Acai's Sky

Chapter 969: Rusted Core: Gear Rhapsody 4

The totem suddenly lit up, and countless microscopic gears emerged from under his skin, forming a light shield in the air to block the laser from the mechanical body.

Ah Cai took the opportunity to compress the power of light and darkness into energy bombs, which accurately hit the joints of the mechanical bodies. With the crisp sound of broken metal, the three mechanical bodies fell to the ground and turned into a pile of smoking parts.

"There seems to be some kind of consciousness controlling the core programming of these machines."

Tong Jiayuan picked up a chip that was still flashing red light, his brows furrowed. "And...they react extremely strongly to the mysterious energy fragments."

Before he finished speaking, spider-web-like cracks suddenly appeared on the ground, and countless silver threads broke out of the ground and coiled around everyone like spirit snakes.

Ah Er was quick-eyed and quick-handed, throwing out a lightning bomb.

In the violent explosion, the silver threads were shattered into powder, but after the smoke and dust cleared, everyone was horrified to find that these threads were automatically reorganizing and converging into a three-meter-high mechanical giant.

A complete black crystal was suspended on the giant's chest, and the patterns flowing on the surface of the crystal were exactly the same as the runes on the fragment in Acai's hand.

"Outsider, return the core!"

The sound of the mechanical giant was like thousands of gears rubbing against each other at the same time, causing pain in everyone's eardrums.

Ah Cai flipped her wrist, and her sword ignited with golden flames: "If you want the fragments, you have to get past me first!"

Her movements were as swift as lightning, and her sword strikes, with sharp cracks through the air, aimed directly at the giant's throat. Tong Jiayuan leaped onto the giant's shoulders, and the arrows from his compound bow transformed into an electric net, attempting to paralyze the giant's movements.

When the battle was in full swing, Ah Cai suddenly felt a biting chill on her back.

Turning around, I saw the wall at the end of the corridor collapse like quicksand, revealing a secret room filled with crystal pillars.

In the center of the secret room, a figure bound by chains slowly raised its head. It was a half-mechanical, half-flesh humanoid creature. Its right eye flashed with the same purple light as the black crystal, while its left eye was flowing with human tears of blood.

"Stop!" The cyborg's voice was weak but urgent. "You are unleashing a real disaster!"

He pulled the chain with all his might, and the crystal column suddenly lit up with a blood-red light, and the mechanical giant's movements slowed down significantly.

Ah Cai took the opportunity to swing the sword and cut off the giant's arm, but the moment it touched the black crystal, countless images flashed through his mind: the mechanical god forcibly merged the energy of different worlds, the out-of-control experiment caused the tearing of time and space, and those black crystals were the containers used to seal the runaway energy.

"These crystals are not the source of the disaster at all, but shackles!" Acai's pupils suddenly shrank.

She pressed the mysterious energy fragment to the ground, and the runes spread like a tide, directly penetrating the mechanical giant's defense and peeling off the black crystals in its body.

The giant collapsed without its energy support, but the stripped crystals flew uncontrollably into the secret room, resonating with the chains on the cyborg creatures.

The moment the chains broke into pieces, the entire fortress shook violently.

The cyborg stumbled out of the chamber, its mechanical arms unfolding into a massive console, its densely packed buttons flashing frantically. "I am the Mechanical God's last creation, number 07. Ever since that experiment seven hundred years ago, I've been waiting for someone who can unlock the crystal seal."

He inserted the fragment in Ah Cai's hand into the operating table. "But you must know the truth - the perpetual motion device in the rust core is actually used to suppress an even more terrifying existence!"

The system suddenly popped up an emergency warning: [Loose seal detected, danger level: disaster level].

Before Ah Cai could react, a teeth-grinding sound of metal twisting came from the bottom of the fortress. A huge black hole was slowly taking shape, and tentacles covered with barbs extended from it. Wherever it passed, the metal melted like ice and snow.

"Quick! Activate the core resonance program!" 07 forcibly fused Tong Jiayuan's gear pendant with the fragments, and the console projected a complex energy matrix. "Use mechanical force, mysterious energy, and... your will!"

Ah Cai, Tong Jiayuan, and the others simultaneously placed their hands on the matrix. Golden, blue, and black light intertwined, forming an energy barrier in front of the black hole.

However, the tentacles' attacks became more and more fierce, and fine cracks appeared on the barrier.

Ah Cai bit the [Blood Soul Pill] in her mouth, and the strength of her whole body surged. Runes emerged from under her skin, forming an ancient sealing spell in the void.

Tong Jiayuan merged all the energy arrows and shot out a spear of light that pierced through the sky and earth.

Under the full force of everyone's attack, the black hole roared unwillingly and gradually shrank.

As the last trace of darkness dissipated, 07's body began to become transparent. "Thank you... The real crisis has just begun. The Mechanical God's nemesis, those entropic creatures from the void, has sensed the loosening of the seal."

