371: Chapter 371 Discussing Cooperation, Each Getting What They Need

The charcoal in the Artifact Refining Workshop's furnace was still crackling, and the exhaust vent on the roof slowly exhaled gray-white steam.

The silhouette of the mecha in the holographic projection floated quietly, its blue light reflecting on the walls like a bolt of lightning that would never fade.

Just as the footsteps stopped, Aelia spoke up: "The pure yang thunder marrow lands in three hours? Your people better move fast. That stuff starts to evaporate the moment it touches the ground. If you miss the timing, the star-fall iron won't be tempered with the effect you want."

Chen Wuwang didn't look up; his fingers swiped across the control panel, and the projection instantly switched to a topographical map of the North Valley, where a purplish-red light spot was rapidly falling from high altitude.

"I've had people watching it for seven days," he said, his voice as flat as a blade's edge. "The early thunderstorm isn't an accident; it's a signal from the System. We can afford to wait, but you might not."

Aelia gave a light chuckle and took two steps forward, her boots making a crisp echo on the metal floor. "You're using this as a bargaining chip? Head of the Chen Family, right now you're the one who needs Materials, not me."

"Wrong." Chen Wuwang finally looked up, his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye rotating slightly as a cold light swept across her face. "I'm the one controlling the rhythm. If you want the mecha, it has to be on my time and in my way. This isn't a trade; it's entering the game."

Aelia narrowed her eyes, her tone deepening. "So, you're planning to hold me by the throat?"

"It's to make you see your position clearly." Chen Wuwang closed the map, and the projection returned to the mecha prototype.

"This thing isn't something anyone can play with just because they can afford it. It eats resources, it eats people, and it eats lives."

The day Wang Ergou did the test flight, his Divine Sense almost shattered; he only pulled through thanks to three Life-Sustaining Pills. How many Nascent Souls does your Angel Race have? How many can you afford to lose?"

Aelia was silent for a moment before suddenly changing her tone. "I can deploy a transport ship to intercept the thunder marrow directly below the thunderstorm zone, using a magnetic field to lock the energy flow and guarantee a recovery rate of over ninety percent."

"Oh?" Chen Wuwang raised an eyebrow. "Willing to bleed a little now?"

"But I'm asking for quite a bit in return." She looked him straight in the eye. "When the first prototype is tested, I want to observe on-site and record all the data."

Second, you must open the low-level protocols of the neural interface to allow our engineers to perform reverse analysis—strictly for research, of course, no copying."

Chen Wuwang sneered. "You want to see how we connect Divine Sense to circuitry? I'm afraid you won't understand it."

"I can pay double in Spirit Crystals," Aelia refused to back down. "Or, I can trade ten years of passage rights for three trade routes in the West Star Domain."

"Not enough." Chen Wuwang shook his head. "Do you know what I lack most? It's not money, and it's not Materials. It's legs."

"Legs?"

"My mecha can fight, but they can't be delivered to where they need to go." He pointed upward. "Outside the Eastern Wasteland, who recognizes my Chen Family? Without ships, without transit stations, without supply points... no matter how powerful the weapons I build are, they'll just be stuck on this wretched land."

Aelia understood. "You want to use my trade routes to distribute your goods?"

"More than that." Chen Wuwang stepped closer. "I want dispatch authority. Not the kind where I have to apply and report, but the ability to call upon your transport fleet at any time, for any purpose, and without limit. I want my mecha to be able to appear in any Star Domain within three days."

Aelia's expression changed. "That's Level Two Key Authority! Only five people in the entire Angel Race have that! You're trying to seize my lifeline!"

"Then you shouldn't have come to me to talk cooperation." Chen Wuwang turned around, making a move to turn off the projection. "Do you think I'm some street vendor selling toys?"

Let me tell you, once these mecha spread, the first ones to suffer will be middlemen like you. Once all the major powers have them, who will still beg you to transport goods?"

Aelia bit her lip. "But you have to consider reality! If I hand over dispatch authority, the Family will immediately send Inspectors to investigate me! My father has been wanting to replace me for a long time!"

