The reason for choosing the location for the floating shipyard construction deep in the swamp wasn't because the geographical conditions here were particularly advantageous.
Quite the opposite, the Rubble Plains located in the Dark Realm had flat, open terrain with convenient transportation in all directions, and relatively loose soil. Both material transport and land excavation would be much easier here than in the muddy swamps.
But the Rubble Plains was a major transportation artery in the Dark Realm, bustling with activity. Not only were there residents of the Slime Kingdom moving about, but also many adventurers, merchant caravans, and travelers from outside the Kingdom frequently passing through.
If such a massive project were to proceed under the watchful eyes of the public, the secret construction plan for the Floating Fortress would probably spread to the surrounding kingdoms as if it had grown wings in no time.
In comparison, the swamp region, especially the deeper parts of the Corrupted Miasma Mountains, was currently only open to a limited number of merchants and adventurers who had gained the Kingdom's trust.
The shipyard site was even more concealed, surrounded by dangerous toxic marshes and undeveloped areas prowled by Magical Creatures.
Unless they were extremely experienced professional spies or assassins, ordinary adventurers would find it difficult to approach the core area at all.
To ensure the Floating Fortress could be built smoothly, Chen Yu had even secretly deployed a Dragon Cavalry squad here, responsible for aerial vigilance and rapid response.
Simultaneously, a large number of assassin Poison-stinger Wasps were dispersed in the surrounding woodlands and above the swamps, forming an invisible biological surveillance network.
As the original Civil Engineering Slime of the Slime Kingdom, he felt no one should understand construction better than him.
Thinking of this with pride, his round, gelatinous body couldn't help but puff up slightly, hands on hips, though it looked more like an inflated ball.
After Little Ka and Pei Tian uprooted the troublesome swamp trees within the planned area, large groups of slimes carefully leveled the land beside the shipyard.
Accompanied by Anvil, Chen Yu hopped onto this freshly leveled land.
Anvil scratched his big beard with his hand, asking in confusion, "Your Majesty, do you also understand construction?"
Chen Yu's gel body swayed smugly.
"There's a lot more I can do."
He used his Divine Sense to retrieve a thick roll of blueprints from the accompanying slime secretary, unfurling them before Anvil, and inquired, "I've looked over the blueprints, they're mostly fine, right?"
Anvil leaned over to look, his bushy eyebrows immediately knitting together. Pointing at the lines and annotations on the blueprint, he looked somewhat amused and exasperated, "Your Majesty, I think you've got the wrong blueprint. This is the street and drainage system layout, not the architectural blueprint for the mushroom houses."
He flusteredly rummaged through that stack of blueprints, pulling out one filled with simple structural diagrams and annotations, showing it to Chen Yu.
"Look at this, this is the mushroom house blueprint I designed together with those Glimmerlings. We just need to first build a sturdy enough support frame and walls on the outside using wood and stone, then sprinkle fast-growing fluorescent giant mushroom spores inside the frame, pour on the potion, and these hollow mushroom houses can grow to completion in as little as two days. Saves effort, is worry-free, stays warm in winter and cool in summer, and comes with built-in lighting too."
Chen Yu looked at that blueprint, which had simple geometric shapes and annotations drawn on it, quite vivid.
This doesn't look that hard either.
He muttered to himself, hopping forward, arriving at the center of the freshly leveled clearing.
Anvil still wanted to remind him of something, like key details of the load-bearing structure's critical nodes, when he saw His Majesty's emerald green gel body suddenly begin to emit a mixed, heavy, earthy yellow glow.
The land within a radius of about seventy meters around him, as if infused with life, began to tremble slightly.
[Kunyuan Foundation Establishment Chapter]
Under Anvil's dumbfounded gaze, on the clearing, the originally uneven soil and rubble seemed to possess their own will. They began to bulge and shape upwards like slowly growing tree roots.
Thick, straight walls and paving stones "grew" out from the ground along preset trajectories, connecting with each other, rapidly outlining the shape of a maze-like street district.
Screech—
An excited cry came from the sky.
Little Ka, who had already received instructions, was clutching several bulging leather bags in his claws. As he flew over the newly grown walls, he dove down, tore open the bag openings, and let the large mushroom spores shimmering with faint light inside scatter onto the newly formed streets below.
Then, Chen Yu's gel suddenly erupted with a torrential surge of natural aura.
