Florida Man in Magus World: Unleashing Liberty and Freedom

New lasers descended from the sky, illuminating the area west of Felix's house in a brilliant crimson glow. In an instant, a massive structure materialized as if teleported directly onto the land. Unlike previous constructions that required some time to assemble, this one appeared fully formed, its arrival punctuated by a low, mechanical hum that hinted at its purpose.

Jagged Beard, already wary after witnessing the mysterious lasers, turned to gape at the towering building. The crimson structure stretched 20 meters high, dominating an acre of land like an imposing fortress. Its front shutter, resembling the door of an oversized airplane hangar, gleamed with an intense metallic sheen. The unknown red alloy radiated waves of heat, forcing the dwarf to shield his face with one hand as he stared at it.

"What kind of sorcery is this?"

Jagged Beard's eyes narrowed, staring at the building. Feeling the oppressive heat, he wasted no time kicking off the ground with his glowing, green-enchanted boots. Carrying as many barrels of spirit beer as he could manage, he zipped back and forth between the site and his mountain home, leaving behind afterimages.

Felix stood nearby, arms crossed, watching the spectacle with a bemused grin as Jagged Beard completed his marathon beer rescue operation in less than five minutes.

After securing his prized barrels, Jagged Beard returned, hefting a massive blue smithing hammer that was almost as large as his torso. He stared at the new structure with a mix of curiosity and suspicion, gripping his hammer tightly.

"Step back, kid!" Jagged Beard yelled at Felix while he stared at the structure, getting nervous, "I'm tellin' ya, that thing reeks of demonic sorcery! It's probably a spawn pit for some dungeon overlord or worse!"

Felix chuckled, patting the dwarf on the shoulder. "Relax, old man. It's not a dungeon. It's a workshop. Let me show you."

Ignoring Jagged Beard's warnings, Felix strode up to the structure and placed his hand on the massive front door.

A system interface shimmered into view in midair.

.

War Machine Factory

This facility allows the construction of advanced android units tailored for combat against supernatural entities and extraterrestrial threats.

Note: This factory requires sufficient materials, energy, and a manager to operate. It does not generate units from nothing.

Current Buildable Units:

- Infantry Gunner

- Infantry Medic

Required Materials:

- Mana Petroleum

- 1st Grade Mana Crystals

- Spirit Stones

- Any Raw Mineral Ore Enjoy exclusive content from empire

- Liquid Essence

Required Energy Source:

- Essence Stones

.

Felix's eyes sparkled as he examined the unit schematics, which depicted sleek, humanoid machines with a distinctly sci-fi aesthetic. The androids featured slender, metallic frames made of gleaming gold alloys, but their arms were bulkier, optimized for wielding heavy firearms with uncanny precision. The infantry medics looked more specialized, with intricate tools attached to their arms for healing and repair tasks.

However, his excitement dimmed slightly as he read further down the menu. The energy and material requirements were daunting. Although the building was equipped with its own inventory slots, transferring resources wasn't as simple as dumping everything from his personal stash into the factory.

Felix began his experiment by transferring some refined petroleum into one of the factory's designated slots.

The moment he poured the first batch, the slot filled instantly, maxing out at its apparent capacity of 999 barrels of oil. The corresponding requirement in the factory's material list, previously highlighted in red, turned black to indicate it was complete. Felix nodded in satisfaction and moved on.

Without hesitation, he added 999 spirit stones, followed by 999 newly created mana crystals. He watched the inventory register them one by one.

For the miscellaneous raw minerals, Felix began by dumping the assorted ores Jagged Beard had hauled in. However, the system didn't lump them together as he had hoped. Instead, it registered each type of ore in separate inventory slots, leaving the requirement unfulfilled.

Felix let out a small chuckle. This was an easy fix. With a casual gesture, he withdrew the highest-quality mineral from the pile—a luminous, silver-white rock identified as White Mithril. Transferring it to his personal inventory, he employed his usual trick with the philosopher stone.

In mere moments, the single piece of White Mithril multiplied into 1,000. Not satisfied, Felix took it a step further, creating a mountain of one million pristine White Mithril ores. Grinning at his handiwork, he carefully swapped out the remaining inferior minerals from the factory's inventory, filling the slots entirely with the sparkling, high-grade ore.

"Problem solved," Felix muttered with a satisfied smirk, watching the system acknowledge the completed requirement.

However, when Felix reached the final requirement—Liquid Essence—he hit a roadblock. The term referred explicitly to a rare and potent resource that, in his case, translated to his own blood. The factory seemed to require an absurd amount of it, enough to fill 999 barrels. Felix winced at the thought of siphoning that much from himself.

Just as he was contemplating alternatives, Jessica, his system guide, chimed in with a solution.

<At your current level, you can dilute your blood with water, and it will still qualify as Liquid Essence. Once you've met the requirement, use a philosopher stone to mass-produce them.>

Felix raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "So, you're saying I could technically hawk tuah into a bucket, add some water, and call it a day?"

Jessica rolled her virtual eyes, exasperated by Felix's deliberate misinterpretation and his gen-z vocabulary.

