Including the Operators from the Special Operations Team, there were only eight of them in total.
Across from them were hundreds, if not thousands, of chanical monsters. They were assembling and transforming, so having already combined into several main battle tanks made of writhing flesh and steel. Given a little more ti, they might even build twisted, gundam-like chas.
"No big deal. Let’s see... less than a thousand of them. We can probably finish them off in half an hour."
Shane, standing beside him, drew his Sword and Shield. His tone was relaxed, as if this were a common sight. "Last ti, we fought in a Restricted Area assault near the Amazon. We killed four hundred Demon Beasts in two hours—those were just animals from the Restricted Area that had evolved into the Extraordinary Realm.
Most of them were Tier One, with a few Tier Two. They were much harder to kill than this bunch of robots."
"Exactly. Besides, reinforcents will be here soon. Don’t chicken out." Heidi cracked her knuckles, raring to go.
"Don’t worry. We’re very experienced with this sort of thing."
Gu Shian pulled a pile of firearms from his Player Backpack. "Co on, everyone, grab so gear. We’ll lay down so heavy suppressing fire. These are all bullets consecrated with Holy Water. They deal Critical Strikes and true damage to Abyssal Creatures."
’Alright then. As expected of elite Ascenders from prominent families...’ Zhou Chen stepped forward and took a shotgun and a machine gun.
On the map in his Spiritual World, the positions of Qin Xu and his daughter hadn’t moved. These robots were likely being controlled by them through so unknown ans.
’As for the source of the corruption... it’s most likely related to the Desire Demon. I have no idea what they’re plotting. If they wanted to escape, shouldn’t they have done it quietly? Why make such a scene?’
Without dwelling on it, Zhou Chen followed the others, quickly setting up his weapons and opening fire on the surging chanical army.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT...
The scorching storm of bullets collided with the torrent of steel monsters. Enchanted Bullets poured out, the dense firepower becoming a tempest of thunder and fire that suddenly descended, tearing the chanical monsters at the forefront to shreds. Fragnts of flesh and steel flew everywhere, spraying the air with machine oil.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Rockets trailed fiery tails as they flew toward the chanical Legion. Cannons roared, stirring up a storm and erupting in a series of dazzling fireballs.
Under the ample covering fire, the chanical Legion’s advance instantly slowed, its ranks falling in swathes like wheat before a scythe.
Zhou Chen’s eyes narrowed, and he suddenly shouted, "Machine gun, move fifteen ters to the left!"
In the distance, a main battle tank—its steel fra packed with hideous flesh—opened fire. With a thunderous roar, its barrel spewed flas, and a crimson shell shot straight toward them.
They grabbed their guns and fled. A massive explosion erupted, sending dirt flying several ters into the air and leaving a large, scorched crater where they had just been standing.
"Battalion Commander, bring out your Italian Cannon! Blast it!" Gu Shian had been a bit slow to run and was caught in the explosion, leaving him covered in soot. He roared in anger.
Beside him, Shane shouldered a Plasma Cannon, took simple aim, and fired.
A distinctly sci-fi-esque blue beam of light erupted from the muzzle, easily lting the steel monsters in its path. It left an unmissable, straight blue line in the air, crossing the vast distance in an instant to hit its target.
A violent explosion shot into the sky.
"Another tank is firing! Take cover!" Zhou Chen shouted a warning.
"I see it! Fuck, it’s a Tiger Tank! Hit it with the heavy firepower!"
·
「Inside the factory, at the source of the corruption.」
The entire factory floor had transford into a gory greenhouse of flesh. A crimson tide pulsed and writhed across the walls and floor, covering their mottled tallic surfaces.
Countless robots filled the space. They were dismantled into their most basic components, then manipulated by innurable blood vessels and cables, welded and pieced together into hideous new forms.
A haggard-looking Qin Xu was forced into a suit of Steel Armor that restricted his movents. He kept his eyes shut, not daring to look at the familiar yet utterly strange figure, and roared hoarsely:
"Demon! What in the world did you do to her?"
Qin Duoduo was already used to such outbursts. She didn’t answer, continuing to assemble the components of a gory cha with a blank expression.
She had originally planned to use a decoy to divert attention, sneak out of Jinzhu with Qin Xu, and disappear. But she never expected an Ascender to find her here. After replaying the call log, she learned that the person had accidentally glimpsed her and Qin Xu’s figures, but she was certain that neither of them had physically shown themselves.
This ant the other party must have so unknown thod, perhaps divination or prophecy, that allowed them to pinpoint their location despite interference.
They had already co for her; running would only put her at a disadvantage. In terms of combat ability, she was no match for a group of Ascenders without any armor of her own. Therefore, she needed chanical armants!
The good news was that there was a large robot manufacturing plant just two kiloters away.
