Downpour and Interception

The situation was urgent, and Miao Xin spared no effort in using fuel. She pushed the high-speed reconnaissance version of the Rainbow Drone to its limit, tearing through the sky with a sonic boom. Trailing behind it were clouds that had solidified into white cones due to the shock wave effect, as it hurtled toward the target area.

The footage transmitted back by the drone was stunning.

On the earth, billowing dust raged and churning like a roaring yellow dragon. An unimaginably massive silhouette moved at high speed through the dust, uprooting towering ancient trees like fragile stalks, collapsing sturdy houses like building blocks, and crushing roads into dust. Night had fallen, and with the dust obscuring the sky, visibility was extremely low. Miao Xin activated the various information reconnaissance devices on the drone. Soon, the untangled composite image was projected onto the command center's large screen: it was a terrifying behemoth over five hundred meters long, with a majestic body covered in crystalline scales and six limbs as thick as pillars supporting the sky, each step causing the earth to tremble. It had no wings, and from its mountain-like back emerged several enormous clusters of crystals, like a jungle.

"It's Crystal Dragon!" Su Ming's pupils contracted. Six legs, no wings, crystal clusters on its back—these characteristics were completely consistent with the features of the enormous biological skeleton unearthed deep within the Lanmo Cave and the Rift Tribe ruins.

"This kind of thing... actually exists alive in the Taya Plane!" Zijin's voice was grave. "And this one is much larger than that skeleton from ten thousand years ago!"

As the drone's scan progressed, clearer images were transmitted back. When the camera focused on the giant beast's back, everyone in the command center involuntarily gasped!

The broad dragon spine was densely inlaid with Magic Power crystals, forming a massive cluster of magic arrays that emitted terrifying energy fluctuations. The layers of light were like a suit of armor woven from Stars, covering this world-destroying behemoth!

"My God, this quantity..." someone exclaimed in shock, their voice trembling uncontrollably.

"At least a million!" another voice added hoarsely.

Although the specific function of these magic arrays could not be identified, everyone understood that even if a pig were hit with a million high-purity Magic Power crystals, it could be turned into a pig god!

What's more, the main body is a gigantic Crystal Dragon!

Inside the command center, the air was so heavy it seemed like you could wring water out of it.

Miao Xin's Rainbow Drone continuously sent back massive amounts of data. The biological attributes of this dragon-shaped behemoth were confirmed by its infrared signature. On the platform area on its back, synthetic aperture radar outlined more than a dozen moving humanoid silhouettes, and even scanned the structure of the shed, complete with beds, tables and chairs.

"It's still a campervan," Su Ming remarked.

He marked the map he had laid out. Based on the observed movement trajectory, although the behemoth was heading towards the Dragon Valley, it was not heading straight for the Final Bone Mad Machines base, and its direction was quite different.

Su Ming traced a straight line along the enemy's current trajectory, but within the Dragon Valley, it did not find any tactical or strategic targets worth "visiting".

"Where is this guy going?" He frowned.

The dwarves, however, provided the answer: the super dragon's direction was towards the "Pomegranate" mine in the Dwarf Kingdom!

King Star Pickaxe's expression darkened further. The "Pomegranate" mine was the largest Magic Power crystal mine in the Dwarf Kingdom, accounting for 23% of their national output! After receiving intelligence from Ailu, the "Pomegranate" mine immediately conducted a thorough internal investigation. But unexpectedly, the threat came from elsewhere!

"Is this attack aimed at the dwarves?" Zijin couldn't help but wonder.

[I suspect our target is still us.] Su Ming wasn't so "optimistic." [Such a big guy, it can do whatever it wants with whoever it wants!]

[That's true.] Zijin understood too. No matter what this aggressive enemy's intentions were, they had to be eliminated, right beside their bed! King Star Pickaxe, disregarding all decorum, urgently issued orders to numerous units within his kingdom via the newly established communication array. Pomegranate were the absolute lifeblood of the Dwarf Kingdom!

A voice call came in on Su Ming's phone from Stacy.

