Taking Shape

Disassembled "Skull Staff." Construction Points +1.

"Whew..."

Only when the necromancer's staff before him had completely disintegrated and vanished, and the System Prompt appeared, did Duanmu Huai finally breathe a sigh of relief. He then composed himself and swiftly issued an order.

"Unlock the Warp Space Dock."

With Duanmu Huai's command, the entire Core Cabin gave another faint tremor before returning to normal. He then stepped out of the Core Cabin, passed through the corridor, and arrived on the other side—where there had once been a smooth wall, an elevator door now stood. Duanmu Huai entered, pressed the button, and the elevator slid downward.

Through the elevator's transparent glass window, Duanmu Huai could clearly see the scene outside the Core Cabin. Where he stood was no longer merely a simple, shabby-looking cylinder. It was now a cathedral-like structure floating in the void of space. Gothic domes and exquisite, lavish spires gleamed brilliantly beneath the light of the stars, like a work of art. The corridors connecting the various areas also resembled those of Gothic cathedrals on the ground, displaying an elegant and magnificent appearance.

As Duanmu Huai admired the scenery before him, a shadow suddenly flashed past. The next moment, the elevator descended into a metal passageway and slowly came to a stop. The doors opened, revealing an enormous, boundless space before him.

The Warp Space Dock.

This was where the Inquisitor built all of his warships and fleets. Here, the Inquisitor could invest resources and blueprints to manufacture all kinds of warships. For that reason, the dock was immense, stretching beyond sight at a glance. It was also the place in the entire Space Station with the fewest religious elements. Smooth metal plating and gangways had replaced the stained-glass windows and decorations steeped in religious symbolism. Simply standing here and looking at the unimaginably vast dock before him made even Duanmu Huai feel as insignificant as a speck of dust.

At present, the Warp Space Dock was nearly empty. Only at Hangar One sat a black vehicle: the Night Raven Black Star Gunboat. It was an extremely efficient vehicle for an Inquisitor, capable of using its formidable firepower and unimaginable speed to break through enemy lines, deliver the Inquisitor into the enemy's Core Area, wipe out everything there, and then leave.

"Whew..."

Seeing the vehicle, Duanmu Huai finally relaxed.

"This is great. I finally won't need to teleport anymore."

That was right. The reason Duanmu Huai had chosen to invest his precious second Construction Point into the Warp Space Dock rather than upgrade the Hall of Inquisition Library to increase its analysis speed was for this gunboat. With it, he would no longer have to risk teleporting back and forth. He could simply use the gunboat to travel and act.

Yes, risk.

Although directional teleportation seemed like a simple and useful spell to ordinary people, in truth, almost every veteran Inquisitor avoided using teleportation whenever possible.

The reason was simple: teleportation drew upon the power of Warp Space. And Warp Space—guess who was in charge of that?

A similar situation had occurred in the game.

It had also been during the End Times. Back then, eight Heroes had joined forces to thwart the Chaos Legion's plan. Surrounded on all sides, they needed to ensure the plan could proceed, so a goddess sacrificed her life and cast a powerful spell to send the eight Heroes deep into enemy territory.

According to the plan, they should have appeared near a Chaos Teleportation Gate and destroyed it.

But in reality, due to the intervention of some unknowable—though in truth, well-known—black hand, the teleportation spell malfunctioned and scattered the eight Heroes across different regions. One unlucky fellow had even opened his eyes to find himself teleported directly in front of the final boss.

Then, without a word, he had been captured on the spot.

That was why any spatial spell was extremely dangerous, especially for Duanmu Huai. It might have looked exhilarating whenever he teleported back and forth, but in truth, every time he worried that he would open his eyes after teleporting and find himself in the middle of some boss, an army, or simply tossed into a volcano...

Now, that worry was finally gone.

"So this is Master's home? It's really huge."

At that moment, a leisurely, sweet voice sounded. A smiling young girl walked out from behind him, curiously looking around. She was none other than Mia, the one from the Sky City series of cards Duanmu Huai had obtained earlier, who played the role of "the robot doll whose soul had been replaced by an Evil Wizard."

According to Mia, she was a robot doll of the "living assistant type." Of course, if her master wished, she could also take on other roles.

Duanmu Huai decided to pass on that. Honestly, her acting in that role before had not been very good.

"That's right. This is my home. While I'm away, I'll leave this place in your care. No problem?"

"Of course, Master. Please leave it to me."

Hearing Duanmu Huai's order, Mia nodded.

After clearing Sky City, Duanmu Huai had gained far more cards, so he began arranging the Space Station according to his design from the game. First, he summoned Mia to watch over the entire Space Station while he was away. That way, if anything happened, he could contact Mia at any time. Besides that, he summoned a large number of dolls to serve as guards.

Although dolls with only 1 attack and 1 defense could not guard much of anything, at least if they were destroyed, Duanmu Huai would learn of it immediately and be able to respond.

Besides, summoning Mia also made this place feel a little more alive.

At the very least, when Duanmu Huai returned in the future, a pretty girl could be here to cheerfully welcome him home instead of him facing an empty Space Station. Players were people too—without a few perks, life would be impossible to bear, right?

Though honestly, Duanmu Huai could not imagine how those Space Marines would feel seeing a hulking muscleman greet them with a smiling face... Uh, never mind. Better not think about that.

Moreover, this arrangement was also a small trick players used.

Soul Cards had two modes: "summoned onto the field" and "in hand." But contrary to what players might think, being "summoned onto the field" did not mean they had to be on the front lines of the battlefield. Even if they were placed far in the rear of the Space Station, those cards still counted as "on the field."

That was quite a clever move. Many special servant cards were not particularly strong in combat themselves, but their special abilities were extremely powerful. If those servants appeared on the front lines, they could easily be destroyed by the enemy.

But if they were kept in a Space Station thousands of miles away... that was another matter entirely.

And with that, Duanmu Huai's Space Station had finally begun to take shape!