Chapter 641: Show Off
“Why should we leave the dragons behind? Are we not worthy to participate in your Dwarven Kingdom’s Invention Competition?”
With a cold snort, the Light Dragon King, Odyssey, who was in charge of pulling Watson’s carriage, returned to his human form and stared at the dwarves in front of him with an unfriendly expression.
“No, we did not mean that. Please calm down, Lord Odyssey! We let the dragons stay because the sky islands are pretty small. With your size, it might be inconvenient for you to go up. Of course, if you want to go, you can, as long as you are in your human form. If you don’t want to go, we can prepare good wine, food, and circus performance for you,” the Dwarf King explained politely.
“There’s a circus performance? I want to see it,” Lily, who was on the back of a dragon, stretched out her hand and said excitedly.
Charlotte, who was not far away from her, covered her face and stepped back slightly, distancing herself from her.
“Then that’s it. Those who want to participate in the invention competition will go to the sky islands with me. The rest of you can stay here and watch the performance while waiting.”
Watson did not mind Lily’s behavior. He stood up with a smile and waved his hand in the air.
“Great! Long live His Majesty Watson!” Lily shouted and left with the rest of the dragon knights.
The dragons turned into human forms and followed Watson and Christina. Compared to the local customs, she wanted to see the dwarves’ famous technology for the first time. Only by understanding the dwarven kingdom’s technology would their kingdom be able to respond better.
“Let’s go.” Watson urged.
The majority of the Dragon Knights and Dragons left behind numbered around 150. It was worth noting that the Light Dragon King Odyssey did not stay since he heard there was a circus spectacle below and dwarf beauties who would dance passionately. He decided to withdraw from the invention competition.
Seeing the bizarre things the dwarves invented was not as entertaining as seeing them dance. After transforming into human beings, many dragons looked away, disturbed that Odyssey would make such a choice. They appeared to be embarrassed by it.
When Prussia, the Dwarf King, heard Watson’s comments, he smiled meaningfully and signaled to some of the dwarves to bring Watson and the others to different airships and flew into the sky.
Watson was only fourteen at the time. Even though he was only an adolescent, his stature was unrivaled among dwarves, much alone the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Kings and the dragons. He stood out even more among the dwarves.
After a few minutes of flight, the airship arrived in the Sky Islands. A golden gate stood in front of Watson and the others. The gate was more than ten meters tall and was attached to the walls. The top of the wall was adorned with magical cannons. The dark barrels glowed with a menacing gleam. The one-meter-caliber magic cannons might rip apart a platinum-tier elite’s defense if launched.
The gate was not open at the time, but a little door on the wall near the entrance was opened. The door was one meter tall, and only a dwarf could pass through it. Even Watson would have to kneel or crouch down to enter.
Watson’s demeanor remained unchanged when he noticed the little door. Many of the dragon knights and dragons who accompanied him had scowls on their faces.
“Dwarf King, what do you mean by this?” Christina could not help but ask.
In response to her question, the Dwarf King grinned, pointed to the small door, and said, “Please forgive us. Dwarves have substantially different physical characteristics than the other races. That door is custom-made to fit the dwarfs’ height. Because our kingdom did not anticipate visitors from other kingdoms, we did not construct the door at a sufficient height in preparation. You won’t mind it, right?”
Christina’s delicate lips twitched. She did not trust a word of what the Dwarf King said. What did he mean when he said he had no idea the guests from other kingdoms were coming? The Dwarven Kingdom had extended an invitation to the Kingdom of Kings ahead of time. How could they have missed it? She could tell the Dwarf King was trying to brag.
The Dwarf King attempted to prevent the dragons from approaching the Sky Islands. She did not comprehend it at first, but she understood it then. It appeared that the dwarves had spent a long time preparing the entrance because they were frightened that allowing the dragons to enter might insult them. That was why they ordered all of the dragons to remain outside.
They were terrified of offending the dragons but not the Kingdom of Kings. Those dwarves were utterly inept.
