Ghost Grows Stronger

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Ivan fixed his gaze on Ghost's movements, vaguely discerning a shadow within the black mist drawn from the Golden Army. The shadow was then inhaled by Ghost and later returned to its human form.

"How is it? Is everything proceeding smoothly?"

Ghost suddenly opened its mouth and expelled a cloud of black mist. After a moment, it transformed into a humanoid figure, glowing, and the humanoid form made of black mist instantly shifted into a hyperspectral form.

"Very good, I didn't expect the quality of these souls to be so high, surpassing my expectations. It's as if I stumbled upon them effortlessly. I previously thought there were too few souls under your control that could be transformed into hyperspectral forms. I never anticipated them coming to you like this. Ghost, the 70x70 Golden Army, 70 squads, each with 70 soldiers, totaling 4,900—almost 5,000! Start immediately, and take control of the entire Golden Army. With this power, you can truly be called a one-man army and won't fear group battles in the future."

Ghost was also excited, leaping into the air, its body expanding with a "bang," transforming into a large black mist that enveloped the entire Golden Army. Under Ivan's guidance, transparent shadows were intermittently pulled from the Golden Army by the black mist and assimilated.

Due to the sheer number, absorption became a bit cumbersome. The process ceased after a full hour. The black mist began to shrink slowly, and Ghost reshaped into a human form, approached Ivan.

"Master, this time, I've absorbed an abundance of souls. I need to rest for a while to assimilate these souls. I'm afraid I won't be able to serve you during this period. I hope the master forgives me."

"It's alright. This is the most critical period for your strength to grow. When you awaken, your strength will reach the level. Then, you can perform even more tasks for me. Just go to sleep," Ivan said, waving his sleeves.

With Ivan's permission, Ghost transformed into a cloud of black mist and disappeared into his sleeve. Ivan turned his attention to the soulless Golden Legion, feeling a tinge of pity.

The Golden Legion could be considered abolished at this point. Without their souls, even if they were set in motion again, they would behave like infants, potentially stumbling and unable to fight. Now, they were essentially a heap of worthless scrap metal—or perhaps not worthless, as they were crafted from magic metal and could be deemed a valuable collectible.

Staring at the soulless Golden Legion for a moment, Ivan was suddenly inspired. He raised his wrist, and a beam of light shot out from his watch, scanning the Golden Legion to reveal its model and internal structure in clear detail.

"After the Red Queen, redesign the structure of the Golden Legion, retain the magical effect of the Golden Legion's self-recovery, and add a power system through technological means to ensure its combat effectiveness even in the absence of the mimetic effect."

"Understood, Dr. Ivan."

The clear voice of the Red Queen resonated, and the holographic projection of the Golden Legion in the air began to undergo gradual changes. First, the magic rune was adjusted to preserve its recovery ability while optimizing space. Then, the two legs were removed entirely, and a rune array with floating mobility was introduced at the bottom, replacing the original two-legged movement with flight.

The arms, initially equipped with a short knife and a shield, were redesigned for a more modern era. The shield was replaced by a split design with a barrel in the center, capable of firing adjustable energy rays for effective long-range attacks. Additionally, Ivan incorporated a high-tech anti-gravity device to enhance flight speed, ensuring no loss of magic effect and power.

Feeling a bit uneasy, Ivan decided to add an insurance measure: storing nano-robots within the Golden Legion. In case of irreparable damage, the nano-robots could quickly perform repairs or form replacement parts.

The new design blueprint was quickly completed. Ivan reached out, pressed the Golden Legion in front of him, and began to disassemble and reorganize it according to the blueprint. Finally, he extracted a chip and a miniature nuclear energy reactor from his carrying package. The whole process took only a few minutes.

The newly designed Golden Legion warrior resembled an upside-down egg, standing about four meters tall with a sleek golden body. Ivan reached out and stroked it a few times, appreciating the smooth surface without the roughness of its predecessor, adorned with integrated magic runes.

"Initiate!"

