Chapter 238: Chapter 232: Special Operations Golem
「The edge of the Black Stone Gobi.」
A hunting squad was advancing. Above them, three Storm Falcons circled on alert.
In the distance, a Rock Armor Earth Dragon let out a muffled roar.
The dark yellow rock armor on its back was half a meter thick. Its four limbs were stout, and every step left a deep pit in the ground.
An Inferno locked onto the target.
There was no muzzle flash.
Twelve Crystal Armor-Piercing Bullets crossed 20 kilometers and struck the Rock Armor Earth Dragon’s broad back.
There was no loud explosion. A red light flashed, and the Rock Armor Earth Dragon’s rock armor and the scales beneath it both transformed into translucent white crystals. The payload inside the armor-piercing bullets then immediately detonated.
Large sections of the Rock Armor Earth Dragon’s crystal armor shattered. Blood and gore flew from its back as its massive body crashed to the ground, a mixture of flesh, blood, and crystal shards pooling everywhere.
In the workshop’s Meditation Room, Allen watched the live feed while he trained.
"Target’s vital signs have ceased."
Jarvis sent over the statistical data for the operation. "Hunting Squad One has completed the kill. Time elapsed: three minutes, twelve seconds. Casualties: zero. Ammunition expended: twelve Crystal Armor-Piercing Bullets."
Allen closed the light screen.
"For all subsequent hunting operations, tactical guidance will be handled by the Demon Eye III aerial reconnaissance and command platform," Allen ordered. "You’ll be in charge of overall coordination. As long as the target’s Magic Power fluctuations don’t exceed three thousand, just clean them up according to standard procedure. No need to report to me."
A new war had begun, and Allen had no interest in playing supervisor at the front lines.
As long as the grand strategy was set, Jarvis and the Golem Legion would scour this gobi clean.
"Understood," Jarvis replied. "Your training regimen has been updated. Please adhere to the scheduled timeline."
Allen closed his eyes, no longer letting himself be distracted.
His Spiritual Power sank, entering the depths of his Sea of Consciousness.
In the darkness, numerous three-dimensional Rune Matrices spun slowly, emitting stable Magic Power fluctuations.
This was the result of his past efforts.
But one Matrix was just an ethereal outline.
Allen guided his Magic Power along the tendrils of his Spiritual Power and began to sketch a Rune in the void.
One stroke, then another.
It required immense concentration; any minute tremor would cause the Rune to collapse, triggering a Magic Power backlash.
Tedious and monotonous.
Like carving a maze on a grain of rice.
「Eight hours later.」
The final node closed. A brand-new Rune lit up and embedded itself into the outline of the fourth Matrix.
Only then did Allen open his eyes.
His training panel refreshed.
[Fourth Core Matrix: 3/36]
Although he had already obtained his third Core Witchcraft and met all the prerequisites to advance to a Second-level Wizard, completing the construction of all five Matrices would still take several years of effort.
’The efficiency is too low.’ Allen rubbed his temples.
High-level training resources were rare and hard to come by, and the fortress’s trading market rarely had them for sale. For now, he could only rely on grinding it out over time.
He stood up and left the Meditation Room. Training required a balance of work and rest; keeping his Spiritual Power stretched too taut could easily cause permanent damage.
Over the next half-month, he adhered to a strict schedule.
He spent twelve hours a day in deep Meditation to advance the construction of the "Fourth Core Matrix" and the "Fourth Sub-Mind Thread," and spent all his remaining time immersed in the laboratory.
He planned to develop a completely new type of Golem.
At his workbench, Allen pulled up the blueprints for the Spider Slayer II.
This low-cost Mechanical Body had once helped him through his initial accumulation phase.
But now, its specifications were completely outdated.
With the combat power of an Advanced Apprentice, it was nothing more than cannon fodder when facing Magical Beasts with Magic Power fluctuations in the thousands. He knew there would be large-scale, head-on Golem combat in the future, so he was already considering the next generation of primary combat units for his Golem Legion.
Due to the unique and rare nature of crystallization technology, he decided to first apply it to special operations.
"Jarvis, create a new project." Allen leaned on the workbench with both hands, his gaze sharp. "Classification: Special operations Golem. Primary functions: infiltration, sabotage, decapitation strikes."
[Please assign a name.]
