Chapter 79: Is It an Illusion?

Black Tower nodded pensively.

Seven days… the passage of time in that world seems not much different from here.

This counts as valuable information.

Her gaze swept sharply over every detail of the doll.

It looks… there seems to be no problem.

It's the one she crafted herself.

"Any anomalies at the Space Station lately?"

Black Tower continued probing, eyes like a Surgical Knife, trying to strip any hint of discord from the doll's response.

The system doll expressionlessly shook its head, its motion as precise as measured by a ruler: "None. Everything is operating normally. Research project progress meets expectations, security system shows no intrusion records, energy consumption is within standard range."

"Really?"

Black Tower narrowed her eyes slightly, leaning forward, exuding an invisible pressure.

She always felt something off, an intuition belonging to a genius's keen perception.

"Yes."

The doll's reply remained steady, unruffled, even bearing a self‑evident certainty.

"All logs are accessible. No abnormal events worth reporting were found."

Black Tower sat up straight, arms crossed, fingertips lightly tapping her elbow.

She found no obvious flaw.

The doll's response matched basic logic, and the data appeared clean.

Yet… this excessive "normalcy" instead sowed doubt in her mind.

The guy who could exile her would so easily send her back and then do nothing?

She stared deeply at the doll, finally deciding not to waste any more time.

Rather than interrogating a possibly tampered or inherently defective doll here, she'd rather go to the main control room to retrieve the entire station's logs, or ask Aisida.

"That would be best."

She dropped that line, turned, her skirt tracing a crisp arc as she headed straight for the office door.

The heavy metal door behind her slid open silently, then shut quickly, leaving the quiet standing doll alone in the office.

Almost the instant the door fully closed.

The Black Tower Doll's once hollow, lifeless eyes suddenly flickered with a faint light at the pupil center, rapidly reshaping into a bizarre violet‑red inverted‑cross pattern!

Its petite body rippled like water, its attire darkened to a muted palette adorned with skull motifs, hair dyed deep violet, faint purple markings appearing on its cheeks—reverting to the system doll's true form.

Tilting its head, it gazed at the sealed door and whispered in a tone only it could hear: "Logic verification passed. Emotional simulation module running stable. Cold‑joke reserve... sufficient."

Behind her, an oval portal edged with flickering violet arcs opened silently.

The system doll hesitated not, took a step back, its figure merging into the portal and vanishing.

Inside the office, silence returned, empty of any presence.

Meanwhile, Black Tower, already walking down the corridor, paused slightly, her petite nose twitching gently.

"An illusion?"

She murmured to herself, a hint of doubt flashing in her violet eyes.

System Space

The First Stage Ke Xia's fall did not bring a moment of peace; instead it seemed to unseal a far more terrifying existence.

"Roar—!!!"

A roar utterly unlike a human voice erupted from the still‑lingering smoke at the center of the arena!

The sound wave, bearing a tangible impact, shook the entire phosphorescent forest into a tremor, and Xi Lian in the audience instinctively covered her ears, her azure eyes filled with terror.

The smoke was ripped apart by a brute force!

First caught the eye was a pair of eyes burning with frenzy, redder than before.

Next came the rapidly expanding body—its once‑fitted blue‑white striped patient gown now torn apart by bulging muscles, reduced to a few ragged strips hanging on it.

Its height rose by nearly half; the previously slender frame was now covered in blocky, granite‑like muscles gleaming with a bronze sheen, veins coiling like dragons, exuding a pure, heart‑pounding sense of power.

"Magic... technique... skill!"

Ke Xia roared, his voice hoarse and shattered, each syllable dripping with blood.

He kicked the ground hard, the earth exploding like a meteor impact, carving a deep pit!

His massive body turned into a barely‑visible black afterimage, bearing a crushing, terrifying momentum, barreling straight at the newly steadied A Xing!

"A Xing, watch out!"

Bai Hang shouted, her energy bow instantly drawing to full tension.

Facing this mountain‑like onslaught, A Xing's dull golden eyes flickered with thought.

She didn't opt for a hard clash; instead, she flicked her wrist, and the familiar bat materialized in her hand—her most instinctive weapon.

