# Chapter 7: The Emergence of the Internet
A powerful resonance of Steel Force vibrated and echoed, as wondrous as two magnetic fields attracting each other. Joshua could clearly sense every move and the joyful mood of Chu Hao, who was hundreds of kilometers away underground.
"It's been... such a long time."
He murmured softly to himself.
Although Chu Hao had rarely gathered with the others since the Abyss of Anos expedition and had been staying in the Rune Dwarf city, even so, its contributions were no less than anyone else's. Whether it was living metal, super alloys, underground cave excavation, or subway tunneling, Chu Hao was responsible for it all.
The technological development it brought could even be said to be the driving force behind the explosion of Moldavia's Mana technology. Without the peculiar living metal and transcendent alloys, many machines would have been unusable.
Joshua wasn't in a hurry to meet Chu Hao. Instead, he stood quietly before the massive steel statue on the outskirts, continuing to ponder how to properly manifest what he desired in his heart through Steel Force. Several hours later, when piles of metal statues of various sizes had accumulated around Joshua, Chu Hao's figure emerged from the ground not far away, at a massive construction site.
The enormous steel body strode out from an equally massive cave entrance. Around the construction site marked "Moldavia Subway Station No. 1," many Dwarf engineers were dispersing the human employees, clearing a smooth path for the Steel Element. The moment the Steel Giant reached the surface, it turned its head toward the warrior's location, meeting Joshua's gaze.
The next moment, it took large strides and soon arrived before the warrior.
"Creeeaaak..."
Accompanied by the sound of metal scraping, the massive Metal Giant slowly knelt on one knee before Joshua. The originally flat ground sank under its weight. Joshua looked at this imposing Steel Giant, fully clad in armor, smiled, and reached out to pat its enormous head: "No need to be so formal. After all, you are my creation, and in a way... my child."
"Zzzt!" The Steel Giant's entire body trembled, emitting a sound of surprise and emotion.
Although the words were a bit awkward, Joshua still acknowledged this. After all, regardless of how one looked at it, Chu Hao was indeed his creation, and in a sense, his child... Not to mention anything else, its body form was almost exactly like his Legendary true form, differing only in size and density.
Behind Chu Hao, the panting Dwarf engineering team was running on their short legs, desperately trying to keep up. Some of the smarter ones had driven Mana forklifts. By the time they finally caught up, Joshua had already finished reconnecting with Chu Hao and had the massive Steel Giant stand up.
"Speak. What matter required you to bring Chu Hao specifically to see me?"
Joshua turned his head, looking at the lead Dwarf engineer. This engineer had a great white beard thick enough to wrap around his own waist, which proved his high status—second only to the Great Forgemaster of the Rune Dwarves, equivalent to an Elder of the clan.
This Dwarf engineer clearly understood Joshua's personality, so he didn't waste words. He bowed slightly to the warrior and said respectfully: "Lord, the Moldavia-Winterfell-Dwarf Settlement subway is largely complete. The underground tunnels have been excavated and reinforced, and the tracks are being laid. It's expected to be finished before winter this year—once the subway trains are completed, we can attempt experimental operation."
"Not bad. Your progress is fast, three months ahead of schedule."
Joshua was quite pleased after hearing this: "If you need more funding, submit an application. Mention my name and say I've approved it."
The Moldavia Subway Project was an underground rapid transit plan jointly undertaken by the Moldavia Lord's Mansion and the Dwarves. Compared to the surface, with its endless Magical Beasts and changes caused by Transcendent Beings, the underground subway was actually safer. The presence of the Dwarves also made the originally high maintenance costs negligible—they had to maintain most of the caves anyway, so sparing some effort for the subway wasn't a problem.
In Joshua's plan, a massive subway network would cover the entire Northern Empire, connecting the whole empire through the Dwarves. This would not only allow the scattered Dwarf clans across the empire to reunite their strength but also enable the empire to consolidate its dispersed forces. For major powers, transportation was always of utmost importance.
"What surprises me even more is that you've taken such good care of Chu Hao."
After discussing some subway-related matters with the Dwarf engineer, Joshua looked up at Chu Hao, who had already stood up. It had grown huge, nearly a hundred meters tall. Standing like this, it was about one-third the height of the massive statue Joshua had created. Even from deep within the city, its enormous form, over thirty stories tall, was clearly visible.
"I didn't expect you to have grown so big in such a short time."
Joshua patted Chu Hao's toe with considerable satisfaction—for a human, even the toe was hard to reach. His gaze was full of reminiscence: "I remember when you were just that small—"
"Zzzt!"
Chu Hao's single eye flickered with red light, sensing the care from its 'father,' the Steel Element emitted a joyful sound.
Meanwhile, in the Dwarf engineer's eyes, although Chu Hao's appearance was much larger, before the warrior, who seemed as tiny as an ant, this massive Chu Hao somehow appeared smaller. The huge contrast between this perception and what his eyes saw made him feel strangely uncomfortable, yet it also seemed perfectly natural.
