CHAPTER 145: FORGING THE NEW SYSTEM

In the blue sky of Zane’s island aburptly cutting from the endless no-where,

The air on the island shimmered faintly with colors that didn’t exist in any world, Zane stood quietly within one of his vast forge.

On the table before him rested four dull, broken fragments of the once radiant pearl — the remnants of a powerful system artifact, now dim and lifeless.

Beside him hovered a small blue holographic figure, projected from his technowatch.

Eira floated there, her light flickering softly as she looked at the shattered pieces in silence.

Her voice finally broke the quiet.

"A... unique system?" she asked, still sounding unsure.

Zane’s calm gaze remained fixed on the fragments.

"Yes," he replied simply.

He lifted one of the pieces with his telekinesis , letting it float higher as faint ripples of light gathered around his hand.

"When you weren’t here — during my creation arc — I made a lot of things."

He spoke casually, as if mentioning something ordinary.

"Weapons, artifacts etc... I experimented with them all. For some time, I made my own systems — martial arts systems, divine weapon systems and many more."

He paused, the faintest trace of nostalgia touching his tone.

"There were also ideas I never finished because I got bored and moved on to other projects."

Eira tilted her head slightly. "So... the one you’re making now?"

Zane nodded once.

"Yeah. One of those unused ideas."

He glanced down at the dull fragments again.

"Though I’m using material from a weak world, so it won’t be as powerful as the original idea but... it’ll still be unique."

Eira nodded, understanding his tone, though curiosity still flickered in her eyes.

Zane side-eyed her suddenly. "And, you know," he said lazily, "I’ve recorded everything from my every phase in the main computer. And I did order you to watch all of that."

Eira froze mid-air, her blue holographic form flickering guiltily.

"I—I tried, Boss! But..." she pouted, crossing her tiny arms. "It’s so slow-paced! A quarter of the recordings are just you sitting there thinking!"

Zane blinked once. "So?"

"And there are so many recordings!" she continued, her voice rising in mock frustration. "It’s endless! You have days of footage where you’re just thinking of rearranging atoms of a sandwich or talking to yourself about symmetry!"

Zane sighed, shaking his head slightly.

"Why are you acting like a reader of a slow-paced webnovel?"

Eira’s hologram glitched for a moment. "Because it feels like one!"

"Whatever..." Zane muttered, brushing the air with his hand. "Do it in your free time."

Then he smirked faintly.

"Or I’ll replace you."

Eira went stiff. Her hologram straightened instantly, eyes wide.

"Y-you wouldn’t..."

Zane raised an eyebrow and smirks playfully. "Oh, I would."

Eira nodded rapidly, her tone suddenly obedient.

"Understood! I’ll watch everything! Every single frame!"

Zane gave a satisfied nod. "Good."

As she hovered beside him, Eira muttered quietly under her breath — or rather, in her internal thoughts — "My boss really is mad enough to do that..."

Zane didn’t look up from the fragments.

"I heard that," he said flatly.

Eira froze again, a pixelated sweat drop forming on her holographic head.

Zane stretched his arms slightly, glancing once more at the floating fragments.

"Anyway," he said, his voice calm and steady, "let’s start."

He turned toward the Pearl’s broken pieces , the metallic platform humming beneath his feet.

"For this," he murmured, "I’ll need a few materials to make the system."

Then, without looking up, he called out,

"Hey, Five."

A few seconds later, Eira blinked, tilting her holographic head.

"...Bot name is Five?" she asked, confused.

Zane nodded. "Yeah. He’s one of the oldest bots I built. After a certain number, I upgraded them so they could produce more of their own kind."

He looked toward the doorway as metallic footsteps echoed.

"So, the original ones I personally made — they’re numbered."

A tall, silver-framed bot entered, its core light glowing blue.

"Command ?" it said in a mechanical yet polite tone.

Zane pointed toward the forge.

"Fetch me the Tier-Zero Forging Hammer."

The bot’s optics blinked once. "Command obliged."

It turned sharply and exited to retrieve it.

Zane then swiped his hand through the air, calling several more bots from standby.

"All right," he said, "fetch me some materials from Storage No. 349."

Eira blinked. "Wait... isn’t that one of the trash storages?"

Zane smirked faintly. "Yeah. It’s where I keep weak or failed system-related materials. Perfect for this scale."

He paused briefly, then began listing without looking away from the forge.

"Bring me — an Essence of Unity, a Synthetic Memory Crystal, one Harmony Catalyst, Artifact-Binding Resin, a piece of the lowest-grade Astral Rock, some strands of the lowest-grade Astrosilk, and a small amount of Chronolium Dust, lowest grade."

He thought for a moment, then nodded to himself.

"...Okay, that’s it. Fetch it."

The bots responded in unison, voices crisp and synchronized.

"Command obliged."

They moved quickly, dispersing into different corridors of the vast research complex.

Zane dusted his hands together lightly, his expression calm.

"Now then..." he said, turning to Eira.

"Start a log and recording. Document everything from the moment I begin forging the new system."

Eira straightened, her holographic body flickering as she saluted playfully.

