Chapter 830: Movements from All Sides, A Storm is Brewing

After a brief exchange, the two reached a preliminary agreement.

The Eternal King was obviously highly vigilant against this powerhouse who had Suddenly Appeared.

He didn't reveal too much about the action plan, only stating that he would notify him when taking action.

Li Yu wasn't too surprised by this. If the other party had placed immense trust in him without a word, he would have actually become suspicious.

...

The Mechanical Lords of the Eternal Civilization gathered once again.

Ever since Hashar was killed, more than six Mechanical Lords had arrived near "The Ruins" to conduct searches, but they hadn't found any useful information.

"Civilization Zero must have also realized something was wrong, perhaps detecting the abnormal movements of the Annihilation Device. That guy came out of 'The Ruins.' The secrets on him are very valuable. We absolutely cannot let the other party To Get a Head Start,"

a certain Mechanical Lord spoke.

"I am using Rule Calculation to determine his position. There should be results very soon," the Ultimate Intelligence's voice sounded.

The Mechanical Lords nodded one after another: "If we can lock onto his location, then it will be much easier to handle."

"Do not underestimate the enemy!" A muffled voice suddenly rang out. A Mechanical Lord holding a hammer said: "No one knows what the situation is inside 'The Ruins'; that place is isolated from the Universe."

"But the other party has already come to this Universe, and through Hashar, he already has an understanding of us. The enemy is in the dark, while we are in the open."

"Moreover, eight Lord-level Mechanical Bodies, plus himself. This number is enough to make us vigilant."

It was necessary for the Eternal Civilization to figure out the specific information of the enemy.

As a mechanical Technology civilization, they had always been ahead of their enemies when it came to things like information.

If they wanted to go to war against a certain civilization, hacking the other party's network System was the first step.

This would plunge the enemy into darkness, while they themselves would be like having maphacks enabled.

However, this trick was useless now. They had absolutely no data on the enemy's specific Strength, age, or the like.

"I suggest it's time to explore 'The Ruins.'" He summarized:

"The threat level of that Rule Entanglement Area is decreasing day by day. It is necessary to take a risk."

"In recent years, the Radical Faction within Civilization Zero has been continuously sending people into it. It's hard to guarantee whether someone has broken through that area."

His Status among the Mechanical Lords seemed to not be low either, causing a portion of the Mechanical Lords to fall into deep thought.

The Ultimate Intelligence also emitted fluctuations: "According to data analysis, entering the Rule Entanglement Area at this point in time still has a danger level as high as 86%."

"However, due to special circumstances, I have decided to activate the voting mechanism. If you Mechanical Lords approve of exploring the Titan Civilization Ruins, please cast your vote of approval."

A virtual screen popped up in front of the numerous Mechanical Lords. This was an anonymous vote; besides the Ultimate Intelligence, no one knew what the Mechanical Lords voted for.

As the green cylinder on it continuously grew taller, it quickly surpassed the red cylinder.

"Proposal passed. The [Exploration of the Titan Civilization Ruins] project is restarted. Mechanical Lords, please sign up enthusiastically." The Ultimate Intelligence's voice had no ripples:

"Additionally, set a stop-loss line at 20%. Once the number of damaged Lord-level Mechanical Bodies exceeds 20% of the total number, this project will be immediately halted."

The numerous Mechanical Lords discussed animatedly, not surprised by this result.

Li Yu's appearance had raised their curiosity towards those ruins to an unparalleled level.

They had thought those ruins had always been in a barren state, but the person who walked out from them had delivered a solid slap to their faces.

...

On the other side, in the hall of Civilization Zero, numerous High Echelons also gathered together.

Civilization Zero's system was special. Everyone was born with their own position: engineers, medical experts, researchers, soldiers, generals—everything had already been planned out.

Everyone had their own natural duty, with no distinction between high and low.

Only "The Prophet," who directly communicated with the Annihilation Device, possessed a relatively lofty Status.

Using the Annihilation Device as the pillar of civilization bound the thoughts of the entire civilization. Previously, no one had ever raised objections to this.

But with the shattering of the Annihilation Device, some thoughts that shouldn't have appeared gradually surfaced.

The lower-class Citizens believed that the past ideological constraints were incorrect and desired more freedom.

