Chapter 732: Substitute Agent

When Lei En returned to Glamorgan, the clone that had been managing his domain for the past two days immediately passed through the teleportation gate.

Two squads of Extreme Warriors also went over with him.

While Lei En was setting up the teleportation array in Sword Bay Town, his substitute had already prepared in sync, leading people to move materials and various items for building a cavern out of the warehouse, and as soon as the teleportation gate opened, the goods were moved over at once.

In less than five minutes, the mountain of supplies piled in the teleportation hall was completely moved out.

When the Extreme Warriors returned, Lei En immediately closed the teleportation gate, and his substitute stayed on the Sword Bay Town side to begin construction.

"Boss," a captain of the Extreme Warriors asked, "Do you need us to do anything else?"

Lei En's gaze swept over the Extreme Warriors; his original body's symbiotic sensing picked up their thoughts, and these most loyal subordinates were full of curiosity about the clone. Clearly, they were not yet used to having two identical originals—when only the substitute was present it felt no different, but having two bosses standing together instantly confused them.

"You'll get used to it later," Lei En smiled. This was only the first; later he would have more substitutes, appearing in many places to work for him.

"That's all, go continue training."

"Yes, boss."

The Extreme Warriors dispersed, and Lei En sensed the six Thundercast Celestial Soldiers, who had recently emerged from the Dark Realm to the surface and were marching toward Shield Island.

For Reslin, the distance covered by two teleportations would take a Thundercast Celestial Soldier an entire day.

Then, the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers also needed to find suitable spots on Shield Island to set up two teleportation arrays—one linking to Sword Bay Town, the other leading to the Obsidian Tower.

The teleportation array on Shield Island is also crucial; once chosen, it will become Getan's core district in the future.

Therefore it must be chosen carefully, not rushed.

With the substitute handling administrative affairs these two days, there was no backlog, so Lei En went straight into the Mechanical Alchemy Chamber, glanced at the energy level in the spirit pool—it had risen to over 900 units, enough to create seven clones. He cleared an alchemy table to use as an operating table and focused on performing the Creation Technique.

A moment later, a clone stepped down from the alchemy table, stripped naked, and walked to the adjacent warehouse to forge weapons and gear for itself.

Then the second, the third…

Two hours later, the seven newly created Thundercast Celestial Soldiers armed themselves, wearing golden‑shining Thundercast armor, bearing lightning war hammers, with Bolt Guns at their waists, forming a solid human wall neatly standing before Lei En.

Including that substitute, the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers numbered fourteen!

Lei En nodded in satisfaction.

Each Thundercast Celestial Soldier possessed "Animated Metal" and "Metal Touch"; with these tool‑people, producing Bolt Guns and ammunition no longer consumed so much of his time, allowing him to fully relax.

"Move out."

He thought silently that the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers should act in separate teams.

They opened an anydoor to the teleportation hall, and under the shocked gazes of the Extreme Warriors guarding the hall, stepped onto the teleportation array and vanished.

Three went to Sword Bay Town to construct the teleportation hub.

The remaining four teleported to Jin Gang Fort to produce Bolt Guns and shell‑less bullets.

Lei En himself did not idle; after a short rest, he re‑stimulated his primary brain heart, creating a sub‑brain. This time, however, he did not load the sub‑brain into a clone but placed it in his palm to observe. The sub‑brain existed between energy and matter, able to solidify into a single form but unable to change further.

A thought flickered, and the sub‑brain, like a sphere of light, gradually solidified, shaping itself according to his design.

Soon, the sub‑brain transitioned from void to substance.

It became a silver‑gray square wafer about three centimeters on a side, three millimeters thick, so light in the hand it was almost weightless.

At first glance, it was a crystal chip.

However, Lei En knew it was entirely different from a crystal chip; it was a product of transcendent power, unrelated to technology. Still, one could call it a crystal chip, because it contained a copy of a MutatedPhone, whose built‑in multi‑core crystal chip possessed all the functions of a genuine crystal chip.

He could still clearly sense the crystal chip's perception of the outside world; the telepathic link had not vanished.

The current problem was how to apply it.

Lei En teleported to the Mechanical Alchemy Chamber in Jin Gang Fort, where four Thundercast Celestial Soldiers were already hard at work, not even lifting their heads when he arrived.

He took out a Titan Engine but found no way to proceed.

Obviously, the crystal chip could not be installed directly.

