I can receive unlimited protection; my parents handed me over to the state.

Only Su Lie and Qian Sen exchanged a glance, both seeing a knowing smile in each other's eyes. They had witnessed firsthand how Lu Yuan had rendered a group of researchers unconscious with a single look. This S-class behemoth, though stronger, was no different from a slightly stronger ant in front of Lu Yuan, who had already condensed a "divine spark."

"You... what did you do to him?!" Smith finally reacted, pointing at Lu Yuan, his voice trembling. At that moment, he realized that this seemingly ordinary, even somewhat unkempt, Chinese boy might be the "unstable element" they were looking for! And this "unstable element" was a million times more terrifying than they had imagined!

"It's nothing," Lu Yuan said slowly, blowing away the tea leaves. "I just thought he was too noisy, so I let his brain calm down a bit. Okay, it's quiet now."

He raised his head, his usually calm and collected eyes meeting Smith's gaze for the first time: "Speak, what exactly do you want? Don't give me that high-sounding nonsense. I'm busy, I don't have time to play diplomatic games with you."

Staring at him with Lu Yuan's gaze, which seemed to pierce his very soul, Smith felt as if he were being watched by an ancient, ferocious beast. All the diplomatic rhetoric and persuasive tactics he had prepared vanished in an instant.

The man with the gold-rimmed glasses next to him took a deep breath, adjusted his glasses, and spoke for him. His voice was calm, with a scholarly rigor: "Hello, Mr. Lu Yuan. My name is Oppenheimer, and I am the chief scientist of the council. We are here with no ill intentions; we simply want to confirm one thing."

"Based on our data analysis of that energy storm, we discovered an unprecedented phenomenon of 'rule contamination.' This phenomenon is highly similar to an unknown entity known as the 'Abyss' that we discovered in a top-secret archaeological site."

Oppenheimer's gaze turned incredibly grave: "We suspect that the 'Abyss' has already descended. And it seems that you, China, have already made your first contact with it. We need intelligence, all information about the 'Abyss.' Because it concerns the life and death of our entire human civilization."

Oppenheimer's words stunned Su Lie and Qian Sen. They hadn't expected that these foreigners also knew about the existence of the "Abyss"! It seemed that the world held far more secrets than they had imagined.

Lu Yuan laughed after hearing this: "Intelligence? Sure. But my intelligence is very valuable. What will you offer in exchange?"

"What do you want?" Oppenheimer asked immediately.

"What I want is very simple." Lu Yuan held up one finger. "First, starting today, disband your damn 'World Security Council.' From now on, all supernatural events in this world will be led by China. You just need to follow orders."

"What?!" Smith exclaimed in alarm. "This is impossible! This is an infringement on our sovereignty!"

"Sovereignty?" Lu Yuan glanced at him, his eyes full of mockery. "When the Abyss eats your country like it's a buffet, then you can talk to it about sovereignty."

"You..." Smith was speechless.

"Second," Lu Yuan ignored him and continued speaking to Oppenheimer, "I want all the rarest and most advanced technological blueprints from all your countries, as many as you have, with no upper limit. In particular, I want everything you discovered in that archaeological site."

"This..." Oppenheimer frowned. Lu Yuan's two conditions were far too harsh. This was no longer an exchange of intelligence; it was practically one-sided blackmail and a takeover!

"You don't have to agree," Lu Yuan shrugged indifferently. "Anyway, if the sky falls, China will hold it up. As for you..." He smiled, "Good luck to you."

After saying that, he stood up, ready to leave. He had no patience left to waste with these dawdling fellows.

"Wait!" Oppenheimer suddenly called out to him. "Mr. Lu Yuan, we can agree to your conditions in principle. However, you must prove to us that China has the strength to lead all of humanity in the fight against the 'Abyss'!"

"Prove it?" Lu Yuan turned around, looked at him, and found it somewhat amusing. "What do I need to prove to you?"

"It's simple." Oppenheimer adjusted his glasses, a glint of shrewdness in his eyes. "Three days from now, we will be holding a globally broadcast 'New Weapon Launch' in international waters of the Pacific Ocean. At that time, we will showcase our latest fifth-generation anti-planetary mech, 'Wings of Freedom.' We hope you and your team can also attend and demonstrate your nation's 'new weapon,' letting the whole world see who truly protects this planet!"

