Chapter 309: Breaking Through the Critical Point

A streak of blood-red suddenly appeared in the transparent pipe, and then this smear of blood-red began to spread at an astonishing speed; the blue agent slowly pumping into the Holy Coffin was almost instantly dyed the color of fresh blood!

The chief operator, who had been closely monitoring the agent pipes, naturally discovered this anomaly immediately; exploding simultaneously with the terror in his heart was the fastest action speed of his life—this member of the Hidden Cult almost threw out a lingering afterimage, and in the blink of an eye had already pressed the emergency stop button beside the Holy Coffin.

However, the emergency stop button failed—not just the emergency stop button, but all control devices surrounding the Holy Coffin failed.

"The operating system is offline!" an assistant beside him let out a scream bordering on wailing, "Cultivators! This thing won't stop!"

"Smash the pipes! Cut the power!"

"Give me the axe!"

With a loud boom, the Hidden Cult member serving as chief operator raised a fire axe and smashed it hard against the pipe connected to the Holy Coffin; then, without hesitation, he smashed down several more times in succession, directly smashing the power cable bundles and neural vascular bundles on one side of the platform. Huge noise echoed in the Holy Coffin chamber; the system alarm prompt sounded through the room in a strangely off-key voice, then abruptly fell silent. A series of explosive sparks spread out along the base of the Holy Coffin, briefly illuminating every terrified face on the scene.

After that, everything quieted down; only the Holy Coffin located at the center of the platform was still emitting faint smoke, with the lights representing malfunctions on its surface flickering incessantly.

"... We stopped it?" the chief operator, clutching the fire axe, spoke with a slightly trembling voice, staring fixedly at the smoking Holy Coffin and muttering to himself.

"It's over," a low-level cultivator beside him sighed mournfully, "We destroyed the Holy Coffin; the Holy Maiden should be damaged too—how will the Sages punish us?"

"We saved her!" another low-level cultivator immediately said, but his voice clearly carried a thread of nervous fear, "We prevented a more fatal error! You just saw..."

But before he could finish, the high-level cultivator serving as chief operator suddenly cut him off: "Shh! Quiet!"

Everyone on the scene instantly fell silent; then, they finally heard the faint sound coming from within the Holy Coffin.

A slight metallic scraping sound, like fingernails scratching against a shell.

A low-level cultivator suddenly wore a terrified expression; however, before he could speak, a tremendous boom echoed through the scene—the heavy outer shell of the Holy Coffin burst open with sudden force, violently flipping apart the previously jammed locking mechanism. Metal fragments flew apart along trajectories invisible to the naked eye, and without missing by a hair, they struck the high-level cultivator squarely on the head, shattering his mask and shearing off half his skull!

A tall, slender figure jumped out of the Holy Coffin, and almost like instantaneous movement, arrived before the low-level cultivator in an instant.

"S-safety protocol, execute E-12..." the low-level cultivator instinctively recited the emergency shutdown command he had practiced countless times before entering the Holy Coffin chamber to serve; however, he only managed to spit out a few characters before feeling a chill and the following intense pain directly pierce through his chest.

He lowered his head and saw several sharp blades withdrawing from his chest, with a crushed heart hanging between the blades.

"... D-damn..." the low-level cultivator fell down, spitting fresh blood; in his rapidly tilting and dimming field of vision, he saw that the other several low-level cultivators standing nearby had already all fallen down at some unknown time.

Only the low hum of various equipment operating remained in the Holy Coffin chamber; the Artificial Holy Maiden, covered in a black shell, stood quietly before the Holy Coffin, her body still stained with the blood of the cultivators as they fell. Warm yellow light poured down from above, shining upon her shell like a beam of light from heaven, resembling a holy statue full of sanctity yet permeated with an eerie atmosphere.

Just like that, silence lasted for an unknown duration; then this "holy statue" suddenly moved again.

She raised her head stiffly and slowly, her neck joints emitting creaking sounds; that beautiful yet vacant face, wearing a pale smile, turned toward a certain corner of the room. Although her expression remained unchanged, she was clearly staring fixedly at that spot.

A moment later, a figure walked out from the corner.

Yu Sheng stopped at a distance of more than ten meters from the Artificial Holy Maiden.

He had actually already been resurrected; during a period of time in the past, he had been strolling leisurely in the corridors and rooms nearby.

Most of the structure of this spaceship had already become an extension of his body; the monitoring devices scattered throughout the internal spaces of the ship were his eyes, and the rigorous ship body perception system was his nerves. He had been moving openly outside all along—under the circumstance that most of the ship's systems had already "changed hands," no cultist could discover his figure.

This death-resurrection process brought him much new experience and realization. It was the first time he transferred his will directly to another "carrier" at the moment of death—the blood spread out in advance had soaked this spaceship. The inspiration for the entire process came from his use of clay and his own blood to create Irene's shell; relying on such preparation work, he successfully retained his perception of and ability to influence the real world even after "death."

