221: Chapter 221 Exile

Whoosh—Boom!!!

An antique rocket, trailing a long tail of fire—who knows how many years old—crashed with determined resolve into the diving metal pterosaur cruise machine.

The flames of the explosion were striking and heroic under the dark purple sky!

The cruise machine emitted a piercing metallic shriek, a huge gap torn in its wing, trailing black smoke as it spiraled toward the ruins in the distance.

"Holy shit! They actually brought it down!"

Lord Pang, watching from the high ground, was dumbfounded and couldn't help but exclaim, "These 'Scavengers' are actually capable!"

This shot served as a signal.

The fall of the cruise machine immediately alerted the Mechanical Legion in the entire area.

[Alert! High-energy attack detected!]

[Target Area: G-7! Locking onto... abnormal organism!]

[Initiating... Area Clearance... Protocol!]

The cold, synthesized voice echoed through the world once again.

The steel wall guarding the Black Central Spire immediately split off a massive mechanical force, surging like a tide toward the area where the 'Scavengers' were located!

Laser beams, energy cannons, electromagnetic pulses... countless firepower instantly turned that area into a sea of fire and death.

"Are they... helping us draw fire?" Lin Tianyi quickly analyzed the situation before him, his eyes flashing with keen insight.

"No." Zhang Qilin shook his head, his gaze looking further and deeper than anyone else's.

"Their goal is the same as ours."

He pointed to the black central spire.

"They... are also going there."

The group felt a chill in their hearts and instantly understood.

These 'Scavengers' had lived in this world of death for generations; their understanding of this place far exceeded their own. They must also know the secret of 'The Creator', perhaps this was their only goal for survival, passed down through countless generations!

Today, they chose to expose themselves and attack the Mechanical Legion, likely because they sensed that a certain 'opportunity' had arrived.

And this 'opportunity' was perhaps the energy fluctuation brought about by Zhang Qilin and his team opening the 'Gate of Banishment'!

They were using this chaos to create an opportunity for themselves to break into the central spire!

Sure enough, just as the main force of the Mechanical Legion was lured to the G-7 area, on the other side of the battlefield, another group of 'Scavengers' who had been lurking like ghosts emerged from the shadows of the ruins!

Their numbers were greater, and their movements were swifter!

Their target was the empty area that had been left undefended because the troops had been moved away!

"Good chance!"

Lin Tianyi's breathing instantly quickened.

"This is our only chance! While the Mechanical Legion's line is torn open and the 'Scavengers' are attracting most of their attention, we... can force our way in from the flank!"

This was a high-risk plan.

They would be facing a battlefield where two sides were exchanging fire, amidst countless stray bullets and artillery fire.

But this was also... their only path to survival!

"Lord Pang, give me everything you have that can explode!" Lin Tianyi said decisively.

"Alright!" Lord Pang didn't hesitate; he handed all the remaining homemade bombs and shock grenades in his backpack to Lin Tianyi.

"Wang Xianzhi, you are the fastest, be responsible for scouting the path ahead and clearing out scattered enemies."

"Song Yiqing, you are responsible for sensing the surrounding energy dynamics and warning us to avoid the most dangerous areas of fire coverage."

"Zhang Qilin..." Lin Tianyi finally looked at Zhang Qilin, "The most difficult part is the moment we enter the spire. The defenses there will definitely be the strongest. I need you... to open a path for us."

Zhang Qilin nodded silently.

His stamina, under the continuous nourishment of the 'Xi Rang' in his embrace, had recovered somewhat. Although far from his peak state, it was enough to support a high-intensity assault.

"Move out!"

Following Lin Tianyi's order, the five of them, like a well-coordinated special forces team, quickly slid down from the high ground using ropes, merging into the chaotic shadows below.

The entire Guixu wasteland had completely turned into a boiling battlefield.

The 'Scavengers' displayed a high level of tactical literacy, completely different from their beast-like appearance. They used ruins as cover, sometimes concentrating fire, sometimes scattering, using those ancient, yet still effective, thermal weapons to constantly maneuver against the Mechanical Legion.

Their fighting style was full of primitive, wild madness. Some Scavengers even covered themselves in explosives, rushing toward mechanical giants like human bombs to perish with them!

Meanwhile, Zhang Qilin and his team were like a sharp, silent scalpel, precisely cutting in from the edge of the battlefield.

They did not have any direct conflict with either side.

Song Yiqing's 'Qi Sense' played a miraculous role at this moment.

"Front left, thirty meters, an energy cannon is charging, evade!"

"On the right, a patrol squad is approaching, hide!"

Under his guidance, the five of them moved through the hail of bullets like fish in water.

Boom!

Lin Tianyi threw a homemade bomb at a mechanical turret that was providing suppressive fire. Although the explosion failed to destroy the turret, it successfully attracted the attention of several mechanical soldiers nearby.

Taking advantage of this gap, the five of them flashed across an open area.

Swish!

A laser beam grazed Lord Pang's back, burning a large hole in his backpack.

"Holy shit! You scared the hell out of Lord Pang!" He let out a strange cry, his pace quickening.

Wang Xianzhi's figure was flickering in the lead.

