Chapter 68: Rest in peace, brother

Mechanical Zhao Wushuang's electronic eye flickered: "Language provocation ineffective."

"Is that so?" Zhang Jun pulled a bloody smile on his face, "Then why don't you dare look at me? Huh? You've got a guilty conscience! You fucking betrayed everyone!"

Half of Mechanical Zhao Wushuang's human face twitched again, his steps faltering: "Invalid… data…"

"What about your oath?" Zhang Jun's voice grew louder, "Protect Earth! Protect humanity! Now? You're helping that old bastard Lin Zhen destroy everything!"

"Shut… up…" Mechanical Zhao Wushuang's voice trembled again.

Now!

Zhang Jun leapt forward, not charging at Zhao Wushuang but running around the big iron ball in the middle.

Mechanical Zhao Wushuang immediately followed, but his movements were noticeably lagging.

Zhang Jun ran while shouting back:

"Do you deserve Old Man Wang?"

"The brothers who died at Lin Zhen's hands—do you deserve them?"

"Do you fucking deserve yourself? Zhao Wushuang!"

Each sentence was like a red-hot iron awl, stabbing into the last shred of humanity left in Mechanical Zhao Wushuang's body.

His movements grew more twisted, the electronic eye and his remaining human eye flickering wildly between purple light and their original colors.

"System… error… restart… failed…"

Mechanical Zhao Wushuang's voice changed completely, mixed with despair.

"Zhang Jun… kill me…"

Zhang Jun's heart clenched sharply, pain intense.

But he knew this was no time to go easy.

He suddenly stopped, turned around, and faced the swaying Mechanical Zhao Wushuang.

"Come on, Old Zhao."

He raised the Heaven-Man Sword, its tip pointing at the opponent.

"Let's settle this."

Mechanical Zhao Wushuang's mechanical arm instantly transformed into a huge energy blade, purple light flashing.

"End… begin…"

The two lunged at each other at the same time.

The Heaven-Man Sword and energy blade slammed together, the burst of light nearly blinding Zhang Jun's eyes.

The purple patterns on the sword frantically devoured the energy blade's ejected power, barely keeping him from being blown away.

But that iron lump's power was still too terrifying.

Another metal hand grabbed Zhang Jun's shoulder, fingers digging deep into his flesh.

Zhang Jun sucked in cold air from the pain, but he didn't retreat; instead, using that force, he thrust the Heaven-Man Sword at Zhao Wushuang's chest where the energy core flickered.

The sword tip just touched the core's shell.

Mechanical Zhao Wushuang suddenly stopped moving.

His human eye regained its luster, looking at Zhang Jun, lips trembling:

"Do… finish me…"

Zhang Jun's teeth ground together, both hands gripping the sword hilt, he summoned his last ounce of strength and drove the Heaven-Man Sword deep in!

"Sorry, Old Zhao."

The sword blade sank completely into the mechanical body.

Purple energy surged out like a burst dam, then greedily sucked into the Heaven-Man Sword.

Mechanical Zhao Wushuang's electronic eye flickered a few times, then went completely dark.

But his human eye remained open, the corner of his mouth even showing a hint of relief.

"Th… thank…"

That was Zhao Wushuang's last words left in this world.

The heavy mechanical body crashed to the ground, making the floor tremble.

Purple energy liquid seeped from the rupture, quickly pooling into a small puddle on the ground.

Zhang Jun knelt beside Zhao Wushuang, his chest feeling as if torn open alive, pain so severe he could barely breathe.

He reached out and gently closed Zhao Wushuang's eyes.

His throat felt choked.

"Rest in peace, brother."

The Heaven-Man Sword absorbed the purple energy, its patterns glowing terrifyingly bright and clear, faintly coiling into a dragon's shape.

That dragon shape almost matched the barcode on the back of his neck.

Zhang Jun suddenly noticed that, in the mechanical hand Zhao Wushuang had loosened as he fell, something seemed to be clutched.

He carefully pried open the metal fingers, and sure enough lay a data crystal the size of a fingernail cap.

The crystal's surface bore a line of tiny text: "Purge Plan - Final Stage".

The communicator at his ear crackled back to life, signal restored.

Clone Wang Jun's voice came through urgently: "Zhang Jun! Are you still alive?"

"Alive," Zhang Jun's voice hoarse, "but Old Zhao… is gone."

The other end of the communicator fell silent for a few seconds.

"I'm sorry. But there's no time to grieve. Something's happened to Lin Xue over there."

Zhang Jun sprang to his feet, vision blacking out, nearly collapsing: "What's going on?"

"She found the fake Lin Zhen, but the communication suddenly cut off! The last captured signal was at the lowest level of the underground city, where there were huge energy fluctuations!"

Zhang Jun clenched the crystal core and the Heavenly Human Sword in his hand.

"How do we get there?"

"There's a maintenance shaft that goes straight down, but the defense system there is extremely dangerous. Your current condition——"

"Cut the crap," Zhang Jun interrupted him, "tell me how to go."

He took one last look at Zhao Wushuang's icy corpse on the ground, then turned and walked toward a small, inconspicuous door beside the huge iron ball.

He recognized the symbol on the door—the standard maintenance passage insignia of the Lin Clan Group.

"Wait for me, Xue'er," Zhang Jun whispered, "I'm here."

He stepped into the passage.

Behind him lay his brother's remains; ahead lay unknown danger.

The Heavenly Human Sword in his hand trembled slightly; the dragon markings on its blade seemed to come alive, emitting a faint light.

Deep in the passage, it was pitch black—you couldn't see your own hand in front of your face.

The maintenance passage was narrow and steep, the metal rungs icy and slippery.

Zhang Jun climbed down, each step tugging at his wound, causing excruciating pain.

The smell of blood mixed with rust, permeating the cramped space.

The purple light at the tip of the Heavenly Human Sword was the only light source, barely illuminating his feet; the shadows on the walls twisted and stretched, claws bared.

The communicator crackled, the voice of Clone Wang Jun breaking up, barely able to piece together a few words:

"Be careful… bottom layer… energy… off the charts… range…"

Zhang Jun gritted his teeth and lowered his head, pressing onward.

Blood seeped more and more from the tear in his combat uniform, leaving sticky dark-red marks on the rungs.

His mind was a mess; all that remained was Lin Xue's firm line: "Don't die."

This girl…

At the end of the passage, a heavy arc-shaped gate blocked the way.

The gate was covered in dense purple patterns, almost identical to the dragon markings on the Heavenly Human Sword, exuding an eerie aura.

As he approached, the Heavenly Human Sword in his hand suddenly buzzed and vibrated, its dragon markings blazing painfully bright.

The gate seemed to sense something—"Click!"—and slid open to either side.

"Fuck, this broken door still recognizes kin?"

Zhang Jun cursed, staggering over the threshold.

The sight before him made his breath catch.

An absurdly huge hemispherical space.

Its diameter was at least a hundred meters.

The surrounding walls seemed transparent, countless pipes crisscrossing inside, through which a piercing purple fluid flowed, emitting a low hum that made hearts race.

At the center of the space floated a massive cross-shaped metal device.

Four thick arms pointed in different directions, each ending in a transparent cultivation chamber.

Inside one of the cultivation chambers—

Lin Xue!