God-level Hero

While I was still mulling things over, the Radiant City Pool outpost came into view, and from the sky, sure enough, it was jam‑packed with NPCs of the Hell Race. This is all population I collected, man!

Right at this moment, the General sighed with emotion: "Warrior, the completion level of this battle quest far exceeded my expectations. Your battle achievements have restored my confidence in continuing this post, and also made the Council regain their trust in me. So I have a personal reward as well, please accept it!"

——System Prompt: You have perfectly completed the garrison general Ragnar’s battle quest at the Pool of Radiance, "Attack Demon Flame City". You gain reward Experience +20,000,000, gain Bright Alliance Merit +200,000, gain Skill Book +10, gain Elf Kingdom recruitment permission for 1000 Command Value. You have received the hidden Skill Book "Revenge Hand" presented by General Ragnar.

Revenge Hand: Consumes a large amount of Hate Value in a single use to inflict multiple times the damage on the target. Targets struck by Revenge Hand will suffer continuous bleeding and armor‑weakening states, and targets with Life Value below 10% have a very high chance of being directly executed. Skill Cooldown: one day. Learning requirement: Master-level Ranger.

——System Prompt: Your follower Vice Hero Tamilia has leveled up to Level 54!

I suddenly jolted: "Revenge Hand?"

The General nodded: "That’s the skill I just used to execute the Demon Flame City Lord. I believe you can use it as well. Compared to other Hate Strike skills, the unique point of this skill is that it has no targeting restriction and can be used on any target. Although you no longer have the Ranger profession, I believe you can still use it."

That’s true, as long as it’s a Ranger hate‑type skill, I can use it! And there’s this really annoying thing about Ranger hate‑type skills: they can only deal hate damage to specific targets on the hate list. But this skill has no such restriction, it’s totally a venting skill. From now on, I finally have a one‑shot ultimate for duels! Of course, the premise is that I reach Grandmaster.

I was overjoyed: "Many thanks, General!"

The General laughed: "No need to be so polite, Warrior. The significance of this battle is far‑reaching. This reward is actually far from enough to honor your Merit. If you ever need my help in the future, just say the word. Now I’ll disembark and head to the Military Department to report this battle."

I laughed: "Take care, General."

Exactly, he was originally planning to resign and devote himself to me, after all. This bit of reward really doesn’t match up to my Merit. But whatever, the favor is what counts.

Next up, of course, was to keep shuttling people while waiting for the Holy Vine Space to slowly digest the Divine Power of the tree root. I’d avoid combat as much as possible during this period. The Sky Ship was already crammed with over a thousand prisoners, so there was nothing more to say—we directly set off for Lamia Village.

However, stuffing more than a thousand prisoners into the Sky Ship is no small thing, so the act had to be done properly.

I gave an order: "Sky Ship, proceed to Lamia Village at the lowest altitude and the slowest speed." That’s right, put on a show of being at maximum overload for those Japan players along the route to see, and also let the whole world, especially the game officials, know that my Sky Ship isn’t actually that godly.

Agarlon replied: "As you command, my master!"

Oh yeah! I’d forgotten to switch off the autopilot mode? Well, fine, whatever tasks it can handle, let it continue. The shortcoming of the Sky Ship is actually this balloon of his. He has to grow and evolve as well, or he’ll never keep up with the growth pace of the Holy Vine.

Then, I finally had time to check on the progress of the tree root digestion.

I arrived at the Central Village, and in front of me was a sea of heads; the prisoners had already crowded all the way to the edge of the Mushroom Forest. That huge golden‑green tree root was wrapped tightly by thick vines, floating in the central lake, and the entire lake was rippling with golden‑green waves.

Tamilia excitedly came forward to report: "Lord City Lord, the Holy Vine is currently doing its utmost to absorb the Divine Power of the World Tree’s root, and the Divine Power sap previously extracted by the beetles has already started to take effect. It won’t be long before our Holy Vine can level up again. At that time, our Central Village won’t be so crowded anymore!"

I laughed heartily: "Then how much time will it take to completely digest this piece of tree root?"

Tamilia pondered: "That’s hard to say. After all, the Divine Power inside the tree root is even more refined than the sap collected by the beetles, so the time needed will definitely be much longer. Of course, if Lord City Lord wishes to speed up the growth, we can certainly gobble it down like wolves and hasten the process, but that would waste quite a bit of Divine Power."

I waved my hand: "Don’t waste it, we’ll digest it slowly, no rush." Exactly, the game officials already have their eyes on me, how would I dare to advance by leaps and bounds and show off again? Time is on my side, I’m not in any hurry at all. At the very least I have to drag things out until the New World opens, until all those AI brains fully enter autonomous running mode and GMs no longer have any room to intervene manually.

Then of course, I had to go check out the Sandworm Mining Machine that had pushed my War Machine Science up to God-level. The current mining machine is an Advanced Spiritual Intelligent Life, and I wanted to see just how "intelligent" it was.

I went to the passenger‑cargo hold and found the Sandworm Mining Machine. At this moment, its smooth, rounded body was covered in a dazzling golden‑green glow, making it look like a gigantic cabbage looper worm—utterly disgusting.

