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墨書 Inktalez
As Lin Yuan was restraining the so-called Dark Devourer, the situation on the front lines took a turn. Captain Hars, who had been suppressed until now, finally seized the opportunity to unleash his power. With a powerful punch, he struck the already heavily injured Dark Knight, forcing it to revert to its original form.
Following that, the Super Giant Shield, which he had been carrying on his back, was finally within reach. The massive shield didn't appear overly extravagant; it was merely twice the size of Bison's Heavy Shield, but its quality was several dozen times superior.
With a furious roar from Hars, the shield, weighing hundreds of tons, soared into the air, reaching over a thousand meters high. It looked like a child's toy in comparison, but what happened next was even more astonishing.
The giant shield began to spin as it flew thousands of meters away and ultimately hovered in mid-air.
"The 1000x Magnetic Gravity Shield is now activated! Everyone, gather around me!"
With another thunderous shout from Hars, beams of milky white light radiated from the shield, enveloping an area of ten kilometers as if bathed in a grand white sunlight. Especially in the eerie environment of the Dark Nebula, it was both bizarre and breathtaking.
As the magnetic gravity protection activated, all Earthbound Ghosts within this range seemed to be caught by invisible hands around their necks, entering a state of suffocation. In just a few seconds, they all shriveled into Carrot Sticks.
At this moment, the severely injured 70 and Kaka, along with Hars and another Professional Retainer, finally broke free from their previous predicament!
As for the Dark Knight also trapped within the magnetic gravity field, it showed stronger resistance and managed to struggle for a bit before being obliterated by Hars's relentless punches.
The entire battlefield shifted dramatically at that moment when the Dark Devourer ceased its fireball attacks and clearly sensed danger, choosing to flee.
By the time Lin Yuan returned to the battlefield, everything had already concluded. He saw Hars retrieving the powerful giant shield and couldn't help but be impressed by it!
"Haha! F-910, your performance was truly astonishing! Kaka, I must say you’ve really struck gold this time!" Captain Hars laughed heartily. The earlier ambush had been terrifying; a Dark Devourer specializing in ranged attacks and a Dark Knight excelling in close combat had nearly wiped them out.
Kaka, having sustained lighter injuries, was naturally elated and boasted, "70, what do you say? Are you convinced? Your drone Retinue was completely destroyed!"
"Hmph! That was just luck. At that time, with Hars attracting the Dark Knight's attention upfront, it could launch a surprise attack from behind. Otherwise, even if given a hundred chances, it wouldn't succeed!" 70 scoffed reluctantly acknowledging this fact.
"70, you're mistaken this time. F-910 is indeed exceptional. While that initial surprise attack might have had some luck involved, its subsequent evasion from the Dark Devourer's attacks was brilliant. That kind of robust yet intricate aerial maneuvering isn't something just any Black Bat-9 drone can achieve. I'm even wondering if F-910 has developed autonomous intelligence?" Hars's question startled Lin Yuan as he hovered in mid-air on alert. However, Kaka's conversation with 70 soon eased his tension.
“Captain Hars, please stop joking. Achieving autonomous intelligence is not that simple. Only a master of Mechanical Assembly can create a Mechanical Body with a high probability of awakening. Such a thing could never happen with the assembly line-produced Black Bat-9. Moreover, even if this F-910 has begun to awaken, it will take hundreds to thousands of Mechanical Years before it officially forms autonomous consciousness and is granted citizenship by the Empire. Hey, Kaka, stop dreaming. If it were me, instead of waiting for something so unreliable, I would rather spend a hefty sum to buy an awakening catalyst program that can mass-produce autonomous Intellects.” 70 seemed unwilling to miss any opportunity to strike at Kaka.
“Ha! 70, I understand. You must be jealous, right? Well, I’ll generously forgive you since you’ve lost face this time, especially after your only drone Retinue met such a miserable end,” Kaka shot back without backing down.
“Damn it, Kaka, don’t get too smug. Just because I only had one drone Retinue doesn’t mean I was lazy in commanding them. Besides, if I wanted to, I could awaken them into Mechanical Warriors at any time and make them my Professional Retainers. Want to see? A country bumpkin from Kaminski, let me show you what a real miracle looks like!” 70 was clearly irritated, and in the next moment, he suddenly pulled out a drone from thin air—then another—until he had summoned nine Black Bat-9 drones.
“Damn! 70, do you actually possess Five-Dimensional Key Space?” Even Captain Hars was stunned. For elite warriors like them, Five-Dimensional Key Space was something they could only dream of.
