Chapter 592 - 576: Even if the Body Is Dismantled to the Ends of the Soul

Chapter 592: Chapter 576: Even if the Body Is Dismantled to the Ends of the Soul

The Star of Metal had fallen to him.

Weight, structure, ductility, toughness, and strength.

Crystallization, melting, corrosion, fracturing, and Forging.

In that instant, Allen felt as though he had been cast into an endless cosmic furnace.

Crimson molten metal flowed within the magma—scalding and ferocious. Various elements collided, separated, and fused in the extreme heat, forming countless metallic structures.

Beneath the earth’s crust, countless metal ores slumbering deep underground slowly crystallized under the crushing weight of billions of tons of rock. Microscopic mineral particles bonded, aligned, and deposited under the immense geothermal pressure and temperature. It took millions, or even tens of millions of years of waiting, just to condense into a single metallic vein within the strata.

A mortal’s iron sword rusted in the rain, chipped upon impact, and softened in the flames.

A massive metallic battleship endured the frantic bombardment of High-tier Sorcery. Its armor plates tore apart, its internal load-bearing structures warped, and its Magic Circuits snapped inch by inch due to stress deviation.

He had dealt with metals his entire life, but only at this moment did Allen truly see them for what they were.

Every piece of metal followed its own rigorous order.

The arrangement of the crystal lattice was its skeleton.

The ratio of its elements was its flesh and blood.

The flow of its stress was its muscles.

And so-called Alchemy was nothing more than using a Wizard’s will to interfere with, understand, and ultimately reconstruct this order.

Allen’s consciousness hovered within the Law Star River. Deep within his dark blue eyes, the steel-colored star was quietly reflected.

All his past failures, all the coincidences, and those eureka moments where he knew the ’how’ but not the ’why’ were instantly connected by an invisible thread.

He finally understood why the 0.3 percent Dawn Star Level Soul Crystal powder in Spiritual Remains Steel had, after a hundred thousand simulations, perfectly acted as a buffer between Radiant Black Steel and Star Gold.

It was an inevitable response of the metal’s crystal lattice to specific energies and Magic Power. Before, he only knew the answer, but now, he held the ultimate formula to derive it.

The torrent of information continued to flood in.

Allen’s vision was suddenly pulled toward deep space, somewhere too remote to pinpoint.

There seemed to be a colossal metallic construct there.

Its surface did not reflect light, and its mass was dense to the absolute limit, as if even space itself was being dragged and warped by its crushing weight. The surrounding light grew dim in that area, unable to illuminate its silhouette.

He wondered what it was.

Was it a cross-dimensional battleship? Or a miraculous relic from a lost era?

Just as Allen’s consciousness attempted to draw closer to investigate, that patch of deep space blurred violently, like a disrupted signal, ruthlessly cut off by a dimensional barrier he currently could not cross.

Meanwhile, the resplendent star of metal had submissively fallen into his palm.

The Second Law—Metal.

If the Soul Law allowed him to see the most essential core of life, then the Metal Law allowed him to clearly see the most indestructible framework of this world.

Augustus had once said that a Morning Star Wizard, spending their entire life, could attain a maximum of three Laws. The vast majority of veteran Morning Star Wizards could spend centuries and still not even touch the threshold of the first Law that truly suited their path.

Yet, not long after ascending to become a Morning Star Wizard, Allen had already touched upon two of them in succession.

In this moment, Allen felt as though he could see his future path.

To grant metal a soul, and to let the soul command metal.

One day, his creations would no longer be mere creations.

He didn’t know how long it had been before his consciousness rushed back into his body like a receding tide.

"Three, two, one—ignition."

Jarvis’s voice finally reached Allen’s ears again.

Before his eyes was the familiar laboratory. The Hephaestus Type-III Engine resembled a beating heart, emitting a deep, vigorous hum as ripples of energy slowly spread outward from the center of the platform.

Allen stood where he was, not immediately looking down to check No. 18’s body.

This was because his "vision" had already effortlessly pierced through the multi-meter-thick composite alloy armor walls of the Cybertron Fortress.

Inside the walls, the crystal lattice arrangement of every layer of plating and every microscopic stress point accumulated from long-term pressure was revealed in absolute detail to his perception.

High-Energy Magic Power surged along the wiring within the wall’s interlayers, looking like thick, glowing blood vessels.

Further away, inside the docking port, the Ten Thousand Miles of Sunshine hovered quietly in the shipyard, undergoing maintenance.

On the ship’s bow armor, the faint scratch left by Law Erosion in the Sea of Magical Power held no secrets from Allen’s eyes. It was garbled code left behind after the metal’s underlying logic had been forcibly "tampered with" by an external Law.

He could not only see how the metal had been "wounded," but he could also clearly deduce how the damage had spread, how it had been halted, and exactly how it should be perfectly overwritten and repaired now.

"Commander," Jarvis’s voice rang out, interrupting his novel experience.

"Artificial Human No. 18 second-generation model’s energy circuit has stabilized. The Spiritual Remains Steel skeleton shows no abnormal stress.

