Chapter 163: Chapter 160: The Definition of a Wizard’s Infrastructure Speed

The transport ship flew beneath a layer of ochre-colored clouds.

Outside the porthole, the landscape rushed by.

An endless range of dark red ridges stretched out like the fossilized spine of a colossal beast.

In the valleys, rivers of lava snaked along, emitting an ominous red glow that cast a strange, crimson hue upon the clouds above.

There wasn’t a hint of green in this world.

Allen didn’t spend much time admiring the view. His Spiritual Power was immersed in the Memory Crystal Gordon had given him.

The sand table Master Mercer had shown him was grand but crude. The one Gordon provided was far more detailed, even including the migration paths of certain Magical Beast herds from the latest reconnaissance mission.

"We’re here."

Gordon’s voice broke Allen’s concentration. The transport ship was descending.

Allen looked up.

Ahead, a relatively flat region of hills came into view. One hill in particular stood out, shaped like an anvil discarded by a giant, lying silently in place.

"The Anvil Hills."

Gordon pointed below. "The starting location your master chose for you is at the foot of that hill."

The transport ship circled, giving him a clearer view of the terrain.

"See that cliff face? Three hundred meters high and nearly vertical. Your workshop will have its back to it, which will cut your defensive pressure by more than half."

Allen followed his finger and saw a sheer cliff that looked as if it had been carved by a blade. It would be impossible for ordinary Magical Beasts to attack from the rear.

"Preliminary surveys show a vein of black-vein iron nearby. It’s not large, but it’s enough for your initial needs, and it’s open-pit. There’s also a water source deep underground. Saves you the trouble of scrambling for resources."

"The workshop faces an open area with a good line of sight. Thirty kilometers further is the intersection of three canyons."

Gordon continued, "Control that point, and you control the throat of this entire region. No matter which direction you want to expand in the future, you’ll have to go through there."

He then pointed to an area to the north shrouded in black mist. "You can explore the farther regions on your own later, but there’s one other location nearby you need to be careful of."

"Twenty kilometers away is the Silent Abyss. It’s a massive rift valley, and no one knows what’s inside. It could be home to something you can’t afford to provoke."

My advice is, don’t go there until you have ten Level 3 Golems, each comparable to a Second-level Wizard. As long as you don’t provoke whatever is in there, the abyss itself poses no threat."

Allen’s gaze drifted toward the distant canyon entrance, which looked like a scar on the earth’s surface.

’Master Mercer has chosen a textbook starting location for me. It has natural defenses, resources, a strategic chokepoint, and even a bonus "dungeon entrance."’

’My master has set the stage; now it’s up to me to decide what play to perform.’

Just as the transport ship was preparing to land, a red light suddenly flashed in Gordon’s electronic eye.

"Look. Your welcoming party has arrived."

Allen looked through the porthole and saw the ground at their designated landing site suddenly begin to churn.

A dozen or so monsters, shaped like loaches but covered in carapaces, burrowed up from the ground.

They had no eyes, only a massive maw on their heads filled with concentric rings of sharp teeth.

"Should I..." Allen began, but Gordon cut him off with a raised hand.

"No need."

Gordon didn’t even turn around, simply issuing a concise command via a magic transmission.

"Clear the area."

The moment he spoke, the six Flying Golems escorting the transport ship moved.

They abruptly scattered, diving down from six different angles as their rapid-fire Magic Energy Cannons spat out a dense volley of light beams.

"PEW PEW PEW—!"

Explosions erupted one after another, sending shattered carapaces and foul-smelling ichor flying everywhere.

The entire process took less than three minutes.

By the time the transport ship landed smoothly on the platform, the dozen or so subterranean Magical Beasts were all dead.

The efficiency was terrifyingly high.

"See? This is just another day."

The transport ship landed steadily. As Allen stepped out, he saw the platform beneath his feet was still stained with traces of the recent battle, with foul-smelling fluid splattered everywhere.

He scanned his surroundings.

Nothing.

Other than the cleared rock platform under his feet, which was about the size of several football fields, there was nothing else around.

’Where’s the workshop my master promised me?’

The question popped into Allen’s mind, and he turned to the man beside him.

"Gordon, the workshop is...?"

Gordon’s electronic eye flickered. His tone was flat.

"You’ll have to wait a moment."

With that, he took out a palm-sized Metal Cube.

Gordon casually placed the cube on the ground, pressed one hand on it, and infused it with a stream of Magic Power.

HUMMM—

The cube emitted a low hum, and a pillar of light shot from its top, piercing the sky.

In the next second, Allen’s pupils constricted slightly.

The sky, as if slashed by an invisible giant blade, tore open. A pitch-black rift appeared out of thin air and rapidly expanded, its edges flickering with unstable silver light.

A massive, square space gate stretched across the crimson sky.

’A space gate?’

Before he could even process it, a colossal black shadow stepped out of the gate.

It was a large Golem over ten meters tall with a bizarre design. Each step it took made the ground tremble slightly.

It was followed by a second, then a third...

A full ten identical Engineering Golems marched out of the space gate in formation, standing uniformly at the edge of the platform. Their metal bodies reflected a cold light under the dark red sky.

Then, massive, prefabricated metal walls, floor modules, and all sorts of enormous equipment Allen couldn’t name were lifted by an invisible Force Field, streaming out of the space gate. They floated in mid-air, a dense swarm that blotted out the sky.

Allen watched this miraculous scene unfold, a single thought running through his mind.

’Is this how a Morning Star Wizard does construction?’

’It’s so... so extravagant.’

"Begin," Gordon ordered succinctly.

The electronic eyes of the ten Engineering Golems lit up red in unison. Time to get to work!

