Super God Golden Crow Record

Chapter 54 Before the Storm

Three days after obtaining the information, He Xi did not leave the cave.

The stack of crystal plates Zhao Chen delivered was almost half a person high. She flipped through them one by one, comparing them to the parameters copied from the weapons workshop with the actual artifacts seized from the mine. Some matched, some didn't. She processed the ones that matched first, and left the ones that didn't for the time being.

Liang Bing peeked inside the cave as she passed by the entrance. He Xi was squatting in front of the engraving platform, with several half-carved armor plates in front of her. The dim light from the platform occasionally illuminated He Xi's pretty face, and a stack of crystal plates covered with drawings was piled up beside her. Liang Bing pulled her head back and whispered to Keisha, "Sister, He Xi hasn't slept for three days."

Keisha didn't even look up: "It's none of your business."

Liang Bing pouted and went off to train.

On the fourth day, He Xi finally emerged from the cave, carrying a set of armor. It was significantly lighter than the previous batch, and the energy channels on the breastplate were densely packed, running from the chest down to the waist. Reaching the training ground, she tossed the armor to Keisha, saying, "Try it."

Keisha took it and put it on, stretching her arms: "It's 40% lighter?"

"Fifty percent," He Xi said. "The level of protection hasn't decreased."

Keisha drew her sword and slashed it into her chest. Only a white mark remained on the armor plate, but she didn't move. She swung it again, the white mark appearing slightly deeper, but the armor plate didn't crack. She sheathed her sword and took off her armor: "How many can you make?"

He Xi looked at her: "The materials we have now are enough to make fifty sets. But it will take some time."

Keisha nodded: "Then let's make fifty sets first."

Liang Bing leaned closer, her eyes shining: "Sister He Xi, can I have this set?"

He Xi glanced at her: "Put your outfit on first."

Liang Bing looked down at the old armor she was wearing and pouted.

After saying that, He Xi turned and went back into the cave. Zhao Chen quickly followed her in, pouring out another batch of dark copper ore from his storage ring: "Is this enough?"

He Xi glanced at the pile of ore, then at the furnace next to the engraving platform—it was the one Zhao Chen had brought back from the weapon workshop on Tiancheng Star. It was many times better than the previous rudimentary furnace, with precise temperature control and smelting efficiency more than three times higher. There was also a testing platform next to it, which could directly test the energy carrying capacity limit of the armor plates, eliminating the need to use a sword to chop them down anymore.

"That's enough," she said.

Zhao Chen didn't leave. He walked to the inscription platform, picked up a piece of ore, and threw it into the furnace. Once the ore had melted into liquid, he raised pure Yang True Fire in his palm and began refining and purifying it. Golden flames danced in the furnace, and impurities were peeled away layer by layer.

He Xi watched from the side without saying a word.

The refined molten metal flowed from the furnace and was poured into the armor plate mold. Zhao Chen controlled the temperature of the flame, allowing the metal to cool slowly, and the crystal structure was arranged even more neatly than that of machine-pressed plates. Once the armor plate was formed, he placed it on the engraving platform, and his fiery eyes scanned the surface, revealing the energy circulation patterns in exquisite detail.

"Which loop?" Zhao Chen asked.

He Xi pushed the blueprint over and said bluntly, "This one. Extend from the shoulder armor to the breastplate, a little shallower, 0.3 millimeters."

Zhao Chen nodded, his fingers pressing on the armor plate. Pure Yang True Fire condensed into an extremely fine wisp, and he began to carve along the lines on the drawing. The golden flames moved across the armor plate, and wherever they passed, energy loops were precisely embedded into the metal surface, with consistent depth and smooth edges.

He Xi stood beside him, watching. Zhao Chen's hands were very steady, and his control of the heat was even more precise than that of the engraving platform. She had to admit that there were some intricate circuits that the engraving platform couldn't do—the precision of a machine is fixed, but Zhao Chen's fire could adjust the temperature and depth according to the real-time feedback from the metal.

