.

The "classmates" who couldn't run were now picked up by him, just like carrying a bag of oranges or apples.

And the one chasing behind him was not a middle school physical education teacher with as much hair as a gorilla, but a large group of ferocious insect beasts with hideous looks that kept screaming and howling.

At that moment, Ivan was sprinting forward, dragging Lilim along with him. While he could certainly defeat them in a fight, there was no need to engage them. His goal was to lure the insects away from the cat-and-bugs' new home.

"At times like this, I think the halfling's body shape is actually quite good."

Lilim, who was being carried, held her chin with one hand and said helplessly:

"Although, I also feel like I'm a bag of potatoes..."

This made Ivan feel a sense of déjà vu, and he immediately complained:

"That's not necessarily true. A certain bag of 'potatoes' is much heavier than you."

"Huh?" Lilith's expression turned into shock, and she didn't understand the dark-haired boy's words that hinted at something else.

While chatting with his teammates, Ivan also speculated about the tracking ability of insect beasts. Ordinary insect beasts probably rely on smell or vision to track their targets like most wild animals.

As for those obviously higher-level humanoid hybrid insect-beast knights, and the one who called himself Ghost in the Shell, whose strength is comparable to his, they may have special abilities like magic vision.

This would explain why it was a Shell Knight who found Cat and Bug Paradise.

Now that he had a rough idea of ​​the cause, a method for eliminating the trace quickly emerged in Ivan's mind. He had seen every tracking method in the virtual world of Palladio. The simplest solution for the residual magic power was to use stronger waves to disrupt or cover the scene, but there were plenty of other methods besides that.

At the same time, Ivan was also somewhat worried about his teammates and the cats and bugs currently in the crew lounge. It was very likely that other Shell Knights would follow the previous trail and continue to pursue them. However, considering their speed, there was still time to relocate, which would only put those innocent little creatures in trouble.

Perhaps, I should try to find another new home for them that is safe enough.

While thinking, Ivan saw a fork in the road ahead. After a moment's thought, he suddenly stopped and looked at the insect beasts behind him, which were now a long distance away and could only hear each other's cries.

Then, the black-haired boy put down the teammate he was holding, and the ash armor he was wearing automatically detached, floating in the air and combining into an "armored man" with an empty interior.

"Newbie, what are you doing?" Lilim, finally able to find her feet after being put down, asked in confusion.

"Be a bait to lure away those annoying followers behind us." Alvin shrugged and used his magic control skills to issue an automatic command to the ash armor that gradually turned into light spots and drifted away.

Soon, the empty armored man took his own steps, clanging and running towards the passage on the left, emitting extremely obvious magical fluctuations along the way.

"Suppress the activity of your own magic power and let's take another passage." Alvin said as he calmed his active primitive magic power.

"So that's it. Is it the pursuit of magic? Those bugs are really troublesome." Lilim smacked her lips and showed an expression of understanding.

The two of them walked lightly towards another passage on the right.

At this time, they were already far away from the surface area of ​​the factory-type mobile fortress, beyond the scope covered by the previously copied topographic map of the ship, so neither of them knew where the road ahead led to.

However, the large group of insect beasts chasing after them made it impossible for them to stay where they were.

Gradually, the sharp cries of the insect beast became farther and farther away, and finally disappeared completely in the extremely complex internal passages of the factory-type mobile fortress Herbert.

This made both Alvin and Lilim feel relieved.

"By the way, where have we been?" The halfling thief continued walking while looking at the surrounding environment.

"I don't know. We should be deep inside the ruins here. This style looks completely different from the previous passage and the building at the entrance." Ivan said with some emotion:

Indeed, unlike the outer stone walls that resembled ancient buildings, the passage where the two were now was made entirely of metal.

The entire passage is built at a high place. To be more precise, it should be a trestle for high-altitude operations.

There were metal handrails on both sides of the road, and the wide areas below and further away were pitch black. Even if Ivan's fingertips lit up the magic light again to illuminate, the two of them could not see what was in those areas.

As for the nearby area, about a few meters away from the handrail of the plank road, there is a curved wall made entirely of metal.

Such a strange structure makes people even more confused as to why this plank road is suspended in the air. It can obviously be built directly on the side of the metal wall, which would save space and be more solid.

"How are we going to get back? Isn't it too dangerous to go back the same way?" Lilim asked thoughtfully.

"Indeed, that way we're likely to run into bugs. It would be best if we could find another way back. I hope there's a structural map nearby similar to the one we saw before."

Alvin didn't have much hope for this. The surface living area was fine, but the interior was obviously a confidential area. Such a place would probably not have such an instruction map directly displayed outside.

He just hoped that a thousand years would leave behind some other clues so that he and Lilith could find another way back to the surface area.

Gradually, a door embedded in a large metal wall appeared at the end of the plank road.

Alvin noticed that the area of ​​the metal wall was astonishing, extending to a very far distance that could not be illuminated by the magic light in his hand. It made people wonder what this area was used for to have such a wide space.

