Qin Ze was numb.
He was in an invincible Shelter Space, how could he even be found?
The clones on the Local Area Network launched merciless mockery.
"Sir, times have changed, Shelter Space is no longer up-to-date with the current version."
"A god in the early game, a dog in the late game, definitely a discarded piece in this version."
"Huh? Who's calling Thousand Faces?"
"Invincibility is actually a curse."
"Whom did you curse? For example?"
"For example, an invincible Shelter Space."
"..."
Qin Ze leaped into the air. "Can't you move this fire further away?"
Miss Sword Case replied, "Without flying swords, it's impossible."
"Right now, we're like two magnets; I can't interfere with the process of us getting closer unless I have a flying sword."
Qin Ze was somewhat surprised that Miss Sword Case knew about magnets; it was the first time he had heard her speak with such "eloquence."
The dozen or so fire snakes, like Fervor fans chasing after a star, followed Miss Sword Case into the sky.
"The oven exploded!"
The muscular man filling in the ore next to him was terrified.
The person in charge was deathly pale.
For the Molten Steel People, the terror of a furnace explosion is worse than the end of the world.
"That shouldn't be, how could this be...?"
The person in charge at this moment could only repeat two sentences over and over again.
Chaos broke out on the boardwalk, and the musclemen, who had never encountered such a situation before, had no idea what to do.
Upon hearing the news, Zhu Shi and his brother came out of the room.
Seeing the situation outside, Zhu Shi exclaimed in horror, "This is... the furnace has exploded!"
The elder brother's brow unfurrowed; in the history of the Molten Steel People, furnace explosions were extremely rare.
He carefully inspected the furnace and found no damage, but the Furnace Fire was indeed gushing out uncontrollably.
Such contradictory situations left even him bewildered for a moment.
Zhu Shi yelled at the junior worker in charge of filling the ore, "Are you crazy! Filling so much ore!"
Furnace explosions usually occur because too much ore is being smelted at once, exceeding the Furnace's capacity.
You don't know the cost of firewood and rice until you're in charge of the household.
The ore reserves are already critically low, yet they're still filling so much land.
Zhu Shi really wanted to slap the other person to death.
The younger brother trembled, "No! I've already smelted the minimum amount required!"
"If I had to say anything more... someone just jumped in."
Zhu Shi realized, could this be the curse of those despicable alien races?
The elder brother gazed at the wildly dancing fire serpents in the sky and said in a deep voice, "It has nothing to do with him."
He was in the room next to the furnace, and he saw the clone that jumped into the Furnace Fire.
He's just a Level Four Martial Artist, and the furnace has a protective mechanism, so even if he carries a ton of Entropy Stone, it won't cause the furnace to explode.
What exactly is the reason?
For some reason, the elder brother thought of that unpredictable "god" in the Sea of Glaze.
Qin Ze was utterly helpless.
These fire snakes are like plasters, stuck to the outside of the Shelter Space and impossible to shake off.
Miss Sword Case, her eyes brimming with tears, said, "Don't worry, Mom will find you all sooner or later."
Qin Ze's face darkened.
Lady Sword Case, do you have to be so overly maternal?!
The fire serpent kept crashing against the Shelter Space, wanting to return to its mother's embrace.
While the Shelter Space isn't keeping up with the pace of the game, it's not something that can be broken through by a mere Furnace Fire.
Qin Ze flew higher and higher, and in an instant, he reached the top of the clouds.
With the thick clouds blocking his way, Qin Ze released the Shelter Space, and several fire snakes pounced on him in an instant.
Qin Ze waved his hand lightly, and the fire snakes all disappeared.
Then, he activated the Shelter Space again and flew to the Outpost City.
What appeared to be a calm and serene scene was not so clearly perceived by the Molten Steel People below.
They saw the Furnace Fire being dragged into the sky by an inexplicable force, then transforming into a circular ripple that spread for miles around, with the sky above the Outpost City and the Furnace itself ablaze.
Zhu Shi remained stunned for a long time; he knew all too well how fierce the Furnace Fire was.
Aside from the " Fire Keeper " who can make brief contact with it, anyone else who even touches it will be burned to ashes.
The elder brother gazed thoughtfully at the burning sky above.
The fierce Furnace Fire had just been tamed by a force, becoming as docile as a rabbit.
"Is this a warning?"
He was certain that even if there were no gods in the Sea of Glaze, there must be an extremely powerful being there.
A faint flame still flickered in the furnace; the powerful being hadn't plundered everything, leaving some behind—quite kind of them.
Zhu Shi asked, "Can the Furnace Fire be brought back in?"
Looking at the tiny flame, barely thick as a finger, his heart bled.
The elder brother shook his head. "We can only recover a small portion."
As he spoke, he rose from the ground and hovered a hundred meters above the Furnace.
The Furnace Fire above their heads seemed to be guided by something, falling straight down from the burning sky like a trickling spring.
It passed through its brother's body and fell into the furnace.
With a "bang," the Furnace Fire burned even more fiercely.
It went from being as thick as a finger to as thick as a wrist.
The elder brother returned to the Furnace walkway, his whole body resembling a boiled shrimp, his skin crimson and gradually becoming transparent.
His blood vessels, bones, and even internal organs were all clearly visible, as if his Flesh and Blood had melted away.
Zhu Shi quickly stepped forward to support his weak brother and led him back to the room next to the furnace.
The muscular men on the boardwalk all looked at him with admiration.
After entering the room, Zhu Shi closed the door, and the high temperature caused several large beads of sweat to drip from his forehead.
In contrast, his brother, whom he was supporting, was slowly recovering from his semi-transparent body and was no longer as weak and listless as he had been after lighting the fire.
"Keep the Furnace Fire burning; it must not be allowed to go out."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Shi nodded. "I will send out more mining teams to try our luck in places further away from the Abyss."
After sitting down, the elder brother said in a deep voice, "The god who protects this world is showing us a sign of defiance."
The arrogance that Zhu Shi once held towards weaker civilizations was gone. A being capable of igniting a fire was, in effect, a "dimensional reduction attack" against them.
"Then... shall we go?"
Zhu Shi's thinking is simple: if I can't afford to mess with them, can't I at least avoid them?
The elder brother shook his head. "We can't burn those rotten rocks in the Abyss for long."
"The deal with the Sea of Glaze must be completed."
"And this god is probably our last chance."
At first, when he heard that gods existed in the Sea of Glaze, he thought it was just a fantasy.
But just now, "God" almost extinguished their lifeblood, forcing him to believe.
"You mean..."
The elder brother slowly exhaled a breath of stale air. "We must maintain a good relationship with that empress."
"Tomorrow you go and deliver the visiting card, and I will go to pay my respects in person to see if I can have a chance to meet that god."
Zhu Shi nodded. "I understand, I'll go arrange it now."
Meanwhile, Qin Ze, who had just returned to the Outpost City, was unaware that his unintentional actions had changed the Molten Steel People's opinion of him, and had almost ended their journey through the Abyss.