In response to Firefly's words, Douluo Blood Sickle and the others shook their heads repeatedly, their faces twisted into bitter smiles that looked worse than crying.
Fight you? Are you joking?
Thinking back to that silver-white mecha wreathed in emerald-green flames, the cataclysmic pressure it exerted still left them with lingering trepidation.
Firefly's transformation radiated an overwhelming dominance that left Titled Douluos completely powerless to resist. Despite their own considerable strength, they did not dare to face her edge. They understood clearly that they were alive not because they were powerful, but because they were still useful.
If they resisted, the fate of Sky Centipede Douluo and the others would be their future.
Their newly appointed, terrifyingly young cult leader, Huo Yuhao, had never intended for the direct-line evil soul masters of the Holy Ghost Cult to survive. This was a purge—a cleansing directed at the irredeemable elements within the cult's internal structure.
The reason they, the so-called Enshrined Elders, had been spared was simply because they were not yet considered pure, irredeemable evil soul masters.
Take Zhang Peng, for example; though his cultivation method was unorthodox, he primarily relied on the blood of animals or soul beasts rather than the slaughter of humans. Most of the Enshrined Elders were powerhouses walking the line between black and white, recruited by the Holy Ghost Cult to expand its influence. Though their hands were stained with blood, they at least retained a shred of human decency. They had not, like the true evil soul masters, completely twisted their humanity for the sake of power, taking pleasure in the torture of mortals and the devouring of souls.
Compared to those inhuman lunatics, they were indeed slightly better. And it was that small margin of goodness that earned them the qualification to be recruited into service.
The Holy Ghost Cult... is finished.
Blood Sickle Douluo understood this in his heart. From this day forward, they would no longer be Enshrined Elders of the Holy Ghost Cult. Their fates belonged to the Hall of Impermanence. They would become the blade hidden in the shadows of Lu Jingming's hand, handling the matters he found inconvenient to touch personally.
This was a transaction: their freedom and loyalty for the rest of their lives in exchange for a way to live. They had no other choice.
Without the interference of the Holy Ghost Cult—the irregular force most skilled at harassment, assassination, and creating chaos—the armies of the Star Luo Empire acted like a bursting dam, surging forward irresistibly.
The three hundred thousand soldiers led by Ye Wuqing captured cities and overran strongholds, encountering almost no organized resistance along the way. The Sun Moon Empire's border guards, when faced with Star Luo troops equipped with the latest technology from Sea Abyss City and even integrated with small units of Molten Knights, collapsed almost instantly.
Their defensive lines and soul tool positions were as fragile as wet paper before these unheard-of, advanced weapons of war.
In just three days, the vanguard of the Star Luo Empire arrived at the gates of New Mingdu.
Following closely behind were the true ace units of Sea Abyss City.
The Molten Knight Order, clad in silver-white mecha and wreathed in crimson flames, occupied the eastern skies like a divine legion descending for judgment. The Fatui Legions, each member radiating a dangerous aura, silently blockaded all routes to the west. The Night-Returners took their positions to the south.
Four distinct armies, each projecting a powerful presence, surrounded the capital of the Sun Moon Empire—New Mingdu—so tightly that not even a drop of water could leak through.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the continent...
Ju Zi, the Grand Marshal of the Sun Moon Empire's three services, concluded another war with equally startling speed. The main imperial army she led demonstrated the meaning of "crushing dry weeds and smashing rotten wood" on the soil of the Dou Ling Empire.
Faced with a terrifying soul engineer legion armed to the teeth and the inhuman Antimatter Legion, the already weak military of the Dou Ling Empire failed to organize any effective resistance. Their strongest warrior, the Sun-Yang Douluo—who had recently broken through to Rank 98 and was hailed as the empire's guardian deity—lasted less than half an hour against the combined assault of Class 9 Soul Engineers and mechas before his body collapsed and his soul dissipated.