"There's a door? Let's leave the unlocking to the professional explorer Lady Lilith!" The halfling thief excitedly took out the lock picking tools, and then her expression suddenly froze.

This door lacked any traditional locking mechanism like a keyhole, completely different from the giant-style ruins above. Aside from the flat front, the only noticeable difference was the square protrusion over a meter high on the side of the metal door.

"Ah, this..." Lilith was stunned. She had never opened a door like this before.

Instead, Alvin looked thoughtfully at the square protrusion on the side of the metal door.

For ordinary people, this height requires them to raise their arms as high as possible to reach, and shorter people may even need to stand on tiptoe or jump twice. However, a Titan descendant like me, who is over two meters tall, can easily touch it with a very comfortable hand-raising movement.

Considering that the giants' regular forms are much taller than ordinary humans, and using knowledge such as ergonomics to prove it from the side, Alvin had some vague guesses.

So, he took two steps forward, used his own magic power to unleash the unique dark golden magic glow of [Reshaping the World], and pressed his glowing palm on the raised surface of the square metal.

Sure enough, the metal door with no visible gaps automatically slid open to both sides.

At the same time, a mechanical voice speaking Uranus came into his ears.

"Welcome in..."

"Third bridge!"

Chapter 66: Lighting the Lights

Third bridge?

So are there still first and second bridges?

The first thing Alvin thought of from the name of this place was the existence of the other two bridges.

Considering the astonishing size of the Sandworm King, a living biological warship, it seems unsurprising that it has two more bridges than ordinary ships.

However, different bridges should have different divisions of labor, and I wonder what kind of work this so-called third bridge is responsible for.

In addition, the automatic opening of the bridge door also made Alvin clear about another thing.

That is his identity as a descendant of the Titans, which can also be applied to the relevant ruins of the Giant Kingdom.

Perhaps later, he could consider excavating some valuable items from the several ruins he knew about in advance.

As someone who has experienced five major events in the virtual world of Palladio, the most valuable giant site in Alvin's memory is the one located in the northern kingdom of Elrond.

Before, it was because of my own lack of strength, but now...

Alvin was silent for a moment. The ruins of the Giant Kingdom in the north belonged to a special area. The door leading to the interior of the ruins would only be opened when the white tide appeared.

The terrifying White Tide of the North was a formidable challenge even for Ivan at this point. Without specialized equipment and vehicles, only a fourth-tier Transcendent could forcibly traverse the harsh White Tide and enter the ruins.

Considering that it also involves some things left behind by the first queen of the Giant Kingdom.

It seems, perhaps, that I am still a little lacking in strength at the moment.

I have to think of a good way to level up quickly.

While he was thinking, the third bridge, which was originally pitch black, suddenly lit up with a bright but not dazzling blue light because of the entry of personnel.

The sudden light made Alvin squint his eyes, and he immediately pressed down the heavy pistol crusher hanging on his waist with his right hand.

"Whoa!"

Lilith nervously tried to draw her dagger, but she discovered that all her throwing weapons had been used up. The only weapon left was a long kitchen knife for cutting meat.

Well, in a sense, this can barely be called a weapon, probably a long dagger.

In short, the light has a cool light blue hue, which is colder than pure white light. It does not have a fixed light source like ordinary lighting fixtures, but is evenly emitted from the surrounding metal walls.

It looks like the wall itself is glowing.

Alvin thought silently.

Through the bluish light, the two of them looked at the surrounding scene vigilantly.

Unlike the sci-fi style glowing walls, the equipment in the third bridge has a distinct Giant Kingdom style.

The third bridge was quite spacious, at least the size of two or three crew common rooms. Aside from the metal wall where the two entered, the other sides were all large expanses of transparent glass. However, the darkness prevented them from clearly seeing what was inside.

In fact, Alvin noticed that even on the wall where the metal door was fixed, about two-thirds of the area was made up of glass portholes.

Beneath these upward-tilted flat glass observation windows, there is a circle of stone platforms close to the edge. The edges and surrounding areas of the trapezoidal platforms are carved with many exquisite reliefs. However, due to the passage of time, the patterns on them have become very blurred. However, even from the few remaining parts, one can get a glimpse of the exquisite splendor of the prosperous period.

The flat stone surface in the middle is inlaid with a large number of buttons and knobs made of brass and another silver-white metal. The overall appearance is like a complex operating table made up of a peculiarly shaped keyboard.

In addition, many strange conical metal speakers are hung and fixed in the four corners of the ceiling of the room. They look like the common radio speakers in the 1980s or even older phonograph parts, but at the same time they have the unique artistic style of giant civilization, revealing a unique style that combines retro and technology.

Seeing the completely different style of the operating console and the third bridge itself, Alvin had some vague and uncertain guesses in his mind.

Perhaps, when the Giant Kingdom was building the Sandworm King, a factory-type mobile fortress, it actually used a lot of relics from the Uranus civilization.