Star Forge Titan

"This makes me feel like I'm back home. No, this thing is a hundred times more powerful than those mobile refineries in the Lonely Mountain Kingdom that can drill directly into the depths of the mines!"

Feeling the young dwarf's excitement and surprise, Alvin couldn't help but nod.

"Yes, this thing is so romantic that I don't know what to say. It's worth it even if I have to make another trip to such a dangerous ruin."

"Ruins? Wait, could it be that this entire battleship is a treasure discovered from the ruins? Father of Forge! How is this possible!?!" Thorin jumped three feet high, his eyes wide open as if they were about to pop out.

"Yes, so she can also be called the excavation battleship, the excavation battleship Logiras!"

The two young men happily discussed this topic all the way until they arrived at the central command room deep in the bridge, which could be moved inside the dome armor.

Although the cats and bugs had independently completed a series of modifications before, the most critical changes were only made after Ivan returned to the Rogilas.

The original power system of the Rogilas relied entirely on cat-powered engines. Although this was novel and interesting, it was still a little lacking in practicality, resulting in many functions of the battleship being unable to be used continuously for a long time.

But this problem was fundamentally resolved after the Battle of Ismailia.

Sitting in the spacious captain's seat, the ground in front of Ivan automatically opened up to form a gap, and a metal pillar rose from it. In the center of this hexagonal metal pillar, a perfectly regular circular slot was recessed downward, and inside it could be seen a small fixing interface made of the rare metal mithril.

"Report the inspection results." Alvin looked solemnly at the cat and bug White sitting in the adjutant's seat next to him.

The adjutant, White Mipa Wrench Three V, wearing a white wide-brimmed hat, immediately stood on the seat, raised his right hand and gave a very standard military salute.

"Report to the big commander-in-chief, the entire system inspection is completed, meow, there is no abnormality." White, who still couldn't change his bad habit of speaking, meowed to complete the report.

"Notify the engine room and prepare to activate all systems." After finally getting used to ignoring that name full of complaints, Alvin nodded with a straight face and expressionless expression, then solemnly took out a sealed box from the lepton space, which contained the properly stored Gaia disc fragments.

Considering his combat power and achievements, this precious collection that once belonged to the Second Witch King became one of his most important gains in the previous Battle of Ismailia.

"Got it!" Adjutant White quickly found the one marked with the engine room among the densely packed brass pipes in front of him.

Due to limited conditions, communication within the ship can only rely on this relatively primitive equipment for the time being. Fortunately, the cats and bugs have excellent hearing, so this alone is barely enough.

After opening the cover, White immediately issued a series of instructions in the cat-worm's unique simplified low Uranus language mixed with meows.

At the same time, a variety of meows echoed from both inside and outside the battleship, and the cats and insects outside quickly returned to the ship. The warship's belly also emitted the sound of mechanical operation, causing the armor plates to open downwards to form an inclined passage leading to the interior, allowing the various cat vehicles that had been out for maintenance to re-board the ship.

Not long after, another steady meow of a cat-bug was heard from the brass pipe.

"Big Commander Chief, the engine room is ready." After listening for a moment, White turned around, saluted Ivan and completed the report.

"Okay." Ivan's mouth twitched, and he tried to ignore the strange expression of the dwarf next to him, then brought the fragment in his hand close to the recessed slot at the top of the metal pillar in front of him.

This fragment, called the Gaia Disc, has a fan-shaped structure and looks like part of a broken plate.

When it approached the circular depression at the top of the metal pillar, an arc of magic immediately jumped back and forth between the fragment and the mithril interface, automatically generating a force that sucked the fragment into the slot.

Immediately afterwards, a powerful surge of magic energy, emanating from deep underground, instantly rushed into the engine room of the Rogilus. The pre-prepared reserve device lit up, and the glass pressure column indicating the magic power reserve immediately began to rise at a visible rate.

1%

2%

5%

……

16%

31%

43%

67%

89%

100%

"Charging complete!" The chief engineer's voice, calm yet excited, came from the brass pipe.

Although they had already done launch tests before, today they were going to make the entire ship truly fly! All the cats and bugs instinctively felt joy at this event, just like their ancestors had left the earth with the giants and the great Titans thousands of years ago.

Immediately afterwards, the entire Rogilas vibrated slightly. A dazzling flame ignited at the end of the rocket-like main thruster, and the attitude control engines distributed throughout the ship also spewed out narrow tongues of flame, slowly offsetting the heavy gravity that bound the metal warship.

The silver-gray battleship retracted its large landing gear and began to rise into the air with astonishing momentum.

Even in the early morning, a large crowd of onlookers gathered near the temporary land port. Seeing the Rogilas slowly gain altitude, they couldn't help but make a lot of noise.

Being in a city controlled by the Fist of Freedom, Alvin naturally doesn't need to hide the special nature of this battleship, nor does he have to worry about causing unnecessary trouble.

