The manufacturing bots buzzed around the printer and scanned its structure and parts. After they were done, They returned to Hax and showed him the parameters.

It was dusk, and Hax still worked on the printer. Ratha and Gorre enjoyed their food while watching him.

“The printer is done,” Hax said. He took a couple of steps back and set his eyes towards the building-sized printer.

He couldn’t help but be amazed by the machine. And for a split moment, images of his fragmented memories flashed one after another in his mind. It showed trillions of power suits being produced in millions of factory worlds. These power suits were then shipped to the various fortresses that guarded against the aliens.

Hax shook his head. He didn’t know why but it seemed fighting aliens was the only thing his past self was doing. Will I be like that too?

Who knew what the future held. Hax just had to get stronger to see it. He needed to return to his universe. Why was he here? Who brought him here? And who he truly was?

“Going to another universe will not be an easy feat. I have to take all the resources I can.”

“If you want resources then you should take over the Boiling Volcano,” Gorre said, chewing his stir-fried cloud chicken.

“What can I get from the Boiling Volcano?”

“Spirit crystal. That shiny, transparent stuff is very expensive and cultivators value them greatly. If you can take the source, then basically you would have unlimited money since any cultivator would be willing to buy it for a high price.”

“If that is the case, then why don't these sects trade with each other?”

“Because they needed it themselves. Those who have more spirit crystals will have an increase in overall strength. So selling them is like weakening themselves. They’re not as valuable as magic weapons, though, so sometimes cultivators are willing to trade the crystal for these weapons.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” Hax said. “The spirit crystal can increase their strength internally, while magic weapons are only an external object. So unless the magic weapon is exceptional, the price is affordable, or there was an influx of spirit crystal, there is no way cultivators would be willing to trade.”

Gorre raised his eyebrow. “That makes sense. I only tell you some things and you could already think of this stuff. No wonder you’re called the savior.”

Being called a savior didn’t have anything to do with being smart, Hax thought. “But I don’t need their spiritual crystal or magic weapons. I only need their money or other basic resources such as metal, gunpowder, and other elements that cultivators don’t need to increase their strength. With how much they valued the crystal, they would probably be willing to sell an iron mine for a few crystals.

“That’s true. Iron is like dirt for them,” Gorre said. “But won’t the cultivator refuse to buy crystal from you? You are the enemy after all.”

“Where will they buy the crystal from then?” Hax smiled. “There’s no other sect that is willing to sell their crystal. I’m the only source. And if they don’t want their rivals to defeat them, they would have to buy it from me even if they don’t want to.”

“Won’t that make your enemy stronger?”

“That can only happen if I sell the crystal to one of them. But if I sell to every sect, then the increase of their strength would not put me at risk. Besides, the resources I could get from them will make the rebellion army far stronger.”

Gorre nodded and smiled. “Nice. So what’s next? Are you going to attack the Nefarious Sword?”

“That’s the plan. But I’m not sure about the strength of their elders and sect leaders.”

Suddenly, a man on a horse approached Hax. “Sir, I’m the messenger from the Black Wolves. I have a message to tell you.”

“Go on,” Hax said.

The messenger proceeded to tell Hax everything he knew about the Royal Palace. The numbers of guards in the outer area, their strength, defenses, warehouse, and other vital information. “We also confirmed that the Royal Palace is going to hold a banquet within a few weeks, sir. All the sect leaders and elders will be invited to this banquet. And lastly, Nesterin, the leader of the Black Wolves, apologizes for not giving you valuable information, sir.”

“Every information is valuable. Especially the last one.” Hax smiled. “Since all the leaders and elders will be invited then the Nefarious Sword sect is basically free for me to take.”

The messenger was shocked. “You’re planning to take it, sir?”

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“We’re strong now. I understand that years of oppression make it hard to believe, but we can defeat the norms. Haven’t you got a chance to kill a cultivator with your hand?”

The messenger nodded. “I did, sir. I pulled the trigger and watched them fall to their death. I see their eyes looking at me like they still don’t believe that I can kill them.”

Hax laughed. “Good. Then you have nothing to doubt. Tell Nesterin to stay in the Royal Palace and send me any information that I need to know immediately. Don’t use any birds if the situation is not urgent.”

“How would you attack the sect if the Black Wolves is in the Royal Palace, sir?”

“We have so many new members. And the Man Hunter is training them non-stop. I Believe it’s enough to take over a sect without their strongest members.”

The messenger sighed, seemingly disappointed that he couldn’t join the fight against the sect. “I understand, sir. I will relay the message.”

“Go.”

The messenger rode on his horse and left.

“Ratha,” Hax called. “Tell your father and Balmar to prepare the supplies. Tell them that this is the moment that they have been waiting for.”

Ratha nodded and ran off. She didn’t forget her cheesecake and grabbed it as her little feet raced on the grass.

