Chapter 159: Legendary Mechanical Affinity (Part 4)

Over the past years, Jiang Chen was not constantly engaged in battles and combat. During his downtime, he frequently immersed himself in the system’s library for study, while his clones focused on researching and refining various blueprints.

None of the mechanical legion units had yet reached Jiang Chen’s ideal standards, so improvements were ongoing without pause.

For instance, the design of the previously unimproved Immortal Puppets had been continuously refined by Jiang Chen, eventually gaining the system’s recognition, rated as sixth-tier, and incorporated into the system’s blueprint archive.

Thanks to system rewards, Jiang Chen had accumulated some skill points, though he had long since exchanged them for a new talent:

[Legendary Mechanical Affinity]: Mechanical affinity coefficient multiplied by 1.4, directly applied to total stats.

It required 75,000 skill points to redeem.

After acquiring this talent, Jiang Chen was left with just over 10,000 skill points. To exchange for a powerful “mass production” talent, he still faced a significant deficit.

The talent he valued most was [Mechanical Life Creator]. Simply the thirtyfold increase in production efficiency would dramatically boost Jiang Chen’s capacity to mass-produce troops. Coupled with the ability to imbue mechanical units with “life,” and the knowledge granted by [Virtual Soul] to command laws intelligently, though untested, Jiang Chen sensed this ability could fundamentally transform the legion’s combat power.

However, the requisite 200,000 skill points made him hesitate.

Slightly less formidable talents like [Heart of the Creator – Mechanical] and [Super Mechanical Manufacturer] combined could multiply troop production by about six times. When paired with enhancements to mechanical creation attributes and mechanical affinity, these still held notable value.

Yet, their redemption fee of 70,000 points was not cheap. Jiang Chen needed to develop at least one sixth-tier blueprint recognized by the system, along with a fifth-tier blueprint, to afford this talent.

There were cheaper options, such as the [Assembly Line Manufacturing Expert], worth just over 5,000 skill points, which nearly doubled troop production efficiency and significantly reduced the cost of producing fifth-tier mechanical units at the manufacturing realm level. However, it offered no boost to the legion’s combat power.

Talents of different “price ranges” varied drastically in strength.

To acquire a powerful talent, the investment of skill points was staggering. Even for talents solely enhancing troop production efficiency, whether stacking several “affordable” talents or redeeming a single powerful one, the total points required were roughly comparable.

At minimum, he had to develop one or two new sixth-tier blueprints.

After much deliberation, Jiang Chen sighed and muttered to himself, “Enough. I’ll rest for a while and take this opportunity to perfect the blueprints for the [Dark Overlord] and the [‘Starport’ Special Operations Platform].”

These two designs, like most units in Jiang Chen’s mechanical legion, originated from blueprints provided by the system itself. But due to comprehensive differences brought by disparate worlds, Jiang Chen had to undertake appropriate “localization modifications.”

To some extent, these modifications were substantial.

Aside from strategic positioning similarities, the designs were effectively brand new, inspired only by mature designs within the system’s blueprint archive.

Moreover, the knowledge required to realize these designs, along with the materials and craftsmanship involved in manufacturing, were entirely different.

The workload was enormous.

Until the final design was truly complete, Jiang Chen could not be certain whether these blueprints would be rated as fifth or sixth-tier.

After all, Jiang Chen’s own rank was only “fourth-tier.” Although the system library’s knowledge level was somewhat higher than his actual tier, bridging two tiers was still a significant gap.

Designing a comprehensive plan two tiers above his own mastery, even with prior successes, was never a guarantee.

More often, he had to compromise, reducing some capabilities or even abandoning certain functions entirely, opting for “feasible designs” rather than getting stuck at some point.

Having made this decision, Jiang Chen entered seclusion, immersing himself in blueprint research.

His clones, “Uchiha Shisui” and “Erso,” currently engaged in mission worlds, also sought secure places to retreat, entering the virtual universe with their consciousness to study alongside the original.

