Chapter 680: The Salesman and the Laborer (Part 1)

Solus swallowed hard, utterly baffled—he had thoroughly scanned this universe before landing, and it had no high-energy life forms at all; where the hell had this multiversal monster come from??

The Malun family could be called multiversal entities, but their multiversal status was somewhat inflated.

First, they were social creatures, like humans, who had claimed Earth as their dominant civilization.

But could a single human defeat a tiger? An unarmed adult facing a powerful predator would have no outcome but to slide helplessly into death.

Cooperation was the greatest advantage of social animals; similarly, social creatures never developed overly comprehensive individual power. The Malun family was no different—they relied on cooperation to survive across the multiverse, but any single member was utterly incapable of defeating any multiversal entity alone.

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So when entering a single universe, they meticulously scanned for any life forms capable of threatening them; they never imagined that in this universe, someone could ascend at will—or retreat back down.

Thus, when they saw the multiversal Iron Demon, they froze rigid in place.

But Stark gave them no time to stare—he instantly unleashed a storm of drone fleets, enveloping every Malun family member; the countless mechanical units forming coordinated arrays radiated incomparable pressure.

Engine roars and gear grinding, normally silent in the vacuum of space, transformed from faint vibrations into deafening waves; when the Malun family tried to retreat, they found every surrounding space filled with diverse mechanical lifeforms.

Seeing family members relentlessly striking the mechanical barriers, Solus shouted: "Stay calm! All of you, stay calm! Drain their energy—just like we did to the Cosmic Demons!"

After the initial panic, the Malun family members gradually regained composure, began strategizing, and planned to break the encirclement.

Solus stepped forward first, extending one hand toward a mechanical monster; a soft white glow emerged from his palm, then transformed into a flickering beam that connected to the target.

The moment the white light touched the robot, it froze. Seeing his attack worked, Solus prepared to repeat it—but in the instant he targeted that one robot, thousands upon thousands of mechanical troops surrounded him.

Suddenly, Solus noticed that the nearby robots showed no change, but those newly produced from the hive—farther away—had become smaller in size and more numerous.

Once, the Malun family had exploited their innate talent and numerical advantage to divide the energy of Cosmic Demons—simply because a Demon might handle one or two of them, but too many scattered targets overwhelmed their ability to engage multiple moving foes simultaneously.

Single-target attacks could only trap one or two; group attacks consumed too much energy and were easily evaded. By sheer attrition, they could wear down weaker Demons.

But now, the situation had reversed entirely: Solus had become the very Demon they once hunted, and Stark's Iron Demon had, in an instant, identified the Malun family's weakness and evolved a countermeasure.

The Malun family's energy-draining ability was indeed powerful, but the problem was—it was single-target. Even Solus's beam could drain three or four targets at once, yet they faced billions upon billions of mechanical troops.

Draining the energy of one or two robots was useless; these machines didn't rely directly on Stark's magical energy—they had their own engines, and the hive had its own reactor. They were entirely self-sufficient. The time it took the Malun family to drain one robot was enough for the hive to produce a thousand more.

Moreover, the Malun family's energy absorption had an upper limit—they couldn't absorb and digest simultaneously. After absorbing, they had to find a safe place to convert that energy into usable power before continuing combat.

But under these conditions, where could they possibly find safety? The mechanical army pressed closer; if they didn't drain the energy of nearby machines, they'd be attacked and killed—but if they drained them all, they risked being overwhelmed and bursting from excess energy.

The Malun family was trapped between retreat and advance; Solus knew this couldn't continue.

Now, before him, there were roughly three types of robots: the first, tiny and swift as birds, used supersonic speed to make Malun members unable to lock onto targets, while launching suicide attacks to disrupt formations and prevent stable defense.

The second, medium-sized mechanical shield guards, formed the core of the encirclement; when united, they created an unbreakable wall, continuously emitting energy pulses to interfere with Malun teleportation, while steadily tightening the ring, shrinking their available space.

The third were torpedo-shaped artillery platforms, mounted atop the shield guard lines; they fired high-energy lasers powered directly by Stark's magical energy—capable of harming the Malun family, making them the most lethal weapons so far.

Shield guards formed a spherical wall, advancing relentlessly; the friction between their parts sounded like death's ticking clock. Torpedo platforms continuously calculated firing trajectories, targeting Malun members who stumbled during the chaos caused by the bird drones, launching lasers at extreme speed—within seconds, two Malun members were pierced through with gaping holes.

Solus raised his arm and roared, firing an energy pulse from his hand; when it struck, it instantly obliterated a large group of robots.