Oppenheimer's words were full of provocation. He was using a calculated move to pressure Lu Yuan: You say you're so great? Then do you dare to compete with us in front of the whole world?

If you win, we'll accept all your terms, and you'll be the boss; we'll all listen to you. But if you lose, or don't dare to come, don't blame us for exposing the "Abyss" to the world. Then, global panic will ensue, and China will be condemned as a sinner in history!

"Hehe, this is interesting." Lu Yuan understood what he meant. Far from being angry, he found it quite amusing. "A new weapon launch event? Great!"

He grinned, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth: "I attended this 'press conference.' However, I must correct you on one point: it wasn't your press conference; it was my 'personal show.'"

"A solo performance?" Oppenheimer looked at Lu Yuan's absolutely confident smile and felt a sudden unease. He had a feeling that he had made a terrible mistake. This young Chinese man didn't seem to be following the script he had planned at all.

"Alright, I've said my piece." Lu Yuan waved his hand as if shooing away flies. "You can get lost now. Just wait for me in three days at that lousy place you mentioned."

After saying that, he turned and left, leaving Smith and Oppenheimer staring at each other, their faces turning pale and then red.

"General Su, is this how you Chinese treat your guests?!" Smith roared at Su Lie in a fit of rage.

"Hospitality?" Su Lie slowly stood up, mimicking Lu Yuan's tone, and said innocently, "In China, we naturally treat our friends with fine wine. But when it comes to uninvited guests..." He sneered, "Not kicking you out directly is already giving you a lot of face."

……

When Lu Yuan returned to the open-air workshop, his mood was not affected by those foreigners at all; on the contrary, he was even more excited.

"Develop a 'new weapon' in three days that can intimidate the whole world? Tsk, that's a challenge, but... I like it!"

His gaze fell once more on the mountain-like corpse of the Xuanwu Dragon Turtle: "So, it's you. 'Xuanwu'!"

For the next three days, the entire Divine Craftsman Palace operated at an almost frenzied pace. Lu Yuan completely transformed into a tireless god of forging.

He first threw the entire corpse of the giant Xuanwu Dragon Turtle into the [Heaven and Earth Creation Furnace]!

This scene nearly gave Dean Qian Sen, who was observing remotely, a heart attack.

"He's gone mad! He's completely gone mad! He actually wants to refine such a huge legendary material all at once? The furnace will explode! The entire Zenith World will be blown to smithereens!" Qian Sen roared madly in the command room.

However, the expected explosion did not occur.

Lu Yuan placed his hands on the massive furnace, and the "divine seed" in his sea of ​​consciousness, formed by the fusion of the three laws of ice, fire, and sea, began to operate with a roar!

"By my name, I decree!"

"The rules of fire, transformed into divine fire, temper its bones and muscles!"

"The rules of ice, transformed into divine ice, tempering the soul!"

"The rules of the sea, transformed into divine water, refine and fuse all things!"

"boom--!!!"

Crimson gold, deep blue, and azure—three divine lights surged wildly from his palm into the [Heaven and Earth Creation Furnace]! Inside the furnace, the earth's core fire, powerful enough to melt all things in the world, was forcibly suppressed and tamed by an even higher force!

The indestructible shell of the Xuanwu Dragon Turtle began to slowly melt and decompose under the wash of the three-colored divine light, and then reassembled in a more perfect way!

While refining the tortoise shell, Lu Yuan multitasked. His mental energy transformed into thousands of invisible hands, precisely feeding the disassembled Atlantis warship parts into the furnace like an assembly line.

He re-optimized the energy circuit of the power core using the rules of the sea, increasing its power by three times; he inscribed explosive runes on the weapon system using the rules of fire, increasing its power by five times; and he added the characteristics of absolute zero to the energy shield using the rules of ice, causing its defensive power to increase exponentially!

He even went so far as to completely refine the thousand-meter-long Hydra! He extracted its nine main tendons, which contained both potent poison and regenerative power, and wove them into a massive energy network, which he then implanted into the interior of the "Black Tortoise"!

This is no longer forging, this is creation! It's giving a life and soul to an inanimate object!

Outside the workshop, the members of the "League of Gods" sat cross-legged, quietly sensing the vast, boundless fluctuations of rules emanating from within. This was an unprecedented opportunity for them. Simply by observing Lu Yuan's forging, their understanding of their own power was rapidly improving.