"Then don't talk." Chen Wuwang didn't look back. "We'll talk again when you're the one in charge."

"Wait!" Aelia stepped forward, lowering her voice. "I can give you the Level Two Key... but only for emergency dispatch, no more than three times a year."

Plus two top-tier engineers on a ten-year assignment to participate in the entire R&D process. They won't touch the core code, but they can learn the System architecture."

Chen Wuwang stopped but didn't turn around.

"Three times?" He sneered. "That's not even enough to fill a gap between teeth. When the Zerg raided the South Mine last time, we lost seventeen brothers. If we could have called in two Frigates from the West Star Domain back then, it wouldn't have been such a bloodbath."

"Then what do you want!" Aelia almost shouted. "You want me to hand over the entire merchant fleet to you? Am I crazy?"

Chen Wuwang finally turned around, his gaze as cold as ice. "I don't want your merchant fleet. What I want is—when you receive my secret order, even if your father is standing right next to you, you must deploy the ships."

The air went still for a moment.

Aelia stared at him and suddenly laughed. "You really are a madman. Do you know that for those words, I could lose everything?"

"I know," Chen Wuwang nodded. "That's why I chose you."

She took a deep breath, her fingers rubbing against her cuff as if confirming the presence of something.

"I can hand over the Level Two Key chip," she finally said. "But there are two conditions."

First, every dispatch must be notified twelve hours in advance to give me time to maneuver.

Second, you must guarantee that it will never be used to attack any Angel Race strongholds or damage my Family's core interests."

Chen Wuwang thought for a moment. "The first condition is fine. For the second—I'll add one clause: if your side strikes first, this condition is void."

"Deal."

Chen Wuwang didn't shake it; instead, he pointed at the projection in the air. "By this time tomorrow, I want to see the key chip and the people. Once they're here, I'll start the mecha for you."

Aelia withdrew her hand, the corners of her mouth curling slightly. "You really don't leave any room at all."

"Leave room?" Chen Wuwang sneered. "When Blood Butcher sent people to blow up my Artifact Refining Workshop last month, why didn't he leave any room? When Mo Yuan put a bounty on my head in the Shadow Council, why didn't they leave any room? In this world, those who survive have never been the ones who listen to reason."

Aelia looked at him and suddenly said softly, "Sometimes I wonder, are you a savior, or the next calamity?"

Chen Wuwang didn't answer; he simply raised his left hand and made a swipe in the air.

The projection instantly enlarged, revealing the internal structure of the mecha's chest—a rotating blue light core pulsed slowly, like a living heart.

"Do you see this?" he said. "This is the core of the 'eye of wuwang'. It doesn't consume Spirit Stones, and it doesn't consume Spiritual Qi. What it consumes is... order. Rules. The future."

Aelia was stunned.

"You give me a path, and I'll give you back an era," Chen Wuwang's voice was low. "I don't care what you think of me. I only care about whether I can let my people live a little longer and go a little further."

The two looked at each other; neither was smiling.

The furnace fire crackled in the corner, and the mecha in the projection rotated slowly, its shoulder weapon slots glinting with a cold light.

Footsteps came from outside, approaching from a distance and stopping at the door.

A voice rang out: "Head of the Family, the North Valley thunderstorm has entered its final countdown. The Collection Team is in position!"

Chen Wuwang checked the time and turned to Aelia. "You have three hours. Think carefully: do you want to stand on the side of history, or be crushed by it."

Aelia didn't move; only after a long while did she nod. "At this time tomorrow, I will bring the people myself."

She turned and walked toward the door, her wings slightly unfurling behind her, light patterns flashing and then vanishing.

The moment the door closed, Chen Wuwang looked down at the control panel. His finger hovered over the "Start Program" button for two seconds before he finally decided not to press it.

He simply whispered, "Sissy AI, prepare the prototype self-check. Test flight in seventy-two hours."

A green light lit up on the console, and a mechanical female voice responded calmly, "Received, Head of the Family."