181: Chapter 179 All troops, listen to my command... Give Lin Mo a massage
Commander Gu Yuan took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his twisted expression.
He slammed his palm onto the communication module.
"Connect to the external loudspeaker."
"All channels!"
In the void of the Boundary Sea, Lin Mo hovered between the nine Dharma manifestations, his brows furrowed, feeling extremely annoyed.
So close.
It was truly just 0.1% off.
The fusion progress of his Inner World was stuck at 99.9%.
No matter how much those nine huge black vortexes sucked, and no matter how much low-level void matter was swallowed, the progress bar didn't move an inch.
The quantitative change had reached its limit.
To complete the final sixth-turn leap, he had to kill a Void Creature with a very high energy level.
But the vicinity was full of thousands-level gray mist monsters.
Plenty of small fry, but no big lobsters.
As Lin Mo was wondering whether to dismantle that mechanical god first, a dry voice came through the Boundary Sea.
"Lin Mo, stop."
"Let's talk."
Commander Gu Yuan's voice no longer had its previous arrogance.
He was still putting on a brave front.
But the hint of submission inside could be heard across the Boundary Sea.
Lin Mo couldn't even be bothered to lift his eyelids; he dug at his ear.
"Talk?"
"I'm short on construction workers right now."
"If you people are willing to work for me, then we can talk."
This sentence was truly infuriating.
The faces of the remaining Tali Tribe soldiers on the bridge twitched.
Commander Gu Yuan's eye twitched wildly.
He swallowed this breath back.
"You win."
Commander Gu Yuan gritted his teeth, saying word by word:
"The Tali Tribe admits defeat."
"I swear in the name of the commander, as long as you clear a path and help us clean up the void monsters interfering with space nearby so we can jump away smoothly."
"I will leave behind the resources in this star field, as well as 70% of the strategic materials stored inside this mechanical god."
"From now on, the Tali Tribe fleet will retreat three times upon seeing your world and will never offend again."
If this condition were thrown into the Boundary Sea black market, it would be enough to make a bunch of small forces change their name to Tali on the spot.
Resources.
Strategic materials.
A truce oath.
Plus the Tali Tribe commander admitting defeat in person.
If it were any other Boundary Sea force, they would most likely take the out.
After all, if you push desperadoes like the Tali Tribe too far, no one wants to take that final desperate counterattack.
But Lin Mo just glanced at that huge dark gold machine body.
He... didn't believe it!
Admitting defeat now doesn't mean admitting defeat later.
Talking about a truce oath with a pirate race is simply a joke.
Lin Mo laughed disdainfully:
"Leave behind 70% of the materials?"
"If I slaughter all of you, even the skin on your backs will be mine."
"Why would I only want 70%?"
In the bridge, the atmosphere froze instantly.
Commander Gu Yuan's face twitched violently, his fingers nearly crushing the armrest.
He suppressed his anger.
"Then what exactly do you want?"
Commander Gu Yuan gritted his teeth, his voice shaking through the loudspeaker.
"Do you really want to fight to the death?"
"The gray mist monster tide outside will drown this space immediately."
"If you keep dragging this out, you might not be able to hold on either!"
"What do you want?"
Lin Mo repeated lazily.
What he wanted, of course, was all of them, including this mechanical god.
Of course, he couldn't say it so bluntly.
He flipped his right wrist casually.
Clatter!
A string of heavy, pitch-black chains slid down from the depths of the void.
Laws of death, causality, and punishment intertwined.
In the blink of an eye, those chains assembled into a huge black-gold armchair in mid-air.
It was precisely the causality-law artifact that General Gu Sha of the Tali Tribe had previously used against Lin Mo—the world-splitting lock!
Lin Mo flashed and sat down firmly.
He even crossed his legs casually.
He leaned back, found a comfortable position, and tapped the black-gold armrest with his finger.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
The sound wasn't loud.
But every beat felt like it was knocking on the faces of the Tali Tribe.
"Agreeing to your terms isn't impossible."
Lin Mo's tone was lazy, like a customer who had just entered a foot massage parlor and booked an appointment.
"Come on."
"Activate this thing."
"The whole army, exert yourselves and give me a massage."
"If you serve me comfortably, I'll consider letting you get lost."
Once these words were spoken.
The previously noisy fleet public channel went silent.
Inside the remaining bridge of the star destroyer, Commander Gu Yuan's face turned blue, then flushed red, and finally held back into a liver-colored hue.
The world-splitting lock!
That was one of the Tali Tribe's foundational artifacts used to run rampant in the Boundary Sea!
A supreme treasure specifically used to sever souls and execute the cruelest slow-slicing punishment within the clan!
Now, it was actually being used by this native as a massage chair?
And he wanted the elite of the entire fleet to channel source energy to him to serve his comfort?
This wasn't a negotiation.
This was taking the fierce reputation the Tali Tribe had robbed for thousands of years and grinding it into the ground like a shoe sole.
"Lin Mo!"
Commander Gu Yuan slammed his palm onto the alloy console.
The entire bridge shook.
"You are bullying people too much!"
"So what if I'm bullying you?"
Lin Mo dug at his ear nonchalantly.
"Don't want to massage?"
"Then you can deal with the gray mist monsters yourselves."
"I want to see how many more minutes that broken shell of yours can shine."
Second Lieutenant Gu Ya stood to the side, his face pale with anxiety.
He watched the energy readings of the main reactor, cold sweat dripping down his chin.
The outer armor had already been gnawed with a harsh, acidic sound by the Void Creatures.
The sound was like countless tiny blades scraping bones little by little.
