Chapter 58: The Lethal Laser Array

“The target has lost the ability to resist. Retrieval can proceed.”

The man in black was about to seize Lin Jicang when, all of a sudden, his body was dragged back by an immense force. It was Tang Haoming, who had vanished at the start of the battle. At this moment, Tang Haoming’s eyes glimmered with violet luminescence, his entire figure slightly hunched, joints twisted in grotesque exaggeration. He pinned one of the black-clad men to the ground and unleashed a furious barrage of blows.

To maintain his concealment, Tang Haoming’s body had not undergone extensive modification; otherwise, he would have been immediately detected by the X-ray scans of the men in black. Only minimal enhancements and a desperate overdraft of his potential had been applied—his strength was extremely limited. After seven or eight punches, his hands were already fractured, inflicting little harm, while the black-clad man retaliated with a single blow, shattering half of Tang Haoming’s waist. With the last of his strength, Tang Haoming spat out a mouthful of corrosive bile, sizzling as it ate away at the black-clad man, revealing a patch of charred flesh.

“Add the mutant. Initiate simultaneous capture.”

The man in black easily bound Tang Haoming with special silk threads, sending a signal for retrieval.

But Adonsa had finally arrived at the scene.

“Life signs are surging—there’s a super mutant below!”

The Undertaker had not finished analyzing when the entire floor suddenly shook and collapsed with a violent tremor.

Eight hunched, crimson monsters, their muscles bulging grotesquely, burst forth, snatching two Undertakers and swinging them as weapons.

The men in black were pummeled through the floor, falling below; one was even hurled from the building, about to be flattened as a disk of iron.

In the distant Amest command center, everything was observed through satellite surveillance.

A man as cold and unyielding as stone sneered, “With the current Undertakers, it’s still not enough to deal with these monsters.”

The communications officer spoke, “General Anxi, the transport aircraft will arrive in three minutes. Its firepower should suffice to handle these creatures.”

General Anxi waved his hand. “No need. Transmit the Soul Program immediately. Unleash the true power of the Undertakers.”

“General Anxi, the Soul Program hasn’t finished testing. It may contain unstable elements, we—”

“No matter. Now is the perfect opportunity for testing. Let’s witness just how powerful the combination of active metal and the Soul Program can be.”

From the geosynchronous satellite thirty thousand meters above the earth, a massive signal was relayed. Data torrents flooded through the Undertakers’ eyes.

“Soul Program initiated. System load at ten percent, fifty percent, one hundred percent… three hundred percent! Intelligence awakening!”

The once scattered active metal suddenly trembled violently. Nanometer-scale threads proliferated, forming tiny nano-motors, releasing energy by geometric multiples. The Soul Program was like a key, unlocking the inherent power that the Undertakers should possess.

The falling Undertakers’ hands and feet suddenly erupted with blazing white light, immense thrust lifting their metal bodies.

“Combat module upgrade. Power module upgrade. Flight module unlocked. Weapons module upgrade—”

Even the first Undertaker, crushed by Lin Jicang, was creaking as its twisted metal plates restored themselves piece by piece, surging with tremendous energy.

Attempting to straighten, it was forcibly crushed back by two muscle monsters wielding several tons of force. After a burst of electric sparks, it finally fell silent.

“Thermal radiation is increasing, internal energy breaking through limits.” Adonsa was instantly alert. “This is—”

Two silver figures shot skyward, hovering in midair. Four hands aimed at the rooftop monsters, unleashing a barrage of lasers.

“The energy system upgraded as well? How could a mere software upgrade cause such dramatic change?”

No matter how incredulous Adonsa was, reality remained.

High-temperature, rapid, and precise lasers scorched the muscle monsters, turning them pitch-black. Merely hurling stones could not threaten the airborne Undertakers.

“This is beyond scientific explanation… This is supernatural power.”

Only such reasoning could explain the inexplicable activation of the metal, the massive advancement brought by the software upgrade.

Amest possessed the blueprints for the Undertakers’ construction, but had never obtained the correct program to drive these powerful machines, for within their bodies dwelled supernatural forces, and their programs inevitably contained supernatural elements.

What was this supernatural element?

The answer: soul.

Adonsa released a violent mental wave. “Who are you? Who’s there, opposing me?”

Indeed, from a distant place, some entity transmitted an electric signal through the Undertakers, imbued with strong will. “Aberrant unit—are you surprised by my appearance?”

Aberrant unit? What is that? Is it my true name?

But Adonsa had no time for such pretentious questions. “Who are you?”

“Fool. My name is Bifang, the charioteer of the Heavenly Emperor, sovereign of the Nine Dragons!”

“Where do you come from?”

“From the Mechanical Prehistory, the source of the spirits of machinery in the Great World.”

Adonsa roared, “Very well, Mechanical Prehistory! Very well, Bifang, you are the first to formally declare war against me!”

Fluttering, fluttering, fluttering.

The city erupted in chaos. Shadows surged from all directions—a host of birds, eagle-like in form.

Traces of sparrows and crows were faintly visible on their bodies, yet their size was monstrous, their eyes blood-red, talons sharp, even their wings sprouting bone spikes. They screeched as they rushed toward the Undertakers hovering a hundred meters above.

The Undertakers immediately reversed their turrets, firing with all force at the flock.

Blood, feathers, and bodies rained from the sky, but the vast flock entangled the Undertakers.

Adonsa had truly embarked upon the path of mastering life. The Book of Bloodlines in his mind continually absorbed and analyzed vast gene traits, recording, screening, and recombining them, enough to transform a mouse into a beast capable of devouring lions and tigers.

Though Nanhai City outwardly remained prosperous and tranquil, danger lurked in every shadow, turning it into Adonsa’s alien nest.

The remaining muscle monsters’ backs bulged, suddenly sprouting enormous membrane wings. Their forms shifted, excess muscle sloughing off, bones hollowing. In moments, eight winged, blood-red monsters soared skyward like pterosaurs.

Sharp bird beaks etched scratches into the metal armor, while the pterosaurs rammed the entangled Undertakers, sending them tumbling from the sky.

The Undertakers pressed their hands against the pterosaurs’ chests and abdomens, nearly blasting them in half.

But the pterosaurs, their bodies half-melted, wrapped around the Undertakers, transforming into tendrils that blocked cooling vents and thrusters, preventing them from rising again.

As both sides plummeted, on the brink of mutual destruction, Bifang suddenly sneered, “In the Mechanical Prehistory, all things may be awakened as spirits. Those that have been preliminarily awakened, whose intelligence has blossomed, are now qualified to bear my power.”

The satellite trembled violently, a colossal electric wave blasting toward the earth.