“Are your brothers counted by the strip?” Shu Bao’s focus was clearly a bit off.
Lan Qing nodded. “Of course, how else?”
“Obviously by the individual. Two brothers, as in two beings,” Shu Bao replied matter-of-factly.
Lan Qing blinked. “Oh, my two pitiful brothers.”
Shu Bao glanced at the metallic orb that had already circled the yard several times and nodded in agreement. “Yes, very pitiful indeed.”
Compared to thirty years, six years was fleeting. Achieving a breakthrough in technology in such a short time seemed like a fantasy. But, with half of the Mechanoid City moved back by Shu Bao, who in this universe could compete with the Mechanoids in technology?
With abundant resources, the only remaining technical barrier was operation. The Mechanoids operated their interstellar warships in a way that was fundamentally different from humans. The Mechanoids could merge their consciousness with their ships, achieving maximum control.
Humans, of course, could not. This was why, even when humans seized Mechanoid equipment, they often couldn’t use it. However, now they had Tesla—and magic.
While magicians couldn’t physically merge with starships, they could integrate their consciousness into them. This, too, was a technical barrier, but far simpler than starting from scratch.
By the time Shu Bao departed, Tesla and the semi-mechanoids were tirelessly researching, starting with offensive weapons, then flight equipment, and finally massive all-purpose interstellar warships. One step at a time, progress was inevitable. And if it didn’t work, they’d tear it apart and rebuild it—after all, they had someone capable of reconstructing even sub-brains.
For Shu Bao, only a few months had passed since he last saw his snake companion. But for Lan Qing and Jinzi, it had been a decade since they’d seen the mouse. Upon reuniting, the three clung to each other so much that Shu Bao decided to stay in the Chaotic World for a few days after delivering the supplies he’d brought.
During this time, Jinzi finally fulfilled his dream of carrying Shu Bao on a tour of the entire empire. Lan Qing accompanied them every day, naturally decked out in gloves and a hat for every outing.
It wasn’t that Lan Qing couldn’t accept his antlers anymore, but rather that he had grown especially protective of them, fearing any exposure to wind or weather. “Thankfully, this world has no sunlight, or I’d worry about my antlers and feet melting under the sun,” he remarked.
Shu Bao: “…” That was unlikely. In fact, one day, Lan Qing might even use those antlers to poke the sun itself.
By now, Shu Bao was fully convinced that Lan Qing would eventually ascend as a dragon—and not just any dragon, but the progenitor dragon of this world. Transforming into a dragon would mean achieving divinity, an infinite lifespan, and becoming a god; it was only a matter of time.
Sitting atop Jinzi’s head, every time they flew over a region, Lan Qing would explain its unique features and share anecdotes about acquiring the empire. Whenever they encountered a spot known for its cuisine or scenery, Jinzi would land so Shu Bao could savor the experience.
After six carefree days of traveling on his personal dragon, Shu Bao had toured nearly the entire empire. Of course, there were still many interesting places and delicacies he hadn’t explored, so he resolved to take his time on his next visit.
“Next time you come, the empire will surely be even larger, with even more fascinating spots,” Lan Qing said with a sigh, reluctant to see Shu Bao leave. He coiled his tail around Shu Bao and refused to let go.
“Alright, I’m leaving. You must eat well and stop applying armor polish every day. And there’s no need to put baby cream on your dragon horns—they’re already fine,” Shu Bao admonished.
Hearing this, Lan Qing reluctantly uncoiled his tail. “Fine, I’ll only use a little bit from now on.”
Shu Bao: “…Alright.” Perhaps it was just a snake’s quirk. As a mouse, he should respect it.
Loaded with all kinds of supplies gifted by Lan Qing, Shu Bao stepped into the teleportation array. This array could directly transport him to the gates of Xia Wang City, but it required Lan Qing’s authorization to activate. Lan Qing had set it up later for convenience, allowing quick travel between the empire and Xia Wang. With this array, trips between Xia Wang and the empire became much more efficient.
Exiting the teleportation array, Shu Bao immediately spotted the familiar city gates in the distance. He walked up to them and pushed the doors open, allowing sunlight to pour in.
He found himself in his bedroom. Despite the thirty years that had passed, the mission hall had undergone two upgrades, making Shu Bao’s room even more spacious and comfortable. As usual, he hopped to the window and found it was drizzling outside. The wide, smooth streets of the city were dotted with pedestrians hurrying by.
Suddenly, a silver metallic object zipped past the window. Shu Bao instinctively pressed himself against the glass, trying hard to see. Just as he was about to squish himself flat like a mouse pancake, the metallic object flew back and hovered outside the window.