On the contrary, the mere existence of this battleship can enhance the reputation of the alliance among a wider range of people, and in a sense, it can also serve to unite the alliance internally.

At this moment, Alvin suddenly noticed a familiar figure waving at him on the crystal screen in front of him.

But the female wizard Heidi was seen wearing a white travel robe and standing outside the crowd, followed by a cat-shaped demi-human with several suitcases on his head. The little guy looked like a larger cat-worm, but was actually a newly bred artificial magical pet in the City of Thousand Towers.

Heidi? Why is she here? Isn't this witch busy preparing for the Nunnris Chamber of Commerce alliance? Why is she here?

Just as he was thinking, Alvin saw the female mage cast a communication spell, but the armor on the outside of the Rogilas, which had excellent anti-magic properties, automatically intercepted it outside the bridge.

Slapping his forehead helplessly and realizing that the Rogilas was not equipped with a long-distance communicator, Ivan had to order White to take charge of the command temporarily, while he left the central command room sunk inside the armor and quickly went to the top deck.

At this moment, the Rogilas was only a dozen meters away from the ground. With Alvin's eyesight, he could clearly see the bright smile on Heidi's face.

After noticing his presence, the female mage did not continue to cast communication spells. Instead, she simply raised her hand and a rolled-up carpet automatically jumped out of the luggage.

The vibrantly colored handwoven carpet leaped into the air, automatically flattening and unfolding, then hovered about fifty centimeters above the ground. Heidi's cat, her artificial magical pet, skillfully and neatly stacked the luggage onto the large, handmade carpet, then swiftly and obediently hopped over to the luggage and positioned itself firmly beside it.

The female mage also stepped onto the floating carpet, or flying carpet, and then flew to the top deck of the Rogillas with her luggage and entourage.

"Why are you here?" Although it was a bit strange, when the flying carpet came around the top deck, Alvin took the initiative to step forward and raised his hand very gentlemanly to support the female mage so that she could jump off the flying carpet.

"Why? You're not welcome?" Heidi asked, winking and smiling.

"Not really." Alvin shook his head, realizing that the deck was not a suitable place for conversation.

So he waved to the bridge behind him, and soon, a group of cat-bugs wearing special metal boots ran out from the bridge.

Those are special boots with magnetic adsorption capabilities, which can ensure that cats and insects working outside will not fall off easily after the warship takes off from the ground.

The cats and bugs, each possessing a pair of appendages in addition to their four normal limbs, first curiously examined the artificial magical companion cat, a size even larger than themselves. They wondered why it lacked a pair of arms. Had it met with some kind of accident? The cats and bugs offered sympathetic glances and then kindly stepped forward to help carry the gift.

Just like that, there was unexpectedly one more companion on this adventure.

Chapter 9 Natural Restoration

"Have they left yet? Okay, I see."

In the city of Nunnris, Brad took the handkerchief handed to him by his companion and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

At this moment, he had just finished processing a batch of official documents and was coming to the construction site of the Free Academy to relax himself, or to help others.

You know, fighters who possess extraordinary powers are like human excavators and can lift rocks weighing several tons on their own.

"Then shouldn't we take action too?" The fighter beside him, who had pulled up his hood to block out the scorching sun, asked in a low voice:

"Well, monitor every caravan that leaves recently. Although I don't want to admit it, there are still lackeys loyal to the Witch King in the cities under the jurisdiction of the Alliance." Brad sighed, and then recalled what his junior brother had said to him before leaving.

A smile slowly appeared on the face of the tall man who had just become the leader of the Freedom Fists.

"Of course you have to clean your own house before inviting guests to visit."

Elsewhere, on the Logiras, which had already left Nunnris City and begun moving towards the depths of the silent desert, Ivan looked at Heidi with a strange expression as she sat across from him, leisurely sipping tea.

The two of them were surrounded by the blue sky and bright sunshine, and below them was an endless sea of ​​dust.

It turns out that with a little ingenuity, a blustery deck can be used for afternoon tea.

In the leeward area behind the bridge, the open parasols released an invisible force field. The accompanying cats hired by Heidi and the cats and bugs wearing sailor shirts were busy making tea and preparing snacks.

After a few cat calls and meows, the two sides had reached a full understanding. Although the cats and bugs no longer mistakenly believed that the accompanying cat was disabled due to missing a pair of limbs, they still felt quite close to this new friend whose appearance was very similar to their own.

At the same time, the common characteristic of being good at housework also made the friendship between the two parties grow rapidly.

At this moment, the two different cats were working together in perfect harmony to make tea. They even used their meows to exchange tea-making tips, such as how to control the water temperature and the optimal ratio of tea leaves to water.

Although others couldn't understand what they were saying, judging from the frequency of their meows, both sides must have gained a lot.

Looking at the large parasol above his head that was wide enough to cover four people, Alvin couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Who would enchant a parasol as an item, just to reduce the harsh desert sun and hot, dry wind?

Maybe this is what women are like...

"Although I haven't mentioned it for confidentiality reasons, you should be able to guess that our journey won't be very safe, right? Oh, thank you."