"Quail said he knows some information that might be useful."

Zijin's head snapped closer. "What news is it, 'Ms. Deathbird'?"

Stacy visibly choked for a moment on the other end of the phone, followed by the faint rustling sound of the phone being handed over.

Quail's slightly hesitant voice came through; he was learning how to use a mobile phone, "President... when I was imprisoned at the ' Burit ' Manor, I was required to research an extreme mining method for crystal mines—controlled self-destruction!"

"Controlled self-destruction?" Su Ming frowned. "How fast is this method?"

"It's possible to empty a large vein of minerals that would take decades to mine in just a few days," Zijin interjected, then immediately raised a question, "'Controlled self-destruction' is just a theoretical concept; it's not feasible in practice."

Even before it's mined, the Magic Power crystals can be controlled and manipulated from a distance through rock. Therefore, some have proposed this idea: if the crystals in the vein could be detonated, using the explosive force to blast open the rock, wouldn't mining be much faster?

However, in practice, this method proved ineffective. Firstly, the layers separating the Magic Power crystals are very thick, and the controllable distance is limited. By the time you can manipulate it, the crystal is not far from being mined.

Secondly, theoretically, it's possible to detonate only a small portion of a crystal. However, there's a high probability that the entire crystal will be destroyed! "But," Quail's voice became smoother, speaking to the phone making him more relaxed, "The client possesses a domain ability called the Crystal Cascade Magic Cube. The wielder can precisely control crystals within a large area and detonate only a small portion, thus directionally damaging the rock strata without completely destroying the crystal. I've been asked to calculate the most suitable ore vein and the optimal explosive model based on the characteristics of this ability." The Crystal Cascade Magic Cube? Su Ming's heart skipped a beat. This meant at least one Saint Rank enemy was involved!

"You completed this research task?" Zijin pressed.

Quail nodded on the other end of the phone, "There aren't many mineral veins suitable for the Crystal Cascade Magic Cube, but ' Pomegranate ' ore is one of them. However, for the second task, optimizing the blasting model, I only submitted a substandard solution, with a loss rate... a whopping 93%!"

Su Ming turned to the pale-faced King Star Pickaxe, "What is the currently proven exploitable reserve of your ' Pomegranate ' mine?"

This was undoubtedly a core secret of the Dwarf Kingdom, but King Star Pickaxe did not hide it, his voice hoarse as he said, "Around one hundred million."

"Damn it!" Su Ming slammed his fist on the table. "That means if we don't stop them, this monster will have to be covered in another seven million Magic Power crystals!"

"Yes," the Quail confirmed.

During the call, Su Ming kept the speakerphone on and did not avoid the dwarf. At this moment, the temporary command room was deathly silent, with only the hum of the instruments and the rumbling of the giant beast moving on the screen.

Fear and pressure weighed heavily on everyone's heart.

"I can't just sit here and wait for this monster to feast and drink its fill in ' Pomegranate,' then come looking for trouble with a full set of 'divine gear'!" Su Ming's tone was resolute, his gaze sweeping over King Star Pickaxe. "I hope to launch a cross-border attack!"

On the screen, an unprecedentedly colossal Crystal Dragon was crushing everything in its path. On the dwarf side, the Saint Rank warrior Kaqi and Giant Hammer had led the kingdom's most elite "Crushed Stone Legion" to rush to the aid under the cover of night.

But faced with this terrifying force, akin to a natural disaster, the potential impact on them and the rest of the dwarven army is hardly promising. "President Su Ming!" King Star Pickaxe stood up, his short, stocky frame radiating a resolute aura. "In the name of the Dwarven King, I request that all forces be used to stop this catastrophe! The Dwarf Kingdom is willing to pay any price in return!"

"Understood!" Su Ming nodded emphatically. He turned to Bowers, who stood at attention, and said, "Sound the alarm! Halt all non-critical production! All Final Bone Mad Machines, Level Two Combat Readiness! Long-Range Fire Battalion, assemble immediately!"

