"Let's go!"
"Going to see the big cannon!"
The little Earth Elementals chattered excitedly, their voices full of anticipation as they manipulated the Stone Giant to take steps, causing the ground to rumble with muffled thuds.
Chen Yu and Little Ka led the way in front, guiding them out of the dungeon through the passageway and into the quiet forested area beside the Riftrock Fortress.
There happened to be a sufficiently spacious clearing here, perfect for testing the power of the Goblin Ripper Type II without worrying about accidentally blowing up the fortress.
The pitch-black Earth Elemental Giant slowly came to a stop here, carefully lowering Anvil and Little Aileen from its shoulders.
Anvil, resembling a sturdy potato, hurriedly pulled Little Aileen and quickly moved closer to Chen Yu and Little Ka as soon as his feet touched the ground.
Then, scratching his messy hair, he chuckled and said, "Your Majesty, you absolutely cannot imagine just how astonishing that black steel is."
"It's probably just a bit harder and more heat-resistant than ordinary steel," Chen Yu guessed.
Anvil raised his thick arm high and waved vigorously towards the little Earth Elementals not far away, shouting, "Little ones, fire a shot for His Majesty to see."
"The boss is watching, hurry up and get moving."
"Ouch, why is it my turn to be the gear again? It's so tiring to spin."
"I'm the bearing, hmph."
"Quick, get into position, or the big-bearded one will get angry."
Amid the chaotic shouts of the little Earth Elementals, the tall Elemental Giant seemed to be infused with a soul. Its massive body began to operate, revealing a not-too-complex mechanical structure, along with densely packed magical symbols and Gray Gravel Crystals.
What surprised Chen Yu somewhat was that the Slime Scholars seemed to have abandoned the traditional method of pasting talisman paper. By utilizing the rocky constitution of the little Earth Elementals, they successfully engraved the complex magical symbols onto their bodies.
This way, the stability of the symbols was indeed much more reliable than the easily damaged talisman slips used in the first-generation Goblin Ripper.
Huh, it seems this Goblin Ripper Type II really has something to it.
The Goblin Ripper Type II evolved from the complex and profound "Greedy Wolf Piercing Rainbow Formation" of the Xu Xuan Heaven. Theoretically, it could annihilate a cultivator in the late Qi Training stage.
Converted to this world's standards, that meant it could kill an Elite Professional.
One shot to kill a knight like Arthur... Chen Yu thought about it. That meant this thing's power was at least enough to blast a huge hole in a city wall.
Of course, Elite Professionals weren't fools either. Seeing the cannon muzzle, they would sense the threat and instinctively dodge, not stupidly stand in place...
As he was pondering this, the magic formation inside the Earth Elemental Giant began to operate. The Gray Gravel Crystals gradually grew brighter, finally emitting a piercing, blazing white light.
A faint, blurry constellation phantom flashed across its chest for an instant. Arcane energy rapidly conducted through the network of magical symbols, ultimately converging towards the core in the Giant's chest.
This gathered energy was quite terrifying, even triggering a Mana Turbulence in the surrounding forest.
Mana spontaneously gathered together, transforming into a visible gray mist that swirled around the Earth Elemental Giant's chest, making the arcane energy flicker even more erratically, like a glaring warning.
Hiss... just the sight of this setup is scary.
If this shot landed squarely on him, it could probably wipe out four thousand health points in one go.
It really was as Anvil said. The power of this thing seemed to have become more outrageous than he had anticipated, due to some reason.
Chen Yu's thoughts flashed by. Through observation, he quickly discovered the secret.
This turbulent mana wasn't entirely caused by the magic formation itself. The real source was that black steel.
He could clearly see that when the arcane energy flowed through those black steel components, this pitch-black metal seemed to "come alive."
It was as if it possessed countless pores, greedily breathing in the surrounding mana, making the gathered energy even more astonishing.
However, this meant that while the Goblin Ripper Type II's power was massively increased, it also made the gathered energy unstable, raising the risk of losing control.
At this moment, the silver radiance at the Earth Elemental Giant's chest had reached an extreme level of brilliance, as if it had transformed into a silver sun. A silver beam of light erupted violently like a dragon's breath.
"BOOM!!!"
Wherever the light beam passed, the air was ionized, emitting crackling sounds. The oak tree directly in its path was instantly vaporized and annihilated upon contact with the beam, leaving only a charred trench on the ground.
