Chapter 192 The Mad Sacrifice

The image on the screen caused the command room of the great xia dragon sparrow, which had just been immersed in the joy of "scavenging," to instantly fall silent. The atmosphere was even more solemn than when facing the Coronal Ejection earlier.

On the surface of that dark red star, a grand and eerie "funeral" was taking place.

"For glory!"

"For the eternal mechanical ascension!"

The communication frequencies were filled with frenzied roars, making one's skin crawl. Beneath the massive metal ring, dense swarms of small spaceships, like moths to a flame, were jostling to line up and dive at full speed into the churning sea of fire below.

One after another, not a single one slowed down even slightly.

The moment the ships touched the high-temperature plasma on the star's surface, they didn't even spark much of an explosion. Like a few sesame seeds thrown into a furnace, they were vaporized into nothingness in the blink of an eye. Yet, despite this, the ships behind continued to move forward obsessively, filling the gaps without hesitation.

"Mad... they've all gone mad..." Academician Wang gripped the corner of the table tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force. His cloudy old eyes were filled with disbelief. "How is this a sacrifice? This is mass suicide! Even the most primitive evil cults wouldn't dare stage a live sacrifice on such a scale!"

"Zzz— zzz—"

Just then, a burst of piercing high-frequency noise forcibly cut into Earth's communication network.

It wasn't an ordinary synthesized electronic voice, but a composite soundwave mixing the whispers, prayers, and screams of countless people. Carrying a strong psychological pollution, it echoed through the hall.

"Ignorant flesh-and-blood creatures..."

Cardinal Jealousy's voice became ethereal and divine, completely devoid of its previous gloom. "Look at this grand sight. Only by discarding this fragile and decaying shell and merging the soul into the furnace of the star can one attain true immortality before the 'Great Filter' descends."

The voice seemed to possess some kind of magic, drilling directly into people's minds.

"Warning! Wide-area mental interference waves detected!"

"Warning! Riots occurring in Sector C and Sector F of the Underground City!"

gaia's urgent alarm sounded. Monitoring screens popped up; on some streets of the Underground City, many citizens who had been cheering over their narrow escape now had dull eyes, as if their souls had been snatched away.

They dropped what they were holding and began fanatically ramming the closed gates, muttering incoherent nonsense like "exit," "go home," and "melt." Some with weak wills even tried to snatch weapons from the security robots, wanting to open the airlocks leading to the surface.

"Boss, this old charlatan has some tricks!" A Ji covered his ears, cursing with a pained expression. "This sound makes my brain ache. It feels like hundreds of flies are having a meeting inside!"

Lin Yuan coldly watched the civilians frantically banging on the doors on the monitor, a flash of tyrannical cold light in his eyes.

"gaia."

Lin Yuan's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a chill that pierced to the bone, instantly drowning out the annoying broadcast. "Cut off all civilian frequencies and initiate a full-spectrum silence. Notify the garrison forces to seal all gates leading to the surface."

He paused, squeezing a sentence through his teeth: "Tell those who want to die that if they want to 'melt' so badly, they don't need to trouble themselves by running to the sun. If anyone dares to take another step toward the gates, I'll personally send them on their way right here."

"Understood."

gaia's execution was absolute.

Inside the Underground City, the originally gentle security broadcasts instantly turned into piercing air-raid sirens. Rows of armed robots brandished stun guns and riot shields, their dark muzzles blocking every intersection.

Under the deterrent of absolute force, the deluded citizens were like they'd had a bucket of cold water poured over them. Although their eyes remained fanatical, their physical instinct for fear made them stop in their tracks.

Seeing the riot forcibly suppressed, Lin Yuan turned his head to look at Alita, who had been staring blankly at the data panel.

"This is the so-called 'ascension'?" Lin Yuan pointed at the screen where ships were still jumping into the sun like dumplings into a pot. "What is this old geezer after? Just to hear a bang?"

"No, this isn't a religious ritual."

Alita looked up, her mechanical eyes flickering with cold blue light. "I just analyzed the spectral reactions of those ships the moment they crashed. When the believers' bodies vaporized, they released a large amount of carbon and trace amounts of rare metals."

She pulled up a chemical equation so complex it made one's head spin. "The core reactor of that 'Gravity Lens Array' is unstable. It needs a continuous injection of high-purity biological carbon and specific trace elements as 'catalysts' to maintain the suppression of the star's gravity."

Alita's voice was devoid of emotion, yet it made everyone present feel a chill in their hearts. "In other words, those people aren't going there to ascend. In the eyes of this Mechanical Papacy, they are just living humanoid coal, or rather... industrial consumables."

"Burning living people... as lubricant?" Academician Wang trembled with rage, nearly fainting. "Beasts! This is simply a regression of civilization! How dare they call themselves a high-level civilization?!"

Hum—!

Before everyone could digest this cruel truth, a low hum suddenly came from the space outside the window.

The Dauntless titan flagship, which had been floating silently, now unexpectedly lit up with the charging glow of its weapons systems without any orders.

The ghostly blue flames on the hull now turned a blinding, ghastly white due to the intense energy fluctuations.

