Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 1284
The Fist King's spiritual threads touched the defense rune arrays inside Li Yao's body, only to balk like earthworms that were burnt by fire.
Li Yao could obviously sense the surprise in the Fist King's heart. Even the guy's eyes became much deeper and more lackluster than before when he looked at Li Yao.
Shua!
The spiritual threads that slithered into his body split apart into hundreds of 'branches', which moved forward and tried to locate the gaps in his core components to invade the crystal processor.
Li Yao secretly cried for help, but his reaction was not slowed at all. He blocked all the Fist King's spiritual threads without any trouble.
Their eyes had a subtle clash through the blinks of the man-made eyes. Perhaps it was Li Yao's imagination, but some sparks that were not very malicious seemed to have been raised.
Was he… exposed?
Out of Li Yao's expectations, the Fist King did not explore further but simply retracted his spiritual threads and gaze without leaving any trace. He glanced at the three Immortal Cultivator players and said, "You are indeed strong enough to fight by my side at the center of my army. Also… this spiritual puppet here is rather interesting. It seems to be a model with functions for self-learning and communication as well as those related to automatic recovery and upgrade?"
Li Yao knew that, as an important type of military magical equipment, hundreds of experimental spiritual puppets had been projected to the Land of Sins during the past hundreds of years by the Immortal Cultivators, including a lot of cutting-edge models with the functions of automatic learning and upgrading.
Of course, most of the spiritual puppets had a limited range of learning logics and fields of upgrade. They were not very stable and would often be trapped in logic loops, unable to free themselves, which would make them even less competitive than common puppets. Therefore, they were not the major gangs' favorites.
In any case, the identity itself did not call for any suspicion.
Red Viper, Black Spear, and Flash Point looked at each other and said, unbothered, "If you like it, Fist King, you are free to take it away for studies."
Han Te and Liu Li were both taken aback, but they did not decline the request of an unparalleled bandit like the Fist King. There was hesitation all over their faces.
The Fist King laughed and stretched out his brawny arms. "As you have seen, collecting spiritual puppets is my hobby. Be they bizarre models or jumbled monsters, I like to collect them, play with them, and study their structures carefully.
"However, a great war is about to break out, and my little hobby can only wait. We'll talk after we take Liberty City!
"You can go back and get a good rest tonight. My men will offer you ammunition, crystals, and high-energy drugs that are enough for everyone's use. Tomorrow morning, we will attack Liberty City. I hope that every component in each one of you is intact after the battle!"
…
With a headful of questions, Li Yao returned to his own camp. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that 'Fist King' Lei Zonglie was not as simple as the legends or as he appeared.
He must have discovered an anomaly in Li Yao's body. The hundreds of competitions of spiritual threads in the blink of an eye could not have been performed by a random spiritual puppet.
But why did he not point it out in public or pursue it any further?
Also, his last words were apparently meant for Li Yao.
In other words, he knew that Li Yao could 'understand' the meaning of those words and looked forward to an in-depth communication with him after the Battle of Liberty City?
What was going on?
"I have a vague feeling. The Fist King is not malicious. He is only very interested in you," the mental devil said mysteriously. "Perhaps he has a special fetish. That's why he wants to play with you and study your structure deeply."
"What the heck?" Li Yao was rather shocked. "That's too creepy!"
"This is the Land of Sins. What kind of perverts can you not find here?" the mental devil said solemnly. "Just recall the ripples of spiritual energy that spread out of the Fist King's body. Did you not sense ecstasy and lust at all?"
"Well, not exactly lust, but ecstasy… Now that you pointed it out, there indeed seemed to be such a feeling!"
"Therefore," the mental devil said, "I don't know the reason, but he does seem to have special feelings for you. Be careful. He will certainly keep an eye on you closely. I do not want to fall into his hands and be dismantled for studies."
"The game is getting more and more complicated." Extending his mechanical arm, Li Yao scratched his iron skull. "The Immortal Cultivators must be watching the Fist King closely, and the Fist King has somehow taken an interest in me. How am I supposed to keep a low profile under such circumstances?"
"So, you can stop keeping a low profile!" The mental devil grinned hideously. "I don't think that the Battle of Liberty City will be so simple. A lot of things will certainly happen, but they are not our concern. As long as we can take advantage of the chaos and find a piece of 'high-molecular layer-by-layer scanning magical equipment', we can escape and perform the 'perfect melting'. After the soul and the body become one, we will be an experienced expert in the Divinity Transformation Stage. There will be no need to keep a low profile!"
Li Yao was of a mind to sneak into the Fist King's nest to find out the truth, but the place would be under the Immortal Cultivators' surveillance. He certainly could not feed himself to the trap.
Although they were told to get a good rest, the Fist King's camp was obstreperous and ablaze with lights all night. Everybody was being mobilized without any stop.
The thousands of tents had all been cleaned up. The unorganized gangs and bandits were regrouped and deployed according to their performance over the past month. They were somehow transformed from mobs into many battle lines that could charge forward together.
