Chapter 143: Assimilation

The three fell into silence.

Lina asked instinctively, "Are we still going to investigate the Frost Fortress?"

Alje quickly shook his head.

"Going now would mean opposing the entire North; the risk is too great."

The three fell into a brief silence, and only the remaining gears in the mechanical workshop occasionally emitted a light "clack."

Lina's fingers unconsciously brushed the sword hilt, her brow furrowed: "If we don't go to the Frost Fortress, what else can we do? The Mechanical Church won't stop, and the Frost Eagle Grand Duke's sacrifice ceremony won't wait for us."

Alje leaned against the wall, his complexion still a bit pale, but a mocking smile curled at his mouth: "Going to the Frost Fortress now is like crashing straight into my father's trap. You think he'll be unguarded? The elite knights of the entire North, the Gear Eye of the Mechanical Church, even those brain‑washed Wizards… they'll all be waiting there for us."

Robin thought for a moment then said, "You said at least three villages' people were assimilated, right? Let's go there and see."

"You really are a madman," Alje said, then pulled out a map.

Alje's finger traced the map, finally stopping at a region circled in red ink—Ash Village, the nearest assimilated village to the Frost Dew Territory.

"Three days ago this village still had cooking smoke," Alje's voice was low. "Now, only 'them' remain there."

Robin stared at the map, the silver‑blue engraving on his Tang Sword flickering faintly, as if echoing some summons.

"Then we go to Ash Village," he said, his voice chillingly calm.

Lina's fingers slipped from the hilt, her brow still tight: "If the people in the village have already been fully assimilated…"

"Then we purify," Robin cut in, his gaze sharp as a blade. "The Watcher's Key can reverse mechanical corrosion—Alje's experiment has already proven that."

Alje grinned, a near‑mad smile spreading: "Ha! I should have guessed—you want to use those villagers as 'test subjects'!"

The three set out under cover of night, avoiding the main roads, marching north along the frozen creek.

Alje led ahead, his mechanical pocket watch constantly emitting a faint "clack," its hands eerily pointing toward Ash Village, as if drawn by some force.

"Listen," Lina whispered suddenly.

In the wind came intermittent, metallic‑scraping sounds—like gears turning, yet also like bones being violently twisted.

Robin's Tang Sword slipped silently three inches from its sheath, the dark‑red engraving pulsing like a breath.

Ash Village's outline rose in the moonlight—but the sight before them made Lina's breath catch.

The village's houses were covered with a silver‑black mechanical network, writhing like veins.

The "villagers" walking the road were no longer human— their limbs replaced by gear joints, heads split open, revealing internally rotating scarlet eyes.

The most terrifying part was that these "villagers" still repeated their former behaviors:

A mechanized figure resembling a farm woman was "feeding" a flock of metal crows; her fingers were sharp blades, cutting into her own mechanical innards.

Several "children" chased each other on the street, their laughter turning into sharp electronic tones; metal tails extending from their spines pierced each other's bodies, only to heal the next second.

"Perfect symbionts…" Alje's eyes glittered with a sick excitement, "an evolution more advanced than the Gear Eye!"

Robin's Tang Sword suddenly quivered violently, the silver‑blue engraving detaching from the blade, turning into a strand of light that drifted toward the village center—where a twisted metal altar stood, nailed with a corpse not yet fully mechanized.

It was the village chief.

His lower half had become a metal spider‑like appendage, while above the chest he still retained human features.

When the silver‑blue strand approached, he suddenly lifted his head, murky eyes shedding black oil.

"Key…s…," broken words forced from his throat, "save…us…"

Lina's sword was already drawn: "He still retains consciousness?!"

Alje suddenly seized Robin's wrist: "Don't go! That's a trap—the altar's beneath something!"

Too late.

The chief's body exploded, countless silver‑black mechanical tentacles bursting up from beneath the altar!

At the same time, all the "villagers" turned their heads in unison, scarlet eyes locking onto the three of them—

"Detected…key…"

"Offering…container…"

The entire village came alive, the mechanical network on the houses surging like a massive wave, lunging at them!

Ash Village transformed completely before the three's eyes.

The houses twisted like living things, walls cracking open to reveal rotating gear structures inside.

The ground trembled, countless silver‑black mechanical tentacles tearing up from the earth, like a hungry Giant Python, winding to strangle them.

"Step back!" Alje suddenly ripped his coat open, exposing his chest—where an ice‑blue mechanical core was embedded, spinning wildly.

Clack—clang!

Metallic veins instantly spread beneath his skin, his arms turning into sharp mechanical blades, ice‑blue energy coursing through the joints.

"You—?!" Lina's pupils contracted sharply.

Alje grinned, his mechanized vocal cords emitting an electronic mix: "Surprised? The Frost Eagle family's 'Curse'… is also a 'gift.'"

Alje, like a wraith, surged into the mass of mechanical tentacles, his twin blades cutting out ice‑blue arcs; wherever they passed, the tentacles froze and shattered.

But more mechanical villagers had already surrounded them, their bodies twisted, limbs elongated into weapons.

Robin's Tang Sword finally fully unsheathed, the silver‑blue engraving coiling around the blade like a living thing.

He charged the altar; where the blade's light passed, the mechanical villagers emitted shrill electronic screams— the cut parts reverted to flesh, only to be re‑corroded by surrounding mechanical veins moments later.

"The Key can reverse assimilation, but it requires sustained effect!" Robin roared.

Lina's thorn pendant suddenly burst with golden light, ancient runes appearing on the blade: "In the name of the Round Table—Purify!"

Golden Sword Qi swept across, more than ten mechanical villagers were cut at the waist, holy flames rising from the wounds. But the next second, the tentacles beneath the altar suddenly coalesced into a massive maw that lunged at Lina!

Bang!

Alje shoved Lina aside from the side, but he himself was bitten on the right shoulder by the giant maw.

The hybrid of metal and flesh was torn away in a large chunk, yet he laughed wildly, thrusting his left arm into the maw's interior: "Taste this!"

The ice‑blue core overclocked, unleashing extreme cold energy!

The massive mouth froze from within, and A Erjie seized the chance to break free; the broken surface of his missing right shoulder sprouted dozens of tiny mechanical tendrils, rapidly repairing itself.

Robin finally rushed to the altar, thrusting the Tang Sword into its center—

"Clang—!"

Silver‑blue light poured into the altar like a torrent, and the entire mechanical network of Ashen Village convulsed at once. The villagers who had been assimilated knelt one after another, their mechanical parts separating from flesh, emitting inhuman howls.

The altar collapsed, revealing a bottomless vertical well beneath it, its walls engraved with gear‑shaped Runes.

(End of Chapter)