With the fall of the Sun-Yang Douluo, Dou Ling's will to resist shattered completely. The Sun Moon Empire's army marched straight in, capturing Dou Ling City and extinguishing the Dou Ling Imperial Family, which had endured for ten thousand years.
As the weakest of the original three Douluo nations, Dou Ling had always lacked a strong presence. Had it not been for its unique geographical location—not directly bordering the Sun Moon Empire and shielded by the Star Luo and Heavenly Soul Empires—it likely would have been the first to fall. Now, as the wheels of history rolled forward, it could not escape the fate of being crushed.
On the day Dou Ling City fell, Ju Zi received an order from Xu Tianran: she was to immediately abandon all gains and lead the main force back to New Mingdu at top speed for reinforcement.
However, Ju Zi merely looked calmly at the light screen projected by the soul tool. Then, she extended a slender finger and swiped lightly to the left.
The screen vanished. There was no expression on her face. It was as if that wasn't an urgent command from the Emperor of the Empire, but a piece of inconsequential junk mail.
She simply turned to her adjutant and ordered: "Relay my command to the entire army: rest where you are. Inventory the spoils of war and take over all military fortresses of the Dou Ling Empire. No one is to act without my direct orders."
By this point, she no longer needed to act. Her betrayal was out in the open. The confidence that allowed her to do this came not just from the military power in her hands, but from the knowledge that she was not fighting alone.
Almost simultaneously with her decision to ignore the order, the most elite Beast-King Class Soul Engineer Legions of the Sun Moon Empire—which technically fell under the direct control of Lord Ravager Celenova rather than her—along with the most terrifying Antimatter Legion, also chose to remain stationary. They had received the same order and made the same choice: to ignore it.
Clearly, Celenova had also abandoned Xu Tianran.
When this news reached New Mingdu through various secret channels, Xu Tianran, the Emperor, found himself completely isolated in a desperate situation of total betrayal.
Sun Moon Empire, New Mingdu.
A siege battle that would decide the future fate of the continent had begun. Like the old Mingdu, this newly built, even more magnificent super-metropolis lacked traditional city walls. Its defense relied entirely on soul tool technology.
Layers of heavy energy shields, linked by countless Class 9 soul tool generators and feeling almost physical, shrouded the entire city like an inverted, multicolored giant bowl. Beneath this primary shield were dozens of auxiliary shields with different functions, responsible for deflecting physical attacks, absorbing energy impacts, and reflecting mental interference.
Inside the city, hundreds of thousands of fully automated soul tool batteries linked to the defense system were scattered throughout. Whether in the sky or on the ground, there were no theoretical blind spots in the defense.
This defensive system, named "Aegis," was the masterpiece of Kong Deming and was synonymous with absolute defense in the hearts of all soul engineers of the Sun Moon Empire. They believed it was sufficient to withstand the continuous, days-long bombardment of an Ultimate Douluo.
However, today, they were not facing an Ultimate Douluo.
At the very front of the allied positions outside the city, the figure of Lu Jingming appeared out of thin air. He offered no pre-battle mobilization speech and issued no complex instructions. He simply raised his hand toward the empty sky and lightly snapped his fingers.
Snap.
The crisp sound was barely audible over the noise of the battlefield. But following that snap, the space above his head began to warp violently and silently, like the surface of water after a stone is thrown. A pitch-black, irregular rift tore open at the center of the distortion. Behind that rift lay a deep, heart-stopping universe shimmering with starlight.
Then, a colossal foot made of a strange emerald-green metal slowly stepped out from the shattered void. Next came the leg, the torso, and the other foot...
A giant humanoid mecha, standing dozens of meters tall and cast in emerald green with a design brimming with futuristic and unknown technology, stepped out of the starry sky. It lacked the burning fire of the Molten Knights and the clunky feel of traditional mechas. Its lines were fluid and elegant, filled with a life-like vibrancy. Twelve uniquely shaped floating blades hovered behind it like outspread wings.
"What... what is that?!"