Regardless of what kind of monster this is, adorned with a million crystals, it's always a good idea to give it a thorough cleaning with supersonic missiles!

On the Jinghuo or spine platform, in the makeshift shed, Nitelai, who had worked hard for two days, was already asleep.

Because of the Crystal Dragon's enormous weight, the place was more stable and quieter than expected.

The tremendous commotion of six colossal dragon legs shattering the terrain, though muffled and distant through their thick bodies, was still amplified by the sound of the din. The Death Knell, however, created a silencing barrier for Nitelai. She herself was in poor condition; the main force for this mission would have to be Jinghuo or Nitelai. She unfolded a map, quickly estimating the distance to the "Pomegranate" mine, finding it would take nine hours to reach. They would then spend three to four days at that large mine. Although Nitelai's Crystal Cascade Magic Cube Domain could violently mine Magic Power crystals, such a vast mine would require nibbling away at it piece by piece.

"But it doesn't matter. As long as we take down ' Pomegranate,' nothing on the Eastern Continent will be able to Death Knell Jinghuo in the short term!" Janet, you'll be leaving soon. "While Janet Jinghuo is powerful, its speed is limited by its massive size. We can easily crush fortresses and cities, but we struggle to pursue mobile individual targets."

Janet nodded respectfully; this was part of the plan. Jinghuo might turn the base painstakingly built by the Final Bone Mad Machines into ruins and shatter their alliances.

Su Ming might be able to relocate to another continent, but eight million crystals are not their limit, nor is the ocean an obstacle to the Crystal Dragon's movement. This is the Deboning Plan—it may not be able to kill in one blow, but it can unleash endless destruction. As Su Ming is constantly driven away from his foothold and gradually becomes a rootless duckweed, that will be the time for the Divine Covenant Faction to hunt him down!

Janet took a scroll from her bosom and handed it to her, "This is Quail's optimized 'controlled self-destruction' plan."

The Death Knell was taken and unfolded.

"The yield has stabilized at seven percent..." A hint of approval flashed in her dull eyes, "It's 1.5 percentage points higher than the initial version. This Quail scholar is truly remarkable."

"It's a pity he was silenced by Su Ming," Janet said with regret. "Otherwise, he might have been able to improve even further."

"Now, in the Taya Plane, those who can do better than him," Death Knell's tone was also tinged with regret, "Are probably all on Su Ming's side." She raised her head, her gaze piercing through the thick, pervasive dust and fog, and looked up into the sky. There, two strangely shaped alchemical creations hovered above the Jinghuo or the trajectory of movement.

There was only one at first, but now two more have joined, and they are gathering like vultures that have smelled carrion.

"Those are Su Ming's magical pets," Janet explained. "They possess abilities such as shared vision and Penetrating Vision— Su Ming must have already taken full view of us."

Death Knell nodded; this was the first time she had seen such a flying magical pet in person. But its performance and flight capabilities seemed to have improved even more than what was recorded in the intelligence.

Janet was puzzled. "Lord Death Knell, why don't we shoot it down?"

With the power of the magic array clusters on the Crystal Dragon's back, taking down these two targets would not be difficult.

Death Knell slowly shook her head. "If Su Ming can see it, let him see it. Exposing our ranged attack capabilities too early would be a loss." Janet said no more, bowed, and then, with two attendants, found a spot away from the chaotic air currents stirred up by the Jinghuo or its massive body, leaped off the dragon's back, and her figure quickly disappeared into the billowing dust.

Inside the shed, Death Knell sat down to rest. But after a short while, she suddenly opened her eyes. The night sky, which had previously only had sparse Stars, was suddenly filled with countless points of light, like an inverted Milky Way, bringing with it a chilling sense of destruction!

"Enemy attack!" she quickly alerted Nitelai, "It's Bone King's attack!"

Nitelai woke up instantly, still a little sleepy in his eyes, but his body had already sprung up.

He stomped his foot suddenly, and the shockwave spread out. In an instant, the Crystal Dragon array cluster was like a sea of Stars that had been ignited, suddenly boiling over! Countless streams of energy surged wildly between the crystals, emitting a deep hum.

