Translator: AnubisTL
Feng Jiutian's coordinates led them to this massive city.
The city was far larger than any they had seen before, and its defenses were even more formidable.
The ice-blue city walls stood nearly twenty meters tall, appearing as if coated in a thick layer of ice. At the top, heavy-caliber machine guns were positioned less than a meter apart, forming an unbroken line of firepower.
The city gates were heavily guarded.
Fully armed soldiers patrolled the area incessantly, while vehicles carrying heavy firepower circled the perimeter.
Beyond these measures, they spotted numerous defensive systems they couldn't even identify.
This city seemed far more imposing and terrifying than any other mechanical race city they had encountered.
"Brother Jiang," Scar Dog murmured, his face awestruck as he gazed at the scene below. "Could this be the mechanical race's main stronghold?"
"Hard to say," Li Hao replied, equally stunned by the sight. "To be honest, this city feels like the pinnacle of technology in the Ten Thousand Races Arena."
Just then, a piercing air raid siren suddenly blared from within the city.
Immediately afterward—
A massive, azure energy shield rose above the city, enveloping the entire metropolis. All nearby weapon systems activated, countless gun and cannon barrels swiveling to target Chen Jiang.
Without warning!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Rat-tat-tat!
A dense barrage of blue energy bullets formed an impenetrable net of fire, instantly engulfing Chen Jiang and his group.
"Well done! Excellent work!"
Feng Jiutian watched the scene unfold on the large screen before him, clenching his fist and shouting in exhilaration. He couldn't believe Chen Jiang had been taken down so easily!
So, he was just all talk after all.
When Chen Jiang had used the three-star item Heaven's Eye Pursuit Order against him, Feng Jiutian's first thought had been, "I'm finished."
He had personally witnessed Yan Pomen's death.
A teleportation gate-like portal had suddenly appeared behind Yan Pomen, and a massive cannon barrel had extended from it. With a single shot, Yan Pomen had vanished without a trace.
The image had struck his heart with overwhelming force!
Without hesitation, he immediately left his city and headed for the Satellite City where his grandfather resided.
Before Chen Jiang's arrival, he constantly glanced around, terrified that a teleportation gate might suddenly appear behind him, and a massive barrel would emerge from it.
Even though his grandfather repeatedly reassured him that this city was one of the mechanical race's Eight Great Satellite Cities, second only to the royal city in terms of concentrated power and advanced technology, he couldn't calm down.
He had personally witnessed Yan Pomen's death. Even in his final moments, Yan Pomen remained oblivious to how close death was, still boasting and pontificating.
His grandfather hadn't seen that scene and didn't understand the true extent of Chen Jiang's power.
As soon as Chen Jiang appeared outside the mechanical race city, the satellites orbiting the Satellite City instantly detected his presence and transmitted his exact coordinates to his grandfather.
His grandfather was the administrator of this city.
The mechanical race had eight elders, each responsible for one of the Eight Great Satellite Cities.
Having an elder as his grandfather was a source of immense pride and allowed him to act with impunity.
The moment Chen Jiang's figure was detected, all firepower was activated without hesitation. Simultaneously, the energy shield was deployed, sealing off the entire Satellite City. It was clear that while his grandfather spoke of Chen Jiang with contempt, he actually took the threat very seriously.
Thus, the scene that followed unfolded.
Chen Jiang had barely reached the mountain peak near the Satellite City, and before he could even react, he was engulfed in a storm of artillery fire. Under such an overwhelming assault, survival for the human Chen Jiang was utterly impossible.
"He must be dead by now!"
Feng Jiutian clenched his fists, a hint of nervousness in his eyes as he watched the screen. The mountain peak, now leveled by the bombardment, gradually cleared as the smoke dissipated.
Nothing remained. No corpses, no sign of Chen Jiang or his companions.
"He's not dead?" Feng Jiutian exclaimed in disbelief. "That's impossible! No human player could withstand such firepower! Even a titan player would fall here in bitter defeat!"
"Patience, young one," the elder standing beside him rasped, his wrinkled face impassive. His cloudy eyes fixed on the screen, he continued in a hoarse voice, "Under such intense bombardment, bodies are rarely left intact. They may have been completely vaporized."
"Even if they survived, I wouldn't be surprised."
"After all, he's the strongest warrior of the human race. It would be absurd for him to die so easily."
"Besides, human players have the innate ability of phoenix nirvana. They can resurrect after their first death. It's possible he's already revived and left this place."
"Deploy a drone swarm for reconnaissance."
"Yes, sir!"
Soon—
Nearly a thousand drones swarmed into the sky from the city, forming a dense, dark cloud as they flew toward the flattened mountain peak, beginning a comprehensive scan.
Even if vaporized, some bodily tissues would have fused with the soil. Finding these traces would confirm Chen Jiang and his group's deaths, even without visible corpses.
However, just as the drones left the city, the elder spoke again: "Recall the drones. They're not needed."
He had spotted Chen Jiang and his group, completely unharmed, on another mountain peak. They were looking up as if they could see the satellites overhead.
From the elder's perspective, it appeared Chen Jiang was staring directly at him.
"Clever little brat."
Unable to contain his anger, he exclaimed, "He's got some nerve! Lock onto his position and keep bombing him. Let's see how many times he can escape!"
"He might be using satellite radar, Brother Jiang. Their reaction time is incredibly fast—they can pinpoint our location in less than three seconds."
"Satellites, huh?"
Chen Jiang calmly raised his hand and waved it slightly. Instantly, a giant cannon as tall as a seven-story building materialized beside him!
Standing next to this colossal weapon, Chen Jiang and his companions seemed dwarfed by its sheer scale.