"Boss's realm... seems to be different again." Gu Tianye muttered to himself. He felt that the Beast God bloodline in his body was boiling uncontrollably under the influence of Lu Yuan's aura, as if it was paying homage to his sovereign.

"It's more than just different." Mu Bingli's cool eyes were filled with shock. "I feel like the captain is now a real world. He's creating his own rules."

Time passed second by second, for three whole days and three nights, Lu Yuan did not sleep or rest. The entire Divine Craftsman Palace was shrouded in an increasingly terrifying pressure.

Finally, on the morning of the third day, as the first rays of sunlight illuminated the celestial world—

"BOOM—!!!"

A deep, muffled roar, seemingly from the primordial chaos, emanated from the [Heaven and Earth Creation Furnace]! Immediately afterward, the massive furnace lid was violently ripped off by an irresistible force! A colossal, sky-covering black shadow slowly rose from the furnace!

It was a steel behemoth three times larger than the previous Xuanwu Dragon Turtle! Its main body was still in the form of Xuanwu, but its limbs and head, which were originally made of flesh and blood, had been replaced by ferocious armor that gleamed with metallic luster!

Its massive shell, no longer a single dark green, had turned a deep, dark gold. Each scutes of the shell could open and close freely, revealing countless honeycomb-like missile launchers and energy cannons beneath! At the center of the shell even stood a colossal structure resembling the command tower of an aircraft carrier!

Most outrageously, nine ferocious mechanical snake heads protrude from the edge of its shell! Each snake head is modified from a Hydra's skull, and its mouth flashes with a ghostly green, highly toxic energy!

This is no longer a war fortress! This is a world-destroying beast straight out of mythology, a walking war god!

"roar--!!!"

The "Black Tortoise" let out a deafening roar! The sound was no longer a simple beastly howl, but a roar mixed with the rumble of metal and the hiss of energy! A terrifying pressure that surpassed the SSS level instantly swept across the entire Sky World!

"My God..." Qian Sen stared at the colossal object hovering in mid-air, the data tablet in his hand falling to the ground again. He no longer knew how to describe his feelings at that moment.

Lu Yuan slowly flew out of the furnace. He landed on the massive head of the "Black Tortoise," patted the cold metal armor, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face: "Not bad, barely passable as a toy."

He looked up at the time: "Hmm, the timing is perfect. Zhao Qingxuan."

"Yes, sir." Zhao Qingxuan's figure appeared instantly.

"Open the door for me," Lu Yuan said calmly. "Take us to the Pacific Ocean. It's time for the 'press conference.'"

In the Pacific Ocean, on a stretch of international waters, a futuristic maritime platform, temporarily erected by the "World Security Council," stands silently amidst the azure waves.

Surrounding the platform were media reporters from all over the world, their cameras and microphones pointed at the center of the platform, ready to broadcast this highly anticipated "new weapon launch" to the world.

At the very front of the platform, a fleet of futuristic and powerful warships formed a united front, guarding the area and showcasing the Council's formidable military strength.

On the platform's stage, CEO Smith, brimming with confidence, delivered a passionate speech to the camera: "...Ladies and gentlemen! Today will be a day that goes down in human history! For so long, we humans have been in a passive defensive position when facing the unknown threats from 'Starry Sea'! But from today onwards, all of that will change!"

"We, the World Security Council, have gathered the pinnacle of human wisdom and expended countless resources to finally develop the ultimate weapon capable of altering the course of warfare! Now, I declare! The moment for humanity's counterattack has arrived!"

"Let's give a warm round of applause to welcome our guardian angel—the fifth-generation anti-planet beast mech 'Wings of Freedom'—as it makes its debut!"

As Smith finished speaking, a massive aerospace carrier slowly opened its hatch at the rear of the platform. To the accompaniment of rousing music, a humanoid mech, over a hundred meters tall, crafted entirely from silver-white alloy, and with an extremely cool design, slowly emerged from the carrier!

Behind it unfolded a pair of enormous metallic wings, like those of an angel; in its hands, it held a massive warhammer crackling with lightning! A powerful energy fluctuation, belonging to the SSS-level, emanated from its body!

"Wow—!!"

"Is this 'Wings of Liberty'? It's so cool!"