This required redesigning the Titan Engine's rune array to perfectly match the crystal chip, thereby controlling every strand of the engine's raging energy so that operation would not accumulate deviation and cause explosion.

Additionally, the crystal chip needed energy infusion; otherwise it would dissipate in at most three days.

Whether the energy generated by the Titan Engine could sustain the crystal chip's existence was another problem to solve.

Lei En rubbed the bridge of his eyebrows.

He would soon be soaking in the alchemy chamber again, but he was confident. Future Lei En, through Master Mediv's prophecy art, had pointed him the way, confirming that the crystal chip would be usable in the future, and all research problems would be resolved.

Knowing the research direction was correct guaranteed the desired results; that was the greatest help.

"Begin."

Lei En began the first test.

Soon after, a massive explosion occurred in a desolate valley several miles outside Jin Gang Fort; a booming roar, a blinding flash and shockwave reached the fort in succession. The Extreme Warriors and Gunwing Knights training on the field looked up, a hint of surprise in their eyes.

"The boss is back again."

People muttered twice and continued their training.

In the Mechanical Alchemy Chamber, Lei En, who had just lost thirty‑thousand Gold Shields, was elated. The first test alone saw the Titan Engine's runtime surpass records of the past several years, and it surged over thirty times, running steadily for ten minutes!

The final explosion was not due to energy runaway, but because the sub‑brain crystal chip was burned out.

Lei En quickly concluded that only minor tweaks to the rune array to lower energy input, and finding suitable material to craft a protective shell for the sub‑brain crystal chip, would solve the issue.

This progress was far faster than he had expected!

Brimming with vigor, Lei En took out a spare Titan Engine and resumed research.

For the next several days he scarcely left the Mechanical Alchemy Chamber, delegating all domain administrative affairs to the substitute who had returned from Sword Bay Town. Lei En draped his blood‑red cloak on the substitute, using the cloak's Stealth Technique to mask its aura.

Stealth Technique naturally cannot fool legendary beings above Mid-stage, but for ordinary people it is sufficient to pass as genuine.

Wind Elf Butler Fabien did not notice any anomaly, reporting every detail to the substitute.

Escaping the tedious administrative work, Lei En felt extremely refreshed.

He decided henceforth to entrust all such matters to the substitute, including the affairs of the Glamorgan domain and the Augustus Duchy, and the substitute, being more diligent, would patrol the domain daily, travel between the Empire and the Duchy, continuously inspecting the seven cities of the Duchy.

In just a few days, the substitute accomplished a great deal of work.

Of course, when night falls and it's time to rest, Viola comes to the castle to stay overnight, or when she gets close with Ai Mi Li Si and her child, Lei En still goes into battle himself.

Even as a stand‑in, this kind of thing cannot be done on his behalf.

Putting a green hat on oneself—nothing in the world is more absurd.

Lei En knows the stand‑in cannot be hidden for long; those close to him will soon sense something amiss, so he plans to find a suitable moment to tell them.

Halfway through the Titan Engine research, the Thundercast Celestial Soldier on Shield Island sent a mental transmission.

The teleportation array has already been set up.

For something so important, Lei En must go himself; he returned to Ge La Mo Gen and teleported to Sword Bay Town, located due north of the New Continent.

Deep hundreds of meters underground, the massive ice cavern has undergone a complete transformation: the floor is as smooth as a mirror, spotless. The surrounding rough rock and soil have been replaced by walls of magical alloy, etched with rune sigils that form a seamless seal, muffling the cavern's breath while providing insulation.

The dome holds a dozen or so crystal lamps, making the entire ice cavern as bright as daylight.

The teleportation array occupies only a tiny portion of the ice cavern; to maximize space, the Thundercast Celestial Soldier split the cavern in half. The half containing the array takes up just one‑fifth, while the remaining majority has been converted into a Mechanical Alchemy Chamber, a Meditation Room, and a Public Hall.

In Lei En's expectation, this teleportation hub is not limited to transportation.

It also serves as a fully functional base.

If a war with the Catastrophe Legion and the Dead Knot Seal arises in the future, one could teleport to this base north of the New Continent and launch a rear assault on the Legion's stronghold. By then, besides his own legion, there will surely be others—such as Zhuo Er, dwarves, and so on—teleporting to the ice cavern.

Therefore, the base's secrets must be protected; they cannot be obvious, so partitioning the space is essential.

Lei En walked to the edge of the teleportation array.

The floating Astral Crystal Pillar in the center glowed, streams of energy coursing through the runes and etched lines; when the energy surpassed the threshold, a teleportation gate opened.

