Chapter 318 - 311: Finally Got It
Chapter 318: Chapter 311: Finally Got It
The azure tail flame of the Odyssey’s engines tore through the scorched-yellow clouds of volcanic ash as it landed smoothly in the private landing zone outside the Forged Fire Fortress.
The hatch opened, and a fierce wind, thick with the acrid smell of sulfur, blasted him in the face.
Allen descended the Odyssey’s ramp. His boots made a dull thud on the landing pad paved with Black Patterned Magic Steel.
His pace was steady and unhurried, his back ramrod straight. His Mechanical Mind kept his heart rate clamped at a firm fifty beats per minute, but only he knew how fervently the heart in his chest was pounding.
’His very own private space was finally about to become a reality. It felt just like going to pick up a new game console—pure joy and excitement!’
「The top floor of the Forged Fire Fortress.」
Allen pushed open the door to find Mercer Iron Star standing before the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing down at the fortress’s production lines, which bustled below like an ant colony.
Hearing the footsteps, Mercer turned. There was no trace of emotion in his azure, crystalline eyes.
He wasted no time on pleasantries, simply raising his right hand and tapping a long finger lightly in mid-air.
Two walnut-sized, illusory forms slowly materialized in mid-air.
Allen’s breath hitched.
They were two intangible "spatial coordinate anchors."
Silver-blue dimensional ripples flowed across their surfaces, making them look like two irregular soap bubbles.
Focusing on them induced a powerful sense of vertigo, as if they refracted an infinite void within.
"The one on the left." Mercer’s cold, steely voice echoed in the hall. "Price: 834,000 Mid-Level Magic Stones. Maximum expandable area: 87 square kilometers."
"The one on the right." Mercer’s gaze fell on the slightly larger silver bubble. "Price: 895,300 Mid-Level Magic Stones. Maximum expandable area: 93 square kilometers. Both are premium items I purchased from a Radiant Moon-rank Wizard."
The corner of Allen’s eye twitched almost imperceptibly. ’My mentor is as direct as ever, getting straight to the price.’
895,300 Mid-Level Magic Stones. The number was just shy of his entire savings, leaving him with only pocket change.
’Did my mentor hack directly into my financial system?’
Allen suppressed the sarcastic thought and let his gaze sweep back and forth between the two fragments.
"Has Victor chosen one yet?" Allen asked a crucial question.
That heir to the Tieyan Clan had previously sworn that his family would sell everything they owned, down to their last pot, to get him a large one.
"He hasn’t advanced to Level 2 yet," Mercer said, his tone even.
Allen understood immediately.
The fusion of a semi-plane fragment was the cornerstone of the Core Witchcraft of a Second-level Golem Wizard: Fortress Workshop Deployment. Until he reached Level 2, he wasn’t even qualified to make the purchase.
’Poor Victor. The direct heir of a top-tier noble clan, sitting on a mountain of resources, yet still struggling at the threshold of Level 2.’
’In other words, the choice between these two was his to make.’
"I’ll take the big one."
’Sorry, old friend.’ Any hesitation at this point would be a crime.
Mercer glanced at him, a flicker of some faint emotion passing through his azure, crystalline eyes.
’Was it approval? Or mockery?’ Allen couldn’t quite tell.
"DING. Transaction successful."
With the sound of Jarvis’s notification, the long string of digits in Allen’s account dwindled, leaving him with little more than pocket money.
Mercer flicked a finger, and the larger silver bubble on the right drifted steadily into a special containment box he had prepared, which then floated over to Allen.
"This isn’t a physical object."
Mercer watched as Allen secured the lid, then, uncharacteristically, offered a few more words of explanation. "A semi-plane fragment doesn’t exist in the Material Realm we occupy. It floats in the Sea of Magical Power—a boundless, chaotic ocean without direction or a coordinate system."
Allen listened in silence.
"The Material Realm is merely one ’bubble’ in the Sea of Magical Power. A semi-plane fragment is another, much smaller and incomplete, bubble."
Mercer pointed to the box in Allen’s hands. "What you’re holding is, in essence, a ’coordinate.’ Without it, you could know that space exists and still never find it."
"Once your workshop fuses with it, the coordinate will be irrevocably bound to your soul imprint. The fragment will move as you move within the Material Realm. Then, in the entire universe, you and you alone will know where your workshop is located."
’Absolute secrecy. Absolute security.’
’In all the world, no one but him could find the entrance.’
