Star Forge Titan

"Well, I do plan to use some new technology." Ivan shrugged.

"Before, there wasn't enough time. This time, there's still a full month before the competition officially starts, which is more than enough time for me to build a new car."

"Listen, is this something a normal person would say? Don't think I don't know anything about magical engineering. Designing and manufacturing a new car is not such a simple task!" At the end, Khayang almost roared.

"Don't worry, it's called a new car, but in fact I still borrowed some mature designs." Alvin raised his hand to signal his companions to calm down. Although he couldn't directly say that he had an entire civilization as a "reference", there was really nothing to worry about in this regard.

"Borrowed? From where? Honestly, that engine was already very eye-catching. Don't forget that we sneaked in here, using fake identities." Ka Yang looked at him suspiciously, and then quickly asked:

"Don't worry too much about your identity. Besides, we have supporters behind us. Even though that guy is a bit weak, he still has some power." Alvin smiled.

"Are you talking about the guy who caused your test drive to turn into a drag race?" Ka Yang nodded with a look of understanding, as if he understood something.

"That's right. In short, considering the conflicts of interest among various forces, we don't have to worry about those behemoths going too far in the short term. Next..." Ivan paused:

“Just winning the game is all that matters.”

"As long as I win..." Ka Yang sighed with a complicated expression, and finally laughed through gritted teeth.

“That seems to be the truth of the world.”

"Anyway, let's work hard together." After saying that, Alvin shook the broom in his hand.

"The first step is to clean the yard."

Hearing his words, Khayang couldn't help but roll his eyes, then waved his hand.

"Let the culprit clean up the mess himself!"

So, the undead puppet Master Stuart, with a numb face, began to do the cleaning work with all his heart.

The next morning, a letter sealed with wax and bearing the Carolingian royal coat of arms was delivered to the alchemy workshop in the suburbs.

"What's in it?" Ka Yang, who had stayed up all night to decipher Stuart's thoughts and come up with a transformation plan, asked with a yawn.

"Oh, nothing much. As the organizer of the competition, the Carolingian Royal Family will invite all the contestants to a dinner before the competition officially begins." After flipping through the contents of the letter, Ivan said casually, holding a toothbrush in his mouth:

"What do you mean? Let the gladiators get to know each other before the fight begins, so that they can show mercy to each other or be more ruthless?" Although his face was full of fatigue, Khayang immediately became energetic when he mentioned the taunting.

"What are you thinking about? It's just a dinner party. Noble Linde really likes this kind of atmosphere." When it comes to saying weird things, Alvin is no slouch.

The two men looked at each other, like a vicious wolf and a bad wolf standing together, and disturbing expressions appeared on their faces at the same time.

"All good things" x2

Chapter 136: Pre-match dinner

The Carolingian royal family's dinner was of course held in the magnificent and spacious Neuschwanstein Castle.

As the emperor, Conrad rarely wore a gorgeous suit today. Compared with this heavy dress embellished with a lot of gold thread, he actually preferred the light and casual Lavonki jacket, or simply a pajamas robe.

However, although the dinner was about to begin soon, Conrad, as the owner of Neuschwanstein Castle, did not go to the venue immediately, but prayed silently alone in a small church in the palace.

Inside the huge palace building, there is a hall that was specially converted into a chapel to worship Jupiter, the God Father.

Although it is a small church, its area is by no means small, and its style is luxurious and reveals a strong religious color.

The dazzling mosaic tiles from the extinct ancient empire style, coupled with the stained glass inlaid with shining gold leaves, make the entire church magnificently illuminated by light while also depicting vivid mythological stories.

It was not until Conrad stood up that Catherine's somewhat impatient voice came from outside the door.

"Brother, why did you suddenly decide to come to the chapel to pray today? Don't you usually avoid even the morning prayers?"

The Duchess, who still had her long golden hair combed into a peculiar diamond shape, wore a royal blue evening gown today. The close-fitting design of the dress, the luxurious satin fabric, and her golden hair made her look particularly eye-catching.

The Duchess leaned against the door frame, and although there was a hint of impatience in her eyes, she did not disturb Conrad before he finished his prayer.

"Nothing, I just want to be alone for a while." Conrad's face was rarely smiling as usual, but instead showed a bit of solemnity which was extremely rare for him.

As he walked out of the chapel, he took out a portable flat wine flask from his pocket.

When you open the lid, a strong aroma of liquor emanates from inside.

After gulping down a big gulp, Conrad's face finally showed his usual lazy expression again.

"You don't need to blame yourself so much. We all know that the culprit of that incident is the evil and corrupt person." Catherine sighed and whispered soothingly:

She knew that her brother had often come to the chapel to pray alone in the past two days. Obviously, Conrad was not as indifferent to the terrible tragedy that happened in the Moulin Rouge as he seemed.

"What do I have to blame myself for?" Conrad forced a smile, then put away the wine jug, with a frivolous smile on the corner of his mouth.

"I was just lamenting to the great Heavenly Father that my recent experiences were so miraculous."