Commander Gu Yuan stared fixedly at Lin Mo on the big screen.
The whites of his eyes were filled with bloodshot veins.
"Fine."
"Very good!"
Conventional negotiation was useless.
Commander Gu Yuan turned suddenly, pointing to the Primordial World wrapped in a pale golden halo below.
His expression turned ferocious bit by bit.
"Do you really think we are at the end of our rope?"
"If you push us too far, I will have everyone channel their origin together and launch a World-Breaking Slash!"
"Before we die, we can completely shatter the boundary membrane of the Primordial World!"
As soon as this sentence was spoken, the remaining Tali Tribe soldiers on the bridge perked up.
Right.
They still had this bargaining chip!
Commander Gu Yuan's voice grew colder and colder.
"Lin Mo, a native like you hiding in a greenhouse has no idea what the boundary membrane means."
"As long as the boundary membrane isn't broken, this world only allows powers up to the first level of transcendence to enter at most."
"No matter how strong our fleet is, we can only be stuck outside."
"But once the boundary membrane cracks..."
Commander Gu Yuan's finger pointed fixedly at the projection of the Primordial World.
"This world is equivalent to having its last layer of clothing stripped off."
"Any level of powerhouse can easily descend."
"Your meager fourth-level transcendence combat power is nothing in front of true Boundary Sea giants."
"The world you want to protect."
"The seed of god you are hiding."
"Will all be torn to shreds."
Commander Gu Yuan leaned on the console, his voice nearly a roar.
"You don't dare to gamble!"
"Let us go."
"Otherwise, everyone dies together!"
The remaining Tali Tribe soldiers on the bridge finally regained a bit of confidence.
This move was too ruthless.
As long as they grasped the soft underbelly of the Primordial World, the initiative still had a chance to return to their hands.
However.
On the big screen, Lin Mo was silent for two seconds.
Then, he asked with a puzzled look:
"Die?"
Commander Gu Yuan froze.
Lin Mo spread his hands, his expression like he was looking at an idiot who hadn't woken up.
"Did you forget?"
"I am an Extraterrestrial Demon."
"Do you think I will die?"
Commander Gu Yuan's pupils shrank.
Lin Mo pointed at the Primordial World behind him again.
"And you want to bomb its boundary membrane, why do you need me to let you go?"
Commander Gu Yuan's brain jammed on the spot.
"You..."
"Even if you can't die, that is still your home inside!"
"Home?"
Lin Mo chuckled.
The tone wasn't like an explanation, but more like deliberately poking at Commander Gu Yuan's lungs.
"Don't try to claim a relationship."
"I am a bona fide Extraterrestrial Demon."
"My real home isn't here."
"I am just a kind passerby."
"Does it make sense for you to threaten me with someone else's front door?"
The bridge was left with only the alarm lights flashing on and off.
Someone opened their mouth, but couldn't spit out the second half of the curse for a long time.
Because Lin Mo's words were damnably reasonable.
Extraterrestrial Demons are naturally this kind of slippery, disgusting thing.
If he really refused to acknowledge it, no one could do anything to him.
Just at this moment.
The pale golden boundary membrane on the periphery of the Primordial World suddenly surged violently.
Boom!
A golden rule divine thunder, which had no lethal power but carried a very strong warning, crossed the void and smashed onto the meteorite at Lin Mo's feet.
That meteorite was vaporized into dust on the spot.
The world will was anxious.
Lin Mo looked down at the debris at his feet and communicated with the world will in secret.
"Ahem."
"Just kidding, don't be so stingy."
The reaction of the world will made Commander Gu Yuan believe Lin Mo's words even more.
His legs went weak, and he fell heavily onto the main control chair.
Useless.
All useless.
This scoundrel didn't play by the rules at all.
Moral kidnapping didn't work.
He wasn't afraid of a mutual destruction.
"Commander!"
Second Lieutenant Gu Ya's scream suddenly exploded.
"Reactor No. 8 has shut down!"
This sentence was like the last boulder, crushing the backbone that Commander Gu Yuan had been struggling to hold up.
On the holographic monitor, the absolute annihilation field on the left wing of the mechanical god collapsed with a boom.
Thousands of gray Void Predators, like piranhas smelling blood, swarmed into the gap crazily.
They pounced on the exposed armor and began to gnaw, corrode, and tear.
The shrill alarm sounds layer upon layer.
The energy curve was as red as if it were about to drip blood.
"Forget it, Commander..."
Second Lieutenant Gu Ya knelt at Commander Gu Yuan's feet with a thud, clutching his pant leg tightly, tears and snot streaming down.
"It's just a massage..."
"Just endure it and it will pass."
"Better to live in shame than die in glory!"
Commander Gu Yuan was trembling violently.
His fingernails pierced his palms, and blood dripped onto the alloy floor along his fingers.
What a huge humiliation.
The Tali Tribe, which had dominated the Boundary Sea for thousands of years, actually had to rely on being a technician for a native to save their lives?
But the energy alarm on the screen was still flashing wildly.
The gap on the left wing was still expanding.
Void monsters were drilling into the interior of the mechanical god.
If they dragged it out any longer, let alone dignity.
They might not even have their ashes left.
Commander Gu Yuan closed his eyes.
A few seconds later, it was as if his spine had been pulled out, his voice hoarse and unlike his own.
"All forces..."
"Listen to the order."
All the remaining soldiers on the bridge raised their heads.
Commander Gu Yuan squeezed out the last few words from between his teeth.
"Establish the link."
"Towards the world-splitting lock..."
"Channel source energy... Give Lin Mo..."
"A massage..."