During the ensuing fight, Fang Senyan took a volley of rapid-fire energy balls from Duoqige head-on. Amidst the roaring explosion of electric light, he barrelled forward with unstoppable force, successfully closing the distance. With a mighty heave of both hands, he flipped Duoqige onto his back, exposing the most vulnerable joint where his abdomen met his mechanics.

This weakness had been revealed by Duoqige himself. Because his speed requirements were so high, he had installed dual mechanical legs, which caused significant instability in his otherwise balanced hydraulic chassis. A forceful strike at that junction point would render Duoqige completely immobile.

However, although Aldaris’ particle beam was fully charged and ready, it remained unleashes.

Fang Senyan paused. After all, Aldaris and Duoqige had fought side-by-side not long ago; they had entrusted their lives to each other, placing their backs in the other’s defense. Furthermore, Duoqige had clearly held back during their previous engagement, making it impossible for Aldaris to strike now.

“Forget it, Duoqige, just go,” Fang Senyan shrugged. “Stop bringing back assassination missions targeting us.”

Unexpectedly, Duoqige stared silently at the dark pattern imprinted on Loni’s cloak for a moment before uttering something no one could have foreseen:

“Esteemed Sir! Are you perhaps a powerhouse who has completed the trials of the Sanctuary?”

Loni blinked in surprise. Looking at the glowing azure light flashing in Duoqige’s six electronic eyes, he couldn’t help but reply:

“Yes. I remained inside for nearly ten days, narrowly missing the historical record for third place.”

Duoqige pressed eagerly:

“Then you must have learned the Dark Templar’s Great Slash?”

Loni nodded:

“I did.”

Duoqige responded:

“Could you demonstrate it for me?”

After uttering this request, Loni visibly froze. Based on the worldly observations of veterans like Fang Senyan and Aldaris, Loni must have received a system prompt related to the space. Sure enough, Fang Senyan received a message shared across the team:

“Your team member has obtained a related servant mission: Subdue the mighty Dragon Knight hero.”

What followed was Loni cleanly unleashing a single strike.

This was an attack Fang Senyan had never seen Loni use before. It manifested as a semi-circular arc slash. Yet, as Loni’s blade slowly traversed the air, everyone present felt the hairs on their body involuntarily stand on end—a chilling sensation washed over them. For that instant, the blood-soaked short blade in his hand measured barely forty centimeters, but its piercing sharpness seemed to extend forty meters outward!

The strike accelerated suddenly midway through its arc!

It was clearly visible that everything within that forty-meter trajectory path—every object—was cleanly bisected!! This included a nearby pyramid-like structure, which instantly collapsed.

Fang Senyan felt a jolt of alarm after witnessing it. This attack was not only immensely powerful, but it possessed a perverse secondary effect: a cutting attribute. Upon hitting an enemy’s limb, weapon, or equipment, there was a 33% chance to forcibly inflict a severing effect—causing maiming, destruction, or breakage!! For a monstrous tank like Fang Senyan, who boasted high defense and massive health, this kind of forced crippling effect was the most detestable. Even more so than special effects that deducted health based on a percentage.

Witnessing this slash, Loni immediately went blank. The Duoqige he had just met fell onto his six mechanical legs in front of him, bowing submissively:

“Master, I humbly request that you accept me as your servant.”

“What the hell!” Aldaris finally let out an audible curse. It was no wonder he felt such incandescent rage at the unfairness of fate! Duoqige submitting to Fang Senyan could be somewhat understandable, but to inexplicably pledge allegiance to Loni upon their first meeting—it made Aldaris painfully recall concepts like an ‘overwhelming aura.’

In reality, Aldaris was unaware of the complex history involved. Duoqige possessed dignity. When he first encountered Fang Senyan and the others, Fang Senyan had already shown restraint, which had already wounded Duoqige’s pride. However, the Protoss forces were currently stretched thin, and Duoqige’s high mobility was highly valued by his superiors, leading to his redeployment yet again...

Having had his pride wounded twice, Duoqige desperately did not wish to be sent a third time, as that would shatter his self-esteem completely. This was because he had overheard the human Fang Senyan recounting the story of the hunter and the bear (the hunter goes to the mountains to hunt, gets mauled by the bear; he angrily swaps guns and returns, only to be mauled again; the third time, the bear asks him in surprise, “Are you here to hunt, or are you here to sell yourself?”). In truth, the unfortunate Duoqige already felt like the hunter returning for a second attempt.

Under these circumstances, Loni had suffered an unfair setback at the Lost Temple (he should have received a substantial reward for achieving third place historically). Therefore, the system compensated him at this critical juncture by granting him the ability to acquire high-tier servants.