’Sounds amazing.’ Allen tightened his grip on the box.
"Now, listen carefully. I will only say this once."
Mercer cut through Allen’s reverie, his tone as unyielding as tempered steel.
"First, the fusion stage. Before the semi-plane connects with matter, it is an absolute ’void.’ There is no air, no gravity, and no light—only the most fundamental Laws."
"You will need to use your Magic Furnace to replace the plane’s ’primordial heart’ and your workshop’s Energy Circuits to serve as the space’s ’foundational Laws.’ You must supply it with energy to support its formation."
"It’s like using Alchemy to perform genesis," Allen murmured softly.
"An apt comparison," Mercer continued. "Second, the vulnerable period. The initial fusion process will take approximately seventy-two hours. During this lengthy period, your main workshop will be in a state of ’dimensional transition.’"
Mercer’s gaze turned intensely sharp. "It will exist simultaneously in the seam between the Material Realm and the semi-plane. In this state, any impact of Magic Power beyond an apprentice’s level, or even a moderately strong geological tremor, could break the spatial anchor’s lock and trigger an immediate dimensional collapse."
"And the consequences of a collapse?" Allen asked.
"The spatial turbulence will fling your workshop—along with all the Golems, ore, and you yourself—into the Sea of Magical Power."
A brief, deathly silence fell over the room.
"I have a question." Allen broke the silence, cutting straight to the most crucial detail. "Since the total area is fixed at ninety-three square kilometers, how do I expand it once I’ve filled up the interior?"
"To expand, you must continue to purchase and fuse new fragments. Once the fragments accumulate to a certain scale, a quantitative change will trigger a qualitative one, allowing it to advance from a ’semi-plane’ to a true ’plane.’"
Allen’s mind raced, grasping the grand implications behind that statement. "For example?"
Mercer turned his head, his gaze drifting toward the gloomy, ash-gray sky outside the window.
"The Mechanical Realm. The Clockwork Realm." Mercer spoke two names that were legendary in the Wizarding World. "Those special planes... perhaps they all began as a single fragment, just like the one you now hold."
BOOM!
It was as if a thunderclap had detonated inside Allen’s mind.
’The Mechanical Realm? The Clockwork Realm?’
’Those supreme planes, described in ancient texts as vast and boundless, governed by infinite mechanical Laws—they could be artificial?!’
’This isn’t some expansion pack for an arsenal; this is the very foundation of a Divine Kingdom!’
"One last piece of advice." Mercer retracted his gaze, fixing it on Allen once more. "For one full day after the fusion is complete, you must not, under any circumstances, attempt to cast Fortress Workshop Deployment."
"Why not?"
"The spatial barriers need time to fully synchronize with your soul imprint," Mercer said coldly. "Forcing the deployment will cause a spatial misalignment. The best-case scenario is damage to the workshop’s structure. The worst-case... you’ll be sliced in half by a closing spatial rift."
"Understood. Thank you, Mentor."
Allen gave a solemn Wizard’s salute. He didn’t linger, instead guiding his Spiritual Power to carefully store the spatial anchor. ’This thing is worth more than my life right now.’
「Ten minutes later.」
The Odyssey was airborne once more, speeding toward Zone 18.
In the main control cabin, Allen leaned against a cold metal bulkhead and let out a long, turbid breath.
He closed his eyes, activating no subroutines, simply savoring a brief moment of mental stillness.
Just then, an urgent red notification box from Jarvis mercilessly popped up in his vision.
[WARNING, COMMANDER.]
[CURRENT LIQUID ASSETS: 470,000 LOW-LEVEL MAGIC STONES.]
[FUNDS ARE INSUFFICIENT TO COVER DAILY WEAR-AND-TEAR MAINTENANCE FOR SIX STANDARD GOLEM LEGIONS.]
[WE... ARE ON THE VERGE OF BANKRUPTCY.]
Allen slowly opened his eyes. He looked at the paltry sum on display, but instead of despairing, the corners of his mouth crept into an irrepressible grin, and finally, he began to laugh silently.
’Broke.’ He was all too familiar with the feeling of having nothing to his name.
Ever since the day he’d first arrived in this world, he had been worrying about Magic Stones.
In this cruel world, poverty was the norm, and poverty bred ambition.
But this time, being broke was entirely different.
He felt not a single shred of panic.
He touched his chest, feeling the cool surface of the box.
Because he had spent his entire fortune to buy the seed of a world.