His mind gradually quieted as he contemplated his next moves. Having offended a powerful enemy—one who had devolved into a dark entity while vying for the Divine Blood—he absolutely had to establish the Base City and assemble a formidable legion before the winged man arrived in a year to confront the future monstrous army.

While Ye Chen was repairing his body, Ai'erwei, following his instructions, went outside to gather a contingent of Silver Mechanical Soldiers. Under their escort, she sought out Hua Bule and the other major commanders to discuss a partnership. With the deterrence provided by the Silver Mechanical Soldiers behind her, Hua Bule and the others were terrified, yet upon hearing the proposal for cooperation, they were immediately overjoyed and hastily agreed.

One day later.

Inside the gene pod, Ye Chen opened his eyes, removed the oxygen mask, and climbed out. He picked up the animal hide robe lying nearby and put it on, noticing that Bailong and the others had also completed their repairs and were lying on the floor, asleep.

Perhaps alerted by the sound, Bailong, Mo Feng, and the others opened their eyes. Seeing Ye Chen awake, Bailong laughed, "This thing is too marvelous. I thought I'd be crippled for the rest of my life, but I didn't expect to be repaired like this."

Ye Chen gave him a helpless look. "Try not to get injured in the future. Although the gene pod can repair the body, it shortens one's lifespan. You haven't awakened your 'Qi Force' yet, so your lifespans are limited." Just by repairing one arm, Ye Chen felt his Qi Force recede from the peak of the Third Tier to the early Third Tier; he would have to cultivate anew.

"Qi Force?" Yue Heng looked slightly confused.

Ye Chen shook his head. "You will understand later. Let's go." Saying this, he turned and led the way out, with Bailong and the others following suit. Once outside the research institute, Ye Chen glanced at the street. A few Silver Mechanical Men were stationed there, deterring any soldiers who might try to intrude, and few people were around.

As he stepped out, a small, cute mechanical robot, resembling a tumbler with a disk for its lower movement 'feet' and painted red and white, scurried over from the side of one of the Silver Mechanical Men.

"Goddess, please come to the Goddess Temple. Please follow me," the small robot chirped in a childish voice. In the eyes of the mechanical beings, Ai'erwei was their Goddess.

Ye Chen nodded. "Lead the way."

Under the guidance of the robots, the group arrived at an exquisitely elegant grand hall. It featured ancient Greek architectural styling, with two statues of handsome men and beautiful women flanking the entrance. Between the statues, ten steps led directly up into the hall.

"Come," the small robot said, leading the way. The massive door, sculpted from platinum and engraved with numerous patterns, slid open, and the group walked inside—it was a lavish chamber.

"You've come?" Ai'erwei approached from a short distance away, her eyes lighting up as she smiled.

Ye Chen nodded. "How is it? Is everything settled?"

Ai'erwei chuckled. "It's done. I will approve their use of many facilities in the city, such as the Virtual Combat Towers, Energy Communicators, Smelting Factories, Light Energy Conversion Instruments, and so on."

Ye Chen nodded. "Good. First, give me ten Energy Communicators."

"They are ready," Ai'erwei replied with a sly smile. With a flick of her finger, ten black watches floated over from a table nearby. Six landed in front of Ye Chen, and the rest floated toward Bailong and the others.

Ye Chen reached out and took one, fastening it onto his wrist. He had used this item in his previous life; it was extremely convenient for communication, maintaining signal integrity even underwater.

"What is this?" Bailong asked, full of curiosity.

Ye Chen explained, "A communicator. Each one has a serial number. Input the respective number, and the next time you activate that number, you can speak directly." Next to each communicator was a serial number, formatted like: -A102.

"So magical," Yue Heng marveled.

The others quickly put theirs on and entered their respective numbers, which functioned much like mobile phone numbers.

Ye Chen thought to himself, "This way, I can stay in constant contact with my sister from now on." Just then, Ai'erwei pointed her finger, using gold element control to bring forth another item—a blueprint.

Ai'erwei smiled gently. "This is the forging blueprint for the Armor of Divine Light. I copied it from the Temple of Divine Light. It contains all three segments of the Divine Light Set. With the resources you can currently acquire, you have a chance to forge the first segment: the Blazing Saint Set."

Ye Chen was startled for a moment, then his eyes shone brightly. In his past life, this Armor of Divine Light was famous, once being Yun Shaojing's strongest battle armor, though Yun Shaojing at that time had only managed to create the first segment, with weapons for the second.

This armor required a vast amount of materials and was divided into three parts. If materials were insufficient, forging had to proceed segment by segment: first forging the first part, then continuously adding materials to evolve the first segment into the second, and finally into the third.

Ye Chen took the blueprint and examined it. The drawings were exceedingly complex, featuring detailed component diagrams and overall structural layouts, along with notations on the required theoretical sciences. The technological complexity of just the wrist-mounted components rivaled that of manufacturing a Silver Mechanical Soldier, indicating the terrifying power this armor would possess once created.

After a few glances, Ye Chen put the blueprint away.