Inside the New Mingdu Defense System Command Center, the commander—Class 9 Soul Engineer Lin Gong—stared fixedly at the images relayed on the main screen, his eyes filled with shock and confusion.
Despite his shock, his professional training allowed him to calm down quickly. "All systems attention! Ultra-high energy reaction detected! Increase the energy output of the primary shields in sectors A-3 through A-7 to 120%! All linked batteries, lock onto the target and fire at will!"
He issued his orders methodically, his heart still filled with absolute confidence in Kong Deming's masterpiece. I don't care what kind of monster you are; before the Aegis system, you'll be turned into scrap.
Outside the city, Lu Jingming looked at the mecha that had fully emerged from the void, a faint smile playing on his lips. This was the Star Traveler; he had "borrowed" it from Vita to play with.
He raised his hand and gave the Star Traveler its only command.
"Fire."
The Star Traveler's cold, gem-like electronic eyes flickered. An emotionless, standard synthesized female mechanical voice echoed within the mecha and Lu Jingming's mind simultaneously.
"Command received. Limiters... released."
In the next moment, the world lost its sound.
The intricate emerald patterns on the twelve floating blades behind the Star Traveler lit up instantly, emitting a blinding radiance. At the very center of the mecha's chest, a circular energy core began to transition from phantom green to a piercing pure white at a speed visible to the eye. Streaks of emerald lightning, like attracted dragons, converged from all directions to coil around the chest core.
Hum—!!!
A visible wave of energy shock spread out in a ring from the Star Traveler. Sand and dust on the ground were instantly vaporized by this shockwave.
Then, the light erupted.
A pillar of emerald light, over ten meters in diameter and composed of pure, concentrated energy, shot forth violently from the Star Traveler's chest. Simultaneously, the twelve floating blades adjusted their angles, each firing a beam that was slightly thinner but equally terrifying in power. Twelve beams spiraled around the central primary cannon, forming a composite torrent of energy capable of annihilating stars.
In this moment, between heaven and earth, there was only that single emerald light representing absolute destruction.
Inside the command center of New Mingdu, every soul engineer was frozen in place. Lin Gong's pupils snapped shut to the size of pinpricks. Looking at the emerald pillar expanding on the screen and filling his entire vision in an instant, his mind went blank. The Aegis system he was so proud of—the one capable of withstanding the bombardment of an Ultimate Douluo—seemed so tiny, so... ridiculous before that light.
"No... impossible..." His lips moved unconsciously, but no sound came out.
Time seemed to stretch. He saw the emerald torrent of energy finally strike New Mingdu's multicolored, mountain-heavy energy shield.
In that instant, every sound in the world vanished. It was replaced by an extremely piercing, high-frequency tearing sound, as if diamond was being violently ground against glass. At the point where the shield met the pillar, a burst of pure white light erupted, a hundred times more blinding than the sun.
The white light was so intense that everyone inside and outside the city who looked at it, regardless of their soul power level, felt an instant stabbing pain in their eyes. Tears flowed uncontrollably, and they were plunged into temporary blindness.
The surface of the shield began to fluctuate violently and frantically. Visible rings of energy ripples, like waves on water, spread in all directions from the point of impact. The massive energy shield shook violently, like a jelly being struck by a heavy hammer.
"Warning! Warning! Primary shield energy threshold exceeded 300%... 500%... 1000%!"
"Energy core overloaded! All reserve energy pools drained instantly!"
"System collapse countdown... Three... Two..."
Inside the command center, the piercing alarms and the mechanical countdown rang like a funeral knell in the hearts of every soul engineer. Lin Gong felt cold all over. Seeing the screen turn blood-red with the system collapse warning, his legs gave out, and he slumped to the floor.
Crack...
A crisp sound, like a mirror shattering, was clearly transmitted to everyone's ears via soul power conduction. The indestructible "Aegis" shield, after holding against that destructive pillar for less than three seconds, finally reached its limit.
Centered on the point of impact, a tiny, spiderweb-like emerald crack appeared. Then came a second, a third, and countless more...
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