After lighting up Arcane Machinery, Daniel immediately let out a breath of relief.

In his previous lives, humanity had relied on nothing but its own stubborn efforts, burying its head and pushing forward blindly. Who knew how many wrong turns they had taken, how many resources they had wasted, before finally achieving even the smallest results on the technological path of Arcane Machinery?

But now, all he had done was consume a little Immortal Singularity, and he had completed what would later become the crystallization of all human wisdom.

This was the benefit of the game system.

It was the same as the laws of destiny and causality. If he had to comprehend those laws by himself, it would be no different from a blind man feeling his way down an unknown road.

But with the game system, everything became much easier.

He knew very well just how powerful Arcane Machinery was. As long as there were blueprints, then in theory, anyone could become Iron Man.

And right now, he was not lacking materials either.

With that thought, he decisively began deriving manufacturing blueprints.

[Ding! You have consumed Immortal Singularity and successfully derived the [Arcane Armor Blueprint (legendary-grade)]!]

[Ding! You have consumed Immortal Singularity and successfully derived the [Elemental Arcane Cannon Blueprint (legendary-grade)]!]

...

As Daniel listened to the system notifications, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Excellent!

Arcane Armor was war equipment capable of giving ordinary people power comparable to a legendary-grade powerhouse.

As for the Elemental Arcane Cannon, it was exactly what its name suggested—a cannon!

The only difference was that both its energy source and materials were made from magical materials.

He opened the blueprint.

[Arcane Armor Blueprint (legendary-grade)]

Requirement: legendary-grade engineer

Grade: legendary-grade

Effect: After use, allows the creation of [Arcane Armor].

[Arcane Armor]: Can change size according to the wearer’s will. It can partially cover the body or fully envelop the wearer. It grants the wearer legendary-grade Strength and defense!

Required materials:

[A-grade Energy Source]

[A-grade or higher auxiliary materials]

[A-grade or higher arcane metal]

[legendary-grade magical rune array]

[legendary-grade combat cuneiform]

...

After Daniel finished reading it, he took out the other blueprint.

[Elemental Arcane Cannon Blueprint (legendary-grade)]

Requirement: legendary-grade engineer

Grade: legendary-grade

Effect: After use, allows the creation of [Elemental Arcane Cannon].

[Elemental Arcane Cannon]: Can gather elemental power and use elemental cannon shells as its means of attack. The longer elemental power is condensed, the farther the range. Its maximum damage limit is legendary-grade!

Required materials:

[A-grade Energy Source]

[A-grade or higher auxiliary materials]

[A-grade or higher arcane metal]

[legendary-grade magical array]

[legendary-grade combat cuneiform]

...

Daniel closed the panel.

Both of these war machine blueprints were quite impressive.

He already had all the required materials. In fact, he even had materials of a far higher level than what the blueprints demanded. Manufacturing them would not be a problem at all.

As for legendary-grade engineers, there were already some among Aetheria’s NPCs.

He immediately summoned Administrative Officer Roland.

"Gather all legendary-grade engineers. We’re going to concentrate our Strength and accomplish something major."

Roland was briefly stunned. Then he placed a fist against his chest and bowed.

"As you command!"

A sharp light flashed in Daniel’s eyes.

Once the Arcane Armor was manufactured and equipped on players, any player would be able to possess legendary-grade combat power.

Just imagine it.

Billions upon billions of steel warriors mobilizing together.

What kind of suffocating sight would that be?

A smile appeared on Daniel’s face.

...

The Endless Starfield.

A Starfall Isle was advancing at tremendous speed.

And the direction it was flying toward was unmistakably Aetheria!

A Starfall Isle was usually a drifting island in the starry void, formed by fusing together shattered fragments of worlds. It was the unmistakable symbol of the Astral Corsairs.

These Astral Corsairs had no fixed living world of their own. They could only survive by constantly plundering others.

...

On the Starfall Isle.