But contrary to what the Dwarf engineer thought, although Joshua only seemed to be patting Chu Hao, the warrior was actually observing the Steel Element's current physical condition. Soon, he discovered a surprising fact.
—Chu Hao's internal body structure was remarkably similar to his Legendary true form!
Joshua was astonished to find that Chu Hao was like an inferior copy of his Legendary true form. Whatever organs, components, and modules his body had, Chu Hao's body also had corresponding organs, components, and modules! Except for differences in functionality, the basic structure was completely identical!
In other words, if Joshua's ability was Steel Force, then Chu Hao's ability was to replicate Joshua's abilities—that was the degree of similarity.
"Fusion Core Heart prototype, Electromagnetic Control Organ, Psionic Leap Engine... no, just a crystal, the internal structure hasn't been replicated yet. Ah, and there's even a Mass Wave Condensation Crystal, though not yet activated... but most of the transcendent organs are complete!"
Moreover, Chu Hao's body was made of living metal and could deform at will, making it easy to add more mounting devices later.
Joshua scanned with a single glance, discovering countless replicas of his own abilities within Chu Hao's body. He couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement: "Good heavens, is this the resonance of Steel Force? Even though we haven't seen each other for so long, it can still replicate my abilities remotely!"
Although this comparison wasn't entirely accurate, judging by Chu Hao's current strength, even ordinary Ultimate-rank experts couldn't do anything to it. From a Titan's perspective... a few-year-old Chu Hao was still just a child, yet already this powerful at such a young age—its future was limitless!
But the warrior wasn't surprised by this. After all, Chu Hao was a product born from the crystallization of an entire world's Steel Force mixed with his own—in a sense, it could be called a World Child, a being of that level. Surpassing ordinary Titans, who were merely separated by bloodlines, wasn't anything strange.
Just then, the Dwarf engineer's troubled voice sounded again.
"Lord, although Mr. Chu Hao has helped us a great deal, it's simply too big..."
"We've more or less thoroughly researched living metal and alloys. We've also had Chu Hao consume various rare metals. There's no need for Mr. Chu Hao to continue staying underground—it can't get any bigger! If it grows any larger, it won't be able to move around in our city; it'll get stuck."
The Dwarf made a bitter face as he complained to the warrior. Joshua thought for a moment and nodded—it made sense. For a city built to Dwarf proportions to have accommodated Chu Hao for so long was truly a miracle in itself.
"Zzzt, zzzzt zzzt."
Chu Hao emitted a sound of agreement.
Joshua also agreed with Chu Hao's view: "That's right. It's time for you to see the outside world... Of course, you can. From now on, you and Hei can find a place to live in the mountains near Winterfell. I'll have the engineering team build you one—you don't want that? You want to dig it yourself?"
Hearing Chu Hao's response, Joshua shrugged: "Of course, suit yourself."
The warrior was quite open-minded. As long as his child didn't want to do anything too outrageous, he generally wouldn't refuse.
At this moment, the bustling sound of voices came from the city gate. Many Moldavia citizens were curiously watching Chu Hao from the city gates and walls.
"So big!"
"What is this, a giant armor golem? It looks really strong!"
If it were any other time, they wouldn't dare discuss such things so freely before such a massive Transcendent Being. But now, with Joshua right there, not even a Steel Giant could scare them—not even an entire Wyvern legion.
"Look, Chu Hao. They're welcoming you."
Watching the crowd staring at Chu Hao with curiosity, confusion, admiration, and envy, Joshua smiled slightly. His figure flickered, and he instantly appeared on Chu Hao's shoulder. He said softly: "Welcome home."
"Zzzt!"
...
After helping many people climb onto Chu Hao and having the Steel Giant take some children and city residents for a walk around the outskirts of Moldavia, Joshua had helped Chu Hao integrate into the human world. He knew full well that some among them were spies from other factions, but letting them know this information didn't matter.
After taking Chu Hao to the area around Winterfell, Joshua didn't return to the Lord's Mansion. It was now evening, and the noctilucent clouds above Moldavia shimmered like rippling water. He flew to the top of the world, overlooking the entire Mycroft Continent.
In Joshua's eyes, as his altitude increased, the distant horizon gradually curved, the shape of the world became clearer, and the light enveloping the entire world grew more distinct.
Currently, the world was quite peaceful everywhere, but there were also considerable changes.
The Far South Kingdom had fallen into court infighting. The royal family had expended too much power resisting the Mad Dragon army and confronting the Frost Lord head-on several times, causing many ambitious individuals to stir, wanting to take their place. Even the royal family's opening of the southern mountain region's surrounding territories for free development couldn't satisfy those people's appetites.
But Joshua knew this attempt would never succeed. The Old Pope had mentioned this matter to him not long ago. He had already sent Loranda and Sa Ya to quell the rebellion. Now that the world urgently needed to accumulate strength for outward expansion, any internal friction was an unacceptable loss.
