227: Superstition? Science?
Outside the Pyramid, at the edge of the sand sea.
The One-Eyed Dragon King, draped in a golden-red kasaya, stood on the roof of a command vehicle, his gaunt figure and sole remaining eye, like a hawk, locked onto the blurry figure atop the Pyramid.
He held high-powered military binoculars.
In his vision,
Lin Mo's figure became clear.
Young! Stern! Bare-chested, his lean, muscular physique was like a sculpture in the sunlight! His gaze was terrifyingly calm! As if the hundred thousand strong army below him were mere ants!
"Hmph! Playing at being a god!" The One-Eyed Dragon King sneered inwardly. He had studied in the British Empire in his early years, receiving the highest level of aristocratic education, and he championed science! He firmly believed in knowledge! What gods and ghosts? They were all ignorant lies! Tools used to rule the lower-class commoners!
He picked up a megaphone.
His voice, amplified, carried with metallic coldness and condescending arrogance, echoing across the sand sea:
"Boy on the top of the tower!"
"State your name! Which warlord's son are you?!"
"Hand over control of the gold mine! Surrender immediately!"
"This poor monk... can guarantee your life! And allow your people... to evacuate safely!"
"Otherwise..."
His single eye swept over the dense, black muzzles of cannons behind him!
"Behind me... fifty heavy cannons will fire in unison!"
"In an instant! This broken tower of yours... will be reduced to ashes!"
"And the gold mine... don't even think about keeping it!"
His voice carried a naked threat! Yet it also held a hint of apprehension, fearing he might damage the "gold mine"!
On top of the Pyramid.
A cold, extreme arc formed at Lin Mo's lips.
Like a crack appearing in ten-thousand-year-old ice.
"Let my people... evacuate?"
His voice wasn't loud.
Yet it clearly pierced through the sandstorm!
Like an ice pick! Piercing into the eardrums of every Indian soldier!
Carrying unparalleled mockery!
"Alright..."
"I'm just afraid..."
"You won't be able to bear it."
As his voice fell!
Boom—!
The surface of the Pyramid!
Countless tiny cracks instantly opened!
As if Pandora's Box had been opened!
Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish—!!!
Golden light burst forth!
Blinding!
Countless figures!
Like a golden torrent!
Surged out from the cracks!
Landing!
Forming ranks!
Their movements were perfectly synchronized! Like precise machines!
One hundred thousand Paper Divine Soldiers!
Paper Nezha! Paper Guan Gong! Paper Wuchang! Paper Qin Shubao! Paper Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King! Paper Heavenly Soldiers and Generals!
Each with a unique form!
Lifelike!
Completely covered in... gold foil!!
Under the scorching sun!
Reflecting billions of dazzling golden rays!
Like a moving... ocean of gold!!
Instantly!
Engulfing a large stretch of sand in front of the Pyramid!
Deadly silence! Yet carrying a suffocating... sacredness and eeriness!
"Hiss—!!"
The hundred thousand strong Indian army!
Instantly gasped in cold air!
Dead silence!
Absolute dead silence!
All soldiers! Officers! Including the One-Eyed Dragon King!
Their eyes widened like brass bells!
Their mouths gaped wide enough to fit an egg!
Staring at that shimmering, silently standing army of paper figures!
Their minds! A complete blank!
"Paper... paper figures?!"
"Gold... paper figures made of gold?!"
"Buddha!!"
"Are... are they really Heavenly Soldiers descending?!"
Superstitious fear! Spread through the army like a plague! Soldiers' legs turned to jelly! Their hands holding their guns trembled!
"Nonsense!!"
The One-Eyed Dragon King suddenly snapped back to reality! His single eye erupted with terrifying ferocity! He roared fiercely, trying to quell the panic!
"An illusion!!"
"They're robots!!!"
He stared intently at the paper figures!
Their steps steady! Their movements uniform! Completely devoid of any living aura!
"They are definitely high-tech robots!!"
"Disguised with gold foil! Just a trick to mystify!!"
His voice carried a tremor he didn't even notice, and a forced calm!
The British Empire! Even its most cutting-edge technology manufacturing companies.
Couldn't produce robots with such steady gaits.
Where did the other party come from?
Which country's secret scientists?
He couldn't leave without finding out more.
"Capture those robots!!" The One-Eyed Dragon King's single eye was bloodshot, and he roared hoarsely! His voice carried hysterical greed and a hint of suppressed fear! "Disassemble them! The technology inside! Is priceless!!"
The order was given!
The front-line Indian soldiers, under the whips and scolding of their officers, steeled themselves! Held their guns! Cautiously approached the shimmering, silently deadly formation of paper figures!
