Chapter 548: Orbit

In an endless white space, bubbles of various sizes floated, each projecting a different scene.

Autonomous cargo trucks speeding along straight highways, massive ocean-going vessels sailing far out at sea, camping tents in national parks...

"Where is this?"

Hui Yu blinked in confusion and realized she could hover without any levitation engines.

"Inside the orbital communication satellite network."

Li Cheng scanned the surroundings; thanks to technological innovations from the Killing Ground, satellite communication systems had advanced rapidly over the past few years, widely applied in intelligent transportation, emergency rescue, oceanic communications, the Internet of Things, personal terminals, and more.

For residents in certain regions of Africa and South America, subscribing to the satellite network package from the Eastern superpower cost even less per month than local providers.

"Really now."

Hui Yu pressed her face against a bubble—inside, a church school in São Paulo, Brazil, suddenly displayed her grinning, grotesque face on the projector screen, sending the entire classroom of elementary students into screams and tears.

"Still crying? How old are you, still in elementary school? Have a little dignity."

Hui Yu pointed and muttered, hmm... strictly speaking, she had indeed completed her elementary degree within one year, though it was a shame for her high-tech robot identity.

"Stop fooling around."

Li Cheng grabbed the back of Hui Yu's collar and yanked her back, his solemn expression sweeping the surroundings.

That self-explosion earlier couldn't kill the Phase Demon; its power depends on the scale of its surroundings—orbital communication satellites are the perfect battlefield for it.

Thin strands of black mist gradually emerged, gathering swiftly yet deliberately into a colossal monster nearly a hundred meters tall.

Its body resembled a constantly shifting mass of sludge, lacking sensory organs like eyes or ears; instead, it bore countless rotating holes.

"So it finally reveals its true form..."

Li Cheng didn't hesitate—he slashed his chest with the Liangyi Blade.

His bones elongated joint by joint, his limbs and skeleton erupting in a dense chorus of clicks. Metal-like scales pierced his skin, covering his face and torso.

His coccyx spontaneously grew, lashing and swaying; the scant flesh and nerves clinging to the white bone swelled violently, transforming into the stinger of a venomous scorpion.

As for the mantis-arm bone blades, once reaching their original length, they sprang outward with a sharp "zing," extending again.

"Hss—"

This sound wasn't Li Cheng's breathing—it was the high-velocity airflow escaping from tiny pores in his faceplate, chestplate, and backplate.

Da Qun was a loyal bug; the gene library and gene-editing technology he generously provided were comparable to Soviet scientific archives—still being mined, still not exhausted.

Merely using a fraction of it, Li Cheng learned precise genome reprogramming, able to freely turn genes on or off, controlling cell differentiation, aging, and apoptosis.

If not for the Killing Ground's relentless pursuit, Li Cheng would already be an immortal—ageless, disease-free, deathless—drinking raw water, seawater, acid rain, nuclear wastewater without blinking, even the Ganges River water...

Uh, scratch that last one.

More importantly, Da Qun's built-in gene-editing technology helped Li Cheng analyze the Xuanlei Qilin's blood, unlocking the door to the Six-Kai Base Code.

At this moment, if one magnified the cells within Li Cheng's insect-form body, one could clearly see the earth-shattering changes inside.

Previously, motor proteins used ATP hydrolysis energy to propel themselves along microtubules and microfilaments, transporting materials within the cell, moving like walking grass.

Now, the motor proteins had been reshaped into dual-motorcycle forms, directly racing along microtubules and microfilaments, carrying vesicles at breakneck speed.

As for the mitochondria supplying energy to these motor cells, their volume expanded several-fold, their number increased dozens of times, like blade batteries, neatly aligned by the cytoskeleton, generating tremendous energy with every breath.

Here we must address the changes brought by this Killing Ground update—the announcement mentioned it optimized the player panel's UI, splitting the vague "Spirit Energy" into subcategories: Force, Chakra, Nei Li, Magic, Divine Faith Power, and more.

An additional physical energy panel was added, displaying theoretical physical energy, remaining stamina, and physical energy utilization efficiency.

Theoretical physical energy refers to the total energy theoretically contained within a transcendent's body—only for reference; the latter two matter more.

If we take a top-tier athlete, long-term supported by a multidisciplinary team in research, rehabilitation, physical training, medicine, and nutrition, as the baseline, then GS Biotech's flagship bio-weapons achieve four times the efficiency; peak-level close-combat transcendants like Bai Ma Mubei and Wanli Fengdao, who entered the Dao through martial arts, fusing technique with spiritual realm, achieve eight times the efficiency of the former.