“…” Catherine didn’t say anything more, but just looked at her brother with a still worried look.

"Alright, alright, don't keep those adults from the Cloud Tower and the Alchemist's Association waiting too long. They don't have much patience for 'standardization'."

As he said this, Conrad raised his hand in an exaggerated and funny manner, like an ordinary Linde gentleman, indicating to his sister to hold his arm. As a result, the latter pulled up her skirt and kicked her.

Conrad laughed and seemed to be back to normal, then continued with a smile:

"Don't forget, we still have to entertain our new allies. Their previous performance was truly impressive. I wonder how the representatives of the other participating teams will react?"

Hearing the hidden meaning in the words of her brother and the Salted Fish Emperor, Catherine's expression changed slightly, and then she quickly calmed down.

"I believe those people won't be stumped by such a small problem."

"What a coincidence! I thought so too." Conrad winked at his sister and gave her a slightly cunning smile.

At the same time, the rental magic car, which had been reinstalled with a normal engine, stopped at the gate of Swan Castle.

Compared to the nobles' private carriages and the civilian magic cars ordered by wealthy businessmen, this rental magic car looked completely inconspicuous, just like a pastoral dog striding into a high-end pedigree dog race, exuding an undisguised ordinariness.

Ivan was driving today. Diana didn't like occasions like this where nobles and wealthy businessmen gathered, so she said before coming that she didn't have a suitable dress.

Therefore, the only two grown men without female companions who arrived at the Swan Castle Banquet Hall at this time were Ivan and Kayon. Incidentally, the latter attended the dinner as a magic consultant within the participating team.

The two, who hadn't originally prepared formal attire, headed to the Genoa Chamber of Commerce upon receiving the invitation. A certain half-elf spy, calling herself a "normal business beauty," was displeased, but upon seeing Ivan, she couldn't resist her race's innate aesthetic desire and prepared a full suit for him.

As for Khayang, this thing is just incidental...

At this moment, the black-haired man who stepped out of the car was wearing a plain solid-color suit. The light blue-gray coat matched with his tall and straight figure made him look much more mature and stable than his actual age. He exuded a kind of arrogance like a winter gray wolf.

Behind him appeared Khayon with a helpless look on his face. The necromancer was also dressed formally at this time, but his clothes were pure black, like the night that seemed to absorb and devour all the gazes. It was a thorough and disturbing black.

Despite this description, he was actually wearing a full black suit and looked like a bodyguard who was not very strong.

However, Khayon now seemed to be wearing a glittering 'steel helmet' on his head. His hair, which had been sticking around like a bird's nest, was now forcibly fixed by some light-reflecting material, sticking very tightly together.

Of course, he didn't actually appear wearing a steel helmet. This was simply because Khayon's hair was coated with too much hair wax, and all the hair strands were tightly fixed together by the wax, making him look like he was wearing a seamless steel helmet, as "indestructible".

But then again, if he hadn't applied enough hair wax, Ka Yang wouldn't know how to make his "bird's nest" tidier.

Because they arrived the latest and had a shocking performance in the previous few days, the two of them attracted everyone's attention as soon as they appeared on the stage.

"It seems that we are late because someone spent too much time on styling his hair." The black-haired boy scratched his cheek and joked nonchalantly:

"Is it my fault?" Ka Yang's sweet voice sounded immediately.

"Hmph, a fellow who doesn't know how to observe etiquette." Among the people attending the banquet, the old wizard from the Cloud Tower snorted unhappily.

"Don't say that. After all, they are just two ignorant young people." The alchemist next to him, whose hair was completely white but whose face still looked like a middle-aged man, shook his head.

Although he spoke words of persuasion and had a kind smile on his face, there was no smile in his sharp eyes.

Like the two, almost none of the other representatives at the banquet showed any favorability towards them. They all looked at Ivan and Kayan, who arrived last, with scrutiny. But the latter acted as if they hadn't noticed anything, walking calmly down the red carpet toward the banquet hall.

Ivan was just being himself; even in his past life, he never cared about such things. But Khayon, this gifted fellow, wore a mask of smile that wasn't something an ordinary person could easily see through.

There seemed to be an invisible wall around the two people, and no one wanted to come closer to talk, until a girl with a strange drill-like hairstyle stepped forward.

"Welcome to Neuschwanstein Castle." Archduchess Catherine Carolingian said gracefully:

Ivan and Kayon exchanged a glance and saluted in unison:

"My pleasure."

Chapter 137 Pre-match Dinner (Part 2)

Since Emperor Conrad was not married, his younger sister Catherine temporarily took on some of the responsibilities of the owner of Neuschwanstein Castle.

There were many guests coming to Neuschwanstein Castle tonight. After greeting Alvin and the others, the Grand Duchess turned to receive several noble ladies and celebrities.

This also puts the newly arrived alchemist (fake) and necromancer into an embarrassing situation where no one cares about them.

Standing in the bustling banquet hall, the tremendous changes that the Death Angel Ritual had brought to Alvin allowed him to clearly hear the whispers of others.