"Damn it... are they really made of gold?"
"Careful... don't break them... valuable goods..."
"Grab that leading Paper Guan Gong! He looks the most imposing!"
A few bolder soldiers, looking at the Paper Guan Gong, shimmering golden and like a pure gold statue, their greed overriding their fear! They reached out, wanting to grasp the hilt of the paper Green Dragon Crescent Blade!
Swish—!
A flash of blade!
A cold! Swift! Blade light, tearing through the air with a shriek!
Suddenly flared!
Like a golden lightning bolt!
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft—!!!
Those soldiers who reached out!
Their bodies!
Were like butter cut by a hot knife!
Instantly!
Severed at the waist!
Their upper bodies still lunged forward! Their lower bodies remained in place!
Intestines! Organs! Mixed with scalding fresh blood! Gushed out like a fountain! Splattering onto the golden sand! A shocking sight!
"Ugh... ah..." Their upper bodies hit the ground! The soldiers' faces still held traces of greed and bewilderment! They let out short, miserable wails!
Dead!
"What?!"
"It... it moved!!"
"Murder!!"
The approaching soldiers were terrified out of their wits! They screamed, wanting to retreat!
Too late!
Swish, swish, swish—!!!
The paper figure army!
Moved!
Paper Nezha stepped on his Wind Fire Wheels! Transforming into a golden afterimage! His Fire-tipped Spear was like a venomous dragon emerging from its lair!
Pfft, pfft, pfft!
Instantly piercing through the chests of three soldiers! With a flick of his spear, the bodies were flung away like broken sacks!
Paper Wuchang swung his chains! Carrying a mournful ghostly wail! Instantly wrapping around the necks of two soldiers!
Crack! Crack!
Neck bones shattered! Heads askew! Bodies slumped!
Paper Qin Shubao smashed his twin maces! Like Mount Tai pressing down!
Boom!
A soldier's head exploded like a watermelon! Red and white splattered!
The Paper Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King brought out his treasure pagoda! It grew with the wind! Becoming the size of a small mountain!
Rumble—!!!
It smashed down hard!
An armored vehicle, along with a dozen surrounding soldiers! Were instantly crushed into iron pancakes and meat paste! Deeply embedded in the sand!
Slaughter!
Efficient!
Cruel!
Like cutting grass!
Paper blades! Paper spears! Paper magical artifacts!
Ignoring bullets! Ignoring guns and cannons!
Every swing!
Brought forth a bloody storm!
Dismembered limbs! Remains! Organs! Were wantonly scattered across the golden sand!
Miserable wails! Screams! Cries for parents! Instantly replaced the dead silence!
The vanguard of the Indian army!
Was like being thrown into a meat grinder!
Instantly!
Collapsed!
"Devils! They are devils!!"
"Run!!"
"Help!!"
The soldiers cried for their parents! Threw away their helmets and armor! Fled madly backward! Trampling each other! In utter chaos!
On the command vehicle!
The One-Eyed Dragon King trembled violently! His single eye stared intently at the paper figure army, which was slaughtering like tigers among sheep!
"No... impossible!!" His voice was dry and hoarse! Filled with indescribable horror!
"Their movements... are too fluid!!"
"Their strength... is too terrifying!!"
"This isn't programming!! Not robots!!"
"This is... this is a living thing!! A killing machine!!"
His worldview completely collapsed!
What high-tech robots!
Nonsense!
Even the British Empire's most cutting-edge combat robots! Their movements were as stiff as puppets! Absolutely impossible to be so fluid! Like martial arts grandmasters tempered by a thousand battles!
Moreover!
That strength!
Crushing armored vehicles!
Smashing human bodies!
Are these things made of paper?!
"Fire!!"
"Fire for me!!"
"Heavy artillery! Suppressive fire!!"
"Armored units! Charge!!"
"Charge in!!"
"Capture that boy on top of the tower!!"
"He is the key!!"
The One-Eyed Dragon King was completely insane! And he understood completely!
The source of everything!
Was that young man on top of the tower!
Capture him!
And he could control these terrifying "robots"!
And obtain that unimaginable technology!
Even... that legendary gold mine!
"Charge—!!"
He roared hysterically!
Heavy artillery positions! Muzzle flashes erupted!
Boom, boom, boom—!
Artillery shells rained down like meteors! Smashing towards the Pyramid!
Armored clusters! Engines roared! Like a steel torrent! Rolling over the fleeing infantry! Charging madly towards the Pyramid!
The hundred thousand strong army!
Like an enraged swarm of bees!
Regardless of everything!
Pounced towards that golden Pyramid of death!