Ahem! Jiang Yan cut off Wei Gaocheng, who was still sipping coffee.
Black Gold and Wei Gaocheng hurried over the moment they saw Jiang Yan appear.
"President!"
"Master!"
"Master, you're here!" At the same time, a golden gate in the corner hopped toward them, the old face on the door beaming with excitement.
Jiang Yan looked at Elder Jin; he had come specifically to find him.
He asked, "How is it—can you locate the gold stone?"
Elder Jin's aged face lit up with confidence. "Rest assured, Master; I already have the coordinates. I was just waiting for you!"
As he spoke, the golden gate shimmered with light, bathing Jiang Yan, Black Gold, and Wei Gaocheng in its glow.
A deep black screen appeared in the gate's frame, filled with countless tiny star-points.
Among them, two star-points blinked gold. Elder Jin said, "These flashing ones are my planet and the one with the gold stone—about seventy-nine light-years away by human reckoning."
Wei Gaocheng couldn't help remarking, "I never imagined the Lord of the Mist's fog could appear so far away, ignoring distance entirely. The mysterious side really is miraculous; if we relied on tech, who knows how many years it'd take New Humanity to reach seventy-nine light-years out."
Jiang Yan studied the star-studded map, pondering, 'So many planets—how many intelligent beings must there be? Even wiping them all out would harvest untold emotion points.'
The seeds of nightmare are limited, and for low-value targets, domination isn't as efficient as outright destruction.
Value, of course, meant anything that could help the Monster Association grow stronger.
With that thought, Jiang Yan grew even more interested in the starry sky above. "Elder Jin, can you transmit the star map to me?"
"Of course, Master! Your Elder Jin can manage that much." The old gate grinned, revealing a mouthful of golden teeth.
He promptly sent the star map into Jiang Yan's mind.
At that instant, Jiang Yan sensed a tiny golden dot appear in his consciousness.
He sank his awareness inward; in the darkness, a translucent figure identical to himself reached out and touched the golden speck.
Boom! The speck exploded like a cosmic big bang. Countless streaks of starlight shot past his transparent form, forming a field of glimmering points around him.
Three seconds later, everything stabilized. Jiang Yan looked down at an enormous blue planet beneath him; any individual was utterly insignificant before it.
All was silent; the distant sun's rays passed straight through his body.
None of this stirred him—after reaching Level Six he could survive in space unaided, and he had seen such sights before.
Among the surrounding stars, one shone with persistent golden light, guiding him.
'I wonder if I can transfer this into the Shentan Beast's mind,' he mused as he exited the star map.
In the darkness he turned toward a large black bead orbited by over twenty motes of colored light.
He located the gray dot representing the Shentan Beast and willed the nearby golden dot to merge into it.
The instant it did, the previously motionless Shentan Beast outside suddenly lifted its head and let out a long, resonant howl that rolled for a hundred li.
Jiang Yan began communicating with the beast within his mind.
Moments later, confirming the Shentan Beast could also use the star map, Jiang Yan opened his eyes and told Wei Gaocheng, "Within two days, assemble a Monster force of ten thousand Level Three or higher, equipped with monster weapons and supplies, and gather them here."
"Yes, sir!" Wei Gaocheng's face split into a ferocious grin at the order; he spun around and strode out.
Ever since unifying Blue Star, life had grown boring; now it looked like large-scale battles were on the horizon again.
Watching Wei Gaocheng's retreating back, Jiang Yan flickered his star seal to contact An Conghao.
Jiang Yan: "Prepare monster generators and lightweight, ultra-tough metal—ship them over right away. I'm going to remodel the Shentan Beast's internal structure."
"On it, President!" An Conghao replied instantly.
After Jiang Yan and An Conghao discussed the internal remodeling a bit longer, the call ended.
monster generators are one of the offshoots of the monster weapons project; their biggest advantage is that they can absorb all kinds of energy and convert it into electricity.
The divine energy in the Shentan Beast's body is also a form of energy, and absorbing and converting it inside should be enough to power these Monsters.
That was as much as Jiang Yan planned to arrange; after all, the City of Mist was still there, and the rest of the inanimate objects could be transferred over through the City of Mist once the main force landed in the Origin Artifact World.
As for what would happen when the Mist World expired, Jiang Yan had no worries—as long as the main force landed, Elder Jin could take over as Lord of the Mist and open the passage.
With everything done, Jiang Yan stayed in the castle and waited.
Several hours later, rumbling sounded outside as hundreds of transport trucks drove toward the Shentan Beast's location.
At Jiang Yan's order, the Shentan Beast opened its mouth, revealing an entrance that had already expanded to thirty or forty meters wide leading into its interior.
The convoy stopped in front of the Shentan Beast; from the lead truck, An Conghao jumped down from the passenger seat.
Looking at the Shentan Beast, he turned to a young man walking over: "Have the men lay a temporary road right at Lord Shentan's mouth so the trucks can drive straight in."
The young man beside him stared at the colossal creature in shock. "I never imagined our Monster Association had a Monster of this size—terrifying!"
"The Association's foundations go beyond your imagination. Enough talk—get to work. I want the remodel done in one day: lights and living quarters installed inside," An Conghao said, turning to the young man with authority.
"Yes, I'll definitely get it done!" The young man nodded gravely.
After that, An Conghao waved, and several muscular men in suits behind him carried several huge iron cases forward.
Clack! Clack!
The iron cases opened beside the road and quickly assembled into a temporary office.
An Conghao went inside and sat down to supervise everyone's progress.
During this period, Level Three and higher Monsters kept assembling nearby, all the way until two days later, in the morning.
Outside Jiang Yan's castle, more than ten thousand Monsters carrying all kinds of weapons had gathered.
They all wore sleek black metal armor, a Monster weapon strapped to each back, standing there fanatically discussing among themselves.
"Suddenly mustering this many people—must mean there's work to do!" A young man's face showed battle hunger.
The bloodline in their bodies destined them to be anything but peaceful; each one craved combat, craved slaughter—only that could earn higher status in the Monster Association.
"I don't know either, but we've already conquered Blue Star. Odd that there are still enemies somewhere."
At the front of the crowd, Cai Xiu stood calmly; ever since he'd gone from a Fourth-level Awakener to a Monster, he'd stepped into Level Five and was now a small leader in the Association, privy to things ordinary Monsters weren't.
Further ahead stood the five Cadres: Wei Gaocheng, Li Yong, Han Qi, Fang Wenyu, and Salo.
"Didn't expect to join the next big operation right after breaking through—fate wants Old Han to earn great merit for the Association!" Han Qi's aura had doubled compared to before, his face full of confidence.
"Getting cut in half and still breaking through—Old Han, I have to respect your talent," Wei Gaocheng said with a strange look.
He'd seen Han Qi's state when Li Yong brought him back that day; he hadn't expected Han Qi to suddenly break through to Level Five while the healers were treating him.
Li Yong also looked oddly amused. "Do you need to be chopped in half to break through? Old Han, do you have some special kink? Next time just ask the two of us to help you break through—no need to go looking for outsiders."
"Damn, you two are animals," Han Qi cursed at their teasing.
Just then, Jiang Yan walked out of the castle.
He was flanked by Blood Master and Black Gold, An Conghao, and Yue.
The moment the Monsters saw Jiang Yan emerge, their chatter stopped instantly.
The next second, every Monster shouted in unison, "President!"
The sound was so thunderous it drowned out every other noise.