The encirclement cracked open—but after landing the blow, Solus didn't lead a breakout. Instead, he stood proudly in place, shouting: "The Heir is invincible! Charge!"

Seeing their leader still unbroken, the other Malun members regained morale. They didn't notice that after Solus fired that pulse, the hive's newly produced robots had changed form again.

A bizarre, disc-shaped robot was produced, silently flying to the backs of the shield guards and locking onto them with newly manufactured clamps.

Just as another Malun member tried to imitate their leader, preparing to unleash a stored energy pulse, the moment his glow ignited, the disc robots directly beneath him instantly deployed shields.

Multiple shields merged into one massive circular barrier; when the pulse struck, it was deflected into the empty void of space, exploding harmlessly.

Soon, more disc robots were produced: first-generation activated shields; second-generation developed direct mid-air interception; third-generation added energy reflection; fourth-generation began reverse-absorbing the pulses…

The horror of the Iron Demon lay in how magic infinitely amplified Stark's intellect; when applied to the mechanical hive, this infinite evolution and iteration allowed them to develop perfect countermeasures against any enemy within seconds.

Raw materials, transport, assembly lines, production, deployment, data feedback, collection, analysis, redesign, renewed input—all design phases, under infinite intellect, were compressed to minimum time; production was achieved through magical energy manifesting ex nihilo. The longer the battle, the more data gathered, the stronger the Iron Demon became.

By the time Solus realized this, it was too late.

The mechanical army had neutralized every one of their weaknesses: tiny size, extreme speed, shielded energy absorption, and an unyielding, tightening encirclement.

Of the dozen or so family members Solus brought, only six remained; the others had perished from grievous wounds, their bodies lost forever in space. Solus knew clearly—he wouldn't last ten minutes.

His meticulously groomed white hair was now wild and tangled; a laser wound on his arm, unable to heal, throbbed violently. Pain ignited red light in his eyes. He gritted his teeth: "You forced me into this…"

Instantly, Solus emitted white light, transforming into bright white tendrils that latched onto his six remaining members. They screamed in agony: "Chief! No! My life force… Aaah!"

Countless energies and life forces flowed back through the tendrils into Solus; in an instant, he transformed into a Demon himself. Within his white demonic body, red light pulsed in lines, eerily vivid.

In an instant, he reached the barrier of the single universe, growing as vast as Iron Demon Stark. His voice boomed:

"I could have become a Demon long ago—only I avoided this form because it's inconvenient to move. You forced me!"

Iron Demon Stark snorted coldly. Instantly, the mechanical storm surged again. Both sides stood poised—multiversal war was about to erupt.

But at that moment, a small figure darted near the former battlefield, where several Malun members—drained of energy but still alive—lay helpless, waiting to die.

Helen ran to them, glanced around, confirmed no one was watching her.

Instantly, her form expanded infinitely, nearly matching the size of the previously appeared Mephisto; countless spines sprouted from her body, her vertical pupils and fangs reappeared—a monstrous being nearly identical to the comic book's Devourer emerged in space.

She opened her mouth wide and swallowed every remaining Malun member in an instant. Then, white light began glowing in her eyes—identical to Solus's.

The Devourer roared. The white light became a swirling mist around her, and in an instant, all remaining mechanical energy on the battlefield was drained.

Thousands of machines instantly shut down; the residual energy within the dead Malun members was also devoured. As the white light intensified, it was retracted into the Devourer's body, and her form surged again—until she touched the barrier of the single universe.

On the other side, Gao Yi, Mephisto, Thor, Loki, Odin, and other Demons were locked in another brutal battle.

Thor unleashed a bolt of lightning toward Mephisto—but when he turned, he saw Frigg. She studied him and asked: "Where's Helen? Wasn't she in your arms?"

Thor froze, looked down at his chest—Helen, who had been gripping him tightly, was gone. He'd been so caught up in battle he hadn't noticed. Frigg immediately panicked.

"Stop fighting! Odin, Thor, Loki! Helen's missing—find her now!"

"This place is dangerous! You careless bastards!"

The rare scolding from the gentle goddess sent the father-son trio into immediate silence. They hurriedly began searching the surrounding space for the vanished Helen.

But then, a roar approached from afar. Mephisto dodged sideways with a "whoosh"—a colossal monster leapt onto the battlefield, "crunch," one Demon was crushed and swallowed whole.

All the Demon fragments on the ground were instantly sucked into the monster's body upon contact with its white aura. Mephisto shrieked:

"My membership gift!"

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