And now, Li Cheng, gradually unraveling the essence of Six-Kai Base Life, achieves approximately ten times Wanli Fengdao's efficiency in physical energy utilization alone.

Hss! Hss! Hss!

Continuous jets of hot, high-temperature airflow formed swirling smoke.

Li Cheng twisted his neck, the scorpion's long tail tilting downward, his arms raised, the mantis-arm bone blades horizontal before him.

"Those who chant my true name shall see eternity within the cycle of rebirth!"

"The instant these nonsensical words fell, his form vanished from his original spot; a thousand meters away, the Phase Demon's true body shattered, torn into four pieces by a cross-shaped spatial compression effect."

Li Cheng passed through the Phase Demon's body; he didn't need to look back—the photosensitive cells hidden in the scorpion's tail clearly saw the demon wasn't dead—its wounds now showed filamentous structures, black mist forming threads of extreme resilience, stretching hundreds of meters; as the levitation engine's spatial barrier dissipated, the black smoke net surged toward Li Cheng.

Hum!

Li Cheng spun and slashed—the mantis-arm bone blade severed the black smoke—but immediately, one of the Phase Demon's holes rotated rapidly, generating suction out of thin air, pulling a bubble from the network space toward Li Cheng.

The bubble burst mid-flight, expanding into a dump truck fully loaded with slag.

Li Cheng didn't move; his tail whipped forward, the razor-sharp tip slicing the entire truck cleanly in two.

But this was only the beginning—the network devices connected to the orbital communication satellites numbered in the tens of millions; the Phase Demon's holes rotated simultaneously, sucking in strings of bubbles representing network devices and hurling them at him.

Li Cheng reached behind him, drawing a steel standard spear from empty air, activating the 【Counterstrike Moment】 effect, launching a hundred-ton overloaded steel coil truck into the air, then activating 【Stony Roots Technique】, petrifying his body and colliding head-on with a cargo plane, piercing it entirely through.

"Watch out!"

Hui Yu's cry came clearly; the moment Li Cheng finished petrifying, a vast shadow loomed over him—he instantly raised his left hand, the ape-descended gun hidden beneath his wrist emptied its magazine, de-evolving the oncoming ten-thousand-ton ship into a kayak.

At the beginning, in the Shanghai Fortress set, the Phase Demon merely corrupted movie props.

During the Suanjiao Porridge operation at the aerospace city, it began manipulating and converting game code.

Now, at this network hub of orbital communication satellites, the Phase Demon finally began influencing the real world: network devices caught in the battle—mobile phones and satellite phones—exploded in flames; autonomous cargo trucks suddenly malfunctioned, veering off roads; airplane engines shut down, gliding toward crashes ahead.

Fortunately, the 【Ten Thousand Eyes Communication Earpiece】 call remained unbroken—the Special Affairs Bureau was still monitoring the battle in real time; they'd likely have time to notify the Global Supernatural Alliance.

As expected, after a soft "beep" transfer tone, the earpiece speaker emitted the voice of the old acquaintance, Dr. Noah: "Hello, Master Pi Fu, this is Noah of GOC. The Global Supernatural Alliance has dispatched transcendants—they should arrive before that Boeing 747 loses all power and crashes into the sea."

"Could you guys help me first?"

Li Cheng slammed a palm downward, unleashing 【Ride the Tide, Whip the Wind, Stir the Clouds】, using the hurricane's recoil to dodge another ten-thousand-ton ship, "If all else fails, just shoot down this communication satellite."

This place is the Phase Demon's home turf.

The network space of the orbital communication satellites is far too vast—nothing like a smartphone or internet cafe computer; even a light-speed elbow strike can't pierce through the network space, making it impossible to "banish" the Phase Demon again.

"Theoretically, we could send personnel or use ballistic missiles to shoot down the satellite. But the consequences are unbearable."

Dr. Noah spoke rapidly: "The communication satellite you are on is one of the eleven thousand satellites launched under the Mirror World Earth Project, commissioned by the Low Street Residential Committee and jointly operated by the GOC and the Whale Song Guild."

The moment he heard "Low Street Residential Committee," Li Cheng felt something was off. It was called a committee, but in reality, it was just the inner circle of Lv40s like Michael, the Side of Truth, and Han Shuishi.

A group of people (the word "people" must be enclosed in large quotation marks) sitting down to talk could resolve 90% of Earth's conflicts and disputes.

Dr. Noah paused, unusually, and spoke softly: "The Mirror World Earth Project, however, is Earth's backup."