He handed a string of data crystals to Acai, "These are the coordinates to the Mechanical Realm. There may be a way to reverse everything."

[Ding, complete the hidden story "Rust Truth" and receive rewards: 30% increase in entropy resistance, 1 Mechanical God Realm Pass Fragment, 1 Ancient Mechanical Diagram]

[Rusty Core (3573) area exploration 100%]

Ah Cai held the fragment of the pass tightly and watched the fortress gradually returning to calm.

The morning sun shone through the broken dome, illuminating the mechanical wreckage scattered on the ground.

This is just the beginning. In the more distant Mechanical Realm, in that unknown land threatened by the Void, there are more powerful enemies and more shocking secrets waiting for them.

...

Ah Cai clapped her hands, a cunning glint in her eyes. "We can't come here for nothing. Let's quickly look through it and pack up everything we can use."

Before he finished speaking, Ah Er jumped out like a nimble monkey, gesturing with his hands in the air. "Exactly. Quite a few precision instruments. These materials are incredibly rare! Any single piece of gear fragment would be enough for the Chinese Research Institute to study for half a year!"

The mechanical clan members immediately took action. Tong Jiazhi picked up the compound bow and turned into a silver stream of light, shuttling through the ruins.

He has a sharp eye and can tell the rarity of a material by just touching the rusty gears with his fingertips.

"These gears, containing meteoric iron, can be smelted to create arrows that can cut through iron like mud!"

He shouted excitedly and casually put the half-human-high gear into the space button. The clanging sound of metal colliding was particularly crisp in the silent ruins.

Elders Tong Jiali and Tong Jiaren huddled around a broken crystal instrument, their hair trembling slightly in the aftermath of the energy.

Tong Jiali's fingers stroked the runes on the surface of the instrument, and his eyes suddenly lit up. "This is an early energy conversion device of the Mechanical God! Although the outer shell is damaged, the core components are intact!"

The two immediately took out a specially made robotic arm and carefully disassembled the instrument. As the parts separated, there was a precise clicking sound, as if playing an ancient mechanical melody.

Ah Da, Ah Er, and Ah San formed a "scavenging team." Ah Da wielded a homemade magnetic hook to hook down the robotic arm hanging high above.

Ah Er squatted on the ground, like a hamster on a treasure hunt, stuffing the scattered glowing vines and mysterious crystals into his backpack, muttering, "These vines can be used as conductors, and maybe the crystals can be used as a source of energy!"

Asan was pushing a modified floating cart with the cargo box filled with oddly shaped metal plates. Every time he passed a corner, he would scan the ground with a laser pen and accurately suck the valuable materials into the cart.

A Cai shuttled among the crowd, golden runes circling around her body, forming small space teleportation arrays.

Every time she waved her arms, the giant gear in the distance would disappear with a bang and appear in the backpack warehouse.

"Pay attention to the parts engraved with double helix patterns!" she suddenly warned loudly, "They are key components of the core energy transmission system!"

As the collection work progressed, the entire continental fragment seemed to be turned upside down.

The originally piled-up ruins gradually emerged from the ground, and in the backpack warehouse, various materials were piled up into small hills: a mountain of gears that shone with a faint blue light, a metal plate wall that emitted mysterious patterns, and a crystal container that continuously flowed with liquid energy.

Suddenly, Ah Er cheered, "Miss! Come and see this!"

Everyone gathered around as he dragged a half-man-high silver cube from a vine-covered groove. Fine patterns of light swirled across the cube's surface, and when touched, it pulsated slightly, as if alive.

Tong Jiayuan immediately activated the scanner, his pupils shrinking slightly. "This is... the memory storage core of the Mechanical Deity! If we can decipher the data within, perhaps China will be able to master the technology of an entire civilization!"

Surprise flashed in Ah Cai's eyes. She formed seals with her hands, and the golden symbols formed a chain that wrapped around the cube, slowly putting it into the storage space.

When the last metal plate engraved with runes was taken away, the entire continent fragment became empty, with only the lingering sound of turning gears still echoing in the air.

Ah Cai looked at the people returning with a full load, a satisfied smile on her face. "We've harvested quite a lot this time. These materials and techniques will allow Mohists and Chinese scientists to study them for thousands of years!"

Ah San wiped the dust from his forehead, his eyes full of anticipation: "I really want to start researching these treasures now. Maybe I can create an inter-dimensional teleportation device!"

Elder Tong Jiali smiled and shook his head: "Don't worry, these precision instruments require the quietest environment and the most professional analysis. Wait until we return to Wangyou City..."

"Alright, alright!" Ah Er interrupted impatiently, "The young lady's stomach is so hungry she's growling. I'll have Ah Jiu make a delicious meal for everyone when we get back!"

Under the golden sunlight, their figures gradually merged into the light of the teleportation array, carrying with them a full harvest.

Only a bare, rusted core fragment remains...