"That Bone King, he arrived really fast!" Nitelai exclaimed.

He made a grasping motion with both hands, and the domain of the Crystal Cascade Magic Cube unfolded. Ripples swept across, and the surging energy flow within the magic circle instantly became silky smooth, neatly arranged.

As the area expanded, two hundred points of light, radiating an aura of death, also entered the five-kilometer radius! They simultaneously began terminal maneuvers, locking onto the predetermined impact points from different directions and along different curves.

This is the first short-range ballistic missile that Su Ming has equipped, named "Jiangling". A swarm of steel and flames weighing six tons was launched from the Ruby Base, tearing through the sky at four times the speed of sound, and traveling a distance of seven hundred kilometers to strike!

Although the missile swarm arrives at the same time, they are actually distributed along different ballistic trajectories, launching attacks from multiple directions to increase the difficulty for the enemy to intercept and respond.

Su Ming even chose to unleash all the stockpiles he had accumulated over this period at once, when the enemy was unaware of the specific performance of his own weapons!

The first wave of attacks was an all-out, saturation-coverage assault!

Nitelai's face darkened, and he clenched his outstretched hand into a fist. Within the cluster of magic circles, thousands of blazing white orbs of light soared into the air, rushing towards the falling meteors!

The first wave of interception had little effect; only a handful of missiles turned into a poignant, orange-red fireball in the air. Most of the "meteors" seemed to possess a life of their own, easily evading the light sphere's attack with agile trajectories!

Nitelai's brow furrowed deeply. The enemy's weaponry had once again undergone a comprehensive upgrade, far surpassing its previous performance! Now was not the time to be stingy with energy!

Nitelai suddenly opened his palm! As if opening an invisible floodgate, a second wave, a third wave... countless orbs of light shot out from the cluster of magic arrays!

In an instant, tens of thousands of blazing white orbs filled the sky, illuminating the pitch-black night as bright as day, turning the sky into a boiling sea of light! These orbs frantically rushed toward their locked targets, forming an impenetrable net of death light.

Some missiles twisted and turned desperately, making extreme evasive maneuvers, but were ultimately torn apart in mid-air by sheer numbers, turning into bursts of fireworks. Others suddenly split open, like blooming steel flowers, releasing dozens of independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs)! Some of these reentry vehicles were still swallowed and destroyed by the light spheres in mid-air, but a considerable number escaped, rushing towards the core of the magic array on the Crystal Dragon with shrill screams! The Death Knell clasped its hands together in front of its chest with lightning speed, uttering obscure syllables!

In an instant, above the Crystal Dragon, numerous massive and solid hexagonal arrays of light membranes appeared, like giant scales of light, barely blocking the falling projectile!

These multiple-shot warheads were forcefully blocked and detonated, exploding into dazzling fireworks on the surface of the light membrane, creating ripples of energy.

Two "lucky" single-warhead projectiles managed to evade all interception and crashed vertically. Upon contact with the light membrane, the runes etched on their outer shells suddenly burst forth with blinding light!

The light membrane was burned through, creating a hole. The bullet pierced through it and slammed into the core of the magic array below!

Boom! Boom!!!

Two large sparks erupted from the crystal Crystal Dragon's back! The shockwave, mixed with shattered crystal and metal fragments, swept across the surroundings. The two core magic arrays were torn to shreds and instantly dimmed.

A large section of the crystal scales beneath the magic circle was also torn off. Blood splattered like a waterfall, and a stinging and burning sensation spread across Jinghuo's body. They looked at the bullet marks on their backs in surprise.

"This Su Ming is really that powerful," one of the spirits exclaimed in surprise.

"He really came from the world without magic?" another spirit said. "Clock Hand Tokiharu, could you leave him alive for us to study? His soul would be fine too." "Damn it, it's the body I'm responsible for that's hurting!" yet another spirit howled. "Isn't anyone going to heal him or stop the bleeding?!"