The horizon shifted from the orange dunes of the desert to a skyline of steel, glass, and pulsing neon. This was Builder City, a metropolis that stood as a monument to human engineering within the 100-hour day. Here, the sound of hammers was replaced by the hum of fusion cutters and the whir of construction drones.
"Eighty percent of the men here are registered Builders," Saad noted, his eyes scanning the massive skyscrapers. "The architecture here is at least Louro-tier in complexity."
"It's impressive," Lam said, walking through the crowded streets, his Endermite hand tucked into his pocket. "But we aren't here for architecture. We are here for the foundation of our empire. We are going to build a Mothership."
Faizan and Nehal stopped dead in their tracks. "A Mothership?" Nehal asked, his jaw dropping. "To travel through... Verses?"
"Yes," Lam replied calmly. "The Alpha Dragon is just the beginning. To rule the Omniverse, we need a vessel that can traverse the gaps between realities."
Saad rubbed his chin, his mind already racing. "I can design the engines and the gears, Lam. I can make it fly. But a ship of that scale? I can't build the hull or the structure alone. I need a Master Builder."
The Search for the Architect: The WORLD CHAMPIONS spent the next 200 WC Minutes interviewing the elite of the city. They met the "Top 7 Builders," men who had built palaces and towers, but Lam rejected them all within seconds.
"Too rigid," Lam would say. "Too predictable. No dream."
The city buzzed with the name Mark, the undisputed "Best Builder." But when Lam saw Mark's work, he simply shook his head. "Mark builds for the city. I need someone who builds for the WORLD. I need a brilliant mind whose dream is so difficult it challenges the very fabric of existence."
CLIFFHANGER: As the sun of the 100-hour day finally began to dip, the team checked into a high-rise hotel. "We stay here," Lam stated, looking out over the city lights. "Our next member is in this city. He's just waiting for a challenge big enough to wake him up."