Chapter 980: Further Into the Abyss

Lei En currently has no intention of renaming "Roli City."

Constructing the magical torchlight rune array and the tower takes about two months; it's not difficult, but the Iola Core is missing.

In the past two years, Thundercast Celestial Soldiers have been making Iola Cores, but they've only produced two and a half: one used in Aixinger, one installed on the Getan Star Destroyer, and the third Iola Core is just over half done, requiring at least another six months to finish.

Moreover, Kurgos's domain still harbors over a hundred thousand Demonkin, scattered thinly, requiring the Duke's Guard to clear them gradually.

All of this takes time.

Even if the tower and magical torchlight are built, the Empire's various factions are now focusing construction on Aixinger; the population and supplies moving from the Empire are almost all concentrated there, and developing two cities simultaneously would actually reduce efficiency.

Lei En's plan is to rebuild one city each year.

After Roli City's tower is completed, the main army will not advance south for the time being.

Then construction will shift north of Gotham City, with Lobost becoming the next rebuilt city, after which expansion south will resume.

The city south of Roli City is "Quint," controlled by an Evil Beastmen lord. This beast king's strength and army are weaker than Kurgos's, its domain only about half the size of Kurgos's, and it has survived because it serves as a buffer zone.

To the north of the buffer zone lies Kurgos.

To the south is the domain of the Fear Demon King, where the land is tainted by evil energy into Abyssal wasteland, the environment extremely harsh, almost like the Abyssal Plane.

The Demon army under the Fear Demon King numbers several times more than Kurgos's. Demons are purely evil beings, unafraid of death and almost never fearful; they are harder to deal with than Netifu Demons, and even Eternal Chosen Aikon would not provoke them lightly.

It is not an Abyssal Lord, yet its power exceeds that of most Abyssal Lords.

The Fear Demon King and its Demon army are the strongest forces on the New Continent's east coast, holding the largest territory and the greatest number of troops.

Lei En promised that Morando, which belongs to Weizelan, and its Sunshine State, are all within this Fear Demon King's domain.

Quint, Igo, and Morando each need three towers and magical torchlights to illuminate such a vast domain.

Lei En's initial idea is to keep the Evil Beastmen's territory as a buffer zone.

After two to three years, when Roli City is fully built, all four Empire‑class Star Destroyers are completed, the Duke's Guard expands to over thirty thousand, splitting into two forces to launch simultaneous attacks from the north and south, wiping out the Evil Beastmen and the Fear Demon King in one stroke.

If successful, the entire east coast of the New Continent will be restored!

"Five years!"

"Within five years we must retake the east coast and fulfill the promises made to the Empire's factions."

Lei En watches over a thousand Thundercast Celestial Soldiers constructing the tower base and thinks ahead a few years: "By then, I will rule the entire east coast, with over a dozen cities, an area comparable to half the Empire, all fertile land, abundant resources, and I could truly crown myself king."

In name, the New Continent territories he expands belong to the Empire.

In reality, those lands are entirely his alone; the land, resources, populace, and army satisfy all conditions to found a kingdom.

"Hmm…"

"First put on a crown, then transition to the imperial title so everyone gets used to it; opposition will be smaller when I claim the throne."

"What should the kingdom be called?"

Multiple kingdom names flash through Lei En's mind, none seeming suitable, and he quickly dismisses them.

He ponders for a long time without deciding, so he puts it aside; it's still early, and he'll decide when the kingdom is truly to be founded.

"Huh..."

Lei En shakes his shoulders, summons ten Mirror Images, and sends them soaring in all directions.

He himself also flies into the sky, activating the All‑Seeing Eye with the Mirror Images, whizzing around the Demonkin tribe's ruins, his eyes scanning the ground like radar, missing no anomaly.

Kurgos, before dying, called out to Aiken, but couldn't ask what agreement he had with Aiken, leaving Lei En uneasy.

Reslin also uses Mirror Image technique, joining the search.

A moment later.

The main body, plus clones and Mirror Images, total twenty‑four searching together with great efficiency, quickly spotting a clue; Lei En instantly teleports his mind there. About fifteen li south of the Demonkin tribe, tens of meters underground, lies a cavern over a thousand square meters in area.

Lei En enters the cavern and sees a massive teleportation array laid on the floor.

However, the teleportation array has been destroyed.

He looks around; the cavern is clearly newly dug, the soil on the walls fresh, the teleportation array thoroughly shattered, its spatiotemporal coordinates indecipherable.

