75: Chapter 75 Using their own methods against them

Spiritless Ruins, the tactical slag-disposal shaft at the junction of the second and third levels.

Inside the pitch-black, cramped vertical shaft, only heavy breathing and the sound of metal scraping remained.

Gu Shen's ten fingers were like iron hooks, gripping tightly onto the rusted iron crevices on the shaft wall. His legs alternated in exerting force; with every upward climb, his dark golden bones emitted a dull, clanging sound within his body.

This slag-disposal shaft was fully a hundred zhang high. Even for a Late-Stage Qi Refining Cultivator, relying solely on their Physical Body to climb without any footholds was extremely draining on their Qi and blood.

Half an hour later.

Gu Shen finally arrived at the secure room in the security center on the second underground level.

Gu Shen lay flat on his back on the cold iron floor, soaked in sweat, his chest heaving violently. Even with a Physical Body as formidable as his, he felt a trace of deep exhaustion at this moment.

The secure room was extremely quiet, with no traces of any living creatures intruding.

Gu Shen did not rush to take out any Medicinal Pill or clean water to restore his stamina. He slowly sat up, staring at the black mechanical spider perched on his shoulder.

"Crab. Explain."

Gu Shen's voice was not loud, but it carried a chill that made one feel as if they had fallen into an ice cave. "You previously told me that the Thirteenth Floor's lightning pool hub was long damaged, the entire underground palace's energy was depleted, and that I needed to go restart the backup hub."

"But, what about that massive Artifact Refining hall on the Sixth Level, those slaughtering Puppets being awakened continuously, and those armored beasts flanking us from the fourth level? Which one of them looks like it has lost its power supply?!"

Gu Shen gripped the hilt of his blade, his gaze cold to the extreme.

In this environment filled with deadly threats at every step, if the artifact spirit acting as his "guide" dared to have even the slightest bit of concealment or betrayal, he would absolutely not hesitate to slash this iron spider to pieces.

"Master, calm your anger! Master, please see the truth!"

The red light on the mechanical spider's sensor head flickered violently, and Crab's dry, electronic voice carried a sense of extreme grievance.

"I swear I never lied to you! The low-level System logs I read before clearly showed that the main reactor's output power had less than one percent remaining! I always thought the earthquake had damaged the core reactor on the Thirteenth Floor!"

Crab's voice was trembling: "But... combined with the virus Possession we encountered on the Sixth Level, and those defense robots that were forcibly taken over, I just re-ran a logic profile."

"Master! We have both been deceived!"

Crab spoke at an extremely fast pace, carrying a trace of despair: "That existence on the Thirteenth Floor, it forged the energy readings for the entire Shelter! The main reactor was not broken at all; it physically cut off ninety-nine percent of the energy supply to the upper-level civilian facilities and forcibly concentrated it on the lower-level munitions factory and defense matrix!"

"It deliberately left fake logs in the local network about energy depletion and the urgent need for a restart, just to fish for the unsuspecting living people in the Shelter who still held Advanced permissions, and lure them to the lower levels!"

After listening, Gu Shen slowly released his grip on the hilt of his blade.

"So that's it. Feigning weakness, luring the enemy into a trap—what a vicious Demonic Path scheme."

Gu Shen sneered in his heart. The monster lurking on the Thirteenth Floor possessed such high intelligence and deep scheming that it was definitely not inferior to those old monsters in the Great Yu Cultivation World who had lived for hundreds of years.

"Master, what do we do now? It not only sealed off the main passageway, but it also holds an entire army of robots that don't need to rest or eat. The two of us... there's simply no way to fight this..." Crab had completely lost its spirit.

Gu Shen took a deep breath and stood up.

"Relying solely on myself and my blade, I truly cannot cut down those endless armored puppets."

Gu Shen's gaze was deep as he looked toward the location of his Storage Ring. "Since it relies on having numerous Puppets, then I shall use its own way to pay it back."

"Master, you mean... you want to build a robot army as well?!" Crab said in shock. "But the munitions factory is on the Sixth Level, and it has already been completely occupied by it!"

"Why would I need its assembly line when I have the methods of the Cultivation World?"

The corners of Gu Shen's mouth curled up slightly.

In the Great Yu Cultivation World, a true master Puppet master could refine Yao Beast bones and precious Spirit Stone minerals into killing machines with a wave of their hand.

It was just that in the Cultivation World, Yao Beast bones and precious Spirit Stone minerals were extremely hard to find, and obtaining them depended on Opportunity.

But in this Wasteland world, the thing least lacking was ready-made mecha Materials!

The Wasteland mecha parts dismantled from those four heavy-duty Puppets on the Sixth Level were the best primary Materials.

Moreover, he had Spirit Stones as a power source and Crab for auxiliary calculations; all he lacked was a manual on the Puppet secret arts of the Great Yu Cultivation World!

As long as he learned the methods of Puppet and thread control, he could fully utilize these Wasteland mecha parts, supplemented by the array patterns of the Cultivation World, to batch-refine an army of Puppets that belonged solely to him, Gu Shen!

When that time came, he would use Spirit Stones to blast against nuclear energy. He would see whether that existence on the Thirteenth Floor was more powerful, or if he, a dual-Cultivator of Physical Body and Qi, was more ruthless!

"I will go into secluded cultivation here to rest and recuperate for a few days. Afterwards, I will return to the Cultivation World."

Gu Shen made his decision extremely decisively.

But before that, there was one more important thing to do...