73: Chapter 73 The Sealed Elevator, Murderous Intent Runs Wild!

Spiritless Ruins, 6th Underground Level, Military Manufacturing Zone.

The thick smell of machine oil mixed with the scent of scorched metal permeated the air.

Gu Shen stood before four paralyzed heavy riot Puppets, his long saber returned to its sheath. He did not bring out the [Heaven and Earth Furnace] as he had for those mutated Aberrations.

"Pure refined iron, dead objects without Qi and blood vitality. Forcibly refining them with the Great Furnace would only yield a pile of Advanced Materials. It is better to dismantle them into Puppet parts; once I find the secret arts of Puppet crafting in the future, these will be excellent Materials for refining Puppets."

Gu Shen's thoughts were clear. He stepped forward, not using any magic power, but relying solely on the terrifying physical strength of his Physical Body after reaching Major Achievement in the Bone Refining Art, and forcibly tore off the hardest titanium armor plates on the exterior of these four Puppets.

Then, pointing his fingers like a blade, he forced out Geng Metal Sword Qi, extremely precisely severing the intact joint bearings and micro-motors inside the Puppets.

"Master, those are high-frequency servo motors and ultra-lightweight load-bearing frames! Yes, yes, yes, and that infrared target acquisition module, they are all top-grade parts!" The mechanical spider on his shoulder directed him excitedly.

Gu Shen waved his large sleeve, storing all these extremely heavy yet exceptionally precise mecha parts into his Storage Ring.

After clearing the loot, Gu Shen's gaze turned to the deepest part of the hall.

Standing there were two massive, wide doors made of refined steel, reaching several zhang high, with thick yellow warning stripes covering the top of the door frame.

"Master, that is the central freight elevator. This elevator has an independent backup power System that leads directly to the core reactor hub on the Thirteenth Underground Level," Crab reported.

Gu Shen's eyes sharpened: "Since it goes directly there, it saves the trouble of stepping on mines level by level. Go open the door; I want to see exactly what monsters and demons are entrenched on the Thirteenth Floor."

"Understood!"

The mechanical spider leaped down from Gu Shen's shoulder and scurried rapidly to a control panel beside the giant door. Its probe extended once more, extremely carefully connecting to the external data interface.

Gu Shen held his saber in one hand, his Divine Sense extended, staring fixedly at the movement of the door.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths.

The door remained motionless.

"What's going on?" Gu Shen asked coldly.

"Master... it won't open!"

The mechanical spider's detection head flashed with intensely panicked red light, and Crab's voice carried a deep sense of helplessness and fear, "Not only can it not be opened, the physical control authority of this elevator was completely locked the moment I connected!"

"That existence on the Thirteenth Floor has locked the elevator's lifting cables! It can not only perform Possession on the network, but it even possesses the highest level of hardware control over this entire Shelter! We can't go down!"

Gu Shen's face sank like water.

That monster lurking on the Thirteenth Floor was not some mindless beast at all; it was a terrifying existence that was extremely cunning and even understood ancient mechanism formations!

Just as Crab's words fell.

Hum—!!!

The entire massive military workshop on the Sixth Level suddenly erupted with a scalp-numbing low-frequency roar!

The emergency red lights overhead, which had been hanging on by a thread, flared up all at once like a final burst of life, casting the entire hall into the likeness of a blood-colored purgatory.

Click, click, click...

In the depths of the darkness, rows of previously stagnant assembly line conveyor belts began to spin crazily. Those mechanical creations that had been lurking in the corners, either unfinished or on standby, all lit up with piercing crimson electronic eyes.

One, ten, fifty...

A dense mass of red light, like a red ocean, awakened with a roar in this underground space!

"Warning! Warning! Full-area heavy defense matrix activated! Target identified: Illegal intruder! Extermination order issued!"

Crab's voice had cracked: "Master! Retreat! It has awakened all the backup killing mechanisms on the Sixth Level! With this many, they could bury us just by sheer numbers!"

"Go!"

Gu Shen did not have any of the vain arrogance of a cultivator. Facing this kind of organized, fearless army of steel, fighting head-on would only lead to a dead end.

He scooped up the mechanical spider, the black light on his shadow shoes flashing violently, and his entire body turned into a black lightning bolt, racing toward the stairwell he had come from!

Da da da da!

Behind him, an incredibly terrifying metal storm instantly tore through the air. Countless armor-piercing bullets struck the iron plates behind him, splashing sparks into the sky.

Gu Shen did not look back, braving the rain of bullets, his figure moving like a ghost through the flood control gate of the Fifth Level.

What met his eyes was the poisonous swamp of the Fifth Level.

"Can't stay in the water for long!"

Gu Shen took a deep breath, the black bones on his body vibrating, and the pure explosive power of his Physical Body made him like a swallow skimming the water, his toes tapping continuously on the floating wreckage of water storage tanks.

Boom! Boom!

Extremely heavy vibrating sounds came from the passage behind him; those heavy Puppets had actually chased directly into the Fifth Level, stepping into the poisonous water that could corrode metal without hesitation.

Gu Shen drove his speed to the limit, and the three hundred zhang water path vanished in an instant. He broke through the gate of the Fifth Level and headed straight for the Fourth Level!

However, when he pushed open the door to the Fourth Level and rushed into that mutated dark green jungle.

Gu Shen's footsteps stopped abruptly.

On the humus-covered ground ahead, there were no longer silent vines.

The surrounding refined steel ventilation ducts and the extremely wide freight exhaust vents above had been forcibly smashed by some extremely violent means at some unknown time.

More than a dozen black mechanical beasts (Tactical Hunter Hound) with bodies like giant hounds, anti-joint streamlined limbs, and high-pressure arc emitters mounted on their backs were quietly crouching on those thick, mutated vines!

Their crimson mechanical eyes were locked firmly on Gu Shen, who had just rushed through the door.

"Master... it's the Hunter model! They bypassed us from other areas and cut off our retreat!" Crab's desperate voice came through.

In front were more than a dozen high-mobility killing machines, and behind were the army of heavy Puppets climbing the stairs.

This mutated spirit plant garden instantly transformed into an incredibly terrifying steel cage!

Gu Shen took a deep breath, forcibly exhaling the turbid Qi coursing through his chest.

He slowly tucked the shadow cat bone spike, which radiated Tier 2 Evil Qi, into his left palm, while his right hand gripped the thunder pattern gold-slaying blade.

"There is no retreat, so I will carve out a bloody path."

There was no fear in Gu Shen's eyes, only the pure, violent killing intent unique to a cultivator.

Zheng!

Blue-violet lightning cracked open in this surrounded dark jungle!

The great battle was about to erupt!