Douluo Dragon King: The stars of the heavens, transform me into king!

Tian Dou City.

As the morning mist dissipated, the entire city remained shrouded in a chilly stillness, not yet fully recovered.

Gu Yuexingyan's car drove out of the east of the city and stopped at an old station.

He didn't leave through the main gate, but instead followed a path next to the railway tracks, almost completely overgrown with weeds, northwards and disappeared into it.

No one else was worried. Given Gu Yuexingyan's strength, there were very few people in the entire Federation who could rival him.

Before long, he stopped in front of a brick wall covered with moss.

The wall is solid, or at least it appears to be.

He reached out and pressed down on the lower right corner of the third brick, with very light pressure.

The brick surface caved in half an inch, emitting a soft grinding sound. The entire wall then rotated inward, revealing a gap just wide enough for one person to pass through. Inside were downward steps, the walls on either side of which were inlaid with glowing soul-guiding runes, their cold blue-white light illuminating the slippery stone steps beneath one's feet.

At the end of the stone steps was an alloy iron door.

There was a retinal scanner on the door. Red light swept across Gu Yuexingyan's right eye, emitting a short beep.

The iron gate slid open to both sides, and a cold, metallic smell wafted out.

The laboratory was more spacious than I had imagined.

The dome is very high, with movable robotic arms and pipelines suspended from it.

A woman stood with her back to the entrance, her black pencil skirt hugging her full hips, her calves forming a taut arc between her knee-high socks and the hem of the skirt.

She was leaning over to observe a floating light screen, the collar of her white shirt slightly opening with the movement, revealing a section of her wheat-colored collarbone. Her long hair was hastily tied back with a wooden hairpin, with a few stray strands hanging down her neck.

Hearing footsteps, she didn't turn around immediately, but simply reached out and pushed up her black-rimmed glasses.

"Speaker, you're later than expected!" Her voice was a little hoarse, as if she hadn't had water in a long time. "You really are a busy person!"

Gu Yuexingyan smiled faintly and walked to her side. The laboratory was very large, roughly the size of half a football field.

This is Ling Zichen.

In the original story, he was the director of the Tang Sect's Soul-Guided Artillery Research Center, but how could he possibly be stumped by something as simple as poaching people?

Her parents were killed when the source went out of control while they were researching the first-generation single-unit forward cyclic array.

But precisely because of this, he managed to pull off a quick maneuver and snatch Ling Zichen away. This guy might not be able to cultivate, but he's got brains.

He will be the first person in the future Douluo Federation to achieve mechanical ascension!

Such talent is wasted in the Tang Clan, and I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving him anywhere else.

If you stay with me and help me research the eternal kingdom, I can even provide some theoretical formulas for fusion and fission.

And the eternal kingdom is just a matter of a single word from me!

His gaze fell on the center of the ring structure—there floated a crystal no bigger than a little fingernail, inside which was sealed a ball of light that was constantly collapsing and expanding.

Ling Zichen then spoke again, saying, "Speaker of the Federal Parliament, is it really appropriate for you to blatantly defy the Federal ban and force me to study the source?"

"What do you mean the Federation ordered you to research this? Look around, the words 'Tang Clan' are engraved everywhere. It's clearly Tang Clan's research!"

Gu Yuexingyan smiled calmly. Every piece of metal around him was engraved with the words "Tang Clan." Although this place was far from the city, the explosion of the Eternal Heaven Kingdom was enough to raze the entire Heaven Dou City to the ground.

But does Gu Yuexingyan care?

He doesn't care at all; he only cares about his own interests.

The Tang Clan is a good scapegoat.

"There's nothing wrong with researching the sources of rare metals. If the research direction is correct, how to utilize and mobilize the sources of rare metals can still greatly benefit science and technology. What you need to do is research a positive circulation array to achieve the recycling of the sources and continuously generate even greater energy."

His voice was calm; it was completely unimaginable that this seemingly mild-mannered Federal Speaker harbored such madness within.

"I understand. You want to usher the Federation into the space age. You want to use a regenerating, god-slaying, fixed-position soul-guided cannon as its energy core to support various high-energy-consuming technological devices, such as ships and aircraft. One of the biggest reasons why our aviation development is so slow is the lack of power to support long-distance space travel. If my research is successful, it will greatly solve this problem," Ling Zichen said.

"That's right! If you succeed, I'll kill Di Tian and turn him into a spaceship for you!" Gu Yuexingyan said calmly, completely unconcerned about the life of the soul beast.

Ling Zichen's breath hitched for a moment as she scrutinized the man through her glasses. The Federal Speaker appeared gentle and refined, even possessing a scholarly air about him.

But standing under the cold light of the laboratory, his eyes were as cold as a mirror.

There was no reverence for life, no fear of danger, and not even a lust for power.

Only a touch of purity.

Pure ruthlessness.

"How is the dismantling of the Eternal Heaven going?" Gu Yuexingyan asked again, his voice still calm.

"I've already disassembled it, all that's left is to inject it..." Ling Zichen stopped mid-sentence, seemingly realizing he had said the wrong thing.

"It's okay. I know what you're trying to do! Implant it inside yourself, right? It's fine! I don't care! Whether it's a humanoid weapon or any other weapon, as long as it's in my hands, that's all that matters. What I can give you, I can take back everything!"

Gu Yuexingyan's voice was filled with absolute authority, and an aura of someone who had long held a high position suddenly erupted.

Ling Zichen was no match for the spiritual power of a Divine Origin Realm cultivator—no, it should be said that it was divine sense.

The woman was so frightened that she took a step back, her eyes filled with awe. She understood that the gap between herself and Gu Yuexingyan could not be bridged by equipment alone.

"I understand!" she said, her voice trembling slightly.

"I have another question, could you please answer it?" Gu Yuexingyan asked.

"What's the problem?" the woman asked, puzzled.

"Your source of power is like a cyclic single-unit core that has already been implanted into the mech!"

"That's right! It incorporates the soul guidance array of the battle armor, activated by the source as its energy core! This creates a god-level mecha with a size close to the battle armor. It can be worn and used by ordinary people. Furthermore, it is specially equipped with a protective system to ensure that ordinary people do not experience excessive strain while piloting it."

At this point, Ling Zichen was filled with excitement.

"That's right. It can't be widely used now, but in the future, when we enter the interstellar age, mechs will be widely used." Gu Yuexingyan knew that the manufacturing cost of this thing was more than ten times that of a normal god-level mech.

Let alone popularizing it, just manufacturing one unit would be a headache!

However, if we enter the interstellar era, the problem of insufficient resources may be made up for.

He paused for a moment and then said, "The Tang Sect has acquired resources from the Star Luo Empire and the Dou Ling Empire through trade. Another batch is expected this month. Remember to handle it properly and don't leave any traces."

I'm leaving now. Since I'm in Tiandou City, I might as well visit the Divine Craftsman.

"Understood!" Ling Luochen naturally knew what it was, knowing that the Tang Clan, being such a kind person, had sent research funding again!

As for why the Federation didn't contribute, it's simply because Gu Yuexingyan felt that confiscating the Tang Sect's illegal gains was much more cost-effective than paying out of his own pocket!

I said that what you call contraband is contraband!

Whether it's illegal gains or not, I've already written a special law specifically for the Tang Clan, targeting these disobedient organizations.

The Tang Clan's main purpose is to make an example of someone.