Chapter 347: The Sanction of the Mechanical Sovereign, Bai Fu’s Parting Gift
Her thought first locked onto the blank skill card, then selected the Saint and Corona.
With a crisp ding, a flood of selectable skills appeared before Bai Fu’s eyes.
“The goal is to frame the Saint and Corona, so I must choose the skills they usually use. Otherwise, if no one recognizes them, then all my efforts will be wasted, so…”
Bai Fu quickly scanned through the floating boxes.
In the end, she chose the Saint’s 【Holy Cross Sigil】, and Corona’s 【Full-Metal Rampage】.
“Perfect. Next, I just need to find the right chance to smash these two skills onto the Fourth Apostle.”
Bai Fu glanced around and saw that the Fourth Apostle was still some distance away. Without hesitation, she dashed toward him.
“Hmph, trying to run?”
The Saint raised his hand and unleashed a Holy Cross Sigil.
A crimson cross mark descended from the heavens, as though ripping open a bleeding wound in the sky.
Corona was not idle either. Though he had not summoned his mechanical army, the moment he appeared, the Apostolic Holy City’s caretaker on Holy Land Star immediately transferred full control of all machines on the planet into his hands.
The will of the Mechanical Sovereign activated. Instantly, every machine on Holy Land Star seemed to awaken, rushing with unbelievable speed toward a spinning crystal that suddenly emerged in the sky.
This crystal was something Corona had recently obtained from Lufas.
He had helped Lufas uncover why the Research Society of the Ethereal Realm was seeking True Spirit Marrow, and in return, Lufas had gifted him a half-ruined Mechanical Sovereign.
From that, Corona had extracted a Heart of Creation and forged his own Mechanical Sovereign.
A so-called Mechanical Sovereign was a colossal monstrosity forged from countless machines.
Like the artificial deities the Apostolic Holy City summoned through great secret arts, it was a miracle born from a legion-type mechanic pursuing the ultimate path.
Through the link of the Heart of Creation, the machines were not simply amassed together. Every part, every atom, resonated in harmony, unleashing power far beyond what they ever had.
Just like now.
Under Corona’s call, in just a few seconds, a Mechanical Sovereign over ten kilometers tall rose above Holy Land Star.
Yet, this was only the beginning.
Though Holy Land Star was the capital of the Psionic Civilization, its outer layers were still filled with an ocean of mechanical structures. One by one, they fused into the Mechanical Sovereign, causing its body to swell with every passing second.
By the time Bai Fu twisted and turned her way past the Saint’s Holy Cross Sigil, the Mechanical Sovereign had already grown so vast that it pierced through Holy Land Star’s atmosphere.
“The Hammer of the Gods!”
The Sovereign swung down its raised right fist with immense force.
When that dark-matter-coated giant fist tore through the ionosphere, Holy Land Star fell into eerie silence.
The atmosphere curled and shattered like a cracked eggshell. Thousands of meters of cloud cover burst into crystalline dust within the vacuum shockwave. Seven scarlet auroras lit up the northern sky, like blood-tears shed by the heavens in their death throes.
Falling—still falling!
In a fraction of a millisecond, the waters of the Holy Sea evaporated. The Pilgrimage Plains split open with mantle-deep scars. Statues of the Supreme God’s disciples melted like heated butter. Seismic waves of over magnitude ten erupted, hurling the entire Holy Land Star onto a death course.
Corona grinned broadly as he admired his Mechanical Sovereign.
“Unless he has some unique means of evasion, this punch will cripple him if not kill him! Saint, get ready to capture his soul!”
The Saint smiled calmly. “A trifling matter.”
The two had worked together for years, their cooperation already seamless. Even without Corona’s reminder, he knew exactly what to do next.
Of course, this was Corona’s first time unleashing his Sovereign since acquiring it. He deserved to flaunt it a bit, to bask in the glory.
If Corona was satisfied with the display, even the Apostolic Holy City would view their Ten Saints with greater esteem.
“Holy crap, are mechanics really this cool?”
Bai Fu tilted her head back, staring wide-eyed at the iron fist descending against a blood-red backdrop.
She could feel the terrifying force within that fist.
All its power was compressed beneath the surface, and even its raw kinetic energy alone was enough to rip apart this world-reinforced planet.
If its full strength erupted, it could easily pierce through an entire galaxy!