This might also be the time when the Paladins, after the world's fate had been changed, began to gradually appear, cultivating their reputation and fame as the Pope's successors.
The Western Mountains remained chaotic, as they had been for the past few hundred years. Yet within this chaos, a strange stability had been maintained. With the Cultists gradually being eradicated, and through trade and exchange with the underground civilizations, the Western Mountains had gradually formed a Transcendent power circle centered on adventure.
Due to the high rewards, many former war mercenaries and adventurers preferred underground exploration missions over their original war-related work. Now, starting from the massive underground cave entrance, countless mercenaries carried dreams and hopes as they descended into the dark, deep abyss. They would delve into tunnel after tunnel, crack after crack, searching for ruins left from the ancient era.
In this process, they might encounter wars between underground Dwarves and Elves, might enter endless underground fissures, might become lost in this dark subterranean abyss, never to return to the surface... But miracles would always favor some, allowing them to return laden with treasure.
This wasn't empty talk but fact. A lucky team had indeed discovered ruins from the Era of Radiance. The now-ineffective magical items and relatively well-preserved books were bought by major powers at astronomical prices. This adventurer team even became honored guests of a certain kingdom, reaching the pinnacle of life—this immediately inspired more adventurers and mercenaries to explore.
For a power, rather than spending greater costs and funds to explore the unknown underground abyss themselves, it was better to use a seemingly large sum—actually insignificant for a nation—as a reward to attract mercenaries and adventurers to explore. Both sides found it worthwhile, and no one would embezzle such funds.
The Eastern Plains and the Northern Empire, though occasionally turbulent—such as competition between major Mage groups and power struggles among nobles—had no major news otherwise.
The Sky-Piercing White Tower had now devoted all its energy to the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground. It was said that the Legendary expert Barbarossa had already communicated with the long-slumbering will of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground and, through trade, had obtained some data on the Giant Divine Soldiers. As for the Northern Empire, thanks to Joshua's influence, they had simply brought back a damaged Giant Divine Soldier for research. The technology within was astonishing even by current standards.
Beyond this, the popularity of Fae Cards was no accident.
Due to environmental factors, Fae Cards had become popular earlier than in the previous life. This unique game style, where one only needed a crystal card to register a personal account and collect cards for battle, with its sense of achievement from nurturing... Without a doubt, the explosive popularity of Fae Cards was no coincidence. They had become a standard feature in every tavern. If a tavern didn't have a Fae Card table, it would inevitably be eliminated by competitors.
Speaking of this matter, the Wind Fairy Changfeng had actually come to ask Joshua about some things not long ago—she seemed to want to create a card of the warrior, patting her small chest to guarantee it would be a powerful Legendary card. But Changfeng didn't know about the warrior's deeds, so she couldn't start the design.
Joshua was willing to tell her everything. After all, it wasn't anything shameful—everything he had done was open and aboveboard, worthy of praise. But... if he told her everything, it would sound like bragging. After all, saving the world multiple times, defeating armies single-handedly—even Joshua himself thought it sounded too unbelievable. He could only attribute it to having grown so strong that he himself didn't understand his own power.
"This year has really been peaceful."
Standing above the atmosphere, just one line away from the Void, Joshua looked down at the entire world and let out a heartfelt sigh.
But while Joshua was sighing, he absolutely couldn't imagine what kind of changes the various transformations he had brought to this world would collectively bring to the Mycroft Continent—
"Barbarossa—look at this massive magical network!"
In the center of the Eastern Plains, a pure white tower that seemed carved from white marble—the Sky-Piercing White Tower.
"Good heavens, we've been unaware of this for so long... This network is hidden too deeply. Without the encoding decryption brought by the Giant Divine Soldier, we would never have discovered it!"
Baniel and William, two Legendary Mages, were in a secret laboratory above the hundredth floor of the Sky-Piercing White Tower. Under the bright white light, they spoke to a bald-headed Mage with a serious expression. The bald man, staring at the light screen before him, murmured: "Alright, Baniel, shut up quickly. I'm looking... Truth above, it's so beautiful..."
After a long while, having roughly memorized most of the network structure, he let out a long breath.
"Such dazzling magical beauty. This perfectly flawless magical network—is it naturally occurring, or a legacy left to us by the Era of Radiance? If it's natural, then the world has been incredibly generous to us. If it's a legacy..."
Speaking thus, Barbarossa sighed slightly. This powerful Elemental Legendary Mage couldn't help but clench his fist: "When will we surpass our predecessors?"
"You're overthinking things, my dear bald sir."
Perhaps because of Barbarossa's earlier 'shut up,' Baniel didn't hold back either. Between familiar friends, there were no such formalities. He shook his head: "How many years did our predecessors develop before creating the Era of Radiance? The Sage took hundreds of years just to unify the power of the entire continent. The history of our Era of Falling Stars, even counting the barbaric era, hasn't exceeded eleven hundred years, has it?"
"But you're right. This massive magical network that connects the entire world—it's time to study it properly and make it serve our purposes!"