Phase-smith

"Rohana, give me the nearest mineral vein route. We're cutting straight through this jungle."

"Yes, Executor."

Receiving the route map from Rohana, Shen Jun opened the communication system on his Psionic Concentrator and recalled the scattered Protoss squads to camp. He needed to warp in several more groups of Protoss.

"Executor, what happened? Why the urgent assembly?"

As soon as he returned to camp, Tassadar came rushing over in a flurry. Shen Jun was puzzled—Tassadar was no spring chicken. He'd become a Protoss Executor at 356 years old, commanding an army on his own, and now he was three hundred years old. How could he be so impatient?

"There's a Crystal Mineral vein on the other side of the lake. Our next objective is to seize it. Now we need to prepare to welcome new kin."

Shen Jun opened the panel again and, in one go, clicked on the Crystal Tower four times. I've got money now, might as well be reckless.

Then, Shen Jun noticed several new buildings had unlocked: the Warp Gate, the Forge, and the Photon Cannon.

Warp Gate: A Protoss device used for ultra-long-range troop warping. Each Warp Gate has its own independent Time-Space Navigation Route, capable of reaching the other end of the galaxy with virtually no delay. It is the most important war building.

Forge: A fully mechanized factory for mass-producing equipment. Nearly all individual soldier gear comes from here—such as Psionic Concentrators and leg enhancement devices. A single Forge can produce over a thousand items per day.

Photon Cannon: The Protoss have few defensive structures, but the Photon Cannon is the most widely used. Its mounted micro-antimatter cannon can easily tear through enemy assault lines, and it is equipped with the most advanced sensor technology, capable of easily detecting cloaked units.

Shen Jun's eyes burned with excitement. These three buildings were incredibly practical. He immediately set up two Photon Cannons at the camp entrance, facing the northern jungle.

Then he built a Forge near the lakeside. The preparatory work was just about done.

Lucky break—three of the Crystal Towers warped in warriors. Among them were four hundred Nerazim, whom Shen Jun assigned directly to Zeratul's command, while two hundred Khalai Protoss went to Tassadar.

The last Crystal Tower, however, brought two hundred engineers, including an elderly Phase-smith. Phase-smith was the highest title in Protoss scientific circles. Though lower in status than a Templar, the vast majority of Templar treated them with great respect. The most famous Phase-smith was Karax of the Daelaam; without him, the Spear of Adun could never have been activated.

"Tassadar, Zeratul, take your men to cut down some trees and build rafts. This lake is no small thing, and there might be threats in the water. Make the rafts as large as possible."

Tassadar and Zeratul received their orders and immediately led their subordinates to fell trees. Each had half their men cutting wood and half building rafts, all while secretly competing to finish their rafts before the other.

After arranging housing clusters for the two hundred engineers, Shen Jun gathered them together. These two hundred were true treasures—all technological research depended on them. Rohana had said she could only warp intact buildings and Protoss, not other technological constructs.

Moreover, the other universe was collapsing. The number of buildings available for warping was rapidly decreasing. Once the StarCraft Universe was completely destroyed, no more Protoss could be warped from there.

So these Protoss scholars were the only hope for reviving Protoss technology. They had to be well taken care of.

"Phase-smith, tell me your name."

Shen Jun found the Phase-smith and asked.

"Oh, Executor, you're calling me? My name is Kerasul."

Kerasul's attitude was exceptionally polite, almost flattered. This reaction told Shen Jun that this aged Phase-smith came from the old Protoss society.

A class society where engineers had low status.

Even though Shen Jun wasn't a Protoss, he was still the chosen Protoss Executor. Normally, Kerasul wouldn't even be qualified to meet such an important figure.

Let alone be personally addressed by name.

Shen Jun had no idea that his simple question had filled this future chief technologist of the Protoss Empire with gratitude. He continued, "Kerasul, how long have you been an engineer? What field of research are you skilled in? Do you have any needs?"

"I'm five hundred years old this year, with over four hundred and fifty years of research experience. My main focus is war machines. To be honest, the Mechanical Sentinel is my creation, but I have even better ideas..."

Once the topic turned to research, Kerasul's shyness vanished, and he excitedly recounted his genius concepts to Shen Jun.

Shen Jun, of course, couldn't understand all the technical jargon Kerasul was spouting, but he knew the Mechanical Sentinel all too well. The Guardian Shield that protected allies and the Force Field Barrier that blocked enemies—both were abilities that could drive you crazy.

The best partner for a Zealot, an essential machine for the Protoss army—and it came from the hands of the man before him?

Shen Jun was practically grinning from ear to ear. This time, he'd really struck gold. Inventing the Mechanical Sentinel was proof enough of Kerasul's technological prowess.

"Executor, the rafts are ready."

Just as Shen Jun was deep in conversation with Kerasul, Zeratul and Tassadar came trotting over to report, both finishing the task at the same time.

Apologizing to the chattering Kerasul, Shen Jun went to the lakeside and saw two hundred rafts floating on the water.

The rafts were large—they could carry twenty humans, but only four or five Protoss. However, Shen Jun ordered each raft to carry only two Protoss. He planned to take only four hundred men.

Knowing that this planet was occupied by the Trigonians and Beast Bodies, the Protoss—whose form was between a Beast Body and a God River Body (humanoid)—would undoubtedly be seen as heretics. The Protoss base couldn't be left undefended; two Photon Cannons weren't enough.

Many Alien Beasts had died in recent days. It was only a matter of time before the Beast Body civilization took notice.

So Shen Jun decided to leave Tassadar and the High Templar behind to protect the engineers, because Zeratul's Dark Templar had a huge advantage.

They could achieve optical invisibility using Void Psionic Energy. This ability was terrifying. As far as Shen Jun knew, the Super God Academy had limited means of detecting optical cloaking, generally confined to God-level civilizations. Aerospace Civilizations rarely possessed such technology.

Rohana had detected a large concentration of Beast Bodies around the mineral vein. Their technology was poor, relying mainly on physical strength in combat, with no technological detection methods. So the cloaking-capable Dark Templar had a clear edge over the High Templar.

The lake was quite large. The rafts drifted for over an hour before reaching the opposite shore. Along the way, they encountered over a dozen water monsters, which met their end under the Warp Blades of the Dark Zealots, contributing a batch of Biological Essence to Shen Jun.

The opposite shore was a mountain range. The Crystal Mineral vein was inside a mountain to the southwest. The mountain was thick with vegetation, jagged rocks, and treacherous terrain.

Alien Beasts were everywhere.

Shen Jun's armor was a custom type, also equipped with an optical cloaking system, but its duration was limited—unlike the Dark Templar, for whom it was instinct.

Counting Zeratul, there were twelve Dark Templar. Without reconnaissance aircraft, the only way to scout the mineral vein was through them.