Chapter 1 A New Base Takes Shape

A massive drone base cluster was rapidly taking shape around the shattered continent of Nakdal.

Drone turrets and floating sentry towers, hastily erected to prevent a second wave of corrupted monster attacks, were being replaced by more powerful sentinel turrets. These silver-gray space structures stood in the cosmos like silent monuments, their surfaces bristling with cannons and warp missile launchers of all sizes. The sentinels' powerful shield generators could also create a vast protective force field. Arranged with precision, the shields overlapped and created energy links, forming a robust defense similar to a joint shield. This convenient technology, simplified from Xi Ling military tech, was now widely used in various cluster-style fortress facilities throughout the macro-world, including the drones used by the Inspectors.

Within the protection of the sentinel turrets were six large drone nests, glowing faintly red in the dark void, like bizarre sandcastles made of metal and rock. Their size grew daily, connected to hundreds of factories and drone storage depots, producing thousands upon thousands of drones. These cold, efficient mechanical lifeforms moved tirelessly through the base cluster, engineering units endlessly expanding the nests, while more armed drones, weapons loaded, entered the warehouses. Arranged in formations of tens of thousands, they waited silently under their racks for the moment to join the battle.

Between these infrastructures were command towers, radar stations, data hubs, acceleration rails, and residential and ecological centers of all sizes.

Some of these facilities were still under construction. Even with the efficiency of the engineering drones, they couldn't instantly "conjure" such complex, specialized buildings. But after days of intensive construction, the vast project was taking shape, and Hao Ren considered it a space city.

These space facilities were vast but relatively loosely structured, easily forming several layers around the Nakdal continent. And at the center of these layers was another ambitious project.

The reconstruction and reactivation of the Nakdal continent.

Nakdal Continent—this fragment from the planetary fortress Nakdal was itself a powerful weapon of war, or at least had the potential to become one.

Beneath its seemingly rock and soil crust lay a sturdy alloy skeleton built by the Guardian Giants. Deep underground were modular power plants that could still be repaired. It possessed the largest shield system Hao Ren had ever seen in the Dream Plane—a system that, when complete, could provide solid protection for an entire planet. Even with only a fraction of its components remaining, it could still raise a shield over the entire continent.

Though the device was currently in poor working order, with a few core parts replaced, overloaded coils repaired, and its operating frequency readjusted, it could be brought back to life.

The energy cannons that dotted the continent's surface, and even the ancient temples themselves, were all weapons capable of space combat. With sufficient energy, their power would rival the secondary guns of the Nolan and the main guns of any armed drone—some of the more advanced models even surpassing them.

Though the elves considered these ancient facilities on Nakdal Continent to be irreparably damaged, in the face of Hao Ren's black technology, everything was repairable—or replaceable with generic parts manufactured by the drone factories.

In this regard, Hao Ren had to congratulate himself on his foresight. At the Gate of Sullen, he had left behind a large number of automated research facilities to study the Guardian Giant relics on that planet. He had accumulated a great deal of technological data about the Guardian Giants, which was now proving invaluable.

The Inspector's "jack-of-all-trades" nature meant that their equipment and technology had a high degree of compatibility. As long as they could decipher a portion of an indigenous civilization's technology, the Inspector's tools could quickly integrate with it. Therefore, repairing and even enhancing the Nakdal continent was well within reach.

As for why he wanted to restart this ancient continent and transform it into a war fortress, Hao Ren explained:

"Drone swarms are powerful, of course, but their weakness—high attack, low health—is obvious. Super-large drones and mobile drone fortresses are rare and impractical. A demigod-level war is underway in the depths of the X-Cluster, and the enemies are demigod guardians corrupted by the Lord of Madness. These corrupted monsters also have highly intelligent command units. Continuing to use sheer numbers with the drone swarms will be a disadvantage. Therefore, we need to compensate for our weaknesses. We need to build a fortress as the swarm moves towards the front lines. It can serve as a mothership to help the drone swarm advance."

Vivian stared at Hao Ren for a long time with a look that seemed to see through everything. "Tell me your other thoughts."

Then Hao Ren revealed another reason: "Because it feels awesome..."