One Golem extended a huge mechanical arm. In just a few minutes, it cut, melted, and smoothed the rocky ground, completing the foundation. Shortly after, it even drilled a water well thousands of meters deep.

Meanwhile, several other Golems precisely grabbed the prefabricated modules floating in the air and began to assemble them.

Walls, ceilings, internal partitions... a massive, block-like steel building rose from the ground at a visible speed.

The entire process was as smooth as flowing water, the picture of efficiency.

Allen stood to the side, silently watching everything like a bystander who had wandered into a land of giants.

In his mind, Dseek was analyzing the structure of these Engineering Golems, their movement patterns, and this method of prefabricated modular construction.

「In less than two hours.」

A steel workshop, similar in style to the one he had rented at the academy but several times larger, now stood at the foot of the Anvil Hills.

Even the exterior walls had been painted—a matte black finish effective at insulating against high temperatures.

"Let’s go. Time for inspection."

Gordon strode toward the workshop.

Allen followed behind him, feeling a sense of unreality.

He noticed that an automated defense turret had been installed on each of the workshop’s four top corners.

"A welcome gift for you."

Gordon explained without turning back, "Four ’Sentinel’ Magic Energy Towers, powered directly by the workshop, with an effective coverage radius of one kilometer. They’re one-shot kills against Low-Level Magical Beasts. On top of that, you also get a Mining Golem."

"A beast-repelling Rune Array has been laid at the workshop’s foundation to prevent Magical Beasts from launching surprise attacks from underground. The exterior walls are also inscribed with basic warning Runes. If anything approaches, your control console will alert you."

’Whichever design firm did this, their work is excellent. A five-star review is a must.’

The heavy alloy doors slid open, revealing the spacious interior.

Allen stepped inside, and the familiar smell of cut metal hit him.

Just as he’d expected, the layout and most of the equipment models were nearly identical to the workshop he had previously rented, only the materials and assembly areas were much larger.

The Alchemy Machine, Rune etcher, assembly platform...

This saved him the trouble of familiarizing himself with new equipment; he could start work at any time.

"You should recognize most of the equipment," Gordon’s voice echoed in the cavernous workshop. "But there are two new additions."

He pointed to a massive device against the wall at the far end of the workshop.

It was a huge metal cylinder over five meters tall, its surface inscribed with incredibly complex Runes. Countless gleaming pipes extended from it like blood vessels, merging into the workshop’s floor and walls.

The entire apparatus was humming softly, emitting powerful waves of Magic Power.

"The workshop’s Magic Furnace Core." Gordon walked up to the device and patted it with his huge hand.

"The heart of the workshop. I’ll help you calibrate it before I leave. As long as this plane doesn’t collapse, your energy supply will be virtually unlimited."

Allen’s heart skipped a beat.

’Unlimited energy? Is that even possible?’

"Of course,"

Gordon added, "its conversion efficiency is fixed. If your operation gets too big in the future and you’re running all your equipment at full blast, exceeding its power-output ceiling, it won’t be able to keep up. At that point, you’ll have to figure out how to upgrade it or build another one."

"Let me give you a rough overview of the principles. It integrates several Rune Arrays and devices:

The Original Magic Power Connection Array: Converts raw magical power from the Sea of Magical Power. Low efficiency.

The Earth Vein Magic Power Connection Array: Draws Magic Power from the plane’s earth veins. Medium efficiency.

The Magic Power Refining Matrix: Purifies raw, chaotic Magic Power and converts it into a stable, standardized flow for the workshop.

The Multi-stage Energy Storage Crystal Cluster: Used for buffering and storage to handle peak demand.

"In an emergency, you can also just toss Magic Stones directly into it, but that’s what a spendthrift would do. I don’t recommend it."

Allen nodded, committing the device’s structure and principles firmly to memory.

"And this."

Gordon then led him to the workshop’s central control area.

Aside from the usual control light-screens and consoles, there was also a separate, elegantly designed metal pedestal. The pedestal had a recess in it, seemingly for installing some kind of core component.

"Here," Gordon said, pointing at the recess, "is where you install the ’Workshop Will’."

"Once you create your own Workshop Will and place it inside, it can take over management of the entire workshop. Only then will you be truly free from most of the production work."

Allen looked at the pedestal, and the complex model for the [Workshop Will Creation Formula] slowly materialized in his mind.

’This will be Dseek’s new home from now on.’

"Alright, your starter resource package, living supplies, and a Mining Golem are all in the materials warehouse."

"Also, a two-way Teleportation Array has been activated in the materials warehouse. Any materials you purchase in the future will be delivered to you through it."

After finishing his tour of the workshop facilities, Gordon said, "Alright, my mission is complete."

The ten Engineering Golems returned to the space gate on their own. He turned, picked up the Metal Cube, and re-boarded the transport ship.

"Allen Wesren."

Before the hatch closed, Gordon gave him one last look. "Don’t disappoint your master."

"I will ensure my master’s investment yields an exceptional return," Allen replied with a bow.

The transport ship slowly ascended, the escorting combat Golems followed, and they soon vanished into the crimson sky.

The world fell silent in an instant.

All that remained was the sound of the hot wind blowing across the wasteland and the steady, powerful, low hum of the workshop’s Magic Furnace Core.

Allen stood alone in the vast, empty workshop.

Behind him were priceless pieces of equipment and a mountain of resources.

Before him lay a vast, dangerous, and opportunity-filled new land.

He walked to the central console and placed his palm on it.

"Identity confirmed. Maximum clearance granted."

HUMMM—

All the Lighting Arrays in the workshop lit up simultaneously, illuminating every corner as bright as day.

Allen’s gaze finally settled on the pedestal meant for the "Workshop Will."

This colossal steel body was still missing a soul.