Sovereign of the Ashes

HALL-E’s workplace was not far from its dwelling.

In fact, the entire Steel Ruins served as both its living space and its daily worksite. HALL-E led Sein and the others to the nearest waste disposal area.

It was a vast, level expanse.

Carving out such a flat clearing within this steel jungle of ruined structures had clearly required immense effort.

In one corner of the open area, rows of compressed metal cubes were stacked with meticulous neatness.

Crushed under tremendous pressure, these metal blocks no longer bore any resemblance to their original forms.

HALL-E was not a combat robot—Sein understood that well.

Still, just how much raw strength HALL-E possessed was something Sein had never measured precisely.

He walked over to one of the neatly stacked piles and picked up a metal cube, examining it for a long while.

Gilbert soon joined him, but the old Rank Four mage struggled slightly as he lifted one of the cubes.

“This is essentially metal essence, though the composition is rather impure,” Gilbert said.

“A metal ingot like this could sell for about ten magicoins in Steel City. Considering these alloys originate from a top-tier technological civilization like the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization, their value might be even higher,” he added thoughtfully.

Just how many such metal blocks were scattered across this immense clearing?

Well, as far as Sein’s eyes could see!

If HALL-E could compress up to two hundred metal cubes per day at peak efficiency, then the total wealth it had produced over the years was nothing short of staggering.

Unfortunately, Sein and his group had no intention of hauling away these blocks.

Even though Sein’s spatial storage equipment still had plenty of room, he had no interest in dragging back mountains of scrap metal just to sell it in Magus World.

He would rather collect specimens that genuinely interested him.

“These metal ingots can also be counted as mineral deposits we have discovered within this subspace secret realm,” Sein said to Gilbert.

“When the Magus Civilization sends more knights and mages here in the future, they can begin developing them properly. As the discoverers, we are entitled to a share of the profits,” he added.

Gilbert nodded in agreement.

At HALL-E’s work site, Sein did not uncover many valuable discoveries.

However, the upgraded cube faintly sensed a weak fluctuation of law energy somewhere nearby.

Such a faint fluctuation usually meant the cube had detected yet another fragment of a world-class secret treasure.

Only such treasures could endure the erosion of tens of millions of years!

Though other so-called “divine artifacts” crafted by law-wielding beings contained traces of law energy, they could never withstand such prolonged decay.

“That anomaly lines up with the route to where PAL was discovered. Let us take a detour and investigate,” Sein said to HALL-E.

Naturally, no one objected.

After entering the Steel Ruins, Sein released all the lower-ranking knights and mages from his spatial living device.

Since Master Gilbert had confirmed that even those seemingly worthless metal ingots were worth nearly ten magicoins apiece, Sein saw no reason to restrict the lower-ranking knights and mages from seeking fortune or pursuing their truth.

In fact, over the past year within the secret realm, those lower-ranking knights and mages following Sein and the others had all reaped considerable gains.

One demigod-level mage named Mussor had even uncovered a fragment of a world-class secret treasure.

This exploration of the Steel Ruins offered yet another opportunity for them.

The source of the newly detected law fluctuation lay deep underground beneath the Steel Ruins.

After Qixiu volunteered to activate his true dragon form and assist with excavation, Sein and the others soon uncovered a deeply concealed experimental facility.

It was a technological laboratory that once belonged to the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization. The artifact emitting the law fluctuation turned out to be a damaged energy absorber.

“The Eiyurant Papillon Civilization used devices like this to convert common energy sources, such as energy crystals or solar power, into the specific form of energy they required,” Master Gilbert explained, pushing the side of his glasses.

“Normally, it should come with an energy converter. But judging by the condition of this facility, it was probably already destroyed by long-term corrosion,” he concluded.

Energy conversion was Gilbert’s area of expertise, so he understood far more about it than Grethel or Roth, who specialized in ancient civilizations.

Sein smiled thoughtfully.

“If I let my Magic Cube devour the law essence within this device, will it gain the ability to absorb other elemental energies and significantly increase its production of Energy Amethyst?” he asked.

The cube had always maintained a slow, self-sustaining process of internal energy recovery.

This was also the reason its production of Energy Amethyst remained inefficient—each production cycle required an increasingly long period of rest.

Moreover, the cube’s ability to awaken intelligent robots was not unlimited.

Once it awakened too many robots in succession, it would enter a standby state to recover.

Sein concluded that this was caused by excessive internal energy depletion.

Yet he had never found a way to replenish the cube’s energy reserves.

This time, however, they had discovered a fragment of a world-class secret treasure with absorption properties. Whether it could resolve the cube’s long-standing energy issue remained unknown.

Faced with Sein’s question, Master Gilbert and the others exchanged uncertain looks.

It seemed none of them had an answer—only experimentation would tell.

“Master Sein, this world-class secret treasure of yours is truly extraordinary,” Gilbert said.

“I hear its primary function is to awaken intelligent robots? That is unheard of indeed. Perhaps the law-wielding mechanics of Steel City would have a different perspective,” he added with a sigh of admiration.

In the end, Sein agreed to let the cube absorb the law energy contained within the fragment.

Special energy-absorption law... who knew what new abilities the cube might gain after devouring it?

So far, the Magic Cube’s newly acquired functions included reconnaissance, defensive barrier generation, and the firing of powerful electromagnetic rays.

The latter two abilities were gained after the cube absorbed the energies of other secret treasure fragments.

It was precisely these new functions that had gradually revealed the cube’s amplifying effect on Sein himself!

In the past, the cube could only unleash its full potential when embedded within the Burning Flame Unit.

Yet after entering the ruins of the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization, its ability to absorb law energy began to reveal limitless potential for growth and adaptability.

“It seems like I’m truly becoming an amateur mechanic,” Sein said with a smile. “Perhaps after this war ends, I should spend some time training in Steel City back in Magus World.”

Sein and his group had just left the underground laboratory and were preparing to investigate the area where HALL-E had discovered PAL.

Suddenly, a violent and colossal surge of power erupted from the distant eastern horizon of the Steel Ruins.

That direction marked the point where they had first entered the area.

It was now the fiercest battleground within this subspace, where the Magus Civilization legions were clashing with the Gallant Federation’s special fleet.

“Could it be that Magus Civilization reinforcements have arrived and are shifting the main battlefield into this subspace?” Sein wondered aloud.