Bai Fu was certain that with her frail vessel in this descent, she absolutely could not withstand the blow.
But…
It didn’t matter. If she couldn’t block it, then she simply wouldn’t.
Hehe!
Bai Fu pulled out the Full-Metal Rampage card she had copied from Corona.
Her original plan had been to fly before the Fourth Apostle and strike him with the two copied skill cards in a surprise attack.
But that plan had one flaw: she had to keep herself hidden so the Fourth Apostle would not notice that the attack came from her.
Now, there was no need for such calculations.
If she simply cast Full-Metal Rampage on the Mechanical Sovereign, making its iron fist swerve onto the Fourth Apostle instead—wasn’t that much simpler and cleaner?
“Thanks for the gift, Corona, my iron-bro!”
Bai Fu tossed out the Full-Metal Rampage skill card.
The card transformed into a streak of light and sank into the Sovereign’s body.
Rumble!
The Mechanical Sovereign began trembling uncontrollably.
It was “burning”!
It was going berserk!
Its power spilled out in wild torrents!
Its perfect resonance frequency began to warp!
As the deviation grew, the fist that should have slammed down on Bai Fu veered off course—descending instead toward the Fourth Apostle.
Something was wrong!
How could Corona, master of the Sovereign and a thrice-transcended mechanic prodigy, fail to notice the anomaly?
But—it was already too late!
The Sovereign was so fast that by the time the error was detected, its fist had already fallen.
Damn it!
Corona’s expression twisted in horror.
Beside him, the Saint asked curiously, “What’s wrong with you?”
Nothing? How the hell could it be nothing—this punch was about to smash the Fourth Apostle!
Corona hurriedly relayed his realization to the Saint.
The Saint froze instantly. His smile receded like the tide.
What?
Likewise frozen was the Fourth Apostle, staring up at the descending iron fist.
It had not moved earlier, deeming Bai Fu already a dead woman, not worth its effort.
But now—
Why the hell had this fist suddenly switched targets to strike it instead?
A program error?
Impossible!
An external influence?
Never!
It had faced the intruder before. That one was a space-type transcendent—there was no way she could affect the Sovereign.
Well, not entirely impossible, but the Fourth Apostle did not even consider it now.
Bai Fu’s words had provoked it into blind rage. Its mind contained only thoughts of the Supreme God’s disciples.
The Supreme God’s disciples had revealed its secret to the outside, and now Corona’s Sovereign’s fist suddenly changed targets to strike it. Could this too be at the disciples’ command?
Possible. Very possible!
“He wants me dead. If this is Corona’s ambush, then he must have other schemes prepared too. To fight him now… no, the time isn’t right. If I fight him here, my odds aren’t good. After all, the Apostolic Holy City is still under his control. If I stir conflict now, the city will side with him, not me.”
The Fourth Apostle clenched its teeth in fury.
Left and right pondering, it made a very embarrassing but practical decision—
Run!
As long as it ran fast enough, all the moves the Supreme God’s Disciple had prepared for it would be rendered useless.
Of course, this was only a temporary retreat.
Once the dust settled, it would return.
Its personality was not the type to endure a loss and take it quietly; it would immediately find a way to retaliate — that was its nature.
The Apostolic Holy City did not belong to the Supreme God’s Disciple alone.
If it put enough chips on the table, it could surely split the Apostolic Holy City, get more people to its side, and use them to eliminate the Supreme God’s Disciple.
“Using the power of the Apostolic Holy City to get rid of you, the Supreme God’s Disciple of the Apostolic Holy City — that is true vengeance!” it thought.
“Supreme God’s Disciple, just you wait!”
At the instant the iron fist descended, the Fourth Apostle braced against the annihilating blow and began to dissolve its body.
Sizzle—sizzle—
Arcs of electricity surged like a titanic serpent across the northern hemisphere of Holy Land Star.
When the Mechanical Sovereign retracted its fist, the surface of Holy Land Star retained an annular depression eight thousand kilometers in diameter. The geomagnetic reversal-triggered electromagnetic pulse continued to burn through the ionosphere. Continental outlines had been melted into dark-red rivers of magma.
Corona and the Saint exchanged a glance; the worry in their eyes instantaneously transformed into terror.
Could they not be terrified?
They scanned everywhere, but they could not find any trace of the Fourth Apostle!
“Is it—dead, turned into dust?”
Corona swallowed and felt incredulous.
