Chapter 409: Chapter 409: You’d Better Hand It Over Yourself

Half an hour later.

The core forging workshop of Undercity.

This was the hottest and most important forbidden area in all the Red Dwarves’ territory.

Rolling lava roared through the black-gold channels beneath the floor, giving off choking heat and the sharp smell of sulfur.

Hundreds of elite Red Dwarf forging craftsmen were busy at work, bare-chested and covered in sweat.

"Everyone, stop!"

Syed stepped into the workshop, and the authority of a grandmaster Forgemaster instantly swept across the whole place.

The craftsmen all stopped swinging their hammers and looked at him in shock. This was the strongest Forgemaster, a man they almost never got to see.

"Today, I will open the furnace together with Mr. Aiden and forge defense gear for the city army!"

With a wave of his sleeve, Syed sent countless rare materials into the huge dark-red furnace like falling rain: black iron ore, magic copper, and even starfall titanium steel.

"Light the fire!"

Syed formed a series of hand signs, and a pale, cold flame suddenly rose from his palm.

Soul fire!

The flame had no heat at all, but it gave off powerful soul energy. In an instant, it began stripping the impurities from the materials inside the furnace, starting from the spirit and soul level.

Seeing this, Aiden slowly stepped forward.

His face was calm. He slowly raised his right hand and spread his fingers.

Boom!

A dazzling, holy golden flame suddenly exploded inside the workshop without warning.

Divine Golden Sunflame!

The moment the golden flame appeared, the temperature in the entire workshop shot up wildly. Even the air began to twist.

The violent lava around them seemed to have met the king of all flames. It slowly calmed down and trembled in fear.

"What... what kind of flame is that?!"

"My heavens! Even the earth fire inside my body is afraid!"

Countless Red Dwarf craftsmen turned pale. Their knees went weak, and many of them almost fell to the ground.

This was definitely a Mythic Rank flame, far beyond anything they could understand!

With a slight thought from Aiden, his passive skill [Magic Mastery] activated.

The wild golden fire instantly became gentle under Aiden’s control. It turned into a golden fire dragon and flew straight into the furnace with perfect accuracy.

[Ding! Detected that the host is using Divine Golden Sunflame for ultra-precise smelting!]

[10,000x Critical Hit System triggered!]

[Your understanding of forging has increased by 10,000 times!]

[You have gained insight into a second profession path: Divine Rank Forgemaster, prototype stage!]

In an instant, countless deep and mysterious pieces of knowledge about fire control, metal melting, quenching, and spirit awakening rushed into Aiden’s mind.

Faint golden runes seemed to flow through his eyes.

"Melt!"

Aiden gave a low shout.

The golden Divine Golden Sunflame and the pale soul fire blended perfectly inside the furnace.

The two top-level flames, one gold and one white, turned into a huge yin-yang symbol and swallowed all the ores and materials like a storm.

Under the extreme tempering of the two flames, the impurities in the dark iron and ores were instantly burned away, leaving only the purest essence of law.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Syed swung his divine forging hammer. Each strike came with a cleansing wave of soul fire.

Aiden controlled the Golden Sunfire with perfect precision, keeping the temperature at the ideal breaking point while constantly adding holy laws into the mix.

Their teamwork was flawless!

[Ding! Successfully forged Platinum Rank heavy armor in bulk. 10,000x Critical Hit triggered. Quality upgraded to Diamond Rank!]

[Ding! Successfully forged Gold Rank mountain-splitting greatswords in bulk...]

Suddenly, strange signs appeared inside the workshop!

Bright golden and silver lights burst out of the furnace like rainbows piercing the sky.

Clatter!

Countless pieces of equipment, each giving off powerful law energy, fell to the ground like rain and piled up into mountains.

Gold Rank light armor!

Platinum Rank two-handed greatswords!

There were even heavy shields giving off the faint glow of Diamond Rank!

"What... how is this possible?!"

A Red Dwarf elder rubbed his eyes, completely stunned.

"One furnace... a whole furnace full of high-rank equipment?!"

"Not a single failure! A one hundred percent success rate?!"

"A miracle! This is a miracle from the God of Forging!"

At that moment, all the Red Dwarf craftsmen dropped to their knees and bowed before Aiden. Their eyes were filled with passion and awe.

In the Abyss, high-rank equipment was extremely rare, let alone equipment produced in such large batches like this.

Aiden alone was worth an entire army!

The urgent weapon shortage in Red Dwarves Undercity was solved in an instant.

Aiden looked calm. He pulled back his right hand and felt the surging Force of Laws inside his body. A faint smile appeared on his face.

But just as the whole place was cheering and the atmosphere reached its peak...

Creak...

The heavy black-gold gate of the core workshop was slowly pushed open.

A cold, rotten, and strangely deathly aura silently poured in.