"Codename: Spider Slayer III, the Shadow Assassin."
Allen began to rebuild the model.
Previously, when building the Spider Slayer, he had been like a stingy auditor, cutting away all non-essential configurations.
Now, he owned thirteen mines, with a net monthly profit of over a million.
"No budget limit," Allen gave the first directive.
"The biggest problem with the Spider Slayer II is its ambiguous role." Allen swiped on the blueprint, deleting the sniper platform module on its back. "The sniper module is too bulky, and the Magic Power fluctuations from firing can’t be concealed. An assassin doesn’t need a long gun."
He needed a short, deadly boning knife.
"Retain the spider-form chassis architecture," Allen began to remodel the main body. "The six-legged structure will remain, but all drive bearings will be replaced with higher-strength materials. Increase the proportion of silencing Runes at the joints."
A flatter, more streamlined metal skeleton quickly took shape.
"Next, the stealth system."
Allen walked to the materials cabinet and took out a small jar of ground Seed of Crystallization dust.
Previously, Shadow Travel had been limited by spatial fluctuations, making it easily detectable by High-tier Wizards. Now, he had a new idea.
He had accidentally discovered during a previous experiment that within the area of effect of a Crystallization Field, spatial fluctuations were actually lower than normal.
Allen placed several materials into a reaction dish. ’If I make the crystallization dust into a coating and use its faint radiation frequency to mask the surrounding spatial fluctuations... then use minute Neutralizing Force Field Runes to counteract the effects on its own structure... worth a shot.’
He activated the Alchemy Equipment.
Three hours later, a new type of coating—dark purple, non-reflective, and with slight wave-absorbing properties—began to take shape.
"According to theoretical data: this coating combines the advantages of several materials to absorb eight percent of Magic Power and spatial fluctuations, and to shield against infrared and thermal signatures. Paired with the Shadow Travel module, it can achieve both physical and magical stealth," Jarvis concluded.
Allen nodded. He wasn’t afraid of its poor performance. Just having a direction was good news; he could iterate on it later.
"The chassis and stealth are covered. Now for the core weapon system."
Allen pulled up the data on the newly developed crystallization weapons.
"Cancel the conventional Close-Combat Blade. No melee engagements."
On the projection, he designed the machine’s forelimbs into a pair of strange Bullet Blades, hollow on the inside.
"Integrate a high-pressure injection pump inside. The ammunition bay will be filled with a high-concentration solution of Seed of Crystallization dust."
"The moment it makes contact with the target, as long as it breaks the skin or defense, it will immediately inject the crystallization fluid."
Jarvis quickly created a physical model. In the simulation, a steel spider appeared from the void, its two specialized forelimbs piercing the neck of an earth dragon.
In no time, the earth dragon’s circulatory system carried the crystallization fluid throughout its body. Its form began to crystallize from the inside out, finally turning into a silent, glass-like statue.
[Weapon module finalized. Designation: Crystallized Poison Blade.]
’Not bad, not bad,’ he thought. ’It inherits the Spider Slayer’s signature insidious style.’
"I also need a delayed destruction method."
Allen took out the blueprint for a Crystal Bomb and began to shrink it down.
"A miniaturized Crystal Bomb. Shrink the size down to a walnut. Remove the impact fuse, change it to remote detonation via Spiritual Power."
"Carried by the Shadow Assassin. It will infiltrate enemy positions and be placed on Magic Power nodes or at command centers."
"That’s not all," Allen continued adding parameters. "Special operations means going deep behind enemy lines. If it’s captured or destroyed, it absolutely cannot leave behind any technical data."
Next to the Golem’s Energy Storage, he added a self-destruct module.
"Also, build in a standard unit of the Seed of Crystallization. If the Golem is incapacitated or loses connection for more than twenty minutes, it will detonate immediately."
"A silent self-destruct. All matter within a radius of several meters, including the Golem’s own wreckage, will be crystallized and pulverized."
The blueprint was finalized.
A mechanical spider—dark purple all over, flat and low to the ground, and radiating a dangerous aura—hovered in the center of the light screen.
"Cost analysis."
"Manufacturing cost per unit: fifteen thousand Low-Level Magic Stones."
"Good. Finalize it. We’ll build the skeleton first," Allen said without hesitation.
"I’ll use my free time to build a prototype for verification."
