Chapter 151: Gestating the Highest intelligent life

"Reporting to Master," Yang Yi bowed slightly, his tone calm. "With the current assets of the Divine Kingdom, it is enough to support the early development of the Mechanical Route."

"However, the Mechanical Route belongs to a high-consumption system, requiring long-term investment of massive resources, including various metals, equipment, research institutes, and core creation units."

"At the same time, it will occupy a significant amount of the Divine Kingdom's land. If development is chosen, it will slow down the development speed of Cultivation and Martial Cultivation believers for a considerable period."

Yang Fan's gaze narrowed slightly. "How will it drag them down? Give me a specific analysis."

"Beginning large-model calculation…"

Yang Yi's voice paused slightly, and then a series of data unfolded in the Void Realm.

"First, capital consumption. In the Early Stage, we need to purchase a mechanical heart (Basic Level), F-rank industrial metals, energy cores, conductive Materials, and various special minerals. The initial investment alone is estimated to be no less than 10 million divinity points."

"Second, land occupation. Approximately 1 million square kilometers of land must be allocated for the development of the Mechanical Divine Kingdom. This area will be used for mechanical cities, production lines, material storage areas, and basic research institute construction. This will slightly compress the living space of the believers and affect population growth."

"Third, resource diversion. The mechanical system cannot form effective combat power in the Early Stages; all investment is pure consumption. This will significantly reduce the resource supply for Cultivation and Martial Cultivation believers."

"Fourth, maintenance costs. Mechanical units require regular maintenance, consuming a large amount of metal resources. In the long run, resource consumption will continue to grow."

"Based on comprehensive calculations, without reducing investment in believers and given the current income and expenditure structure of the Divine Kingdom, the funds will be completely exhausted in about thirty thousand years."

After listening to Yang Yi's report, Yang Fan smiled softly.

Ultimately, it was a question of money.

And what he lacked least was precisely time and capital.

Thirty thousand years? Under the Hundred-fold Evolution Talent, that would be ten months, and he couldn't possibly do nothing during those ten months.

Divine Kingdom Wars, Divine Kingdom expansion, resource plundering, and Divine Kingdom investments would all proceed simultaneously.

The extra land could definitely be used for further investment.

High-yield projects like Longze Water Mansion and Spirit Peach Mountain, while occupying vast areas and having investment caps, were not his only options; he had more flexible choices.

Fixed assets like moon wells and sun springs occupied very little space yet could continuously generate income.

Currently, the area occupied by 500,000 moon wells and sun springs was less than one percent of the total area of the forest where the Elf Clan resided.

The annual yield of a single moon well was only 12%, but with the enhancement of the Evolution Talent, it became 1200%.

A twelve-fold return in a single year was an incredibly terrifying return. As long as Yang Fan was willing, even if he took the most conservative investment route, he would not be short of funds.

Thinking of this, Yang Fan's eyes narrowed slightly, and he had already made a decision.

The Mechanical Route indeed should be put on the agenda.

"Yang Yi, I want to develop the Mechanical Divine Kingdom. Give me a complete plan. There's no need to worry about capital; the goal is to have the Mechanical Route catch up with the Cultivation and Martial Cultivation systems as quickly as possible," Yang Fan ordered.

"Yes, Master," Yang Yi responded immediately.

"Applying to purchase 1x mechanical heart and 1x Elementary Industrial City (occupying approximately 1 million square kilometers)."

"Supporting facilities include Energy Conversion Devices, Mechanical Production Lines, and an Intelligent Control Hub."

"Resource purchases include F-rank metals, Recycled metal reserves, Conductive ores, Energy crystals, and Industrial modules."

"Auxiliary facilities include an Ordinary Research Institute (Elementary), a Maintenance center, and a Resource scheduling system."

"The total initial investment is approximately 10 million divinity points."

"Application approved," Yang Fan said without hesitation.

"In addition, Master, please grant me temporary Divine Oracle authority to relocate some believers."

"They will serve as the first batch of subjects for the mechanical system's Cultivation."

"Approved."

…

"Furthermore, purchase moon wells and sun springs from the market in batches; the more, the better," Yang Fan said.

