Chapter 512: NO．95：Indeed, It's a Pressure-Resistant Path (4K)

NO. 95: It really is a pressure-resistant road (4K)

Three mechanical-system monster cards, perhaps a testament to Commander Black pouring much effort into this invading allied army.

But Aomo also had no monster cards with enemy-control functions, and neither Mechanical Gomora nor Imperial Mech Soldier Reginade had been virus-infected.

The current attack is merely routine target acquisition, no big deal.

These two have been trying to shake the magic-array shield surface + beam-reflection shield dual defense, but since they're just 'monsters' summoned by cards, one can't expect high AI—it all relies on the user's control.

Commander Black's control over them...

Perhaps we shouldn't blame a trainer who's always used semi-automatic pet battles.

Disc-shaped organisms are still organisms, possessing at least basic intelligence.

Commander Black's combination with them could be called a digital beast tamer, or a Pokémon trainer, but either way it has nothing to do with vehicle drivers, let alone RTS players.

Fine operational commands, multi-threaded diversion commands—these are things he delegates to others.

So Commander Black, your assistant is... oh, got stepped on by me right at the start, so never mind...

When Aomo first transformed into a demon-fusion beast and kicked, although Commander Black En Duo appeared in time to support the main building structure, he couldn't withstand the shockwave from the force collision.

Without decent shock absorption, those inside would mostly faint.

Then they'd have to face stray bullets, destruction, and aftermath when the site became a battlefield.

Survival chances are highly doubtful.

Hence Commander Black still fights alongside his partner—though his partner is now severely wounded and unable to rise, so he chose the heavily armored, high-maintenance Empraiza as his mount.

His thinking is clear, but operational flaws are enough to be fatal.

The operation referred to here isn't just controlling Empraiza, but also his neglectful control of the other two mechanical behemoths.

"I guess, I guess, you won't just order those two robots to deal with me with such a simple command, will you?"

Despite difficulty escaping Mephimos' pincers amid continuous destruction, Empraiza's inherent spatial teleportation and instant-movement ability still let Commander Black break free.

But the demon king's shadow lingers constantly, its demonic whispers ever-present.

"Why not consider shutting them down? You clearly know they'll only become your burden, even a trap dragging you into the abyss."

Turning, shoulder cannon, triple-barrel cannon fire light accumulating.

Arms transforming into giant blades, he slashes faster toward the whispering Mephisto.

That is Mephisto, yet not Mephisto.

The name Mephilas derives from a variant of Mephisto, whose Hebrew explanation is "Destroyer—Liar," meaning "Devil."

When the devil became the demon king, Mephimos scorns deception, provided he still exists.

The giant blade struck nothing, the cannons fired only at empty air, but Empraiza's audio device also picked up a sound nearly inaudible to its size and operating noise—a female voice.

That voice sounded like human speech, yet extremely chaotic.

And the Ampere La vanguard's analytical ability isn't bad; in an instant it gave an extended interpretation:

"kingjoe."/Jin Gu Bridge

"zetton."/Jetton

""/Aomo Lindun

"pedaniumzetton."/Pedanium Jetton.

This interpretation stunned him for a moment; the next moment, without him needing to react, three-pronged claws hooked onto Empraiza's body.

A demon, greatly altered in appearance yet still showing some similar features, stared at him, its other hand igniting black flames.

pedaniumvolcannon/Pedanium Volcannon

The Jin Gu Bridge cannon fused into his body mixed with the demon's power, becoming punching firepower—one punch shattered Empraiza's head gun barrel and monitor simultaneously, though only the audio system kept running.

"I guess... this is because you want to run, sizzle sizzle sizzle"—seems the audio system, still affected, began distorting the heard sound, turning gradually hoarse and garbled: "You can't let go of a fluke, that possibility being them restraining me while you go to that so-called new world?"

"Give up that fluke, Commander."

Those words gradually returned to reality, also proving Empraiza's condition was improving.

Yet the Empraiza, hastily repaired amid crackling and sparks, couldn't reassure Commander Black.

Because he saw on the enlarged screen: new missiles and artillery.

Mechanical Gomora and Imperial Mech Soldier Reginade continued to mercilessly pound the user.

Simple-command AI, toyed with by the evil demon in the palm of its hand.