"Recording protocol — activated."

Her tone softened as she added,

"Ready when you are, Boss."

Zane nodded once, his deep purple eyes shifting toward the forge as the room’s energy began to stir.

All five bots soon returned, their movements precise and mechanical.

Each carried the materials Zane had requested — carefully placing them on the large metal table beside the forge.

The final one, Five, stepped forward and presented a hammer.

It looked modest — plain, with a simple handle and no ornate decorations — but faint blue runes ran along its surface, glowing softly with restrained power. A small, light-blue crystal was embedded near the head of the hammer, pulsing faintly like a heartbeat.

Zane took it from Five’s hands, weighing it for a second.

"Good," he said quietly. "You and the others did well."

He glanced at them once before adding,

"Now you can return to your other work. But before that..."

He turned his gaze toward Five.

"Turn on the Mystic Fire — the red one."

"Command obliged," Five replied immediately.

The bot walked to the corner of the forge room, opened a reinforced metal panel on the wall, and pulled down a heavy lever.

A deep click echoed through the room — followed by a rising hum.

The air temperature surged instantly. In front of Zane, a small section of the floor opened, revealing a hidden compartment — from it burst forth a flame of pinkish-red color, threaded with shimmering yellow wisps that danced like sunlight trapped in molten glass.

Zane’s deep purple eyes reflected the flickering blaze as he nodded slightly.

"Good."

He set the hammer down on the table and slipped off his long grey coat, folding it neatly over a chair. Underneath, he wore a plain white t-shirt that contrasted the crimson light of the forge.

Reaching to the side, he pulled on his black forging apron, tightening the straps around his waist.

With a faint wave of his hand, the four broken pearl fragments lifted gently into the air — alongside a diamond-like crystal that caught the flame’s glow beautifully.

Zane flicked his wrist, and the materials floated into the Mystic Fire.

The flames wrapped around them immediately. The pearl pieces began to glow red-hot, their edges softening under the extreme heat. The Harmony Catalyst, the diamond-like crystal, melted first — turning into a brilliant, glowing red liquid that shimmered with patterns of divine energy.

Zane’s eyes focused. He made a precise gesture with his fingers.

The molten liquid split into four separate portions, each flowing toward one of the glowing pearl fragments.

As they merged, faint runes flickered across the surface — the sound of gentle energy crackling filled the forge.

Zane stepped back slightly, letting the fusion process continue.

"Stay in there a little longer," he murmured, watching the transformation with a calm gaze.

Then, as the fire continued to burn steadily, he turned toward the other ingredients laid neatly on the table — the Essence of Unity, Synthetic Memory Crystal, Artifact-Binding Resin, Astral Rock, Astrosilk, and Chronolium Dust, each faintly resonating with different hues of light.

Zane studied them for a moment, his expression calm and calculating, before saying softly —

"Let’s begin the next step."

Zane’s gaze shifted toward the materials laid on the table.

He raised his right hand slightly, and with a soft pulse of energy, a small glowing white-yellow stone rose into the air.

"The Astral Rock," he said quietly.

As the stone hovered, faint ripples of grey energy gathered beside it — a spectral hand, formed entirely from Null , emerged in the air. Its movements mirrored Zane’s perfectly.

The stone floated between the ethereal hand.

Both moved in unison — fingers pressing together, twisting lightly.

Crack... crack...

The Astral Rock began to break apart, glowing dust spilling from it like shimmering starlight. Each fragment was ground finer and finer until only a soft, white-yellow dust remained, glowing faintly in the air.

Zane gestured again, and the dust drifted down into a floating metallic bowl.

He gave a short nod, satisfied.

Then, beside him on table , the green dust of Chronolium began to rise, swirling slowly as if drawn by an unseen current.

Zane flicked his hand lightly. The Chronolium dust floated toward the bowl, merging with the glowing Astral dust.

The mixture shimmered — the two colors swirling, intertwining until they formed a chartreuse-colored sand, glowing faintly between yellow and green.

Zane’s eyes reflected its light as he murmured, "Good."

He then turned his gaze toward a transparent container that floated up from the table — filled with a clear, viscous gel that rippled slightly like liquid glass.

As it floated closer, a portion of the gel lifted out of the box, hovering in front of him in a delicate sphere.

"Artifact-Binding Resin," Zane said calmly.

With another wave of his hand, the chartreuse sand merged into the gel like substance, slowly dissolving within it. The gel changed color — from clear to a glowing yellow-green, the light pulsing gently inside it.

Zane nodded once more, satisfied with the mixture.

He directed it back toward the original box, and the glowing substance flowed neatly into it, replacing the clear gel entirely.

"Now," he said softly, his deep purple eyes turning toward the heart of the forge, "the forging part."

The Mystic Fire roared faintly as he approached.

Inside, the four pearl fragments, now completely fused with the molten Harmony Crystal, glowed with intense crimson light. Their surfaces shimmered, molten edges rippling as the materials continued to merge and stabilize under the flame.

Zane watched the process with calm precision, eyes faintly glowing in the reflection of the forge’s light.