This period of seclusion lasted decades.

—

Over thirty years later.

[Design blueprint (Special Unit – Sixth Tier) completed. Please name this blueprint.]

“Finally finished!”

Seeing the system prompt indicating “sixth-tier,” a flicker of joy crossed Jiang Chen’s heart.

Having dealt with the system for so long, Jiang Chen had grasped the reward rules for blueprint submissions.

A sixth-tier design granted 50,000 skill points and 40 free attribute points.

The skill points alone equated to the reward of five fifth-tier blueprints, not to mention the 40 free attribute points.

“Name it ‘Starport’!” Jiang Chen input the new mechanical unit’s name into the system interface. The next moment, a new system message popped up:

[Your blueprint ‘Starport’ has passed the system evaluation and been added to the blueprint archive.]

[According to its rating, you have earned 50,000 skill points and 40 free attribute points.]

Casually assigning the attribute points to Intelligence, Jiang Chen opened the talent interface and exchanged for [Heart of the Creator – Mechanical].

“Still have over 40,000 skill points left…”

He glanced at his balance on the panel, searched the talent interface, and redeemed another talent called [Mass Production Technological Innovation].

[Mass Production Technological Innovation]: Mechanical unit production efficiency +800%.

It required 36,888 skill points.

A straightforward and brutal talent that enhanced only production efficiency, without any other attributes.

Yet, for the legion’s troop production efficiency, it was a tremendous boost.

Alongside previously acquired talents [Assembly Line Manufacturing Expert] and [Super Mechanical Manufacturer], earned after refining the [Dark Overlord] blueprint, Jiang Chen’s mass production efficiency for mechanical units had become terrifyingly high.

Though he had not obtained the more valuable [Mechanical Life Creator], the current level was already sufficient.

“Let me calculate… [Mass Production Insight] +20%, [Mechanical Genius] +44%, [Assembly Line Manufacturing Expert] +80%, [Super Mechanical Manufacturer] +300%, [Heart of the Creator – Mechanical] +300%, [Mass Production Technological Innovation] +800%… totaling a 12.44-fold increase!”

Jiang Chen revealed a trace of delight.

More than a tenfold increase in production efficiency did not merely mean troop output was multiplied by ten.

It also implied efficiencies gained by expanding production scale.

After all, the modules that produced and processed mechanical units were themselves parts of the mechanical units. When manufacturing these production modules, talent bonuses applied as well.

Expanding production scale with over tenfold efficiency, combined with over tenfold mass production efficiency, resulted in at least a hundredfold overall improvement.

Such troop production efficiency was barely enough to establish a foothold on the Void Continent, which stretched across light-years.

As long as he could initially seize a territory rich in resources and develop rapidly, once the snowball effect began, expansion speed would be astonishing.

“However, plundering an entire continent’s resources is quite conspicuous. I was just warned once by the Virtual Universe Corporation. Another warning and penalties would be problematic. Hmm, better contact the Virtual Universe Corporation to report my plan first.”

An idea flashed through Jiang Chen’s mind. He entered the virtual universe and sent an email.

A moment later, a teleportation invitation arrived. Jiang Chen confirmed it, and his figure vanished instantly.

In an independent plane within the virtual universe, inside a conference room, Jiang Chen appeared seated before a table.

Opposite him sat a Virtual Universe Corporation staff member, cloaked so thoroughly that neither facial features nor physique were discernible.

This was the same official who had previously reprimanded Jiang Chen for causing disturbances in various mission worlds.

Yet, Jiang Chen knew nothing about this person’s identity, only that he was a manager within the original secret realm.

“Lord Jiang Chen, you mentioned having a special plan to report?” The official cut to the chase. “Which mission world do you intend to enter, and for what purpose?”

“I plan to go to the ‘Blood Luo World,’” Jiang Chen replied. “As with previous mission worlds, I intend large-scale mining of mineral resources there. It won’t cause excessive damage; mining will be limited to about 30,000 kilometers beneath the surface.”

