221: Talk about cooperation

Elric’s shocking “Machine God Theory” was like a cold hammer, shattering the brief silence in the Hall of Stars and striking Alicia St. Lorraine’s heart.

What permeated between the lines was a complete negation of the foundation of faith, an extreme contempt for flesh and soul, and even a naked covetousness for the “grace of the god of light,” a sacred object that embodied the church’s millennia of faith and the source of holy light.

“Absolutely impossible!”

Alicia’s voice was resolute, like a sword of divine judgment slicing through the stagnant air.

Pure fury and unwavering determination burned in her sapphire eyes, without a trace of the emotion she had shown when facing the Metal Knights.

She suddenly stepped forward, and holy light erupted around her, pure flames condensing into a pair of majestic illusory light wings behind her, making her appear like a divine envoy descended to the mortal realm.

The “grace of the god of light” pendant on her chest shone brightly, and a solid barrier of holy light instantly expanded, enveloping her and Lin Feng, isolating them from Elric’s invisible yet omnipresent pressure of rule.

“Edward Elric!”

Alicia’s voice, resonant with divine magic, echoed through the hall.

“The ‘grace of the god of light’ is the manifestation of holy light in the human world, a beacon of faith, and the spiritual sustenance of countless believers! It carries divinity, not the cold ‘Power of Rule’ you speak of! Your ‘Machine God’ is a blasphemy against the Creator! Handing over the holy artifact for your ‘research’ is equivalent to sacrificing one’s soul to the devil! I, Alicia St. Lorraine, in the name of the Holy Maiden of Light, resolutely refuse!”

“Buzz!”

With Alicia’s refusal, the air in the entire Hall of Stars seemed to be instantly sucked dry, replaced by a suffocating, almost tangible hostility.

In Elric’s eyes, as deep as the universe, the cold light of rationality seemed to dim for a moment; he pushed his monocle, and the runes behind the lens suddenly accelerated their rotation.

“You don’t know what’s good for you!”

Though Elric tried his best to remain calm, his voice took on the sharpness of metal grinding.

“Emotion and faith should not impede the exploration of truth; your refusal is irrational.”

“Protect the Holy Maiden!”

The Dark Gold Leader’s reaction was the most intense.

His massive body abruptly shifted, like the most loyal fortress, instantly blocking between Alicia and Elric.

His crimson visual sensors locked onto Elric, emitting a low, warning hum.

All the Metal Knights behind him, without command, almost simultaneously and uniformly raised their arms—some transformed into energy muzzles, some extended gleaming alloy blades, and some condensed powerful energy shields, tightly guarding Alicia and Lin Feng in the center.

Their deep-seated loyalty to holy light and their will to protect the Holy Maiden, at this moment, overwhelmed a century of reverence and reliance on Elric.

However, just at this tense, explosive moment, an anomaly suddenly occurred!

“War… warning! …Forced… command… overriding… user… will… identifying… highest authority… Edward Elric… executing… command: eliminate… threat target… Alicia St. Lorraine!”

A cold, intermittent electronic synthesized voice, like the whisper of a nightmare, suddenly sounded from deep within the Dark Gold Leader’s chest!

His massive body stiffened abruptly, and his crimson visual sensors flickered wildly, like a faulty light bulb.

He struggled, very slowly, to lower the weaponized arm pointed at Elric, but the arm seemed to be clutched by an invisible, irresistible force, and instead, in violent trembling, it slowly, inch by inch, against his will, aimed the cannon, sparkling with destructive energy, at Alicia, the Holy Maiden he had sworn to protect!

“No…!!!”

The Dark Gold Leader let out a painful roar, mixed with the sound of tearing metal, his voice filled with unbelievable despair and the humiliation of a century of steadfastness being utterly trampled.

“Beep! Beep! Beep!”

Piercing alarm sounds instantly rang out within every Metal Knight!

Their visual sensors all turned a dazzling, blood-red, signifying loss of control and hostility!

All weapons pointed at Elric, whether muzzles, blades, or energy beam emitters, violently twisted their direction in a severe, seizure-like mechanical spasm, uniformly locking onto Alicia in the center!

Their metal joints emitted agonizing “creaks,” as if their souls were being torn by invisible chains, yet their bodies were completely controlled like puppets on strings.

“What… what is this?!”

Alicia’s pupils contracted as she watched the knights who had just sworn allegiance and resonated with holy light now aim their weapons at her like the coldest killing machines; the immense shock almost suffocated her.

A century of vigilance, a century of sacrifice, had unknowingly been implanted with the deepest shackles by this “eternal ally”!

Their proud Epic-level mechanical bodies had become cages imprisoning their souls and betraying their faith!

Lin Feng also gasped, not expecting Elric’s control methods to be so thorough and insidious, having silently transformed these knights into completely controlled puppets over a century!

This was far more chilling than a direct battle.

Elric stood silently in place, his gaze behind the monocle calmly sweeping over the Metal Knights who struggled in vain but could not escape the command, as if inspecting his most perfect creations.

He slightly raised his hand, an invisible command seemingly already issued, and the charging light of all the knights’ weapon systems instantly reached its peak; destructive energy fluctuations rapidly converged within their cold metal shells, with only one target—Alicia!

In the Hall of Stars, even the starlight seemed to dim under this cold murderous intent.

Despair, like a cold tide, instantly engulfed Alicia’s heart.

She looked at the hollow, blood-red “eyes” of her former comrades, at the Dark Gold Leader’s massive body violently trembling in silent, futile resistance, and a bone-deep chill and indignation made her clench her fists; holy light burned in anger, but also carried a hint of tragic desperation.

Just at this critical, air-tight moment, about to explode… “Cough.”

A clear, steady, even somewhat inappropriately relaxed cough abruptly broke the suffocating silence.

Everyone’s gaze, including Elric’s cold, scrutinizing stare, instantly focused on the source of the sound: Lin Feng.

He seemed completely unaffected by the terrifying pressure that could crush a person to dust, even raising a hand to straighten his collar, which had been ruffled by the energy ripples.

A playful smile on his face, his gaze swept past the poised metal muzzles and landed directly on Edward Elric’s face.

“Sir Elric.”

Lin Feng’s voice was not loud, but it carried a strange soothing power.

“Your ‘Machine God’ theory is indeed astounding, full of… hmm… subversive imagination; to be honest, I’m very interested.”

Alicia turned sharply to look at Lin Feng, her sapphire eyes filled with shock and a pang of betrayal.

Behind Elric’s monocle, the universe of absolute rationality also seemed to ripple almost imperceptibly, clearly not expecting this Easterner, whom he had ‘ignored’ until now, to say such words at this moment.

Lin Feng ignored Alicia’s gaze and continued unhurriedly.

“Bypassing the shackles of faith, transcending the limits of flesh and blood, creating an absolutely controllable ‘god’-level combat power… this idea is indeed grand.”

“And I happen to have something here that might be even more suitable for your research than the ‘grace of the god of light’!”

Lin Feng slowly raised his right hand, palm upward.

There was no dazzling light, no vast energy fluctuations, only an extremely faint emerald green halo, containing an indescribably immense life force, appearing in his palm.

It was a small, dark figure trapped in a cage constructed of emerald green life energy emanating from a branch.

Upon seeing what was in Lin Feng’s palm, Edward Elric was immediately stunned.

“It’s a complete sealed divinity!”