From the Abyss Invasion to the Blasting Star.

While the first meeting of sword wielders from all races was underway, Xavier Matrix's mechanical factories were ceaselessly manufacturing Sykes technology weapons.

The fifteenth day has now arrived, and the machinery factory is fully operational.

At this stage, nanorobots can complete all the mechanical expansion processes without human assistance.

Within twelve days of the completion of the first mechanical factory, nanobots had already occupied more than three thousand asteroids of various sizes.

Some asteroids are hundreds of kilometers in diameter, while others are only a dozen meters wide.

Every asteroid that has caught the eye of nanobots has its own value.

Some are due to their high content of metallic elements, some contain energy substances, and some are rich in rare elements.

Hundreds of millions of nanobots, like ants, mine resources in this star field, smelt them, and manufacture mechanical units.

The nanobots and nuclear energy materials that Lu Heng transmitted were like scattering mechanical seeds in this star field. These seeds began to sprout, grow, and expand outward continuously.

Mechanical expansion is indeed fast, but the time frame is still too short.

Xavier Matrix explained the progress to everyone: "The progress is very fast. We have already occupied three thousand asteroids, but there is still a long way to go to reach Lu Heng's goal."

"If all goes well, we can achieve our initial goal of destroying Nebula City in another fifteen days."

"But there is one condition: the pace of expansion of the machinery factory cannot be halted."

"According to my calculations, if the nanomachine factory continues to expand, it won't be long before it is discovered by the Shadow Demon."

"At that time, we will definitely be attacked by the Shadow Demons, which will hinder the expansion of the nanomachine factory."

"If the resistance is too great, the progress cannot be guaranteed."

Lu Heng picked up the thread and added, "Even if the progress doesn't keep up with the return time from the Abyss Battlefield, it doesn't matter. The plan remains unchanged. After the Abyss Battlefield ends and I return, I will teleport back as soon as possible to continue our plan."

The Elf and Siren races came through the Stargate; they were not the Conscripts.

Even if the time limit for the Abyss Battlefield ends, they will not be teleported away.

Lu Heng's team of four will be teleported away by the rules of the Abyss Battlefield, but this is not a big deal. With the ability to travel between stars, they can be teleported back immediately to continue their original plan.

The real difference lies with the other recruits.

Lu Heng's original plan did not include these recruits.

Of course, if the plan can be completed within the time limit of the Abyss Battlefield, the gains will definitely be greater.

After hearing about the progress of the plan, Queen Orianna made a suggestion: "Give us a map of the star system, and we'll find a way to slow down the time it takes for the Shadowfiend to discover the mechanical expansion."

Xavier Matrix sent out a holographic map that encompassed a star field spanning 20,000 kilometers around Nebula City.

"The blue area represents the area already occupied by nanomechanical factories. The darker the color, the more nanomechanical factories there are."

From the holographic map, the blue area has formed a fan shape, gradually surrounding Nebula City.

Lu Heng reminded, "Since this Abyss Battlefield is recruiting humans, the Shadow Demons will not recognize any other races. Therefore, hiding your identities can delay the time it takes for the Shadow Demons to discover the world-destroying plan."

Sona nodded in agreement: "Of course, we have always been prepared for this. As soon as the Shadow Demon is discovered, our Siren priests will transform into human form to fight."

Fiona replied, "It's very simple for us, just a little magic."

The Dark Iron Dwarves and the Bancel race are a bit troublesome. These two races don't have very strong magical talents, and they are much shorter than humans, making it difficult for them to disguise themselves as humans.

Soreville Copper Furnace was more straightforward, saying, "Then our Black Iron tribe will stay in the rear for now. I'd like to go and see Professor Xavier's smelting furnace. Is that alright?"

The Swordholders' philosophy is mutual assistance, and technological support is the greatest help a civilization can receive.

Xavier Matrix readily agreed: "Yes, for the sake of the Swordholders' goals, I can help you build a nuclear reactor if needed."

Soreville Copper Furnace had no idea what a nuclear furnace was.

Because the Dark Iron Dwarves were born in the world of Dragonslumber, a world of dragons and magic.

The Dark Iron Dwarves possess some sorcery, but what they truly rely on for survival is their innate fire resistance and the forging skills they have honed through their fire resistance.

Because they are not a technologically advanced civilization, the Dark Iron Dwarves do not know what nuclear energy is.

"What level of forging furnace is the nuclear energy furnace? Is it demigod level?" Soreville Copper Furnace didn't care about losing face and directly asked the question that was on his mind.