“What’s so impressive about that? If it weren’t for the Dark Devourer focusing fire on me from the start and not giving me a chance to attack, I would have made him pay!” 70 said nonchalantly, appearing quite confident in his background.
“Alright, enough arguing. Let’s take a break and continue moving. We still have a thousand kilometers to the 14th coordinate point!” Hars interrupted 70's display of wealth. Kaka was slightly surprised but soon turned her attention back to Lin Yuan. “F-910, can you hear me? If you really have awakened, don’t be afraid; this is just the beginning of Mechanical Life. However, an awakening without the blessing of the Mechanical Goddess is not protected by Imperial law. So as long as you pledge loyalty to me... well then, as someone recognized by Imperial law as a Mechanical Knight, I can appoint you as my Professional Retainer. What do you think?”
Upon hearing Kaka's words, Lin Yuan began to understand that in Mechanical City, any Mechanical Body could potentially awaken autonomously. However, such awakenings wouldn’t be viewed as heretical like they would be in human society because this was simply how Mechanical Life originated and developed. The key element involved here seemed to be the blessing of the Mechanical Goddess, which likely referred to the Intellect or Identification Number.
Regardless, having an autonomous consciousness wasn’t an extraordinary event. Moreover, according to 70's claims, he even had ways to quickly grant autonomy to multiple Mechanical Bodies.
To be fair, Lin Yuan didn’t mind becoming Kaka’s Retainer since it would be a significant step up for him. However, he already had an original identity that could easily attract trouble; thus he chose to remain silent.
“Ha! What do you think now, Kaka? You’re daydreaming! If you had that much spare time on your hands, you should hurry up and help me assemble a War Fortress! Damn it! I’m going to take down that Dark Devourer!” At this moment, 70 shouted again while pulling out numerous mechanical parts from his Five-Dimensional Key Space.
“I think you deserve this predicament. If you had told us earlier that you had a War Fortress, would we have been in such dire straits? Kaka, come help out! Hal, U-7, F-910—keep watch on the perimeter,” Captain Hars decided at this point; he was clearly still quite astonished.
“Damn it! How was I supposed to know that this patrol would encounter both a Dark Knight and a Dark Sorcerer working together? Besides, these are all for my survival; my family has already cut off support for me. This is all I have left—what will I do if they get damaged?” 70 grumbled.
In an instant, Lin Yuan found himself ignored again; this relieved him somewhat. He had initially worried that his stunning Thrust shot would draw extra attention from Hars and Kaka. It seemed he had overthought it. However, he realized that the more he interacted with the higher-ups in Mechanical City, the more shocking secrets and various matters became!
At that moment, Claire’s voice suddenly rang out. She no longer needed to follow Lin Yuan’s thoughts; she had her own ideas and perspectives and her own dedicated area. Sometimes Lin Yuan didn’t even know what she was concocting!
"Sir, all the information regarding the recent battle has been gathered and supplemented. First, concerning the enemy, there were four types of attacking units deployed: Earthbound Ghosts, Demons, Dark Knights, and Dark Devourers. The Earthbound Ghosts utilize underground stealth attacks, making them difficult to detect; however, their overall attack power is low. As long as one stays more than a hundred meters off the ground, they can avoid being attacked. The Demon acts as the controller of the Earthbound Ghosts and possesses no outstanding combat capabilities."
"It is worth mentioning the Dark Knight and Dark Devourer. The Dark Knight is a typical land-based melee attacker, a type of life form within the Dark Demon Race. They are tough and large in stature, primarily defended by a Dark Energy Shield—essentially a layer of dark mist—and an additional layer of dark armor made from a certain type of Magic Ore, which is quite valuable. It is one of the best spoils of war on the battlefield. As for their weaponry, it mainly consists of heavy weapons crafted from Magic Ore, which are also quite valuable. Essentially, if a rookie team like Hals's can kill a Dark Knight, they would earn a significant reward and reputation. The dark armor and weapons could fetch at least fifty Dark Magic Cores and unimaginable Mechanical Coins. This is why the Elite Mechanical Knights in Mechanical City are so eager to come to the front lines."
"And what about the Dark Devourer? I feel like that guy resembles a Dark Sorcerer more," Lin Yuan casually inquired, recalling the terrifying rain of fireballs that had left a deep impression on him.
