189: Chapter 193: Using the blood and bones of an entire planet to feed a land-based monster

On the holographic screen, the green pulse line representing Planet K-7's core activity stopped completely, flattening into a deathly gray.

Three hours of high-intensity extraction had ended. The planet that once possessed a thick atmosphere and azure oceans was now like a hollowed-out shell. Its surface was left with nothing but crisscrossing dried-up faults like spiderwebs and mantle fissures exposing ugly rocks.

This was a considerably lucrative deal.

But Li Cang only glanced at the long string of overflowing resource settlement figures before dragging all his newly earned assets to the very bottom of the console interface.

There lay the unlock slot for the [Super-Heavy Divine Machine Vehicle Incubation Terminal: Knight-Class Remnant Embryo], which had just flashed with a dark gold crack.

The moment the resources were imported, the numbers vanished like they had fallen into a bottomless black hole. All the biological puree and low-grade spirit crystals obtained from plundering a low-tier plane were devoured instantly without making a sound.

In exchange, a metallic shriek erupted from the bottom deck of the Exile Void Fortress, drowning out the roar of all the engines.

Li Cang switched the main probe's perspective to the heavy casting chamber deep within the fortress.

Hundreds of thousands of Servitors worked frantically like black worker ants around a massive, thirty-meter-tall rusted steel scaffold. The sparks from high-intensity welding torches made the probe's footage flash white.

This was certainly not an assembly line for some nimble, agile optical stealth weapon.

Being slowly hoisted from the alloy magma tank by thick adamantine chains and assembled was a giant bipedal vehicle chassis. It radiated a sense of primitive violent aesthetics, with thick composite armor plates layered like a protective iron pagoda.

This was merely a remnant skeleton; it lacked the smooth, perfect aerodynamic shell of Elven civilizations. Welded to its right arm was a twin-linked rapid-fire Macro-cannon array with a diameter wide enough to fit a room. To its left arm, the Servitors had crudely riveted an ultra-giant multi-toothed chainsword ripper, its operating logic defying conventional mechanics.

A mountain of iron capable of steamrolling any ordinary carbon-based heavy defense line.

However, when the armor closure reached ninety percent, the progress bar suddenly stalled, and a crimson warning popped up.

[Hardware construction complete.]

[Error: Missing valid central processing array.]

[Warhammer Faction Penalty Mechanism active: This large vehicle cannot be controlled by ordinary electronic AI. Please connect high-intensity living biological wetware to complete the Throne Binding.]

This was the price of operating this Divine Machine. Without the aid of an optical computer, one had to use a human brainstem and spine to withstand the physical strain transmitted from those tens of thousands of tons of steel. Even gene-enhanced warriors could easily suffer a brain short-circuit on this control throne and become brain-dead husks.

Li Cang leaned back in his command chair, his knuckles not trembling in the slightest.

He pulled up the First Legion's long roster of full personnel, his finger skipping over thousands of regular entries to tap directly on the light box numbered "1" at the top.

“Number One, disarm and enter the sub-hangar zone two.” Li Cang's command was issued amidst the background noise of the control room, cold and bloodless.

The corridor gates at the bottom of the construction zone rose.

The recruit company commander who had followed him since the Battle Royale—Number One Astartes, who possessed high combat intelligence and self-healing genes—strode onto the suspended ladder leading to the giant Knight's cockpit. Without the protective layer of his power armor, his powerful, stone-sculpted naked body lay beneath the cold mechanical cantilever.

Confirmation authorization was entered into the console.

Several thick alloy pipes covered in engine oil thrust out. There was no pain-relief spray or over-adaptation system.

These lines bored directly through the flesh of Number One's tailbone and the back of his neck. With terrifying electrical sparks and securing buckles, they hard-welded him to the core transmission station of this thirty-meter-tall monster. Massive amounts of nutrient repair fluids and stimulant antibodies were poured down through overhead tubes, attempting to mask the organ collapse load caused by the raw neural hijacking.

On the panoramic monitoring panel, the red EKG representing Number One's physiological functions was nearly stretched into a chaotic, bursting line.

Li Cang merely stared at the blue bar symbolizing [Mecha Neural Activation Progress]. Ninety, ninety-five, ninety-nine.

Finally.

Accompanied by a deep low rumble from the bottom deck that made the entire void fortress tremble slightly.

The massive dark-green steel giant standing quietly in the center of the scaffolding suddenly closed the meters-wide observation window slit on its chest and abdomen, lighting up two eerie red pupil searchlights representing target lock activation.

Boom!

It violently raised its left arm. The giant multi-toothed chainsword let out a deafening idle roar under the high-pressure pull of the thick drive shaft, the massive wind shear blowing over several repair Servitors standing nearby. This was followed by the sound of metal pits exploding as the giant mechanical legs stepped firmly onto the docking deck.

[Landmark-Grade creation complete.]

[Obtained: Starfall Heavy Executioner Knight (Mutated Incomplete Version).]

[Evaluation: Even if it only has half an intellect and tattered paint, when you place it on the battlefield, there is no choice but to run.]

Li Cang placed this heavy, newly slotted gold card into the bottom of his tactical reserve bar.

He finished the last tasteless sip of recycled water and closed the newly generated combat power multiplication chart that brought him satisfaction.

“Break time is over. Preheating stealth warp. Since we have this big shield now, we can go visit some more crowded and prosperous places.”