Conrad stood with his hands behind his back.

His long purple hair fluttered gently in the star wind.

His purple eyes gazed into the distance. Within them was anticipation, but also a heavy, oppressive worry.

The Starfarer Clan had wandered through the Endless Starfield for more than ten thousand years.

As the clan leader, Conrad’s desire for a living world where his people could settle down was even stronger than his pursuit of Strength.

Because he knew that sooner or later, the Starfarer Clan would either be casually wiped out by other pirates or slapped to death by some powerful being passing through the void.

That was why his lifelong wish was to find a living world where his clan could finally live in peace.

He was a once-in-a-million-years genius of the Starfarer Clan, and his power had already reached the quasi-sage level.

Logically speaking, he should have been able to smoothly break through to Divine-grade ten thousand years ago.

But unfortunately, the living world the Starfarer Clan had relied on for survival had reached the end of its lifespan. The entire planet had been covered in sky ash. If they had not left, the whole clan would have died.

So they had no choice but to follow the Divine-grade powerhouses of the clan, leave their homeland, and plunge headfirst into the abyss of the Endless Starfield.

But what kind of place was the Endless Starfield?

Even Divine-grade powerhouses were nothing more than slightly stronger ants there.

In less than ten thousand years, the Divine-grade powerhouses of the clan had died one after another.

Now, the strongest person left in the clan was Conrad.

Conrad carried the hopes of the entire clan on his shoulders. The life and death of the whole race rested upon him.

With such immense pressure weighing down on him, his mind could not flow freely. Worry had blocked his path of advancement completely.

And so, his strength had remained stuck at quasi-sage.

He understood very well that as long as he could settle his clansmen properly, then with the foundation he had accumulated over all these years, he might be able to break through to Divine-grade in an instant.

At some point, Mara had walked over to his side.

Conrad looked at her and smiled faintly.

"Mara, what brings you here?"

Mara sighed.

"Every clansman is excited. They all think we’re finally about to have a place to settle down. But I keep feeling that something about this is wrong."

Conrad was startled.

"Why?"

Mara shook her head.

"Because we’re being used by the Godkin. We’ve become their chess pieces. From now on, our lives and deaths will no longer be in our own hands."

Conrad gave a bitter smile.

"I understand that too. If the Godkin are willing to promise us an entire living world, then there must be something in Aetheria that even they can’t handle."

"But we have no choice."

Mara sighed again.

"I know. We no longer have a choice."

"If we continue drifting through the Endless Starfield, we’ll be finished sooner or later. Going to Aetheria at least gives us a chance to fight for survival."

Conrad comforted her.

"Don’t worry."

"The information the Godkin gave us is extremely detailed. The strongest warrior over there is only supreme-grade. I, however, am a quasi-sage."

Mara bit her lip. She seemed to want to say something, but in the end, she swallowed the words back down.

Finally, they turned into nothing more than a sigh.

She turned and began walking back. Then, suddenly, she stopped.

"Conrad... could you perhaps not kill so many people...?"

Conrad opened his mouth, but not a single word came out.

He turned back to look at Mara. Her back trembled slightly before she slowly walked away.

Conrad stood there just like that, unable to say anything.

The Endless Starfield was simply that cruel.

For the sake of his clansmen, he had done everything.

Astral Corsair. Assassin. Taking assassination commissions...

He had done every dirty and exhausting job imaginable. All he wanted was to let his clan survive.

But the condition offered by the Godkin was to slaughter every last human in Aetheria.

He had no right to bargain.

And he did not dare violate the oath.

As for the blood staining his hands?

Heh.

Everyone knew that the heavier the slaughter, the fiercer the karmic backlash would be, and the harder the future Divine-grade tribulation would be to survive.

But this world simply refused to leave the Starfarer Clan any path to survival.

What else could he do?

Such was the cruelty of the starry void.

Conrad closed his eyes and let the wind scrape past his ears.