Christina scoffed. She put her right hand against the hilt of the sword by her waist, and her body emitted a faint starlight-tier aura. Watson had upgraded her to starlight-tier after she became the new Sword Saint. He also made her the leader of the Dragon Knights. Her strength was more than the average person because of her faith in Watson.
She was ready to slam the door in front of her. She would carve a way for herself since the dwarves wanted to disgrace the Kingdom of Kings and its monarch.
A hand pressed against her shoulder as she was about to draw the blade.
“Christina, do not be too hasty. The Kingdom of Kings is here with sincerity. We wish to establish a pleasant and mutually beneficial partnership with the Dwarven Kingdom. How can you demolish other people’s city walls simply because you disagree with them? We must maintain the dignity of the noblemen since the Dwarf King has prepared a door for us.”
“But—”
“There are no buts. Leave the rest to me. ”
He made Christina take a step back with only a few words. Watson approached the city gate and stretched his body in front of her frightened gaze. “Then I will be the first to go in.”
The Dwarf King stood to the side, his eyes blazing, without saying anything. He did set up the city gate to humiliate Watson. He had to demonstrate to Watson that his kingdom was not easily bullied. If he exhibited those weapons later, he would only be able to obtain double the outcome with half the work.
He had anticipated Watson’s reaction after being treated in such a manner. He could deal with Watson whether he was angry or turned around to go, but Watson was about to enter the city through the city gate.
The other dwarves nearby breathed a sigh of relief. They expected the King of the Kingdom of Kings to order the Dragon Knights to attack them if they had been treated cruelly. However, Watson had accepted their agreement rather happily, so they felt a tinge of disdain in their hearts. Even the dwarves knew how to fight back against unfair treatment. How could a kingdom’s ruler be so inept? He was regarded with disdain.
Watson finished his practice and moved toward the city gate while the dwarves pondered that. His body extended infinitely as he moved, from a height of more than one meter to a behemoth hundreds of meters tall. His legs were over a hundred meters tall, allowing him to cross the city wall and enter the city effortlessly.
That scene took everyone by surprise. Watson exuded wholly different energy than before while he was in his behemoth size. Layers of crimson flames burned on his body under the blessing of fury, and that power belonged to the power of rage from the Yin magical source. Watson grew into an angry giant thanks to wrath in his body—it was enough to reduce everything to ash. Many of the dwarves paled and trembled with fear.
“Your Majesty, we have prepared a door for you. Instead of going in through that, you crossed over our city wall. What do you mean by that?”
Prussia, the Dwarf King, was also very afraid, but he suppressed his emotions even though he shouted at the top of his head.
“Since you rarely receive visitors, I do forgive you for not preparing a door that is suitable for us. However, the people in my kingdom are also elites, and ordinary doors aren’t worthy of them. Please forgive us, Dwarf King.”
Watson stood in the air, his voice reverberating like rolling thunder.
At the time, he was transforming into an enraged giant with the Twisted Divine Persona Mask. That was the signature expression of wrath. Even without Twisted Divine Persona Mask’s power, he had the might of a demigod, and if he used his own body, he could reach a thousand meters.
“Your Majesty, you do make a lot of sense. Ordinary doors are not enough for us. There’s no need to be polite. Let’s enter the city together.”
Christina subconsciously believed that it was still Watson’s fault after witnessing Watson’s style of doing things. Her scarlet lips curved upward, and her body expanded. With her giant-like calves, she walked into the city.
Following her, the Dragon Knights and the dragons swelled in size and crossed the city wall outside the Dwarven Kingdom.
“What happened?”
“Is there an earthquake?”
The commotion of hundreds of giants entering the kingdom simultaneously caused many dwarves to leave their homes and poke their heads out to take a look. They were shocked when they saw the giants that towered into the clouds and were hundreds of meters tall.
“What’s going on? I heard that today is the day that the King of the Kingdom of Kings brought the humans to participate in the Dwarven Kingdom’s invention conference. Those guys are humans. Why do I feel like they’re giants?”
Many of the dwarves had never seen humans. They only have a rudimentary awareness of humanity, according to historical documents. Nonetheless, they could see that the people in front of them were not humans.
