Starting as a Mechanical Hunter

Chapter 862: Chapter 30: The Truth

On Mechanical Split Star, there are no fewer than twenty Mechanical Legions with official designations.

But at least half of them are stationed near the Mother City.

And the Legions stationed at the Fortress total five.

Almost at the same time, the detection systems of these five Mechanical Legions erupted in piercing alarm.

In the next instant, accompanied by the roar of Energy Engines flaring, one Super Mechanical Body after another blasted up from the ground; every leading high-ranking officer was a Martial God, and among them there were even silhouettes of Advanced Mecha.

The Mother City Influence is not some lofty, ossified entity; it also absorbs certain Advanced technologies from the Cyber Test Field to transform itself.

For example, these mecha bear a strong Du Gao Technology imprint. They don’t reach Biomechanical Armor standards, but they’re already on par with Pioneer Mecha. Measured by Radiation Energy, they can probably reach the tier of an A-Level Radiation Beast.

Yet everyone present—whether Mecha Drivers or Mechanical Martial Gods—wore an equally grave expression.

The reason was simple.

The incoming enemy’s Energy Level had already surpassed this planet’s upper limit.

This planet’s upper limit is an S-Level Beast King, with Radiation Energy in the tens of millions.

However, as the figure drew closer, that violent energy even triggered a celestial phenomenon. For a time, thunder rolled across the Radiation Layer; the lightning that struck was not white, but black, and wherever the black light spread, the surrounding environment twisted and deformed.

This kind of phenomenon only appears within a Beast Tide.

The Martial Gods of the 7th Mechanized Corps knew this very well; after all, they’d cleansed Beast Tides more than once or twice.

Yet the satellite images from the Armed Space Station showed—

There was only one enemy.

It was a colossal Human Form nearly a hundred meters tall. Its face was indistinct, its entire body blazing with white lightning.

The lightning in the sky and the lightning around the figure brewed to the absolute limit.

From within the Radiation Layer, a gigantic white beam suddenly lanced out, not downward but upward, and slammed violently into a low-orbit satellite.

The images captured by the satellite naturally collapsed into total Destruction.

An SS-level lifeform, also known as a quasi-Cosmos species, cannot completely leave its planet to participate in Interstellar War, but it does possess a certain degree of outer-space combat capability.

The giant figure swept its hand, and in the next instant, an SS-level Beast Tide washed over everything, severing nearly ninety percent of all electronic equipment.

Aside from the 7th Mechanized Corps, the same scene was unfolding elsewhere as well.

Almost every one of them was a Human Form over a hundred meters tall.

Or rather, the Form of Intelligent Species on this planet.

...

Meanwhile, on the other side, Gao Gong was strolling through the Fortress at a leisurely pace.

Even though the entire "Fortress" was already shrouded in transparent flames,

Gao Gong remained perfectly composed.

Just like how you never know whether an accident or tomorrow will arrive first.

Gao Gong had just stepped out the door when surging flames swallowed the entire Fortress, and it was obvious these flames were closely tied to the "Colorless Flame."

There are two possibilities: one, Yagami Suuji’s joint operation has made progress; two, the Cloud Nobility has already invaded the Planet Host.

If it’s the former, that’s good news for Gao Gong.

If it’s the latter, that’s also good news for Gao Gong.

In the first case he has people on his side; in the second, he still has people on his side.

The biggest bad news is that Aramaki’s plan has exceeded his expectations.

But up to now, everything appears to be proceeding normally, so he is still at ease.

If it really comes to the worst, he still has one ultimate system kill move—"Civilization Correction Power."

Civilization Correction Power (Cyber Test Field): Under equal civilization strata, it can roll the enemy’s Technology Tree back to the previous branch node, and sever the growth of that branch.

This move may not work against the Memory Mother, because the Memory Mother didn’t sprout from the "Technology Tree," but it’s extremely effective against the "Planet Host."

He was confident that, if the Fortress pulled too many dirty tricks, he could soft-reset the opponent into a crash.

Soon, Gao Gong arrived at the hotel where the Cloud Nobility was staying.

The moment he stepped in, he was greeted by the sight of one corpse after another.

These bodies were very unusual: transparent flames were roaring inside them, yet there wasn’t the slightest wound on their surface.

Gao Gong pressed his palm against one corpse’s shoulder, and in the next second, countless blood threads sprayed from his palm and burrowed into the body.

A moment later, the blood threads withdrew.

And Gao Gong’s expression took on a faintly thoughtful cast.

"The key is gone. The Cloud Nobility’s Bloodline is gone."

"Has Aramaki’s plan begun?"

"Minister Gao, why are you here?"

Gao Gong turned his head and saw Mei Wanwan smiling sweetly at him.

"Heh, finally, a living person."

All the way here, Gao Gong hadn’t seen a single living soul, which was indeed an eerie thing.

But considering he’d just met the "Memory Mother," all this weirdness now seemed perfectly normal to him.

"Minister Gao, what happened to your right eye?"

"See no evil. I saw something I shouldn’t have, so I scrapped the eyeball."

Mei Wanwan froze for a moment, then said, "Minister, where are you going?"

"Wherever Aramaki is, take me there," Gao Gong said.

"All right, then please follow me, Minister."