"Master, the yield of such assets is low, so I do not recommend large-scale investment. Moreover, the current Elf Clan ecology is sufficient to support its development," Yang Yi reminded him.

"Then do you have a better investment choice? Longze Water Mansion and Spirit Peach Mountain occupy too much area and are already close to their investment caps," Yang Fan countered.

"If Divine Kingdom investment is the core direction, I recommend prioritizing the purchase of Spiritual Veins. Not only can they significantly optimize the Divine Kingdom's environment, but their returns also far exceed those of low-level buildings like moon wells."

Hearing this, Yang Fan couldn't help but slap his own head. "I almost forgot if you hadn't mentioned it. I am currently in Taichu City and have the authority to purchase Spiritual Veins. As an A-rank building, even if we only count the production of Spirit Stones, the returns far exceed those of C-rank buildings."

"Yang Yi, begin large-scale procurement of Spiritual Veins. On Penglai Island, on the ground of the Divine Kingdom, and at the bottom of the rivers. As long as there is space in the Divine Kingdom, bury them all. Let's max out the investment in Spiritual Veins first!" Yang Fan said.

"But Master," Yang Yi paused slightly, "this move will consume a massive amount of capital and is very likely to severely slow down the pace of the Divine Kingdom's development."

"Do as I say," Yang Fan interrupted directly.

"After the Spiritual Veins are laid out, continue to purchase moon wells and sun springs on a large scale. Reserve 100 million divinity points as emergency funds, and invest all the rest."

"As for the funds for the Divine Kingdom's development, you don't need to worry."

Yang Fan's order was final and unquestionable.

Under the Hundred-fold Evolution Talent, it would not take more than two months in the real world to fully recover all investments.

Short on resources? That simply didn't exist.

As long as Yang Fan was willing, the Divine Kingdom's investment returns could even double several more times.

His consciousness returning to reality, Yang Fan let out a soft breath.

"These intelligent lives cannot perceive the SSS-rank Evolution Talent. Their judgment, to some extent, actually limits the upper development limit of the Divine Kingdom."

"Should I… set a set of rules for them? Have them make decisions based on the hundred-fold time flow rate of the Divine Kingdom?" Yang Fan frowned slightly, murmuring in a low voice.

But he quickly rejected the idea.

The SSS-rank Talent was his greatest trump card, but also his greatest hidden danger.

Even though Yang Yi, Yang Er, and Yang San were bound to the Divine Kingdom's Origin, they ultimately originated from other Mechanical Divine Kingdoms.

Even if the risk was only one in ten thousand, or even one in a hundred million, he was unwilling to gamble.

As his strength increased and his experience grew, Yang Fan became more cautious instead.

"Forget it, it's mainly a bias in investment judgment. I'll just keep a closer eye on it in the future," Yang Fan said to himself.

…

Meanwhile, changes were already taking place inside the Divine Kingdom.

Under Yang Yi's overall arrangement, the Mechanical civilization had already begun to take shape.

Overlooking the entire Divine Kingdom, the layout was gradually becoming clear: on Penglai Island, mist swirled and Spiritual Qi surged like a tide, with Cultivation believers sitting cross-legged in meditation, resembling a fairyland; on the left side of the Divine Kingdom's ground, martial arts believers' blood and qi soared to the sky, with the Worlds Number One Martial Arts Arena stretching out in a continuous expanse, where Fist Intent, Saber Intent, and Battle Intent converged like a flood; on the right side, a brand-new city was quietly rising.

It was a city of a completely different style.

With steel as its bones and metal as its walls, the city was filled with various resources.

High-purity metals, Energy crystals, Mechanical components, Modular parts, and even food were decomposed into standardized storage units.

The entire city was cold, orderly, and efficient, without a single superfluous detail.

Within the city, exactly five million believers knelt on the ground, silent.

Their gazes were all focused on the center of the city, where a ball of pure white light was suspended in mid-air.

The light was soft yet filled with a sense of oppression, as if gestating some kind of supreme life.

"mechanical heart…" Yang Fan murmured to himself.