Wizard: I Can Refine Everything
Chapter 554 - 18: First Battle, Overwhelming Victory

Chapter 554 -18: First Battle, Overwhelming Victory

Upon seeing the punctured steel plate, the Miracle Monks fell silent for a moment.

They had all been slaves before and their understanding of steel surpassed that of ordinary people. They were all too aware of the amount of strength that steel plate could withstand.

Yet now, they could punch through such a steel plate with a single blow.

They couldn’t help but look at their own right arms, and upon realizing that this was their own strength, the Miracle Monks suddenly burst into roars.

Energy fluctuations appeared on their bodies again, but sadly, this time there was no growth in physique like before.

Even the most optimistic abilities had limitations.

If boosting one’s physique were so easy as to be fooled a couple of times, the Wild Beastmen would have shattered the Demon Lord and vied for control of the starry skies long ago.

A bit of bluffing brought a qualitative improvement to the strength of the Miracle Monks. However, bluffing alone wasn’t enough, so Richard called over the Fire Lizard Battle Group to give them crash training.

Tai’er was gathering intelligence and preparing logistics, which was sure to take up quite some time.

With time on their hands anyway, why not train?

After bluffing the Miracle Monks, Richard headed to the laboratory located beneath the World Mushroom. There, Inhardt was conducting a rather cruel experiment.

In the sealed maze, Inhardt, scythe in hand, chased a goblin like a cat after a mouse.

The goblin was robust and the energy fluctuations on its body had reached the level of a second-level creature. But in front of Inhardt, it could only scurry away like a mouse.

Suddenly, the goblin stopped running because there was a sword stuck in the ground before it.

“Found it!”

The goblin rushed to the long sword with excitement, pulled it from the ground, and turned to point it at Inhardt.

“Evil Demon, you’re finished!”

With that, the goblin vanished in a flash with the sword in his hand as quick as lightning.

The next moment, a “zzz” sound of friction was heard as Inhardt’s carapace was sliced open by the sword, leaving a fine crack.

Then, Inhardt’s body surged with a sudden burst of speed, and her scythe accurately beheaded the goblin.

“How’s the experiment test going?”

Inhardt turned around, and Richard had somehow appeared behind her. She bowed slightly to Richard and replied, “My Lord, in this period I have conducted one hundred and twenty-six experiments, and after statistical analysis, this specimen has reached its threshold of capability.”

“Reached the threshold?” Richard’s eyebrow raised slightly, “The Defender Knights of the Master of All Machines Church are somewhat mediocre, huh.”

The goblin that had been fleeing all this time was actually the Guard Knight Imilo, captured by Ulysses. After Richard completed the transformation surgery, he removed his artificial body and replaced it with a new one.

Then Richard modified him with a basic Wild Beastmen bloodline transformation, as well as brainwashing.

After the brainwashing, Imilo’s memories became blurred. He only remembered that he was on a mission when he fell into a maze. And there was a monster in the maze, constantly chasing after him. He had to find his lost Holy Sword in the maze to defeat the monster.

Richard had a simple purpose for designing this experiment; he wanted to determine whether the Goblin’s ability to communicate with the Power of Mystery was related to the concentration of the Wild Beastmen’s bloodline. If unrelated, then what was the limit of this ability? If related, what was the appropriate concentration, and upon reaching the optimal concentration, what was the ability threshold?

According to his current research results, the ability to commune with the Power of Mystery had nothing to do with bloodline concentration. As long as the bloodline concentration reached five percent, one could have the ability to communicate with the Power of Mystery.

And now, he had determined a goblin’s limit of capability. Next, it would be time to replicate the experiments and find patterns.

“Turn it into a live specimen once it’s reached the threshold. I’ll bring back some new specimens in a few days.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

Leaving the maze laboratory, Richard returned to his main laboratory. Here, something that resembled a Melter was humming away. The Melter was connected to a receptacle, and the box was now filled with black crystals.

Richard removed the receptacle, took out a crystal, and said with some pride, “Efficiency’s not bad after the modification.”

This Melter was the goblin’s Crystal Stone Melting Machine, an essential component for producing high-level prosthetics, sourced from the Pioneer’s legacy. Through Tai’er’s connections, Richard had acquired a Crystal Stone Melting Machine a while back.

After understanding the technology within, Richard had attempted modifications. So far, Richard’s modifications had greatly improved the efficiency of crystal production.

Taking the crystal to the test stand, Richard began to use Magic Power to engrave enchantments onto the crystal stone.

These crystals had excellent properties. The Goblins had invented prosthetic technology relying solely on their physical properties. As a Wizard, Richard naturally couldn’t overlook these crystal stones.

He was now attempting to create a piece of Magic Equipment that would be epoch-making for the goblins.

If he could succeed, it would greatly help the propagation of his future great deeds.

Time passed day by day, and a month after Tai’er had left, he finally returned to the Secret Realm, bringing the Miracle Monks and the Fire Lizard Battle Group out of the Secret Realm.

During this month, the battles between both factions were quite restrained. But both sides knew that this was but the calm before the storm.

