38: Chapter 38 War Puppet

The storm stirred up by the alchemical bombs was like an invisible giant hand, gripping the core area of the entire battlefield, crushing it, and then violently casting it aside.

The terrifying shockwave transformed into a visible white air current, sweeping in all directions.

The blood-colored ore along the way was shattered inch by inch, a thick layer was stripped from the hard rock walls, and countless rubble and smoke were swept into the high sky, forming a hideous, constantly rolling and expanding mushroom cloud.

That area was completely cleared.

"Hit! Direct hit! The damage numbers are off the charts!"

"Where's the boss's health bar? Who the hell saw it? Is it empty?!"

"One-shot? We one-shot a Foundation Establishment Mid-Stage NPC?!"

In the player channel, after three seconds of dead silence, came a carnival of celebration like a volcanic eruption.

"Chief Engineer is awesome! Long live the war puppets!"

On the other side of the valley, Liver Emperor V87 and his subordinate engineers were staring fixedly at the series of shocking red damage numbers on the system panel, trembling with excitement.

"It worked... It worked!" Liver Emperor V87 was almost moved to tears. He supported a catapult puppet beside him that was still creaking, as if stroking his lover. "Unit One through Unit Ten, zero deviation in projectile angle, rune chain explosion efficiency at 97.3%! Perfect! This is the victory of industry! This is the miracle of... no, the miracle of infrastructure!"

However, amidst the battlefield's clamor, Immovable as a Mountain did not relax.

His rock-like body remained tense, and his hawk-like gaze locked firmly onto the center of the explosion.

The smoke had not yet dissipated.

He heard it, the short and hoarse words transmitted through the command channel from Charge to the End before he turned into white light: "Immovable... thanks."

That was not the arrogance and provocation he was familiar with, but a calmness that came after entrusting his back to someone else.

Therefore, the battle was not yet over.

"All units, stay alert! Healing squad, top off the front line's health! Talisman Sea Alliance, prepare the second round of talisman suppression!" His voice, transmitted through the legion channel, acted like a tranquilizer, forcibly suppressing the spreading ecstasy within the Pot Lid Army.

Just then, a terrifying, heart-palpitating aura, like a burning red sword, violently pierced through the chaotic energy turbulence from the core of the rolling smoke.

"Roar—!"

An inhuman roar, carrying monstrous anger and killing intent, made all the players' eardrums buzz and their spirits ache.

The smoke was suddenly pushed away by an invisible force.

Fierce Shadow's figure reappeared before everyone's eyes.

He looked miserable.

His magnificent black robe had turned into rags, his body was covered in fine wounds, and wisps of black energy were overflowing from them.

The piece of close-fitting soft armor he relied on for defense had a dim spiritual light and was covered in spiderweb-like cracks; it was clearly ruined.

Blood hung from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes were no longer filled with the previous disdain and arrogance; instead, they had turned into pure, vengeful madness that wanted to burn everything to ash.

He was not dead.

He had withstood the saturation bombing that could have razed a small hill to the ground.

"Scum... you damn... insects!" Fierce Shadow roared, each word enunciated clearly. He released his Foundation Establishment Mid-Stage spiritual pressure without reservation, and that life-bound Flying Sword he had recalled to protect himself was hovering in front of him, emitting an uneasy buzzing sound.

"Damn it, he's still not dead?"

"Look at the combat log! He just triggered a passive called [Demon Shadow Substitute], which exempted him from 50% of the damage, and he used his life-bound magic treasure to tank the other half!"

"A monster! How are we supposed to fight this?"

Amidst the players' exclamations, Fierce Shadow moved.

He did not choose to tangle with the thick-skinned Pot Lid Army again, but instead transformed into a black bolt of lightning, charging clearly toward the other side of the valley, targeting the ten war puppets that had just performed such a miraculous feat.

They were the biggest threat in his eyes!

"Protect the puppets! Stop him!" Liver Emperor V87 let out a heart-rending scream.

But Fierce Shadow's speed was too fast.

That pitch-black Flying Sword, entwined with lightning, circled by his side like a deadly poisonous snake.

