With the aid of the provided equipment, construction accelerated at an exponential rate, immediately establishing three defensive perimeters on the outskirts.

Zhong Yun only left the spacecraft once, on the first day, clad in a heavy environmental suit, to conduct a purely symbolic inspection before retreating back inside.

With Zero, the expert, present, Zhong Yun felt he couldn't offer much help and decided it was better to return to his quarters to cultivate his abilities.

The intense construction shattered the millennia-old serenity of a planet untouched by humanity. In just a few days, this virgin, undeveloped land now hosted a sprawling base covering over ten square kilometers.

Within the base, clusters of robots, large and small, bustled in and out like busy ants. Outside the perimeter, tall metal turrets stood sentinel, manned by stiff, emotionless automatons whose silver surfaces gleamed with an eerie light.

On this unknown world, sufficient military power was absolutely essential. One-third of the supplies furnished by the Omni Nation Management Corporation consisted of combat robots, ion cannons, fighter craft, and other martial hardware.

That day, the weather was glorious, the sun shining brightly. The boundless forest appeared profoundly tranquil, cut only by a winding river that turned from the distance and flowed deep into the woods.

Near a small stream somewhere in the forest, a large, brightly patterned predator leisurely lapped at the water. It bore a strong resemblance to an Earth tiger, yet two protruding fangs made it look even more like the saber-toothed beasts of legend.

Suddenly, its ears twitched twice, and it raised its head alertly. Then, every hair on its body bristled, its tail tucked tight, and with a whoosh, it vanished into the undergrowth.

Scarcely had the animal disappeared when a black speck zipped overhead, followed by a swarm of specks. The roaring sound of their flight shattered the forest's silence.

Wherever they passed, birds and beasts scattered in panic, as if disaster had descended.

This group of uninvited guests flew directly toward a mountain peak at the far end of the forest.

These unidentified flying objects belonged to the true masters of this planet: Zhong Yun’s base.

A dozen large transport ships hovered in the air, guarded by an equal number of fighter jets, just in case any overly bold aerial lifeforms decided to interfere.

Engineering robots were dispatched to the mountaintop to first clear and level a spacious area, then compact the soil and lay the foundations.

The efficiency of the engineering robots was staggering; the work was complete in under half an hour. Seeing this, Zhong Yun commanded the aerial convoy to land on the newly prepared flat ground, while the fighter jets maintained their vigil in the sky.

The subsequent tasks required no oversight from Zhong Yun. The engineering robots simply offloaded the machinery from the transports—drilling holes, driving piles, pouring concrete—all orchestrated remotely by ZERO.

All Zhong Yun had to do was wait until the main construction was nearly finished before tackling the final, and most crucial, phase.

It was the tenth day since their arrival on the planet, and Zhong Yun had been assigned a mission: scout locations that offered high vantage points and clear lines of sight to install the heavy artillery.

Initially, Zhong Yun was reluctant. Why couldn't the engineering robots handle this? Weren't they doing a fine job the previous few days?

"This task can only be completed by you," ZERO explained. "The assembly and mounting of the cannons must be done by your own hands."

"Why?"

Zhong Yun was highly unwilling to go. In his 'Combat Simulation Training,' he had come agonizingly close to defeating his fourth opponent, and he didn't want his focus diverted at such a critical juncture.

"Because our survival hinges upon it."

Zhong Yun looked at ZERO in surprise. In his memory, Zero had never used such grave adjectives. "Is it really that exaggerated?"

"Not at all. If you fail to successfully assemble these antimatter cannons, we risk not only losing this planet but also facing extreme threats to our personal safety."

"Fine." Hearing the seriousness in ZERO’s tone, Zhong Yun found refusal impossible. "I’ll do it."

Thus, for the next several days, Zhong Yun was immersed among piles of machinery, piecing together various components according to ZERO's blueprints.

The assembly this time was incomparable to the previous job. Last time, there were over a hundred pre-made parts; he only needed to fabricate one new component and link them together.

This time, nearly every single part had to be newly fabricated. Even with his powerful manual assistance module, he still faced nearly a fifty percent failure rate.

After three days of grueling effort, he finally assembled one of the antimatter cannons ZERO had specified. Today, he was here to install this weapon upon which he had poured countless hours of painstaking labor.

While the engineering robots worked, Zhong Yun, with nothing pressing to do, opened his computer to study the schematics. ZERO’s assignment was fifty antimatter cannons. He had spent three days on just one; he wondered if he could complete the quota before the break ended.

The antimatter cannon possessed an incredibly complex structure. Zhong Yun was merely following the diagrams, forcing the assembly of one unit; as for the underlying principles of its operation, he understood absolutely nothing.

After studying for a while, Zhong Yun became completely engrossed. His existing knowledge of physics was rudimentary; what they taught in middle school was superficial, offering no foundation for any deep understanding.

He didn't recognize a single technical term on the blueprints. He had to link back into ZERO’s database for queries, which in turn brought up even more unfamiliar terminology, leading to further searches…

Soon, Zhong Yun’s head spun. Cramming this much entirely new knowledge into his mind at once was too much, even for his rapidly improving memory.

After resting briefly, Zhong Yun changed his approach. He stopped agonizing over defining every term and tried instead to grasp the overarching principles. This willingness to accept superficial understanding sped up his progress significantly.

However, this approach resulted in a negative consequence: his foundation remained shaky.

One cannot become an expert overnight. After several hours of study, Zhong Yun felt he had grasped something, unlike the complete blankness he felt before, but it was still only a smattering of knowledge.

Seeing the engineering robots finish their groundwork, Zhong Yun jumped off the aerial vehicle. Using the manipulator arms, he carefully lowered the antimatter cannon and secured it in place. After running diagnostics, he sent a message to ZERO.

Most of the antimatter cannon was buried underground, leaving only a dark, ominous muzzle exposed. The barrel itself was constructed from a special material, not metal, possessing a dark gray hue. The muzzle diameter was about one meter; looking into it revealed a deep, terrifying blackness.

Zhong Yun inspected it from every angle, unable to discern what made this weapon so formidable. He had seen ion cannons with far greater mass and wider bores.

The only truly remarkable aspect was the ten energy cells housed within, each rated for ten thousand units of energy. Zhong Yun's eyes had nearly bulged when he first saw these power sources.

After all, the Davor technology possessed nothing comparable to these energy cells—not even a medium capable of storing a single unit of energy reaching one thousand.

These energy blocks must have been manufactured by a civilization far more advanced than theirs.

Before departing, Zhong Yun applied some camouflage to the installation, ensuring that even at close range, the weapon would be difficult to detect.

P: The character "Qin Qianli" in this book is a friendly cameo from the book friend 'Heaven's Watchman.' I was overtaken on the Newcomer Ranking list by a book with less than half my collections—so depressing.