The Red Viper Squad was indeed arranged to the center of the army, which was responsible for directly attacking the frontal defense line of Liberty City, which was most heavily guarded. After a lot of hard work, the place had become a hell that was full of traps, barricades, landmines, lightning towers, and all kinds of defense arrays.
Dawn arrived.
The morning sun tore apart the night sky, glowing as intensely as fire and illuminating the earth into an ocean of blood. Everybody seemed to be a slaughter machine that had just been bred in the blood pool.
The hundreds of sirens all over Great Iron City began to roar, triggering noises that were almost ripping apart the sky and waking up the brutality inside the bones of all the attackers.
Around Great Iron City, hundreds of thousands of chainswords, vibration sabers, and storm bolters were raised high. Reflecting the dazzling, blood red sunlight, they congregated into tornadoes of destruction.
A lot of the bandits had waited for more than a month and were already running out of patience. They finally went on a rampage, shouting and releasing their greed, anger, and violence.
"Kill them all! Kill them all!"
"Break into Liberty City, and we will have whatever we want!"
"After we kill Xiahou Wuxin, we will be the master of the Elysian World, and we will be able to rise to Manjusaka, the City in the Sky, to become the supreme angels. Hahaha!"
The sirens became more and more shrill and gradually suppressed the roars of all the bandits. Subconsciously, everybody focused their eyes at the top of Great Iron City, as if a second brilliant sun had risen slowly up there.
"It's the Fist King!"
"'Fist King' Lei Zonglie has finally shown up!"
"Fist King! Fist King! The incredible, invincible Fist King!"
All the bandits extended their arms and shouted at the sky, as if they were drunk.
"We were born in the desolate, barren wilderness. We have been struggling in the abyss of cruelty and blood. We have deformed ourselves and turned ourselves into the most ferocious animals. Yet, with unbelievable luck, we can only survive in the so-called 'Bloody Worlds'."
From the top of Great Iron City, the Fist King's thunderous roars rumbled.
"What has been the life of even the strongest warrior among us? Senseless, homeless, worthless, and joyless!
"Look at yourselves and your companions next to you. Is this what you want to be? Is this the life that you want to live until you die?"
None of the bandits expected that 'Fist King' Lei Zonglie would give such a speech. They were stunned for a moment.
"However, right over there, inside the so-called 'Elysian World'…"
The Fist King waved his hands and pointed at Liberty City not far away.
"There are the cleanest water sources, the most abundant assets, unimaginable cuisine and other entertainment, and the most advanced medical magical equipment that can fix your incomplete, deformed body!
"The people in the Elysian World do not need to do anything other than lie on their spring beds to watch the assets fall from the sky to their front!
"Why?
"Why can they have everything without doing anything, and we have to struggle hard and brutalize each other in the Bloody Worlds, transforming into wolves, leopards, and even swine, only to get less than one percent of what they earn, while shouldering their blatant mockery? Why?
"Today, let me lead everyone to justice and reclaim what is supposed to be ours!"
Chapter 2001: Star Plasma Cannon! |
His questions darted into every sinner's heart brutally like nails made of thunder.
'Seek justice' was even making their brains boil, camouflaging the slaughter that they were about to begin with a brilliant cover.
For a moment, all the bandits were covered in a layer of vague radiance besides their greed and violence.
"March into Liberty City, and everything there will be yours. I do not want anything other than the glory!"
'Fist King' Lei Zonglie's roars were magnitudes louder in that moment and turned into thunder that shocked the sky and the earth.
"If we succeed, we will be the master of this 'Elysian World'. Even if we don't, we will still leave our name on the boundless Bloody Plateau!"
Wu! Wu! Wu!
The thousands of sirens on Great Iron City spurted out white steam that was as intense as fog again and let out ear-splitting shrieks.
The enormous gears on the shell of the iron fortress revolved slowly, pulling the mechanical structure made of countless chains, bearings, and axles.
Deafening drumming echoed from inside Great Iron City. Every attacker felt that their heart was exploding!
As the sirens and the drumming got louder and louder, the enormous gears began to spin at a much higher speed. Six mechanical legs almost a hundred meters long were gradually deployed around Great Iron City. Countless spiritual puppets staggered over and smashed nails almost half a meter long into the ground through the holes in the mechanical legs, fixing them on the ground steadily.
The main gun at the front of Great Iron City rose like a male organ. The previous blackness gradually turned orange, crimson, and purple. The surging electric arcs were filled by explosive forces like protruding veins. Even the size of the gun seemed to be bigger than before.
Thousands of electric arcs flowed out of Great Iron City and were condensed in the barrel. Radial rays of light were focused on the muzzle, as if it were a star that had just been born. None of the bandits dared to look at it directly and could only hold their breath in fear.
Finally, the cluster of light at the muzzle that looked like magma was consolidated to the maximum amount. In the middle of the Fist King's thunderous roar, it was shot out in dazzling light!
Thunder seemed to have rumbled inside Great Iron City, making the enormous fortress bounce. The ground near the six supportive legs was all falling apart in cracking noises. Everybody felt the earth shaking!
The massive spiritual was thrown out like a cluster of magma restrained by the spiritual field in a high arc. When it reached the target, it exploded into a storm of shooting stars and smashed at Liberty City.
Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi!
A thin, translucent spiritual shield immediately rose around Liberty City. Hexagonal circuits of spiritual energy could be found everywhere on the shield, and a complicated rune array had been carved at the center of every hexagon. All the shooting stars were blocked by the spiritual energy. Explosive sounds similar to when scorching iron was put into ice were echoing when the two opposing forces charged at each other.
Despite the long distance, it could be seen that the defense system of Liberty City was weakened, and the translucence on the spiritual shield was dimmer and simmer.
Liberty City launched a counterattack, too, but their shooting range did not seem to be as far as the Star Plasma Cannon of Great Iron City. Even if the attacks reached the Fist King's army, they had already lost their momentum, and most of them were detonated in advance by the powerful airwaves in the middle of their flight.
Shua!
The Star Plasma Cannon opened fire again, smashing another group of burning shooting stars at Liberty City. But the angle of the attack was slightly adjusted in order to bombard the frontal defense line before Liberty City. In a moment, hundreds of blasts were raised, detonating a lot of landmines and filling many trenches. The barricades were all burnt into hideous garbage!
The Fist King's army cheered at the top of their voice. The mobs that had been jumbled up seemed to have truly become a united, well-trained, and invincible troop.
Boom!
After the third bombardment of the Star Plasma Cannon, three supportive legs finally could not resist the massive recoil of spiritual energy. The nails that were as thick as arms were blown away, and the supportive legs were ejected.
It was obvious that the powerful Star Plasma Cannon had reached its limits and needed a moment to cool down.
The Fist King directly jumped off from the top of Great Iron City that was almost a hundred meters tall, smashing onto the ground. Then, he took a flag with the emblem of a crowned fist that was almost ten meters tall and waved it. "Forward! Forward! Into Liberty City!"
The first wave of glittering iron tides lunged at Liberty City.
It was an overwhelming army of spiritual beasts that felt like a beast tide!
Ever since the rebellion of the Grand Illusionary Soldiers in the Flying Star Sector, Li Yao had never seen an army of spiritual puppets of such a large scale.
Compared to the Grand Illusionary Soldiers, the spiritual puppets there were of different categories and bizarre appearances. The war machines of countless absurd eras seemed to have gathered together.
The Fist King seemed to have collected all the movable spiritual puppets in the entire Land of Sins and organized them in a very special way, turning them into his unstoppable vanguard.
It did make sense. The spiritual puppets were much sturdier than general slave soldiers, and they were much more devoted and determined than the gangs that each had their own plans. They would never defect, retreat, or be scared.
Those charging at the forefront were the high-speed mobile war puppets in the form of metal spiders and scorpions, which were followed by main war puppets that had been built in the form of crystal tanks, mixed with tracks and mechanical feet. Then, there were almost thirty automatic, unmanned fortresses over ten meters tall that could be controlled remotely. In the sky, a lot of shuttles that could attack automatically, as well as floating fire platforms like hot-air balloons that were pulling metal arms, were hovering.
The iron tides rolled forward and ignored the storms of bullets sprayed from Liberty City while they shortened the distance between the two parties. They detonated the landmines that survived the shooting stars, located the defense arrays and firing points that were hidden below the ground, and paved the uneven earth with quick-drying gel, creating a favorable condition for the charge of the follow-up troops.
"Let's go and kill them all! Seize Liberty City!"
Under the cover of the spiritual puppets, the bandits, thugs, and sinners who wanted to grow famous in the battle and rise to Manjusaka all took action and ran forward like animals that had been injected with excitants.
This perhaps could barely be counted as a real war.
Gangs were gangs after all, and mobs were mobs. Without neat teamwork and efficient command, they were not a real troop at all.
It could only be counted as a super large 'pit fight'. It was the mauling and fighting of two bunches of animals for the right to survive based on their natural instincts.
Perhaps it was the largest 'pit fight' that Li Yao had ever seen.
When the silver tides of the spiritual puppets almost broke through the frontal defense line of Liberty City, the hundreds of lightning towers behind the frontal defense line were finally activated. In a moment, a high wall of lightning and thunder seemed to have been raised outside of Liberty City.
The spiritual puppets that were caught in the lightning storm when they failed to dodge in time turned into huge fireballs in cracking sounds immediately, ending up as black junk, their nonexistent life gone.
However, the surviving spiritual puppets were still charging forward relentlessly like tides. They would rather turn themselves into melted slag just to waste more of the enemy's spiritual energy.
The automatic unmanned fortresses that were slightly behind even activated the city assault mode. Extending countless crystal cannons that were shining coldly, they rained plasma, fire, mystic rays, and cannonballs on the defense array of Liberty City.
The defenders of Liberty City finally counterattacked.
The bloodiest sparks splashed out in the first second after the two ferocious armies collided brutally.
On both the Fist King's side and Liberty City's, countless hideous men took out syringes of exhilarants in suspicious colors and injected them into their necks. Then, in the middle of crazy howls, their skin fell apart, their muscles expanded, their bone spurs protruded out, and their spiritual energy exploded, transforming them into deformed, half-animal monsters, before they bearhugged the monsters opposite them.