Ai'erwei beckoned, and a bracelet floated over, which she presented to Ye Chen. She smiled faintly. "This is the weapon for forging the Armor of Divine Light. It can activate a Smelting Light Domain; you just need to throw materials in to forge. However, this armor requires truly staggering materials, making its final completion very difficult."

Ye Chen quickly took it. The bracelet was entirely silver-white, covered with tiny, intricate secret patterns, and felt warm to the touch, smooth like polished...

Ye Chen looked up at Ai'erwei. "I'm leaving now. Save a few of the undiscovered gene pods and nutrition pods in the city for me; I might need them later."

Ai'erwei nodded. "I understand that their Base City is not far from here. I can relocate the spatial connection point there, though it will consume a significant amount of energy. This will be much more convenient for them. What do you think?"

Ye Chen paused for a moment. "That's acceptable. Do you have enough stored energy for that?"

Ai'erwei nodded. "Barely enough. But once it's used up, the city will have to cease operation until we accumulate a day's worth of energy to resume function."

"Then it's settled," Ye Chen agreed, nodding. He then turned to look at Bailong, Mo Feng, and the others. "From now on, I need to focus on increasing my strength, and you all must work hard too. Last time when I fought the Platinum Mechanical Man, I transformed into the Superman state. That modification technology exists within the city. You can choose a gene fusion that you feel suits you. If you are lucky, you might succeed in fusing and become Superman Soldiers."

"I see," Bailong realized.

Yue Heng pondered. "Which fusion should we choose?"

"You should ask Mo Feng about that," Ye Chen replied. "Some monsters are powerful early on but might not remain strong later. If you frequently hunt monsters together, choose the Cockroach Monster or the Bat Monster; both are excellent. The Cockroach Monster has formidable vitality; it won't die even if its head is severed and can rely on the gene pod for repair. The Bat Monster can use sound waves to detect enemies, serving as a scout."

"En," Mo Feng nodded in agreement.

Ye Chen said no more, turning to Ai'erwei. "Can you lend me one of your Silver Mechanical Soldiers here?"

Ai'erwei looked curious. "You want to use it to hunt monsters?"

Ye Chen nodded. The Silver Mechanical Soldiers were terrifying existences at Level 1000; they were perfectly suited to be enforcers.

Ai'erwei frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, then nodded. "Very well. Originally, these mechanical warriors are for guarding the Holy City and cannot leave without authorization. But since you only need one, it can be arranged. However, don't regret it later!"

"Regret?" Ye Chen was momentarily surprised.

Ai'erwei gave a sly smile and said no more, issuing the command. Before long, a mechanical being three zhang tall, entirely silver-white, carrying a great battle saber on its back, possessing three eyes and a single horn on its head, strode in, its heavy footsteps sounding like the tramp of a savage beast.

With a flick of her finger, Ai'erwei altered the mechanical man's system, setting its master to Ye Chen. With a peng sound, the Silver Mechanical Soldier knelt on one knee before Ye Chen, its deep metallic voice stating, "Serial Number - C388, pays respects to the Master."

Bailong, Yue Heng, and the others nearby were stunned to see the Silver Mechanical Soldier kneeling before Ye Chen. Heavens, this was a terrifying Level 1000 entity!

Ye Chen communicated in Atlantean, "Rise." As he did so, he communicated with the old man from the Green Talisman, opening the Rune Space, and instructed the Silver Mechanical Soldier, "Enter."

The Silver Mechanical Soldier stepped inside and stood on the spacecraft.

Ye Chen closed the entrance and took out two of the remaining five Energy Communicators, handing them to Bailong. "When we return to the Base City, give one communicator to my sister, and the other to someone named Xu Tianguo. Have him register a guild in the Base City and recruit many ordinary members—construction types, intelligence types, all are needed. When I return, we will begin establishing our own Base City."

Bailong was momentarily taken aback. "You're going to build a Base City?"

Ye Chen nodded. "If you are willing to follow me then, you are welcome to join."

"Of course!" Bailong slapped his chest heartily. "I’ve long been sick of those arrogant fools. This is how it should be: ruling ourselves! We’ll recruit only elite talent, killing gods upon seeing them and buddhas upon seeing them. Then we'll open a few more ruins, acquire a set of divine gear, become invincible, and have beautiful women lining up to throw themselves at us, ha ha ha..."

Zhuge Fan shuddered internally. "Are you crazy?"

Bailong tapped his head dismissively. "What does a little brat know? You'll understand when you grow up." He paused, then winked at Ye Chen conspiratorially. "Old Chen, let's discuss something. I don't need a high official position when we succeed; you can be the boss, and I'll be the number two."

Ye Chen glanced at him indifferently. "If you have nothing to do, go take a fan."

"Take a fan for what?"

"Go stay where it's cool."

...

Today, I am readjusting my thoughts. Old Gu has had an epiphany. After the recent burst of output, the quality has dropped quite a bit; I need to adjust my state. There will only be two updates today. From now on, quality will take precedence over speed. Everyone please help keep track of how many updates I owe; Old Gu will definitely make them up.