[Current number of participants in the large-scale task: 10,694]
[Current experience points: 9,624,600]
[Current gold coins: 32,082]
[Profligate businessmen are claiming rewards.]
[Panel balance mechanism activated: Your specialty as a profiteer has reduced the reward deprivation for large tasks by 90% this time.]
[Compensation mechanism triggered: Your profiteer skill has been partially strengthened.]
[Expertise: Profiteer: For tasks issued by players, you can deduct up to 50% of the rewards. For large tasks, you may deduct up to 3%. You can select one historical feat to add to your repertoire. Cooling time: 180 natural days.]
[Experience gained: 962,460; Gold coins obtained: 3,208.2]
[You have been upgraded to level 59.]
[You have entered the city defense armor. Identity confirmed: Bai Yi, Lord of Dongwu City. City defense armor 186-A, welcome aboard.]
[Please choose: Fully automatic mode, semi-automatic mode, or manual mode.]
A series of prompts left Bai Yi momentarily dazed. The panel had inexplicably deducted 90% of his rewards. However, the change in his profiteer skill reminded him of the sinister expertise he had encountered after the battle with Cesis.
[Note: The ultimate evil feat can only be selected by your dark side. If you switch to the light side, the feat will still awaken within your dark side after selection.]
[Extremely Evil Body: Your body is composed of malevolent thoughts, and you will possess no fatal weaknesses.]
This specialty, White Plague, had lingered in Bai Yi's mind for a long time. If chosen, it would significantly enhance the survival rate of his dark side, potentially granting a form of immortality. With no fatal weaknesses, even decapitation wouldn't lead to death, greatly boosting his combat effectiveness.
The expertise of absorbing divine power would become invaluable if he grew stronger than a god. The opportunity to select the extremely evil expertise might be a rare one, especially with the presence of unscrupulous businessmen—it now felt essential.
Experience points were secondary; he could always issue another quest. He still had eight million experience points stored in his panel.
As he surveyed the virtual scene before him, he felt the distant roars and the fading pulse of a powerful aura.
Decisively, he chose fully automatic mode. Inside the city defense mecha, he lacked experience in battling legendary heroes and preferred to trust the judgment of the Alchemist Sage.
[Full automatic mode selected. Matching energy attribute of the Lord of Dongwu City: spirit. Your mental shield will envelop the entire city defense mecha, allowing for temporary coexistence.]
[Please select the target and mode. After selection, the city defense mecha will automatically execute a devastating attack.]
[Full view activated; energy detection enabled.]
Before Bai Yi, a holographic display materialized, gradually zooming out to reveal the entirety of Dongwu City and the vast sea of flames two hundred kilometers away.
[Target selected: Third-level legendary ghost.]
[Killing mode activated. Energy converted to restraining energy. Selected energy: Angelic Holy Light.]
[Simulating...]
As crimson text flashed across the screen, mechanical sounds filled the air. The perspective shifted, and Bai Yi found himself viewing through the eyes of the city-guarding machine. Countless split screens surrounded him, revealing a full view of the battlefield.
The massive machine ascended, thrusters igniting behind it, its eyes flashing with a scarlet glow. As the last shell detonated in the distance, the thrusters roared to life, propelling the mecha into action. It reached the center of the explosion just as chaos erupted below.
The armor on its shoulders opened, revealing targeting systems that locked onto a blurry figure beneath.
Countless missiles launched from the mecha's shoulders, converging on the figure below.
Sensing an imminent threat, the injured figure—a third-level legendary ghost—blurred momentarily before reappearing closer to the mecha, dark blue eyes weary and breath unstable.
"That's you!" it exclaimed, but before it could finish, the missiles that had been tracking it turned and detonated around it, igniting a fierce blaze in the sky.
"Ah!" A scream echoed as the 300-meter city defense mecha surged forward, its massive palm reaching for the explosive energy and the legendary ghost.
In an instant, holy light erupted from its hands, faint angelic wings forming in the radiant glow. The underworld energy crackled as it met the divine light, sending the already wounded ghost into a fit of hysterical screams.
"Ahhhhh!"
[Detecting target energy level and physical condition.]
[Health value: 30%... 29%.]
Boom! A deafening roar reverberated from the iron hand, and Bai Yi felt a significant drain on his mental strength. The mecha was linked to his consciousness, allowing his mental shield to protect it. Any damage the mecha sustained would first be absorbed by his mental expertise.
That last impact had consumed nearly 90% of his mental shield—800 points of spirit—revealing the true power of a third-level legend.
[Target energy level: Legendary level 3.]
[Target power level: Legendary level 1.]
[Target agility level: Legendary level 3.]
[Target defense level: Legendary level 1.]
[Target health: 25%... 24%.]
[60% of stored energy will initiate the Angel Trial.]
[Shield value of Dongwu City Lord Bai Yi: 10%... 8%... 7%.]
[Holy Light suppression can defend for another three seconds.]
[Energy extraction underway. Initiating dual-hand connection. Legendary time limit: ten seconds. Death rate and hit rate of the trial: 100%. Trial commencing.]
Data flashed across the screen as the mecha's second hand connected with the one restraining the ghost. Simultaneously, the propulsion system powered down, and the mecha began its rapid descent, a massive angelic silhouette appearing in its wake.
Angels have no faces, yet they radiate a sacred, holy aura.
Under the moonlight, the angel raised its sword, channeling powerful energy.
"Ah…"
Boom! The ghost thrashed against the mecha's palms, having already endured three hundred intercontinental missiles. These legendary strikes had left him severely injured.
Before he could comprehend why he was the target, the colossal machine loomed overhead, unleashing holy light that severely weakened him.
His ultimate move hadn't even breached the shield. Weak from earlier assaults, he now felt an overwhelming sense of impending doom. Wrapped in holy light, he glimpsed the specter of true death.