With the cover of the Royal Court Faction, the direct Knight Order of the Royal Court had already vanished into the rail system, resembling a spider’s web. On the Church Faction’s side, in alliance with the Miracle Sect, their Priests spread through the railways, igniting the cities of the Church Faction’s Priests with a wildfire’s ferocity.

This power struggle had fully evolved into a war.

…

Victor Green, the Bishop of Lu’en City. As an Artificial Body Priest of the Royal Court Faction, from the moment the Royal Court Faction declared war, he had already been in his fortress manor in the suburbs.

He stored five hundred Knight Servants in this manor, selected from the best of the factory slaves. They were the greatest accumulation of wealth since he became a regional bishop. After his live modification, each of these Knight Servants possessed the strength to match a Knight, their only flaw being their short lifespans.

About every five years, he had to dismantle the prosthetics from the Knight Servants and transfer them to younger bodies.

Beyond his mechanical servants, he also had his own Knight Guards.

Each of these Guards’ prosthetics was handcrafted by him, and even when compared to the Defender Knights, these Guards’ artificial limbs were in no way inferior.

The only thing they lacked was a Protecting Holy Sword.

Apart from these, inside his manor, there were many loyal guards. The heavy weaponry in the hands of these guards could instantly turn an Artificial Knight into scrap metal.

According to his own calculations, it would take at least five hundred Artificial Knights, along with a series of heavy artillery, to break through his fortress.

But moving so many people and so much weaponry would not escape his notice.

Beneath his manor lay a secret tunnel leading to an unmarked station on the map. By giving the correct password, he could use this station to travel to any city governed by a Priest from the Royal Court Faction.

In every aspect, Victor felt he had done the best within his capabilities.

Late at night, as usual, Victor sat in his study, leisurely drinking coffee from the Far East, listening to the broadcast.

Even Artificial Body Priests needed entertainment.

Thanks to Crystal Stone Technology, Goblins had already developed broadcast technology similar to radio. The Crystal Stone Report had become widespread among society’s upper echelons.

It was rumored that some Artificial Body Priests were even experimenting with how to transmit images using this technology.

“What utter nonsense,” Victor scoffed, setting down his coffee and mocking the broadcast, “These lowlifes sure have wild imaginations, concocting ridiculous tales that darkness has seized control of the two great Churches.”

With a wave of his hand, the Guard Knight beside him switched the broadcast frequency to a music channel.

Listening to the melodious music from the broadcast, Victor couldn’t help but stand up and start dancing a couple’s dance, as if he had a lady partner.

He had heard that Nobles from the Royal Court often held balls, where noble ladies would seek their preferred dance partners. If the partner was good enough, they might even develop a relationship further.

Victor’s body had undergone many modifications, but his reproductive organs had not been removed. Of course, even if they were, that wouldn’t stop him from being attracted.

Just the thought of those tall, slender noble girls, and Victor’s heart couldn’t wait to wipe out the Church Faction entirely.

Bang.

A muffled sound reached Victor’s ears, causing his eyebrows to slightly furrow.

Bang, bang, bang!

Victor’s brows tightened, and the image of the noble girls in his mind began to change.

Bang, bang, bang…

“Who is making that noise!”

Enraged, Victor opened his eyes to see where the sound was coming from. Before he could take two steps, his Guard Knight suddenly stepped in front of him.

Bang!

A loud noise accompanied by a flash of white light appeared.

As the white light dissipated, Victor saw a peculiar Goblin wearing Steel Armor, with one arm as a prosthetic and one bare arm.

Upon seeing Victor, the Goblin’s eyes lit up.

“The target’s here!”

“Kill him!” commanded Victor.

The Guard Knight, upon receiving the order, immediately retaliated. The artificial arm, finely tuned by Victor himself, erupted with a volley of well-coordinated strikes. Then, a fist as heavy as a sledgehammer pierced through the steam, ferociously aiming for the Goblin.

If that punch landed, not only would a suit of steel armor be indented, but even solid special steel would suffer a dent.

Bang!

Another muffled sound entered Victor’s ears.

Within the steam, the Guard Knight still maintained the punching pose, evidently having punched right through the Goblin.

His design for the prosthetic arm was indeed effective.

Slightly smug, Victor was about to return to his desk to have the other Knight Servants provide support when he heard a surprised voice from within the steam.

“Knights truly are different, their punches are stronger than those mechanical beasts.”

With that said, a grating sound of metal twisting followed, and the Guard Knight’s mechanical arm was twisted into a corkscrew.

The Guard Knight decisively disconnected the swinging right arm and then abruptly raised the left arm.

Boom!

Another burst of steam exploded.

However, before the echo faded, a distinct sound of metal shattering was heard.

Clang!

Then, a towering figure walked through the steam, breaking the mechnical spine of the Guard Knight with a punch.

Victor stood to the side, his gaze slightly vacant. He clearly saw that half a Steam Arrow was lodged in the armor of the figure’s chest.

If he remembered correctly, shouldn’t his Steam Arrows be capable of penetrating half a meter of regular steel?