175: Chapter 175 Return to the Great Swamp

The underground abyss was deathly silent. The emergency indicator lights emitted a faint glow, casting a dim reflection upon the mottled water stains on the alloy catwalk.

Chief Engineer Li Wenxing's brain stopped pulsating at the bottom of the glass nutrient tank. At the broken ends of the wires connected to the cerebral lobes, all electrical sparks extinguished. This engineer, who had sat withered in the abyss for hundreds of years, had finally dissipated his last shred of obsession.

Gu Shen stood outside the tank, his face devoid of any ripples. In the Cultivation World, the entanglement of Karma is the most dangerous. However, since he had accepted the authority of the highest commander here, he had to undertake this Karma.

He flattened his palm and pressed it against the outer glass wall.

Deep within his Sea of Consciousness, the archaic [Heaven and Earth Furnace] emitted a dull, resonant thud. A mass of ghastly white fire of Law swept out from his fingertips, instantly enveloping the entire massive glass container.

The fire of Law operated silently, completely isolating everything in the surroundings.

Amidst the interwoven firelight, the massive mechanical biological brain, covered in mutant sarcomas and electrodes, saw its brain structure rapidly peel away. The necrotic gray cerebral sulci and rusted base gears dissolved inch by inch under the scouring of the Law.

Gu Shen focused his mind; the fire of the Great Furnace was only for purification and guidance, without absorbing even a shred of vitality or essence.

After a few breaths, the white light suddenly retracted.

The glass nutrient tank was empty. The massive remains of the mechanical biological brain had dissolved into thin air, leaving not even a trace of the finest ash, returning entirely to nothingness.

"Go in peace," Gu Shen whispered softly, then turned his body.

He walked steadily through the gate and followed the elevator shaft directly to the 12th Underground Level.

In the narrow, special lead-steel corridor, the remains of thirteen Ascension pioneers lay scattered on the ground. Their bodies were covered in dark green horny textures, and broken black energy pipelines were connected to their spines.

Gu Shen strode into the center of the remains and extended both palms. The ghastly white fire of the Great Furnace swept through the space again, completely wrapping around the thirteen bodies.

Calcined by the void fire, the high-concentration radioactive toxins enriched within the corpses and their alienated bones disintegrated together. Within a few breaths, the thirteen mutant remains, which were harder than refined steel, completely evaporated, leaving not a speck of dust behind. The entire tunnel of death returned to cleanliness.

After finishing these tasks, Gu Shen awakened the mechanical spider that was in a silent state.

"Go to the Sixth Level arsenal."

The lifting platform operated at high speed, whipping up a whistling wind.

6th Underground Level, military manufacturing zone. Dozens of heavy stamping machine tools emitted a steady mechanical roar under the power supply.

Gu Shen walked to the center of the hall and waved his large sleeve, causing nine heavily damaged Demon Bone Iron Guards to slam onto the steel floor one after another. Their titanium-tungsten alloy outer armor was shattered over a large area, exposing the Great Demon skeletons inside.

"My Lord, the hydraulic centers throughout the arsenal are operating steadily." The mechanical spider crawled onto the master control console, its probe piercing into the interface, and a dark blue data stream immediately flashed on the screen. "However, the previously stored Puppet Materials have been exhausted; repairing the bodies will require using local raw Materials."

"Retrieve the existing titanium-tungsten military alloy plates and high-conductivity superconducting cables from the warehouse," Gu Shen commanded.

"Understood! The master control protocol has docked with the No. 3 assembly robotic arm."

The heavy robotic arm extended with a boom, and the sharp plasma cutter descended from above, neatly stripping away the twisted and scrapped old armor on the surface of the Iron Guards.

Gu Shen stepped forward, the AI Crystal between his brows flashing with a dark blue light. With multi-threaded computing power fully engaged, his Divine Sense transformed into thousands of invisible carving knives, wandering along the exposed skeletal meridians of the Iron Guards.

The broken array patterns were reconnected by the carving knives formed from spiritual power. He took out the remaining high-purity mutant bone marrow from his Storage Ring and meticulously dripped it into the gaps between the bearings and cables. The viscous fluid, carrying radioactive vitality, instantly displayed a domineering assimilation ability, locking the Wasteland's superconducting cables and the Cultivation World's Great Demon bones tightly together.

Subsequently, a few grains of silver Mica Spirit Sand were flicked into the moving joints, smoothing out the roughness of the metal grinding.

The glowing red titanium-tungsten military plates arrived along the assembly line. The stamping machine tool descended like a heavy hammer, firmly riveting the new armor onto the bodies of the nine Iron Guards.

After repairing the old units, Gu Shen turned his gaze to the side of the open space.