And due to the previous special system, the current Civilization Zero was only forcibly locking the disintegrating civilization firmly together with its formidable foundational Strength.

But the High Echelon clearly knew that this situation couldn't continue. And if a split occurred, Civilization Zero would be devoured and exhausted in the blink of an eye.

Therefore, the overall division into factions was merely a discussion on the civilization's path forward, as well as an inevitable phenomenon wrapped in the birth of selfish desires.

The Radical Faction wanted to shift internal contradictions outward with a more intense posture, which meant constantly going to war externally.

Under such circumstances, the Interior, forced by external pressure, would inevitably condense into one lump.

And they also advocated for the exploration of the "Titan Civilization Ruins," because after all, that was their "spoil of war."

But the Conservative Faction wanted to first repair the Annihilation Device and restore Civilization Zero's previous form; that is, "to resist foreign aggression, one must first pacify the interior."

The Conservative Faction was headed by "The Prophet," while the Radical Faction had no one who could convince the masses.

Currently, they were arguing endlessly over the collision issue with the Eternal Civilization a while ago.

"...If you had given enough support, that Titan Civilization Ruins would have been thoroughly explored by us long ago." A person from the Radical Faction said coldly:

"The Eternal Civilization appearing in that place is definitely not an accident. Something we don't know about must have happened. Perhaps it's related to the Annihilation Device Shards."

A certain representative of the Conservative Faction said: "We found a Wandering Outpost named Infinite Blazing Sun, and from them, we learned some information."

"The Mechanical Lord of the Eternal Civilization, Hashar, once appeared in that place and engaged in a fierce battle with an unknown lifeform."

"As for the result and the process, they aren't too clear."

"When did this news come out?" The Radical Faction people clearly hadn't received this news and were somewhat surprised.

"That unknown lifeform must be the key. Find a way to find him." The Prophet slowly spoke:

"The restoration of the Annihilation Device is of utmost importance. The internal contradictions of the civilization are already irreconcilable. Everyone wouldn't want the civilization's inheritance to break off in our hands, right?"

He had a certain amount of prestige; even the people of the Radical Faction restrained their emotions.

Actually, for these High Echelons, no matter what kind of civilization form it was, they were all Vested Interests.

The Annihilation Device could bind the lower class, but it couldn't bind them.

The reason why factions emerged was merely because there were differences in how to solve the civilization's problems.

After all, if they really ruined the civilization, then what would they amount to?

"Also..." The Prophet paused and said: "Put the matter of exploring the Titan Civilization Ruins on the agenda. The Rule Entanglement Area is self-repairing, and its intensity has already dropped quite a bit."

"It's also time to go in and take a look."

Smiles bloomed on the faces of the Radical Faction, and the rest of the people were also somewhat surprised, but they also understood that the Annihilation Device Shards truly tugged at The Prophet's heart.

...

Iron-Blood Civilization, Secret Warehouse Screening Point.

The long conveyor belt began to turn, and a square mechanical device was transported out from inside the warehouse. It looked like a small Safe Deposit Box.

Quickly, this device was transported to the inspection room. Inside were various functions such as space-time stabilizing anchors, electromagnetic interference, Energy Microwave Detection, and extreme temperature resistance.

A large number of Staff Members and High Echelons stood in front of the Safe Deposit Box, operating virtual screens and checking the data of this item, their expressions somewhat nervous.

"This is an SSS-Rank Item--Cosmic Source Material. The deployment procedure has been approved by the Head of State and the Supreme Elder Council to be transported to the Three Kings Civilization. The assigned transporter is—General Assad."

"He is already waiting outside. The pre-outbound verification is currently underway."

"...There are no problems with the data. Verification completed. Preparing for outbound handover."

After checking everything and ensuring that the Authority, procedures, and item were all correct, the Staff Members placed this item in an empty storeroom and pressed the confirmation button.

Clack, clack...

In the next moment, four intelligent Mechanical Arms extended from the wall, clamped the Safe Deposit Box, and tossed it into the delivery port on the wall. The Cargo Pipeline operated rapidly, sending the Safe Deposit Box towards its Destination.

The Cargo Pipeline network spread throughout the entire warehouse, extending in all directions, paved with simple magnetic levitation tracks.