As Alvin spoke, he took the black tea handed to him by the accompanying cat. The cat responded with a standard cat smile upon hearing the words of thanks.

"Of course, leaving in such a high-profile manner, coupled with Thorin's openness about his identity, anyone with an eye can make some connections." Heidi winked at Ivan with a sly smile.

"After all, the fragment of Seinede has not been found yet."

"Then why do you..." Ivan narrowed his eyes and looked at the female mage.

"Of course it's my consciousness as a creditor." The tall and slender female mage crossed her legs and changed her sitting position, then snorted in feigned dissatisfaction.

"But I haven't seen even a single page of the Witch King's Secret Techniques yet."

"Believe me, that's not something worth pursuing." Ivan's face turned serious and he said in a solemn tone:

However, Heidi was not angry when she was rejected, but instead looked thoughtful.

"So, does the so-called Sorcerer King's secret method really have a big problem?"

"Really? Did you guess something in advance?" Alvin leaned forward slightly, and just sitting there, he revealed a silent sense of oppression.

Heidi, however, seemed to feel nothing and continued to smile at the young fellow from the north.

"Do you remember the changes in the desert hydrological conditions that I told you about before?" The female mage suddenly changed the subject.

"Well, changes in rainfall and the stagnation of the anti-desertification process." Alvin nodded slightly.

"Besides that, the most crucial thing is magic, the free ambient magic that permeates the entire silent desert."

"Although the free magic power diffused in the environment is omnipresent like air and cannot be seen or touched, it is indispensable to all things. Especially for living beings with extraordinary powers, it is one of the sources of magic power necessary for growth and development to maturity." The female mage put away her smile and became serious.

"Although the Silent Desert is desolate, the concentration of ambient magic power remains relatively high. This is not normal. Logically, areas with relatively high concentrations of ambient magic power should be forests or oceans with a wide variety of plants and animals."

"In fact, the various documents I've read show that, at least for a period of time, the area of ​​oases in the Silent Desert did show an expanding trend."

"At that time, all the desert tribes believed that the Nine Pillars Gods were reviving. These gigantic gods, with animal heads and human bodies, would restore the barren desert to lush vegetation."

"However, ever since the Witch King took control of this area a hundred years ago, the concentration of ambient magic has begun to drop to normal levels. Correspondingly, the oasis's expansion has also begun to slow, and even shows signs of regression."

At this point, Heidi couldn't help but put away her smile, and her eyes revealed a coldness she had never had before, just like the permafrost in the northern ice field that had not melted for thousands of years.

"Therefore, I suspect that the so-called secret magic of the Sorcerer King is to gain power beyond that of ordinary spellcasters or warriors at the cost of damaging the environment."

"What do you think of this, my young countryman?"

The female mage narrowed her eyes and showed a fox-like smile.

"The impact of free magic on the natural environment..." The first thing that came to Alvin's mind was the huge underground magic network.

If the Giant Kingdom preserved so much magic power and did not invest it in the battle in order to quickly restore the damaged natural environment after releasing forbidden magic that would have an impact on the entire continent, it all seems to make sense.

The Witch Kings' uncontrolled extraction of earth magic will inevitably interfere with or even halt this recovery process.

But at the same time, the enormous magical power also allows them to cultivate such a powerful beast body at the fourth level.

From the perspective of strength alone, the various physical properties of the Witch King Beast have even exceeded the limits that can be achieved by a single extraordinary individual.

According to the evaluation criteria of players in the virtual world of Palladia, the Witch King with a beastly body could definitely be classified as a T1 group among the fourth-tier crown-wearers.

This is a unique rating that only belongs to those who have been perfectly promoted through powerful methods such as secret rituals. In some aspects, they are very close to those fifth-level powerhouses who have broken through the limitations of the material world and reached perfection.

Well, according to the same classification standards, Alvin can probably be considered... an outsider.

It belongs to the T0 group in the process of transcending transmission. It is not included in the scope of comparison and reference. It is a cheating thing that will only pollute the database.

Back to the point, the Witch King's destruction of the desert environment not only gave them enormous magic power to create powerful beasts, but also made ordinary desert people increasingly dependent on rulers who could control rainfall.

This is a constraint that is more direct and brutal than any other means of exploitation. It is a primitive and barbaric power that only slave owners who have complete control over the life and death of slaves possess.

Not only have these guys bound everyone, but they're also trying to completely control this entire land...

The righteous rage turned into an invisible pressure. Even if it was only a brief moment of loss of control, the busy cats, bugs and accompanying cats around them all huddled together and trembled.

"Calm down." Heidi scolded in a low voice:

"Hunters on the ice field who let anger get the better of them won't be able to catch their cunning prey."

The proverb from the northern tribe was like a handful of ice spring, which immediately calmed Alvin's anger.

What happened? The black-haired boy reflected on himself in his heart. He seemed to realize something and turned his attention to some dusty collection in the spirit subspace.