Chapter 52: Swarming Flying Pets, Steel Exoskeletons

At night, the window on the second floor of the lighthouse was open. A small seagull flew back from the night, passed through the window, circled around the room for a while, and finally chose to land on the iron-grey cranium of Iron Guard One.

The robot stood by the desk, holding a pine wood tea tray, which was the result of its recent autonomous learning. It seemed extremely interested in housework, having skillfully mastered the technique of boiling water in the kitchen, and would bring a cup of cooled boiled water for Lin Bo to use.

The small seagull hopped up and down on top of Iron Guard One's head. The robot conducted a threat assessment, confirmed there was no risk, and thus made no defensive moves.

"Good human, I am back!" came the proud, cackling squawk.

Lin Bo was bent over the desk drawing mechanical design blueprints, his fountain pen scratching busily across the sulfuric acid paper. He greeted it casually: "(Magical Language) Welcome home."

He was designing a set of full-body iron armor, developed on the basis of the Guard-series equipment. This was not to transform into Iron Man, but rather to make it convenient for him to soar through the air by controlling the armor simply by chanting the True Name of Steel.

The small seagull chattered incessantly, recounting its experiences of the afternoon to the Night Watchman.

The summer habitat of the seagull flock was not actually East Cliff Grotto, but a patch of grassland a few miles northeast of Stone Tower Town, only approaching the coast to prepare for winter in late autumn. The little fellow had gone to the northern habitat to visit relatives and friends.

It had proclaimed the greatness of the White Marsh to its fellow seagulls in the habitat. Afterwards, it led the loyal companions of the mushrooms to soar through the surrounding skies, and engaged in fierce exchanges of opinions with other raptors residing nearby.

Hearing this, Lin Bo paused his pen slightly and asked how the battle had gone.

The little fellow stated that after sacrificing the heroic lives of a few old birds, the gull flock successfully drove an eagle out of the habitat, and chased after a peregrine falcon that frequently launched sneak attacks, scolding it fiercely for a long time.

In the wilderness untrod by humans, the bird kingdom staged life-and-death battles every day. Now, summoned by the returning small seagull, the gull flock had taken the lead in launching a fierce war of conquest, leaving the lighthouse mage somewhat fascinated.

The little fellow, showing a strong sense of leadership, was not satisfied with the current battle results, and asked its military strategist for countermeasures, "Good human, sea eagles are very powerful, peregrine falcons are very powerful, what should the seagulls do?"

Lin Bo put down his pen and offered advice to his little king at home. He suggested assembling the gull flock in the habitat, bringing them to East Cliff Grotto, and reaching a meal-ticket agreement with the mushrooms. Moreover, he could perform mycelium transplantation for the gull flock.

The small seagull, which symbionted with the omnipotent fungus strain, exhibited higher intelligence than its peers. When injured, the mycelium within its body would carry out limited treatment, simply repairing the wounds.

To other creatures in nature, this was already a remarkable advantage. A flock of super seagulls was enough to dominate the Warring States period among birds.

The little king nodded repeatedly, cackling and praising that the good human was indeed the best friend of seagulls.

"(Magical Language) I will teach you to fight in unity and defeat stronger enemies."

Yesterday, Lin Bo had spent 5 Disaster Coins to purchase a copy of "Produced by the Beastmaster Ranger - Helpers from the Sky," which was material specifically for cultivating flying battle pets.

Controlling a flock of birds could help players monitor a radius of hundreds of miles. Compared to the drone swarms equipped by mechanics, the flying battle pets cultivated by beastmasters indeed had many shortcomings, but the amount of resources required to invest in them was also much less. The two had their own advantages and disadvantages.

As an early-stage transition, Lin Bo felt that a flock of seagulls was more than sufficient.

The little king squawked excitedly, "The sky of the homeland belongs to the seagulls! More seagulls, we are stronger!"

Lin Bo smiled and resumed holding his pen to draw. By his ear were the chattering of the little fellow, the whispers of the sea waves, the murmurs of the wind, and the humming of Iron Guard One's operating body. The clamor of all things dissolved into a lengthy monologue, like a group of friends who never let the conversation run dry.

At midnight, Lin Bo organized the blueprints and took out the Guard armguards, chestplate, burst exoskeleton, and a few extra steel ingots.

Chanting the True Name, following the blueprint design, and wielding the Art of Vitality, he combined these four pieces of equipment, connecting them into a complete set of armor covering the whole body except the head.