He thought this experience might be applicable to the next time—although it required a little preparation work, at least, he now had another "optional mode" after death besides falling into that "dark space."

But that is a matter for the future; now, he must first find a way to solve the problem of this "Holy Maiden" before him.

This steel puppet had fallen into a chaotic state, yet it was still fiercely resisting his power.

Yu Sheng could clearly feel the intense emotions coming from this cold shell before him—anger, hostility, sorrow, and... a fiery power driven by some sense of justice?

Yu Sheng was not sure whether the emotions he perceived through the blood were accurate, but he indeed felt these things, which left him somewhat puzzled.

This killing machine... was it acting under the drive of a sense of justice? Was it not relying entirely on the orders of those Hidden Cult believers, but possessing its own judgment and subjective motivation?

The shell of the Artificial Holy Maiden trembled slightly; she resisted that power within her body that did not belong to her and slowly took steps toward Yu Sheng—her stiff and slow movements were no longer elegant, but unyielding.

"I think we can talk first," Yu Sheng hesitated for a moment, then spoke, "If you truly possess complete intelligence and can understand my words, I have some questions to ask you."

(The dark monster let out an annoying roar)

The steel puppet stumbled, but obviously quickened its pace, with killing intent boiling over.

Seeing this situation, Yu Sheng frowned, but continued speaking: "Can you understand my words? When I just tried to contact that coffin, I saw some strange images... There is a wheat field in your memory, right?"

(The bewitching voice of the demon was still attempting to cast a spell)

The steel puppet stepped over a Hidden Cult member lying on the ground; her sole stepped through a pool of blood and kicked away the still-soft arm of the corpse.

(The martyr who fell here for some unknown reason... May our compatriots rest in peace)

She raised her head and saw the lights in the sanctuary flickering; ominous purple smoke drifted between the magnificent glass dome; the sound of the holy songs had already become broken and intermittent; the spirits serving the sanctuary cowered behind candlesticks and curtains; dirty blood dripped from the iron chains spanning the sky above the sanctuary; and that demonic creature with a human silhouette stood not far away, emitting blasphemous and bewitching sounds.

She lowered her head and saw the holy sword in her hand shining; the blood-stained armor still covered in light.

The knights who had left their hometown with her, though already fallen in battle, still had their heroic and noble souls accompanying her.

When this long expedition ended, on the day of triumph, she could still bring their spirits back to that quiet hometown.

So she smiled, just as she had when she was eight years old, raising a wooden stick and charging toward a scarecrow not far away among the wheat fields; she began to accelerate toward the direction of the demon.

The steel puppet rushed forward; a series of unsettling noises came from within its body, which was severely malfunctioning due to the out-of-control restart process. That cold, empty alloy face smiled, yet liquid like blood seeped from the edges of the face; then she leaped high, her body twisting in the air into a strange and terrifying angle, and the blade-tipped fingers flashing with cold light stabbed straight toward Yu Sheng.

Yu Sheng had to dodge backward, while simultaneously feeling a tremendous... pressure.

This pressure was not due to the opponent's attack—in fact, the Artificial Holy Maiden at this moment was countless times weaker than the two times he had seen her before; her speed was very slow, and her strength was greatly diminished. Although the momentum of her pounce was fierce, every movement was full of weaknesses, no longer possessing that deadly elegance and agility. If truly dealt with, it would not be difficult even without the assistance of Irene and Hu Li.

But he felt something else.

It was heavy mental pressure, a burden transmitted directly to his mind through the connection of blood.

He dodged aside, but immediately after, those sharp blades stabbed in front of him once again.

The iron puppet was like an out-of-control beast, attacking wildly with no order or method.

The loud crash of weapons clashing echoed in the room, accompanied in between by the noise of metal tearing.

Sparks began to emit from the joints of the Artificial Holy Maiden; something within her shell seemed to be gradually melting; sparks and smoke occasionally burst out from the gaps in the outer shell; even unsettling viscous liquid seeped out from some of her joints, dripping onto the ground like overflowing blood plasma and burning pits into the floor.

"Wait! Something is wrong with your body!" Yu Sheng shouted loudly while dodging or blocking the opponent's attacks, "Stop for a moment! You're dying!"

The iron puppet said nothing, only continuing to launch attacks.

Like a saint persistently seeking martyrdom.

Yu Sheng had no choice but to increase the distance from the opponent again, then prepare to directly control the nearby floor and walls to imprison this mad iron puppet.

However, as soon as he retreated, that iron puppet seemed to have recovered to its peak; it forcibly twisted the inertia of a previous posture, then approached like a ghost.

"Holy shit—"

Yu Sheng had only time for a cry of shock; he instinctively raised his arm, then immediately felt a chill in his chest.

Two more strikes, eight holes.

He collapsed beneath a pillar, tugged at the corner of his mouth, and looked at the pale face so close: "... Big sister, try a different move."

But the iron puppet gave no response and moved no more.

Had she finally... died?

(End of this chapter)