Three Demon Bone Iron Guards had been destroyed in the previous fierce battle, leaving the formation incomplete. With a storm brewing, his combat strength had to be replenished.

He flicked his large sleeve again, and two long, dense skeletons of the Sea-Splitting Profound Whale flew onto the platform. Simultaneously, he took out two high-energy fusion micro-batteries from the explosion-proof black box, as well as two Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

At a thought from Gu Shen, the fire of Law from the [Heaven and Earth Furnace] surged from his fingertips. In just a moment, the ghastly white fire of Law forcibly melted the huge Sea-Splitting Profound Whale skeletons into the shape of human-like Puppets.

Immediately after, he joined his fingers like a sword, and the Geng Metal Qi of the Golden Light Finger transformed into a sharp drill, carving out a cavity in the left chest of the skeleton to house the power source.

The two micro-batteries were steadily embedded within.

"Wiring, array engraving."

Gu Shen tossed out two Low-Grade Spirit Stones, shattering them with spiritual power. The pure Spiritual Qi was guided to his fingertips, and he rapidly engraved the gathering and flow circuits of the Thousand Mechanisms Spirit Pivot Array Diagram onto the surface of the Great Demon's bones.

The Wasteland's high-conductivity superconducting cables were forcibly embedded into the array grooves, serving as physical meridians to transmit fusion kinetic energy.

Amidst the flying bone dust caused by the array engraving, two brand-new Tier 2 Demon Bone Iron Guard skeletons were assembled.

The robotic arm operated again, and the heavy titanium-tungsten armor wrapped around the new bodies perfectly.

For four full hours, the furnace fire subsided.

Eleven steel Puppets, covered entirely in streamlined matte black armor, stood in neat formation within the workshop. The dark blue glow of the micro-batteries flickered steadily through the gaps in the chest armor, emitting an integrated metallic pressure.

Gu Shen introspected into his Storage Ring and noted the asset consumption: four Sea-Splitting Profound Whale skeletons remaining, twenty-five micro-batteries remaining, and three hundred eighty-eight Low-Grade Spirit Stones remaining.

"Initiate self-test."

Blue light flared in the eye sockets of the eleven Iron Guards, and they all took a step forward in unison. Their kinetic energy was surging, yet their footsteps were as light and agile as ghosts under the lubrication of the Mica Spirit Sand.

"Demon Bone Iron Guard reconstruction complete. My Lord, there are still three hundred sealed local combat robots in the armory with intact chassis. Shall I awaken them?" The Crab pulled up the internal catalog.

Gu Shen gazed at the mechanical weapons on the screen, featuring tracked chassis and heavy machine cannons, and stated their designation: "Awaken them all and designate them as 'T-7 Heavy Purger'."

Three hundred crimson electronic eyes lit up simultaneously in the depths of the hall.

Gu Shen issued a cold, ruthless command: "You are to lead the control of the Purger legion to conduct a full-area cleanup of Shelter No. 7. Physically eliminate all walking corpses and mutant Aberrations, and push the remains into the 11th Level abyss for burial."

He paused, his tone stern: "Retain all plant-type Aberrations within the entire area, including glowing poisonous mushrooms, acid fungi carpets, and mutant jungle root systems. It is strictly forbidden for firepower to damage their Origin."

The Crab's computing center whirred rapidly, instantly discerning Gu Shen's purpose.

"My Lord is brilliant! Flesh-and-blood monsters are useless consumables, whereas plant-type Aberrations can continuously absorb the Earth's core waste heat and radiation, endlessly condensing mutant spiritual Materials. They are the base's natural resource farm!"

"Hold this place and maintain the baseline operation of the generator units. If encountered with external attacks, eliminate them immediately."

"Rest assured, My Lord! As long as the Crab is here, Shelter No. 7 will stand!"

After giving his instructions, Gu Shen stepped into an absolutely silent steel secret chamber.

He sat cross-legged and sank his mind completely into his Sea of Consciousness.

The [Heaven and Earth Furnace] emitted a vast roar that shook the Dao, and the fire of Law emerged from the Void Realm, instantly enveloping his body and the surrounding Qi.

The scenery of the Wasteland silently faded away.

The next moment, in the hidden Immortal Cave eight hundred feet deep in the waters of the Yunmeng Great Swamp, the water ripples swayed slightly.

Gu Shen's upright figure solidified out of thin air, standing steadily on the dry basalt floor. The abundant Spiritual Qi of Great Yu rushed toward him, faintly echoing with the dark cyan mana within his body.

With a flick of one hand, the eleven brand-new Demon Bone Iron Guards slammed into formation within the underwater Immortal Cave, filling the narrow space completely.