[Hixiulong Part One]
[Promote Growth]
[All Plants as Soldiers]
Under the influence of the Sage's "domain blessing," a small rain cloud even quietly gathered in the sky above the shipyard construction site, sprinkling a drizzling rain to nourish those freshly landed mushroom spores.
The mushroom spores scattered onto the ground began to germinate at a visible rate. They seemed to truly come alive, walking and hopping merrily within the stone-walled maze, finding their own positions.
Mycelium spread, intertwining with each other, quickly filling the spaces within the frames, and continuing to grow and expand upwards, forming large mushroom houses with thick caps.
Fluorescent light filtered through the semi-transparent mushroom caps, illuminating the interiors warmly and brightly.
From Chen Yu beginning to cast his spells, to the appearance of the rudimentary form of a district with neat streets and dozens of fluorescent mushroom houses, it took less than half a minute in total.
When Anvil came back to his senses, vigorously rubbing his eyes to confirm he wasn't hallucinating, a wide, flat street, and the stacked mushroom houses lining both sides, had already truly and firmly appeared before him.
His mouth fell open slightly.
What hadn't he seen in his lifetime? Dragon breath, volcanic eruptions, ancient mechanisms in dungeons, the magical forests of Elves... but this miracle of a town growing instantly? He really hadn't seen that before.
Just a hop, muttering a few incomprehensible words, and an entire town grew out of the ground by itself?!
He suddenly remembered those vampire clan believers in the Slime Kingdom who spent all day mysteriously preaching about "His Majesty being the incarnation of a Deity, the savior descended."
Could it be that what those guys said wasn't all crazy talk?
Could our Majesty really be some deity who was bored... ah no, a benevolent and great deity, come down to save the world?
Whatever.
Anvil shook his head, tossing aside those complicated thoughts, then joy surged in his heart.
Originally, in his plan, this town for the workers to live in would take at least a week to build.
Looking at it now, with His Majesty here, it could all be finished today.
Excellent!
Chen Yu worked hard the entire morning, continuously casting spells in different pre-planned areas. By the time noon arrived, on this originally barren clearing, a rather large-scale fluorescent mushroom town had already miraculously appeared.
The town's streets were wide, crisscrossing. Though the layout was simple, it was sufficiently practical.
The tall, layered mushroom caps, like natural canopies, blocked most of the scorching Sunlight, casting cool shadows below.
And the soft fluorescent light emitted by the mushrooms themselves ensured the streets and house interiors didn't seem dark at all, instead having a dreamy, luminous glow.
Some shade-tolerant swamp moss and fluorescent lichen, also under the effect of Promote Growth, quietly climbed onto the mushroom houses and the cracks of the newly laid street stones, adding a touch of vitality to this dreamlike town.
During the noon break, slimes gathered in small groups of three or five to rest in the shade of the newly built streets.
They were exhausted, their round bodies slumped down, like piles of variously colored soft mud, lying in heaps on the ground, emitting tired "gurgle" sounds, lacking their usual energy.
At this time, Sister Slime led other slimes, carefully moving along the streets with Clay Pots balanced on their heads.
The pots were filled with clear, sweet spring water and tree sap, exactly the favorite food of the Slimes.
They carefully fed the water to their exhausted companions. The slimes absorbed the cool liquid, and their spirits visibly recovered at a rapid rate, their bodies becoming plump and elastic again.
"So good!"
"Woo-hoo, I'm alive again!"
"Full of energy today too."
The recovered slimes immediately started hopping again, shaking off their lethargy. Under the gaze of their King, they stood tall and proud, feeling an unprecedented sense of honor and motivation. They actively returned to their respective posts one after another to continue the afternoon's work.
Watching this scene, Anvil couldn't help but stroke his beard and sigh, "These little fellows really are natural-born construction experts. Obedient, diligent, not afraid of getting dirty or tired, and much more efficient at work than those lazy, slacking apprentices in our Dwarf workshops."
On the other side, although using magic for construction wasn't too tiring, Chen Yu, who believed in balancing work and rest, still planned to take a break and take the opportunity to visit and comfort his hardworking slime subjects.
However, he had only hopped a few steps when he received, via the Gel Network, a detailed battle report from the distant Southern Territory, personally written by Princess Louisa.