"The adhesion rate between the bionic skin and the underlying structure is at 99.9997 percent.

"The artificial Soul Core is operating normally.

"The Hephaestus Type-III Engine output is stable. All physiological parameters of the body are being archived."

All the data ultimately stabilized in the green zone, indicating optimal conditions.

Only then did Allen turn his gaze to the center of the experimental platform.

On the platform, the blonde woman’s eyelashes fluttered lightly like the beating wings of a butterfly.

A second later, a pair of icy-blue eyes, resembling polar glaciers, opened—exactly like how the first-generation No. 18 had looked when she first awakened all those years ago.

Supporting herself on the experimental table with both hands, she sat up with fluid grace. Her black, sleeveless, tight-fitting dragon-leather inner armor perfectly hugged her explosive physique. A light blue short jacket was draped casually over her shoulders, and her dark, form-fitting tactical pants were cinched with a brown leather belt.

Her outward appearance seemed entirely unchanged, but every inch of her internal structure had been fundamentally remade. She possessed an iron skeleton cast from Spiritual Remains Steel, an ocean of energy pumped by a Dawn Star Level engine, and infinite potential granted by an artificial soul.

Hidden beneath that layer of warm, bionic synthetic skin was a literal Alchemy Ferocious Beast.

No. 18 rolled off the bed.

The moment her bare feet touched the metal floor—

CRACK!

The hard alloy floor, reinforced by multiple arrays, was forcefully stamped with fine, spiderweb-like cracks right where her foot landed!

The mass of this seemingly slender body had reached an appalling degree. The density of Spiritual Remains Steel far exceeded that of Star Meteorite Iron. This frame, which stood under 1.7 meters tall, weighed almost seven times more than her first-generation counterpart!

She slightly adjusted the operation of the Anti-gravity Rune Module. Once her body regained its lightness, she turned to face Allen.

"Artificial Human No. 18, second-generation model. System self-check complete. Reporting for duty, Commander."

Her voice was crisp and aloof, completely devoid of any unnecessary emotional fluctuation.

As Allen looked at the familiar yet strange figure before him, a hint of joy shone through his deep eyes.

Without any visible movement, he infused No. 18 with a backup data file that had been encrypted and stored for sixteen years.

It contained all the memory backups of the first-generation No. 18—from her birth up until she was lost in the X-7734 Plane. This included that humiliating battle, as well as the very last frame of her memory before she was forcibly captured and betrayed.

No. 18’s heavy body trembled slightly. Deep within her icy-blue eyes, a massive stream of data rushed by wildly like a waterfall.

"Memory... synchronization complete," she said softly, her tone still as steady as before. But Allen astutely caught that the fluctuating frequency of her artificial soul had already rippled with a nuance that could not be smoothed over by algorithms.

"Welcome back, No. 18," Allen said, gazing at her with a gentle yet steadfast look.

Meeting his gaze, No. 18 condensed the complex array of emotions churning wildly within her Sea of Consciousness into a single promise that transcended programming:

"Please entrust your safety to me, Commander.

"I will never betray you again. Even if this shell is dismantled down to the end of my soul, all you will ever be able to read is absolute devotion born solely for you."

Allen gave a slight nod. He said nothing, silently accepting this soul-bound vow into his heart.

This time, he had laid an absolutely perfect foundation for her: the physical fortitude of a Level 4 Golem, a Dawn Star Level Power Core, and an artificial soul imbued with infinite Growth Potential.

That damned Mechanical Realm Logic Virus would never be able to touch even a hair on her head again.

Although she still required a subsequent Ascension to truly stand toe-to-toe against a veteran Morning Star Wizard, this body was already the most flawless masterpiece he could produce at his current stage.

"I believe you. Just keep following me," Allen said, retracting his gaze. "Jarvis, bring up the total construction cost of the second-generation model."

[Guard Series—Artificial Human No. 18 Second-Generation Model]

[Strength Level: Level 4 Golem]

[Defense Modules: Multi-Layered Composite AT Field, High-Strength Spiritual Remains Steel Body]

[Attack Modules: High-Compression Magic Cannon, Storm Airflow Acceleration Rune Array, Anti-gravity Maneuver Module, Short-range Teleportation Module]

[Total Cost: 820 million Low-Level Magic Stones]

This number was enough to manufacture twenty Golem Legions.

The balance in his account, which had just recovered to 4.5 billion, had nearly one-sixth of it evaporate in the blink of an eye.

In terms of strength, speed, defense, endurance, and Energy Output, the second-generation No. 18 already possessed maxed-out specs that were sufficient to clash physically with a Dawn Star Level entity. However, Allen knew this was still not enough.

Because the truly terrifying aspect of a Morning Star Wizard was never their massive total Magic Power or an indestructible physical shell, but rather, their Laws.

Without the protection of Laws, standing in front of a true Dawn Star Level opponent, even the toughest armor could not withstand an overwhelming dimensional strike.

So, where could he go to find the final puzzle piece for this perfect body?