The dwarves were terrified of being controlled by giants on that fateful day.
“Dwarf King, we have entered. Where is the venue for the Invention Competition?”
Watson bowed his head and gazed down at the ground with his enormous eyes. When he talked, the air he exhaled could cause a storm.
“Enter through the city gate. After a kilometer, turn right, and you’ll see the venue.” The frown on King Prussia’s face was not flattering. After replying, Watson and the Dragon Knights immediately walked in.
“Your Majesty, what should we do now?” A minister approached King Prussia with a worried look on his face. They were going to use the small gate to show Watson and the others their power, but their guests had turned into giants and intimidated them instead. The Dwarves in the city were panicking.
“Haymordinger, that is entirely contrary to your expectations. Give me an explanation.”
King Prussia did not respond. Instead, he turned his gaze toward a group of people not far away. There was an older dwarf with a furry face.
“Your Majesty, there’s no need to be anxious. The small door to intimidate the Kingdom of Kings is only one of our plans. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t succeed. After all, the main part of our plan is to let the Kingdom of Kings see our strength. It’s a good thing that the Kingdom of Kings is acting so tough now. It proves that they think nothing of us. When they see our powerful weapons later, they’ll be even more shocked, and the effect will be even better.”
“That makes sense. Come, let’s go in. ”
King Prussia nodded and led a group of ministers into the kingdom.
When they entered, they discovered that Watson and the others were still giants, while many dwarves were staring up at them in a stupor. King Prussia could not take a look at them and rushed forward and said, “Your Majesty, you have arrived at the invention competition’s venue. Please keep your magic under control. Otherwise, you would not be able to blend in as well as it will be difficult to watch.”
“That makes sense.”
Watson laughed and removed his massive form after noticing that Prussia’s words had softened. His physique gradually reduced to the size of an average person.
The other Dragon Knights and dragons also shrank their bodies.
“Please follow me. Next, I will lead you to the VIP seats and take a good look at our kingdom.”
Watson and the others arrived at a massive venue, led by the Dwarf King. The space was circular, with long exhibition tables placed in a circle from the center outward. There were unusual objects on the tables, and other things that could not fit were positioned around the tables.
There were thousands of tables throughout the venue, and at least 100,000 goods were on show.
“Please allow me to make a brief introduction. We have specifically asked the King of the Kingdom of Kings and his people to come and attend the invention competition. If you have any, you can show off your greatest work. I will lavishly reward you if they are unusual enough to pique the interest of the King of the Kingdom of Kings.”
After directing Watson and the others to the left side of the VIP seats, the Dwarf King directed the ministers to the right side and remarked loudly. His voice went far and wide through the two massive sound-amplifying magic devices over his head, reverberating in the hall.
All of the dwarves who heard him speak looked giddy. It was not just because of the huge benefits he indicated but also because another king was there to see them. That made them very happy.
“I announce that the invention competition will begin now. You can now present your work.”
Following the Dwarf King’s voice, many dwarves in the hall became restless and brought forth their works.
The format of the invention competition was straightforward. Those who were confident in their work could bring it on the stage for everyone to see. They would be compensated if their work was of high quality. Great noblemen might even acquire some of the items on the spot, and the inventions with the highest transaction value in past years were valued in the tens of millions of gold coins. The person who obtained the highest transaction value would also be crowned the King of Inventions.
The first dwarf to present his work was an elderly. His beard had turned white, but his body remained muscular. He pulled a little cart in front of him while holding a hammer in his right hand. His work was loaded onto a trolley.
“This is the work I created. It is named Handheld Magical Cannon. The idea is comparable to the magical cannons found outside of our kingdom. The magic cannon is difficult to load, and each shot uses a lot of magic crystals, so I improved it! This Handheld Magical Cannon’s potency is one-thousandth that of the magic cannon. It can injure a gold-tier elite. However, it only requires one-thousandth of those required by the magic cannon. It can be shot roughly ten times after being loaded with gold-tier stones. It is also very easy to disassemble. Typically, after using it, you only need to remove the magical stones, and it will remain undamaged for several years.”
