The âdrizzleâ of electronic rain fell as Xiao Yu curiously walked along the street.
The electronic rain here was gray.
Relic City was completely different from Nightless City. It was more like a collection of fishing villages than a city, but it had more of a punk vibe compared to normal fishing villages.
Gao Gong released her, under the guise of an investigation, but in reality, he hoped she would have some luck. After all, her third template, "Imperial Orphan," was practically akin to an old grandfatherâs prototype.
Throwing her out there might just land her with an old Whitebeard.
Xiao Yu had no idea what Gao Gong was thinking, and whatever she did, she did it with full enthusiasm, especially since this place felt particularly familiar to her.
In Relic City, most houses were iron fences made of mechanical fish bones. Some fish baskets floated in the water. Xiao Yu lifted one up, and inside was fresh fish meat. Living by the sea, they seemed to have mastered the art of neutralizing the radiation in the meat, though the taste was probably not great.
A building caught Xiao Yuâs curiosity â a temple located at the very center of Relic City, with no plaques, worshiping an Ancient Robot three meters tall. The robotâs armor looked like ancient armor, adorned with ropes and belts alongside circuits.
Xiao Yu circled around to the back and discovered a line of ancient text â "Mechanical Armor Soldier - Asteroid Landing Battle - Ordnance Department Award"
She climbed up and widened her eyes, searching for a long time but didnât find any activation switches or even the Mecha Engine.
"Damn it!"
After busying herself for so long with no results, Xiao Yu couldnât resist knocking on the nearby big drum, which sounded with a dull âboom.â
Xiao Yu turned around sharply, but the statue showed no signs of movement.
"Strange, did it just move a bit?"
Xiao Yu always had a special perception for machines.
The hollow eyes seemed to be conveying something.
Xiao Yu puffed her cheeks, clenching her mechanical hand, and suddenly punched through the air, striking the big drum with a loud boom, causing the patterns on the statueâs surface to light up.
She walked around the statue and counted nine such big drums.
This reminded her of the wooden pile she used to practice ancient Mecha techniques with as a child.
Xiao Yu took a deep breath, raising and lowering her hands, and high-temperature gas spurted from the crevices of her mechanical body. Almost simultaneously, countless shadows of fist movements radiated from Little Angelâs vicinity.
The essence of Gun Force lies in controlling high-temperature gases.
Percussive drum beats began to sound, forming an inspiring and solemn melody. Under this music, it felt as if countless Mechanical Armies were advancing in the sky, on land, and across the ocean, destroying everything in their path.
The statue was affected, and cracks began to emerge; those âcracksâ were actually filled circuits.
It turns out the Ancient Robot ran on a âwireless chargingâ system.
After finishing a set of Mecha Armor Breaking Formation Song, the statue â or rather, the Mechanical Armor Soldier â suddenly leaped off the altar, with its two eyes shining red, striding toward Xiao Yu.
âHeight verification in processââ
âWeight verification in processââ
âGenetic sequence analysis in processââ
âAnalysis complete, height 152, bust A, head circumferenceââ
Xiao Yu was infuriated, "My bust is clearly B!!"
"Analysis complete, welcome back, Destruction Form No.7."
"Destruction what?"
The Mechanical Armor Soldier turned around, and the upper half of its mechanical body began to split open slowly, revealing the hilt of a Mechanical Greatsword.
Xiao Yu immediately recognized it. This was the same sword her âcheap grandfatherâ used in holographic projection.
A blasting sound, amidst sparks, erupted as a sword almost as tall as Xiao Yu herself was drawn out.
Dragon Scale (Guard Version Electric Blade)
Category: Melee Weapon
Quality: Level 2 - Electronic Armament - Excellent (War Weapon)
Weight: 21.4kg
Length: 140cm
Basic Attributes: DPS (Damage per second): 2418~3600, Attack Power: 806~1200, Fire Rate: 3 attacks/second, +368 electronic damage, +77.5% Critical Strike Rate, +68.2% Bleeding Chance
Blade Slot: Empty, Plugin Slot: High-Energy Battery, Power: 7%
Note: Dancing with the light of a blade in encrypted nonary ring codes, you will become the emperorâs mightiest guardian.
Xiao Yu couldnât see the attributes of the sword, but she could clearly feel the swordâs terrifying nature. The blade was golden, comprised of countless scale-sized serrations, each of which seemed to rotate independently. When all these serrations turned simultaneously, it was virtually a berserk weapon.
Moreover, Xiao Yu could distinctly feel the swordâs familiarity with her, as if it shared the same bloodline.
"Destruction 7, please follow me."
Xiao Yu hurriedly followed behind the Mechanical Armor Soldier, walking with it all the way to the edge of a cliff. The Mechanical Armor Soldier glanced back at her and, without hesitation, jumped down.
Xiao Yu looked at the hundred-meter stretch of sea, took a deep breath, and the waterproof system on her mechanical body began to operate, with gaps being sealed by internal armor plates. She then took a leap, plunging into the water with a powerful dive.
...
Almost simultaneously, Gao Gong also entered Cyber Space.
In Nightless City, entering the Cyber Space means first diving into the Sea of Data, merging oneâs Sensory Signal into the Deep Web Layer.
