Chapter 279.2: Thunder and Gentle Rain (2)

Their appearances were completely different. The only thing they shared was the same fanatical malice written across their faces, as though they could hardly wait to charge onto the battlefield.

Watching the projection, Jiang Tongguang raised an eyebrow and whistled. “Hero Seeds? Looks like Big Beard thinks pretty highly of Ji Jue.”

“Yellowbeard hates being called ‘Big Beard.’ You’d better watch yourself,” Gustav reminded him coldly.

Jiang Tongguang grinned. “How would he know if nobody tells him?”

Gustav stared at him impassively.

Jiang Tongguang’s smile stiffened. “You wouldn’t tell him, would you?”

Gustav said nothing, though that did not necessarily mean he would remain silent about it forever.

The Hero Seeds were another signature creation of Northwind Workshop, a terrifying work that had earned a fearsome reputation alongside the Great Lords during their four campaigns across White River into the Thousand Islands.

Rooted in the Ember Path and incorporating both Vortex and Aether, it required only a single rune seed to recreate a hero of the past. That was precisely how the Valhalla Sequence had earned its name. They were undying heroes. Even after death, they would rise again within Valhalla, feasting and drinking in the Golden Hall as they waited for the drums and horns to sound on the day they would once again follow their gods into a new war.

Frederick’s mastery and understanding of the technique had reached an impressive level. Although the heroes he summoned could exist only for a short time, they still possessed artificial souls and the physique of Chosen Ones.

Hero Seeds cultivated alongside a craftsman through years of battle could even be implanted with matrices and integrated with blessings, allowing them to break through defenses and slaughter enemies just like true heroes. Had Yellowbeard himself been here, he could probably have rummaged around in his pocket, tossed out any random seed, and grown a Swarm-type warrior at the Rebirth Realm.

Thanks to the mechanics of the simulated battles, Frederick did not have to care about losses at all. He could squander them freely. Any other craftsman would probably have felt their heart bleed at the loss of even a single one.

Now, dozens of heroes drew their swords and roared. At the very front, one of the war giants had raised the massive bronze cannon in its hands, a weapon several meters long. With a thunderous blast, blazing light erupted from the muzzle.

After undergoing successive rounds of alchemical refinement, the enormous shell, transformed from ordinary iron, was wreathed in flame. Within it was stored scorching heat and destructive force comparable to a volcano.

The shell tore through the air, burning away the black rain in its path before slamming head-on into the workshop’s main gate with a terrifying force powerful enough to blow an entire city wall into the sky. Large sections of the mountainside collapsed, exposing the metallic structures beneath. Torrents of mud and stone came crashing down as the earth shook violently.

With that single shot, the workshop gates were blasted clean off. They shattered into pieces and went flying into the air. The attack had gone so smoothly that even Frederick’s replica froze for several seconds, as though suspecting some kind of trap.

From the darkness beyond the gate came piercing shrieks and agonized wails, as if the gates of hell itself had just opened. If Frederick had been there in person and witnessed the scene, he probably would not have been able to stop himself from swearing.

The first thing to emerge from the darkness was an enormous, gaunt hand. Its five fingers were drenched in thick, viscous blood as they writhed and clawed their way forward. Then came a hideous silhouette, so horribly distorted that its original form was long past recognition.

The evil creature was every bit as massive as a war giant. It opened its mouth and let out a shrill howl filled with agony and madness. Across its entire body, blood-red eyes opened, immediately locking onto the invading enemy. It had already been starving for far too long.

With the chains holding it back snapping, it lunged forward and charged at them in a frenzy!

But even more horrifying were the bizarre, savage silhouettes lurking within the deep darkness beyond the gate and the unending sounds of chains snapping apart. Countless crimson speckles of light rapidly swelled within the darkness.

Dozens of evil creatures, driven utterly berserk by pain and torment, burst through the gate at once. Their heads, spines, and limbs still bore gaping puncture wounds. Their mangled bodies were covered in stitched scars, and some had even been fitted with armor cast directly onto their flesh from molten iron!

Forty-one evil creatures formed the workshop’s first line of defense as a little surprise for any intruder. You never appreciated the cost of running a household until you were the one paying the bills. Careful budgeting, making things last, and living within your means—that was the proper way to get by.

And as a seasoned expert in being broke, Ji Jue naturally refused to let anything in his possession go to waste. If even a single grain of rice fell on the floor, he’d practically clear the room and make everyone line up outside until he found it.

