Chapter 319 - 312: Planning and Layout
Chapter 319: Chapter 312: Planning and Layout
Allen set foot in Zone 18.
He did not immediately begin fusing the semi-plane fragment. The closer he got to the precipice of a qualitative change, the colder and more restrained his Mechanical Mind became.
He needed several days for preparations.
Step one: inscribe the "Fortress Workshop Deployment" Witchcraft.
The doors to the Meditation Room slammed shut and locked. Allen sat cross-legged, his Spiritual Power sinking into his Sea of Spirit.
The first Core Witchcraft of a Second-level Wizard was far more complex than anything he had attempted before.
Spatial folding, dimensional anchoring, soul-imprint synchronization—each layer required an extremely high degree of control over his Spiritual Power.
Fortunately, he had been studying this Witchcraft for a long time since purchasing it, and he already knew the inscription path by heart.
’DSeek, activate assistance,’ Allen commanded inwardly.
[All processing power allocated. Error monitoring initiated.]
His Spiritual Power transformed into the finest of carving knives as Allen began to chisel the patterns of Law deep within his soul.
For three whole days, Allen was like a tireless, precision instrument.
Finally, a three-dimensional, multi-layered matrix, so complex it was dizzying, floated steadily in the center of his Sea of Spirit.
[Inscription Complete]
Allen felt no excitement. The real battle was just beginning.
Step two: modular reconstruction of the workshop.
He stood up and activated a light screen.
A complete view of the workshop that had accompanied him for many years appeared in the blue light, rendered in perfect detail.
’I have to stuff the entire workshop into the semi-plane. I can’t just throw it all in there; I need a solid plan beforehand.’ Allen’s fingers swiped rapidly across the holographic model, partitioning the workshop’s three-dimensional layout.
"Jarvis, record the new partitioned and isolated design."
[Recording, Commander.]
Allen divided the workshop into seven independent functional zones.
Central Hub Zone: The location of the five Earth Vein Magic Furnaces and the workshop’s consciousness pedestal. This was the "heart" and "brain" of the entire semi-plane.
Production and Manufacturing Zone: Housed the three existing Golem component assembly lines and a vast amount of equipment. Allen had also insanely reserved expansion space for fifty more lines.
Assembly and Calibration Zone: The workshop for the final assembly and calibration of Golems.
Research and Development Zone: A live-fire testing and new technology validation ground, which would also contain many independently isolated high-risk experiment chambers.
Living Quarters: The Meditation Room, personal workshop, and living spaces. Allen even reserved a reception room and guest rooms—though he couldn’t imagine who would be visiting for the time being.
Storage and Logistics Zone: The largest area, featuring an automated multi-level warehouse with internal transport rails. It was designed to store massive quantities of ore, ammunition, as well as Golem hangars and berths capable of housing twenty Golem Legions.
Defense and Offense Zone: The workshop’s outermost bastion layer, integrating weapon arrays, protective Rune Matrices, and armored outer walls. Currently, only the basic framework was complete. Its firepower density was not even a fraction of Master Mercer’s fortress.
All the zones combined covered a total of twelve square kilometers, roughly the size of a small county town from his previous life.
For a ninety-three-square-kilometer semi-plane, this used less than one-eighth of the total area.
But the framework had to be built first.
The key was that each zone maintained physical independence. In addition to wide roads, they were also connected by "spatial interfaces" that could be severed.
This was a design Allen had spent a great deal of time refining.
Once the fusion was complete, he could choose to deploy a single zone into the Material Realm, or deploy all of them.
During combat, he would deploy only the Defense Zone to act as a shield and weapons platform. For production, he would deploy the Production and Assembly Zones to churn out troops on the spot. Meanwhile, the storage and core zones would always remain within the semi-plane, ensuring absolute security.
Jarvis calculated the optimal zone ratios and deployment priorities, generating multiple preset plans.
His current workshop only occupied four square kilometers, and that was including the outer Golem berths and hangars. The remaining space could only be framed with Black Patterned Magic Steel walls for now, to be filled in later.
While the Factory Servants began the modifications with fiery enthusiasm, Allen prepared for the third step: establishing a comprehensive defense.
The fusion process would take seventy-two hours.
During this time, the workshop would exist in the dimensional seam between the Material Realm and the semi-plane, making it extremely fragile. Any Magic Power impact exceeding an apprentice’s level could trigger a dimensional collapse.
"Jarvis, cut the power supply to all non-essential mining sites. Concentrate all processing power on the main workshop."
"Recall all Golem Legions on patrol and establish a three-layered defensive perimeter around the workshop."
"Launch the Insightful drones and begin a full-spectrum scan. All Red Lotus II Missiles are to be moved to pre-launch status."
[Commands received.] Jarvis’s electronic voice seemed to carry an indescribable hint of grimness. [Commander, are you ready?]
"I’ve been ready for a long time."
Allen opened his eyes, his gaze piercing through the porthole to the endless wasteland beyond.
He had spent all his savings, even drawn an advance on future military funds. But what he had bought was not a weapon, nor a mine.
