Connecting to the Stone Man Network

Upon hearing Yuan Chen's reply, Malphite nodded seriously, and his massive body began to shrug to one side. In just a moment, he disappeared from everyone's sight.

The tunnel where Malphite had been standing had returned to its original state—although Malphite had just been standing there, no large holes or anything like that had appeared in the area Malphite had occupied.

On the contrary, Malphite seemed to have become one with the surrounding rock formations, able to move freely among them.

Of course, this only applies when he is focused. When he is not focused, such as when he is talking to someone, Malphite's connection with the rock is affected, thus causing geological changes.

Turning his gaze to Qiyana beside him, Yuan Chen said, "Let's seal off this mine tunnel. It seems to have become one of the nests and pathways for Void Creature."

Upon hearing this, Qiyana nodded solemnly, gripped the Oretal Ring Blade in her hand, and with a slight swing, huge rock protrusions rose from all angles of the tunnel, sealing it off completely.

As a knowledgeable Elemental Master, Qiyana was aware of the threat posed by the Void.

Looking at the sealed tunnel, Yuan Chen nodded. Then, glancing at the rock formations on the back of his hand, he thought for a moment, then focused his attention and stretched his palm towards the wall beside him.

Immediately afterwards, to Hewitt's incredulous gaze, Yuan Chen's hand reached into the rock without any hindrance, as if it were being plunged into water.

Seeing the same thing, Qiyana's eyes widened suddenly, and she said in surprise, "This is... from that Monolith?"

"Yes, the Monolith's Protection."

Yuan Chen nodded and withdrew his hand.

"A gift from Malphite, of exceptional quality, that has increased my earth resistance and allows me to move freely through rocks and soil, just like him."

After a pause, Yuan Chen added with some emotion, "Having his own will, if it were Malphite in his prime, this blessing would at least be of Epic Quality... But even as it is now, it's enough."

Malphite's power is undeniable. Although his ability to wield power may not be as great as that of an ordinary demigod, with such immense quality and quantity, even a simple charge from Malphite could kill a group of demigods.

At least, among the demigods of Runeterra with a background or records, only Ornn has demonstrated the ability to destroy continental shelves... Apart from that, there are only the World Rune that went out of control during the Rune Wars due to the greed and desires of mortals.

Hmm... the damage caused by the World Rune still exists to this day. Many demons were able to enter the material world because they descended along with the release of the World Rune.

Thinking about this, Yuan Chen couldn't help but think of the Uroa's Elixir in the ribbon.

But thinking about it, I decided against it. Putting aside the possibility of Uroa's remnant soul possessing my body, the potential for a subsequent pursuit by the wandering mage Ryze would be enough to give me a headache.

"How does it feel to walk through the mud?" Qiyana asked curiously. "Can it be simulated using Yuan Chu Axiom or Spirit Theory?"

"It's worth a try, but it's very difficult," Yuan Chen said.

"This spell doesn't have a clear formula; neither Spirit Theory nor Yuan Chu Axiom can be directly applied. It's more like a manifestation of a powerful force, such as transforming one's physical form into an energy structure similar to rock..."

"That's impossible!" Upon hearing this, Qiyana, who was standing to the side, was somewhat surprised:

"Converting energy into matter or matter into energy is by no means easy! The slightest mistake can lead to irreversible and permanent damage to parts of the body!"

"If this kind of individual change were really so simple, then the Vidalion Loom wouldn't be the national treasure of Ixialia!"

Yes, the Vidalion Loom possesses a similar ability, weaving magic into silk. It breaks down matter into energy and then weaves it... That's how Yuan Chen acquired the Fire Dragon Heart Leather Armor.

Although it's leather armor, it looks like cloth armor at all.

"The Monolith Fortress was built under the supervision of Ne'Zuk," Yuan Chen said, glancing at Qiyana. "And Ne'Zuk was Ascended mage of Ixialia ... so it's not surprising that Ne'Zuk used Ixialia's relics as a reference when building the Monolith Fortress."

"...That's true." Qiyana nodded, then asked, "How does it feel?"

"It's strange, like being immersed in a very viscous solution," Yuan Chen said. "I can sense that my changes are not entirely caused by myself, but through a remote connection with the Monolith Fortress."

"The core of the Monolith Fortress coordinated with my body, like an external brain, helping me determine the data of every inch of my body. And all I have to do is naturally follow the instincts from this external brain, and I can freely move between rocks and mud."

