Beneath the crimson sky, the Odyssey cruised smoothly at an altitude of ten thousand meters.

Five Storm Falcons flew in a pentagonal escort formation around it, the AT Field Generators under their wings emitting a faint glow.

This Floating Ship required no pilot. It had no steering wheel or instrument panel, only a single display screen. The Control Core autonomously handled its flight attitude and heading.

Allen had specifically set up a lounge area in the front of the Floating Ship. He had used materials transformed by the [Magic-Free Matter Recomposition Formula] to create custom plush seating and decorations, and had even handcrafted several tea sets. The comfort level was comparable to a luxury car from his past life.

Allen sat leisurely in the commander’s seat, sipping a cup of expensive Icedew Juice—supposedly a specialty of the elves—and watched the crimson earth and volcanoes rapidly recede outside the portholes on either side.

The "huge sum" of seventy thousand Magic Stones had barely warmed his pockets before he turned around and spent nearly three hundred thousand.

But he was in a great mood.

’The heart for "Freedom" is secured, which means those squatters on my territory are about to be evicted.’

’When I get back and "Freedom" is complete, the first thing I’ll do is take care of the Crystal Shell Giant Scorpion.’

The Floating Ship had now climbed to an altitude of three thousand meters, high enough to avoid harassment from the vast majority of Flying Magical Beasts.

The hull was exceptionally stable, as the Anti-Gravity Rune Array nullified most of the turbulence from the air currents.

This vessel, which he had personally designed and overseen the construction of, was far more comfortable than any other ship of its class on this plane. It also integrated some of the Demon Eye’s reconnaissance capabilities.

"Switch to wide-area scanning mode. Prioritize monitoring for energy reactions on the surface below."

[Command confirmed. Wide-area scan initiated.]

Streams of data refreshed on the screen in front of Allen.

Topographical maps, elemental concentration distributions, life signals... All the information was processed and integrated by Dseek, then presented in the most intuitive way possible.

Leaving the protection of Forged Fire Fortress meant re-entering a cruel, natural hunting ground. The dangers of the Molten Iron Mountain Range weren’t confined to the marked red zones—he had to be vigilant for the entire journey.

The Odyssey flew for about two hours over a continuous range of volcanic mountains. The mountainsides were covered in tracks left by rock that had melted and then re-solidified, resembling ugly scars.

[ALERT! High-intensity Energy Source detected, approaching rapidly!]

A piercing alarm shattered the tranquility.

On the screen, a large red blip suddenly appeared from below the horizon, rushing toward the Floating Ship.

[Identifying target... Database match failed. Magic Power fluctuation: 1600. Flight speed: Mach 0.3.]

Allen’s gaze sharpened.

The Odyssey immediately projected the external view onto the screen.

From the volcanic cluster below, a giant creature with a wingspan exceeding fifteen meters hurtled up toward them.

Its entire body was wreathed in burning flames. Every flap of its wings left a long trail of black smoke and sparks in the air.

"A Lava Wyvern?" Allen searched his mind for relevant information.

It was a highly aggressive Magical Beast that typically lived in volcanic lava and rarely flew to such high altitudes.

’Did I disturb it?’

The Lava Wyvern clearly saw the Odyssey as a provocateur invading its airspace; a blinding fiery light was already gathering in its maw.

"Storm Falcon squadron, break formation. Execute deterrence protocol one."

Allen swiftly issued the command, "Don’t get drawn into a fight. Just lead it away."

The five Storm Falcons instantly broke away from the squadron. Like five silver scalpels, they carved five graceful arcs through the sky, approaching the behemoth from different angles.

ZZT—ZZT—ZZT—!

Several beams of magic power shot out from the Storm Falcons’ wingtips, precisely striking the relatively fragile joints of the Lava Wyvern’s wing membranes.

ROAR—!

The Lava Wyvern let out a pained roar, its attack charge interrupted.

It furiously changed direction, chasing after the nearest Storm Falcon.

However, the Storm Falcon’s maneuverability was far superior to the beast’s clumsy body.