However, above the ocean, the data signal was extremely poor; the Sea of Data did not exist at all. When Gao Gongâs Visual Signal recovered, he only sensed the terrifying oppression of the surrounding air. Looking up, a supermassive Starship hovered in cosmic space, scattering a meteor shower.
Upon closer inspection, each âmeteorâ was a Deployment Chamber. These Deployment Chambers were equivalent to Level 2 Civilization paratroopers. Many landing chambers began Transformation in mid-air, becoming super Mechanical Soldiers. Some successfully landed, while others had half of their Mechanical Body blown apart, and shadows jumped out from themâthey were the Empireâs Transformers, and some were directly exploded by Energy Cannons fired from the ground.
Those destroyed, directly turned into data fragments.
On the ground, there were âAsteroid Creatures.â These monsters resembled Marine Radiation Beasts.
"Interesting, starting off with a battlefield."
As several at least B-level Radiation Beasts aimed at him, and the Radiance on the Energy Nozzle lit up, Gao Gongâs hands immediately ignited with fire, setting the Deployment Chambers ablaze. The Deployment Chambers shattered into pieces in mid-air; countless energy radiances flashed, and at least a third of the Deployment Chambers were exploded.
Simultaneously, âVirtual Invasion (Modified)â is activated.
The Radiation Beasts on the ground exhibited noticeably uncomfortable movements, crimson patterns lit up, and countless Flesh Spores sprouted from their bodies, blossoming into flesh flowers. Upon seeing this, the Radiation Beasts started running frantically, yet to no avail.
Eventually, the surrounding Radiation Beasts disappeared, leaving only a gigantic flower with a three-meter diameter planted in the ground. Under the influence of âSensory Data Programming,â it quickly reorganized, and soon a handsome young man walked out from the petals.
[You killed the Sea Beast Data Entity, Experience +5000]
[You killed the Sea Beast Data Entity, Experience +5000]
...
Gao Gong lowered his head, looking at the crimson patterns on his arm.
The A-level Bloodline in reality hasnât been implanted yet; instead, on the network, relying on code levels beyond Civilization-level, they can be implanted into the skin and coded into lines.
"Night Star?"
Looking at the sky without an atmosphere and a distant yellow planet, Gao Gong could confirm this was a satellite of Mechanical Split Star.
"Is this Xiao Yuanshanâs memory? Some asteroid landing battle?"
As a Level 2 Civilization, moving steps into space is nothing unusual. However, looking at this situation, are there alien creatures on the satellite? Or perhaps an invasion outpost of some Star Thief Group?
The scene did not switch, remaining the barren, cratered surface of the asteroid.
If it were normal âonline,â it should have switched to some network node by now, but in this situationâ
"Need help?" Suddenly, Paradise Birdâs voice came in his mind.
"Thanks, but no need. Though you could help keep an eye on anything unusual nearby."
As an old hand, Gao Gong, despite being rich in âtheoretical knowledge,â was only a Level 5 Hacker newbie, so virtual Perception wasnât that strong.
"I understand."
Chip Skill: Remote Hacking activated, Gao Gong weaved through one âmoon craterâ after another.
These âmoon cratersâ were almost identical in size, around 500 meters, indicating they werenât naturally formed, but blasted by orbital weapons.
Soon, Gao Gong encountered another group of Radiation Beasts. This time, he went all out; terrifying code flames spewed forth, igniting body after body, breaking the bodies into various types of code fragments.
In reality, Xiao Yu, diving underwater, seemed to hear the Sea Beastsâ screams.
After a while, when Gao Gong finally gathered enough code, ready to leave this Deep Web Layer, Paradise Bird suddenly spoke, somewhat uncertain:
"I detected a human brain IP, but Iâm not sure if itâs a trap."
"Canât you find out?"
"The opponent is quite adept, canât ascertain."
Gao Gong raised an eyebrow; if they could make a top-tier Hacker hesitate, the opponent wasnât simple.
"Then letâs take a look first."
Soon, amidst the flames of code, a big door slowly formed as the IP was injected. Gao Gong grasped the door handle, pulling it hard.
The next moment, a massive cave suddenly appeared, and Gao Gongâs footsteps faltered as he fell straight in.
The cave seemed like a bottomless pit, with no end in sight, yet Gao Gong gradually felt immense heat.
The heat was so intense that Gao Gongâs surface started to melt, especially his facial features, which dissolved immediately.
âThe sensors immediately erased my Sensory Code; indeed, someone is up to tricks!â
âAssociation Algorithmâ activated, a multitude of flame chains emerged from the body surface, trying to latch onto something, to escape this data pit.
The results were unexpectedâthe opponent had algorithms too; strange robots were pulled out and decomposed into machine code mid-air.
And this machine code blocked the surrounding jump nodes.
"Ha!"
Gao Gong sneered, âSpy Countermeasure,â âVulnerability Expert,â âMemory Optimization,â and other states were activated.
Numerous machine codes were captured, retrieved, and analyzed.
In the fragments of the system, Gao Gong unexpectedly discovered an âAncient Databaseâ!
The next moment, a flame chain fiercely stabbed into the darkness, hooking a familiar person, who was none other than the real Xiao Yu.
Before being completely melted, using âXiao Yuâ as a node, Gao Gong leapt out.