The old dwarf extracted the magical cannon from the cart in front of him. It was the length of an arm. During his presentation, the magic cannon fired a ball of burning magic that, when it impacted the earth, caused a hole several meters wide, causing many dwarves to shout out in amazement.
“That Handheld Magical Cannon is not bad. That improvement can double the strength of our kingdom. If our soldiers are equipped with that weapon in the future, you can only imagine the battle scene! I am delighted with that invention. I will reward you with 10,000 gold coins.”
King Prussia waved his hand generously. Immediately, a guard carried a massive box for the inventor with shiny gold coins in it. That made the old lover who invented the magical cannon look happy; he repeatedly said, “Long live His Majesty.”
“Your Majesty, what do you think of that invention?” King Prussia asked Watson, intending to show off.
He thought that the Handheld Magical Cannon was incredible. Compared to other kingdoms’ magical cannons, the Dwarven Kingdom had very few, let alone such an advanced one.
“It’s not bad.”
Watson nodded and thought to himself, ‘Didn’t I have something similar in my past life?’ However, compared to the pistol, the production of the Handheld Magical Cannon was simpler, resulting in a larger body but not enough power.
“Not bad?” Prussia’s expression was unhappy. He felt like Watson was obviously amazed by the magical cannon but deliberately refused to admit it. “Since you say so, you must have seen flaws in the magical cannon, or you have seen better things. I wonder if you can comment on it.”
“It’s not a flaw. It’s not bad to create such a weapon, but I have seen better things, indeed. Since you asked, then I shall comment a little on it.”
Watson stood up and walked over to the inventor. He took the magical cannon in front of him and examined it. “Its structure is to use magical circuits to trigger magic. This will cause the fire to be delayed! I propose adding a layer of saltpeter explosives outside the magical circuits to speed it up. Some high-quality metal can be mixed in as shrapnel to boost its lethality.
“Other than the firing speed and power, I don’t think there is a calibration device on it. That will reduce the accuracy. Such a weapon might accidentally injure one of our own in a battle. Add a scope! In addition, we should also add a layer of safety apparatus on the body to prevent accidental misfiring due to improper placement.”
When Watson was speaking to Prussia, he did not lower his voice. The entire hall could hear his voice due to his combat aura. The inventor was initially dissatisfied with Watson’s statements that disparaged his achievement, but his look became increasingly shocked when he heard Watson’s words.
He thought that what Watson said was very reasonable. He would not have formed such an opinion if he did not understand the magical cannon. He barely heard a few lines that had bothered him during the study process before they vanished into thin air; he even felt compelled to re-develop the Handheld Magical Cannon.
“You are absolutely right. Those issues did not come to my attention during the study process. If I can enhance it according to your suggestion, its power will be ten times stronger, and the size will be smaller! I am surprised that humans have such a great comprehension of innovations too. I am wondering whether I can seek your counsel if I have any concerns about future research.”
The old dwarf sighed and looked at Watson with admiration.
“If I am still here, then I will gladly help you. After all, inventing and creating is something that benefits the world.”
“That’s great.”
The old dwarf’s expression became more and more respectful.
King Prussia’s demeanor became increasingly obnoxious. He was surprised that Watson was not only not jealous of their kingdom’s creation but also understood it. Furthermore, the inventor had already prostrated himself after only a few phrases.
If that continued, the aim of displaying the Dwarven Kingdom’s strong weaponry to terrify the Kingdom of Kings would not be accomplished. He stood up after exchanging a glance with Haymordinger, who was nearby.
“Your Majesty, what you are saying now is merely speculation. Anyone can do what you say. Those who have invented know that there is a long way to go from theory to practice, and some theories can’t even be realized. I wonder if you can do as you just said?”
“Of course, it is possible. I can demonstrate it to you on the spot, Your Majesty.”
Watson stretched his finger toward the Handheld Magical Cannon in front of him, sensing the harsh tone in Prussia’s remarks.
“Fusion system, activate..”