Construction

Below lie the sleeping mountain shadows, and above, a river of stardust flows.

Starlight fell, gently piercing the veil of time and space, enveloping the two under the deep curtain of heaven and earth.

A few strands of Zijin's hair, straying from her ear, were stirred by the restless night breeze, gently brushing against Su Ming's cheek, carrying a slightly cool, ticklish sensation. A moment later, their lips parted.

Zijin suppressed the slight trembling in her fingertips, loosened her grip and was about to step back when Su Ming suddenly reached out and pulled her back into his arms.

"Ah!" Zijin gasped, her hands instinctively pressing against Su Ming's firm chest. "No, stop it! I'm... trying to stop you from losing control of your power!"

Su Ming tightened his grip on her arm. "Are you saying that you kissed me because of an emergency, because of the circumstances?"

Zijin stubbornly tilted her head to one side, revealing her ears, which were already tinged with crimson.

"Well, you never know..."

In the distance, a dense series of whooshing sounds grew louder as they approached, interspersed with several anxious and resounding dragon roars. The intense energy fluctuations from earlier had clearly alerted them.

"Let go... so many dragons are coming..." Zijin's voice was so soft it was almost swallowed by the wind if you weren't paying attention.

Su Ming then slowly released his grip.

A massive, dark figure came to an abrupt stop in front of the two, accompanied by a strong gust of wind. It was Elder Mo Yuan, followed closely by a dozen or so menacing members of the Dragon Race Guard.

The dragons quickly deployed into a defensive formation, searching for enemies in their surroundings; a tense atmosphere filled the air.

"It was just that Su Ming's power temporarily went out of control, and Elder Zhimeng overdrafted his spell." Zijin had already regained her composure and explained briefly, "Get us to the Celestite Hydropower Station as soon as possible."

Mo Yuan didn't ask any more questions. After Su Ming and Zijin landed on his back, he flapped his dragon wings and flew away at full speed as a streak of light. The two sat down on the dragon's back. Su Ming immediately took out his phone, unfolded it into a tablet, and the screen shone in the night. He continued to work on the tasks he had just interrupted.

Zijin closed her eyes, communicated with Miao Xin, and briefly recounted what had just happened.

"Have them on Earth conduct a thorough investigation to identify all factors that could potentially trigger the problem," she solemnly instructed. "For a period of time, Su Ming must not come into contact with these elements again."

[Got it, it's about finding the "allergen" and then isolating it!] Miao Xin immediately understood. [Su Ming doesn't know yet, right?] [When I'm awake, I can hear your conversation!] Su Ming's thoughts interrupted directly, tinged with a hint of helplessness. [Don't worry, I've already learned to "coexist peacefully" with that memory seal.]

"I understand," Miao Xin replied. "That's great!" she suddenly exclaimed. "I thought it would just explode out of nowhere, but it seems like I'm the only one who's going to be like this!"

"[... If you can talk, then say more.]" Su Ming said irritably.

Zijin suddenly tilted her head slightly and leaned on Su Ming's shoulder.

This posture somewhat hindered his tablet operation. Su Ming adjusted his posture, shifting back so that Zijin's head rested on his lap. His gaze refocused on the screen, his expression intent, the blue light from the screen casting a cool shadow on Su Ming's face, revealing little emotion. "I'm sorry," Zijin suddenly said, her voice tinged with a hint of probing, "Are you angry?"

Su Ming paused, his fingers hovering over the screen. He looked down at the girl resting her head on his lap. "No, I'm very happy." He showed her the content on the tablet. "It's just that Newman's new request is quite tricky."

Zijin took the tablet from Su Ming and glanced at the chat history.

Newman demanded that Gravity Spell be applied to the Giant Bone Dragon construct to prevent it from tipping over due to recoil when the Vermilion Bow was fired, thus imposing more stringent requirements on the vertical load-bearing structure.

However, in order to support the current weight, the Jisu team is adding a pair of support legs to the Type 59 Modified. This temporary change to structural requirements means more time will be wasted and additional difficulties will arise.

"No need for Gravity Spell." Zijin's fingers flew across the screen. "Setting up a large-scale deflection field will solve the problem." She quickly typed out a string of core runes and key parameters, clicked send, and attached a message: "I will complete the full calculation upon arrival at the scene." "Impressive!" Quail on the other end of the communication couldn't help but exclaim, "Rumor has it that Bay Owl manages to write several papers every time he gets into a fight—and it's actually true!"

