181: Some resistance, but not much.

Ilya casually tossed the massive crossbow bolt, which had been crushed into scrap metal, onto the ground with a crisp clang. Her crimson electronic eyes flickered slightly, a sign that the tactical analysis module was running at high speed.

“Answer my question.”

The voice of the Synthetic Body was an imitation of Ilya's original voice, sounding slightly immature.

“Why did you attack my vehicle?”

Gareth, standing at the front of the team, frowned deeply. Although the girl before him showed no trace of magic fluctuations or Battle Qi, his intuition as a Half-Step Legendary Expert was screaming warnings.

“Miss...” Gareth tightened his grip on his greatsword and chose his words carefully. “This Red Dragon, Klaus Difan, is a tyrant of the northern Kalamo Canyon. For years, he has plundered caravans and attacked villages, accumulating countless crimes. As adventurers of the Ailan Empire, it is our duty to subdue the evil dragon; it is an act of justice.”

“As for you...” Gareth continued, “If you were coerced by this evil dragon, we are willing to help. But if you are an accomplice of this evil dragon, then no matter how strong your power is, we will not back down.”

“Justice? Duty?”

Ilya tilted her head, as if she had heard an amusing joke.

“In the end, isn't it just for its materials and collected treasures?”

She pointed at the Red Dragon behind her. “However, even though this big lizard is trash, I have already requisitioned it. When hitting a dog, you still need to look at its owner. Shooting it down wasted my time.”

“Step aside, or be kicked away.”

“Arrogant!”

Rogue, the most hot-tempered Guardian, roared.

As a High-Tier Heavy Warrior, he wore several layers of enchanted heavy armor and carried a gigantic shield comparable to a city gate. He was known throughout the Southern Continent as a “Moving Fortress” famous for his defense.

“No matter what you are, if you want to protect this evil dragon, you'll have to deal with the warhammer in my hand first!”

“Rogue! Wait!” Gareth tried to stop him, but it was too late.

Rogue erupted in a yellowish-brown Battle Qi glow and charged at Ilya like a heavy tank. The ground trembled with every step he took.

“Hostile target approach detected.”

“Threat level: Extremely low.”

“Suggested action: Physical elimination.”

“Wanderer is ready for Orbital Bombardment.”

The Navigator's emotionless voice sounded in Ilya's ear.

“No, don't eliminate him.” Ilya's lips curved into an excited smile. “This is a rare living sample, perfect for testing the parameters of this Synthetic Body in actual combat. I also want to see what kind of performance it can achieve when facing the indigenous humans of this planet.”

Facing Rogue, who charged like a wild bull, Ilya did not dodge. She didn't even raise her hand, merely hovering quietly ten centimeters above the ground.

“Die!”

Rogue leaped high. The giant warhammer in his hand, carrying a whistling wind and augmented by Earth-element Magic Power, smashed fiercely toward Ilya's seemingly delicate head.

Clang—

A sound of metal clashing, loud enough to burst eardrums, echoed through the sky.

The members of Dawn behind them widened their eyes, watching the scene before them in disbelief.

Rogue's warhammer, capable of smashing rocks, was now suspended a few centimeters above Ilya's head.

And blocking it was merely Ilya's fair, slender left hand.

She didn't even clench her fist; she simply opened her palm casually, as if catching a falling leaf, effortlessly holding up the warhammer that weighed hundreds of pounds and carried immense force.

The ground beneath her instantly cracked, unable to withstand the tremendous impact force transmitted downward, and spiderweb cracks spread several meters around her. Yet, her body remained completely still; she didn't even bend her elbow.

“Pressure test excellent.” Ilya looked at the horrified strong man in front of her and said with a smile.

“Your kind of power seems slightly different from magic.”

Her electronic eyes instantly switched modes, seeing the wildly surging Bio-Energy Flow within Rogue's body through his skin.

“Some unknown energy stimulated your adrenaline and cellular mitochondria, forming a High-Energy Bio-Force Field outside your body... A very interesting way to utilize energy, though the efficiency is pitifully low.”

