⫸ [ TIME: +21 DAYS SINCE THE SKY WAR ]
⫸ [ LOCATION: BASE CAMP ALPHA – THE CONSTRUCTION ZONE ]
⫸ [ STATUS: HEAVY LIFTING ]
The suns beat down on the black metal city.
The base had expanded outward. The jungle had been pushed back two kilometers, replaced by a flat plain of crushed rock and concrete.
In the center of this industrial sprawl rose the Spire.
It wasn't a tower for a wizard. It was the recoil dampening structure for the Project: SKY-SHIELD cannon.
A skeletal framework of Void-Steel girders rose fifty meters into the air.
Elian stood on the ground level. He was not in his suit. He wore a simple grey tank top and cargo pants. His metal skin—the gunmetal grey scales of the Iron-Skin—glinted in the light.
He watched as a team of Giants moved a ten-ton steel beam.
They didn't carry it.
They guided it.
Attached to the beam were four Solar-Drive Discs—the anti-gravity engines salvaged from the Golden Crow gliders.
The discs hummed, nullifying 99% of the beam's mass. The Giants simply pushed it through the air like a balloon.
"Alignment," Elian ordered into his headset.
[ Laser Guide Active. ]
[ Lowering... Contact in 3... 2... 1. ]
CLANG.
The beam slotted into the foundation.
A team of Deep-Kin welders moved in instantly. They didn't use torches. They used Arc-Welders powered by backpack batteries. The blue light of the electric arcs flashed rhythmically.
"Structure is at 40%," Elian noted.
[ Commander. Long-range sensors detect an inbound vessel. ]
[ It is not a warship. ]
[ It creates no aggressive lock. ]
Elian looked up.
Approaching from the south was a Cloud-Barge.
It was a fat, opulent ship made of green jade and silk sails. It didn't look fast. It looked expensive.
"Merchants," Disciple Lin said, walking up beside him. She wore a Void-Steel breastplate over her robes now. "That is the banner of the Jade Pavilion. They trade with everyone. Even demons."
"Good," Elian said. "We need customers."
He tapped his headset.
"Grom. Honor Guard. Look scary."
⬡ ─── ⬡ ─── ⬡
⫸ [ TIME: 14:00 AETHELGARD STANDARD TIME ]
⫸ [ LOCATION: LANDING ZONE B ]
⫸ [ STATUS: NEGOTIATION ]
The Jade Barge touched down on the concrete pad.
The gangplank lowered.
A man descended. He was round, smiling, and wore robes embroidered with coins. He was flanked by four bodyguards who looked nervous as they scanned the base.
They saw the Giants in power armor. They saw the automated turrets tracking them. They saw the smoke rising from the forges.
The merchant wiped sweat from his forehead.
He bowed low when he saw Elian.
"Greetings, Lord of Iron," the merchant said. His voice was oily but polite. "I am Master Shen of the Jade Pavilion. We saw the... fireworks... three weeks ago. We assumed the Golden Crows had a training accident."
"It wasn't an accident," Elian said. His voice was synthesized, deep and metallic. "It was a hostile takeover."
Shen's smile faltered for a microsecond.
"Ah. I see. A change in management. The Jade Pavilion welcomes new partners. We bring gifts."
He snapped his fingers.
His servants brought forward chests of silk, exotic fruits, and jars of wine.
"We seek to establish trade," Shen said. "The Golden Crows provided us with fire-crystals. What does the Iron Sect provide?"
Elian looked at the fruit. Real food. Not protein paste.
"We don't sell crystals," Elian said. "We sell superiority."
He signaled Grom.
The Giant walked forward carrying a crate. He set it down with a heavy thud.
Elian kicked the lid open.
Inside lay twenty Void-Steel Swords.
They were identical. Mass-produced. Stamped from the same mold.
But to a Cultivator, they were impossible.
Perfect balance. Zero impurities. A metal that could cut through Qi shields.
Shen picked one up. He inspected the edge. He tapped it. It rang with a clear, hungry sound.
"Heavens," Shen whispered. "This is... Cold Iron? No, denser. Who is the Grandmaster Smith who forged these? To make twenty identical masterworks... it would take a lifetime."
"It took an hour," Elian said flatly.
Shen dropped the sword. He stared at Elian.
"An hour?"
"We call it Industrial Manufacturing," Elian said. "I can print a thousand of these by next week."
Greed replaced the fear in Shen's eyes.
"A thousand? My Lord, if you flood the market with these, the price of weapons will collapse. The Blacksmith Clans will put a bounty on your head."
"Let them come," Elian said. "I'll sell them weapons too."
He leaned forward.
"I don't want gold, Shen. I don't want coins."
"What do you desire?" Shen asked.
"Raw materials," Elian listed. "Rare herbs. Spirit Stones. And information."