A depth of 30,000 kilometers beneath the surface was but a superficial layer for a world the size of Blood Luo World.

Even stripping away one layer of earth would have negligible impact on the world itself.

However, such an operation was not the feat of an average genius.

Not just geniuses, even some mid-tier cosmic states could not achieve such resource development with their entire national strength.

Those exalted super-strong beings, unless specialized in “legion-style” approaches, similarly could not do it.

Destroying a world and developing its resources were two entirely different matters.

For factions and strong individuals unable to do this, untapped geniuses like Jiang Chen were even less capable.

Since the five great powers established the “Core Secret Realm” and “Mission World” systems to nurture geniuses, only someone as extraordinary as Jiang Chen had emerged.

The unidentified manager fixed a peculiar gaze on Jiang Chen and after a lengthy silence asked, “If the natives of Blood Luo World resist or attempt to stop your actions, will you resort to mass slaughter?”

“The natives of Blood Luo World are human; mass slaughter is unnecessary,” Jiang Chen shook his head. “I would only kill those strong individuals I am unable to control or those difficult to manage. As for the weaker ones, monitoring them suffices.”

The manager seemed convinced.

In the nine previous mission worlds Jiang Chen had explored, he had been relatively lenient toward native humans, never resorting to mass killings—at most, eliminating some leading strong figures or elites.

Ordinary people under Jiang Chen’s mechanical legion’s suppression lacked the capacity to resist.

However, for non-human native lifeforms, Jiang Chen was far less tolerant. He had once wiped out the entire population of a mission world in one fell swoop.

“Currently, 29 core-level geniuses from the five great powers are executing missions in Blood Luo World. Based on your actions in the previous nine mission worlds, I assess that your behavior will have a significant, potentially fatal impact on these 29 geniuses.”

The manager looked at Jiang Chen and said, “Given that your strength cannot be measured by ordinary genius standards, I require you to propose a proper plan ensuring these geniuses remain unaffected by your actions.”

“So many?” Jiang Chen’s eyes widened.

In previous mission worlds, Jiang Chen had encountered some geniuses from the five great powers, but across nine worlds, he had met only six individuals, including Uka, whom he had summoned to Viscara Planet.

One mission world containing 29 geniuses?

Upon reflection, it was unsurprising.

Previously, Jiang Chen’s mission worlds were planets or small continental fragments—relatively small in scale, requiring less exploration time.

Even if the five great powers’ geniuses chose those worlds, they usually left swiftly after mission completion, not lingering long.

For a world as vast as Blood Luo World, staying longer was normal.

Especially since Blood Luo World’s missions were unique.

For those pursuing the “Blood Warrior” mission, staying hundreds of years was quite normal.

For example, Luo Feng accepted the Blood Luo World mission upon entering the Primordial Secret Realm and had yet to emerge.

Jiang Chen could certainly avoid slaughtering these geniuses, provided he knew their identities.

However, frequent encounters risked exposing Jiang Chen’s strength and methods.

After some thought, Jiang Chen asked, “If I pay a certain price to have them abandon their Blood Luo World missions, would that be feasible?”

He added, “Ideally, the Virtual Universe Corporation could temporarily seal Blood Luo World to prevent others from entering, avoiding collateral damage.”

Hearing this, the cloaked manager angrily retorted, “Do you think the Virtual Universe Corporation is yours to command?!”

Jiang Chen was about to respond when the official continued, “Fine. For one person, you pay 100,000 Primordial Units, and the company will help remove them. However, if they refuse to leave, the company will not force them.”

“But this will be your last ‘dangerous-level’ mission. After completing this mission world, you must proceed to the ‘Desperate-level’ mission world and complete the Founder of the Great Axe’s trial!”

“This is the final decree from company executives; you may only accept or decline!”

The manager’s tone brooked no argument.

(End of chapter)