Chapter Forty-Two: 3D Animation

“Don’t you have any entertainment over there?” After explaining 3D modeling and its main purpose—games—Sun Licheng noticed that Master Dexterous still looked confused and asked out of curiosity.

“No, Boss, we don’t have that kind of entertainment. This thing called ‘games’ doesn’t exist. Everyone in our land devotes themselves to the glory of the Empire.” Master Dexterous gave Sun Licheng a firm answer.

“So, what do the goblins of the Empire do all day? You’re not constantly at war, are you?” Sun Licheng found it hard to believe.

On Earth, and certainly in China, games are a massive pillar industry. How could the Goblin Empire, with such an advanced civilization, have no entertainment? No games?

“We truly are constantly at war, Boss,” Master Dexterous replied, astonishing Sun Licheng.

“Who do you fight with?”

“With many different groups.”

“For example?”

“I remember battles with the orcs, the barbarians, the elves, the sea folk, the dragons, and the titans. We even fought with the angels. And then, as you know, we went to war against the gods themselves—and finally, we lost.”

Master Dexterous’s answer made Sun Licheng’s hair stand on end.

“Um… have you ever fought against the forces of Hell or the undead?” Sun Licheng asked cautiously.

Master Dexterous thought for a moment and shook his head. “There’s no data on that in my archives. We’ve probably never fought them.”

“That’s a relief.” Sun Licheng wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

“The goblins of the Empire were a band of war maniacs. They managed to offend everyone in this world and ended up getting beaten up by everyone else. They were practically running headlong down the road to ruin. They really didn’t die unjustly.” Watching Master Dexterous still looking rather proud, Sun Licheng couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

…

“So this was the capital of the Goblin Empire in those days?” Sun Licheng was stunned, pointing at the holographic screen.

“Yes, this is the capital of the great Goblin Empire, the world’s largest city—Rosso,” Master Dexterous replied with pride.

On the screen was a newly finished 3D reconstruction animation of the Goblin Empire’s capital, produced by Master Dexterous.

Vast wilderness stretched as far as the eye could see, and towering steel structures rose everywhere. Jets of steam erupted, mechanical golems labored, and the whole scene bore a distinctly steampunk style.

Amid this endless sea of steel buildings stood an enormous egg-shaped structure—the capital of the Goblin Empire and, at the time, the world’s center—Rosso.

The “egg” was made of countless steel struts reaching to the sky, the gaps between them sealed with transparent panels. Inside stood towering buildings beyond counting, and the goblins lived their lives inside this giant shell. At night, amber light illuminated the entire egg, transforming it into a luminous gemstone that sent dazzling brilliance across the world.

“It’s beautiful!” Sun Licheng exclaimed sincerely.

Just then, the scene changed again.

In the sky, hundreds of massive air battleships cruised through the clouds, led by a flagship over a kilometer long. Around the great vessel circled swarms of flapping planes, like shrimp following a giant whale.

“This is the pride of the Air Fleet—the ruler of the skies, the Empire’s First-Class Battleship Carrier, and our flagship,” Master Dexterous said, voice rising with excitement.

“Amazing! How many of these warships did the Goblin Empire have in its heyday?” Sun Licheng asked.

“Twenty were produced in total,” replied Master Dexterous.

“That many? By the way, can you show me what the pilots of the Goblin Empire looked like back then?” Sun Licheng was curious about the goblins of that era.

Soon, a goblin pilot in standard imperial flight suit appeared on the screen.

To Sun Licheng’s surprise, this goblin was not ugly at all—by Earth standards, he would even be considered quite handsome.

“This is a goblin? Then why am I so ugly now?” Sun Licheng pointed at the screen and questioned Master Dexterous.

Master Dexterous could only shake his head at this; he too had no idea why modern goblins differed so much from their predecessors. Though nothing fundamental seemed to have changed, comparing Sun Licheng to the goblins of the Empire made him look positively alien in his unattractiveness.

“Could it be the work of the gods? Ah, if only I could travel back to the Goblin Empire, I’d be a handsome man too.” Lacking a better answer, Sun Licheng could only mutter this with a hint of bitterness.

“By the way, what do angels look like in this world? Have you ever seen one?” Sun Licheng wondered aloud. Angels—creatures that appeared only in dreams. If it were a female… “Heh, that would be something to long for,” he chuckled meaningfully.

Master Dexterous nodded, and the screen changed again.

“That’s an angel? How powerful!” Sun Licheng exclaimed.

In the ink-black sky stood a towering figure clad in heavy armor, surrounded by golden light that radiated an unmatched, overwhelming presence. The giant sword in his hand flashed with deadly brilliance, his whole being exuding an air of grim majesty. His eyes were cold and arrogant, filled with utter indifference towards all life.

“The Archangel. It was he who used his magic to bring down our air carrier,” Master Dexterous said, his face full of sorrow.

“It’s all right, it’s all in the past now,” Sun Licheng said, patting Master Dexterous’s large head in consolation.

Not wanting to hurt Master Dexterous’s fragile feelings any further, Sun Licheng returned to work.

Under his guidance, Master Dexterous quickly completed the 3D map of the tunnels.

“One cannot see the true shape of the mountain from within the mountain…” Sun Licheng mused, waxing poetic.

Inside the tunnels, he hadn’t felt much, but looking at the images on the screen now, he could truly appreciate how dangerous the place was.

Thanks to jet propulsion, Master Dexterous moved faster than most beasts, but even so, with so many monsters lurking in the tunnels, most areas remained shrouded in darkness and unknown.

“From my recent explorations, I’ve identified eighteen extremely powerful magical beasts.” Master Dexterous marked their locations on the map with red dots.

With his report nearly finished, Master Dexterous awaited further instructions, but Sun Licheng seemed to have thought of something new.

“Hmm, Master Dexterous, can you create a 3D animation of your exploration from a first-person perspective?”

“What? Boss, what do you mean by first-person perspective?” Master Dexterous was lost again.

…

That evening, in the stone castle, Sun Licheng and his companions gathered after dinner, eyes glued to the holographic screen on the wall.

With Sun Licheng’s explanation, Master Dexterous had produced a 3D animation in first-person perspective, which was now being shown.

In the dark tunnels, two mechanical arms danced at the bottom of the screen—Master Dexterous’s mechanical tentacles. The tentacles moved steadily forward, and before long, they would encounter a wild beast, or even a monster—thrilling stuff!

The Goblin Empire’s computer CPUs far surpassed anything on Earth, and Master Dexterous had nearly 150 in his head, so the 3D animation effects were astonishingly realistic—far beyond anything Hollywood could produce. Sun Licheng was ecstatic.

Not only him, but even the Wolf King and the three little rabbit-wolves were drawn in, watching with total absorption. The three little rabbit-wolves, especially, wanted to watch but were too scared; when something terrifying appeared, they would bury their heads in the Wolf King’s belly, only to peek out again a moment later—utterly adorable.

And so, the world’s first 3D adventure film was born in Sun Licheng’s castle.

When the animation finished, Master Dexterous awaited Sun Licheng’s orders for the next step.

“We won’t be going back to the underground tunnels. Starting tomorrow, we prepare for departure. In three days, everyone sets out. Our goal: head south!”

Sun Licheng waved his hand with grand resolve.