Bakanbu’s body was hurled away by the blow, and judging by the trajectory of his flight, he resembled a tattered sack, destined to fall to the ground only after a long, slow descent.

Fang Senyan fought with all his might to steady his surging breath; oxygen felt incredibly precious, even as flames continued to burn upon his own body. He slowly retracted his fist, upon which the G-point was rapidly writhing and reshaping itself, transforming from the shape of a silver-white gauntlet back into the Demon Sword, Apophis.

The ultimate impact just delivered was a crushing burden even for Fang Senyan in his current state, leaving him momentarily struggling even to extinguish the flames on his person, able only to exert himself to maintain his balance and avoid a humiliating collapse.

Before Bakanbu could hit the ground, a figure seemed to evaporate out of the air—it was Roni, emerging silently. His form intersected with Bakanbu’s, and his bloody short blade slashed out instantly, sketching seven or eight continuous lines of crimson in the air. Then, Bakanbu, already on the brink of death, collapsed instantly without a sound, his body brutally cleaved into seven or eight ghastly pieces before being kicked away!

Meanwhile, although Old A was positioned directly behind Fang Senyan, theoretically at his most vulnerable blind spot, he was no longer capable of inflicting any damage upon him… because a horrific, ghastly wound had opened across his face. Red flesh was peeled back, resembling the gaping maw of a child, and his right eye lay directly within the gash, its orb ruptured. Black ichor mingled with blood, dripping steadily downward.

Aldaris had already reverted from his Archon of Light state, his external energy shield completely depleted. Fortunately, as a Contractor, Aldaris was not excessively fragile.

The malevolent dagger deeply embedded in Old A’s back… was Aldaris’s signature weapon, the Mage’s Bane! This wicked blade was systematically draining Old A’s mana pool, little by little, as if thread by thread. And for a mage, the consequence of losing their magical reserves is certainly no better than that of a tiger stripped of its claws and fangs.

Aldaris had now transformed into a dual-blade assassin, attacking Old A with blinding, lightning-fast ferocity. Old A, conversely, appeared harried and defensive, struggling to cover both flanks, clearly at a significant disadvantage.

This was Aldaris’s fighting specialty: if the enemy favored physical attacks, he would engage them with magic; but if the enemy was a caster, Aldaris would display his formidable melee prowess… Old A had evidently become a victim of this very combat philosophy.

“Wait! Wait a moment!!” Old A suddenly flung his magic staff away, abandoning resistance, and cried out in desperation. It was noteworthy that the person he was addressing was none other than Fang Senyan. Clearly, he understood at this critical juncture that his life or death rested entirely upon the man before him.

Aldaris paused, his blade hanging flawlessly against Old A’s throat. While he could have easily harvested Old A’s life force, doing so would effectively strip Fang Senyan of his victory. Such an action, if avoidable, was best omitted, so he reluctantly halted his strike.

Fang Senyan was coughing violently, streaks of blood seeping from his features. He looked at Old A with an expression that was outwardly gentle, but his gaze was piercingly sharp and demanding. After a moment, Fang Senyan slowly extended one finger: “Four Merit Points.”

Then he extended a second finger: “One Silver Grade Epic item or one Dark Gold item.”

Followed by the third finger: “A permanent solution—clean, simple, leaving no future trouble.”

Finally, Fang Senyan concluded: “I will give you ten seconds to convince us.”

It was evident that what Fang Senyan listed were all sufficient reasons to eliminate Old A, whose recent actions had also carried the subtle implication of sowing discord, since, on the surface at least, the beneficiary of Old A’s demise would be Aldaris. This was why Fang Senyan used the phrasing, “convince us.”

Old A croaked: “If you spare me, you gain an enormous secret.”

Aldaris sneered: “What in the hell is this secret? Five seconds left.”

Old A gritted his teeth, knowing this was no time for hoarding secrets: “When we were ambushing to pursue and kill Roni, we unexpectedly encountered a Dark Templar. That fellow proved incredibly troublesome; despite being an old man and missing an arm, even with all of us attacking in concert, he nearly escaped. If Artemis hadn’t thought of using an insult to the Protoss honor to force his compliance, he truly would have gotten away.”