Although it was filled with sharp or dark malice, the black-haired boy was like the demigods that this secret ritual referred to. His heart was as calm as a mirror lake, and he did not feel any vulgar and useless anger.

He even wanted to laugh.

Looking at the black-haired boy from afar who was being excluded but did not show the slightest discomfort, Catherine could not help but raise her eyebrows and once again improved her evaluation of him in her heart.

She even had an inexplicable feeling of a subtle illusion, as if the young man was not passively being excluded, but was actively distancing himself from those mediocre people.

Just like a white eagle spreading its wings and flying over the mountains, it looks down with a playful look at the jackals and crows crawling in the mud to grab the carrion.

"What an interesting scene."

Khayon's sweet yet sarcastic voice rang out beside Ivan.

"Xenophobic and hypocritical, exactly like what's described in Swift's Travels. Now it seems that the content of the book is not exaggerated at all." The necromancer with two pounds of hair wax on his head said:

"Any vested interest group is exclusive. Besides, we showed up too suddenly. The bigwigs really hate having their plans interrupted." Ivan shrugged and agreed briskly:

Hearing his words, Kayon smiled and took a glass of wine from the Portiana region from the tray held by the waiter passing by.

A rich aroma wafted from the wine glass, but the Necromancer's expression only grew more sarcastic. Despite the aroma, he didn't drink any of it, instead holding the glass and sniffing it carefully.

Next to him, Alvin rested his hands casually on his chest. Not far away, the dining table was filled with various exquisitely shaped foods. In the middle, there was even a roasted peacock that had been roasted and then re-inserted with colorful tail feathers.

Are there richly dressed nobles and wealthy merchants walking among them, chatting and laughing loudly about topics of glory and commerce? Merchants are no longer as lowly as they once were in Linde. In fact, many of the new nobles who emerged after the Magic Revolution were originally wealthy merchants.

Unlike those people, the black-haired boy, like his companions, did not touch the food at all.

Compared to the flashy roasted peacock, he felt that the steamed potatoes with only salt and oil in the orphanage last night were more real.

"Just wait and see. In no more than five minutes, a 'representative' will come up to assess our strength." Khayon said with a strange smile:

Ivan curled his lips, nodded first, then shook his head.

"Five minutes? I'd guess it'll be less."

After saying that, the black-haired boy glanced at the whole audience with a somewhat subtle expression.

In a sense, many people here were old acquaintances. He was very familiar with a few of them, even though they certainly didn't recognize him now.

While the two were talking, representatives from other participating teams were also discussing something not far away.

"Although they are just two foreigners who don't know etiquette, Mr. Flamel, the magic engine they made..." The old wizard paused and cast an inquiring look at the middle-aged alchemist with white hair beside him.

"I must admit, those two young men have achieved astonishing results. However, I am very interested in the design used and the inspiration behind it," said the alchemist known as Flamel.

The praise in his tone sounded very sincere, but the last question he asked made everyone around him fall into silence.

"Regarding the magic engine, I believe the Cloud Tower is more convincing than me, right? Don't you think so, Master Victor?" Flamel asked back with a meaningful look.

Victor, the old wizard from the Cloud Tower, was silent for a moment, then spoke slowly in a somewhat strange tone:

"...As far as I know, based on publicly available data from various sources, the only magical engine with the highest output power in Linde is the 'Hurricane III' developed by our Cloud Tower."

"And in the previous qualifying match, the Ryan brothers' Spiral Dream happened to be equipped with a Hurricane III Magic Engine, but the result was just as you all saw. It was those two young men of unknown origin who won the ticket to the tournament."

Speaking of this, the old wizard Victor's expression became ugly, and the wrinkles on his face became even deeper.

"This is interesting. I've also seen the Spiral Dream. Although that magic carrier is of astonishing size, its special design should be able to offset this disadvantage, but..." Flamel only said half of his words, but the expressions of everyone present showed a thoughtful look.

Among the other contestants who had only listened but not spoken, a clergyman in a white robe suddenly stepped forward and expressed the doubts in everyone's mind at the moment.

"Indeed, how could two young men of unknown origin create a magical engine of such astonishing power? This is truly puzzling."

"Since everyone thinks so, why not go up and ask directly? I'm very confused about this." Flamel made a suggestion in a relaxed tone.

Everyone stared at each other for a moment. Even though they had just suspected each other of stealing someone else's design and were about to take the initiative to step forward, no one immediately stepped forward.

The three people who participated in the discussion most recently looked at each other, and finally, the old wizard Victor snorted coldly.

"I'm genuinely curious about what brilliant ideas they have. As a member of the official New Technology Review Bureau, it's only natural for me to pay attention to such news."

As he spoke, the old wizard, leaning on a long staff with a spherical crystal inlaid on the end, walked towards the two young men who were watching coldly with steady steps that were not those of an old man.

"You two, I am..." Victor was interrupted very rudely by Ivan before he could finish his words.

He heard every word of the other party's conversation just now, and of course he understood what those people were suspecting.