“W-what kind of monster are you?” Rogue felt like he hadn't struck a person, but an unshakable steel mountain. He tried to pull his warhammer back but found it wouldn't budge.

“Monster? No, this is science.”

Ilya's five fingers suddenly clenched.

Crack!

The head of the warhammer, forged from special metal, was instantly crushed like a brittle biscuit in her small hand, five deep finger marks appearing before it shattered.

“Now, it's my turn.”

Ilya swung her arm back.

No technique was used—just pure speed and strength.

Boom!

Rogue, along with his proud tower shield, instantly became an afterimage, sent flying backward like a baseball hit for a home run. He broke three large trees in mid-air before smashing hard into a rock formation dozens of meters away, his condition unknown.

“Rogue!”

“Damn it! Everyone, attack together!”

Seeing their comrade instantly defeated in one blow, the remaining four finally realized the terrifying nature of the girl before them.

“Shadow Leap!”

The Assassin, who had been lurking in the shadows, instantly activated a skill. His figure transformed into a black mist, utilizing a fissure in the Shadow Plane to instantly appear behind Ilya.

Two poisoned daggers flashed with a faint green light, aimed precisely at Ilya's back of the neck and kidneys.

“Too slow.”

In Ilya's sensory world, accelerated by a supercomputer, the Assassin's movements looked like a movie slowed down tenfold.

“Some kind of Polarization Force Field, and it can even fold space over short distances. Psionic Energy truly has diverse uses.”

Ilya didn't even turn her head.

Cling! Cling!

Two crisp sounds.

It was the sound of the daggers striking Ilya's skin on the back of her neck.

The Assassin discovered in horror that his enchanted daggers, capable of cutting through gold and jade, hadn't even pierced the opponent's skin! Beneath that fair, delicate skin seemed to be hidden a substance tens of thousands of times harder than dragon scales.

Not only that, the massive counter-shock force directly snapped the blades of the daggers.

“Nanofluid Armor, kid.” Ilya scoffed.

She grabbed back, accurately clamping onto the Assassin's throat, lifting him up like a small chicken.

“Furthermore, coatings like yours containing neurotoxins are neutralized by my shield at the molecular level.”

She casually tossed him aside, and the Assassin flew like a cannonball in the opposite direction, slamming into the ground and passing out.

The Mage Alice, standing far away, finally finished chanting her spell. The Ruby Staff in her hand burst forth with dazzling light.

“Tornado Storm!”

A massive azure tornado, dozens of meters high, materialized out of thin air, sweeping up debris and trees from the ground, surging toward Ilya with the power to tear everything apart.

Coordinating with her was the Cleric, who raised her holy emblem. A golden “Light of Judgment” descended from the sky, attempting to suppress Ilya's movements.

“Energy attacks? Perfect for testing the energy resistance of the Personal Shield.”

Ilya stood her ground, neither dodging nor evading.

The violent tornado instantly swallowed her, and the golden holy light also slammed into her body.

However, in the center of the storm, the clothing—simulated by the Nanofluid Armor on Ilya's body—did not even show a wrinkle.

A faint transparent film covered her body surface; this was a Deflection Shield generated by a Miniature Force Field Generator.

“The essence of this magic is a strong airflow created using air pressure differences. The wind speed is about 80 meters per second. This level of kinetic energy is a bit too childish.”

“That young lady's spell seems to be high-energy light radiation with Mental Contamination properties, but it's ineffective against my Silicon-Based Synthetic Body.”

Ilya strolled leisurely through the storm. She looked up, her pair of red eyes locking onto the distant Mage through the windstorm.

“As long as the energy source is eliminated, this unstable energy structure will collapse on its own.”

Hiss—

Two crimson beams of light suddenly ignited in Ilya's eyes.

That was Heat Vision, emitted from High-Energy Laser Generators built behind the Synthetic Body's eyeballs and focused by its lenses!