Yesterday, Chester Garrison City had been breached. The Restoration Army had successfully occupied and begun taking over the garrison city. This meant the last major overland supply route for the Demon Legion to obtain supplies from the Southern Territory had been severed.
They won just like that? Chen Yu was somewhat surprised.
He had anticipated the Restoration Army might encounter stubborn resistance from the Merchant Alliance and the southern nobles, that the war might drag on for a while, or even see reversals.
He didn't expect Louisa's execution to be so outstanding, perfectly implementing the tactics discussed with him, achieving victory this quickly.
And from the results, it seemed those orc overseers hadn't reacted in time, or perhaps they weren't interested in the infighting between the church and the Merchant Alliance, and were successfully misled.
Regardless, the Xirik Church really hit a streak of bad luck this time. They were solidly stuck with the black pot of betraying allies and possessing a dangerous sacred relic.
Heheh... serves you right for daring to capture my people.
Thinking of this, Chen Yu's gel body couldn't help but ripple pleasurably a few times, bubbling out a string of small bubbles expressing schadenfreude.
Anvil had obviously also received the related victory report via the Gel Network, but this Dwarf master craftsman's focus was more concentrated on the practical combat data of the alchemical cannon.
When he heard the alchemical cannon had severely wounded a so-called "Iron Wall" Extraordinary Professional in actual combat with a single strike, this stocky fellow immediately began dancing around like a child.
"Hahaha! Success! I told you! My design concept is absolutely flawless. Concentrated Gray Gravel Crystal activation, multiple Magic Formation superimposition for enhanced effect, ultra-heavy Mithril reinforced Cannon Barrel... Look at this power, even an Extraordinary knight could barely withstand it." He excitedly waved his fists, his face flushed red with excitement.
"Hahaha, Your Majesty, I haven't let you down."
Chen Yu waited for him to calm down a bit, then asked, "Since the practical effect is so good, what name are you planning to give this alchemical cannon? We can't keep calling it Experimental Type No. 1 forever."
"Your Majesty is right about that."
Hearing this, Anvil stroked his big beard and began pondering seriously. A moment later, his eyes lit up, and he said excitedly, "How about... calling it the Invincible Slime? Majestic and resounding!"
Um... such a straightforward name.
Chen Yu immediately bubbled out a large bubble of speechlessness.
He suddenly began to doubt whether letting Anvil choose the name was a mistake.
"Not satisfied?" Anvil, seeing Chen Yu's reaction, was a bit deflated, but immediately thought of a few more, "Then call it... His Majesty's Personal Campaign? The Flying Dwarf? Slime Big Bang?"
Chen Yu couldn't help but hop around and turn his back, not wanting to look at him.
If Anvil got to name it, once the Floating Fortress was built in the future and the Main Cannon on it fired, he'd be too embarrassed to call out the cannon's name... Probably before the battle even started, the enemy would laugh their teeth off, morale directly weakened by thirty percent.
He thought carefully for a moment, then turned around and suggested, "How about... we call it the Demon Breaker? In the future, we'll use it to blast our way into the Abyss plane and bomb those Demons."
Anvil's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he excitedly waved his fists.
"That's a good one! Demon Breaker! Hahaha! In the future, once the Floating Fortress is built, I must personally operate this cannon and blast those evil, sulfur-smelling bastards into smithereens!"
Chen Yu was also clearly quite satisfied with the name he came up with, even feeling he might have a bit of talent in naming things. He couldn't help but sway his gel body pleasurably.
He originally planned to strike while the iron was hot and discuss in more detail with Anvil the future improvement directions and mass production possibilities for the "Demon Breaker." But at that moment, he spotted two familiar figures sneakily hiding at the edge of the newly built mushroom town, peeking and craning their necks to look inside.
It was Li Ye. Somehow she had come here. She seemed full of curiosity about this suddenly "appeared" fluorescent town, her eyes wide open, her small face filled with astonishment.
And behind her was Casimir.
His elegant and fanatical vampire clan believer.
Today, he was still wearing that immaculate bishop's ceremonial robe, his hair neatly combed.
Chen Yu was somewhat puzzled.
Hadn't he told Casimir to assist Li Ye in finding talented individuals with potential within the Kingdom? What was he doing at the shipyard construction site?
And he hadn't mentioned the shipyard site to Li Ye. How did she find her way here?
A thought stirred within Chen Yu. Could it be that something unfortunate was about to happen here?