The beam's power undiminished, it easily melted the swampy ground, rampaging forward until it had destroyed over a dozen equally thick oak trees by cutting them in half. Only then did that terrifying energy barely reach its limit.
Anvil was covering Little Aileen's ears. Before he could even feel joy at this scene far exceeding expectations, the panicked shouts of the little Earth Elementals suddenly rang out.
"Hey, buddy, where are you going?"
"Ahhh—! I'm getting washed away!"
"Are you coming back for dinner?!"
"Can't stick on anymore!"
Before the Goblin Ripper Type II's energy was completely discharged, the massive Earth Elemental Giant, unable to withstand the recoil, exploded and disintegrated once again with a thunderous crash.
"Clatter, clatter, clatter..."
The little Earth Elementals were blasted and scattered everywhere, clattering and clanging as they crashed onto the surrounding clearing and tree trunks, some even falling into the muck.
Fortunately, they were all wearing sturdy black steel armor and were completely unharmed, just a bit dizzy from the fall.
But they soon wobbled to their feet, chattering and complaining, then hopped and jumped their way back together.
"This..." Anvil looked at this scene, the smile on his face freezing, replaced by extreme embarrassment.
"There's no reason for this..."
He scratched his messy hair, somewhat unable to figure it out. "I tested the structural strength of the black steel, and there were no major problems. How could it explode again?"
Regarding this, the little Earth Elementals explained in a clamor.
"So much, so much force."
"Whoosh, and it just blasted me away."
"Big-bearded one, it's not our fault. We didn't mean to make you lose face in front of the boss."
Chen Yu listened for a good while and finally understood what they were trying to express.
In other words, because the Goblin Ripper Type II's power was too great, and its own structure was composed of multiple little Earth Elementals combined, there were too many parts, making it too loose. At the moment of firing, the little Earth Elementals were forcibly blasted apart by the energy impact.
This had nothing to do with the strength of the black steel. It was purely because the parts were too numerous, precise, and scattered to withstand the pressure of the impact.
Anvil scratched his head in distress. "What do we do about this?"
"That black steel is just too hard. Even with an enchanted mining pick, each time you can only chip off a chunk of ore about the size of a fist from the raw ore."
"And it can only be forged and shaped after being barely softened by high-temperature flames. It's just enough to make armor for each of these little ones to wear. There's simply no way to use it to manufacture large, integrated components."
Chen Yu thought carefully, but he knew even less about forging than Anvil and couldn't think of a better solution either.
Would they have to explode every time they activated the Goblin Ripper Type II from now on?
Even if the black steel itself was strong enough, these little Earth Elementals wouldn't be able to withstand it over the long term.
Looking at it this way, the Goblin Ripper Type II seemed like it could only be used as a trump card for critical moments...
Just as both Chen Yu and Anvil were lost in thought, pondering solutions, Little Aileen, who had been quietly watching them to the side for a while, gently tugged on Anvil's apron.
Anvil snapped back to reality, looked down at her, and habitually asked softly, "What's wrong? Hungry? Wait a bit longer, I'll get you something to eat when we go back."
Little Aileen didn't answer. She just stretched out her finger and pointed at the spot where the Earth Elemental Giant had just exploded. Her little face looked serious as she stared at Anvil and stammered out two words:
"Ma... magic."
"Magic?" Anvil was somewhat baffled by this seemingly random statement. This little one usually didn't speak more than a few words a day. Why, upon opening her mouth, did she say something he couldn't understand?
He thought the little one wanted to play again and said in a child-coaxing tone, "Wait until we go back, then we'll have the Earth Elementals play building blocks with you again."
Little Aileen stubbornly tugged on his apron again, her gaze still fixed tightly on those little Earth Elementals, clearly repeating, "Magic."
Chen Yu was also drawn in by her strange behavior.
He hopped in front of Little Aileen and asked curiously, "Do you mean you have a way to use magic to keep them from falling apart?"
Hearing Chen Yu's voice, Little Aileen turned her head. Those jade-blue eyes of hers lit up slightly, and she nodded vigorously.
Anvil was now completely dumbfounded.
"You... you know magic?!"
He looked at her incredulously, as if asking, we've known each other for so long, when did you become this amazing?
Chen Yu, however, felt it was worth a try. He hopped once and said, "After all, she's a half-elf child. Naturally sensitive to magic, knowing some basic magic is quite normal."
"Then... Your Majesty, should we really let her try?" Anvil's face showed a nervous expression, seemingly afraid the little one might accidentally get hurt.