"Why not say that she gets into a fight every time she writes a paper?" Newman corrected Quail's misconception. "Otherwise, where do you think the nickname ' Belladonna ' came from?"

With the problem solved, Su Ming folded up the tablet and put it away. In this rare moment of free time, his gaze returned to Zijin's face. The starlight reflected in the girl's clear pupils, creating shimmering, sparkling light.

"Your eyes," Su Ming suddenly said, "Are really beautiful."

Upon hearing this, Zijin turned her body sharply to the side as if she had been electrocuted, turning her face to the outside.

Su Ming stared at the girl's profile, which was so close to his own, with great interest. "I'm sure of it now. When you're shy, your ears always turn red first!" Zijin bit her lower lip, clenched her fist, and lightly tapped Su Ming's leg.

"Is my personality... kind of awkward?" came her muffled voice.

"Uh, what do you mean?"

"... Even though I'm really happy inside, I always reflexively pretend to be nonchalant." Zijin's fingers tightened, her voice tinged with frustration, "I'm always hoping you'll notice, but I can't help but hide..."

"I think I'm pretty stupid. Your emotions were so obvious." Su Ming rubbed his face with both hands. "Luckily, I won't be fooled by you again."

"Hmph, that's hard to say!" Zijin said.

The phone notification sounded again, Su Ming reopened the screen. This time it was a call from Beianqi.

Zijin rubbed her temples, and after relaxing, a wave of fatigue washed over her.

"What's wrong with you?" Su Ming glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"I just used the power of the concept of life," Zijin explained. "I'm a little tired."

"I should have released far more Magic Power than you—why am I unharmed?" Su Ming asked, puzzled.

"Unlike you, I've been practicing at a high intensity all the time." Zijin closed her eyes, her voice growing softer and softer, "I'm going to take a nap..." "Goodnight." Su Ming responded softly, his gaze lingering on her slightly pale sleeping face for a moment before returning to the flickering communication screen. Beside the Celestite Hydropower Station, the electromagnetic gun test area was illuminated by searchlights as if it were daytime.

With a whooshing sound, the first dragon carrying the dragon bones landed. Immediately afterwards, more dragon shadows tore through the night and landed on the makeshift landing area.

The dragon skeleton was carefully dismantled, and the necromancers, who had been eagerly awaiting its arrival, swarmed forward. Their hands trembled with almost pious devotion as they caressed the robust bones that, despite the passage of time, still possessed immense power.

Deep within every necromancer lies a yearning for powerful undead. Among them, the bone dragon is the ultimate goal.

But the scenario of not being hunted by dragons, or even working alongside them, is something they wouldn't even dare to dream of!

A giant dragon from the Ruby Base arrived, a bulging package hanging from her neck. The Dragon Claw untied the straps, and the package unfolded with a "whoosh," revealing a pile of crudely bound design drawings.

These are the papers that just came off the printing line; the stacks of paper are still hot to the touch.

"By shift, come and collect your blueprints!" the giant dragon roared, its eyes sweeping across the blueprint cover as it began to read, "Left foreleg shift! Hind hoof load-bearing shift! Torso core shift..."

The various officials immediately lined up in front of the dragon, and the scene became like a bustling market.

Su Ming landed beside Younier.

"There are too many people inside. We'll move half of our staff to the outer perimeter to stand by and rotate them," Su Ming said.

Younier quickly gave orders into the microphone, coordinating with the various grassroots commanders to arrange for some of the workers to leave the work area. The situation immediately became much more organized.

Zijin stretched, her gaze catching sight of Newman and Quail rapidly approaching on the horizon aboard their dragon. She gestured to Su Ming with her chin. "Leave the construction of 'Type 59 Modified ' to us."

"Come on!"

Beianqi approached, holding a stack of supply lists. "All the materials needed for upgrading the Vermilion Bow are ready!"

Su Ming nodded. "Let's go, let's begin!"

This electromagnetic railgun propulsion system, originally designed for launching satellites, is now being used as a ground-attack weapon, requiring numerous adjustments. The Earth Support Team has modified almost every component to varying degrees.

Su Ming arrived near the cannon, and spatial energy surged, rapidly constructing new components. The engineering team immediately stepped forward to install and calibrate them. Beianqi unfolded her portable computer and began a large-scale firmware update.

After about two hours of work, the functional upgrade was finally completed.