At Ivan's command, the brand-new Golden Legion fighter immediately levitated. The upper part detached to form a head with two eyes emitting blue light, and two arms extended from the sides, gripping a disassembled shield and a dagger from behind.

"Intelligent Robot No. 1 reporting to Dr. Ivan." The new Golden Legion soldier spoke in front of Ivan with a hint of respect.

"You are the first, and the Golden Legion warrior I transformed personally. I'll give you a name. You're Mark."

"Mark? My creator, thank you for giving me a name." The Golden Legion soldier, now named Mark, conveyed a peculiar emotion.

"Alright, no more chit-chat. Mark, show me your strength."

"Understood, Dr. Ivan."

Immediately, a faint magical wave emanated from Mark, and he swiftly maneuvered through the air, navigating the complex terrain with unparalleled speed, even faster than the speed of sound.

The speed and flexibility were impeccable. Next came the test of attack capabilities. Mark, with a mechanical arm wielding a short knife, smoothly approached a stone pillar. The knife glowed as it flashed in his hand, effortlessly slicing the stone pillar in half. He had inscribed a rune magic circle on the knife for a strong and sharp effect.

The final demonstration involved a long-range attack. The shield held by Mark's other mechanical arm suddenly split from left to right, revealing a cannon barrel. A beam of energy shot out, hitting a rock dozens of meters away with a resounding blast, reducing it to rubble.

"Very good! Excellent job, Mark. You can go into sleep mode now." Ivan expressed his satisfaction with the newly transformed Golden Legion I with a smile.

Following the command, Mark promptly descended to the ground. His two mechanical arms folded together, and the rear card along with the short knife retracted into his body. The large head also shrank back, returning to the original golden dome form.

Having confirmed the success of the new design, Ivan decided to proceed with transforming the other Golden Legions. However, he didn't want to waste time on it immediately.

"Red Queen, with our current resources, if I don't intervene and design a transformation plan for the Golden Legion, how long will it take to complete the transformation?" Ivan inquired.

Red Queen took a moment to process the information before responding, "Mechanical parts of the Golden Legion are relatively easy to transform. The critical aspect involves inscribing magic runes, which requires actual wizards for certain key points in the process. Since you've recruited only a limited number of wizards, it will take approximately three years to complete the transformation of all 4,900 Golden Legions. However, if you allocate additional resources to hire more wizards, the process could be expedited to around half a year."

Ivan shook his head and dismissed the idea, "No need to rush. I don't plan to use the Golden Legion immediately, and I don't want to expose them. Let's take our time. Inform Kerry to prepare for shipping. I'll transport these Golden Legions back first."

Ivan got busy once more, assembling mechanical equipment and parts. He then placed more than a dozen space energy crystals, each emitting a blue glow, into the mechanism. After activating the switch, a blue light shot out, causing the space to ripple and a wormhole to open. Under Ivan's control, all the Golden Legions assembled here were drawn into the wormhole.

With 4,900 Golden Legions, the teleportation process took over 20 minutes.

"Stop! Where did you get those Golden Legions? They belong to us; you can't just take them away" Prince Nuada's voice suddenly interrupted as Ivan finished teleporting the last Golden Legion.

Ivan turned around, a half-smile on his face, "Oh no, no! The Golden Legion belongs to me now. I can do whatever I want with them."

"You can't just take them away like this; it's unreasonable" Prince Nuada protested urgently.

"Unreasonable? Hahaha! In your dark world, strength is the only truth. Think about your father and the countless humans he killed. As the king of the dark world, wasn't he relying on his strength? Now, I am stronger than you, and the Golden Legion is my prize. Do you still have any illusions?"

"Are you not afraid of the retaliation from our dark world?"

"Not at all. If you want revenge, come and try. Until now, you still don't know who I am, do you? Maybe you should find out my identity first."

Prince Nuada was left speechless. He watched Ivan pack everything into his backpack and then vanish with a wave of magic.

Standing alone, Prince Nuada took a long time to regain his senses. He walked away in despair; it was undoubtedly the worst day of his life, filled with more defeats than he had experienced throughout his existence.