69: This is a huge bombshell! Has the national treasury been exposed?

"Holy crap! What is that?!"

"A sun! Did a sun just explode in the palace?!"

The extreme white light swallowed everything.

The destructive dragon breath, a purifying flame mixed with life energy and data turbulence, detonated the moment it hit Sorin Ironbeard's cockpit.

No screams, no wails.

Only a patch of scorching, pure energy capable of vaporizing steel.

The light dissipated.

The king gundam's massive mecha body, starting from the head pierced by the pickaxe tip, broke apart inch by inch, turning into basic metal powder and rustling down.

And Sorin Ironbeard in the cockpit, along with his magic sword infused with Dragon blood, had long since vaporized without a trace in the light.

The entire palace hall was as silent as death.

All players' movements froze; they stared blankly at this scene like divine punishment, their minds going blank.

Dead?

That final boss who treated the whole palace like a Gundam and rubbed them into the ground... was just gone?

Just as everyone failed to react, a series of scarlet System prompts with epic special effects began frantically flooding every player's retina like a waterfall!

[Server-wide Epic Announcement: Congratulations to player "Also a Ruthless Person" and his guild "Demolition Office" for successfully killing the World Boss: Black Iron Tyrant · Sorin through unremitting efforts and fearless sacrifice!]

[System Notification: You participated in this epic boss raid. Based on your contribution, you will receive a massive amount of experience points and guild reputation!]

[System Notification: The reign of the Black Iron King has ended. The fate of the Dwarf Kingdom will be written by you!]

After a brief silence...

...came a volcanic, hysterical carnival!

"We won! We won!"

"Holy shit! We won, aaaaaah!"

"Brother Qiang is awesome! Miners are awesome! Shoveling sh—no, mining is the end of the Universe!"

Countless players threw their weapons into the air, hugging each other, crying and laughing like a group of lunatics released from a mental asylum.

Li Qiang (Also a Ruthless Person) jumped down from the completely scrapped wreckage of the king gundam, gasping for breath.

He looked at the novice mining pickaxe in his hand, of which only half the handle remained, and grinned.

"Damn, at least my thirty years of construction site experience didn't go to waste."

"Stop laughing, Brother Qiang! Look! Items dropped! Items dropped!" a player pointed at the spot where the king gundam had turned to ash and let out an earth-shattering scream.

Everyone's gaze was instantly drawn over.

No treasure chests.

No light orbs.

Where the boss had disappeared, only a solitary heart, shimmering with mythical rainbow light, floated quietly in mid-air.

One half of that heart was beating flesh and blood, and the other half was precision mechanical gears, filled with a contradictory yet harmonious beauty.

[Sorin's Mechanical Heart (Mythical · Unique)]

[Description: The ultimate creation fusing the Dwarf Royalty Bloodline with the Black Iron City's Ley Line Core. It is the energy source that drives a city, even a civilization. It is both a key and a shackle.]

"Myth... Mythical?!"

Lin Xiaowan's (Rich Woman Hungry) eyes instantly turned into the shape of gold coins.

Li Qiang didn't say a word, pouncing forward like a hungry tiger and grabbing the still warm and beating heart in his arms.

"Mine! I dug this out with my pickaxe! Anyone who tries to take it is dead meat!"

Just as everyone thought this was all the rewards and prepared to "reason" with Li Qiang...

"Creeeeak—Rumble—!!!"

A tooth-aching sound of metal grinding came from the deepest part of the palace hall.

Everyone turned back in horror.

The ten-meter-thick giant metal door engraved with the Dwarf Royalty emblem, which was supposed to lead to the treasury, actually... opened automatically!

There was no imagined burst of golden light.

Inside the door was a deep darkness that seemed capable of swallowing everything.

"What's the situation? Is there a phase two?" a player nervously raised his weapon.

"No..." Wang Wei (Luban No. 7) pushed his glasses; on his mechanical arm that had resumed operation, the data flow was flashing frantically, "The energy reaction inside... is off the charts! It's even more exaggerated than that Dragon just now!"

The next second.

Boom!

Like a bursting dam!

Hundreds of millions of gold coins, mixed with colorful gems, scrolls shimmering with magical brilliance, mountains of rare Ore, and countless weapons and armor, surged out from that door like a golden waterfall!

They instantly filled half the palace hall, forming a glittering golden hill piled with wealth!

