Chapter 340: The Enemy's Enemy Is Not Necessarily a Friend (12)

"Work~~~hard work~~~Dig out all the ore here!"

"Ding ding~~~dang dang~~ding ding~~~"

"Inside the mountain, in an underground mine that gave off a faint green glow, a bald foreman swung his whip with all his strength, shouting hoarsely from lack of breath."

"Basket after basket of greenish ore was transported out of the mine by one small ore cart after another, and then directly sent into a secret alchemy laboratory similarly built in the mountain's interior."

"In the laboratory, exhausted young mages worked hard, extracting the extremely low-yield gloom element from the ore."

"At the same time, in another laboratory, two men were observing the work in the alchemy lab through a large water mirror."

"One of the men had half-white hair, cloudy eyes, and visible burns of unknown origin on his skin."

"He spoke respectfully: 'Your Eminence, the gloom element content in the ore is very low, but its toxicity is extremely strong.'"

"'Although the alchemy apprentices have been given special protective spells and wear isolating metal clothing, they can work at most fifteen years.'"

"The other man was tall and strong, wearing steel-gray full-body armor, indeed the mortal incarnation of the War God HaigeLite."

"He gazed at the water mirror: 'After fifteen years, fifteen years, then what?'"

"'They die after ten years.'"

"The old mage spoke indifferently, as if stating a trivial matter."

"The War God nodded slowly: 'Being able to use them for fifteen years is not bad.'"

"These alchemy apprentices are all orphans, with no family to burden them, no exceptional talent, and are purely expendable."

"In fact, in HaigeLite's eyes, all mortals are expendable; some just last longer, some shorter, but the essence is the same."

"As for those miners, in his eyes they aren't even considered human."

"He asked again: 'How is the production of gloom element?'"

"'On average, one can refine about 50 kolons of crude gloom powder per month.' (Note: 1 kolon equals 500 grams.)"

"HaigeLite silently calculated: the crude gloom powder contains 40% pure gloom element, so 50 kolons can be concentrated into 20 kolons of pure gloom element."

"'Not bad.'"

"He currently owns ten gloom mines; this is just one of them."

"The combined output of the ten mines is about 180 kolons of pure gloom element per month, and he has already accumulated a total of 400 kolons of usable gloom element."

"Speaking of which, he actually had no intention of using these gloom elements to forge sun weapons, because such weapons are immensely powerful; if the related knowledge were leaked, it could threaten his rule over mortals."

"His original intention was to use them to create a power source that could steadily supply power, providing energy for the war chessboard, the sunset shield, and his own war domain."

"But before the power source could be successfully developed, the situation changed."

"Watching the hard-working 'expendables' in the water mirror, HaigeLite softly told the mine supervisor nearby: 'Liopu, let these alchemy apprentices eat better, give them some meat each day, don't let them go hungry.'"

"'Yes, Your Eminence.'"

"'If a miner dies, throw the corpse far away, don't cause a plague.'"

"The supervisor Liopu gave a low chuckle: 'Rest assured, master, miners poisoned to death by gloom ore will not rot; they will only become wind-dried corpses.'"

"HaigeLite blinked slightly, then smiled: 'Not bad.'"

"He turned and left the gloom laboratory inside the mountain, then immediately went to another newly established laboratory."

"The purpose of this laboratory is to forge sun weapons."

"The person in charge of this laboratory is HaigeLite himself."

"The main work of this laboratory is to concentrate the 40% gloom crude powder into gloom fine powder with over 90% purity, and use that to create immensely powerful weapons."

"To be frank, HaigeLite knows the basic principle of sun weapons, but knows almost nothing about the details of their construction."

"This is because he is not a scholar but a warrior."

"Second, sun weapons based on gloom element have low power and severe side effects, having long been eliminated by the Abyss; even his Abyssal projection knows little about them."

"The only advantage of this lowest-tier sun weapon is probably that it is simple to make."

"But simplicity is only relative to other sun weapons; to make the weapon safe, reliable, and perfect, one must cultivate relevant talent and spend considerable time, effort, and resources to refine and improve various technical details."

"But HaigeLite did not do that; the crucial parts were entirely made by hand using his mortal incarnation."

"Because he feared that the related knowledge would become known to mortals."

"In just three days, he had already handcrafted five sun weapons."

"He was fully aware that the hastily forged sun weapons were very crude, highly unreliable, and not powerful enough."

"But they will definitely explode, and when they do they are especially toxic."

"HaigeLite secretly thought: 'These things aren't good, but they'll be enough for self-defense.'"

"As long as Luosen dares to use sun weapons against the War God's Realm, he will immediately dispatch a band of death-defying holy warriors, armed with these items, to retaliate in the Natural Plane."

"While forging the sixth sun weapon, HaigeLite couldn't help but think:"

"'Perhaps I should not passively retaliate, but instead take the initiative to attack.'"

"This thought flashed in his mind and was immediately rejected."

"'HaigeLite, don't be stupid!'"

"He shouted angrily at himself."

"'That guy's phase-shift technique is formidable; launching an attack won't even blow him up, and will instead draw merciless retaliation.'"

"As the War God, his creed is simply: 'Either don't do it, or do it completely.'"

"Now, although he has sun weapons, they are far from enough to guarantee killing Luosen, so there's no point in doing it."

"Because if he fails to kill him, his daughter Beilu Dandi will be doomed, and thereafter the entire War God race will be hunted by that guy; one mistake could lead to the extinction of the whole War God race."

"So, the current state of mutual wariness is the best."

