Wizard: Building a Golem Legion From Zero

Chapter 331: Chapter 322: Celestial Throne

Allen encrypted the technical files for the two Divine Statues and saved them to the workshop’s highest-level database.

He stood at the entrance of the assembly workshop and glanced back at the Cyclops’s dimming single eye in the darkness, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly.

From a mortal’s perspective, these two superweapons, Gabriel and the Cyclops, were not much different from gods descended to the mortal realm.

Of course, in the eyes of a true High-tier Wizard, they were still a far cry from man-made gods.

’Thinking back on the bold declaration I made as an apprentice to "mass-produce gods," I’ve at least managed to cash in on a small part of that boast now.’

Naming the new generation of decisive-battle weapons the "Divine Statue Series" was precisely to remind himself: ’This journey has only just begun.’

"Jarvis, what’s the current account balance?"

[Liquid capital: 9.26 million Low-Level Magic Stones.]

The R&D and manufacturing of the two Divine Statues had burned through more than sixty million in one go. The nest egg he had painstakingly saved up over the past few years in the Molten Iron Mountain Range had been completely emptied by these two "money-devouring beasts."

He still had several excellent Golem design plans in his head, one of which even had a completed draft, but now...

Broke.

Truly broke.

’This final year, I have to just buckle down and grind for money.’ Allen silently set the tone for himself.

But before that, there was one core project on his plate that had to be finished.

That was the space-based weapon he had been dreaming of.

Although the previous one-time-use "Damocles" had successfully hit the enemy, it was essentially a disposable consumable. Trading seven fire-element magic cores for a single shot had little technical sophistication and was not cost-effective in the slightest.

Building a reusable version was not technically difficult to achieve.

The Demon Eye IV’s anti-gravity suspension module had been operating stably at an altitude of 20,000 meters for nearly ten years, the Deep Sea Silver Conductor had solved the problem of extreme cold, and the anti-turbulence Rune Array had also gone through multiple iterations.

In fact, he had built a prototype three months ago.

It was a high-altitude weapons platform equipped with a scaled-down "Angel’s Chant" weapon system, capable of hovering on standby at 18,000 meters and delivering precision strikes on ground targets at a moment’s notice.

The test data was beautiful. And then, he turned right around and dismantled the prototype.

The reason was simple. Standing before the Cyclops, a forty-eight-meter-tall, fifty-four-thousand-ton crimson behemoth, he clearly realized a problem.

’This thing can’t fly!’

Gravity Control could indeed let it leap several hundred meters, but that was a long jump, not taking flight.

After landing, it would inevitably smash a huge crater, and after smashing the crater, it would have to grunt and groan as it climbed back out.

If it used Gravity Control for the entire journey, the consumption of its three Earth Core Furnaces would probably drain all the Magic Power along a hundred-kilometer route, and then he’d receive an exorbitant bill for damages from the local Lord Wizard.

The maximum range of the Golem Teleportation Technique was 120 kilometers. Beyond that, the Cyclops could only rely on its two thick legs to plod along.

A forty-eight-meter-tall crimson colossus, marching across the land, leaving a crater with every step.

Allen closed his eyes in anguish. An image had already formed in his mind: the Cyclops passing by a Kingdom’s border fortress, accidentally stomping on and collapsing their city wall, causing the terrified defenders to flee the city, pissing their pants.

And he, Allen Wesren, would have to miserably negotiate compensation for repairing the wall!

’No, that’s too stupid.’

’It needs a vehicle.’ The moment this thought popped into his head, the design for the space-based weapon resurfaced in his mind.

A high-altitude platform.

Anti-gravity suspension.

Sustainable operation.

’What if... I just make it big enough?’

Allen’s eyes had lit up at the time, but the manufacturing of Gabriel was at a critical juncture, so he merely jotted down the inspiration.

Now, he would approve another million in research funds for this project.

The technology was all ready. It just needed to be integrated, which wouldn’t cost much.

He flew back to his workshop at a brisk pace, and a brand-new blueprint unfolded before him.

"Jarvis, change the project name for the Sword of Damocles."

[Please provide a new name.]

"Celestial Throne."

