68: Power off for everyone! What a ruthless guy: Finally, it's my turn for hand-to-hand combat!

"Old Wang, is your iron hunk not working anymore?"

In the darkness, Li Qiang (Also a Ruthless Person)'s voice carried a hint of perverted excitement.

"That's just fine..."

"It's finally my turn for melee!"

Dead silence.

Absolute dead silence.

The metallic clashing and explosive roars that had filled the air just a second ago were instantly choked off by an invisible giant hand.

The mountain-like body of the pangu vessel froze in place, its two massive red searchlight eyes flickered twice before going out completely, turning into a cold steel statue.

All the lighting equipment in the palace hall burst with a final spark and then went dark.

Panic spread through the darkness like a plague.

"My mechanical arm! I can't feel my arm anymore!" Wang Wei (Luban No. 7)'s scream tore through the darkness, filled with unprecedented fear.

"The System panel is black! I can't see anything!"

"My gun has become a fire stick too! I can't even pull the trigger!"

"Are we... blind?"

The high-tech weapons, magic gear, and even the System interface that the players were so proud of had all turned into scrap metal under that eerie energy pulse.

They had reverted to the group of unarmed ordinary people they were when they first entered this world.

No.

Even worse.

Because their enemy had not fallen silent.

A faint, blood-scented red light glowed in the massive cockpit of the king gundam, becoming the only light source in this darkness.

"Haha... Hahahaha!"

Sorin Ironbeard's wild laughter echoed in the deathly silent hall, filled with the relief of a survivor and the playfulness of a cat catching a mouse.

"Bugs, did you think it was over?"

"Creeeak—"

The cockpit canopy of the king gundam slowly opened, and Solin climbed halfway out. His magnificent royal robes were already tattered, and his semi-mechanized face was full of madness.

In his hand, he held an ancient-looking two-handed greatsword, its blade engraved with eerie blood-colored runes emitting that ominous red light. The end of the hilt was connected to a thick tube that pierced deep into his own chest.

He was feeding the sword with his own blood!

"Naive! Too naive!"

Solin laughed, looking down at the players who were at a loss in the darkness.

"Your scrap metal relies on energy, but my power comes from an even older contract—Dragon Blood!"

"This [Dragon Blood Slayer] is not affected by any energy field! Now, what else do you have?"

Despair.

Cold despair shrouded the heart of every player.

Their greatest reliance—the pangu vessel—had turned into a pile of immobile parts. Yet the enemy still possessed the power to kill them instantly.

Just as everyone fell into chaos and panic.

"Crack."

A crisp sound of knuckles cracking was exceptionally clear in the darkness.

It was Li Qiang.

Instead of fear, he was excitedly flexing his wrists, feeling that most primitive and pure muscular strength.

He casually threw the Gatling gun that could no longer fire onto the ground with a loud "clank."

"Stop your damn noise!"

Li Qiang's roar was like a thunderclap, instantly drowning out all the discussion and panic.

"If there's no power, use your hands! If there's no gun, use your teeth! It's just a game, what's with all the crying like babies!"

He turned to look at Retired Soldier King and Lin Xiaowan, who were equally lost nearby.

"Brother Zhao, take the others and find cover! Protect that nerd Wang Wei!"

"I'm... going to give that dog king a proper send-off!"

Before the words had even faded.

Li Qiang's figure had already lunged out like a leopard.

He had no weapons, or rather, his whole body was a weapon!

Using the debris and rebar on the ground, he climbed up the pangu vessel's immobile steel arm in a few moves, then leaped and clung tightly to the king gundam's metal shell, which was like a sheer cliff!

"An ant wants to climb onto the altar?"

Solin noticed this tiny challenger, his face showing extreme disdain.

He raised the Dragon Blood greatsword and slashed down hard at Li Qiang's position!

"Clang—!"

The blade tore through the air, carving a deep gash into the thick armor, and the resulting sparks instantly illuminated Li Qiang's face, which was flushed from exertion.

Li Qiang did a nimble side flip, narrowly dodging the blow. Like a gecko, he used the tiny gaps and protrusions in the armor to climb upward rapidly.

"Can you hide?"

Solin sneered, slashing down one blow after another.

The massive mecha shell became his personal stage.

Boom!

A Sword Qi slash passed by, and the steel plate Li Qiang had just been clinging to was blown away.

He was exposed in mid-air, with the ground dozens of meters below!

"It's over!" Lin Xiaowan cried out.

However, with a sudden twist of his waist, Li Qiang fired a pre-prepared Grappling Hook Gun, which accurately wrapped around an exhaust pipe higher up.