The steel turned into soft mud, and the surface paint peeled off flake by flake during the deformation. The entire process was controlled under the surface-touch inner-peering method, making the processing smooth and meticulous.

After modification, the armguards gained gauntlet parts, and the chestplate extended downward, connecting into one piece with the exoskeleton.

The entire suit of armor possessed distinct muscular lines like a steed of steel, with an upper body that was slender and lower limbs that were full and sturdy. Under the reinforcement of extremely high machining precision, there were not the slightest burrs, no weld seams, and no rivets; the metallic surface was smooth and delicate.

Clang—

[Crafting judgment passed, equipment successfully manufactured]

[Please name the equipment and choose whether to leave a message]

Steel Husk (Blue)

Type: Engineering Product

Weight: 14.8kg

Equipment Effects: Enhances whole-body stability, Universal Skill [Charge Lv1], Active Skill [Passionate Kick]

Description: An imaginative product forged by a player's hands, combining three white equipments and one blue equipment. It perfectly retains the original equipment effects, and under the reinforcement of superior craftsmanship, the stability-enhancing effect has received a slight boost.

A sturdy and beat-resistant shell—Message from the modifier

Lin Bo asked [Scavenging Makes Me Happy] for some spray paint, and painted the Steel Husk ink-black. This was to form a unified style with the Mage's Visage and also provide a certain degree of rust prevention.

Thursday, the gathering day of the elder's believers.

The Night Watchman appeared punctually, and the fellow believers, arriving one after another, greeted him warmly. The tone of many of them was more cautious and gentler than in the past.

This was the first congregation meeting after the hurricane, and more people came than usual. All the believers in the town who served the elder for life had gathered here.

The old priest nodded deeply to Lin Bo from behind the pulpit.

His forehead was painted with a black circle. The congregation could all guess that it was the sign of following the miraculous visage. Displaying it openly meant that today's gathering was destined to be different from usual.

After the routine scripture-reading session, the old priest publicly preached about the various anomalies that had occurred around the townspeople, claiming that Stone Tower Town was a holy land where the Five Gods manifested their traces, and all living things here were blessed.

The believers nodded one after another, revealing satisfied smiles as they looked at one another. Baptized by the hurricane event, divine protection had become a local consensus, and everyone deeply felt a sense of honor.

The old priest stated: "Miracles have descended upon Stone Tower Town. This event divides future history into two worlds. The old world has not yet perished, but is doomed to perish, and the new era will be ushered in by the followers of the miracle, right here, right now."

The believers present all voiced agreement, their whispers unable to conceal their excitement.

The preacher on the stage declared that he would set things right and reorder the primary and secondary aspects of the Five Gods.

"The Elder is the eldest among the Five Gods. His wisdom guides the eldest son, the Holy Father; the eldest daughter, the Good Mother; the second son, the Artisan; and the youngest son, the Warrior. This is the truth that has always been concealed.

"The Miracle Walker is the worldly proxy of the Five Gods, the mortal vessel carrying the spirit of the Holy Spirit. He and the Five Gods are originally one. We shall establish a new sect and spread the gospel decree of the miracle.

"Now, brethren who wish to join the Tower Guard Brotherhood, please come forward to receive the anointing oil." The old priest had the altar boys fetch the anointing oil.

As his voice faded, the air in the church fell abruptly silent. The Five Gods on the tapestry lowered their eyes to gaze at the mortal world.

In this very silence, led by the mayor, the elder's believers lined up, walked before the altar boys, and bowed so that the boys could smear black anointing oil on their foreheads.

Lin Bo sat upright, watching.

Until the very last believer also received the anointing oil and joined the brotherhood.

The believers who followed the miraculous visage turned around and looked at the lone lighthouse keeper left on the first row of pews. Among those present, he was the only one who had not been anointed and initiated.

The old priest broke away from the crowd, came before the Night Watchman, knelt down, clasped his ten fingers together in front of his chest, and spoke in a low voice: "Miracle Walker, please reveal your true visage and let the world pray to you."

The mage in the trench coat stood up, raised his hand to pluck a three-eyed black skull mask out of the air, and covered it over his face.

An irrepressible gasp broke out all around.

Immediately, the mortals gathered and closed in amidst the silence, their gazes ardent and yearning, bowing and kowtowing one by one.

The three-eyed skull slightly lowered its head, overlooking the crowd.

The church was tranquil and serene, incense smoke curled upwards, and the daylight streaming through the tall windows resembled a scroll of silver silk, encompassing him and his believers.

This was on a clear autumn morning in Stone Tower Town.