Once the gate stabilized, Lei En stepped inside.

He found himself in a dim underground chamber, far smaller than the ice cavern. Its origin unknown, the room is rectangular—30 meters long, 10 meters wide, about three meters high. The walls, floor, and ceiling are all rock, evidently fashioned with the Mud to Stone spell, making it extremely sturdy.

The spacious basement is oppressively stale, covered in dust.

Originally there were heaps of chaotic junk, now all decayed; six Thundercast Celestial Soldiers cleared it away and set up the two brought teleportation arrays.

One connects to Sword Bay Town, the other leads to the Obsidian Tower.

At that moment, another teleportation array activated, opening its gate, and Reslin, clad in a black magical robe, stepped out.

There are eight people in the basement.

Lei En's original body, Reslin, and six Thundercast Celestial Soldiers. He scanned the group; none of the eight spoke a word, their thoughts synchronized—essentially they are one person!

"I'll go back first," Reslin said, turning back to the teleportation gate and casually closing it.

Lei En opened an anydoor and walked through.

Outside, the sky was overcast, heavy snow falling like goose feathers, the ground a blanket of white. His spirit leapt upward, gazing far; his sight pierced the snow veil, and ten li west lay the western edge of Shield Island, separated from Aibolaken by the "East River."

The East, called a river, is actually an extremely narrow strait, open at both ends; its southern mouth receives three rivers, while the northern end feeds into the elongated Shield Island Strait, leading directly to the Fallen Star Ocean.

The basement housing the teleportation array sits at the center of Shield Island's western end.

Whether heading to the western East River, the northern strait, or the southern coastline, the distances are roughly equal. Back then, Mo Du nobles and Weizelan Wizards built New Village City here, slightly northward; the basement was part of it, situated in the city's southern sector.

After the Catastrophe Legion razed New Village City, it became ruins.

The basement lies beneath the ruins, only a few dozen meters deep; its concealment is far inferior to the ice cavern of Sword Bay Town, yet its location is superb— the sole high point on the flat western plain of Shield Island.

In the previous era, elves erected several satellite towns around the magical capital Aibolaken, including one on Shield Island. The elves carved the hillside and surrounding area into a beautiful park reflecting natural scenery, naming it "Highland Park," which attracted countless visitors; records of the park can still be found today.

Millennia have passed, and all traces of Highland Park have long vanished.

The Thundercast Celestial Soldier chose this spot also with future Gotham planning in mind.

When Gotham City is built, Highland Park will become the lord's manor, with Reslin appointed as Gotham's lord; a tall tower will be erected on the highland, like the Silver Star Duke's Silver Star Tower in Longshande, monitoring the city's activity and serving reconnaissance, defense, and strike functions.

Centered on the tower, Gotham City will naturally be far larger than New Village City, its initial area exceeding three times as much.

Lei En is prepared to devote everything to turning Gotham into a super‑metropolis unprecedented in the Ai Lun E Si world!

A journey of ten thousand li begins with a single step.

The first task now is to purge the undead on Shield Island; even the ruins of New Village City harbor many. Lei En scanned the sky for a while and spotted numerous undead traces.

These undead are not worth his direct intervention.

Lei En's spirit leapt back to the basement, and after three teleports returned to Jin Gang Fort to continue his research.

On Shield Island, a Thundercast Celestial Soldier teleported from Sword Bay Town to the basement, increasing the number to seven; two stayed to guard the array, while the other five were sent out from the island's westernmost tip, forming a spearhead that advanced eastward step by step.

Soon, the hidden underground undead were roused.

Boom—boom—boom…

Deafening gunfire erupted, interspersed with flashes of lightning.

Inside Jin Gang Fort, Lei En glanced at the Soul Power Pool as the energy began to rise slowly. Most undead on Shield Island are low‑ and Mid‑stage; high‑level ones are few—he estimates at most five or six legendary lords, which five Thundercast Celestial Soldiers can handle.

However, Shield Island spans over ten thousand square li and is narrow; relying solely on five Thundercast Celestial Soldiers would take over a month to clear.

"We still need to create more clones."

Thus, whenever the energy reaches 120 units, Lei En performs the Creation Technique to consume it, and the number of Thundercast Celestial Soldiers increases one by one.

Half a month later, immersed in his research, Lei En paused and walked out of the Mechanical Alchemy Chamber.

The Aiks Combat School is completed!

(End of Chapter)