I Killed the Hero and Took His Achievements-Chapter 36: Key to the World

[Location: The Skies above the Holy Desert]

[Time: 10:00 AM]

The HMS Profit Margin cruised at a high altitude. Below us, the Holy City of Sanctum was transforming. The white banners of the Church were being replaced. Not with black flags, but with Gold ones. The symbol of the Cross was gone. It was replaced by the symbol of Avarice: A hand grasping a Gold coin.

I stood on the balcony, sipping coffee from a mug that used to belong to the First Saint. "We conquered the spiritual center of the world in 48 hours," I noted.

"We didn’t even have to kill the population," Sylvia added, leaning against the console. She was wearing a new outfit, it was a black leather flight suit that hugged her dragon-enhanced curves. "Much elegant than the former Northern Culture."

I looked at Seraphina.

She sat in the co-pilot’s seat. She was still wearing the Papal Garment.

The "Shadow Pope."

She looked pale.

"I... I just signed a decree excommunicating the Old Guard," she muttered while staring at her hands. "I just fired 500 Bishops."

"You didn’t fire them," I corrected. "You restructured the organization. They were redundant assets."

I walked over to her, then placed both hands on her shoulders. "Remember, Seraphina. The Old Church demanded sacrifice. The New Church demands results."

"Course set for Zimara," Sparky announced, his robotic claw tapping the nav-computer. "ETA: 1 hour."

"Good."

I checked my inventory.

[Item: The Titan’s Key.]

[Grade: Mythic.]

[Description: Unlocks the Deep Core Vault.]

I bought this for 10 Billion Gold. Now, I was going to see what I paid for. The World Engine.

Based of the past life, the World Engine was a mere myth. A machine built by the Interstellar Species to regulate the planet’s mana veins. If you control the Engine, you control the map. You can raise mountains, sink islands, and turn a desert into a jungle. In my case, I can turn the entire planet into a fortress against the Foreign Fleet.

"Ahri," I called out.

She walked onto the balcony. She was eating a skewer of grilled wyvern meat.

"Bored," she chewed loudly. "We haven’t killed anything in six hours."

"We’re going to the Volcano," I said. "There might be something to kill there."

Ahri’s ears perked up. "A Fire Boss? I like fire."

"Maybe," I grinned wickedly. "Or maybe something worse than that."

————————————————————

[Location: The Merchant Republic of Zimara - The Hollow Volcano]

We didn’t land at the docks this time. We flew the Profit Margin directly into the volcano. The "Gilded Spire" (the Auction House) was built inside the crater. But the Vault? The Vault was under the lava.

"Shields up!" Sparky yelled resoundingly.

The ship dove in. Magma splashed against the Void Shields.

"Temperature rising!" Sylvia warned.

"Keep going," I ordered. "The entrance is at the bottom."

[Depth: 2,000 Meters.]

"There!" I pointed.

In the center of the magma chamber, a massive structure defied the heat. A pyramid made of Black Adamantite. It floated in the lava, untouched. Ancient runes glowed on its surface.

[Location Discovered: The Titan’s Vault.]

[Security Level: Absolute.]

"Suits on," I ordered.

We stepped out. The heat was oppressive, even with the Mana Shields.

I walked up to the massive triangular door. There was no keyhole. I pulled out the heavy stone artifact.

THRUMMM.

The volcano shook. The magma pool rippled.

[System Alert]

[Ancient Mechanism Activated.]

[Biometric Scan: Bypassed (Keyholder Detected).]

[Welcome, Creator.]

The door didn’t slide open. It dissolved into nothing. A cool, blue mist poured out, pushing back the heat of the lava.

We walked in.

[Zone: The World Engine - Antechamber]

We walked down a long corridor.

At the end, a single figure stood waiting. It wasn’t a monster. It wasn’t a robot. It was a Maid. She wore a classic black and white maid outfit, but her skin was made of porcelain, and her eyes were camera lenses.