The workshop, which had been burning hot moments ago, suddenly turned freezing cold, as if everyone had fallen into an ice cave.

Everyone turned their heads without thinking.

In the shadow outside the gate, a hunched Red Dwarf with a strange aura was walking in, one stiff step at a time.

His eyes were dead and empty, but a creepy smile hung on his lips.

When Syed saw his face clearly, the forging hammer in his hand crashed to the ground with a sharp, deafening sound.

"You... you are..."

The newcomer was Darius, who had been missing for many days.

...

The temperature inside the workshop seemed to freeze completely in that instant.

The pale soul fire and the golden Divine Golden Sunflame both flickered slightly under the sudden attack of this deathly aura.

"Darius... you’re still alive?!"

Syed’s voice was sharp and trembling. He stared hard at the hunched figure, his eyes filled with shock.

Darius ignored Syed. His eyes had no whites at all, only black pupils as dark as ink. He slowly looked around the room.

At last, his gaze landed on Malcolm beside the throne.

"My dear little brother, you seem well."

Darius opened his mouth in a wide grin, showing a row of black, sharp teeth. His voice sounded like two rusty pieces of metal grinding together, sending chills down everyone’s spine.

Malcolm’s face turned pale at once. He stepped back without thinking and tightened his grip on the staff in his hand.

"You... weren’t you killed by a Demon?!"

"Killed by a Demon? Or poisoned by you, the usurper?"

Darius let out a strange laugh and patted his lifeless chest.

"Stupid little brother. The Demon was only a tool. As for me, I have found the true god."

He slowly raised his right hand. In his palm was a black badge carved with a setting sun and a tombstone.

The badge gave off a sickening smell of blood, and a powerful dark law energy seemed to move within it.

"Dawn Society..."

Syed sucked in a cold breath and stumbled backward, his eyes full of fear.

"What? Those madmen who operate in the gap between the Abyss and Earth?!"

The Red Dwarf leaders around them all changed expressions. A wave of terrified noise filled the workshop.

Dawn Society was a huge and mysterious organization made up of traitor humans and alien races from the Abyss. Its actions were cruel, and its methods were vicious. Even the evil Arcanum City feared it.

"Malcolm, stop this pointless struggle."

Darius looked down at Malcolm from above, his tone full of command.

"Give up that damned Crimson Blood and keep your alliance with the Demon."

"As long as you agree, Dawn Society will officially take over Red Dwarves Undercity and give you complete protection."

When Malcolm heard the word "protection," a trace of hesitation flashed in his eyes.

"Protection? And what is the price?" Malcolm asked through gritted teeth.

"The price?"Darius gave a dark, creepy laugh. It echoed through the empty workshop.

"It’s simple. From now on, the Red Dwarves Clan must help Dawn Society collect all special materials from the lower levels of the Abyss."

"High-rank ores, souls, law fragments, and even... the bones of gods!"

The moment he said this, the whole place fell silent.

This was not protection at all. He clearly wanted to turn the entire Red Dwarves Clan into slaves who gathered resources for Dawn Society!

"Your Majesty! You must not agree!"

Syed’s eyes turned red as he shouted.

"Dawn Society is cruel and heartless. Betraying their allies after using them is what they do best. If we agree, our clan will be doomed!"

Darius’s eyes suddenly turned cold. He flicked one bony finger.

"Noisy."

A stream of black death energy shot out like a poisonous snake, rushing straight toward Syed’s face. It was so fast that no one could follow it with the naked eye.

But before the death energy could get within three feet of Syed, it vanished in midair.

A wisp of golden Divine Golden Sunflame flashed through the air and purified it completely.

Aiden slowly pulled back his finger. His face was calm and cold as he brushed off the dust that wasn’t even on his sleeve.

His gaze was as sharp as a blade, locked firmly on Darius.

With his [Magic Mastery] he could clearly sense that the Strength inside Darius was extremely mixed. It even carried a strange trace of law that did not belong to this world.

"Dawn Society..."

Aiden sneered in his heart.

From Earth’s Evil Demons Guild to the Abyss’s Dawn Society, these traitors seemed to be playing a very big game.

And Darius’s target was clearly not just the Red Dwarves.

From the moment he entered, Darius’s greedy eyes had been drifting toward Aiden again and again.

A faint, amused smile appeared at the corner of Aiden’s mouth.

He flipped his wrist, and a dark red Skeleton cup, giving off a terrifying blood aura, appeared in his palm out of thin air.

Scarlet Skull Goblet!

The moment the goblet appeared, the lava throughout the workshop surged violently again, as if bowing down before this supreme bloodline.

Darius’s breathing instantly grew heavy.

In his dead black eyes, greed and desire could no longer be hidden. He stared hard at the goblet in Aiden’s hand.

"This thing is very important to our great plan. You’d better hand it over willingly."