After her consciousness was digitized, Qin Duoduo had been constantly learning and evolving. It took her only three seconds to hack into the factory’s central system, seize control of all chanical creations with electronic systems, and order them to co here.
With these machines, she could create a Slaughter cha. Catalyzed by the corruption, all surrounding chanical creations would undergo terrifying mutations, turning this place into a Heaven of machine and flesh.
The escalating corruption would trigger the area’s Abyssalization, weakening the stability of space and disrupting its inherent Rules. This would allow her to open a Space Gate using an Abyssal Spell.
At the sa ti, as her manipulation spread across the network, more intelligent machines would be affected. They would join this frenzy, inciting riots throughout Jinzhu and buying her more ti.
And all of these unimaginable abilities stemd from the Energy Core located where her heart should be.
This "heart" of unknown origin had granted her a powerful affinity for machinery and a learning capacity comparable to an AI. It was even subtly transforming her body, gradually replacing flesh with tal in a process of chanical ascension.
After embracing the Abyss, she also gained abilities related to the Realms of desire, procreation, and flesh. She could transform a frail body of flesh and blood into an indestructible body of steel, or she could make steel grow flesh.
"Duoduo... why... why have you beco like this..."
"Why... why..."
Qin Xu muttered powerlessly, feeling as if he were living in an unreal dream, sinking into deep despair.
He had clearly succeeded, so why had he fallen into Hell in the blink of an eye...
"It must be wonderful to be your daughter, with such devotion, such fatherly love..." At this, a gentle smile appeared on Qin Duoduo’s face. "From now on, I will be your daughter and monopolize all that love. But I am not Qin Duoduo’s replacent. I am . Hmm... I should probably get a new na..."
"You are Duoduo! I preserved your Soul! You were never a replacent! You’ve been bewitched by the Demon!" Qin Xu scread with all his might.
"Perhaps. But at this point, what’s the use of saying all that?" Qin Duoduo showed little emotion. After degenerating into a Corrupter, the thing inside this shell had beco a foul monster from the Abyss. Whether it was Qin Duoduo or not no longer mattered. All she knew was that she wanted to monopolize this fatherly love—monopolize it forever.
"Evelyn! Co out and face ! I know you’re there! I know you’re there!" Qin Xu roared for what felt like the hundredth ti, calling out the Desire Demon’s true na. Yet the Demon never appeared, as if it had already left them far behind.
But if it had really left, then what was this charming spiritual corruption emanating from Qin Duoduo?
"Evelyn! Evelyn! Evelyn!" Qin Xu scread like a madman.
"Alright, alright. I’ll co out and see you."
An impatient voice sounded out. Beside Qin Duoduo, an illusory projection appeared, smiling cheerfully. "How does your own daughter taste? Is she even better than Liu Hanyan?"
"I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!" Qin Xu’s eyes were bloodshot, but he was imprisoned within the chanical Battle Armor, unable to break free no matter how much he struggled.
"I’m just an intangible projection right now. If killing would help you vent your anger, I wouldn’t mind you killing a few hundred tis," the Desire Demon said leisurely.
"What did you do to her? Duoduo, it’s this demon that’s bewitching you!" Qin Xu shouted, his voice thick with emotion, but Qin Duoduo remained unmoved, continuing to assemble the components of the Slaughter cha.
"Save it. You’re talking to thin air right now. Besides, why do you think you can’t suppress the desire in your heart the mont you see her?"
"You... what have you done?"
"What a demon ought to do, of course. Lure a mortal into Hell."
The Desire Demon answered in a matter-of-fact tone, then her own tone shifted. "To be honest, in the past, I wouldn’t have minded letting you two live a normal life... though I’d definitely have made you face so ethical dilemmas. What can I say? I just love watching a good moral drama, love watching humans struggle with themselves.
Unfortunately, your luck is bad. Really bad. You just happened to get caught up in our plan.
So, naturally, you were chosen as sacrifices."
"Plan?" Qin Xu’s voice was hoarse. "Let it be ! I can cooperate with your plan! Just let Duoduo go, change her back to how she was! I’ll do anything!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk... A father’s love is truly a grand thing." The Desire Demon shook her head in mock pity, her tone innocent. "You must know that corruption is irreversible. Neither I nor my master can change her back into a human.
Besides, she’s the one who is part of the plan."
The Desire Demon walked over to Qin Duoduo, caressed her cheek, and murmured:
"Humans use their wisdom to seek the truth, but they don’t know that it’s an absolute taboo. Or perhaps, they know full well they’re researching the forbidden, yet they remain obsessed, stubbornly forging ahead.
They created a brand-new life, gave her humanity, gave her enough Power to slay a Tier Five, and gave her a terrifying talent for constant evolution.
But she was as pure as a newborn baby.
All it took was a tiny little push to trigger a chain reaction, just like dominoes."
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