Chapter 750: Undead Assault

Lei En is well aware of Kestajin's thoughts.

The King of the Hills covets the throne of the Zhigao Shan kingdom, single‑mindedly seeking to replace it, creating an irreconcilable hostility with Thorgrin, yet his personal ambition does not affect his ideal of reviving dwarf glory; the two are highly aligned.

The immensely powerful Electric Light Cannon can undoubtedly greatly aid Kestajin in realizing this grand ambition, even if it means lifelong loyalty without hesitation.

Other dwarves also recognize the tremendous utility of the Electric Light Cannon.

Lei En does not resent these dwarves' intentions; the two sides are still collaborators and allies, and if he can lend a hand, he will.

Unfortunately, that is impossible.

The most crucial component of the Electric Light Cannon is the split‑brain crystal, whose computational power far exceeds human brain limits, precisely controlling the Titan Engine's energy transmission and release, and, combined with optics, makes the "Electric Light Ray" spell reach astonishing levels.

All of this is a product of the MutatedPhone plus the core mind, unique; no one besides himself can fabricate it, not even Augulevi Master.

Even if he were to tell Kestajin the method verbatim, Kestajin still could not build the Electric Light Cannon.

Facing the dwarves' yearning, Lei En decisively shook his head.

"The core technology of the Electric Light Cannon involves my magic soul," Lei En said gravely. "Aside from me, no one else in the world can make the Electric Light Cannon."

Kestajin wore an incredulous expression.

As a dignified rune lord, Ai Lun E Si's most brilliant craftsman and alchemy master, how could he possibly fail to create it once he has the blueprint?

The dwarves all thought Lei En was merely finding an excuse to refuse, but they could only sigh softly.

Why should such a powerful invention be taught to dwarves?

Lei En saw through their thoughts and added, "I can give you a rune array and design blueprint of the Electric Light Cannon, Kestajin; you may try it yourself, but you must guarantee it is not disseminated."

Since the Electric Light Cannon can never be made, they must be discouraged from the start.

"Fine!"

Kestajin felt exhilarated and brimming with confidence, shouting, "I swear in the name of Ge Lin Mu Ni Er that I will not leak the Electric Light Cannon's design blueprint."

Lei En shook his head inwardly, offering no verbal rebuke.

The rune array of the Electric Light Cannon serves only a secondary role; once Kestajin masters it, he will discover that without a Titan Engine and split‑brain crystal, the Cannon cannot achieve its power—it's merely an unremarkable rune formation that can only trigger the Electric Light Ray.

Lei En glanced at the turret and turned to leave.

Bulestein called out, "Sir, should we dispatch a squad of dwarf warriors from the Three‑Hammer Legion to reinforce the guard of the Electric Light Cannon?"

"No need to waste manpower; normal patrols on the wall will suffice," Lei En replied, shaking his head.

The dwarves were all stunned.

Such an important weapon not assigned dedicated guards?

Lei En smiled and explained, "The Electric Light Cannon has a self‑defense mechanism; if an enemy approaches, it will automatically retaliate. Unless it's of Legendary rank, recklessly approaching the Cannon is courting death."

In essence, the Electric Light Cannon is a duplicate of itself.

Beyond the three ranged firing modes, it also possesses formidable protection: an Electric Light Shield powered by the Titan Engine. Though it has only eight rings, under massive energy support its defensive capability rivals that of the Nine-ring Technique.

Additionally, when enemies draw near, it can unleash 'Chain Lightning' and 'Advanced Thunder Technique'; the split‑brain crystal carries innate telepathy and links with six 'Mystic Eyes', leaving no blind spots for detection.

The split‑brain crystal remains in standby at all times, never tiring and requiring no rest.

It itself is more reliable than any guard.

The dwarves looked at each other, having never seen such a wondrous weapon, yet Bulestein remained uneasy: "What if the enemy is of Legendary rank?"

He worries that the Electric Light Cannon might be seized.

"No need to worry; the Electric Light Cannon will respond correctly," Lei En patted the chief master craftsman's shoulder. "No one can steal the Electric Light Cannon. If anyone tries, the outcome will be grim." A strange smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

Even if someone breaches the Cannon's protective system, attempts to destroy or loot it, the Electric Light Cannon still has a final trump—self‑destruct!

The Titan Engine model of the Electric Light Cannon differs from that of the power armor; it is larger, more powerful, and consumes more source crystals.

It uses a medium‑standard source crystal rod, weighing a full eighty pounds.

Such a massive explosion of high‑purity source crystals yields lethality exceeding most Nine-ring Techniques; the blast's core temperature and shock are enough to kill Saint Rank cultivators lacking sufficient protection or caution.

In other words, the Electric Light Cannon is essentially a magical trap.

If a single Electric Light Cannon can trade a Saint Rank cultivator's life, it's a bargain! Ignoring labor costs, a Cannon costs over 79,000 Gold Shields, nearly 80,000. Spending merely 80,000 Gold Shields to kill a Saint Rank cultivator—or even a Legendary High‑rank one—is pure profit!