"This must be Kurgos's backup plan," Lei En judges easily. "If the Duke's Guard fails to breach the walls, Aiken's army could teleport in and launch a rear assault, which could truly turn the tide."

"But Aiken's army never showed up in the end."

"The Duke's Guard acted so swiftly that armored warships smashed the walls, leaving no chance for a rear strike."

Lei En speculates, "Aiken saw the timing was off and abandoned support."

His expression is solemn; betrayal among Demonkin is not surprising, as Aiken and Kurgos have fought for centuries, their hatred deep, so refusing to save them is understandable.

Since the last time Aiken was ambushed by me, the teacher, and Ouroin Master, he has not appeared since.

Yet from the big picture, Aiken should never let himself encroach on Demonkin lands. Although his domain and army are over ten times Kurgos's, the entire Demonkin race's strength is waning while my own power as their enemy grows; this shift will eventually reverse the balance.

Aiken would never be so short‑sighted as to take no action.

"They must have another scheme!"

Lei En immediately returns to the Star Destroyer, enters the magical laboratory, and dozens of freshly created Thundercast Celestial Soldiers walk in.

One Thundercast Celestial Soldier's moving steel body activates the living metal, beginning to reshape; it grows taller and bulkier, its features become snarling, eyes turn dark red, black hair lengthens over broad shoulders, exuding a wild, volatile aura.

Within seconds, it transforms into a Netifu Demon!

Lei En inspects it briefly, has the Thundercast Celestial Soldier make some detail adjustments, then equips it with a set of captured Demonkin armor; the disguise is virtually flawless.

Living metal is not a spell; once reshaped it solidifies, even True Insight cannot see through it.

As long as the Thundercast Celestial Soldier does not cast spells or emit aura, its disguise as an ordinary Demonkin warrior resistant to evil energy remains hidden unless one can see through souls. Moreover, Lei En has long mastered Abyssal Language, making accent changes easy.

"All right."

Lei En nods and has the other Thundercast Celestial Soldiers transform as well.

Soon, a group of Netifu Demons appears in the magical laboratory, each clad in crude armor, wielding black‑iron weapons, indistinguishable from a real Demonkin army.

"Go!"

Lei En raises his hand, teleports over thirty Thundercast Celestial Soldiers out, scattering them across the wilderness.

These Thundercast Celestial Soldiers disguised as Demonkin will act in separate groups, claiming they escaped from Kurgos's tribe, infiltrating the remaining Demonkin squads, crossing the Baleqiya Mountains together, entering Aiken's territory, and lying low within the Demonkin army.

Know yourself and know the enemy; a hundred battles will not bring ruin!

Thundercast Celestial Soldiers are all legendary Mid‑stage; even without spells, relying only on melee they quickly stand out among Demonkin and climb to high positions.

The ultimate goal is to make contact with Aiken and grasp his movements.

And this is only the first batch.

Lei En is determined that all future Thundercast Celestial Soldiers he creates will be dispatched, infiltrating Demonkin tribes, at least a thousand!

Moreover, Thundercast Celestial Soldiers can also disguise as Purgatory Mages by constructing spell models.

Aiken's army will have internal traitors throughout its upper ranks.

Lei En's face shows a smile; at the crucial moment of the decisive battle, these traitors will simultaneously defect and cause trouble—what will Aiken's reaction be?

Everyone around you is my person; on what grounds do you dare to fight me?

For more than a month thereafter, Lei En kept the Getan Star Destroyer hovering over Roli City, activated an Invisibility Field, guaranteeing the safety of this area. The high tower of Roli City was half built, but far from completion, and since there is no Iola Core, there is no hurry.

The Duke's Guard almost every day deploys, sweeping the area around Roli City.

Within three hundred li, no Demonkin tribe can be found; the surviving tens of thousands of Demonkin have crossed the Baleqiya Mountains and fled into Aiken's domain.

Among these fleeing Demonkin, more than two hundred Thundercast Celestial Soldiers have mixed in.

On the Star Destroyer.

Lei En created a Thundercast Celestial Soldier, then glanced at the soul‑power pool; because the Demonkin have almost been eradicated, the remaining energy is low.

However, the creation of Thundercast Celestial Soldiers is also nearing its end.

Excluding a thousand Dark Angels, the number of Thundercast Celestial Soldiers has already exceeded nine thousand nine hundred; only a few dozen short of ten thousand!