The object was a spherical metal construct over two meters in diameter. Up close, Shu Bao realized how massive it was. Yet, the metal sphere somehow defied logic by floating effortlessly in the air.
While Shu Bao was still puzzling over this, the front of the sphere suddenly turned transparent, revealing a familiar face—Tesla.
Tesla, seated inside the sphere, quickly noticed Shu Bao and waved enthusiastically.
Shu Bao, acting on reflex, raised his paw to wave back. After receiving the response, the sphere turned opaque again and zipped away, vanishing from view.
It was only when the window was once again empty that Shu Bao belatedly realized—he had just seen someone operating a piece of Mechanoid machinery!
“I was only in the Chaotic World for a few days. Could it be that years have passed outside?” Feeling slightly panicked, Shu Bao hurried downstairs to find someone to confirm the date.
On the street, his hopping and waving finally caught the attention of a passerby. “How long has it been since the magical beast siege?” Shu Bao asked urgently.
The passerby, thrilled to be stopped by the legendary deity of Xia Wang City, blurted out without hesitation, “It’s been over half a month. Why?”
Half a month—still within the realm of normalcy. Shu Bao sighed in relief. “Nothing, you can go about your business.”
Although the passerby wasn’t a believer, being approached by Xia Wang City’s divine protector up close left him utterly excited. As he walked away, looking back every few steps, a sudden question popped into his mind: Was Xia Wang City’s deity chosen based on cuteness?
Since the timeline was checked out, the anomaly clearly lay with Tesla. It seemed that in just half a month, Tesla had already made significant progress.
By midday, Shu Bao had successfully tracked Tesla down at the research center, where he was already immersed in his next batch of mechanical experiments. Shu Bao explained the impending arrival of the interstellar fleet in six years and shared his vision for mechanical modifications.
“Six years?” Tesla continued his work without pause, confirming the timeline with Shu Bao.
“Yes. If that’s not enough time, I can figure out a way to stall…”
“No, no, no. I mean, if we’re talking about modifying actual physical objects, six years is excessive. One year is more than enough. Just bring me whatever you want to be modified.” Tesla replied calmly before adding, “Since war inevitably leads to destruction, we’d better spend the remaining five years setting up an outer-space base and constructing a defensive system. Ideally, we’ll stop them outside this star system.”
Shu Bao: “…” A genius’s mindset really is on another level. Not only did he shorten the timeline, but he also set even higher goals.
With Tesla as a pillar of support, Shu Bao’s life became much more relaxed. He resumed taking on system tasks, developing new blueprints, and providing Tesla and the semi-mechanoids with the resources they needed.
Meanwhile, Fu Qing’s side also began parallel development. Thanks to the presence of semi-mechanoids, the two bases could now communicate and share information across the real world.
According to updates from the semi-mechanoids, Fu Qing had been quite busy since returning to his base. As expected, most of the residents there had been replaced. Hardly anyone remembered Fu Qing, let alone worshipped him.
Fortunately, Fu Qing wasted no time reclaiming the tribe with his own strength. He then worked alongside the semi-mechanoids to develop the base, expand territory, and subjugate nearby tribes.
Indeed, compared to Xia Wang Tribe, which had now developed into a bustling city, the area where Fu Qing was located still retained a tribal civilization. Even the most advanced Fu Qing Base had progressed slowly over the past thirty years, with its population stuck at only a few hundred.
Listening to T33674’s recounting, Shu Bao once again felt that his initial landing in Xia Wang Tribe had been an extraordinarily lucky turn of events.
A few months later, news suddenly arrived from Lan Qing in the Chaotic World: a group of dragons was about to arrive. These dragons were none other than the family of the dragon eggs from before, including that theatrical dragon king.
Dragons were a species deeply concerned with their bloodline. Every dragonling born was of utmost importance. The loss of an entire clutch of eggs back then had sent shockwaves through the entire dragon race. After years of searching, they finally traced the trail through the Chaotic World’s rift and located the Empire.
Jinzi and the dragon raised by Nan Ming Legion in the Chaotic World had already met the dragon clan. Now, the dragons planned to visit the real world to meet Yinzi, Lai Fu, and Jiao Jiao, and to scout for a new homeland on this planet.
Shu Bao relayed the news to Yinzi, who became so excited that he immediately dashed into the city to start preparing “meal tickets”—no, contract holders—for his yet-unseen family members.
After all, in the real world, where else could one find a place richer in resources and more comfortable than Xia Wang City?
Thus, even before the dragons arrived, their youngling had already begun paving the way for their future. The only thing missing was an official tournament to decide their contract partners.
