100\% DROP RATE : Why is My Inventory Always so Full? Chapter 703 - Groundwork

The week of rest passed quickly.

For most of Lootwell, it was probably not long enough.

For Lilith, apparently, it was more than sufficient.

The moment the agreed rest period ended, preparations for the preserved region resumed.

Lucien had originally expected to remain mostly on the planning side.

That expectation disappeared when Lilith came to him personally.

"You’re joining the construction."

Lucien looked up from the documents before him.

It did not sound like a request.

Lilith placed another set of calculations on his desk.

"The current estimate is three months."

Lucien glanced through them.

That was already faster than he expected considering the scale of the project.

Unlike the World Fortification Network, this project would require far more formation work. Installing the different layers of formation arrays would take up most of the construction.

After that came the final authority layering, which Lucien would personally handle once everything else was in place.

Lilith continued.

"If you work with the formation teams and help solve problems as they appear, we can remove at least a month."

Lucien looked at her.

"Two months?"

"Possibly less."

That was enough.

The sooner they finished, the sooner people could begin training.

Lucien agreed without much resistance.

Only afterward did he learn another reason Lilith had been so determined to include him.

She wanted the project finished sooner so she could claim her reward sooner.

Lucien stared at her for several seconds after discovering that.

Lilith did not appear ashamed in the slightest.

Lucien sighed.

At least her selfish reason happened to benefit the entire world.

He could live with that.

•••

Not long afterward, the main construction force assembled in the preserved region.

The scale of the gathering immediately changed the atmosphere of the ancient battlefield.

For thousands of years, much of the land had remained quiet.

Materials arrived by the mountain. Workers crossed newly established routes. Temporary camps appeared along the safe districts. Survey markers stretched toward the horizon.

The preserved region had finally begun waking up.

Lilith took overall responsibility for construction coordination.

Anvil-Horn handled the larger engineering structures and heavy forging.

Seren, Morphy, and the other craftsmen were divided among the primary facility teams.

The Silent Monastery also sent a considerable number of monks.

Some specialized in formations. Others understood mental stabilization, authority interference, and the preservation of spiritual environments.

They would be especially important for the Clear Mind Halls and the areas touching ancient battlefield impressions.

The Lithrens joined the material and structural teams. So did the Alloykin monks.

That combination would once have been uncomfortable.

Now it was merely loud.

Lucien passed one work area and heard two groups arguing intensely over the correct mineral mixture for a pressure-bearing foundation.

There was no hostility between them. Just extremely passionate disagreement over metal.

Lucien considered that progress.

The stigma surrounding the Alloykin Race had weakened considerably over the past months.

Those who had integrated with the Living Alloy Essence had changed dramatically.

They were no longer bound to the same limitations and instability that had once defined much of their race.

Their bodies had become more complete and adaptable, while their natural affinity with metals had only grown stronger.

That made them especially valuable in construction.

Lucien valued them greatly.

The Abbess had even thanked him personally.

Not for giving them power.

For giving them the opportunity to become something other than what the world expected them to be.

Lucien had not known how to answer that.

So he simply accepted the thanks.

•••

The construction force was split into several major divisions.

Lilith insisted on that immediately.

A project this large could not survive if everyone simply worked wherever they felt useful.

The first division handled the safe infrastructure.

Lilith directed them personally.

They built the main roads, temporary transport corridors, material depots, worker shelters, medical stations, rest districts, observation towers, and emergency evacuation routes.

Nothing dangerous could function properly if people could not move through the region safely.

The second division handled the heavy structures.

Anvil-Horn led that group.

The Authority Resistance Fields required enormous reinforced foundations capable of enduring repeated Law pressure.

The battlefield simulation sectors needed observation towers, barrier anchors, command platforms, underground shelters, repair depots, and structures strong enough to survive intentional destruction.

Anvil-Horn loved that assignment.

Lucien suspected half the structures would survive the end of the world out of pure professional pride.

The third division handled the specialized facilities.

Seren, Morphy, the Lithrens, and the Alloykin monks formed the core of that group.

They built the internal mechanisms for the Loss Condition Zones, Extraction Trials, Interweaving Grounds, and equipment-testing districts.

The Lithrens dealt with mineral compatibility and structural materials.

The Alloykins worked on responsive components, adaptive metallic pathways, and parts that needed to change configuration during different trial conditions.

Seren and Morphy coordinated the actual artifact structures connecting everything together.

The fourth division belonged largely to the Silent Monastery.

They were responsible for the Clear Mind Halls.

Those could not be treated like ordinary buildings.

The halls needed carefully controlled environments capable of introducing mental pressure without leaving permanent contamination behind.

Meditation chambers were layered inside purification formations.

Foreign-intent simulators were separated from recovery zones.

Emergency cleansing arrays were placed within reach of every trial district.

The monks also helped establish spiritual isolation barriers around particularly dangerous preserved impressions.

Then came Lucien’s side.

The formations.

That was where the truly difficult work began.

•••

Lucien worked alongside Eirene, the Lunarians, the Celestials, and scholars from the Obsidian Collegium.

Every major facility needed formations.

Thousands of them.

Some were simple.

Others were not.

Fortunately, almost everything had already been designed beforehand.

The complete construction documents existed.

Ratios had been calculated.

Material requirements were listed.

Connection points were mapped.

Failure conditions had been simulated.

What remained was placing them correctly inside a region that did not behave like ordinary land.

That was the part Lucien could accelerate.

His Structural Insight allowed him to identify placement problems quickly.

Perfect Calculation adjusted measurements before workers wasted materials.

Spatial Intuition helped with teleportation networks and large regional partitions.

Parallel Thoughts allowed him to monitor several formation groups at once.

Whenever two systems interfered with each other, Lucien usually noticed before either group finished installation.

That alone saved days.

Lilith had not exaggerated.

Having him physically present changed the pace dramatically.

Eirene handled the formations involving suppression and controlled restriction.

The Lunarians supported her and adapted those principles for different races, Laws, and body structures.

The Celestials worked heavily on pressure calibration.

They were among the best people available for judging what levels of authority pressure were dangerous, useful, or simply pointless.

The Obsidian Collegium scholars handled recording, classification, and compatibility.

Every formation variation was documented.

Every interaction with the preserved battlefield was recorded.

If a Law behaved strangely in one sector, they wanted to know why.

If two formations unexpectedly reinforced each other, they recorded that too.

Nothing useful was allowed to disappear as an accident.

•••

Marie, Kaia, Sylra, and Marina were given a different responsibility.

They were not assigned to a single construction team.

They were assigned to the land itself.

The preserved region remembered too much.

That made construction dangerous.

A valley might appear perfectly stable for days, then suddenly reproduce the pressure of an ancient battle.

A buried Law collision could awaken when disturbed.

A section of ground could react badly to excavation.

Even changing a river’s direction might affect something hidden beneath it.

The four elemental women understood those changes faster than almost anyone else.

So they moved constantly.

The spirits moved with them.

Earth spirits monitored underground disturbances.

Water spirits watched rivers, buried channels, and moisture patterns.

Wind spirits crossed vast distances carrying reports.

Fire spirits marked dangerous zones and tested how certain battlefield impressions reacted to heat and energy.

Whenever something changed, Lucien knew quickly.

Whenever someone strayed too close to a dormant battlefield impression, the spirits warned them.

Sometimes very enthusiastically.

One worker nearly entered a restricted valley before three wind spirits began pushing him backward.

He tried stepping forward again.

They pushed harder.

By the third attempt, he finally understood.

The spirits looked extremely satisfied with themselves.

Lucien approved.