American comics: Starting with Luke the Maker

A massive black celestial body descended like the tip of an iceberg from the halo. It was so enormous that the dense crowd below couldn't even be considered ants.

However, under the compression of layered space, its volume diminished with each descent. By the time it had lowered more than half its body, it appeared large but had already shrunk by a hundred thousand times. Once fully revealed, the reduction would likely approach a millionfold or more.

The black hole-like mass caused everyone below to feel a sense of heaviness and a tearing sensation akin to being stretched. This was merely the aftershock after the space barriers of the transfer hall had weakened it layer by layer.

Fortunately, those below were not ordinary humans. Whether they were dwarves, workers from the Nine Realms, or transferred and dispatched alien races and demons, they could all withstand this residual force.

The energy furnaces within Silent City roared, supplying surging and potent energy. The various equipment and facilities of the transfer point lavishly expended the vast energy input, gradually compressing and weakening the threat and destructiveness of the transferred object.

Dense magical scripts and runic symbols spewed out from all directions. The powers of technology and magic intertwined at this moment, perfectly fused together, acting like two arms supporting and reinforcing the space, stabilizing the falling object.

Silent City rarely needed intense light, but the magnificent scene of the entire city entering a dim night like this was extremely rare. Almost all the city's energy was drawn away in an instant, converging in the transfer hall, where the energy was so abundant that it seemed tangible, even showing unprecedented signs of overload.

However, everything ultimately held steady. Darkness was not a problem for the residents of Silent City; many races even disliked light, preferring to stay in dark places. But most of the indifferent residents found this rare and unusual scene quite novel. After an unknown amount of time, the roaring Silent City finally returned to its former state. The energy supply and distribution in each area also returned to normal. In the core transfer hall, enthusiastic cheers erupted.

One after another, dwarves who had come for various reasons and excuses looked with fervent eyes at the black celestial body above them, resembling a moon-like satellite, wishing they could immediately go up and study it thoroughly. Even if they couldn't use it for now, just touching it would be good.

No one could understand the dwarves' love for the [Furnace], just as they couldn't understand the strange hobbies of other races. If it weren't for the further advancement of forging skills and upgrading their beloved furnace, why would they wholeheartedly take root in Silent City, diligently contributing all their knowledge and power to this magical city?

It was like a lustful ghost seeing a peerless beauty before him but being frozen in place, or a starving glutton seeing a table of fragrant delicacies but being unable to eat. The torment made their eyes turn a little red.

But what could they do? They couldn't even get close to the celestial body. Even the area below the celestial body had spontaneously cleared a circle of empty space, because no one could withstand the pressure of that aftershock, even though it had been weakened by various newly added means.

"It's so beautiful. Is the World Furnace such a beautiful celestial body? It's much more domineering than the stars in our furnace," a three-meter-tall dwarf looked with infatuation at the black, starlight-flashing, magnificent celestial body like a vast galaxy, and said to the dwarf king, Eitri.

The former dwarf king, Eitri, did not answer his dwarf companion. He also looked up with fervent eyes, his expression full of intoxication and joy.

Of course, the dwarf beside him didn't seem to expect a response from Eitri, or rather, he didn't need one. He just greedily looked at the celestial body. He knew that if he didn't look at it more now, it would be difficult to see it again in the future. Waiting for his furnace to be upgraded to the World Furnace was probably an impossible task.

Although the dwarves had great confidence in their forging talent and skills, the dwarves living in Silent City each had their own standards in their hearts. Because they frequently exchanged ideas, with regular exchange meetings with various thresholds and forging levels, they knew who had comprehensive skills, in which aspects they were inferior to whom, who learned knowledge quickly, and who had talent in using new furnaces and could master them more easily.

For example, himself? He had not yet passed the qualification to obtain the Origin Furnace. The score of the qualification exam could only be said to be severely skewed. This was not just him, but many dwarf artisans were the same. They were already the most skilled in forging among the dwarves, and their related forging knowledge and experience were also very outstanding.

Thousands of years ago, they could forge artifacts like Gungnir and Thor's Hammer for Asgard. Now, after cooperating with Heberon, they, who had not stagnated, would only have stronger forging skills and more forging equipment categories. Similarly, a large amount of knowledge would be spontaneously mastered and learned during this period.

Which top dwarf artisan who could gain a foothold in Silent City and be sought after by various parties didn't have a few unique skills of their own? They had already discussed and each chose a path they liked to master in the vast sea of new knowledge, occupying and stabilizing the market.

Being able to do this, and even compete with Heberon's manufacturing department in the manufacture of equipment, couldn't mean that the skills of these top dwarf artisans were low or their knowledge was lacking. But the fact was that Eitri was the only one who had passed the furnace upgrade qualification exam.

The only one who would have the opportunity to touch and use the World Furnace for forging in the future was probably Eitri. At least for the next ten thousand years. This was even considering the situation where they used Heberon's various equipment to assist their learning and focused on possible exam questions.

The celestial body was finally completely revealed. Under the compression and folding of space, it floated quietly in mid-air, with only occasional spatial ripples like flowing water in the air.

The rotating dimensional Rainbow Bridge gradually slowed down from rapid rotation in the brilliant light. With the decrease in energy input, it began to shrink and calm down in a series of slight hums.

Even though the volume of the celestial body had been folded and reduced by an unknown number of times, it still appeared extraordinarily large in the eyes of everyone. The three-meter-tall dwarves and the ten-meter-tall giants of the Nine Realms could only be said to be ants compared to the earth under the shadow of the celestial body.