Her sword only left its sheath at the most critical moments.

A lone mechanical soldier blocking their way didn't even have time to raise its muzzle before its head sensor was pierced by a sword, instantly going dead.

Just like this, after paying the price of several hair-raising moments, they finally crossed the dead open space without incident and arrived at the foot of the black spire!

Up close, this spire appeared even more magnificent and eerie.

Its surface was as smooth as a mirror, yet it emitted a darkness that could swallow all light. The thousand-meter-high tower pierced the clouds, like a giant black nail driven into heaven and earth.

At the base of the spire was a closed, hundred-meter-high giant metal door. Standing in front of the door were two rows of... Guardian Mechs, holding giant energy battle-axes, their size twice that of ordinary mechanical soldiers!

They were... the final line of defense guarding this hub!

And at this moment, those 'Scavengers' who had broken in were already engaged in an extremely brutal melee with these Guardian Mechs!

The Scavengers, like crazy ants, pounced on these steel giants. They used rusty knives and axes to hack at the mechs' joints; they used their own flesh and blood to block the swings of the energy battle-axes.

Scavengers were constantly being chopped in half by battle-axes or trampled into meat paste by the mechs.

But not one of them retreated!

In their eyes burned a fire mixed with hatred, hope, and madness!

They were using their own lives to create attack opportunities for their companions following behind!

"Now!"

Lin Tianyi watched the brutal battlefield. He knew this was the moment when the Guardian Mechs' defense was most chaotic and their attention most dispersed!

"Zhang Qilin!"

He didn't need to say more; Zhang Qilin's figure had already moved!

He did not participate in the meaningless melee, but locked his target directly onto that closed... giant door!

He sprang out like a cannonball, stepped on the wreckage of a Guardian Mech that had been knocked flying, and leaped high!

In mid-air, he poured all the power in his body, along with all the life energy absorbed from the 'Xi Rang', into the black gold ancient blade in his right hand!

Hum—!

The black gold ancient blade emitted an unprecedented, blinding black light!

On the blade, those ancient Qilin patterns seemed to come alive, and an illusory Qilin shadow made of pure energy wrapped around the blade!

This was the strongest strike he could currently unleash!

"Open!"

With a low roar, he and the blade turned into a black lightning bolt, slashing fiercely at the... center of that giant metal door!

[In the livestream, all the viewers held their breath!]

[It's opening! They're going in!]

[This slash! Too cool! This is what a Qilin is, goddammit!]

[Kyushu Ancient History Research Institute - Professor Li]: No! His target is not the door! It's the... keyhole on the door! That is some kind of... energy core!

As Professor Li said, Zhang Qilin's strike was not brute force hacking.

Instead, with incredible precision, he thrust the tip of the blade accurately into the very center of a high-speed rotating, extremely complex ring-shaped energy lock core in the middle of the giant door!

Crack—!!!

A crisp sound, like shattering glass, echoed throughout the battlefield!

The high-speed rotating energy lock core instantly stalled!

Then, with the tip of the blade as the center, spiderweb-like cracks spread wildly across the entire giant door!

Rumble—

In the disbelieving eyes of everyone, whether mechanical guards or crazy Scavengers, that central hub door, which had been sealed for who knows how many tens of thousands of years and had never been breached from the outside... slowly... opened a crack!

From the crack, what leaked out was not light, nor darkness.

But a kind of... pure, soul-shuddering chaos, as if it came from the beginning of the universe!

"Go!"

After landing, Zhang Qilin didn't pause for a second, grabbed the nearest Wang Xianzhi, and was the first to rush into that crack!

Lin Tianyi, Lord Pang, and Song Yiqing followed closely behind!

However, the moment all five of them entered, the unexpected happened!

A most massive 'Scavenger' leader, who had been hiding on the edge of the battlefield like a ghost, suddenly erupted with a cold glint in his eyes that was extremely shrewd and completely inconsistent with his beast-like appearance!

He issued an ancient command that only the few confidants around him could understand:

"Close the door!"

Those seemingly crazy Scavengers around him actually stopped attacking instantly, and with extremely professional tactical coordination, took out several peculiar, magnet-like devices from their arms, fiercely attaching them to both sides of the door gap that was about to close!

Zzz—!

A powerful electromagnetic pulse erupted!

Under their interference, that giant door, which should have been closing slowly, slammed shut at a terrifying speed!

Boom!!!!!!

The giant door closed completely, cutting off Zhang Qilin and the other four from the outside world!

"Leader... why do this?" a confidant asked, puzzled. "They... seem to be here to help us."

The tall Scavenger leader slowly straightened his body.

The madness and wildness on his face slowly faded, replaced by a deep, cold, and cruel calmness like an overlord.

He looked at the closed giant door and said coldly in a fluent, standard Mandarin that was shocking:

"Help us? No."

"They are the best... 'sacrifices'."

"Awakening 'The Creator' requires pure, high-level life energy as a primer. The 'sacred object' in that man's embrace, and his own bloodline... are the most perfect sacrifices we have seen in tens of thousands of years."

"Let them go... let them complete this final step of... sacrifice for us."