One had to remember that was an Apostle; the idea of an Apostle being struck dead by his Mechanical Sovereign’s single punch was something he would not even dare dream of.
Was the Fourth Apostle only all show, or was the true power of his Mechanical Sovereign far beyond his imagination?
Corona could not make sense of it.
The Saint beside him also did not know what to do.
“If the people of the Apostolic Holy City discover what happened here, they will kill us.”
He had already mentally cursed Corona’s ancestors for eighteen generations.
Telling you to show off — why did you have to show off this much? Now look at the mess!
Corona was furious and short of breath. At this point, what else could they do besides run? Tell the Apostolic Holy City they had accidentally killed the Fourth Apostle?
Don’t be ridiculous — if the Apostolic Holy City accepted that explanation, he’d eat his hat.
They spoke no more and hurriedly fled.
In a flash, their figures vanished into the sky. The enormous Mechanical Sovereign disintegrated, becoming countless mechanical fragments drifting through space.
In a neglected corner of the ruins, Bai Fu lying there curled her lip.
One had to admit, that Mechanical Sovereign was really cool.
Heh.
“Just you wait. I’ll make an even cooler artificial psionic god next time!”
Bai Fu struggled up from the rubble.
The Mechanical Sovereign’s iron fist had not struck her head directly, but the shockwave that erupted at impact still caused her considerable trouble.
If it had been her true body here, naturally there would have been no big problem. But this was merely a body summoned by a Sovereign-tier summoning card — how could it be unscathed?
“It’s about time to go back.”
Bai Fu looked around, preparing to find a safe spot to detonate this body as she ended the descent state.
As she looked, she found an acquaintance.
Oh, wasn’t that her number-one little follower, Wind-Rising Stars?
She had to go over and say hello!
In the ruins, Wind-Rising Stars kept coughing.
“What the hell, I just logged off to go out for dinner, how did Holy Land Star turn into this when I relogged? Did the Three Universal Civilizations come at each other?”
He opened the faction channel and was about to ask what had happened when a person wrapped up tightly approached from afar.
“Who are you—”
Wind-Rising Stars immediately went on guard.
All he saw was a string of question marks, but it was worth noting the question marks were red — meaning, this was an enemy?
Damn, enemy attack, come on—
“You did very well.”
The newcomer cut Wind-Rising Stars off mid-sentence.
“If not for you, I probably could not have located Holy Land Star. You have made a tremendous contribution to the Journey of Life Evolution. When everything becomes clear, people will remember your name and engrave it on the Eternal Monument! Today we part here; I will come back for you!”
The stranger finished speaking and left.
Huh?
Wind-Rising Stars was stunned, then he fell into ecstasy.
That line, that—this must be a hidden plot, and one that looked like it had a quest.
Ha ha ha.
Wind-Rising Stars could not help but laugh inside.
He had recently been having a hard time in the Apostolic Holy City: first the 3.0 patch forecast had hit Bai Fu’s little followers hard; second, that bastard called “Astronaut” had recently stolen much of his spotlight and was quietly trending toward replacing him as leader of the Bai Fu followers.
He had watched helplessly and fretted.
But now—
Hidden plot!
Hidden quest!
“When I get this quest reward, I’ll make Astronaut and Subterranean Man both bow before me as lower-class people!”
Wind-Rising Stars laughed happily, completely unaware that an NPC not far away had watched his reaction and his conversation with the mysterious stranger.
“I hope you like this parting gift I left for you,” Bai Fu said, hiding in the dark with a grin as she watched the still-dimwitted Wind-Rising Stars.
After a while, she found an unpopulated area and ended the descent state.
Boom!
An explosion awakened the guards on Holy Land Star who were still in a state of shock.
“We must inform the Supreme God’s Disciple immediately!”
The Fourth Apostle was missing without a trace.
The Supreme God’s Disciple who received the news felt as if struck by lightning.
The Fourth Apostle—he was an extremely crucial piece in his plan; it— it— it—
He could not sit still any longer!
The Supreme God’s Disciple immediately abandoned the others in the Apostolic Holy City and personally rushed back to Holy Land Star.
When he left, the pressure endured by the Three Universal Civilizations eased a notch.
“Now was not the time to grieve for the dead. Send people to retrieve the survivors of the assault team. The rest of you, come with me and figure out how to cut off the Apostolic Holy City’s advance!”