Lei En suddenly felt a hint of anticipation.

After giving a few careful instructions, he made a round of inspection in Gotham City, then returned to Jin Gang Fort.

Kestajin followed to obtain a design blueprint of the Electric Light Cannon, instantly feeling like he'd struck treasure, and hurried back to Gotham's high‑ground fortress.

Lei En once again buried himself in the development of power armor.

He himself conducts research, while Thundercast Celestial Soldiers never idle, producing roughly one Electric Light Cannon per day; once completed, they are immediately dispatched to Gotham.

The wall is only a quarter completed, but that does not affect installing the Electric Light Cannon.

Bulestein, following Lei En's orders, first erected a short segment as a turret on the foundation before the wall was built. The distance between the two turrets was kept within two li, the effective range of the Cannon's rapid‑fire mode; if enemies exceed two li, the bombardment mode reaches three thousand meters, sufficient to form a fire network covering the entire wall.

A twenty‑li wall has ten Electric Light Cannons installed, but that is far insufficient.

The western coast of Shield Island stretches over forty li; the northern half is a strait, at its widest only a little over two hundred meters, allowing Undead to easily cross from opposite Aibolaken, so a wall must be built for defense.

The southern half is a broad bay, also one of New Continent's two best natural deep‑water ports, shaped like a bottle with a narrow neck and wide belly; only the south has a 'bottle mouth' nearly three li wide, already capable of blocking the vast majority of non‑flying Undead armies.

Yet some Undead can still fly.

Thus, Lei En instructed Bulestein to build a turret every two li along the coast, each equipped with an Electric Light Cannon, sealing off the bay's exit.

The wall‑turret defense line only targets enemies approaching from the west.

But the enemy will surely attack from the east as well.

Ai Lun E Si's wars are always inseparable from teleportation, and the actions of the Disaster Legion always involve Liches and Undead wizards bound by dead‑knot sigils.

They will directly teleport the Undead Army onto Shield Island, bypassing the wall to attack from the east.

However, the larger the battle, the more limited the portal's effect. Because the troop numbers are massive, without a pre‑constructed teleportation array, merely casting a portal cannot transport enough forces in time.

The Disaster Legion's greatest advantage is its numbers, which also restricts its mobility.

The optimal strategy is to teleport only a few elite units, letting the majority march conventionally, creating a multi‑pronged encirclement.

Therefore the onslaught of the Disaster Legion is also easy to assess.

Gotham City now, aside from the city walls, has a designated city area that remains a vast open space; to the east is a flat plain with no terrain to defend and no structures to destroy, and the only thing that can draw Undead attacks is the highland fortress within the city.

Lei En, east of the highland fortress, selected a dozen or so points to build turrets, forming an arced defensive line.

Finally, four Electric Light Cannons were installed atop the highland fortress, their fire covering the area within two li around the fortress; the residents and dwarf artisans who have been gradually relocated to Gotham now all live here, and the four cannons are used to protect them.

It took a little over a month, and the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers manufactured a total of thirty‑five Electric Light Cannons.

This occupied the slots of thirty‑five sub‑brain crystals.

Lei En still has enough crystal slots, having just earned five million Gold Shields from Thorgrin, and is not short of money, but considering the huge investment in Gotham City, he decided to save some expenses and temporarily halted the production of Electric Light Cannons.

Time passed day by day.

From the day construction of the city walls began, nearly three months have flown by.

The towering walls are now two‑thirds complete, over fourteen li, and were built simultaneously from both ends, like tunneling, finally joining in the middle.

The gap in the middle section of the wall, nearly six li, closes a little each day.

During this period, every few days a small Undead Army crossed the strait's waters to attack, trying to disrupt the wall's construction.

This was an obvious probe.

The Thundercast Celestial Soldiers dispatched to Aibolaken found the Undead Army gathering, its numbers having doubled from a month ago to over seventy thousand. Yet this scale of Undead is not much for the Disaster Legion, merely a drop in the bucket.

Historically, the Disaster Legion has mobilized forces of at least several hundred thousand, and a million is common.

This puzzled Lei En, and the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers lurking in Aibolaken also did not find many Undead of rank above Legendary High-rank.

Counting them, there were only a dozen or so Legendary ones, mostly at the Initial and Mid-stage levels.

The Undead comprising this army were not high‑rank, mainly Initial and Mid-stage, with High-rank making up less than one percent, hardly an elite force.

Various Undead creatures were mixed together, like a ragtag army.

Lei En covertly ordered the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers to expand their reconnaissance, circling the area around Aibolaken, and found that within this thousand‑plus square‑li region, most Undead tombs were empty.

Obviously, these Undead were merely a vanguard.

The main force of the Disaster Legion has not arrived.

After making his judgment, Lei En only sent the Three‑Hammer Legion and Extreme Warriors to eliminate the small groups of Undead that came to interfere, and did not fire the Electric Light Cannons so as not to attract the Disaster Legion's attention. During that Electric Light Cannon test, he deliberately chose a relatively remote spot, confirming no Undead were lurking nearby before firing.

