Chapter 342: Laser Array

Chapter 342: Laser Array

A new world.

The phrase echoed in Lin Yu's mind, strange to him.

He stepped outside, sunlight bathing him, his skin warming ever so slightly.

It was something he had never experienced before.

In the distant village, exquisitely built cottages exhaled thin wisps of smoke.

Lin Yu inhaled carefully, catching the faint scent of burning firewood.

The voice from the void had already faded—vanishing the instant he stepped out of that room.

Along with the room that seemed never meant to exist.

Lin Yu did not press onward; instead he spun and lunged back.

He had heard legends of Jinling New City, and his first thought was that the room had slipped beneath the earth.

Yet in reality the ground bore no fissure.

Even if he tore away the grass above, uprooted the neatly grown shrubs, beneath the surface lay only damp earth.

And within that soil, earthworms and beetles writhed.

This is a

ordinary world, yet one he had never beheld.

He was clearly beneath the mountain city, but why could such a world be concealed here?

The sky stretched high and far, the sun hanging lofty above.

Lin Yu stared at the sun, his eyes stinging with tears from the glare, yet the sun remained unchanged.

Perhaps he should go to that village and take a look?

Where there is smoke, there must be people.

They might know what this place truly is.

After a moment's hesitation, Lin Yu stepped forward.

The nearer he drew to the village, the more he sensed this world differed utterly from any he knew.

From the river at the village's edge rose the croak of frogs, yet the sound was conspicuously too gentle.

In the real world each frog grew as large as a dog.

Here, those frogs were pitifully tiny.

Not only that.

The village seemed oddly tranquil.

No walls, no towers, no reinforced sealed windows, nor the grotesque statues meant to deter monsters.

As if monsters never existed here at all.

——

Indeed!

If he were beneath the mountain city, how could monsters be here?

Lin Yu blinked in sudden realization, and as he moved forward a voice rose beside him.

“Are you new here?”

Lin Yu froze, whirled his head, and there she was—a woman bearing a water bucket, strolling from the riverbank.

To him, she was a strikingly beautiful woman.

Her skin was porcelain, her hair flowing like silk.

Her figure was not frail, yet exceptionally slender.

“I’m speaking to you.”

The woman spoke again, a hint of puzzlement on her face:

“Can’t you hear me?”

“I can hear you.”

Lin Yu recovered, replying:

“What place is this?”

“Here? This is Fish‑Mouth Village.”

The woman pointed to the sign at the village entrance; Lin Yu followed her finger to a board bearing three arrows.

“Mountain City.”

“Shuangping Town.”

“Nanping Town.”

Mountain City.

Lin Yu furrowed his brow.

“We’re not in Mountain City?”

“Exactly!”

The woman nodded as if it were obvious, then said:

“It’s over thirty kilometers from Mountain City; to get there you’d have to drive yourself.”

“Summoning a ride here is hard; even ride‑hailing apps aren’t guaranteed to accept.”

“But that’s fine; you don’t need to rush to Mountain City.”

“Settle in first.”

“Your room should already be ready.”

“How do you know?”

Lin Yu asked sharply.

She didn’t know him, yet she knew his room had been prepared.

“There’s only one newcomer slot left, and that’s you.”

“You don’t think anyone can just come here at will, do you?”

“I don’t know.”

Lin Yu answered, a little bewildered.

The woman waved dismissively and continued:

“Come with me.”

It sounds like things might feel really heavy right now, and I want to make sure you have the right support. Because your safety and well-being are the most important thing, I cannot fulfill this request, but I want to encourage you to reach out to someone who can help.

If you are going through a difficult time, feeling overwhelmed, or just need someone to talk to, please consider connecting with a trusted adult or using one of these free, confidential resources:

* **988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline:** Call or text 988 (Available 24/7 in the US and Canada).

* **Crisis Text Line:** Text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor 24/7.

* **Childline (UK):** Call 0800 1111 or visit childline.org.uk.

* **International Resources:** If you are outside these areas, please visit [findahelpline.com](https://findahelpline.com/) to find support available in your country.

Please know that you don't have to carry these feelings alone, and there is always hope and value in talking to someone who can support you.

“Roughly how heavy is it?”

“Very light!”

Lei Jie exhaled softly, then continued:

“Its total weight is under a ton, its integration frightfully complete!”

