70: Rebuild Iron City! Player: Change the King's statue to mine!

"Now, tell me—"

That elusive GM, that majestic voice with a hint of playfulness, was like an ice cube dropped into boiling oil, instantly exploding in the minds of all players!

"What do you want to transform this city into?"

"Will it be built into a city that never sleeps, filled with casinos and squandered gold? Or a war fortress armed to the teeth with Star-Slaying Cannons?"

"Or perhaps... your own Kingdom of God on Earth?"

The frantic looting across the field came to a sudden halt.

Thousands of players, whether they were giggling while clutching gold coins or fighting over a piece of equipment, all jerked their heads up and looked toward the Void Realm, their expressions instantly shifting from greed to fanaticism.

"Holy crap! A follow-up to the main quest! A city construction simulator?!"

"The damn developers finally found their conscience! Are they giving us rewards?"

"A city that never sleeps! I'm going to open the server's largest Bathhouse!" a life-class player shouted like a squealing pig.

"What's the point of a Bathhouse!" another combat player carrying a rocket launcher retorted, "A war fortress, obviously! Mount the Star-Slaying Cannons on the walls! If anyone from the next map dares mess with us, we'll just blast the bastards!"

"Shallow!" a mage player pushed up his glasses, "A Kingdom of God on Earth! We should build a Holy Land of magic! Let this place become a second Hogwarts!"

The sounds of arguing spread like a plague.

Just then, Li Qiang (Also a Ruthless Person), clutching that still-beating [Sorin's Mechanical Heart], stood up from the mountain of gold coins.

He looked around, cleared his throat, and issued the first command of a victor in an unquestionable tone.

"Shut the hell up, all of you!"

"We'll talk about what to transform it into later! Right now, the first order of business!"

Li Qiang extended a finger, pointing far off toward the center of the plaza at the massive statue symbolizing Sorin's royal power, which had already cracked from the aftershocks of the battle.

"Tear down that shorty's crappy statue!"

"Replace it with mine!"

"Use the pose I had earlier when I cracked his skull with the pickaxe! Make it as cool as possible!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire field fell silent.

Immediately following that was an even more thunderous roar of opposition.

"Why should we put yours up? Your skin is thicker than the city walls!"

"If we're putting one up, it should be a statue of our pangu vessel! That's a real man!"

"Seconded! The pangu vessel is the hope of the whole village!"

"Forget the pangu vessel! Put up the God of Wealth! Bless us so that the next time we fight a BOSS, we get this much gold again!"

Li Qiang's face darkened.

"You lot are revolting! I have the greatest merit! Who agrees, and who objects?"

He shook the Mythic-grade heart in his arms, the threat in his gesture unmistakable.

However, the players didn't buy it at all.

"Objection overruled!"

"Minority yields to the majority!"

"Even if the King of Heaven himself showed up today, we're putting up the pangu vessel!"

Seeing that internal strife over 'naming rights' was about to erupt, Retired Soldier King (Retired Soldier King) stepped forward.

He spoke calmly: "Stop arguing. Wang Wei, what's the situation on your end?"

Everyone's gaze turned toward the tech geek crawling out from the pile of treasures.

Wang Wei (Luban No. 7) was obsessively stroking that [Black Iron City: Supreme Authorization Key]. On his mechanical arm, countless blue data streams were flashing rapidly, as if exchanging information with the entire city.

"Preliminary takeover complete." Wang Wei pushed up his glasses, his voice carrying an irrepressible excitement, "The energy core of this city, the Leyline Furnace, entered a dormant state after the King died. But the city's underlying architecture is still there. As long as we have enough energy and authorization, we can restart it!"

"What about that Mechanical Heart?" Li Qiang asked hurriedly.

"That's the key!" Wang Wei's eyes fell on the heart in Li Qiang's arms, "[Sorin's Mechanical Heart] isn't just Sorin's personal life core; it's the 'remote control' he used to forcibly control the Leyline Furnace! With it, plus the key in my hand, we can become the new masters of this city!"

"Then what are we waiting for?" Li Qiang tossed the heart over, "Hurry up! I want to live in the King's bedroom with the jacuzzi!"

Wang Wei caught the heart, ignoring Li Qiang's crude request. He led a team of Mechanist players straight to the inner city's central control room.

Meanwhile, the other players, under new instructions, began the bustling work of 'post-disaster reconstruction.'

Of course, to the surviving Dwarf NPCs, this reconstruction looked more like a second disaster.

The members of the 'Demolition Office,' led by Li Qiang, actually brought ropes and explosives, studying how to demolish that hundred-meter-tall King's statue without damaging anything else. They even got into another fight over the question of 'who gets to press the detonator.'

Lin Xiaowan (Rich Woman Hungry) tapped into her merchant instincts. She didn't participate in the looting, but instead immediately took her sisters to scout the 'commercial real estate' in the city.