Tens of thousands of ghost warships that had been hidden in the shadows also revealed themselves, all their muzzles pointing in unison at the massive metal ring.

"Boss, the 33rd Legion is... bristling." A Ji swallowed hard. "I can feel their emotional fluctuations. Is that... anger?"

Lin Yuan touched the Mind-Calming Necklace around his neck and indeed felt a tangible surge of fury rushing through the network.

That was the wrath of warriors whose dignity had been trampled upon.

For these heroic spirits who had already died in battle, death was a destination, a glory, and an inevitable end. But this disgusting act of squandering life as industrial waste and even covering it with a sacred veneer had completely enraged these veterans who had once shed their last drop of blood on the battlefield.

Even the dead have tempers.

"That's more like it."

A cruel smile curled at the corner of Lin Yuan's mouth as he reached out and patted the console in front of him. "The brothers can't stand it anymore. If we don't do something, how can I lead this team in the future?"

"Alita, scan the structural diagram of that altar for me. Focus on finding its energy nodes; I'm going to perform an 'amputation' on it."

"Attempting to scan..." Alita's fingers moved rapidly in the air, but the next second, red warning pop-ups filled the screen. "Failed. There is an extremely high-intensity interference field around the target. Our radar waves were swallowed as soon as they made contact."

"It's a 'Faith Force Field'." Alita explained with a frown. "They are using the brainwave bursts of millions of believers as they die to form a high-frequency electromagnetic barrier around the array. Unless there is physical contact, we cannot lock onto precise coordinates."

"In other words, we have to get up close and personal?"

Lin Yuan snorted coldly and directly connected to the external public channel.

On the screen, Jealousy's disgusting mechanical face appeared once again.

"How? Scared witless by my Lord's might?" Jealousy watched the Earth fleet stall, his tone full of mockery. "It's not too late to kneel and repent. Perhaps I will mercifully allow you to be the final batch of fuel..."

"I say, can you shut up?"

Lin Yuan interrupted his preaching as if looking at an idiot. "Is your god's eyesight not very good? Choosing a piece of scrap metal like you to be a bishop?"

Jealousy's voice stopped abruptly, his single eye staring fixedly at Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan didn't give him a chance to speak at all, pointing at the massive metal ring. "Listen up. I don't care what kind of ghostly sacrifice you're conducting, I've taken a liking to that iron ring. Since you all love jumping into fire pits so much, don't waste my new equipment."

He even made a disdainful gesture. "Especially those leftover ashes—don't get them smeared all over the equipment. I'll have to spend money to clean it later; how unlucky."

"You..." Jealousy had clearly never seen such a display. The enemies he had encountered in the past were either scared out of their wits or righteously debated doctrine with him. A rogue who started by worrying about the spoils of war getting dirty was a first.

"Sacrilege! This is unforgivable sacrilege!"

Jealousy let out a shrill roar. "Since you refuse salvation, let the 'Saint' purify your filthy souls!"

Following his roar, the "Faith Force Field" protecting the altar suddenly cracked open a gap.

"Warning! High-energy reaction source approaching at high speed detected!"

The radar operator shouted in terror, "Extremely fast! It's not a ship! Its size is only... about as big as two people?"

On the screen, a brilliant point of light was hurtling straight toward Earth with an acceleration that defied physical common sense.

That thing had no thrusters, no engine, not even a physical body.

When the camera zoomed in, everyone gasped.

It was a humanoid being composed entirely of pure light energy. It—or rather, he—had three pairs of light wings spread behind him, as brilliant as the aurora. In his hand, he held a long spear burning with white flames. His facial features were blurred, yet he exuded a sense of divinity that made one want to bow down and worship.

"This is the so-called 'Saint'?" Lin Yuan narrowed his eyes.

"Fire! Shoot him down!" Chen Weiguo ordered decisively.

Several point-defense turrets on the periphery of Earth instantly opened fire. Dense barrages of tungsten alloy rounds wove a web of death, precisely covering the light man's path.

However, a terrifying scene occurred.

Those physical warheads, reaching speeds dozens of times the speed of sound, passed through the light man's body as if passing through air. The light man didn't even flicker; his body only rippled slightly, and then he continued his charge unharmed.

Not just the physical rounds—the several high-energy laser beams that followed and hit him were actually absorbed by his body, making the light wings on his back even brighter.

"Physical attacks are ineffective? Energy attacks are immune?" A Ji almost bit his tongue in fright. "How the hell are we supposed to fight this? Is he using an invincibility cheat?!"

In the instant of everyone's shock, the light man known as the "Saint" had already broken through Earth's outer fire net.

He hovered outside Earth's dark blue shield, less than a hundred kilometers away from the dragon sparrow where Lin Yuan was. Through the holographic screen, Lin Yuan could even feel a contemptuous gaze projecting down from that featureless face.

The light man raised the flaming light spear in his hand and pressed the tip against Earth's Psionic Shield.

There was no violent explosion, no world-shaking roar.

Just a gentle touch.

The shield surface, which was strong enough to withstand a meteor impact, actually melted a large hole silently, like butter pierced by a red-hot iron needle!

A voice devoid of any emotion exploded directly in Lin Yuan's mind:

"Player No. 109, your newbie protection period is over."