A level‑12 primary brain can create 16,384 sub‑brain crystals.

So far nearly twelve thousand have been used; the remaining four thousand sub‑brain crystals, Lei En temporarily stops creating Thundercast Celestial Soldiers and instead uses them for the Star Destroyer, armored warships, fighter jets, and power armor, providing the Duke's Guard with enough equipment and vehicles.

If there is energy left, first activate "My World".

"81% already…"

Lei En looked at the progress bar under the icon; activating My World requires one hundred thousand units of energy, and another nineteen thousand units will be enough.

After this, the energy will mainly be allocated to Dark Angels, strengthening more fully‑evolved forms.

"Hmm?"

Just as Lei En thought of the Dark Angel, information synchronized from the Abyss side reported that Aelotisia was looking for him.

He directly locked onto the phase beacon, swiftly traversed the distant void into the Mist Mountains, appearing on the bridge of the Glamorgan Star Destroyer. Because there are already two Star Destroyers, the Glamorgan usually stays in the Abyss, hovering above the Wang Long Fortress.

Lei En glanced at the steel fortress below and opened a portal.

A succubus's slender figure stepped through the portal.

Aelotisia has been a Demon Lord for over a year, commanding nearly two million demons, slaughtering the Gamma Plains until rivers ran red, forging her fame with countless demon flesh, her exquisitely beautiful face full of solemn authority, her gaze cold as a blade.

But the moment she saw Lei En, the succubus's eyes melted, showing great delight.

"Lei En, you're here!"

She came before Lei En, looking very happy; the last time she saw him was half a year ago, and since then they had only communicated through Dark Angels.

"Aeloya."

Lei En also smiled, studied her for a moment, and found she had advanced a level, now a twenty‑one‑level Holy Blood Angel.

The succubus simultaneously cultivates Holy Light and Psychic Power; although her main class is Holy Blood Angel, she can still fuse demon souls like a Holy Swordmaster. As the Holy Swordmaster's rank rises, her Holy Blood power also grows in sync, and the two forces regain balance.

The union of angel and demon destined her to be special and powerful.

He couldn't help but laugh: "Your strength has improved a lot, well done, thank you for your effort!"

Aelotisia unified the north shore of the Gamma Plains half a year ago, defeating the other two Demon Lords on the north shore; she merged one Demon Lord's demon soul into herself, and the other submitted to her, thus sparing its life.

Moreover, the succubus found two source crystal mines in the northern mountains of the Gamma Plains.

Although not as rich as the sighing wilderness's mineral reserves, the two together can still yield hundreds of thousands of pounds of source crystal. She enslaved the demon army to mine day and night, already extracting tens of thousands of pounds, and every half month secretly sends them to this Star Destroyer.

Besides source crystal, there are also large amounts of gold, magical metal, and gems.

The Mist Mountains' resources are extremely abundant; these items are worthless to demons, easy to loot, and Aelotisia collected them all and handed them to Lei En.

In just a little over a year, she generated wealth worth over ten million Gold Shields for Lei En.

If source crystal is included, the value reaches billions!

Lei En deeply feels that his decision to advance into the Abyss was correct; this is still only the north shore of the Gamma Plains, an area less than three percent of the entire Mist Mountains. If this whole Abyssal Plane were occupied, the value obtained would be unimaginable!

Hearing Lei En's praise, Aelotisia felt it was all worth it.

"Not hard!"

She shook her head lightly: "With the Dark Angels helping me, defeating those Demon Lords isn't difficult, even quite easy."

Lei En smiled, "Are you ready to advance on the south shore of the Gamma Plains?"

"Yes."

Aelotisia nodded, "The five Demon Lords on the south shore have united against Wang Long Fortress. I have already gauged their strength and demon armies; even in a frontal battle I am confident I can wipe out their forces, but killing the Demon Lords is somewhat difficult."

"So you want me to act?" Lei En understood.

"Hmm."

The succubus feels a bit embarrassed, "If there were only three Demon Lords, plus the Corrupted Ancient Dragon I enslave, I could handle them, but there are five…"

"Leave it all to me." Lei En said confidently, "You only need to command the army."

Aelotisia had no doubt about Lei En's strength, yet she was somewhat worried, and whispered, "The strongest Demon Lord on the south shore is the Baro Flame Demon; I haven't identified who the Abyssal Lord behind it is, which may cause some trouble."

Lei En's expression changed slightly, pondering, "Abyssal Lord…"

(End of chapter)