Although this reason was somewhat unreliable, Hao Ren's renovation plan received strong support from Vivian and the data terminal. The reason was simple: they needed more combat power at this stage.

Enhancing Nakdal's survivability would also provide the elves with greater security in the coming war. The corrupted monsters' target had been confirmed to be the Creation Goddess's various relics, and the "elves," as a crucial part of these "relics," would certainly not be spared. The elves' bodies were the crystals scattered throughout the Nakdal continent, and research had revealed that these crystals were bound to the entire continent's system, forming an inseparable whole. Therefore, the best way to ensure the elves' survival in the coming war was to fortify their home into an impenetrable fortress.

Of course, hiding the entire Nakdal continent, or even teleporting it to some safe corner to continue their escape, was also an option, but the elves showed unexpected resistance to this idea.

They seemed to dislike continuing their escape, especially after finding their queen and learning that the ancient facilities on the continent could be repaired. These elves suddenly became full of fighting spirit. They strongly demanded to return to the hub to support the battle there. Considering that it was impossible to persuade this group of annoying little creatures and that he did need Nakdal's strength, Hao Ren readily agreed.

While the engineering project on Nakdal was in full swing, Hao Ren and Vivian also took the time to return to the homeworld of the emissaries.

Mainly, Hao Ren was worried that Lily would tear down the entire base if he didn't go back...

But the husky that had become a spirit was indeed stronger than the regular domestic model. Lily hadn't torn down the base while Hao Ren was away, but she did complain vigorously after seeing him—mainly about "being bored in the base" and "you guys are having a blast outside but not taking me."

"I wanted to take you, but if we took you out, we'd definitely be blasted into horse meat by the divine power storm," Hao Ren said helplessly in the face of the husky spirit's complaints. "But don't worry, we've found where the center of the X-Cluster is. As long as we solve the problem there, the blockade will be lifted."

Lily pouted, with an expression that said, "Although I'm unhappy, this dog is quite sensible and won't hold it against you."

The progress on the emissary homeworld was also rapid. The outpost base that had been hastily built had now expanded into a massive permanent fortress, not only protecting the remote mind array but also extending beyond the northern scorched earth plain, all the way to the primeval jungle outside the plain. A small portion of the forest had been partitioned off by a barrier and had now become a "botanical garden" within the base. Lily spent her days hunting, fishing, and stealing bird nests in it, occasionally dragging the Nangong siblings and the Izhaks family out for picnics. Life was good.

So her daily life wasn't boring at all. She just felt like Hao Ren's side was having such a big party, and she couldn't join in, which felt like she'd lost a billion dollars...

Walking along the main road in the base towards the residential area, Hao Ren saw the "World Tree" that Zorm had created with his tentacles towering on the horizon. The setting sun cast its glow, and the canopy of the World Tree began to emit a faint magical light. In that shimmering light, one could clearly see some small man-made aircraft shuttling between the branches.

Vivian narrowed her eyes. "Emissaries?"

"You should have seen their first contact with Zorm," Izhaks said with a ghastly smile. "Team N-6 led the way. They carefully departed from the Zenith Seat and circled above Zorm's 'World Tree' for a long time before finally landing. They set up sentry posts and monitored underground data. Then Zorm suddenly drew a smiley face half a kilometer wide on the canopy of the World Tree, and then started launching fireworks and shining lights into the sky, and even shouted a song, 'Hello, Friend,' which could be heard halfway across the plain—N-6 almost opened fire."

"I can imagine it without seeing it..." Hao Ren covered half his face. "That's Zorm's style... I wonder how long he spent figuring out such a process."

"Hey, Bat, I also heard you became a queen?" Lily's depression came and went quickly, and now she was gossiping again. "What's going on? How did you, with your poor life, get such a rich job?"

Vivian covered half her face like Hao Ren. "Don't mention it... You wouldn't say that if you knew what kind of creatures I'm a queen to."

Hao Ren didn't stay on the emissary homeworld for too long because soon the drone swarm sent a message from Nakdal:

They had spotted the Mad Lord's claws at the edge of the Nakdal defense perimeter.