Chapter 71#

His Holiness, the Pope Who Scatters Sacred Light#

“After we took refuge in the underground kingdom, we received a message from Master Lokok through the God of Forging. It told us about that divine prophecy. After the goblin engineers of that time studied it together, we discovered that the key lay in the nuclear-force technology theory Master Lokok left behind,” Kukuvy said.

“The nuclear-force technology theory?”

“In the materials Master Lokok left, there were only preliminary theoretical hypotheses — using magical beast crystal cores as the core, converting them into energy through special devices,” Kukuvy thought for a moment. “It’s something similar to your divine power or a mage’s mana. But with these, anyone can use them. With the help of these devices, even ordinary people can accomplish many things that previously only mages could do. We goblins gave these devices a name — we call them machines!”

Lu Heng, who came from modern society, naturally understood what Kukuvy was talking about. But as someone living in this world, there was no way he could fully grasp it. So Lu Heng, still wearing a puzzled expression, asked, “Granting such power to ordinary people — only a god could do that.”

Kukuvy slapped his forehead. “Oh, my friend, the theory of technology must be far too profound for you. Let me just show you the wonders of machines with your own eyes!”

The green-skinned goblin’s figure vanished again through the door leading to the workshop. When he reappeared, a peculiar little box was strapped to Kukuvy’s back.

“Generous human, bestow another crystal core upon your green-skinned friend. The next part will guarantee you get your money’s worth.” Kukuvy opened his palm toward Lu Heng.

“I await the demonstration.” Lu Heng placed the crystal core into his hand. Kukuvy, without the slightest hesitation, installed the core into the little box.

There came the clicking sound of gears turning. The peculiar little box opened, and from within rose a propeller. Of course, only Lu Heng knew what a propeller was. Then Kukuvy rose and floated into midair.

“See? With a machine, anyone can enter the skies — an area only the Dragon Race can reach. This great invention, we call it a flying machine.” Kukuvy spread his arms triumphantly in the air.

“This is nothing short of a miracle!” Brian on the side could barely keep his mouth closed.

Although Lu Heng had already guessed the purpose of the little box upon seeing the propeller, he was still filled with admiration at the sight. This nuclear-force technology, developed entirely by the goblin race on their own, was truly extraordinary.

Aionas also thought inwardly that although this green-skinned goblin was weak to the point of being negligible, the things he made did seem quite interesting. However, he noticed that Lu Heng’s gaze was fixed intently on the goblin before him, not granting even a shred of attention to him. Aionas disliked the feeling of being ignored by his own treasure.

“A dragon can carry you above the clouds,” Aionas said softly to Lu Heng. “This shoddy little contraption certainly cannot.”

Before Lu Heng could respond, he hadn’t expected that the goblin’s hearing was extraordinarily sharp — his long ears were not put to waste.

“Above the clouds? That’s also in our plans! However, we still need to develop energy devices with higher conversion efficiency. Once that’s done and we scale up the flying machines, traveling across the continent will be so much more convenient!” Whenever it came to professional matters, Kukuvy would launch into a relentless stream of words. He even proudly began demonstrating more functions of the flying machine on his back.

However, the flying machine on his back seemed rather uncooperative.

“Oh! Damn it! Somebody help me stop!”

Kukuvy’s shrill screams echoed through the room. The flying machine appeared to have gone out of control, trailing black smoke as it sent the pitiful little goblin crashing around like a headless fly.

Lu Heng was afraid the goblin’s precious brain would be scrambled, but as a priest, he had no way of stopping the out-of-control flying machine. “Aionas.”

Seeing the slightly pleading look in Lu Heng’s eyes, Aionas, who had been somewhat deflated moments ago, lifted his chin with renewed pride. “A dragon’s wings are far more reliable, after all.”

In that fleeting moment, Aionas’s train of thought went like this: This green-skinned little goblin can actually build a flying machine that carries people! And as a dragon, I have to sleep to recover my energy after staying in dragon form for too long. My treasure is surely going to ride in that flying machine and never want to sit on the broad, reliable back of the Dragon Lord again — my position is at risk!

Naturally, Lu Heng had no idea that in that short span of time, this dragon’s thoughts had wandered so far afield. But out of habit, he humored Aionas. “The Dragon Lord is naturally the most reliable.”

Aionas was satisfied. At the moment the flying machine zoomed overhead with the pitiful goblin aboard, he leaped up from the ground. By the time he landed again, he was holding Kukuvy — box and all — in his hand.