A few minutes later, Bodin and Balmar came running towards him.

“Hax, are we really going to attack the Nefarious Sword?”

“Sir, do you mean what you said?”

“I recalled I never joke about anything before,” Hax said. “Bodin, when I tell you that the pistol can kill a cultivator. Was that a joke?”

“No,” Bodin replied.

“When I tell you that I can give the norm a life where they wouldn’t be oppressed was that a joke?”

“No, Hax, it wasn’t.”

“Precisely. But I’ll tell you again. I’m planning to take over the Boiling Volcano. And to do that, we need to eliminate the Nefarious Sword sect.”

“But they have thousands of cultivators. And a lot of them are stage-2 cultivators who have a lot of experience from traveling outside the kingdom.”

“Yes, they indeed have thousands of cultivators. Gaelin and Ailmon already told me. But we have hundreds of thousands, no? After our victory against the Royal Army, we have convinced the norm that we can stand our ground. I thought that was enough to topple the entire kingdom, but it wasn’t enough. We need to defeat the Nefarious Sword. Not just to reach our goal in the beginning but to convince the norm that we can win.”

“The other sect will attack us if we do that,” Bodin said.

“We attacked the Royal Army before and they did nothing. They didn’t even move a muscle except writing a few sentences to me. This is our best chance. If we don’t do it now, the cultivators will eliminate us and step on our heads once more.”

Balmar and Bodin looked at each other. The sweat that fell from the forehead indicated that they were scared. It was good that they feared this decision. This meant that they were not reckless. Hax should have put more people with this temperament in charge, but sometimes he needed someone like Nesterin too.

That man might be reckless, but he was brave and willing to take the risk to achieve his goal. Hax chuckled when he recalled the Black Wolves stormed the sect without preparing anything. A gang fight worked much differently than a war.

“Alright,” Bodin said. “If you think it’s wise to attack then I will prepare what you need.”

Hax nodded. “Calculate the number of supplies that we needed to bring and try to predict how long we could last in a prolonged siege. I’m confident we can defeat the enemy, but preparing an umbrella on cloudy days will save a lot of men.”

Bodin nodded. “I’ve heard of that phrase.” He smiled. “I will get it done.”

Balmar then said: “I will prepare the soldiers, sir. How many men do we need to bring?”

“Everyone. But that would put a lot of strain on you. So go pick a few captains and let them be in charge of a few squads. You’ve been learning from Nesterin, right?”

“Yes, sir. I have learned how to coordinate my army. Even though I'm not as good as him, We’re very effective in the jungle.”

Hax smiled. Balmar underrated the Man Hunter too much. In fact, their value wasn’t that much different compared to the Black Wolves. Despite their lack of experience in coordination, their hunting skills were enough to fill that weakness. They know how to be patient, how to blend in with the environment, and survive under harsh conditions. Hunting animals required a set of skills since they’re trying to kill something that always wary of their environment. This skill let them kill effectively. The enemy almost couldn’t react before they died.

They're the ideal soldiers. Each one of them.

“I have expectations of you, Balmar.”

His eyes widened. “I don’t deserve the honor, sir.”

“You do. Because I have expectations for all of you. Train your men properly if you want them to return alive. They have families and loved ones waiting for them.”

“I understand, sir. I will train them as hard as I can.”

“Their lives depend on it,” Hax said. “Go now.”

“Yes, sir.”

As he watched Balmar dashing to the barrack, Hax opened the blueprint screen with his mind and clicked on the power armor.

The screen popped out and showed the 3d model of the armor at various angles. The parameters were also on the screen. And at the bottom, a list of required materials was written.

Hax approached the printer and turned on the display screen. It immediately showed him a software where he can draw his designs and form them like a 3d model. On the side, a toolbar showed various tools that he could use to make his model.

Judging by the fragmented memories inside his mind, he might have used the printer before, but he couldn’t remember their function and how to use them. So he had to try out all the tools and features available within the software. After a few hours of experimenting, Hax finally felt ready to draw the power armor model.

First, he tried to make a helmet. It had a simple shape, simply a round helmet with a metallic appearance, that was all. But he failed miserably.

Within that helmet were various electronic parts and he couldn’t make a round shape unless he disrupted these parts. That was not an option. These electronic parts were the motion sensors that let the user see something moving through a wall. It would give a tremendous advantage when there were obstacles such as fog or smoke in the way.

“Let’s try it again.” Hax wiped his sweat and told one of his bots to grab a chair for him. This would take hours, but he was fine with it. This sensor was important and could decide whether his army would lose or win.

He opened the blueprint panel and watched a video of how to design the model within the printer. This was a very useful feature of the system. But even with that Hax still made some mistakes and he had to re-watch the clip to see where he was wrong.

“This is a lot of work. And I need my coffee.”