He used the momentum to swing, like Tarzan, and instead leaped even higher!

"You bastard! Your swordsmanship is decent! Too bad your aim sucks!"

Li Qiang dodged and wove through the mecha's joints and gaps, evading Solin's storm-like attacks. He was like a top-tier parkour master, dancing wildly on the edge of death.

The players below were already stunned.

They never imagined that after losing all their high-tech equipment, they would still see such a primitive, pure, and blood-pumping battle.

"Brother Qiang... keep going!" a player shouted subconsciously.

"Kill him! Brother Qiang!"

"Now this is a real man! This is what a tough guy should do!"

The suppressed despair was reignited into a flame of hope by Li Qiang's death-defying climb!

Finally!

After bypassing most of the mecha's torso, Li Qiang successfully climbed onto the king gundam's shoulder, just one step away from the massive cockpit!

"Get... down!"

Solin was completely enraged; he gave up on slashing, and the massive mecha arm swung up, wanting to swat Li Qiang like a fly.

Now!

Li Qiang had been waiting for this chance!

His legs exerted force, and he shot toward the transparent cockpit canopy like a cannonball!

"Bang!"

He landed heavily on the canopy made of some kind of Reinforced Crystal.

The canopy was incredibly strong, without even a single crack.

Through the canopy, Solin gave a cruel smile to Li Qiang, who was right in front of him.

He raised the Dragon Blood greatsword again.

This time, there was nowhere to hide.

"The iron hunk couldn't break through, and my hammer can't smash your turtle shell either!"

Li Qiang looked at the descending blade, but there was no fear on his face; instead, he grinned, revealing a mad smile.

"But I... still have this!"

From his back, he suddenly pulled out a weapon that had been with him since he entered the game but had never been used because it was too trashy.

It was the most ordinary, cheapest, and even somewhat rusty... [novice pickaxe]!

Solin's smile froze on his face.

He even doubted his own eyes.

A broken pickaxe?

This is your trump card?

"To hell with your trump card!"

Li Qiang let out a heaven-shaking roar.

"I was born a Miner! Thirty years of professional mountain-splitting!"

"Break—open—for—me!!!"

He gripped the pickaxe with both hands, pouring all his strength, all the anger in his heart, Ba Lin's unwilling final wish, and the players' last hope into that small, sharp point of the pickaxe!

Aiming at a single point on the Reinforced Crystal, he slammed it down hard!

"Puff!"

There was no world-shaking boom.

Only a slight sound, as if cloth were being torn.

Under Solin's disbelieving gaze, that seemingly fragile novice pickaxe actually acted like the sharpest drill, instantly piercing through the indestructible cockpit canopy!

The tip of the pickaxe accurately and deeply stabbed into his Scarlet Prosthetic Eye, which was flickering with countless data streams!

"Aaaaaagh—!!!"

A scream that didn't sound human, a mix of fleshy pain and the harsh screech of burning electronic components, erupted from Solin's mouth!

The Dragon Blood greatsword in his hand fell to the ground with a "clank."

His body twitched violently, and countless electric sparks spewed from his prosthetic eye.

That eye was not just his visual organ; it was the Mental Energy hub he used to control the entire mecha and even to connect and enslave that Young Dragon!

The hub was destroyed!

The fragile mental link between him and the Young Dragon, built on violence and pain, shattered... instantly!

In the center of the palace hall, the semi-mechanical Young Dragon, bound by countless chains and pipes, suddenly shuddered.

Its eyes, which had been tightly closed, snapped open!

On one side was a pure, golden vertical pupil belonging to the Dragon race, burning with rage!

On the other side was a Scarlet Prosthetic Eye representing cold machinery, flashing with garbled code!

But at this moment, the golden fury completely overwhelmed the scarlet coldness!

"Roar—!!!"

A dragon roar that had been suppressed for too long, filled with endless pain and heaven-toppling rage, no longer came through a loudspeaker but exploded directly in the depths of everyone's Soul!

It broke free from a chain!

It raised its proud head, which had been modified beyond recognition!

Its gaze instantly locked onto the tiny figure in the cockpit, who was frozen due to intense pain and System collapse.

It's this person!

It's him who took away my sky!

It's him who peeled away my scales!

It's him who used cold steel to defile the Dragon Bloodline!

A destructive energy, a mix of life green and data blue, began to gather wildly deep in the Young Dragon's throat.

The light grew brighter and more dazzling, instantly dispelling the darkness of the entire hall.

That was the fire that purifies everything.

That was the most magnificent funeral prepared for the tyrant.