"After a while, he couldn't help but think: 'My sun weapons are rather crude and prone to accidental explosions; perhaps I should train a group of specialized artifact mages to help me improve them.'"

"This idea was not the first to occur; after turning it over in his mind for a while, it was ultimately approved."

"'Since the Natural Empire has already developed sun weapons, the related knowledge will inevitably spread across the major planes; hiding it is pointless, so I might as well research and improve it early, so that I will have a handy weapon to use in the future.'"

But this way, I will have to greatly strengthen my control over mortals, and not a single mishap can occur.

If a mishap occurs, letting these solar weapons run loose among the populace, the War God tribe's days will become difficult.

We can only collectively move to live on the moon; otherwise, we might be wiped out by mortals in one sweep.

"Ah~ From now on, there will be plenty to keep busy." Haigelete felt vexed, once again regretting his decision to interfere with the natural plane.

When the sixth solar weapon was finished being forged, he not only wasn't happy, but secretly worried.

"No matter what, we have now become enemies."

"The Natural Empire is also developing rapidly; for now I can still maintain balance with these low-grade solar weapons, but in a few years they'll probably be useless."

"So, if I don't do something, I'm just waiting to die."

"But what can I do?"

Haigelete racked his brains but couldn't think of a good solution.

Thus he could only bury himself in forging the seventh solar weapon.

While he was halfway through forging, he suddenly received a soul-message from his wife Margaret: "Dear, someone is looking for you."

"Who?" Haigelete startled, unable to fathom who had the nerve to have his wife send a message.

"The watchdog of Gordermel, the Sun Lord Artumon."

"What does he want?!"

Haigelete felt no liking for Gordermel at all, and he utterly despised Gordermel's subordinates, the Light Hounds.

Because Gordermel's projected true form originates from the former divine realm's 'Radiant Glory,' which is now the Abyss of Nightmares.

Haigelete wholeheartedly wants to break free from the Abyss's control, hoping the Abyss will be sealed forever, even completely eradicated.

But Gordermel is determined to fully open the gate of the Abyss.

Their paths differ, so they naturally view each other unfavorably.

His wife's voice came again: "He says he's come to help you deal with our common enemy."

"Our common enemy?"

Haigelete's heart stirred; his consciousness tendrils immediately withdrew from his mortal incarnation and returned to the War God Temple on the Victory Heavenly Ridge.

"Let him enter the Temple to see me."

Having said that, Haigelete waited on the divine throne.

After a moment, a deep-golden figure descended from the sky, landing in the center of the Temple—it was the Sun Lord Artumon.

Artumon's appearance was that of a middle-aged man wearing golden robes, with a handsome, gentle face and a thick mane of golden hair flowing loose.

At that moment, he leaned on a white jade‑gold‑headed solar staff, and at his waist hung a seemingly unremarkable one‑handed sword.

"I pay my respects, great War God."

Haigelete sized up Artumon, his gaze finally settling on the one‑handed sword.

"You're so small, yet you dare to carry the Extinction Law Sword around—aren't you afraid someone will snatch it?"

No sooner had he spoken than Artumon directly unsheathed the one‑handed sword and held it with both hands.

"War God, no need to seize it, for I intend to offer it to you."

"Huh?!"

That remark truly exceeded Haigelete's expectations.

"This is Gordermel's favorite—you're giving it to me; aren't you afraid your master will kill you?"

Artumon smiled slightly: "To offer it to you means lending it to you for a time, not giving it away."

"Once you use this sword to slay the enemy and rescue your trapped daughter, you must still return it."

Haigelete gave a grim chuckle: "What if I don't return it?"

Artumon respectfully placed the Extinction Law Sword on the ground before him.

"In the future, it will not be I who comes to reclaim the sword, but my master."

"So you may certainly keep it, but there's no need to tell me that."

While speaking, Artumon produced a fine spirit‑quality scroll and gently placed it beside the Extinction Law Sword.

"The sword is immensely powerful; it requires a special sword technique to match. Please follow the scroll's contents, practice diligently, to unleash its fullest potential."

Haigelete gazed at the mighty divine sword on the ground, then at Artumon, falling into contemplation.

Artumon said nothing, merely waiting patiently.

Three minutes later, Haigelete calmly spoke: "You're using me, and I hate being used the most."

"No, I am helping you deal with a strong foe."

Haigelete shook his head: "I don't want to waste words."

"Take the divine sword and vanish from my sight at once!"

Artumon was astonished: "Great War God, don't you want to save your daughter?"

Haigelete suddenly rose to his feet and roared loudly.

"Are you deaf? Get out of here right now!"

His voice rolled like thunder, and numerous white‑hot runes appeared in the air, a portent that the War Domain was about to open.

Artumon jumped in fright, immediately seized the divine sword, and swiftly left the War God Temple.

After seeing Artumon depart, Haigelete sat down again, motionless, like a statue.

Yet in his mind a thought turned: "Perhaps this is my chance to gain freedom."

There are two ways to obtain freedom.

The first is to perfect one's bodily structure to shield against the Abyss's influence.

The second is to utterly destroy the Abyss.

He previously dared not imagine the second path, but now he sees a glimmer of hope.

Because he realized he had still greatly underestimated the Natural Empire.

This Natural Empire must already have manifested the true potential to threaten the Abyss, otherwise A Tumen would not have risked borrowing a sword.

He thought to himself: "Ideally, let the Abyss and the Natural Empire be destroyed together in the flames of war!"

(End of Chapter)