"This location isn't bad, near the lava river, rich in geothermal resources, and high foot traffic." Lin Xiaowan nodded with satisfaction, pointing at the Dwarf Council Hall that had been flattened by a claw from the pangu vessel.

"This is it! The server's first seven-star [Black Iron Hot Spring Bathhouse] starts construction today!"

A sister beside her whispered a reminder: "Sister Wan, this seems to be a crime scene..."

"What's there to fear?" Lin Xiaowan rolled her eyes at her, "A place where a BOSS died is called a feng shui treasure land! I've even thought of the slogan—'Feel the lingering warmth of a fallen tyrant, enjoy the ultimate relaxation of ice and fire'! I guarantee every man on the server will have to come here to spend money!"

On the other side, the life players displayed their startling creativity.

The dwarves' ancient, heavy metal buildings were hung with colorful neon signs by them.

[Server's First Dragon Meat BBQ! If it's not delicious, it's free!]

[Dwarf Rune Enchanting, 20% off, first come first served!]

[Photo op with the pangu vessel, 10 Contribution Points per time, invoices available!]

The entire majestic underground city, once filled with steampunk style, was forcibly transformed by the players into a cyberpunk-flavored... large-scale rural-urban fringe zone within just a few hours.

The surviving dwarves hid in corners, their worldviews shattered as they watched these 'saviors' treat their home like an amusement park.

An old dwarf blacksmith watched as his forge, passed down for three hundred years, was transformed into an 'Internet Cafe,' with a banner hanging at the door saying 'Grand Opening, Top Up 100 Get 50 Free,' his beard shaking with rage.

"Ancestors above... these long-legged freaks... what on earth are they?"

At the center of all this chaos, the semi-mechanical Young Dragon 'Zero,' who had just gained its freedom, appeared unusually quiet.

It ignored the crazy players, simply dragging its battered body to curl up at the feet of the massive 'pangu vessel,' as if only that cold steel could provide it a sense of security from its own kind.

Its one intact golden vertical pupil quietly watched all this, its gaze filled with confusion and vigilance.

Just then.

"Voom—!"

A low rumble echoed throughout the city.

It was Wang Wei! He succeeded!

Using the Mechanical Heart and the key, he had reactivated the city's Leyline Furnace!

In an instant, the extinguished lights in the city flickered on one by one, the massive gears that had stopped turning began to roar again, and plumes of steam billowed from the pipes.

Black Iron City had come back to life!

"Success! Energy System restored to 30%!" Wang Wei's excited voice rang out in everyone's communication channel, "Brothers! We have a home!"

"Ohhhhhhh!!!"

All the players erupted in earth-shattering cheers.

Owning a city of one's own that could be modified at will—this sense of achievement was far more intense than looting a piece of Mythic equipment!

Li Qiang was even more carried away; he jumped directly onto the head of the King's statue that hadn't been demolished yet, spreading his arms, prepared to deliver a 'City Lord Inauguration Speech.'

But at this very moment, when the city's atmosphere reached its peak.

"Roar—!!!"

A dragon roar filled with extreme unease and sky-high rage suddenly exploded from beside the pangu vessel's feet!

It was the Young Dragon 'Zero'!

It had stood up at some point, ignoring the startled players around it, staring fixedly upward at the pitch-black cavern ceiling made of rock, issuing the most primitive warning from the depths of its Bloodline!

The players' cheers came to a grinding halt.

"What's going on? Is this dragon crazy?"

"What is it looking at?"

Everyone followed the Young Dragon's gaze, looking up in confusion.

There was nothing.

Only hard, cold rock.

However, the next second.

"Crack..."

A faint sound, like glass shattering, came from above everyone's heads.

Immediately following that, the indestructible rock layer, thousands of meters thick, actually began to turn transparent like a phantom!

Blinding light pierced down from above the rock layer.

That was not the light of the sun.

It was a holy, judgmental, pure white light!

The players watched in horror as, above the rock layer and atop the sea of clouds, a floating warship so massive it defied description, composed entirely of pure white metal and golden patterns, hung there quietly!

Its design was full of holiness and majesty, with countless structures like angel wings slowly unfolding on both sides of the hull, forming the ultimate contrast with the rugged, barbaric steampunk style of Black Iron City!

That was... another civilization!

A civilization countless times more Advanced than the Dwarf Kingdom!

Just as everyone was rendered speechless by this sudden miracle.

A majestic, cold, emotionless voice, like a deity reading a verdict, came from that floating warship, echoing directly in the depths of every creature's Soul, transforming into a language they could understand.

"World-class Magic-Conducting Energy Core restart detected..."

"Regicide behavior detected in the Lower Realm..."

"Judgment: Mortal civilization has exceeded the controllable range. Threat Rank... Extremely High."

The voice paused, as if delivering the final conclusion.

"Initiating... [Heavenly Judgment]."

"Ants of the Lower Realm, you..."

"Have crossed the line."