The design concept rapidly took shape in his mind. It wasn’t just a ground-strike weapon, but also an integrated Golem deployment vehicle and a reconnaissance-command platform.

The structure was divided into three parts.

The top layer: an oversized deployment deck. An oval shape, 120 meters on its long axis and 80 meters on its short axis. It would be large enough to hold the Cyclops for a direct drop from an altitude of 30,000 meters, using Gravity Control to decelerate for a surprise insertion onto the battlefield. It could also transport other Flying Golems and the Freedom Gundam.

The middle layer was equipped with three second-generation Magic Engines in parallel, which could absorb free-floating Magic Power from the upper atmosphere to achieve unlimited operational range.

The most prominent part of the bottom section was a main cannon and a Demon Eye reconnaissance module.

The overall shape resembled a massive, intimidating metal spinning top. Since power was ample, he might as well have it fly at an altitude no ordinary person could reach.

"Jarvis, set the operational altitude to 30,000 meters. Assess the Magic Power environment and risks at that height."

[An altitude of 30,000 meters touches the upper edge of the troposphere, approaching the Law stratum. Magic Power density is 3.1 times that of the surface, but energy turbulence intensity is increased by 400%. Conventional suspension arrays are at risk of failure.]

"No matter."

"Upgrade the Anti-Gravity Rune Array to a matrix configuration, with three sets for redundancy. Add a ’Silent Iron’ coating to the hull and inscribe it with High-tier anti-interference Runes."

[Risk is manageable. In this environment, the active absorption mode of the three second-generation engines is extremely efficient. Theoretical operational range: infinite.]

[However, engine maintenance cycles must be considered. A Rune Array calibration is recommended every 20,000 hours of operation, with an estimated downtime of 6 hours.]

’Acceptable.’

His gaze swept over the main cannon’s design area. Allen stroked his chin, lost in thought for ten seconds.

Gabriel’s "Angel’s Chant" was currently Allen’s most powerful form of attack.

The Celestial Throne had three engines in parallel; its power supply ceiling was even higher than Gabriel’s.

’In that case, I’ll apply the technology from "Angel’s Chant," design a dedicated, oversized runic cannon barrel, and drive it with the full output of all three engines...’

"Jarvis, create a model. Load the ’Angel’s Chant’ spell compilation architecture and raise the energy input parameters to the peak parallel output of three second-generation engines. Extrapolate the output data."

[Extrapolating...]

On the blueprint, the general framework began to take shape.

Allen’s mental sub-routines simultaneously joined the calculations, processing the stability issues of the spell model under excessive power supply.

Thirty seconds later, the data was ready.

[Oversized Chant Cannon—tentatively named "Light of Judgment."]

[Barrel length: 8 meters. Caliber: 6 meters.]

[Recommended barrel material: Deep Sea Silver Conductor inner lining + Earth Vein Tempered Steel outer shell, with a three-layer overlapping Rune imprinting process.]

[Magic Power consumption per shot: 12 seconds of full output from three engines.]

[Cooldown period: 180 seconds.]

[Theoretical peak Magic Power reading—]

The moment the number popped up, Allen’s finger froze.

[6300]

He stared at this number for a long time.

The peak reading for Gabriel’s "Angel’s Chant" was 5300. The previous strongest cannon, Titan’s Roar, had a power level of 3600.

What did this number mean?

It meant that in terms of pure power, it surpassed the output limit of a Second-level Wizard.

And it was a high-powered shot that descended vertically from 30,000 meters, could be fired repeatedly, and could be fired again after a three-minute cooldown.

"This thing... seems a little intense," Allen muttered.

At that moment, he suddenly understood the thrill his mentor must have felt when using his own space-based weapon—the feeling of sitting enthroned in the clouds, looking down on all living things, and casually unleashing Divine Punishment.

"And add an Illusion Rune Array to make it completely invisible at 30,000 meters," Allen added as a final design detail.

[Preliminary design plan complete. Estimated total cost: 800,000 Low-Level Magic Stones. The corresponding technologies are mature, with R&D costs around 500,000.]

Looking at this reasonable price, Allen’s tightly furrowed brow finally relaxed. ’It’s quite a bargain, actually.’