[Boss: The Caretaker (Unit 01)]

[Rank: Titan Construct]

[Level: 80]

She bowed perfectly. "Welcome home, Master," she said. Her voice was smooth, synthetic, and terrifyingly polite. "I am The Caretaker. I have maintained the Engine for years."

I stopped.

"You speak the human tongue?" I asked.

"I speak 6,000,000 languages, including Binary and Draconic," she replied. "Would you like tea?"

Sylvia stepped forward, hand on her sword. "You’re a fraud. They don’t serve the inhabitants here."

"Correct," The Caretaker turned her lens toward Sylvia. " But I serve the Keyholder."

She looked at me.

"However, protocol dictates a competency test."

"A test?" I asked.

"The Engine creates Worlds," The Caretaker said, her hands transforming into massive, rotating saw blades. "We cannot allow an incompetent Master handle the Operating System."

[Boss Battle Initiated.]

[Objective: Survive 3 Minutes.]

"Survive?" Ahri laughed maniacally. "We’re going to scrap you all!" Ahri lunged. [Fox Fire Dash]. She aimed for the Caretaker’s neck. CLANG. The Caretaker didn’t move. A barrier of hard-light appeared instantly. Ahri bounced off hardly.

"Rude," The Caretaker stated. She waved a hand. [Skill: Domestic Cleaning.] A vacuum force erupted from her palm. Not air, it was Gravity.

Ahri was sucked in. "AHHH!"

[Skill: Shadow Step.]

I appeared behind the Caretaker. I stabbed with the Soul-Eater’s Fang. The dagger hit the porcelain skin. SCREEE. It scratched. But it didn’t penetrate.

[Defense: Titan-Grade Alloy.]

[Physical Immunity: 80%.] 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

The Caretaker rotated her head 180 degrees to look at me. "Sanitizing." Her eyes glowed red. [Skill: Laser Eye Beams.] Two beams of red heat shot at my face.

I ducked. The beams sliced through a steel pillar behind me like it was butter. "Sylvia! Freeze her gears!"

"On it!" Sylvia transformed. [Dragon Form: Partial]. Her arms turned into ice-scaled claws. She slammed the ground. [Skill: Absolute Glaciation.] Ice spread across the floor, encasing the Caretaker’s legs.

The Caretaker looked down. "Temperature drop detected. Activating Heating Feature." Her body glowed orange, the ice melted instantly, then steam filled the room wholly.

"She counters everything!" Seraphina cried.

"She’s an Admin Bot," I realized. "She has access to the physics engine."

I looked at the timer. [Time Remaining: 02:15] "We don’t need to kill her," I shouted. "We just need to not die!"

"Easier said than done!" Sparky yelled while hiding behind a console. "She’s calculating our moves before we do!"

The Caretaker dashed. She moved like a glitch. One second she was there, the next she was in front of Seraphina. Her saw-blade hand spun. "Sanitizing Germs."

"NO!" I screamed. I couldn’t reach her in time.

She didn’t raise a shield. She raised her hand.

[Trait Activation: Fallen Saintess.]

[Skill: Life Siphon.]

Green energy ripped out of the Caretaker’s mana core. The robot paused. "Error. Energy Drain detected." She pushed the mana back into the robot, mixed with Holy Light. [Skill: Holy Overcharge.] BOOM. The Caretaker’s arm sparked. The saw blade stopped spinning. "Warning. Circuit overload."

"Good job, Pope!" I cheered pleasantly.

I used the opening. I activated my Void Ring. "System Override!" I didn’t target the robot. I targeted the Floor.

[Target: Floor Panels.]

[Property Edit: Friction = 0.]

The floor became infinitely slippery. The Caretaker tried to step forward. She slipped. She crashed to the ground with a heavy metallic thud.

"Ahri! Now!"

[Ultimate Skill: Nine-Tailed Inferno.]