"Anyway, we don't have any other better solutions right now," Chen Yu responded.
"Don't worry, I'll be right beside her to protect her."
Only after receiving Chen Yu's assurance did Anvil hesitantly release the hand holding Little Aileen. He squatted down, coughed lightly a few times, trying to make his voice sound as gentle as possible.
"Go ahead, be careful."
Little Aileen stood still, tilting her head as if thinking, perhaps recalling something. Then she took small steps and walked over to the little Earth Elementals.
"Wow, the little one is coming to help us."
"No, she definitely wants to play a game."
"Whatever, I'll form the head!"
Although the little Earth Elementals didn't understand why, they still assembled, restoring the tall Earth Elemental Giant body.
Under the watchful eyes of Chen Yu and Anvil, Little Aileen thought seriously for a good while. Finally, she placed her small hand on the cold black steel surface of the Giant's leg.
"Huh?"
"Warm, feels good..."
The little Earth Elementals were just puzzling over the sensation transmitted by the small hand when the dormant black steel suddenly seemed to be injected with life.
Centered on the point of contact with her palm, the mana in the surrounding air began to fluctuate violently once again.
Mana gathered on the black steel's surface, spontaneously tracing out beautiful, mysterious patterns of magical runes that shimmered with a pale green light along their trajectories. Finally, the light gradually receded inward, merging into the pitch-black metal as if it had always been part of it.
Although the commotion wasn't huge, when Anvil saw this, his eyes instantly widened.
"Enchanting?!"
"Enchanting such a large area, how is that possible?"
Chen Yu was somewhat puzzled, not understanding why Anvil's reaction was so strong.
Anvil hurriedly explained to Chen Yu, "Your Majesty, you might not be too familiar with the forging process. Besides the forging itself, weapon enchanting and gemstone inlaying are equally important crafts in the forging process that determine a weapon's value and power."
"Enchanting can give weapons superior properties, such as strengthening the metal's hardness, enhancing elemental affinity, or adding holy power..."
"And inlaying specific magic gems can grant weapons entirely new abilities."
"Our Copperfire Clan isn't proficient in enchanting, but as far as I know, the difficulty of enchanting lies in the type of enchantment and the size of the area to be enchanted."
"A craft like enchanting an entire Earth Elemental Giant... I've never heard of such a thing. Perhaps only those Extraordinary craftsmen blessed by the Father God could accomplish it."
"This... this is truly astonishing!" Anvil looked at Little Aileen as if he were looking at some master figure.
Hearing this, Chen Yu realized the significance of the enchanting that had just occurred.
Could it be that this little one's background and origins were perhaps not as simple as they had previously thought?
"Can you tell what effect she enchanted?" Chen Yu inquired of Anvil.
Anvil calmed his excited emotions, carefully sensed for a while, and scratched his head:
"Each race's craftsmen excel in different directions and schools of enchanting. We dwarves are best at physical-oriented enchantments like sturdiness, durability, and armor-piercing."
"As for elven enchanting, it's said to lean more towards areas like resilience, life, nature affinity, and energy coordination."
"As for which specific one it is, I don't know."
When Little Aileen walked back, Anvil squatted down and asked about the enchanting. "Little Aileen, how did you manage that enchanting just now? Who taught you?"
Little Aileen just looked at him blankly, then shook her head, her eyes filled with confusion. It didn't seem like she was lying.
"Alright, it seems we won't get any useful information by asking."
Thus, Chen Yu could only redirect his attention back to the enchanted Earth Elemental Giant.
From the excited, chattering words of the little Earth Elementals, he could tell they felt they had become much more "sticky" with each other. Even if they wanted to actively separate, it would take considerable effort.
More importantly, the little Earth Elementals seemed to have completely fused with the black steel into a single entity, gaining control over the black steel's mana absorption ability. They could now autonomously increase the upper limit of mana they could absorb.
In other words, the Goblin Ripper Type II's power could be further increased?
Chen Yu suddenly thought, since they possessed such a miraculous enchanting ability, they could completely use the black steel to forge several fixed-position Ripper artillery emplacements.
They wouldn't need the terrifying power of the Earth Elemental Giant-mounted version. As long as they reached the standard level specified in the design blueprints, they would absolutely be major battlefield weapons.
Those vampire clans liked to hide behind the Graystone Bulwark, didn't they? Well, let them have a good taste of the Ripper artillery emplacements' power.