117: Chapter 117: The End of Infrastructure is Myth
The Golden Giant Dragon, formed from the energy of an entire undersea spirit vein, was coiled on the seabed ten thousand meters deep. It was so massive that any monitoring equipment could only capture a small fraction of its body. On the golden dragon, every scale resembled a small mountain, with profound runes flowing across them. It simply stayed there, doing nothing, yet the majesty emanating from its very bones made everyone in the command center feel breathless.
"Th-this is a dragon?" A young female technician's voice trembled. She stared at the screen, eyes wide, fearing she had misread it. "In myth... a dragon from myth?"
"No, this is not a myth." Professor Chen adjusted his glasses. His expression was more agitated than anyone else's; his whole body was shaking, not out of fear, but excitement. "This is not some ethereal mythical beast. This... this is energy! It is the highest level of energy entity, endowed with 'form' and 'will'!"
He pointed at the flowing runes on the Golden Giant Dragon's body on the screen and explained rapidly: "Look! The Golden Giant Dragon's body is actually a super-massive, self-propelling composite array! Its scales are defensive units, its claws are attack modules, and its body is the most efficient energy conduction bus!"
"Engineer Jiang... Engineer Jiang didn't summon a dragon. She... she turned an entire spirit vein thousands of kilometers long into a living, thinking... super construction machine!"
Professor Chen's explanation was even more shocking to those present than simply saying it was a real dragon.
Turning a spirit vein the size of a mountain range into a machine that can move on its own?
Is this an operation a human could come up with?
Everyone's gaze, once again, involuntarily turned toward the petite figure standing at the very front of the command console.
Jiang Ning.
At this moment, she had her eyes closed, her hands holding the glowing Pangu Seal. Her divine sense had completely connected with the Golden Giant Dragon.
Now, she was the dragon, and the dragon was her.
She could feel that vast, boundless, inexhaustible power flowing within her "body." This feeling was a hundred times stronger than when she was at the peak of her cultivation in her previous life.
"So, this is the true power of 'Infrastructure Construction'." She sighed silently in her heart.
No matter how strong an individual's power is, it ultimately has its limits.
But if one can mobilize the power of the entire heaven and earth, then that is true omnipotence.
Her consciousness, through the eyes of the Golden Giant Dragon, looked toward the patch of black pollution that was constantly spreading not far away.
In the Golden Giant Dragon's vision, that pollution was no longer just black. It was a collection of negative energy filled with deathly silence, chaos, and disorder. Its core was that "Sacred Object" fragment, which had already merged with the volcanic crater.
The fragment, like a malignant tumor, was incessantly absorbing everything around it, then spitting out more "venom."
"Time to clean up."
Jiang Ning's consciousness stirred.
The Golden Giant Dragon, which had been sleeping on the seabed for ten thousand years, finally moved.
It did not lunge forward with bared fangs and brandished claws like in the movies.
Its movements were steady, heavy, and filled with a sense of power.
It was seen slowly opening that massive dragon mouth, capable of swallowing a small mountain.
There was no roar, nor dragon breath.
The moment it opened its mouth, the seawater in front of it began to form a massive vortex at a terrifying speed!
The suction of that vortex was unreasonably strong.
The surrounding seawater, silt, rocks, and even light were distorted by this immense suction, frantically surging toward the dragon's mouth.
The spreading black pollution could not withstand this suction at all.
Large swaths of black water were torn from the pollution source, swept into the vortex, and then vanished into the Golden Giant Dragon's mouth.
"What... what is it doing? Is it swallowing that toxic water?" In the command center, Chief Engineer Wang Jianguo watched with heart-pounding anxiety. "Isn't that stuff highly toxic? Won't something happen if it eats that?"
"It won't." Professor Chen stared fixedly at the energy analysis chart on the screen and explained excitedly, "Look! After the black water is sucked into the dragon's mouth, it doesn't disappear! It is being broken down!"
On the screen, the black energy streams representing the pollutants were immediately surrounded, torn apart, and ground down by countless smaller golden energy vortices after entering the Golden Giant Dragon's body.
Those negative energies representing "death" and "chaos" were neutralized and broken down bit by bit within the vast and complex "purification array" inside the Golden Giant Dragon's body, finally converting into the purest, harmless basic particles, which were then expelled from the other end of the Golden Giant Dragon's body.
"My god..." Chief Engineer Wang Jianguo understood. "This... this isn't eating poison; this is... this is using its own body as a super-massive sewage treatment plant?!"
"Exactly!" Professor Chen slapped his thigh. "And the efficiency is terrifyingly high! Look, the pollution range is shrinking rapidly!"
Everyone was stunned by this spectacular and hardcore scene before their eyes.
Using a several-kilometer-long energy dragon as a sewage treatment plant...
This is an idea only Engineer Jiang could come up with, and only she could pull off.
Beneath the deep sea, the Golden Giant Dragon was still "feeding" continuously.
That patch of black pollution, which once caused despair, was like an appetizer before it, eaten up completely, bite by bite.
In less than ten minutes.
The entire area around the undersea volcanic crater had returned to clarity.
Only the core of that pollution source remained—that "Sacred Object" fragment, which was still constantly emitting black gas, exposed all alone.
It seemed to feel fear as well; the black gas retracted, and the entire fragment was trembling slightly.
The Golden Giant Dragon's golden eyes stared at it coldly.
Then, the Golden Giant Dragon opened its mouth again.
This time, it was not to suck.
Instead, it spat out gently.
A golden ball of light, the size of a basketball and compressed from high-density spiritual energy, flew out from its mouth, flying steadily toward the fragment, neither fast nor slow.
The ball of light did not explode.
The moment it touched the fragment, it transformed into a large golden energy net, instantly covering the fragment.
The mesh contracted, binding the fragment tightly.
The black gas on the fragment, upon touching the golden net, made a "hiss" sound and turned into blue smoke.
Finally, this net, along with the fragment inside, turned into a golden cage with sealing runes engraved all over its surface, which the Golden Giant Dragon swallowed into its belly.
Having finished all this, the Golden Giant Dragon flicked its tail in satisfaction.
The massive crack on the seabed began to heal slowly under its power.
The ecosystem destroyed by the pollution also began to regain vitality at a miraculous speed.
The crisis was resolved.
It was resolved in the most shocking and unreasonable way.
The command tower was dead silent.
Everyone was still immersed in the mythical scene from just a moment ago, unable to snap out of it.
Until Jiang Ning slowly opened her eyes and withdrew the Pangu Seal.
She looked at the seabed on the screen that had returned to calm and calmly announced: "Phase One, cleanup operation, complete."
"Now, proceed to Phase Two."
Her gaze crossed the deep sea and turned toward the high seas, to that R country fleet that was still unaware of its impending doom.
"It is time to deal with the people who litter."