With every flash, a huge catapult puppet was cut in half at the waist, the runes in its core burst with a series of sparks, and it disintegrated with a boom.

The engineer players tried to step forward to repair and block, but under the furious attack of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, they were torn apart like paper, turning into white light filling the sky.

In just over ten breaths, seven of the ten war puppets, the proud crystallization of the players' "Second Industrial Revolution," had turned into burning scrap metal.

"My babies! My hard work!" Liver Emperor V87's eyes were bloodshot, and he was about to rush up and risk his life regardless of everything.

"Calm down! If you die, everything will be gone!" A hand reached out from the side and grabbed him tightly.

It was "Trap Master - Infrastructure Maniac." His face was equally pale. "We haven't lost yet! He was locked by my [Earth Binding Talisman Array], so his spiritual energy circulation must have been affected. He's in a berserk state now; he won't last long!"

Just at this critical moment, an even more violent figure came rushing from the direction of the rear resurrection point like a lightning bolt.

"Demon brat! Your grandpa is back again!"

Charge to the End had respawned.

He was wearing only the initial shorts provided by the system, holding a white-tier iron sword just exchanged from the contribution store, yet he carried an indomitable, valiant spirit as he charged toward Fierce Shadow once again.

"All troops! Change targets! Cover the Divine Wind Battalion!" Immovable as a Mountain's command was short and powerful.

The Pot Lid Army's shield wall changed instantly; it was no longer purely defensive, but like rows of moving walls, beginning to squeeze layer by layer toward Fierce Shadow's position, blocking his movement and limiting his attack range.

"A bunch of unkillable cockroaches!" Fierce Shadow was burning with rage. He gave up on continuing to destroy the puppets and turned to kill Charge to the End, who posed the greatest threat to him.

However, this time, Charge to the End did not choose to clash head-on again.

Like an agile cheetah, he used the shield wall formed by the Pot Lid Army for cover, constantly maneuvering, while crazily delivering mental attacks:

"Is that all you've got? Is your boss useless? I heard he hugs a broken rock and cries every day, not having time to teach you how to fight?"

"If you have the guts, don't use your magic treasure and fight me hand-to-hand! Scared? Is that broken sword actually your real body?"

These words precisely stepped on Fierce Shadow's sore spot.

Especially the line "hugs a broken rock and cries," which reminded him of the rumors spread by players—rumors that seemed absurd but were incredibly close to the truth.

"You're courting death!" Fierce Shadow's sanity was almost swallowed by rage. Regardless of spiritual energy consumption, he urged his Flying Sword to slash out a heaven-shaking sword beam.

"Shield Mountain! Front left!" Charge to the End roared in the channel.

"Coming!"

The Pot Lid Army's off-tank, Shield Mountain, that bear-like burly player, roared and slammed the specially made [Thick Earth Tower Shield] into the ground, curling up behind it and activating all the defensive runes on the shield.

The sword beam fiercely struck the tower shield.

"Boom!"

The tower shield shattered on impact. Shield Mountain was blasted away by the immense force, his health bar hit the bottom instantly, and he turned into light and left.

But he had successfully blocked this fatal blow for Charge to the End.

"Well done!"

Taking this opportunity, Charge to the End had already closed in to within three steps of Fierce Shadow.

At the same time, on the edge of the battlefield.

On a hidden ancient tree, Gossip Reporter Little Trumpet was holding a specially made telescopic magic tool, taking in everything on the battlefield.

Chen Kang, beside her, had a solemn expression, staring fixedly at Fierce Shadow's Flying Sword.

"Little Trumpet, tell them!" Chen Kang's voice was urgent and certain. "Fierce Shadow's life-bound Flying Sword is called 'remnant night.' It was refined by him using a wisp of his life-bound soul fire. It's immensely powerful, but it's also his greatest weakness! As long as the Flying Sword is heavily damaged, he himself will inevitably suffer soul damage!"

"Received!"

Little Trumpet immediately sent this key intelligence to all legion commanders via the highest-privilege encrypted channel.

On the battlefield, Immovable as a Mountain's eyes sharpened instantly.

"Talisman Sea Alliance!" he ordered. "Abandon area coverage attacks. All talismans, focus fire on that black sword!"