The Vermilion Bow remains upright and has not been removed from the test base. Su Ming and Beianqi immediately began system testing, starting to launch lightweight electromagnetic projectiles for debugging.

The heart of the Dwarf Kingdom is only two hundred kilometers from the "Pomegranate" Magic Power crystal mine.

The terrain became treacherous here, with hills and ravines jaggedly intersecting. The Saint Rank warrior, Kaqi; Giant Hammer, stood atop a small hill, his gaze fixed on the enormous, mountain-like shadow in the distance that almost blended into the night.

It may seem close at hand, but it is actually more than ten kilometers away.

On the hillsides and in the valleys surrounding the Giant Hammer, a large number of dwarven array masters were busily at work. Their tools carved deep grooves into the rock, carefully filling them with shimmering magical powder, and arrays of runes silently spread into a network under the night sky. On the broad back of the super Crystal Dragon, Death Knell held a steaming cup of jujube and goji berry water, carefully blowing away the steam as she sipped. Suddenly, she lifted her eyelids. "Ahead... there seems to be a small insect."

Nitelai focused his senses for a moment, then shook his head. "I can't sense it. I'm not as perceptive as you."

Death Knell closed his eyes, his spiritual tendrils extending forward like a spiderweb, searching and capturing. After a moment, he said, "Warrior type, it should be that dwarf called Giant Hammer. There are quite a few people with him, but their auras are all very weak."

Upon hearing this, a hint of interest flashed in Nitelai's eyes. "Giant Hammer? That's worth getting a feel for."

Death Knell frowned. "At this distance, we only have one attack method available—I don't recommend revealing Jinghuo's breath ability now." "As if Su Ming and the others wouldn't guess if we didn't reveal it," Nitelai scoffed.

"That's true." The Death Knell stopped objecting.

Jinghuo slightly adjusted its direction, turning to face the Giant Hammer directly.

The Death Knell leaped lightly onto the highest crystal peak and gazed into the distance. In the deep night, hundreds of dwarves could be vaguely seen, like diligent worker ants, busily moving through the sparse woodland.

"What are they doing?" Death Knell's brows furrowed even more.

"I don't know," came Jinghuo Huo's reply, "But it won't matter for a while!"

Its head, as large as a crystal mountain, slowly rose. Deep in its throat, a buzzing sound of energy began to accumulate, and a vortex of Magic Power light shone from its throat, illuminating the menacing giant teeth below.

The dwarves ahead immediately noticed and began to flee frantically, but it was to little avail. With the Jinghuo or energy fully accumulated, a devastating explosion ensued!!!

A destructive breath, a mixture of dazzling energy and countless sharp crystal fragments, burst forth like a bursting dam. Wherever the light passed, the air was scorched, distorted, and shrieked.

The Giant Hammer Jinghuo the danger the instant it was charging up! It roared and ordered all the array masters to retreat! But the enemy's attack was launched much faster than anticipated!

The ten-kilometer distance was covered in the blink of an eye, swept by the torrent. Even though the energy dissipated and weakened during the surge, the force that finally arrived was still terrifying!

Many array masters instinctively raised their magical shields, but they crumbled like paper before the overwhelming power! Flesh and blood were instantly stripped away, and bones turned to dust amidst ear-piercing cracking sounds!

The violent energy, carrying their remains, slammed them into the hard rock wall behind them, which had been instantly stripped of vegetation!

The Giant Hammer unleashed its Dou Qi, propelling it backward like a cannonball, but it only reached the edge of its attack range before being thrown back by the immense force, crashing into a distant hill like a kite with a broken string, creating a deep crater!

When the Giant Hammer struggled to crawl out of the rubble and mud, wiped the blood from his face, and looked at the hill where he had just stood, he found that all that remained was a huge, deep pit!

Giant Hammer coughed up a mouthful of blood; the blow had just severely injured him. But what broke his heart even more was that the entire army of three hundred array mages who had accompanied him on the mission had perished!

"That dwarf is still alive," said the Death Knell on the back of the Crystal Dragon. She could easily withstand one or two attacks from a Saint Rank warrior. With a flick of her slender finger, a magical mark was instantly imprinted on the Giant Hammer.

"Let's have a few more small bites."

Jinghuo raised her head again, a faint glimmer of light appearing in her throat.

Rumble!!!

Below and to the left of the Super Crystal Dragon's massive body, the earth suddenly groaned. Countless beams of earthy yellow light shot out from the ground—waves caused by the earth's pulsation!