The ground didn’t cool down after the dragons awoke. It hummed with warm, living qi.
Master Lu Jian stood at the center of the western construction sector, his yellow divine array hard-hat pushed back on his sweaty brow. Beside him stood Master Bram, puffing on his copper-ringed cigar, while Arthur Pendelton and Tang Xiaomi reviewed the logistics charts.
“Bring up the Heavenly Mechanism Modular Array!” Master Lu roared through a bronze megaphone. “Dwarven foundation crews, take the southern quadrant! Stone-masons, align your spirit-levels! Earth cultivators, soften the trenches!”
Fifty thousand well-fed, highly paid artisan-cultivators answered with a unified shout that shook the pine trees.
Arthur Pendelton adjusted his silver paladin gauntlets, looking over the perimeter maps with approval. “The defensive layout is flawless, Master Lu. Four concentric rings of stone walls, each with clear sightlines and interlocking fields of fire. Even a horde of siege beasts could not breach these avenues.”
“And the plumbing is even better, Sir Arthur!” Master Bram chuckled, tapping a thick brass valve with his wrench. “We ran dual conduits beneath every street. Clean mountain runoff on the left, heated geothermal mineral water on the right. No frozen pipes in winter!”
Lin Mo stood on an elevated observation platform beside Su Wan.
