92: The Awakening Monarch

A red glow spread throughout the entire city like a plague.

Those were mechanical eyes—cold, ruthless, and devoid of even a trace of biological emotion.

From beneath the overturned floor tiles, half-human-height mechanical creations resembling metal spiders rose. They had six sharp segments for limbs, with a single red eye in the center of their bodies. They moved silently, with only the slight 'hissing' sound of metal limbs scraping across the golden ground.

From the sliding walls, rows of Golden Warriors with builds similar to humans stepped out. Their entire bodies were cast from dark gold metal, with lines that were smooth and elegant, full of mechanical beauty. Their heads had no features, only a smooth flat surface, and their hands were integrated blades shimmering with energy.

In the sky, through the holes in the dome's light curtain, swarms of diamond-shaped drones resembling metal birds flew in. Their flight paths were incredibly precise, forming tight formations in the air, with weapon ports beneath their bellies flickering with a dangerous, eerie light.

Sea, land, and air—a three-dimensional defense network was fully activated within just a few dozen seconds.

A war machine that had slept for tens of thousands of years had awakened.

Wang Dalong looked through the crack in the wall at the mechanical army that had appeared out of thin air, his jaw nearly hitting the floor. He felt as if his brain had completely crashed, unable to process the surreal scene before him.

“Is... is this... a fucking Transformers convention?” he muttered under his breath, his voice filled with absurdity and fear.

Lin Feng did not speak; his expression was more solemn than it had ever been.

He had seen these mechanical guards in the visions of the Historical Echo! They were the final line of defense created by the Zhuojin Star civilization to fend off unknown threats and protect the city's core. Their logic for action was simple: eliminate all unauthorized life forms.

In other words, in their 'eyes,' whether it was Osiris's people or Lin Feng and Wang Dalong, all were intruders that had to be erased!

In the central plaza, Osiris also reacted from his initial shock. Looking at the mechanical army swarming from all directions, an emotion called 'rage' finally surfaced in those gray-blue eyes.

His meticulously planned treasure-hunting operation had first seen all its equipment blown up by a brat using a suicidal method, and now, he was being treated as a cleanup target by the city's defense system.

This was an unprecedented humiliation.

“Prepare for battle!” he ordered coldly.

The guards in silver-gray combat suits around him immediately formed a circular defensive formation. They took sci-fi-looking energy rifles from their backs and aimed the muzzles at the slowly approaching Golden Warriors.

The captain of the Scorpion Squad also brought his remaining men over from the other side to regroup with Osiris. Though they were still shaken, they raised their assault rifles in the face of the new threat.

“Fire!”

Someone shouted first.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

“Rat-tat-tat!”

Conventional gunpowder weapons and energy weapons representing top-tier technology roared simultaneously. Bullets and energy beams poured toward the Golden Warriors like a torrential rain.

However, a despair-inducing scene occurred.

Ordinary bullets hitting the Golden Warriors could only kick up a string of insignificant sparks, unable to leave even a single scratch.

The energy rifles were much more powerful; the blue beams could leave scorched black spots on them, but they still couldn't pierce through. The armor material and structure of these Golden Warriors clearly surpassed the understanding of Earth's civilization.

The Golden Warriors ignored the hail of bullets, their pace not faltering in the slightest.

Once they entered attack range, the movements of all the warriors were perfectly synchronized, as if controlled by a single brain. They raised the energy blades on their arms.

“Hum—”

The energy glow at the tips of the blades surged, extending into high-temperature blades over half a meter long.

In the next second, they moved.

There were no roars of a charge, only a deathly silent sudden advance. Their speed was beyond imagination, like streaks of golden lightning, instantly cutting into Osiris's defensive formation.

“Ah—!”

Screams of agony rose one after another.

A Mercenary from the Scorpion Squad tried to smash a Golden Warrior with his rifle butt, but the opponent's arm flashed like a phantom.

“Squelch.”

With a soft sound, the Mercenary's body was cleanly split in two from head to toe. The cut was as smooth as a mirror, and blood and organs only gushed out a fraction of a second later.

On the other side, one of Osiris's guards blasted a Golden Warrior's chest at close range with an energy rifle. The powerful energy forced the Golden Warrior back two steps, but the warrior's other arm twisted strangely, and the energy blade pierced the guard's throat from an impossible angle.

The slaughter was one-sided.

These Golden Warriors were machines born purely for combat. They knew no fear and felt no pain; every movement followed the most efficient principles of killing. Before them, whether they were battle-hardened Mercenaries or well-equipped future soldiers, all were as fragile as paper.

Just as the plaza below descended into chaos, Lin Feng suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

He jerked his head up.

In the shadow of a window across from the building they were hiding in, a spider-type mechanical guard had appeared at some unknown point.

Its crimson single eye was locked firmly onto their position.

[...Unauthorized life form detected...]

[...Coordinates: Sector C-7, Building 3, Top Floor...]

[...Executing... Purge...]

That cold consciousness echoed in Lin Feng's mind once again.

“Not good! We've been spotted!” Alarm bells rang in Lin Feng's heart.

At almost the same time, the Mechanical Spider's six limbs exerted force, and its entire body launched like a cannonball, crossing dozens of meters to pounce directly toward the building they were in!

Its target was unmistakably clear!