I checked its attributes:

—Sandworm Mining Machine: Divine Artifact, special vehicle, Durability 10,000, Defense 500, speed 4, two additional Equipment Bars. A highly efficient mining machine with multiple functions such as logging, mining, and digging. The mining machine itself can store and transport 300 units of ore. Starting the mining machine requires 50 units of crystal or gemstone resources as power fuel. (Note: the storage and transport capacity and transport speed of the mining machine increase with the user’s Logistics level.) Special skill: Advanced Mechanical Spirit.

Advanced Mechanical Spirit: A non-living unit has obtained the traits of an intelligent life form and can enjoy part of the hero’s Strategic Attribute bonus (currently receives 20% hero attribute bonus).

Additional equipment: Demon Worm’s Stinger Drill ×2.

—Demon Worm’s Stinger Drill: Divine Artifact, war machine, increases mining efficiency by 50%, adds 500 points of siege damage, Basic Durability 200,000. Special skill: Devouring Recovery Growth.

...

Da Fei’s brows twitched; this was the current attribute of the mining machine. He remembered back when this machine was still an S-class treasure, it only had 1,000 Durability, could only store and transport 100 units of ore, and each use of fuel only cost 10 units. Now, without him even noticing, the machine’s Durability had increased tenfold! So what’s this Advanced Mechanical Spirit about? Mechanical yet also alive? What’s the difference between it and those Mechanical Puppet Armies in Mage City?

Just as Da Fei clicked on the Spiritual Body Attributes, a dull and sluggish voice suddenly came from inside the sandworm’s belly: "Mas—ter!"

Da Fei was shocked out of his wits: "You can talk!"

The mining machine continued in its muffled voice: "Mas—ter!"

Da Fei said in surprise: "You only know this one sentence?"

"Mas—ter!"

Damn! It really only knows this one! This is basically like a baby only knowing how to say "Mama", right? So this is the meaning of Mechanical Spirit. Sure enough, it’s a miracle of life that can only be created by absorbing Divine Power? So if it keeps developing, it can also grow into an existence like the Ancient Tree Fortress, a building-creature?

Da Fei said excitedly, "Good! Your master is very happy to hear you speak. Have a good rest, and I’ll let you keep mining and growing in the future!"

At this moment, the sandworm’s voice clearly sounded excited: "Master!!"

Wahahaha, that means it can understand! Sweet! Right, since he already has God-level War Machine Study, then the sub-skills are a must-learn.

Da Fei pulled out the golden textbook and slapped it; a golden light flashed:

—System Prompt: You spent 1 Skill Point and learned the God-level War Machine Study sub-skill "Human-Machine Integration"!

Human-Machine Integration: 35% of the hero’s own Strategic Attribute can be applied to war machines.

Da Fei hurried to check the Sandworm Mining Machine’s attributes and saw its Defense suddenly jump from 500 to 780! Da Fei himself had nearly 500 points of strategic defense; Human-Machine Integration adds 35%, the sandworm’s Advanced Mechanical Spirit adds 20%, which just happens to be this number!

They can stack, nice! Da Fei was overjoyed!

The most frustrating problem for Da Fei had always been that the Crossbow Cannon’s damage didn’t benefit from the hero’s Strategic Attack bonus. In the early game when player attributes are low, the Crossbow Cannon is definitely strong. But at Da Fei’s current point where his Attack is pushing 500, the Crossbow Cannon’s total output damage honestly might not be much stronger than a conventional Shooter Corps, practically turning into a chicken-rib unit.

Now with this Human-Machine Integration, the Crossbow Cannons under Da Fei’s control will undoubtedly be reborn. More importantly, the attribute stacking of the Sandworm Mining Machine proves that if Da Fei can also tinker out a Crossbow Cannon with "Advanced Mechanical Spirit," then the Crossbow Cannon will also gain a 35%+20% hero attribute bonus!

Ah, a Crossbow Cannon that gains 55% of his own Attack bonus, and it’s still two cannons supported by Grandmaster Mechanical Reinforcement—Da Fei doesn’t even dare imagine that power! And judging from the enlightenment-level intelligence of the Sandworm Mining Machine, Advanced Mechanical Spirit is clearly only the starting point of life; there’s still a vast space for future development. In the end, reaching the point where it enjoys 100% hero attribute bonus just like regular troops isn’t impossible either?

At this moment, Da Fei finally understood why, back then at the mine near his hometown Radiant City in the China Region, when he encountered the Epic Hell Cannon Carriage Artillery Woman Dilibu, those two cannons of hers could blast his Ancient Tree Fortress to hell and back—they must have been God-level Crossbow Cannons!

As for now, among Da Fei’s cannons, the only one that, like the Sandworm Mining Machine, has a chance to evolve into an "Advanced Mechanical Life Form" can only be that Hydra Cannon. Speaking of which, weren’t the extra Equipment Bars on the Sandworm Mining Machine installed by the Mage Mechanics of Mage City at Fleeting Blossom’s request? Then what about the Hydra Cannon? Is it possible too? Is there something like the drill that can let the cannon devour and grow?

In short, send another letter to Sain and ask. If he says it’s possible, bro will immediately ship the Hydra Cannon over! (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)