How could this be? Even surrendering his will, he had to escape. Survival was essential for his growth and return to the underworld!
He pounded against the holy light-imbued walls, desperation fueling his strength.
Bang! Bang! Bang! His Netherworld power surged, sensing the mental shield around him cracking, machinery warping under the strain of his onslaught.
Just a moment longer—a fleeting window of time, and he would break free!
[Simulated angel fully charged. Trial energy level: Fourth-order legendary.]
[Angel Judgment Countdown: 10... 9... 8...]
The ghost felt the breath of an angel—one of judgment? How could those creations of the God of Light still exist?
His eyes glowed with blue light as he slammed into the surrounding steel walls. Despite the holy light intensifying around him, he pressed on, abandoning the old king's body. A transparent blue shadow seeped forth, radiating immense power as it battered the steel.
[Countdown continues: 7... 6... 5...]
The machinery around him showed signs of severe damage. A glimmer of ecstasy flickered in the ghost's eyes—he was almost free. Just a few more seconds, and he could dismantle this accursed mecha!
Data flashed before Bai Yi's eyes as the angelic phantom raised its sword high.
The mecha landed on a ground littered with bright yellow crystals, which shattered under its weight, cascading into a fiery abyss.
Hellish terrain, futuristic mechas, angels in the sky, and the radiant moon behind them formed a breathtaking tableau.
[Arm damage level: 70%. The ghost is expected to escape within two seconds.]
[Ghost's hidden power activated. Energy level slightly increased. Health: 60%... 59%... 58%.]
[Angel Judgment energy level low. 20% energy reinvested. Adjusting judgment to highest level: Level 5 Legendary.]
[Trial accuracy dropping rapidly: 80%... 60%... 50%. Before the ghost escapes, hit rate cannot be guaranteed.]
[Filling mechanism activated. Utilizing resources from other areas to fortify the arm, ensuring 100% hit rate for the judgment.]
[You drank the spirit recovery potion and the soul protection potion. You invested 3.6 million experience points and upgraded to level 60.]
[Mecha: Mental shield charged. Strength: 10%. Filling mechanism canceled. Judgment accuracy: 100%. Judgment countdown: 3... 2... 1...]
[Angel Judgment begins!]
Buzz! As the command echoed, the angels in the sky erupted with a brilliant holy light, illuminating the surroundings.
A heavy mechanical hum reverberated from the mecha's wrist as a sphere composed of intertwined arms detached from its body. The holy light propelled the mechanical sphere skyward.
Boom! The sphere exploded, unleashing a torrent of dark blue energy as an old figure emerged in the moonlight, roaring with hatred.
"Ahhh! I'll kill you! You deserve to die!"
His voice faltered abruptly as he turned sharply, confronted by a towering angel, a hundred meters tall, swinging its sword.
The holy light suppressed the ghost's Netherworld power, reducing it to mere surface energy.
In the inferno below, a vast machine, half-submerged in magma, raised its shattered arm, intense holy light still emanating from it. The angel's presence and the massive machine behind it blocked every avenue of escape.
"How could this be? How is it possible? I won! I defeated him, Ivanovich! I hate this! I hate it!"
Amid his frenzied screams, divine judgment descended mercilessly.
"Ahhh!"
The sword light cleaved through his form but did not fully pass through. In that moment, time itself seemed to freeze.
The colossal angel flapped its wings, soaring upward with moonlit grace, swiftly pointing its sword at the ghost.
In an instant, the world was suspended in silence.
The angel shot forward like an arrow, piercing through the ghost's body, with all the holy light trailing behind, flooding into him.
The radiant light that shone for miles vanished in an instant.
In the sky, the expression on the ghost's nearly insane face gradually faded, its transparent form dissolving and cascading downward.
[Detecting target energy fluctuations: Third-order legendary... Second-order legendary... First-order legendary.]
[Target health: 55%... 30%... 10%.]
[Confirmed: Target is a Level 3 legendary ghost. Status: Dead!]
[Killing mission of city defense robot 186-A completed.]
[City Defense Robot 186-A initiating self-check.]
[City Defense Mecha 186-A: Energy consumption: 89%. Damage to the fuselage: 100% for both hands, 0% for the rest.]
[Natural recovery time for energy consumption: 3,100 natural days.]
[Extraordinary element power can assist in recovering energy for the core of the city defense armor, estimated absorption of 1,100 standard units of extraordinary energy.]
[Arm recovery: 10 tons of gold essence, 3 tons of mithril, 3 tons of fine steel stone, 30 tons of super alloy.]
[Super alloy manufacturing method: ordinary alloy, solar energy.]
A flurry of data appeared, and Bai Yi studied it thoughtfully. This mecha was incredibly powerful.
His interest in mechas peaked at that moment. Current analyses suggested that the mecha's defense ranged between second and third-level legendary, while its attack power could adapt to target attributes, peaking at fifth-level legendary energy.
The only limitation was its duration and resource consumption. The legendary ghost had just entered its second stage, altering the initial assessments.
Yet, these minor drawbacks did not diminish the mecha's strength. The Alchemist Sage seemed to be at seventh-level legendary but had enabled this mecha to contend with a fifth-level legend.
Eager anticipation filled his eyes as he noted the super alloy manufacturing method. This alloy appeared to be integral to the mecha's outer armor.
Its resilience was immense. Bai Yi speculated that even the legendary Barrett could be improved upon, and the strength of intercontinental missiles could be further enhanced.
Choosing to disengage from the mech, Bai Yi turned to the dissipating ghost. The Soul of Storage materialized, and he fired a soul bullet at the vanquished legend.
Let's see if he could capture the monster first.
(End of this chapter)