"Here." She suddenly reached out and pointed to a spot on the nail plate. "The corner is too sharp; the energy flow will be blocked. Follow the arc."

Zhao Chen quickly adjusted the direction of his fingers, and the flames followed suit, curving into a smooth arc.

"Yes," He Xi said, her voice unconsciously softening.

Neither of them spoke; one drew, the other carved, their coordination even smoother than in the previous days. Zhao Chen's flames were the best carving tools; He Xi only needed to point out the key details, and he could use his keen eyes to see the internal crystal structure of the metal, carving the lines in the most suitable positions.

Liang Bing glanced inside as she passed the cave entrance. Zhao Chen sat in front of the inscription platform, with He Xi standing beside him, their distance much closer than normal social distance. She shrank back, not daring to look any longer, and ran to the training ground to find Keisha.

"Sister!" she whispered, "Sister Hexi is with her husband."

Keisha didn't even look up: "Having more people makes the armor faster."

Liang Bing said "Oh" and didn't ask any more questions.

Keisha began training her troops outside. She divided the hundreds of people into several teams, with veterans mentoring new recruits, starting with just gripping a sword. Some of the newly arrived angels couldn't even hold a sword steadily, some ran out of strength halfway through training, and some practiced until their hands were raw and bleeding from the sword hilt, yet they didn't utter a sound. Keisha went over, took the angel's hand, and helped her straighten her grip on the sword hilt.

"Strength comes from the tiger's mouth, not the wrist."

The female angel gritted her teeth and nodded. Keisha released her grip, took a step back, and said, "Again."

The news spread further and further. The female angels who were still observing began to waver. Some secretly ran away, some asked others to pass on messages, and some asked when the attack would reach their side. Keisha's star map was covered with markings, with new information and new people arriving every day. When Liang Bing ran back to report the numbers, her face was full of excitement.

"Sis! More than forty more have arrived! Almost 1,500!"

Keisha didn't say anything, but simply added another marker to the map.

On the planet Tiancheng, within the royal palace.

Hua Ye leaned back on his throne, listening to the guards' reports. Another supply depot in the North had been raided, another convoy had been hijacked, and yet another female angel had escaped. After the guards finished reporting, they bowed their heads, awaiting their fate.

Hua Ye didn't get angry, and shifted his position, leaning back again: "What did that guy who can freeze people find out?"

The guard immediately broke out in a cold sweat: "We can't find anything. He always appears in different places, and we can't detect his presence. All we know is that everyone who has seen him fight is dead."

Sumari stood below the throne, his face grim: "Your Majesty, if this continues, more and more people will flee."

Hua Ye chuckled dismissively. "Run? Where can they run to?" He picked up his glass and took a sip. "Let them run. Once they've gathered, we can wipe them out all at once."

Sumari frowned slightly: "What if they never gather?"

Hua Ye put down his wine glass: "Then force them to gather. Withdraw those transport teams from the Northern Territory and concentrate the supplies on Tiancheng Star. If they want to plunder, they'll have no choice but to come this way."

Sumari nodded: "Understood."

Night had fallen. A faint light still shone from He Xi's cave; the fire in the furnace had died down, and the dim light from the engraving platform occasionally illuminated her face. Zhao Chen emerged and sat down by the fire. Keisha flipped through the star map, not even looking up.

"Is she asleep?"

"No. We're still using the testing station to test the nail tips."

Keisha didn't speak. After a while, she suddenly asked, "What else can you do with all that fire?"

Zhao Chen looked at her: "Burn people."

Keisha looked up, intrigued, and asked, "The kind that burns Hua Ye?"

Seeing that Zhao Chen didn't answer, Keisha stared at him for a few seconds, then lowered her head and continued flipping through the star chart.

"Then let me know when you're old enough to have a fever."

Zhao Chen's lips curled up slightly: "Okay."