"You only have one choice—why don't you make it?"

Vanguard Empraiza, capable of defeating Hero-form Dream Prius, is a mighty existence—but facing the composite monster-card-structure demon king Mephimos and Pedanium Jetton, it feels outdated and weary.

Despite excessive self-repair ability, it's worn down by ally firepower lacking 'teammate protection.'

This instead lets Pedanium Jetton save time and effort.

Bursting fireballs, head and shoulder antennae emitting lightning-like rays—pure harassment tactics, dodging the two machines' fire while delaying Empraiza's full recovery.

More endless chatter.

"Let three mechanical bodies fuse, and even fuse with that Black En Duo aiming at me."

"Try to defeat me, depart with dignity."

"Why not?"

"Such a feasible proposal—you should think of it yourself."

"Afraid of the cards' darkness? Or unwilling to face your own heart?"

"Shut up!!"

Triple-barrel Gatling cannon with upper-body high-speed rotation creates indiscriminate bombardment—called vanishingcircle/Wheel of Destruction, but in Aomo's eyes it's no different from Black En Duo's black conclusion; the naming is too cjb.

He only needs one move: a no-dead-angle yellow electromagnetic barrier: pzwall/pz protective wall, to block those shells.

But this is also unnecessary—PEDANIUM JETTON inherited Jetton's instant-movement ability.

Like smoke dissipating, the demon that reappeared behind it in the next second, with an impolite raising of its hand, accumulated the golden torrent entwined with red and white currents, and once again pierced through the body of Empera.

The first piercing had already located the cockpit; the second piercing only grazed the cockpit's location, tearing open a small aperture in the giant machinery where eye contact could be made.

The golden vertical crystalline eye belonging to Jetton's form looked down upon the alien showing surprise, and its voice also carried an obvious mockery.

"You've experienced it, right?"

"The power of becoming a monster, the desire rising from within, can let you see your own heart."

"Commander Black, one of the puppets who survived the destruction of the Black Star by clinging to life."

"Your kin, in the final chaos, chose the coffee shop named Black Star," the light continued to form a still-solid shield, and in Pedanium Jetton's vertical crystalline eye pupil, a red light flickered faintly, "while you, you do not wish to open a coffee shop, you merely envy your kin's choice, yet still cannot let go of your long-held persistence."

"Not just persistence! That is my mission! That is my lifelong pursuit!!"

Before the gradually crawling, gradually mending metal fissure, the long-silent Commander Black finally spoke, with a furious roar.

Cannot tolerate dreams being trampled!

"Is that so? Then why not merge?"

Pedanium Jetton spoke softly, the horns on its head, inheriting the demon's colors yet still Jetton-standard silver, now gleaming, clearly preparing to release the Pedanium Spark previously shown.

This is the skill of the Golden Ancient Bridge, infused with Aomo's power, the black lightning-like destructive light will radiate from the horns.

"You still have rationality… You did indeed see Gargaras·Gargala, what answer did you get from him?"

"I guess, it's about your fellow kin."

"I also guess, you perhaps tried probing and offending him, thus leaving a deep impression on you."

"Thus…… when you measure all things with that person, every shadow you see begins to resemble him."

Scenes stir emotion, people can always see in all things the one they think of, which also precisely corresponds to the multifaceted nature of personality.

From whatever angle you look, there are always some similar things.

Precisely by placing the opponent in the observation position, Aomo can increasingly confirm this in battle.

Battle is dialogue, every move of the opponent, every thought of the opponent, all worthy of your deep contemplation.

Just as there once was a game called *Sekiro*, which spawned the saying "xx could deceive me, but Isshin Ashina would not."

Isshin Ashina is merely a data-constructed character, data naturally designed to lack flexibility, but first impression always feels unpredictable.

Yet you, who gave your all against him, can gradually come to understand everything about him.

This is a rather rigid example; if you need a more vivid one, then it is those card players, plastic model enthusiasts, and horse girls who resolve contradictions through duels.

Any problem can be solved by playing a card, fighting a battle, or running a race; this expression in competition is even purer than mere words.

So, repeat once more.

Battle is dialogue.

And on top of that, if you are sharp enough, if you are meticulous enough, if even your thinking is fast enough—

then you transcend dialogue, like reading minds.