"Hmm... the rocks don't feel very good; it's difficult to move through them, and there are some obstacles. But if it's soft, wet clay or wetlands, it's much smoother, and it feels even easier than swimming."

"What about the water?" Qiyana asked, somewhat puzzled. "The water in the wetlands... Oh, I forgot."

Before she could finish speaking, Qiyana saw Yuan Chen's indifferent gaze—she had almost forgotten that Yuan Chen's control over water far surpassed that of the Grandmaster.

Drowning a water Elemental Master is much harder than drowning a fish.

Seeing this, Yuan Chen said, "Let's go up first... The tremor just now reached outside. If we don't get out soon, the Road Protector will rush out."

Upon hearing Yuan Chen's words, Qiyana nodded and then took the lead towards the entrance of the tunnel.

Following behind Qiyana, Yuan Chen was constantly getting familiar with his newly acquired ability.

While the statement "whether it's connecting to the Rockman network or Malphite becoming your external brain" sounds a bit strange... or even like an insult.

However, it is undeniable that the core of the Monolith Fortress possesses one of the most sophisticated mechanical structures in the world.

Even though his connection with Malphite was very limited, a rudimentary connection was enough for Yuan Chen to be the fastest-thinking person in the world.

Just kidding. The Monolith Fortress, created by the combined efforts of the entire Ancient Shuriman Empire, all the scholars of ancient Ixialia, and a dozen or so Ascended Celestial scholars, is undoubtedly a top-tier magical creation even in this era.

Using such a top-tier creation as Yuan Chen's external brain, without considering anything else, just in terms of computing power alone...

AlphaGo would be moved to tears, and ChtaGTP would have to bow down in respect. As for AI assistants like Xiao Ai, they're like dogs, running away at the first sign of trouble, terrified of being noticed.

Unfortunately, the continuous connection to this item makes it increasingly demanding in terms of mana consumption...

Yuan Chen realized that this was probably because the Malphite itself was damaged, which affected the signal as well.

Otherwise, given Malphite's background, such a blessing would at least be an epic one, and would most likely grant Yuan Chen some tangible abilities, like Demon's Blessing (curse)—such as controlling rocks and soil.

But it doesn't matter, because Malphite has already embarked on the path of collecting the fragments of his body again. Once his body is perfected to a certain extent, the quality of his traits will also improve.

Based on the connection between Yuan Chen and the Monolith Core, Yuan Chen is certain of one thing: although Malphite's recovery is currently slow, it will accelerate over time.

Once its main body reaches a certain size, it can use its senses to directly attract the body fragments buried deep underground to its front through gravity.

The only problem is the computational cost... even if the final result has been simplified using the Monolith Core.

Even with this simplified result, it's still an enormous amount of information for the average person... Not to mention the risk of a head exploding, the dizziness and overheating caused by the excessive information intake are inevitable.

While pondering this, Yuan Chen continued to explore more ways to use it. By the time he left the tunnel, he had a general understanding of how to use the Monolith Core.

At the same time, Yuan Chen couldn't help but chuckle after realizing he had connected to the Malphite network.

As everyone knows, Malphite is Yasuo's father – in LoL, the number of people hit by Malphite's ultimate often represents the upper limit of Yasuo's damage output in team fights.

The stone golems that can hit five targets are often on the first page of the Yasuo family genealogy.

In Legends of Runeterra (LoR), Yasuo's card effect is to attack stunned enemies, while Malphite's card ability in LoR stuns all enemies.

Yes, the designers at LOR also play games. Whether it's the Chinese server or the foreign server, Malphite is Yasuo's biggest daddy.

And since he can summon the Stone Golem, he's practically Yasuo's jungler, right?

As he pondered this, Yuan Chen went outside. Looking at the Road Protector, whose faces were filled with worry and who were about to rush into the tunnel to rescue Qiyana, Yuan Chen offered them some words of comfort.

Following this, once everything was confirmed to be in order, the Road Protector, under Qiyana's command, began sealing off the mine to prevent the Void Creature from affecting the surface world.

After the matter was resolved, the Road Protector gathered in small groups and used Spellcasting to create temporary shelters for rest.

The miners were puzzled by this, but considering that they had not been harmed and, more obviously, the disparity in numbers and strength between the two sides, they stayed quietly in the mining area to rest.

The next morning, Yuan Chen and the others had just woken up when they received a report from the Road Protector.

In Piltover, the city closest to the mining area, a convoy of fully armed soldiers was heading towards them and had already approached the mining area where the group was located.