For a moment, hundreds and thousands of various talismans—Fireball Talismans, Ice Spike Talismans, Gold Blade Talismans... as if guided, blanketed the sky, bombarding the "remnant night" Flying Sword that was circling in the air.

Fierce Shadow's expression changed drastically.

He wanted to recall the Flying Sword, but was tightly entangled by Charge to the End and the suicide squad members of the Divine Wind Battalion who had just respawned and arrived.

"Boom, boom, boom, boom!"

Dense explosions connected into one in mid-air. Even though the "remnant night" Flying Sword was of extraordinary grade, under such cost-no-object talisman bombardment, it emitted a groan of being overwhelmed, and the lightning on the sword flickered on and off.

"Pfft!"

Fierce Shadow was struck as if by a heavy blow, violently spitting out a mouthful of blood, and his aura immediately withered.

Opportunity!

"Right now! Suicide squad! Go!"

Don't know who roared in the channel.

In the crowd, three players suddenly gave up attacking and each pulled out a... peculiarly shaped, semi-finished war puppet from their backpacks.

The puppets were only as tall as a person, with simple structures, and the core runes on their chests were flickering with unstable red light.

These three players actually jumped onto the shoulders of the puppets, forcibly controlling them, and like three out-of-control chariots, yelling, they charged toward Fierce Shadow, who was soul-damaged and sluggish in his movements.

"For the ancestor's golden coffin!"

"For the glory of industry!"

"Blow him to hell!"

This was the emergency plan issued by Chief Engineer Liver Emperor V87 when he discovered the puppets might be destroyed—transforming those about-to-be-scrapped puppets into mobile alchemical bombs.

For the first time, Fierce Shadow's eyes revealed terror and... confusion.

He completely could not understand.

What kind of lunatics were these?

They were not afraid of death, they didn't follow rules, and their way of warfare overturned all his cognition of the word "battle" over the past hundred years.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Three explosions, more violent than before, detonated close to Fierce Shadow.

This time, he could no longer maintain his stance, and with a shrill scream, he was completely swallowed by the violent firelight.

The aftermath of the explosion dissipated, leaving only a scorched giant crater on the ground.

In the center of the giant crater, Fierce Shadow knelt on the ground, his whole body scorched black, his aura having fallen to the bottom, as if he had lost even the strength to stand up.

"We won..."

"We got him!"

The players erupted into earth-shaking cheers.

However, just when everyone thought the situation was settled and were preparing to go up and "loot the corpse," a cold voice, full of Majesty, as if coming from beyond the nine heavens, clearly echoed in everyone's ears.

"Trash."

Atop the mountain peak, the phantom of the Demon Lord Night Radiance, who had been watching the battle all along, slowly raised his hand.

The moon soul stone beside him flashed slightly.

The next moment, ripples appeared in the space beneath the severely injured and dying Fierce Shadow, his figure disappeared instantly, and he was forcibly teleported away.

Immediately after, an irresistible, terrifying pressure, like a celestial river pouring down, slammed down!

All players in the entire Blood Soul Stone Mine area, regardless of strength, felt at that moment as if they were being pinned down by an invisible mountain, unable to move.

Their health bars began to slowly decrease at a constant rate.

This was the pressure from a World Boss!

Night Radiance's phantom did not let his gaze linger on these ants, but instead seemed to pierce through endless space, landing deep within the distant Lu Family Ancestral Hall.

His voice carried an indescribable, complex emotion, as if talking to himself, and also as if declaring to some existence:

"Did you see that? These are the 'Filial Sons and Virtuous Grandchildren' you protect... a bunch of interesting, fearless... lunatics."

"Perhaps, using madness to fight madness is the... only key to unlocking the shackles on you and me."

As the voice fell, the pressure receded like the tide.

Atop the mountain peak, the phantom and the moon soul stone dissipated without a trace.

In the Blood Soul Stone Mine area, only a devastated battlefield remained, along with a group of players who had survived the catastrophe, still fearful, yet with eyes shining and fighting spirit even higher.

The outpost battle came to an end in a tragic and absurd way.