You can predict every move of the opponent, sense every thought of the opponent, and all this stems from your grasp of the opponent's information.

But also because the mechanical giant's own observational feedback is not as good as that of carbon-based life, so you need to hammer the chat flow hard.

Add one more line of judgment for error tolerance.

Judge by language, from tone, sound, and pauses in speech.

So, here we need to make a change.

For Aomo.

Battle is interrogation.

By observation, by listening, by speech, interrogate the opponent's inner heart.

And now, he can be certain.

This interrogation, is ending soon.

Pedanium Spark, opposing the light beam flying in from behind!

Crashermega/Millions Pulverizer, this is the chest cannon beam of Mechanical Gomora, a flashy skill Aomo once longed for but hated to use.

Because he has a Mechanical Gomora card, but it is single-use, truly unwilling to use, can only be placed in the store's display case.

But obviously now is not the time to think about that.

"You clearly know your mission cannot be fulfilled, yet you lack the decisiveness of your kin to cut through."

His interrogation still continues, in a steady tone.

"Just like now, you also clearly know your path is surely doomed to fail, yet you refuse to merge with your partner, with the cold machine, merely pathetic, standing in a cockpit you are not familiar with."

"Your rationality puts you in a dilemma, your wisdom only tells you you're trapped in a dead end."

The golden crystal is almost completely covered by red, and that dark red crystal also gazes at the man in the fissure who is gradually bowing his head, hat facing himself.

The outer side of that fissure is repairing at a visible speed, Empera's recovery speed is synchronized inside and out, because it is not flesh and blood, but metal.

And the demon feels nothing, its tone still leisurely.

"Isn't it tormenting? To clearly understand you are stepping into destruction."

"But you can actually end this torment."

"Even try to kill me, who keeps chattering in front of you."

"Only you need to abandon that rationality, go all in, let your true power choose……"

He silently watched as the breach fully healed, although sound would still be transmitted via the pickup function for the other to hear, but he no longer wished to speak.

Feeling it was enough.

At that very moment, the loud roar and the steam overflowing from Empera's heat dissipation devices mixed together, even the distant Mechanical Gomora, Imperial Machine Soldier Reginade, and Blacken turned into different colored glows, merging with it.

And Pedanium Jetton also split into three light-shadows, yet silently replaced and merged into the towering demon king Mefimos.

Standing with claws clasped, it emitted a dull yet resonant applause.

Cheering for the fusion of machinery and flesh, and celebrating the confirmation of his own speculation.

It's quite difficult, this being his first attempt.

He also felt a profound novelty in completely abandoning rationality and sinking into the inner universe reflected by the monster cards, adopting the posture of an alien.

Clearly the boss of an entire massive group, yet also a man crushed under the weight of an invasive obsession, his fragile appearance no different from that of a corporate drone commonly seen in high-pressure organizations.

It reminded him of the symbol of Moon Chariot.

Yet between them, there were too many differences; only madness remained, capable of being guided by the cold moonlight.

It also had the storage value of shifting a few MB of space for the brain's crystal core.

However, it was precisely at this moment that he saw the pop-up window continuously flashing on the light screen.

This was a high-frequency call request from a certain female police officer, simultaneously equivalent to a call request from one of the combat commanders, forcing him to pay slight attention.

"Miss Shi Huaiya, how did the rain-soaked combat go?"

"Successful? No, that's not the point! Are you alright! Can you still hold on!? Don't pay too much attention to this call, focus on the battle! I'm here to inform you that a large force will soon reinforce you—you must hold on!!"

The other party's urgent call made Aomo belatedly realize that this was actually the truth of the pressure-resistant path.

It seemed this position should have been very dangerous.

But frankly speaking, once the other party became like this, the already minimal operation could be said to have completely broken down; he could resolve it directly without much pressure.

Still, it's better to leave it to them; I'll just rest a bit and wait for the loot division.

Pondering, he looked again at the distant figure rushing toward him—roughly speaking, a fusion beast only slightly more attractive than the New·series stitching monster—and Aomo fell silent for a moment, then asked:

"Not too bad, though—does this operation have a mental recovery specialist?"

"Yes, how?"

"Commander Black has been driven mad by me; perhaps he needs correction, assuming he's still alive afterward."

"Ah?"

(End of Chapter)