“After killing the old man, he dropped two Dark Gold items and a transmission crystal. The great secret I speak of is inside that crystal. It turns out the Zerg are most interested in a type of high-energy crystal. Once the Zerg acquire high-energy crystals, they can easily achieve evolution and other states.”

“Therefore, the level of attraction these high-energy crystals hold for the Zerg is staggering. It’s no wonder they could compel the Queen of Blades to come in person. In fact, this entire planet is a setup—a massive kill zone. The Protoss of ancient times have united with the current Protoss, specifically targeting the extermination of their great enemy, the Queen of Blades!”

Aldaris’s expression instantly changed, as he grasped the implication. He couldn’t help but ask: “So what you’re saying is, this entire city is nothing but bait?”

Old A managed a bitter smile: “I don’t know the specifics, but a site this massive doesn’t look like a ruin. However, to trick a freak like the Queen of Blades, it would require an immense investment—it couldn't be faked. Based on our analysis, the Protoss will feign patience to lure the Queen of Blades into the encirclement, but the moment the trap is sprung, they will turn hostile with overwhelming force.”

Fang Senyan suddenly interjected: “If that’s the case, then why did Artemis get involved in that mess?”

Old A hesitated: “Her target is the bait offered by the Protoss. Obtaining either the high-energy crystals or the artifact would grant one a power capable of complete rebirth. And bait designed to lure the Queen of Blades cannot possibly be fake.”

Fang Senyan sneered: “That woman really dares to dream—I believe what you’re saying, but buying your life seems far from enough, oh.”

Upon hearing there was room for negotiation, Old A hastily offered: “I also have three Silver Grade Epic items and two hundred thousand Universal Points. Take them all; I’ll give them to you.”

As he spoke, he preemptively initiated the trade.

Fang Senyan smiled: “You’re quite forthcoming. Aren’t you afraid we’ll change our minds and betray you?”

Old A replied honestly: “I am afraid, but the leader of a Silver Team like myself should not be someone who goes back on his word.”

Just as Fang Senyan was about to speak, he suddenly felt the ground shake violently, followed by the sounds of metal snapping, shearing, and warping—as if a magnitude ten earthquake had struck. Immediately afterward, the roof of a nearby workshop building was blasted through, and a colossal metal and steel monstrosity appeared.

This thing stood at least thirty meters tall, encased entirely in Protoss armor material, yet it lacked the signature Protoss energy shield. While this might suggest reduced survivability, it also meant the omission of complex, high-precision components like plasma shield generators. The armor and survivability could be massively enhanced, meaning this design philosophy—rooted in humanity’s concept of massive ship-mounted cannons—was not necessarily a disadvantage.

According to the original Protoss schematics, the Stalker-like Colossus resembled a giant, long-legged spider, elegantly striding across mountains and rivers to pour astonishing firepower onto the enemy.

But now, modified by Pontan, which merged human design concepts with the Colossus’s high technology, this creature did not resemble a long-legged giant spider; instead, it looked like an iron bear with shockingly thick, short limbs!

While this configuration might sacrifice some movement speed, the massive boost to durability and combat power compensated for it. The most direct evidence was that a standard Colossus only equipped two thermal laser cannons—one mounted on each side of the body.

This iron monster, however, could mount at least four colossal thermal laser cannons, each equipped with precise focusing and targeting systems capable of wreaking terrible havoc! Its powerful drive systems allowed it to be easily welded with five layers of armor, nearly doubling the survivability of a standard Colossus! The cost? A mere 35% reduction in maximum forward speed and a 20% reduction in maximum obstacle clearance height.

Under Pontan’s control, a steel giant palm, easily three or four stories high, descended with a terrifying rush of wind, slamming down viciously onto the metal street! A dreadful sound of metal twisting and fracturing echoed, and the Saber-toothed Tiger released by Pacino to cover their retreat was pulverized into paste before it could even emit a death cry.

Following this, the steel mobile fortress, named the Cataclysm Beast, slowly crawled out of the fabrication facility. As it moved, it didn’t forget to greedily rip at the surrounding metal walls with its claws, then shove the fractured, broken metal fragments into its massive maw as if they were candies, chewing with loud, crunching sounds.