As the workshop continued to develop, it no longer required quite so many evil creatures to devote their youth and future generations to the cause, so naturally, their treatment had improved a little. Granted, under the influence of aberration contamination, they constantly tried to attack the workshop and cause Ji Jue a bit of trouble, but Ji Jue had generously forgiven them and magnanimously welcomed them into the workshop’s big happy family.

All they had to do was sell their bodies. After the necessary materials had been harvested, if an evil creature was somehow still breathing, Ji Jue would stitch it back together more or less as it had been before. He would even implant metal to replace and reinforce its bones, substitute aberrant mercury for its blood, and replace its heart with some crudely assembled engine. Then he would chain it outside the workshop to guard the gate and keep watch for him.

By now, every evil creature had some form of metal structure protruding from its head, or else enormous silver gleaming rivets embedded into it.

The implants Ji Jue had personally crafted with his conscience firmly switched off ensured that, when nothing was happening, the creatures’ minds remained disconnected from their bodies. At the same time, electric currents continuously stimulated the tissues tied to their senses, keeping them in a constant state of hunger and agony so that they would always be ready to feast at full force.

As for whether they obeyed orders, why did that matter? As long as they could be chained outside and guard the door, that was good enough. All they needed to do was wag their tails when they saw him and bare their teeth when they spotted an intruder.

The moment Ji Jue raised his hand, a harsh, monotonous screech of metal grinding against metal rang out. Every maddened evil creature reacted as though it had received an absolute command from above. Not one dared hesitate. Catalyzed by stimulants injected directly into their spines, their bodies swelled once more as they roared hungrily and charged at every living thing in sight.

A tide from hell came surging out of the darkness beyond the gate and crashed head-on into the war giants. In an instant, an entire mob of grotesque evil creatures of every imaginable shape and size became locked in brutal combat with the army of the north.

Meanwhile, in another simulated battlefield, a sinister figure clad in scarlet armor raised its head beneath the pouring rain and looked ahead. Illuminated by flickering flames, a towering fortified wall rose before it. The clatter of armor plates and the clash of weapons rang out without end.

This was no mere workshop. Beyond the fortifications stretched rows upon rows of military encampments, filled with countless burly figures clad in armor. This was clearly a heavily fortified army camp!

The moment the horn signaling an enemy attack sounded from atop the walls, the massive gates burst open, and armored puppets marched out, shouting.

The invading replica, a one-to-one replica of Ji Jue, seemed to flash a wicked grin before sweeping a hand forward. Behind it, countless berserk evil creatures came charging out.

Yeah, right. Nothing happened. The replica turned around in confusion, finding nothing behind it.

Wait. Where are my dogs? I didn’t bring my dogs?!

Unfortunately, not a single one had come along. Ji Jue’s attempt to exploit the rules had failed.

Whether those dubious things even counted as alchemical creations was questionable to begin with. Just look at them. At most, Ji Jue had merely put some scrap to use, replaced a few parts, and slapped on a few chains. The only reason they had even been allowed to remain in the workshop and guard the entrance was Jiang Tongguang’s desperate wish to see rivers of blood. There was no chance he would let Ji Jue bring them into the opposing simulation as well.

And now, amid the blare of horns, the fortress shuddered. Enormous openings appeared along the walls, revealing the pitch-black muzzles of massive cannons.

The spirit matter targeting system locked on. Thunderous blasts erupted into the sky, disturbing the storm clouds above. For a split second, the darkness vanished beneath a blaze as bright as the sun as destruction descended from the heavens!

The armored figure looked up at the countless shells raining down from above and let out a helpless sigh. Slowly, it raised a hand and drew its blade.

A clear ringing note soared like a bird taking flight. It cut through the roar of the storm and the clamor of the rain, floated above the thunder of cannon fire, and echoed across every corner of sea and sky.

There was no visible movement at all. Perhaps that sound had been nothing more than an illusion. Still, deep within the fortress, Frederick was drenched in cold sweat!

As time seemed to slow almost to a standstill, a streak of scarlet flashed. The moment time resumed its usual flow, the torrential rain, the howling wind, the sweeping shockwaves, and even the blazing projectiles falling like countless stars were all split cleanly in two!

In the armored figure’s raised steel hand, a strange blade several meters long had appeared. It was as clear as crystal and as red as blood.

As the severed curtain of rain fell once more, black raindrops pattered down along the spine of the blade. They slid across its surface, gathered at the edge, and fell toward the earth.

Water dripped, mournful as a sob and delicate as a tear or a drop of dew.