There were blue indicator lights at intervals. The high-speed transportation process of the Safe Deposit Box was like shuttling through a patch of blue light, advancing toward the Destination.

At the same time, the transportation pipeline here also maintained the operation of various Defensive Devices at all times to avoid possible dangers.

As the secret warehouse of the Iron-Blood Civilization, this place was heavily fortified. Once there was any abnormal movement, it would be detected.

Quickly, the Safe Deposit Box was transported to the terminal room.

And a Fully armed, tall figure picked up the Safe Deposit Box, pressed the "Handover" button on the holographic barrier, and walked straight outside.

...

More than a month later, in a certain room in the Anti-King Organization Base, a faintly shimmering Card floated in Li Yu's hand.

[Special Item--Equipment Upgrade Scroll: After being used on System items, it can enhance them.

Note: After charging, it can unlock a higher-tier form, using "Gold Coins" as energy, which can also be substituted with other items in this Universe.

For example—Source Matter, Super Lifeforms, and other objects rich in Cosmic Origin.]

Back then, Number Two and Number Three died simultaneously in the DC World. Now, they had finally passed the cooldown period, and a while ago, they could be uniformly deployed.

He deployed them respectively to the [Ready Player One World] and the [Biohazard World], and the tasks executed were both [Obtain valuable items].

Because from this kind of world, it was basically impossible to obtain anything helpful to him; he could only pin his hopes on the System.

Therefore, it didn't matter what things were obtained.

With the current Strength of his Avatars, completing these tasks was no different from drinking water.

Neither of them spent too long before completing their tasks and returning.

The [Equipment Upgrade Scroll] was exactly the item obtained from the [Ready Player One World].

Li Yu quite liked props with this kind of "game" attribute because they were generally very game-breaking.

And the [Progenitor Virus] obtained from the [Biohazard World] was relatively miraculous.

[Special Item--Progenitor Virus: After fusion, it will grant the subject a chance for Genetic Mutation.

Note: Detected that the subject's Genetic Structure is already close to perfection. Genetic Mutation is altered to ability bestowal.]

This thing obviously had some randomness.

The primary upgrade target for the [Equipment Upgrade Scroll] was naturally the [Symbiotic Colonization Armor].

The help the [Symbiotic Colonization Armor] provided him now went without saying. Many items had to rely on the [Symbiotic Colonization Armor] to be used.

However, since the [Equipment Upgrade Scroll] could be charged to undergo a Metamorphosis, Li Yu naturally wasn't in a hurry to use it either.

After undergoing a charged Metamorphosis, the effect of the [Equipment Upgrade Scroll] would definitely be even more powerful.

Only after coming to this Universe did Li Yu discover that this thing called Source Matter seemed to be a "universal asset."

Forging weapons, personal Evolution, and even System items could sometimes use it.

This made him slightly regret giving a portion of the Source Matter to the Primordial King Kongs for Advancement.

However, this thought only flashed by in a fleeting moment. If he didn't have the Primordial King Kongs, he wouldn't have been able to come outside the Barren Universe Zone.

If he really spent a massive amount of time slowly devouring Source Matter, who knows, he might have spent tens of thousands of years.

By that time, perhaps the Barren Universe Zone would have already been dismantled.

As for this thing called Source Matter, in the vast Universe, it could always be found.

And during this period of nearly two months, he also gradually learned some things.

The Original Clone of the Three Kings and the Eternal King was a very unusual lifeform, originally used merely for research purposes.

The number of clones created by the Three Kings Civilization was innumerable, but only the four of them survived.

The other three were the most perfect, while the Eternal King had flaws and was not valued.

After a long period of time, the Three Kings evolved into Super Lifeforms and launched a massive rebellion, taking over this civilization.

The Eternal King remained unknown until the Three Kings began to oppress the civilization, exchanging the resources accumulated over tens of thousands or even over a hundred thousand years for Source Matter.

Only then could he no longer bear it and created the Anti-King Organization, wanting to liberate the Three Kings Civilization.

This story wasn't bad, but Li Yu didn't quite believe it. He always felt there was some other hidden trickery inside.

"However, it doesn't matter. We each take what we need, as long as it doesn't hinder me." His expression was gloomy and uncertain.