It was the seed of a world.
"Seventy-two hours," Allen muttered to himself, his Mechanical Mind operating at its absolute peak. ’Even if a Son of the Abyss were to pop up now, I’d still knock out a few of his teeth.’
"Jarvis, sever all external connections."
[Command confirmed. Good luck, Commander.]
The lights in the main control room dimmed. Allen split off six sub-threads from his consciousness, linking them directly to the peripheral Demon Eye network and taking over all command authority.
Everything was ready.
Step four: fuse the semi-plane.
Allen walked to the main control pedestal in the core zone and took out the Alchemy Box that sealed the semi-plane fragment.
The lid flew open.
The silver "bubble," shimmering with dimensional ripples, floated silently in the air. Merely gazing at it induced a dizzying sensation of falling into nothingness.
Allen took a deep breath and instantly activated the "Fortress Workshop Deployment" matrix in his Sea of Spirit.
HUMMM—!
A vibration that could not be described by sound swept out from Allen in an instant, covering the entire twelve-square-kilometer workshop.
Allen raised his hand and pressed the silver bubble to the spot between his eyebrows.
The soul imprint, the Core Witchcraft, and the spatial anchor point collided in that instant.
The fusion began.
To the naked eye, the workshop seemed unchanged, but within Allen’s magical senses, the world was being overturned.
The walls, floor, and ceiling, all forged from Black Patterned Magic Steel, began to ripple with a silvery, water-like sheen. They were getting "thicker."
This was not an increase in physical thickness, but a state of simultaneous existence in two dimensions: the Material Realm and the semi-plane.
"Energy Circuits, full integration."
Allen clenched his fists.
The five Earth Vein Magic Furnaces let out a deafening roar. Their immense Magic Power was no longer channeled outward. Instead, it followed the spatial nodes opened by the Witchcraft and poured madly into the void-like semi-plane.
The Magic Power transformed into glowing roots, into the underlying Law, replacing the semi-plane’s missing "primordial heart."
The workshop’s walls became the world’s borders; the roar of the assembly lines became its pulse.
The sensation was like a God carving out a new world from the void.
Time ticked by, second by second.
On the surrounding wasteland, two waves of low-level beast packs, attracted by the fluctuations of Magic Power, attempted to approach. They were silently annihilated by a squadron of Spider Slayers twenty kilometers out. The defensive line was rock-solid.
But inside the workshop, dimensional repulsion was silently accumulating.
The forty-seventh hour.
Allen’s face suddenly paled. A piercing red alert blared from DSeek in his mind.
[Warning! Spatial resonance misalignment! Synchronization rate has fallen below the critical threshold!]
Allen’s eyes snapped open, fixed on the testing zone in the east wing.
The metal walls there had developed a visible "afterimage." The same wall had shifted by about 0.3 meters between the Material Realm and the semi-plane.
Spatial displacement.
If the displacement continued, the wall and all the equipment within would be sliced in half as neatly as tofu by a dimensional rift, triggering a chain-reaction collapse of the entire workshop.
’Steady.’
Allen showed no signs of panic. His Mechanical Mind shielded him from all fear and distracting thoughts.
’Fine-tune the frequency. Counter-clockwise, three degrees.’
Allen gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, as he forcibly used his Spiritual Power to pluck the misaligned dimensional string.
Under the pull of an invisible force, the afterimage of the wall slowly merged back into one.
0.2 meters.
0.1 meters.
Perfectly aligned.
[Misalignment corrected. Synchronization rate restored to 98.5%.]
Allen was drenched in a cold sweat, gasping for air. But he did not relax, his eyes glued to every fluctuating piece of data.
The seventy-first hour, fifty-ninth minute.
The final strand of the Magic Circuits connected completely with the semi-plane.
BZZZT!
The entire workshop suddenly fell deathly silent.
It wasn’t that there was no sound, but that all sound, vibration, and Magic Power fluctuations had, in that instant, completely vanished from the material world of the Molten Iron Mountain Range.
Allen remained where he was, still in the Material Realm, but the workshop had become a phantom image. He could see it but not touch it, like a mirage.
He could clearly feel that the metal floor beneath his feet, the standby mechanical arms around him, and even the temperature of the air no longer belonged to the original world.
They existed in an independent dimension that only he could perceive, that only he could open.
[Fusion Complete.]
[Current Semi-plane Area: 93 square kilometers.]
[Workshop Occupied Area: 12 square kilometers.]
[Current Status: Located in semi-plane, integration phase.]
Allen closed his eyes, savoring the immense power of total control. He was this world’s anchor. With but a thought, he could make this war fortress descend anywhere he wished.
"Finally done." A satisfied smile touched the corners of Allen’s lips.
He recalled Master Mercer’s warning: for twenty-four hours after the fusion, absolutely do not attempt to deploy it.
The spatial barriers needed time to fully synchronize with his soul.
Allen was an extremely rational person. He certainly wasn’t going to risk his own life to test the sharpness of a dimensional rift.