At this moment, the entire world seemed to have only one color.

Gold!

All players were petrified.

Their mouths hung open as they stared blankly at this mountain of gold coins and treasures, feeling their respiratory Systems and thinking abilities completely destroyed by this crude wealth.

"This... this is..."

A player trembled, reaching out to pick up a plain-looking battle axe from the "foot of the mountain."

[Runic Axe · Roar (Purple · Epic)]

He then casually picked up a piece of Ore.

[Star Mithril (Orange · Legendary)]

He then picked up a blueprint that had fallen on the ground.

[Blueprint: Dwarf Steam Tank (Complete Edition)]

"Holy... holy shit!!!"

The player let out a non-human howl and then dove headfirst into the golden mountain like a madman!

"We're rich!!!"

"Don't grab it! That staff is mine!"

"Holy crap! This skill book is a Forbidden Spell! 'Meteor Fall'! It's mine!"

"Hahaha! I'm going to swim in gold coins!"

The scene instantly spiraled out of control.

Thousands of players, like a pack of wolves that hadn't eaten for three days and nights, lunged at the mountain of wealth with bloodshot eyes, using both hands and feet to frantically stuff various treasures into their bags.

Li Qiang looked at the Mythical heart in his arms, then at the mountain of gold nearby that almost reached the ceiling, feeling for the first time that his perspective might be a bit too small.

Lin Xiaowan had gone completely mad; she let out an excited scream and performed a "Leap of Faith," diving headfirst into the ocean of gold coins, leaving only her head exposed, smiling happily and foolishly.

Wang Wei didn't snatch the equipment; like a rigorous archaeologist, he navigated precisely through the pile of treasures and finally pulled out a metal card shimmering with blue data light from under a pile of gold plates.

[Black Iron City · Supreme Authorization Key]

"Found it..." Wang Wei murmured to himself, an obsessed smile appearing on his face, "This is... the true Treasure Trove."

On the other side of the battlefield.

After the dragon breath ended, the semi-mechanical Young Dragon's body became withered due to energy depletion. It glanced at the players who were frantically "dividing the spoils," a flash of human-like disdain in its eyes.

Then, its gaze fell upon the massive mechanical Dragon—the "pangu vessel"—which had already shut down and was full of steampunk style.

In the Young Dragon's perception, deep within that cold steel skeleton, there was a faint but incredibly familiar aura of its kind.

It belonged to the remnant Soul of a giant Dragon.

The Young Dragon hesitated, dragging its battered body as it slowly walked over.

It extended its head, which had also been modified beyond recognition, and gently, longingly rubbed against the cold leg armor of the pangu vessel.

As if giving a belated greeting to a relative it had never met but was connected to by blood.

After doing all this, it turned its head and looked deeply at Li Qiang nearby with its intact golden vertical pupil.

That gaze was incredibly complex, containing gratitude, curiosity, and a hint of scrutiny belonging to a superior being.

Finally, it let out a low growl, curled up its massive body, and lay down at the feet of the pangu vessel, actually falling directly into a deep sleep, as if treating this place as its new nest.

[System Notification: Due to your heroic actions, the semi-mechanical Young Dragon "Zero" has developed a favorable impression of your guild and has automatically become the guardian beast of the "Demolition Office" guild.]

"Holy crap, even the Dragon has been recruited?" Li Qiang looked at the System notification, so happy he could barely close his mouth.

Just as all players were immersed in the immense joy of surviving a disaster and becoming rich overnight...

A majestic, playful voice that seemed to come from the end of the sky and echoed directly in everyone's Soul boomed down.

It was that elusive GM!

[Server-wide Announcement: Congratulations to all "fourth calamity," for successfully removing a tumor from this world. Now, this city belongs to you.]

The players' movements stopped, and they all looked up toward the Void Realm.

[Main Quest "Mechanical Chaos" has ended. Large-scale world event [City Reconstruction] has begun!]

[As a reward for the first clear of a World Boss, this GM will grant you one wish.]

The voice paused, as if giving the players time to digest the information, and then posed a question that made everyone's hearts stop.

[Now, tell me—]

[What do you want to transform this city into?]

[Should it be turned into a city that never sleeps, filled with casinos and squandering money? Or a war fortress bristling with star-killing cannons and armed to the teeth?]

[Or... your very own kingdom of God on earth?]