"They're not the same system, so they can't be compared, but a nuclear furnace can generate temperatures of 100 million degrees Celsius, capable of melting any material in the technological world." - Xavier Matrix
Upon hearing this explanation, Soreville Copper Furnace turned and asked, "Mr. Lu Heng, isn't a nuclear furnace, with such a high temperature, more powerful than a demigod's forging furnace?"

Lu Heng thought for a moment and replied, "I think we can try combining the nuclear furnace and the forging furnace. I think Master Gollum must be racking his brains over building the demigod forging furnace. If we have the help of the nuclear furnace, the construction of the demigod forging furnace might be much smoother."

Soreville Copper Furnace's eyes began to light up as he praised, "That's right, Professor Xavier, we hope you can help us build the Demigod Forge."

Xavier Matrix did not refuse and granted his request.

Because he also wanted to study the technology of the magic side.

In the field of science and technology, anything that exhibits regularity falls under the category of science and technology.

Magic, though wondrous, is governed by certain laws.

For example, casting a spell inevitably consumes magical energy; this is a rule, and may even conform to the law of conservation of energy.

Studying magic might lead to new ways to propel technology forward.

Therefore, Xavier Matrix agreed to Soreville Bronzeforge's request, and they agreed that after this operation was completed, a batch of nanobots would be sent to the Dark Iron Dwarf Kingdom to participate in the research and construction of the demigod forge.

……

The nanomachine factory continued to expand, and the elf and siren forces began patrolling the edges of the nanomachine factory's territory, killing any shadow demons they found.

The increasing number of Shadow Demons killed did not alert the high-ranking Shadow Demons of Nebula City.

Because the Shadow Demon already knew that humans had been conscripted to the Nebula City star system.

Logically, the Shadowfiends would naturally assume that these dead Shadowfiends were killed by the human recruiters.

Because of the large number of human recruits, the Great Xia team also distributed maps and guerrilla tactics manuals to teams from other countries.

Most of the recruit teams engage in guerrilla warfare and rarely engage in direct combat.

As a result, Shadow Fiend was in a situation where he was frequently harassed but could not catch his target.

Every day, large numbers of Shadow Demon teams are dispatched from Nebula City to search for recruits outside the satellite city fortress.

There were some gains, but not many.

Moreover, the summoners captured by the Shadow Demons knew nothing about the Swordholder's world-ending plan, and were unaware that other races besides humans had been teleported to them.

With the harassment from the recruits, the Shadow Demon had no energy to patrol a star system 10,000 kilometers away, making it even less likely to discover the nanomachine factory.

……

As time went by, the nanomechanical factory expanded its reach.

By the twenty-fifth day of the Abyss Battlefield, the nanomachine factory had expanded into a semi-circular ring, surrounding Nebula City in the middle.

Also on this day.

New battle reports have arrived from other recruit teams. Recruit teams from multiple countries have joined forces, forming a force of three hundred men, to raid a Shadow Demon satellite city fortress.

The raid was successful, destroying a fortress, but the recruit team was surrounded by shadow demons and suffered heavy casualties.

Less than one in ten of the conscripts escaped.

Lu Heng's expression remained unchanged upon hearing the news.

The wages of avarice is death.

This is the law of nature.

The reason these recruits raided the Shadowfiend's satellite city fortress is quite simple.

Because that is the goal of the second challenge.

The reward for completing the task is this "food".

On the first day of the Abyss Battlefield, Lu Heng reminded everyone that this Abyss Battlefield was in [Survival Mode], and the overall combat strength of the recruits was far lower than that of the Shadow Demon Clan.

Furthermore, if there are traitors among the human recruits, it means that the Shadowfiend knows what the recruits' mission is.

In other words, the Shadow Demons most likely knew that the humans were going to raid their satellite city fortress.

In this situation, setting up an ambush is very simple.

Of the 300 men, less than one in ten escaped; they were most likely ambushed.

……

As the nanomechanical factory expands closer to the Shadow Fiend satellite city's defensive perimeter, the patrol teams also need to gradually move closer to the outer edge of the Shadow Fiend's defensive perimeter.

This leads to an increasingly higher chance of encountering Shadow Fiend.

On the twenty-sixth day, Lu Heng led his patrol team to finish and handed over the shift to the elves. When they met, he chatted with Queen Orianna for a while.

Just then, Su Muyu suddenly sent a message: "A recruiter has arrived and is very fast."

"Stop them," Lu Heng ordered decisively.

Su Muyu immediately controlled the Azure Phoenix, trying to stop the summoner from rushing over, but failed.