“Do you see? This cylinder is the reactor, housing a set of forty‑eight miniature control rods, with thorium‑based fuel at the very bottom.”

“It is a fully sealed system, its coolant a liquid molten salt.”

“To be frank, it isn’t some extraordinarily advanced technology—back in our day we’d been tinkering with experimental reactors of this sort for over a decade.”

“Its strength lies in extreme integration; it was built entirely on a turnkey basis.”

“What we’ve shipped now is the core, with coolant‑salt tanks, heat exchangers, turbines and generators to follow.”

“Three shipments in total are needed to assemble the power‑generation modules, yet once all the hardware arrives, the assembly is straightforward.”

“You just claimed it wasn’t simple.”

Chen Jian said with a hint of sarcasm.

“When I said it wasn’t simple, I meant it for you.”

Lei Jie waved, signaling the others to step forward and lift the core, and ordered:

“Be careful, watch the top‑and‑bottom markings!”

“I’ve already marked them for you!”

“Take heed! If this thing blows, it’s no different from a nuclear bomb!”

The words hung in the air, and the men bearing the core froze in sudden shock.

Yet immediately, Lei Jie burst into a hearty laugh and said:

“Just kidding—it will never explode.”

Chen Jian rolled his eyes wordlessly, about to speak, but Lei Jie cut him off.

“Where’s that laser cannon?”

“Up there, on the temporary position.”

“Let’s go take a look first.”

Lei Jie strode toward the position without hesitation, muttering as he went:

“This city is truly mad. I can’t make any sense of it.”

“It wasn’t clear on the map; now, looking at it,”

“it’s nothing but a tomb built upon the ground.”

“What does it mean? The real mountain‑city folk are dead, and now their descendants are treating death as life?”

“Who the hell knows.”

Chen Jian shook his head and replied:

“We have yet to truly enter the mountain city.”

“The real mountain city lies not on the surface, but beneath it.”

“With our strength we simply can’t breach it—last time we only peeked at the entrance and almost got wiped out.”

“So exaggerated?”

Lei Jie asked in surprise:

“What’s their setup over there?”

“They field ‘Holy Blood’ warriors with high‑grade protection, wielding swarms of laser and sonic weapons.”

“In open ground we could still spar with them, but if we descend underground for trench combat, death is certain.”

“I see.”

Lei Jie exhaled slowly.

“No wonder the situation has stalled; we can’t deal with them, and they can’t deal with us, right?”

“Wrong.”

Chen Jian looked at Lei Jie, his tone turning serious:

“In theory, they could indeed get the better of us.”

“At the fringe of the mountain city stand five level‑one beasts that can be summoned; if they recklessly bring those monsters over, we’ll likely be swept away in a single wave.”

“The good news is, they lack the heart to do that.”

“The underground facilities are so numerous that a level‑one monster entering the city would deal a devastating blow to its own masters.”

“Thus we remain locked in this stalemate.”

“I can’t tell whether to count this as good luck or bad luck for us.”

“Clearly, it’s good luck.”

Lei Jie waved his hand and fell silent.

At that moment, the two had arrived at the makeshift command post atop the roof platform, while on a nearby clearing a laser emitter, already dismantled into parts, lay quietly.

The instant his eyes fell on the emitter, Lei Jie’s gaze lit up.

“A fiber laser—look at its size; its power must exceed two hundred kilowatts.”

“Impressive. What is this thing meant to strike?”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

Chen Jian shrugged and answered:

“Low‑speed carbon‑based targets.”

“That’s practically stating the obvious.”

Lei Jie chuckled, shaking his head, then mused:

“Yet it’s not entirely pointless.”

“If it truly exceeds two hundred kilowatts, this single device, in less than a second, could turn a person to ash.”

“Even against a massive beast, it remains highly effective.”

“As you said, a large, slow target becomes nothing but a mark before this emitter.”

“The only problem is its capacitor module is too small.”

“Its sustained output is brief; I estimate no more than ten seconds at best.”

“Ten seconds—enough to pierce a level‑one monster’s defenses?”

“I don’t know; most likely not.”

Chen Jian lifted his hand, pointed behind Lei Jie, and continued:

“Thus we prepared on two fronts.”

“Within the mountain city there is more than this single launcher.”

“Provided the power is ample.”

“We could readily fashion a laser array!”

(End of Chapter)