The dim glowing blade in Li Tianming's palm flickered uncertainly, like his own wavering life flame. Dozens of patrol boats bearing the Security Bureau's insignia cut through the rust-colored sea, fanning out to surround them. The roar of their engines intertwined with the hiss of nano-waves into a symphony of death.
"They're 'Scavengers'! How did they get here so fast?!" Lia turned pale, instinctively moving to shield Li Tianming—a slight action that made his pupils contract almost imperceptibly.
"Scavengers?"
"Predators of the Rust Sea.Nominally under the Security Bureau, but in reality, they're hyenas who'd bite the Mother Goddess herself if paid enough!" Lia spoke rapidly, pulling a rusted pendant from her neck and shoving it into his hand. "Take this! It can jam their life-form scans! Come with me, quickly!"
She didn't choose to flee by boat—in the Rust Sea, no vessel could outrun the Scavenger gunships. Instead, she pulled Li Tianming, and they jumped off the floating island, plunging into the maze-like tunnels formed from stacks of discarded server wreckage below.
Darkness swallowed them both instantly. Only the pale fingers of searchlights from the patrol boats occasionally pierced the gaps, illuminating the air swirling with nano-dust. Every breath burned Li Tianming's lungs, yet a strange sense of familiarity emerged from the depths of his genes—this wasn't the Celestial Realm he remembered, but a feeling... forcibly 'manufactured', filled with despair and madness, and eerily familiar.
"They're not just here for you," Lia whispered in the darkness, her voice trembling with suppressed fear. "At least, not entirely. They're searching for the 'Heart of the Rust Sea'."
Li Tianming paused. "What's that?"
"A legend.They say the Rust Sea wasn't formed naturally. That an ancient artifact sleeps at its core, one that can devour divine power... or grant new life. The Scavengers have been lurking in this sector for several cycles now, like sharks smelling blood."
Right then, the badge emitted another wave, clearer and more urgent than any before. A cold, pure killing intent, sharp as a needle, locked onto him directly!
"Above!" Li Tianming shoved Lia aside violently.
BOOM—!
The spot where they had just been standing was utterly vaporized by a beam of dark golden energy,the metal wreckage melting like paper. Above, three of the transformed "false enforcers" tore through the server roof. Their limbs were distorted, dark golden divine light flowing beneath their skin, their eyes filled with nothing but pure craving for their prey.
"So... it's the remnants of the 'Blade of Judgment'," Li Tianming murmured to himself, naming the Celestial Realm's secret unit his sister had belonged to—and the very reason for her downfall. The aura of her murderers was something he would never forget, even in death.
No further words were necessary. Slaughter was the only language.
The three modified Divine Attendants attacked simultaneously,their coordination flawless, the dark golden blades sealing all paths of retreat. The faint divine spark within Li Tianming burned wildly. His light blade parried the first strike, the second grazed his ribs, drawing a line of blood, and the third was already thrusting directly between his eyes!
At the critical moment, Lia did not run. She let out a piercing shriek, unlike any human sound!
The shriek triggered a resonance with the surrounding server wreckage.Countless dormant data ports suddenly erupted with chaotic electronic currents, like intangible chains, instantly entangling the three Divine Attendants and stalling their assault for a mere ten-thousandth of a second.
It was enough!
Li Tianming abandoned all defense,channeling his remaining divine power entirely into the light blade. He became a shooting star of resolve, crashing into the lead Attendant's embrace.
Thud—
The light blade did not cut,but assimilated. Like a drop of water merging into the Rust Sea, it silently sank into the Attendant's chest. The Attendant's body convulsed violently, the dark golden light flickering and scrambling erratically. The nanomachines within his body, responding to a higher-level divine command, instantly turned traitor, devouring and disassembling him from the inside out!
Li Tianming knelt on one knee, gasping heavily, each cough bringing up shreds of nanomachines. That single strike had nearly drained all his strength.
The other two Attendants broke free from the electronic bonds but did not press the attack.Instead, they watched warily as their companion dissolved into a squirming, rust-colored sludge.
"Target... authority level... re-evaluating..." they emitted fragmented electronic tones, their bodies slowly retreating, merging back into the shadows.
The immediate crisis had passed, but Li Tianming's heart sank deeper. The appearance of the Blade of Judgment meant the undercurrents within the Celestial Realm had already extended their reach into this forbidden zone. Their pursuit was far more lethal than that of the Scavengers.
Lia supported his nearly collapsed body, her hands trembling slightly. "You... what kind of power was that? You actually commanded the nanomachines inside them..."
Li Tianming didn't answer. His gaze fell on the back of Lia's neck. During her outburst, her protective suit had torn, revealing the brand clearly—K-017. And at the edge of the brand, he sensed a faint energy fluctuation, one that felt... homologous to the Rust Sea beneath their feet.
"Lia," his voice was hoarse as he grasped her wrist in return. The grip wasn't forceful, but it carried undeniable scrutiny. "The 'Rust Sea Scavengers'... are they really just scavengers? Or are you yourselves... part of the Rust Sea?"
Outside the floating island, the engine sounds of the Scavenger patrol boats faded into the distance, as if they had abandoned the search. But the entire server maze began to emit a low, rhythmic hum, as if some gigantic heart was slowly beginning to beat.
Deep beneath the Rust Sea, the ancient artifact, stirred by Li Tianming's arrival and the slaughter, seemed to have been awakened ahead of time.