"Yes, sir, your intuition is correct. In some sense, the attack methods of the Dark Devourer are quite similar to those of our traditional Dark Sorcerers. The term 'sorcerer' often represents something incredible and beyond reality—capable of feats beyond human ability. The Dark Devourer belongs to this category; they are very special entities within the Dark Demon Race. According to information from Mechanical City, the appearance of a Dark Devourer is not exaggerated; they stand less than two meters tall and resemble a fusion between a bird and a human. They can fly and have high movement speed—overall quite repulsive. Their attack method involves directly manipulating Dark Matter by altering certain molecular arrangements to create terrifying attacks, such as those dreadful black fireballs. These are not magic but rather highly unstable Dark Matter that possesses characteristics like devouring, disintegrating, tearing apart, and annihilating—quite fearsome indeed. Essentially, all Energy Weapons cannot resist them and are completely suppressed. Therefore, due to the incredible danger posed by their attacks, some Mechanical Warriors refer to them as dark wizards. From my perspective, calling such a terrifying entity a Dark Sorcerer is entirely accurate."
After hearing Claire's description, Lin Yuan gained a clearer understanding of the Dark Demon Race but remained curious: "How does the overall strength of the Dark Knight compare to that of the Dark Sorcerer within the Dark Demon Race? For instance, what about that black knight? Also, could you search for why Captain Hars and his team chose to patrol on foot? It seems like with their flying speed from coordinate point 111 to 14 would take only a short time."
"Certainly, sir. Regarding your first question, it's actually quite complex. The reason why they are called the Dark Demon Race is not only because they control Dark Matter but also because their bodies are fundamentally different from all known life forms. They essentially possess immortality and can change and evolve at will. To give you a simple example: tens of thousands of Mechanical Years ago, when the first Mechanical Warrior encountered a member of the Dark Demon Race, that entity was merely an unconscious stone block that could be kicked away easily. However, that kick left an imprint on the stone, leading to the birth of the first conscious Dark Demon Race member. Based on that kick's motion, this entity evolved defensive movements to prevent being kicked away and grew into an even larger form over time. Each attack from external aggressors has facilitated further evolution among them. It's not an exaggeration to say that today's Dark Demon Race has been entirely shaped by Mechanical City's military efforts—they're becoming stronger and increasingly uncontrollable. Theoretically speaking, these Dark Demon Race members will eventually catch up with Mechanical City's technological advancements and completely destroy what Mechanical City represents!"
"No way!" Lin Yuan exclaimed in shock.
"Of course not, sir; that's just a theory. In reality, the higher-ups in Mechanical City are even more formidable than we imagine. They grasped this situation tens of thousands of Mechanical Years ago; I don't know how they did it but have successfully slowed down this evolutionary mutation speed by ten million times. As such, they can only remain prey—forever prey. Because of this situation, the strongest individuals among the Dark Demon Race rank as follows: Dark Lord, another Dark Lord, Dark Priest, Dark Knight, and Dark Servant—these five represent the pinnacle combat power within the race and rarely appear together. If you encounter even one Dark Servant, your luck could be described as extraordinary since battle reports from the Ninth Legion indicate that in over a thousand Mechanical Years there have only been three encounters with Dark Servants and one with a Dark Knight. Although each appearance signifies bloody slaughter, they are indeed hard to come by."
"Below these top five powers are frequently encountered members of the Dark Demon Race: Dark Prayer, Dark Devourer, Dark Redeemer, Dark Devastator, and Dark Reaper—these five represent mid-tier combat powers among those five elite forces. Among them, you've already experienced what a Dark Devourer can do; as for the Dark Prayer and Dark Redeemer—they also belong to ranged attack types with relatively weak individual combat strength. However, if one combines forces with a Dark Prayer alongside a Dark Devourer, their combat power increases tenfold instantly; if another joins as a Dark Redeemer on top of that—it multiplies again by ten! If all five were to unite together then even with Ninth Legion's strength they would need to deploy a Blaze-Class Interstellar Battleship to counter them; however such situations are rare since these five types usually prefer working alone. Generally speaking, they only gather together when some overly audacious Mechanical Warrior is soaring at ten thousand meters high—this would likely attract their attention—which explains why Hars's patrol must proceed on foot."
"Beneath these mid-tier powers lies lower-tier members of the Dark Demon Race; however these lower-tier entities can be quite complex. For instance today’s encounter with one particular Dark Devourer allows it to control Earthbound Ghosts along with Knights and Demons—all ground assault units—while something like a Dark Prayer can control Black Wing Warriors or flying Demons for aerial assaults. In summary do not underestimate or overestimate those in Nebula’s dark realm; they function like chieftains in primitive societies leading various tribes." (To be continued.)
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