He glanced at the fifth set effect of the Steel Sword Autonomous Rotating Turret:
[Nightfall]
[Effect: You can launch a massive light bullet into the sky. This bullet absorbs all celestial, artificial, and natural light sources within a 10,000-meter radius, plunging the area into complete darkness for one hour!]
This set effect seemed utterly useless.
Simply darkening a 10,000-meter radius hardly seemed worthy of a set effect gained from a +200 enhancement!
In reality, it was merely an illusion.
The first formidable aspect of this set effect lay in its minimal energy consumption and lack of cooldown.
Each use emptied an energy cartridge, requiring a replenishment from the energy cartridge replenishment gun.
Without a cooldown, as long as he had enough energy cartridge replenishment guns, he could unleash Nightfall without restraint.
He could even plunge an entire planet into darkness within an hour!
With sufficient energy cartridge replenishment guns, he could permanently shroud a planet in night—a set effect capable of annihilating worlds!
This nightfall wasn't merely literal darkness.
It was absolute, utter absence of light.
Natural light, artificial light, celestial light—any source of illumination would be devoured, plunging the affected area into complete, pitch-black darkness!
Without hesitation, Chen Jiang gently tapped the cannon barrel and activated the fifth set effect: "Nightfall!"
In the next instant—
The crimson patterns on the cannon barrel began to flash violently as a massive light bullet shot skyward!
Then—
BOOM!!!
A deafening explosion erupted in the air!
In mid-air, something resembling a black hole materialized, slowly rotating and devouring all surrounding light. Within seconds, a ten-kilometer radius centered on Chen Jiang was plunged into absolute darkness.
He could sense that the black hole-like entity was actually spinning at an incredible speed, but its velocity was so extreme that it appeared to be moving slowly.
At that moment—
Chen Jiang and his companions finally experienced true, utter darkness.
"You really can't see your hand in front of your face," Scar Dog said, waving his hands before him. He could feel his hands moving, but he couldn't see them at all. This wasn't the sensation of blindness, but rather the complete absence of light.
Pure, unadulterated darkness.
This was a set effect, and while its destructive power didn't match that of the "Crimson Light Pillar" or the "Giant Super Annihilation Bomb," its strategic significance was far greater.
"If this lasts much longer, I'll forget I even have eyes," Scar Dog said, rubbing his eyes uncomfortably. In the pitch-blackness, blinking made no difference—there was no visual feedback to tell his brain whether to blink or not.
The brain couldn't determine whether his eyes were open or closed. The faint sensation of his eyelids brushing together was quickly swallowed by the darkness.
In other words, if he remained in this state for too long, his brain, deprived of feedback, would completely fail to process this task.
To illustrate: imagine you slap your wife in the dark every day. But one day, your hand suddenly loses all sensation. Without feedback, you'd temporarily freeze, unable to tell if you'd actually hit her.
Complete darkness immediately causes the brain to temporarily shut down.
As time stretches on, the effects would intensify. It's even possible that night vision could evolve, and the body would undoubtedly undergo some degree of mutation.
Biologically speaking, the eyes are the primary source of external information for the brain. When the eyes cease functioning, the brain urges the body to evolve additional mechanisms for gathering external information.
For example, hearing might improve dramatically, or they might develop Braille through training.
Or even seventy or eighty tentacles—who knows what the brain might come up with?
After all, in the darkness, where aesthetics don't matter, all sorts of bizarre evolutionary adaptations can emerge, just like the deep-sea fish. If biology hadn't classified them as fish, the public would probably prefer to think of them as monsters driven back into the sea by Ultraman.
After adapting to the pitch-blackness, Chen Jiang spoke up: "Everyone, hold tight to each other. Don't get lost."
When they were plunged into darkness, they had already mentally mapped their surroundings.
"Have you manifested the map?" Scar Dog asked, looking around in confusion. The darkness was absolute; he couldn't see the map Li Hao had manifested.
"It's manifested right above my head. I'll guide you with my hand."
In the darkness, a hand quickly reached out, grasped Scar Dog's, and pointed upward.
Li Hao's map was composed of white light. After nightfall, the map could still manifest, but it was now invisible.
In other words, they could still use the phantom gate to move, but they could no longer precisely select their destination. They had to roughly choose a direction away from the mechanical race city before their sense of direction completely faded.
Soon, the group had moved several times, distancing themselves from their previous location and arriving at a place they themselves didn't recognize.
It had to be said, this set effect was truly powerful. In such an environment, a lone individual would likely be driven mad within an hour.
Chen Jiang then pulled out his tablet. As expected, it emitted no light whatsoever; all illumination had been absorbed.
"Excellent," he chuckled softly, his expression satisfied. In this situation, it was a true dark forest. The enemy would have no way of detecting his position, and even artillery fire wouldn't reveal his location. He could simply unleash a relentless barrage!
Without hesitation, he shifted his position repeatedly, quickly launching dozens more "Nightfall" projectiles!
The mechanical city before them was completely enveloped in darkness, not a single ray of sunlight penetrating the gloom.
It felt like a forsaken land, abandoned by the gods.
Having accomplished this, Chen Jiang and his group repeatedly stepped through phantom gates, retreating until they were beyond the range of Nightfall.
Finally—
Light reappeared before their eyes.
"Hiss!"
Scar Dog felt a sharp pain in his eyes and instinctively squinted, drawing in a sharp breath. "To be honest, this feeling is really strange."
Though he had experienced countless periods of darkness, this was the first time he had been plunged into such absolute, lightless blackness.
It felt as if his limbs were moving in slow motion and time itself had slowed to a crawl.
It was almost like falling into the depths of a black hole!
After a moment, as Scar Dog gradually recovered, he turned his head toward the mechanical race city and murmured in shock, "To be honest, this sight is a bit shocking!"
(End of the Chapter)
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