She held the bat horizontally before her, body slightly lowered, assuming a seemingly simple blocking stance.

"Bang—!!!"

Like a high‑speed Star Chariot slamming into the Space Station's shield!

A muffled impact sound that could stop a heart exploded!

The ground beneath A Xing cracked inch by inch, and she was hurled backward like a projectile from a catapult, flying rapidly.

Yet she kept her balance, deftly rotating mid‑air as if merging the Jiepade Defense Technique's Force Release Method, finally landing like a feather, kneeling on one knee, steady dozens of meters away.

She shook her slightly trembling, numb arm, glanced at the still‑intact bat in her hand, then lifted her head, calmly gazing at the terrifying muscle monster.

"Oh my god..."

Xi Lian covered her mouth, her fingers turning slightly white from the strain.

Although she had seen this second form on the system's monitoring screen before, when the massive, oppressive body actually appeared before her, its raging aura that seemed to freeze the air, the combined visual and mental impact was thousands of times stronger than through a screen.

"Is… is this really… a scholar?"

Heimu's voice trembled as she whispered.

Heimu, who had been lazily leaning against the chair back, involuntarily sat up a little.

In her violet‑black, light‑less eyes flashed a hint of solemnity and… intense interest.

"Here's the point."

She said softly, as if appreciating a drama about to reach its climax.

Her gaze locked onto the raging figure in the arena, while her right hand gently lifted a miniature yet detailed model of a Creation Engine, quietly hovering in her palm, slowly rotating and emitting a faint earth‑colored glow.

"System,"

Heimu's voice was low but clear as it reached the approaching system's ears, "Are you sure this 'One‑time Experience Card' can handle this 'muscle scholar'?"

The system replied immediately, with a hint of professional certainty: "Reporting to the master, the model has been fully analyzed and the energy‑operation pattern of Beloberg's Creation Engine recorded. Though only a power‑replica projection, its Full Power Strike level, theoretically, can inflict heavy damage on the target. Calculations show a success rate above 87.5%. Note: the visual effect of this process may be exaggerated, similar to the 'ultimate skill release animation' in some civilization's role‑playing games; please prepare mentally, master."

Heimu's mouth twitched ever so slightly.

Directly one force turns three thousand.

The situation now is simple—use absolute force and crush it!

She was merely curious whether Na Ke Xia's terrifying muscles could withstand the ancient robot's punch capable of shaking mountains.

The battle did not cease due to the brief pause.

Just as Na Ke Xia focused on blasting A Xing, Bai Hang already moved!

She let out a delicate shout, her figure like a phantom, leaving several afterimages across the field.

The energy bow in her hand required no physical arrows; with a thought, countless arrows, as if alive, interwove in the air forming a dense fire net, shooting from all directions at Na Ke Xia's massive body!

The arrows do not aim for a One‑hit Kill, but act like a lively swarm of bees, constantly harassing and restricting his movement.

Na Ke Xia roared repeatedly, swinging his massive hand, stirring gusts of foul wind, easily scattering many arrows.

He tried to charge at Bai Hang, but that seemingly massive body repeatedly missed in the face of Bai Hang's ultimate agility.

Bai Hang danced as if on the tip of a blade, each flash perfectly evading the punch wind capable of splitting mountains and cracking stones; her azure eyes were cool as ice, searching for the next flaw.

A Xing did not rush forward.

She half‑kneeled on the spot, raised her right hand, and aimed far at the Flame Gun that had been knocked away by Na Ke Xia's punch earlier and now was lodged diagonally in the distant soil layer.

The dark crimson Flame Gun buzzed and trembled, pulling itself out of the earth, hovering in midair; its tip rotated, and once again Lock onto Na Ke Xia!

This time, the Flame Gun emitted not heat but an extreme aura of Destruction; the air around its barrel twisted and collapsed from the high temperature.

Na Ke Xia keenly sensed this lethal threat, he sharply turned his head, his scarlet eyes fixed on the hovering Flame Gun.

He did not dodge; instead he let out a ferocious war cry, clenched his massive fist, his bronze‑colored muscles swelling further, bearing the will to crush everything, and launched a Full Power Strike toward the rushing Flame Gun!