Shen nodded slowly. "Information is the most expensive commodity."
"I have plenty of swords," Elian countered.
Shen smiled. It was a genuine smile this time. The smile of a man who just found a gold mine.
"Very well. The information is free, as a gesture of goodwill."
Shen lowered his voice.
"The Golden Crows are gone. But the Blood-River Sect to the West has noticed. They are mobilizing. Their Patriarch believes you possess a 'Heavenly Treasure' that allowed you to defeat the Crows."
"They are right," Elian said. "I do."
"They are Necromancers, my Lord. They do not fear death. They raise the dead. An army of skeletons does not tire."
Elian looked at his turret grid. He looked at the flamethrowers mounted on the bunker walls.
"Skeletons are flammable," Elian noted.
"Indeed," Shen chuckled. "Now, about the price of these swords. I can offer you five hundred Spirit Stones for the crate."
"A thousand," Elian said. "And you deliver a shipment of grain and meat weekly."
"Eight hundred," Shen haggled. "And I throw in a map of the Western Ley Lines."
"Deal."
⬡ ─── ⬡ ─── ⬡
⫸ [ TIME: 16:30 AETHELGARD STANDARD TIME ]
⫸ [ LOCATION: COMMAND CENTER ]
⫸ [ STATUS: STRATEGIC PLANNING ]
The barge left an hour later, heavy with steel.
Elian stood in the command center looking at the map Shen had provided.
Alara sat at the console. She was eating a peach—a real, fresh peach from the trade. She looked happier than she had in weeks.
"He will sell those swords to our enemies," Alara said.
"I know," Elian replied.
"Then why give them to him?"
"Because those swords are Tier 2 weapons," Elian explained. "They are sharp, but they are dumb metal. I'm building Tier 3 weapons for us."
He pointed to the screen.
The schematic for the Project: SKY-SHIELD was updating.
"Besides," Elian added. "I put a tracker in the crate."
[ Affirmative. GPS Beacon active. ]
[ We are now tracking the distribution network of the Jade Pavilion. ]
[ We will know exactly who buys our weapons and where they live. ]
"Intel," Elian said. "We didn't just sell swords. We sold surveillance."
Disciple Lin entered the room. She looked disturbed.
"Commander. The map Shen gave us... the Western Ley Lines."
"What about them?"
"The Blood-River Sect sits on a Spirit Stone Mine," Lin said. "A massive one. That is how they fuel their necromancy. They have millions of stones."
Elian froze.
Spirit Stones were crystallized Aether.
To a Cultivator, they were money and cultivation fuel.
To Elian, they were High-Density Batteries.
"A.R.C.," Elian asked. "If we refined Spirit Stones... could we use them to power the Mark-IV Suits without a tether?"
[ Analysis... ]
[ Refined Spirit Stone concentrate has an energy density 500% higher than our current capacitors. ]
[ It would allow the Iron Legion to operate independently for weeks. ]
Elian looked at the map.
The Blood-River Sect was marked in red.
"Shen was right," Elian said. "The Necromancers are coming for us."
He zoomed in on the mine.
"But we are going to get there first."
⬡ ─── ── ⬡
⫸ [ TIME: 20:00 AETHELGARD STANDARD TIME ]
⫸ [ LOCATION: THE ARMORY ]
⫸ [ STATUS: UPGRADE ]
Elian stood in front of his suit.
The Mark-IV Warlord was undergoing repairs from the ship crash. The Deep-Kin were buffing out the scratches.
But Elian wasn't looking at the armor. He was looking at his own chest.
He felt the beat of his human heart.
It was strong. But it was biological. It was a weak point.
If he wanted to lead an assault on a Necromancer sect—a place full of poison and death magic—he needed to be more than human.
"A.R.C.," Elian whispered. "The Tier 3 upgrade. The Internal Reactor."
[ The schematics are ready. ]
[ But we lack the 'Catalyst'. ]
[ To start a fusion reaction inside a biological host, you need a stabilizer. Something to keep the radiation from killing the remaining organs. ]
"What kind of stabilizer?"
[ A Core. ]
[ Specifically, the Core of a Tier 3 Beast or Cultivator. ]
[ We need a biological containment field. ]
Elian thought back to the Thunder-Ape they had killed. Its core had been shattered by the rail-pike.
He needed an intact one.
"The Blood-River Patriarch," Elian guessed.
[ High probability. A sect leader would possess a stabilized Core. ]
Elian picked up a new helmet. It was sleek, black, with a V-shaped visor glowing red.
"We attack at dawn," Elian decided.
"Grom!" he shouted down the hall.
The Giant appeared, eating a massive leg of roast boar.
"Prepare the Legion," Elian ordered. "We are going mining."
[END OF CHAPTER 33]