Mei Wanwan was still smiling sweetly. Gao Gong followed behind her, and very soon, a golden door appeared in the Void.

Gao Gong pushed the door open and entered, finding himself in a long tunnel.

The tunnel didn’t look particularly high-tech; it had the feel of some ancient ruin. The environment was dark, the rails were rusted, and blood was dripping from the top of the tunnel.

Gao Gong opened his Data Field of View and found that the entire tunnel was composed of countless Hyperlink Protocols, fitting together seamlessly to form the walls, seemingly extending infinitely into the distance.

"This kind of Virtual Protocol... it’s starting to feel a bit like a Super Net."

There were also Virtual Networks between planets, and this kind of network built across interstellar space was generally called the Super Net, because its speed surpassed light-speed.

"So the Fortress’s Planet Host body isn’t inside the planet, but outside it. Interesting."

Gao Gong walked forward, and after taking only a few steps, he saw a corpse.

Gao Gong recognized him—"Artificial Body," a super member of the Prosthetic Registration Department, and likewise one of the United Squad members personally chosen by Yagami Suuji.

"Artificial Body" had a distinct trait: every Prosthetic Body on him was second-hand, discarded, useless junk—yet in his hands, they all gained miraculous powers of resurrection.

He was also the number-one Prosthetic Doctor in the Prosthetic Registration Department.

Yet at this moment, his Prosthetic Body was completely covered in gold powder.

This kind of gold powder gave Gao Gong a very familiar feeling.

"Zero, that guy actually isn’t dead yet? And from the looks of it, you’ve even found a new body. Interesting."

Gao Gong muttered to himself.

It seemed this "Artificial Body" had been killed by the New Zero.

From the corpse, he could feel the presence of an Encrypted Killer.

Soon, Gao Gong saw several more bodies: "Living Dead," "Desperate Realm," "Supercomputer Type 8."

All these corpses had been killed by Zero, but Gao Gong noticed something strange.

"Aside from the Punk Killer, there’s even a whiff of Destruction here... this feeling—Turing God, huh."

The tunnel wasn’t long. Very soon, Gao Gong reached the end, and as a few strands of Radiance seeped through, he saw a bizarre scene.

...

"So this is the Fortress’s host?"

Staring at the complex, secretive, and massive machine floating above the planet, a trace of shock flashed in Yagami Suuji’s eyes.

She had imagined many possibilities, but had absolutely never imagined that the real Fortress would be... a Virtual Machine floating over the planet!

"Fortress" had hair and beard flying, its aura surging to the extreme. With a virtual grab of its palm, the entire "Virtual Machine" slowly opened, then gently wrapped around the two of them.

"I really ought to thank you. If not for you, I never would’ve broken free!" The old man "Fortress" laughed heartily.

"We’re just trying to save what remains of this planet’s civilization," Agent J said calmly. For some reason, he kept feeling that something was off.

They had successfully hacked into the Fortress, entered that core corridor, then rescued the real Fortress, and with the Fortress’s help, managed to enter the Planet Host.

Although several teammates had died along the way, everything had gone far more smoothly than he had imagined.

However, that sense of wrongness was only growing stronger.

Yagami Suuji didn’t know what Agent J was thinking. Instead, she spoke seriously to "Fortress":

"Once the fake Fortress is suppressed, you should head to the Deep Net. I suspect Ms. Deep Web has also started acting strangely."

"It’s not that the Deep Net might have a problem. It definitely has a problem."

Another strange voice rang out.

Minister Joker walked out without his mask, revealing the face of a Young Desolate Scroll. Paired with that absurd, clownish expression, for some reason, it all felt a bit off.

Glancing at "Fortress," who was currently absorbing host code and reclaiming the Planet Host Authority, Yagami Suuji still spoke seriously:

"So you think so too? You’re also a Deep Web Enthusiast. Haven’t you noticed that Ms. Deep Web’s personality seems to undergo subtle shifts from time to time?"

The "Young Desolate Scroll" suddenly opened his mouth wide, revealing an exaggerated grin that almost looked painted on.

"Hahahahaha, then do you feel like my personality has changed a bit too?"

"Is that really important?" Yagami Suuji frowned.

The "Young Desolate Scroll" clapped hard, his two noodle-thin legs shaking from the force.

"Good, good, good—excellent! Aramaki, what a great disciple you raised! Even after you died, she still inherits your will. Even knowing full well she’s just a product of the Bionic Man Plan, she still wants to save the world!"

"You did great, you did just great, you did too damn great! How should I put it... turns out stupidity really is contagious!"

Yagami Suuji’s expression shifted slightly, but the appearance of another person made Agent J draw his gun on the spot.

"You!!!"

Zero stepped out, expressionless.

How could Agent J not recognize him? It was this bastard who had just killed so many of his teammates—one more step, and their infiltration mission would have ended in failure.

Yagami Suuji also showed a look of shock.

Everything that was happening now was careening toward a direction they couldn’t comprehend.

The "Young Desolate Scroll" was very satisfied with the looks on their faces and burst into loud laughter, waving his hands and feet as he did.

"Let me tell you a simple, very straightforward fact."

"The real Aramaki—that selfless, public-minded Aramaki—has been dead for a long time!!!"

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