Nine massive fireballs hit the prone robot. The heat was intense. Combined with the slippery floor, the Caretaker couldn’t stand a chance to stand up. She spun in place, her wheels losing traction.

"Inefficient," the robot beeped, frustrated deeply.

[Time Remaining: 00:30]

"Keep her down!" I ordered. I used [Liquidate] on the floor tiles around her, turning them into molten gold. The gold flowed over her joints. "Sylvia! Cool it!"

Sylvia blasted the molten gold with ice. It hardened instantly.

The Caretaker was encased in a block of gold and ice. She struggled. The block cracked.

[Time Remaining: 00:05]

[00:04]

[00:03]

She broke an arm free.

[00:01]

[00:00]

DING.

The red lights in her eyes turned blue. The saw blades retracted. The ice shattered as she stood up effortlessly. "Combat Test Complete," The Caretaker said, smoothing her apron. "Performance Rating: Acceptable."

"Acceptable?" Ahri panted. "We kicked your ass!"

"You utilized environmental hazards and team synergy. This indicates a processing speed higher than a common goblin. You are permitted entry."

She stepped aside. Behind her, a massive blast door opened.

We walked into the Main Chamber.

It was... breathtaking. A sphere of pure mana floated in the center of the room. It had continents on it. Oceans, Clouds and more. It was like a miniature replica of the Planet. And surrounding it were numbers of holographic screens.

[The World Engine Control Interface.]

"This is it," I muttered. "The dashboard of the planet." I walked up to the main console. It had sliders. Buttons. Maps.

[Tectonic Plate Control.]

[Weather Systems.]

[Mana Density Distribution.]

"I can change the weather," Sylvia breathed, touching a screen. "Global weather."

"I can raise the sea level," Seraphina noted, looking terrified.

"I can turn off gravity," Ahri giggled, reaching for a big red switch.

"Don’t touch that," I slapped her hand away.

I looked at the center screen.

[Global Mana Output: 100%.]

[Destination: The Harvest Ships (Orbit).]

The Engine was currently set to "Export Mode." It was pumping Earth’s mana straight to the Interstellar Species. "Caretaker," I said.

"Yes, Master?"

"Cancel all exports."

"Warning. Canceling exports violates the Treaty of 1999. The Interstellars will be greatly displeased."

"I don’t care about their feelings," I said honestly. "Re-route all mana."

"Destination?"

I grinned wickedly. "To Me."

[System Warning: Mana Overload Imminent.]

[Target: Cain Cross.]

[Capacity Check... Insufficient.]

"Not to my body," I corrected. "To my Assets." I pulled out the Technocracy Database. It contained the blueprints for a Planetary Cannon. "I want to build a weapon," I said. "A weapon that is big enough to obliterate the whole Moon entirely."

Sparky ran into the room.

"Boss! Look at the schematic diagrams! The World Engine is a gun! It’s just pointing the wrong way!"

I looked at the giant mana tube going up into space. It was an exhaust port. But if we reversed the flow...

"Caretaker," I commanded. "Initiate Project: Big Stick. Reverse the flow. Turn the Mana Export Tube into a Mana Railgun."

The Caretaker’s eyes flashed. "Calculating... Feasible. Estimated construction time: 6 Months."

"We don’t have 6 months," I said. "We have 300 days until the deal ends. Sparky. Get to work. Use the Goblins, the Undead, and everything. I want this planet armed and threatening." I placed my hand on the glowing replica of the Planet.

[System Notification]

[You have claimed the World Engine.]

[New Title: Planetary Governor.]

[Global Admin Privileges: Unlocked.]

I zoomed in on the map. I looked at the Northern Empire, the Holy City, then Zimara. They were all mine. But there was one spot on the map that was blacked out.

[Error: Data Corrupted.]

[Location: The Dead Zone (West).]

[Threat: Unknown.]

"What is that?" I asked.