Two slender red lasers instantly traversed hundreds of meters, accurately striking the ruby at the top of the staff in Alice's hand.

Crack!

The gem exploded.

Alice, who was maintaining the spell, suffered a Magic Backlash, spat out a mouthful of blood, and fell backward, causing the Tornado Storm to dissipate.

“Demon! You are a demon crawled out of The Abyss!”

The Cleric watched this scene, her mind nearly collapsing. Being able to physically withstand magic and shoot beams from her eyes completely exceeded her understanding.

“No, I am a scientist.”

Ilya's figure instantly vanished from her spot and appeared in front of the Cleric the next second, delivering a hand chop to her back of the neck, knocking her out cleanly.

At this moment, only the Captain, Gareth, known as the [Hero of Dawn], remained on the field.

He gripped his greatsword with both hands, his entire body trembling.

He could not see any trace of Combat Techniques, magic, or Battle Qi on this girl.

All he could see was absolute strength, absolute speed, and absolute physical durability.

“Who... who exactly are you?”

Gareth asked in a deep voice. The Battle Qi glow around him had been compressed to its limit—the final dignity of a Half-Step Legendary Expert.

“Me? I am a researcher for the Human Federation, and currently the Captain of the Wanderer Scientific Research Vessel.”

Ilya hovered in the air, looking at the sole remaining warrior.

“Show me your strongest attack. Let me see how many joules of energy the humans of this planet can release.”

“As you wish!”

Gareth roared, and all his Essence, Energy, and Spirit converged at a single point.

“Dawn—Slash!”

The greatsword in his hand erupted with white light as dazzling as the sun—a High-Temperature Plasma phenomenon created by compressing Battle Qi to its limit.

He leaped high and unleashed the strongest sword strike of his life toward Ilya.

This single strike was powerful enough to cleave city walls and sever rivers.

Facing this astonishing sword strike, the data stream in Ilya's eyes refreshed frantically.

“High-energy plasma reaction detected. Energy level B, sufficient to damage conventional alloys.”

“Activating Active Defense Mode.”

Ilya neither dodged nor tried to catch it with her hands.

She took a deep breath—which, of course, was merely a simulated action; in reality, the Miniature Coolers inside her body were running frantically.

Then, she forcefully exhaled a breath toward the greatsword of light being swung down.

Hooo—

A visible white cold current erupted from her mouth.

It was Superfluid Gas compressed and cooled close to absolute zero, or what is known as “Freezing Breath.”

Faced with this extremely cold airflow capable of freezing molecular movement, the High-Temperature Plasma on Gareth's sword instantly extinguished.

The white Battle Qi glow was frozen into solid ice crystals, which then shattered piece by piece.

The cold current spread down the sword, instantly covering Gareth's entire body.

When he landed, he remained in his sword-swinging posture, having turned into a crystal-clear ice sculpture.

Only his eyeballs could still move slightly, revealing endless horror.

This was pure Dimensional Reduction Warfare: using absolute zero to counter high temperatures, and using the laws of physics to crush Idealistic Energy.

The battle was over.

The entire process took less than ten minutes.

This famous Mithril-Tier Adventurer Squad from the Southern Continent was as fragile as an infant before Ilya's Synthetic Body.

“The indigenous humans of this planet can display decent Supernatural Abilities using Psionic Energy, but judging by Gareth's performance, their combat effectiveness is probably inferior to the Federation's Military Ground Mecha.”

Ilya clapped her hands and deactivated the Combat Mode.

She walked up to Gareth's ice sculpture and lightly tapped it with her finger.

“Stop playing dead. I avoided vital points; I only froze your ability to move. Your body temperature protection mechanism is still operating.”

She snapped her fingers, adjusted the output power, and released a warm current to thaw Gareth.

“Cough, cough... cough...”

Gareth knelt on the ground, gasping for breath and shivering uncontrollably.

He looked up at the unharmed girl before him, the fighting spirit completely gone from his eyes.

“We... lost.”

Gareth lowered his head, his voice hoarse.