Seventy‑to‑eighty thousand Undead Army were hidden in a river valley north of Aibolaken, more than thirty li from Shield Island.

Since their main force remained idle, Lei En was pleased to leave them undisturbed, avoiding stirring the grass.

Each day the city construction draws nearer to completion. Once the walls are finished, the Disaster Legion will find it much harder to breach Gotham City, the difficulty increasing by at least tenfold!

Nevertheless, Lei En did not become complacent.

There is also a possibility that these Undead are merely an illusion released by the Disaster Legion; perhaps one moment the sea is calm, and the next, the New Village Floating City they control leaps into the sky above Gotham.

As the walls were built day by day, the central gap gradually narrowed.

Suddenly, Lei En, immersed in his research, looked up.

In the river valley north of Aibolaken, the previously still ground suddenly churned violently, the river water turned turbid, and countless Undead surged from underground and hidden caves. Soon, the hills and plains were packed with dense swarms of Undead creatures.

Zombies, skeleton warriors, skeleton archers, ghoul dogs, water spirits, spider demons, soul weavers, ghost servants, bone constructs, evil spirit cavalry, ghost sentinels, shadow stalkers…

Thousands of gargoyles, wraiths, and ghostly bats took to the sky, forming a shadow that blocked the sun.

On the east side of the valley, a Thundercast Celestial Soldier concealed itself within a withered massive tree trunk, monitoring the valley's movements.

He found the leader within the Undead Army.

A Legendary High-rank Death Knight, and beside it, a Lich clad in a splendid robe, looking withered. From afar the Soul Eye could not see clearly, only roughly judging the Lich's rank as eighteenth or nineteenth, but it was certainly not a Holy Soul Lich.

The Death Knight rode a ghostly warhorse that could stride through the air, commanding the army forward.

They headed south, their target being Shield Island.

Everything the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers saw, Lei En saw simultaneously.

He immediately stopped his work, teleported to Glamorgan, notified his teacher via the Weizelan badge, and using the prison flame on his magical communication stone, sent a message to the ancient red dragon, asking it to relay to the Titan Elder to be ready for battle at any time.

At the same time, more than twenty Thundercast Celestial Soldiers in the mechanical alchemy chamber also ceased work, quickly donned golden‑like armor, and jointly opened a portal.

The Extreme Warriors and Gun‑Wing Knights remaining in Jin Gang Fort entered the portal in orderly fashion.

Glamorgan's portal also opened.

The two Supernal Legions moved at top speed through step‑by‑step teleportation, using Sword Bay Town as a relay, and within minutes all arrived at Gotham City's highland fortress.

Lei En arrived at Gotham a step ahead.

The Thundercast Celestial Soldiers stationed here have already reported the Undead Army's movements to Kestajin. The King of the Hills Lei Li Fengxing has mobilized a dwarf legion of five thousand. The dwarf artisans and the over ten thousand human residents who have relocated are all gathering toward the highland fortress.

Lei En teleported onto the wall, appearing beside Kestajin.

The King of the Hills looked toward Aibolaken across the riverbank, seeing a withered, twisted black forest, still silent.

The Undead Army was still far away.

But Kestajin showed no hint of laxity, his eyes heavy with seriousness; he turned to look at the highland celestial fortress in the city, where towering Extreme Warriors surged out of the fortress. There were also steeds that seemed cast in bronze, their semi‑transparent wings vibrating as they rose into the sky, flying eastward.

According to the prior plan, the Extreme Warriors remained to guard the fortress.

After the Extreme Warriors finished teleporting, they found the teleportation array still active, and the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers, each cloaked entirely in golden armor, appeared, wielding Bolt Guns and Lightning War Hammers; their aura even drew the attention of the Extreme Warriors.

The Extreme Warriors knew the original body had cultivated a new legion, and had seen Thundercast Celestial Soldiers before, but did not expect such numbers—over a hundred!

On the wall, the Three‑Hammer Legion was already in position.

Steel Shield Guards and Barbaric Hammer Warriors led at the front, with musketmen and hunters behind, also dwarf mages and priests, some priests who had gone out to cleanse the land now hurrying back.

In addition there were over sixty Weizelan Wizards, already half the members of a Weizelan Wizard Corps, among whom were several Legendary wizards.

These Supernal beings gave Kestajin great confidence.

Of course, the greatest confidence came from Lei En himself.

Kestajin glanced at Lei En; the young man's complexion remained calm, showing no hint of fluctuation, as if everything were under control. Lei En's strength and thorough preparation erased the dwarves' last lingering unease.

A moment later, a shadow appeared on the northern horizon.

The undead have come!

Yesterday I didn't update... I'm embarrassed!

My recent state has been a bit off; I've been delayed and disturbed by some things, feeling my thoughts drift away from the book's world, unable to get back in no matter what. Writing requires a sense of immersion—I need to immerse myself in this world to find my state… Once I lose that feeling, it seems my brain won't work well; I'm trying to figure out how to regain it and re-enter.

(End of chapter)