The Flying Golem executed an unbelievable right-angle turn in mid-air, easily dodging the wyvern’s snapping lunge while leading it away from the Odyssey.

The other four Storm Falcons continuously harassed it with shots from the flanks, keeping the wyvern’s aggression firmly locked on them.

A game of cat and mouse played out in the sky.

Allen didn’t pay much attention to the small-scale conflict.

His attention was drawn to another anomalous signal on the scanning screen.

Beneath the same volcanic mountain range where the Lava Wyvern had appeared, several extremely faint energy signals had flickered for an instant before vanishing.

They were masked by the wyvern’s Magic Power fluctuations and would have been nearly impossible to detect if not for Dseek’s multi-spectrum cross-analysis.

The fluctuation frequency of these signals did not match any known Magical Beast.

They were more like... some kind of artificial magic power source that had been specially shielded.

’Black Wizards?’

His mentor’s warning surfaced in his mind.

Allen didn’t raise an alarm, merely noting down the coordinates of the area in silence.

He ordered the Odyssey to increase its altitude again.

His primary mission was to return to base safely with the materials for the "Singularity Engine." This was not the time to get sidetracked by complications.

A short while later, the Storm Falcon squadron successfully lured the exhausted, toyed-with Lava Wyvern far into the distance before quickly turning back to rejoin the formation.

On the horizon ahead, the familiar silhouette of his domain was already visible.

[Welcome home, Commander. You have entered the coverage area of the "Celestial Net" system.]

Jarvis’s voice was relayed through a Type-III Demon Eye high in the sky.

A surge of joy rose within him as he watched the screen, where countless green dots representing the production units in his territory were still operating in an orderly fashion.

’Excellent!’

The fact that everything could run independently after his short absence proved that his production and defense systems were, for the moment, very reliable. This was the most satisfying kind of moment for a strategy player.

Half an hour later, the Odyssey landed smoothly in front of the workshop. The Factory Servants, who had been waiting for some time, swarmed forward to carry the precious materials Allen had brought back into the warehouse.

Allen walked into his kingdom. Without resting, he went straight to Assembly Area 3.

The eighteen-meter-tall "Freedom" stood there quietly, its surface reflecting a cold gleam under the lights. It was like a slumbering king, awaiting the moment of his awakening.

Allen waved his hand, and the busy ’Blessed Ones’ around him immediately stopped their work and silently withdrew from the hangar.

Allen levitated before the open cavity in the mecha’s chest, looking at the empty slot.

’My precious, I’ve kept you waiting!’

’Next, as soon as I learn the technology, I’ll give you your heart.’

Allen took the silver data chip from his Space Ring and infused it with Magic Power.

[Jarvis: "Singularity Engine" complete technical data package detected. Begin assisted analysis?]

"Begin."

A screen of light unfolded before him, and countless Rune Circuit diagrams and material composition charts cascaded down like a waterfall.

It was an entire, complete engineering system.

From the most basic Rune inscriptions to complex energy storage arrays and the design of the cooling system... every single step required extremely precise error control.

[Analyzing data... Estimated time to complete full technological absorption: one week.]

"No, that’s too slow."

Allen shook his head. "I’ll activate multi-threaded learning mode. You are to dedicate all available processing power to assist me."

[Warning: This operation will pause most production lines, and the Commander will be unable to perform other complex operations during this period.]

"Execute."

Instantly, all four of his subconscious thought-threads activated. Along with his primary consciousness, Dseek, and Jarvis, they all began to frantically devour the technical data.

Rune Matrices were automatically simulated in his mind, Energy Circuit diagrams were deconstructed and reassembled, and material properties were verified one by one...

The sensation was like having five versions of himself simultaneously studying different Chapters with the help of a computer, then compiling all the knowledge into a single memory bank.

Time ticked by, second by second.

Allen hovered before "Freedom," maintaining his levitating posture as he sank completely into a state of deep learning.

The Golems inside the workshop continued their daily routines, and no one disturbed him.