<No, you can't substitute it with your saliva. Your diluted blood retains enough concentrated essence, but spitting into the inventory doesn't meet the system's minimum threshold for usable Essence.>

"Lame… There goes my shortcut," Felix quipped with mock disappointment.

Resigning himself to the task, he calmly pressed a nail against his wrist, severing an artery with precision. Transparent, shimmering blood surged out, vanishing into the glowing system inventory panel as if absorbed by an unseen force.

Jagged Beard, standing nearby, watched the scene with mounting unease. From his perspective, Felix appeared to be poking at thin air like a lunatic before suddenly cutting his wrist and bleeding an otherworldly substance.

"Oi! What in the name of Elven Hell are ya doing, ya madman?!" the dwarf exclaimed, instinctively stepping forward to stop Felix and bandage the wound.

But as Jagged Beard moved closer, he stopped short, stunned. He felt the surge of raw energy radiating from Felix.

The transparent blood thrummed with an immense power that combined the concentrated essence of mana and aura into a single, potent force. The energy emanating from Felix was overwhelming, akin to that of a 6th-circle mage unleashing a lifetime's worth of accumulated magic in an instant.

Jagged Beard's jaw dropped. "Kid, who are you?"

Despite the fact Felix was bleeding Essence, he glanced at the dwarf and smirked like it was no big deal, "Just your friendly neighborhood lunatic, trying to power up a factory."

The dwarf grumbled, "You're a lunatic, that's for sure. Bleeding power like that, you'll end up causing an earthquake at this rate!"

Felix chuckled. "Relax. This is all part of the process."

Meanwhile, the Liquid Essence counter on the system screen climbed steadily. As the essence filled the factory's reservoir, the final material requirement flickered from red to black. A low hum emanated from the building, signaling that the War Machine Factory was fully operational.

Felix flexed his wrist, watching as the wound sealed itself almost instantly, courtesy of his innate regeneration. With the immediate task completed, he rubbed his hands together, anticipation gleaming in his eyes as he waited for the factory to power up.

However, there was one glaring issue. He needed someone to manage this monstrosity of a facility. And the solution was a certain dwarf currently foaming at the mouth in front of him.

With a bashful grin, Felix decided to play his trump card. "You see, Master Dwarf, what I have here is a brand-new creation. I call it Apfelwein. That's apple wine, for reference."

"WINE?! WHAT WINE?! WHERE WINE?!"

Jagged Beard immediately spun around in excitement. The towering crimson factory behind Felix was all but forgotten. His keen senses locked onto a single wine barrel that had been sitting outside Felix's house, unnoticed amidst the chaos of stacked beer barrels.

Despite the scorching air emanating from the factory, the barrel somehow remained cool to the touch. Jagged Beard wasted no time. He seized it with both hands, sniffed the surface, licked the wood, and tried to suck a drop of liquid directly from the seams.

Felix watched the bizarre display with a mix of amusement and disbelief. Beads of sweat formedon his forehead, realizing that the dwarf might be crazier than him.

Resigning himself to the absurdity, Felix snapped his fingers, summoning another barrel of apple wine and one of red wine crafted from Yang grapes cultivated in his system farm. Though the wine hadn't aged long, it was rich in flavor and aroma, enough to impress even the pickiest connoisseur.

Naturally, Felix didn't stop at two barrels. With a flick of his wrist and a mischievous grin, he multiplied the barrels to 1,000 each, creating a sea of wine.

Jagged Beard's jaw dropped. But he recovered quickly, scrambling to gather all 2,000 barrels. With the speed and precision of a veteran hoarder, he formed two perfect pyramids 100 meters away from Felix's house. Standing protectively before his treasure, he bellowed,

"YOU UNCULTURED, ABOMINABLE, ELVEN-BORN HERETIC! HOW DARE YOU PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD LIKE THIS?!"

Felix snickered, taking a leisurely stance. "Those are wines, not food, Master Dwarf."n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"I KNOW THAT, YOU STUPID BRAT!" Jagged Beard roared. "BUT LEAVING THEM WITH YOU WILL ONLY SPOIL THEM! I'LL TAKE THEM HOME FOR PROPER CARE!"

Felix let out a long sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. Deciding to shift the conversation to more productive matters, he opened his alchemy system. Dropping in some spirit stones and high-quality corn, he activated the automatic concoction feature.

DING!

A wine glass materialized in Felix's hand. He poured the glowing amber liquid into it, adjusting the temperature with his essence to create a perfectly chilled whiskey.

He sipped it thoughtfully, noting the light yet robust flavor. While the whiskey hadn't aged enough to reach its full potential, it packed a far stronger punch than wine or beer.

The enticing aroma drifted through the air, reaching Jagged Beard's overly sensitive nose. His eyes zeroed in on the glass like a predator stalking its prey, and once again, he began to drool uncontrollably.

Felix raised his glass with a smirk.

"Listen, Master Dwarf. Those wines and beers are yours for the ores, no questions asked. But…" He swirled the whiskey in the glass, letting the scent waft tantalizingly. "If you agree to work part-time managing this factory for me, I'll throw in a keg of this every month. One whole keg. So, what do you say?"