“I couldn’t stop them. They were very fast and rushed towards me. I didn’t use force to stop them.”

The voice just fell.

A team of superhumans from multiple countries rushed over. Upon seeing Lu Heng, they shouted, "You bunch of Great Xia people, all you do is hide in the back! Do you know how many people have died?"

The one who raised the question was Salman Babu, a high-caste leader from India.

He charged straight in because his perception range was very wide, and he detected the presence of humans from a great distance.

Upon getting closer, he discovered it was Lu Heng's group, and his anger immediately surged.

More than seventy recruits from India, including Salman Babu, participated in the raid launched by the White Eagle Federation and the Lionheart Empire against the Shadow Demon satellite city fortress.

This group of people were indeed not very bright, and as a result, they died rather tragically. Only six people escaped, and together with the survivors from other teams, they formed a temporary team of fifteen people.

Salman Babu is the highest-ranking among this group, but his abilities are very diverse and lack a complete system. He knows a little bit of everything, combining perception and combat power.

Salman Babu originally rushed over to question Lu Heng because the Great Xia team had not participated in the operation.

His country's recruits were almost all dead, while the Great Xia army was unscathed, which made him very resentful.

Driven by this mindset, he was furious, but upon reaching Lu Heng, he unexpectedly discovered a beautiful elf standing behind Lu Heng.

He stared at it in confusion for a few moments, then asked again, "Why are there elves here? Why are there elves here?"

Queen Aureanna glanced at him and teased, "Lu Heng, this human doesn't seem to be loyal to you?"

Lu Heng shrugged and replied, "The size of the race is too large, and I am not the ruler of human civilization. In fact, the vast majority of humans are not loyal to me."

Queen Aureanna smiled and nodded: "I understand."

The Elf race once had its glory days.

When the Elven cities were scattered across the continent of Quel'dorei, they also established several kingdoms.

Although there are relatively few conflicts between the elven kingdoms, they are indeed independent of each other.

Salman Bab used his skill to probe Queen Orianna, then exclaimed in surprise:
"She...she's of such a high level, you can summon such a high-level elf, why don't you fight the Shadow Demon?"

"I know, you just want us to go and die while you hide behind and reap the benefits, you despicable Great Xia person!"

Then, with unbridled audacity, he continued to expand the range of his perception skill, exclaiming in surprise, "Not only the elves, but also the siren race! You are so despicable! With so much power, you still hide behind and watch us die!"

The secrets of the elves and sirens have been discovered. If this information is leaked and the Shadow Demon finds out, the consequences will be severe.

If it's only elves and sirens, the danger to the Shadow Demon isn't that great.

However, once the Shadowfiends discover the presence of the two races, they will definitely sense something is amiss and send out a large number of Shadowfiend forces to search for them.

By then, the nanomachine factories spanning tens of thousands of kilometers of star field will certainly be exposed.

It's not time to execute the final plan yet.

The initial mechanical units manufactured by the nanomachine factory were all for expansion purposes; the number of technological weapons produced so far is far from sufficient.

We'll have to wait at least three more days before we can launch the final offensive.

Xavier Matrix needs three days to mass-produce troops and weapons.

If Shadow Fiend discovers the secret at this point, the plan will likely fail.

Queen Aureanna noticed this as well, frowned, pointed at Salman Babu, and asked, "Do you need me to deal with this human for you? If you can't bring yourself to do it."

For individuals who might leak operational secrets, the best option is to eliminate them directly.

Lu Heng's gaze also darkened, and he waved his hand, saying, "No need, I can handle it myself."

After saying this, Lu Heng ordered, "Men, control all the recruits who approach. Send a mental warrior to conduct mental interrogation on this person. If there are no problems, remove their mobility and lock them up."

A Dragon's Might mental warrior was ordered to come over and prepare to mentally torture Salman Babu.

Salman Babu immediately drew his weapon and yelled at the mental warriors of Dragon's Might, "What do you want? You dare to pry into my thoughts? I'll kill you!"

Lu Heng's gaze turned cold as he issued an ultimatum: "Accept mental torture, or die."

His tone was very calm, but the calmness was tinged with extreme coldness.

Salman Babu, brandishing his weapon, sneered, "Do you know what the consequences will be if you dare touch me?"

Lu Heng didn't waste any more words. His spiritual energy surged, and within his mental world, a pair of demonic eyes opened, taking away his soul. Then, he issued the command:

"Bring this man and his entire team under control; kill any who resist." (End of Chapter)