Although they and this celestial body were in the same hall, the narrowness and vastness of space, the long-term and short-sightedness of vision, were strangely indistinguishable here, giving a sense of inexplicable unity.

Even if they could only see a dark, starlight-flowing hemisphere like the night sky below, it didn't prevent them from having extra [perspectives], like looking at the moon from Earth, having a whole in their hearts.

"That's not a furnace!" Eitri only felt that his vision, spirit, and soul were forcibly captured by some kind of energy emitted from the celestial body. He even had a feeling that if he continued to look, his spiritual consciousness would completely leave his body, and under the attraction and capture of that energy, it would be devoured and exhausted, becoming its nourishment and resources.

At this moment, a roar resounded in the hearts of everyone in the hall, awakening them from that fascinated and distracted state. This saved many [viewers] whose spirits were already scattered and confused. A large number of people with blurred minds instantly collapsed in the hall.

"That's not a furnace," Eitri lowered his head at this time, answering his companion's previous words.

"What?" The dwarf beside Eitri, startled by his sudden words, turned his head to look with a dazed expression. His eyes and consciousness gradually cleared, and he asked blankly, somewhat unsure of Eitri's words. He seemed to have heard Eitri's words clearly, but under his mental trance, he was somewhat unsure.

"This is not a furnace!" Eitri repeated his words, and his tone was much firmer.

"This is not a furnace? Then what is this? Some kind of destructive weapon that was transmitted over? I don't think they need weapons," Dwarf Munk asked back in shock after hearing Eitri's words clearly this time.

He could sense some familiarity from the celestial body. This familiarity might be absurd and very self-centered, but he just felt that this celestial body and his furnace had some similarities in some aspects. This similarity did not refer to the form and entity, but the feeling after seeing the furnace: Oh, this is a furnace!

He had already confirmed this in his heart, and then Eitri told him that this was not a furnace?

"Some kind of packaging box," Eitri looked up a few more times. But this time he didn't watch for a long time with fascination. Before he sensed that familiar fascination and the feeling of attracting all his attention and mind was about to arise, he forcibly controlled his body and pulled his sight and thoughts away from the celestial body.

"Packaging box? This thing?" Munk also looked up at the celestial body with a look of astonishment. The shock in his heart even temporarily ignored the celestial body's forced attraction to him. He turned his head to look at Eitri, and his thick fingers pointed to the magnificent and dangerous big guy above, feeling that Eitri was confused.

If this thing fell down, it could directly wipe out all life in this hall! No matter what your race is, fire giant or frost giant, or demon dwarf or something, not even flesh and blood genes could be left behind. The surging energy fluctuations, even after layers of weakening and sealing, still made people feel numb and shocked.

It was precisely because he perceived the similarity between the energy fluctuations and the energy of the furnace that Munk had that intuitive sense of familiarity.

"Obviously, this is used to bind and seal something. I've seen those runes and patterns," Eitri said with certainty.

"Where have you seen those runes and patterns? Odin's treasure vault?" Munk couldn't be said to be unfamiliar with runic symbols and magic scripts, of course. Why didn't he see anything special about those things? Also patterns? Those starry skies?

"Of course not Odin's treasure vault! What good things can be in his treasure vault? Half of the collections inside were made by us for him! The remaining half were also spoils of war after his conquests when he was young. But at least nearly a third of them were made by our dwarf artisans! So tell me, what's worth seeing in his treasure vault?

It's the energy room! The energy room of Silent City! I've been there! The energy patterns and nodes there have a lot of similarities with this one. Don't doubt my memory! Although I only memorized the node patterns of a part of the area, I have constantly used various methods to deepen that memory to avoid forgetting!" Eitri lowered his voice and said with some annoyance.

Munk was instantly lost in thought again. The energy room of Silent City, it was said to be the biggest core of this city. It was also the highest masterpiece of Heberon's energy technology! Although the dwarves contributed to the construction of Silent City in the beginning, the important core involving the energy source was still personally operated by Luke. And it has been updated for at least three generations now.

No dwarf didn't want to go and see, and visit the structure and technology of the energy room. Maybe they could see something and get a flash of inspiration to use on their own furnace? Anyway, the customized furnace and Heberon's energy are in the same vein.

"So, the real furnace is inside this celestial body? Is it its core?" Munk trembled all over. Such a celestial body that could even destroy Silent City if released without protective measures was just an outer shell packaging box?

However, soon, thinking of the World Furnace itself, Munk easily accepted this concept. Only this kind of packaging box comparable to a divine artifact could be used as the outer shell of the World Furnace.

Several figures suddenly appeared in the blank area in the center below the sphere. Luke, Stephen, Bruce, and a blue, imposing giant who was a whole head taller than Luke and the others.

"Is this your world? It is very peaceful!" A thunderous roar sounded in Luke's ears. It was the blue giant who spoke.

"Believe me, you are at least safe here, without having to worry about the destruction of the multiverse, etc.," Luke glanced at the celestial body rotating in mid-air and nodded with satisfaction. This harvest was okay. In addition to obtaining the furnace for the original purpose, he also brought back a world builder.

Although there might be some troubles to be solved later, with the help of the world builder, he could save a lot of time and effort to analyze the World Furnace, and give textbooks and lessons to the researchers of Heberon by hand.

Even this Alfhios can act as a teacher for the dwarves, raising their forging skills by several levels. After all, the dwarves have conscientiously contributed indelible contributions to the development of Silent City, and there must be some rewards.

Luke's gaze had already shifted from the world builder Alfhios to the dwarves on the other side. (End of this chapter)