This was the fundamental reason Loni was able to gain Duoqige as a servant. To say he had gotten lucky was certainly true, but to claim he had gained an enormous windfall would be an overstatement, as Loni had forfeited the rich rewards tied to securing the historic third rank.

Around this time, Pantan and Annelu had also recovered substantially. Furthermore, during the previous battle, Ramtas had perished while covering their retreat. Fang Senyan had used his cultivation ability to resurrect Ramtas, and with Aldaris joining them, the group’s overall strength had increased rather than diminished.

Based on Fang Senyan’s current assessment, both the Zerg and Protoss factions were likely engaged in full-scale assaults, attempting to secure the powerful ‘God-Artifact’ first. Therefore, his group should be safe, so they accelerated their advance and successfully neared the core area of the entire city.

As they drew closer, Fang Senyan and the others could clearly feel the immense, awe-inspiring pressure emanating from the vast, sacred structures. Buildings that appeared tightly clustered from a distance were actually separated by an entire city block, and the crystal structure held aloft by three massive hands hovered in mid-air, inspiring an impulse toward reverence.

Fang Senyan’s gaze settled on the architecture surrounding the Judicator Council. These buildings were also enormous, though they seemed somewhat “short” when compared to the three central, magnificent, and eerie structures. In Fang Senyan’s view, each of these surrounding buildings stood over a hundred meters tall, and their footprint was certainly no smaller than a football field.

Clearly, searching these buildings one by one would be an endeavor draining both stamina and mental energy. So, Fang Senyan decided to delegate to the expert:

“Mr. Pantan, which of these structures do you believe holds what we need?”

Pantan suddenly flushed, his old face turning red. “Brigadier General, if we were in New York or New Shanghai, I could tell you the correct answer in the shortest time possible. But this is Protoss territory—and a city thousands of years old at that…”

Fang Senyan smiled and nodded. It was Duoqige who suddenly spoke with a metallic voice:

“Usually, to ensure energy can be focused and utilized faster and more efficiently, the lower-lying areas are designated for research and manufacturing departments.”

Fang Senyan immediately turned his attention to the lowest building. Aldaris added:

“I sense the positive ion charge cycling fastest over there.”

Without further hesitation, the group sprinted toward that specific building. However, a massive, thick metal door blocked their path. In the next second, everything from particle beams to photon cannon blasts erupted against that metal door. Finally, with a powerful kick from Fang Senyan, the door crashed down. Beyond it lay a deep, elongated passage. The group descended several tens of meters, their footsteps echoing clearly on the metal floor, before soft light and thick railings appeared ahead. They walked forward and froze instantly.

Before them stretched a colossal pit, at least several kilometers in length and over five hundred meters wide. Because the ceiling overhead was nearly fifty meters above the ground, and the pit’s depth was at least fifty meters, the vertical drop was approximately a hundred meters.

The perimeter of this pit was lined with pronounced Protoss-style shielding panels—smooth, hard, immaculate, and tinted with a faint stellar blue, clearly highly corrosion-resistant. Within this immense chasm rested three giant combat mechs that appeared to be in various stages of assembly. Surrounding them, maintenance scaffolding clearly indicated that at the time, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Protoss probes must have been welding and assembling here, packed densely like worker ants, the collective sparks of their activity enough to dazzle the eyes.

At first glance, these three giant combat machines resembled colossal insects with extremely slender legs. They possessed four long, flexible limbs that allowed them to traverse battlefield terrain effortlessly. Their extreme height meant they could easily cross ravines and cliffs to secure optimal firing positions, offering significant advantages in high mobility, survivability, and low wasted firepower.

Yes, this was the legendary terrifying Protoss weapon capable of standing toe-to-toe with Carriers on the ground!

The Colossus!

Although the Colossus’s height made it a more exposed target—vulnerable to ground, air units, and structures—it was protected by heavy armor plating all over. Pantan, meanwhile, stared blankly at a massive, unique weapon being hoisted nearby.

It was a devastatingly powerful Thermal Lance… and it appeared it would be mounted on either side of the Colossus’s body. Precise energy focusing and targeting systems ensured the Thermal Lance could sustain maximum power output damage.

It was easy to imagine that once one target was eliminated, the thermal beam would instantly switch to the next, meaning the destructive flames unleashed by the Colossus in every attack sequence could annihilate large numbers of enemies.

Well, I have to fly to Qidian for a meeting on the 29th. Updates might be irregular, so please forgive me, hehe. RS