“Oh my heavens, I’ve finally made it back alive. Thank you so much.” Released from Aionas’s grip, Kukuvy wore the expression of someone who had just cheated death. “You saved the most precious brain in the goblin race. The entire goblin race owes you its thanks.”

Kukuvy didn’t feel embarrassed about the flying machine’s loss of control. Matters involving machines always required countless rounds of tuning before reaching optimal performance. During the testing process, some mishaps were perfectly normal. Throughout goblin history, quite a few goblin engineers had lost their lives in accidents while testing new inventions.

“That is a machine. As for that little accident just now, please don’t hold it against us. This was only a prototype. Finished products that goblins present will not have such problems. I guarantee it with the honor of the goblin race,” Kukuvy said.

“So, this is also the same kind of thing?” Lu Heng pointed at the mechanical puppet on the table.

“No, that is something more advanced. All the machines we’ve developed require direct operation. That won’t be of much use in the battle against the undead army. In Master Lokok’s theory, there is a set of principles for long-range controlled machines. Back then, he followed the God of Forging of the Dwarf Race into battle — he wanted to study the energy conversion methods of mages and priests at close range. And he attempted to find a way to turn the theory of long-range controlled machines into actual devices,” Kukuvy said.

Unfortunately, later on, the goblin race underwent upheaval, the underground kingdom was sealed off, and they lost virtually all contact with Master Lokok.

“To think that Master Lokok actually managed to produce a prototype in the end. Now, as long as we disassemble Prototype No. 1, we’ll eventually figure out the decoding method. But there’s no time. Improving the efficiency of the energy conversion device, scaling up the combat puppets — all of this takes time. Good heavens, time is too precious. We need help. We need the help of human friends.” Kukuvy’s speech grew faster and faster.

Lu Heng roughly guessed what Kukuvy was thinking. The human race, perhaps unable to match the beloved dragons in physical and magical talent, nor able to wield the power of nature like the elves, and falling short of dwarf craftsmen in manufacturing or goblins in innate cleverness — yet humans possessed a terrifying capacity for learning that no other race had. Humans could madly absorb all manner of knowledge, learn what other races excelled at, and integrate everything together. This was precisely why humans could become the dominant race on the continent.

“We can look into establishing a Department of Nuclear-Force Technology at the Maple Leaf Academy. Hire goblin engineers as instructors,” Lu Heng said. “But the first thing to do is to clarify the truth of what happened back then, so that the goblin race can return to life under the sunlight.”

The Maple Leaf Academy was located in the neutral nation of Kesen and was the sacred ground of study for all the most outstanding young people on the continent. Grandmaster-level figures from every field had taught or served as honorary instructors at the Maple Leaf Academy. Using the Maple Leaf Academy to promote nuclear-force technology was indeed the most suitable approach.

“Did the goblin race retain any evidence regarding what happened back then?” Lu Heng asked.

He already had a preliminary idea of how to clear the goblin race’s name, but he still needed some key evidence.

Kukuvy, however, shook his head. “If we had such things, we goblins wouldn’t have been hiding underground for so many long years. If it weren’t for the safety of our lives, no living creature dislikes the sunlight on the surface.”

This matter was going to be tricky. Lu Heng fell into deep thought. Should he fabricate a fake divine oracle? It wasn’t impossible, but the price to pay was somewhat steep.

“Evidence?” Brian suddenly said. “Wait here!”

After a long while, Brian came running back, panting and carrying an ancient-looking box. He placed the box on the table and said to Kukuvy, “This was passed down from the ancestors of the Steelhammer Family. There is a powerful magic formation on it that can only be opened by dripping the blood of both a dwarf and a goblin onto it. This might be related to that matter.”

Seeing the other three looking at him, Brian scratched his head somewhat sheepishly. “It was only after hearing everything you’ve told me that I remembered this box. You know how it is — dwarves’ memories are never very good.”

According to Brian, although the dwarf race had harbored hostility toward the goblin race for thousands of years since the Divine Era, the Steelhammer Family was different. Every dwarf who inherited the Steelhammer Family was admonished that if they ever encountered goblins, they must do everything in their power to help them, and to treat goblins as their most reliable friends.

That was why Brian, upon accidentally discovering the underground kingdom, had not told a single soul among the dwarves. Instead, he chose to keep the goblins’ secret and provide the goblin engineers with various research materials over a long period of time. In the spirit of mutual aid between friends, the goblins also provided Brian with a great deal of advanced technology.

Therefore, this box very likely contained something of great importance. Brian and Kukuvy dripped their blood onto it. The magic formation erupted with a blinding flash of light, and the mysterious box slowly opened.

As the light faded, the opened box revealed two rolls of parchment scrolls.