Gu Chen's Snow Soul Divine Claws were indestructible, capable of shattering jade and splitting metal, yet everything depended on the target. The high-grade lightsaber core specially crafted by the Roman people contained a unique alloy spindle. The lightsaber emitter focused high-energy lasers onto this core, forming this extremely lethal energy weapon. The high-energy laser beam on the lightsaber vibrated slightly at a frequency of three million Hertz; all known metals and alloys faced this high-frequency oscillation energy as if it were mere tofu. Moreover, the surface temperature of the lightsaber reached several thousand degrees—the sheer heat alone kept Gu Chen's Snow Soul Divine Claws from daring to approach.

Bolbot swung his lightsaber down relentlessly, forcing Gu Chen to retreat and dodge in a wretched state. The lightsaber tore through the cold wind and snow, the intense heat vaporizing massive amounts of moisture. Gu Chen was drenched in sweat, nearly being cooked alive by the heat radiating from the blade.

The lightsaber was too powerful; Gu Chen, relying only on his bare hands, was completely unable to fight back. Getting close enough to strike Bolbot was impossible. His energy armor was also a top-tier custom piece; the layer of shimmering blue energy shield surrounding his body, nearly a foot thick, was as solid and condensed as a slab of blue crystal. Such advanced energy armor could withstand the bombardment of a battleship's main cannon; how could Gu Chen hope to harm Bolbot with just his hands?

Whoosh, the lightsaber grazed past Gu Chen’s scalp. His short hair, which had only recently started to grow, instantly crackled into smoke and drifted away.

Furious and exasperated, Gu Chen rapidly backed away a dozen paces. He roared, "Bolbot, how have I provoked you?"

A sharp, cold light flared in Bolbot's golden eyes. He paused his swordplay slightly and shouted sternly, "You haven't provoked me? That black Christo Crystal Human was my coming-of-age gift; its crystal sphere belongs to me! Only I deserve such a rare black sphere! But what did you do? You actually merged with him, you damn fool!"

A ferocious mental shock erupted from the center of Bolbot's brow. The pale-blue shockwave kicked up meters-deep snowdrifts. Gu Chen was thrown backward by the psychic impact. His brain throbbed with intense pain; Bolbot’s mental cultivation was formidable, and even though Gu Chen mobilized the energy within his Dao Fetus to guard his mind, he was still shaken dizzy and collapsed onto the ground.

"Damn it! How was I supposed to know that thing was yours," Gu Chen cursed angrily.

Bolbot spat, "Vile Earthling, you ruined my plans! The black Christo Crystal Sphere was certain to push my peerless, formidable potential to its absolute limit! But now, after you stole that black sphere, the being I merged with during my Christo Fusion Ceremony turned out to be a tattered cyan crystal sphere! Just a cyan one!"

A cyan Christo Crystal Sphere was already an incredibly rare treasure, but compared to the unheard-of black sphere, the cyan one was undeniably inferior by a massive margin.

The lightsaber tore through the cold wind again, slicing toward Gu Chen. Gu Chen executed an agile flip, soaring into the air, and unleashed thirty-six strikes of his Cloud-Slicing Palm toward Bolbot.

The elusive white palm winds forced Bolbot into a clumsy scramble. The lightsaber shattered twenty-three gusts of wind, while thirteen others slammed solidly into Bolbot’s body. The blue energy shield fluctuated violently, and Bolbot staggered back several steps.

Seeing his Cloud-Slicing Palm achieve results, Gu Chen quickly waved his hands repeatedly, launching one hundred and eight more strikes.

The force of the Cloud-Slicing Palm was too unpredictable to manage. Bolbot cursed as he whipped his lightsaber into a whirling sphere of light to shield himself, yet over twenty streams of palm energy still struck him.

Seizing the moment while Bolbot was forced onto the defensive, Gu Chen lunged toward the Bearded Captain, grabbed him, and fled toward the ground facility of the Aurora Power Station's reactor.

The Roman soldiers, coordinated with the Ling Clan warriors, had inflicted heavy casualties upon the First and Second Battalions of the Internal Guard Regiment. Moreover, the artillery emplacements carried by ten Guli Beasts continued their bombardment. Only fewer than thirty of the several hundred mercenary fighters ultimately managed to follow Gu Chen and escape safely into the power station's ground facility.

Bolbot, whose formation had been thrown into disarray by Gu Chen’s chaotic assault, charged forward with his subordinates in a fit of rage. He bellowed, "Evil Dragon, you die today. And the Hell Angels Mercenary Corps, you all die here. Heh heh heh, you never dreamed that all your main battle corps have been drawn away by me!"

"What?" The Bearded Captain, after all, was a master of the Innate Level. Having just been stunned, he was now awake. Ignoring the steel bar impaling his thigh, the Captain angrily leaned out of a window and roared toward Bolbot several hundred meters away, "What did you say? You pulled my main battle corps away?"

Bolbot let out a sinister laugh, mocking, "Otherwise, how could all the mining sites belonging to Earth Federation mining corporations be attacked simultaneously? Heh heh, and how could they hire you to fight at such exorbitant prices? In short, your mercenary group's forces are now dispersed, allowing me to slowly devour you all!"

Taking a deep breath, Bolbot said with annoyance, "If I don't slaughter your entire mercenary corps, where is the face of my Holsam Family? And who will I take out my frustrations on for the losses I suffered because of Bolbot?"

The Bearded Captain's expression changed drastically. The mercenary group's dozen main corps were scattered across dozens of mining sites for various mining companies. If Bolbot deployed the kind of strength seen today against each site individually, his Hell Angels Mercenary Corps could truly be wiped out root and branch.

Gu Chen sneered, "No wonder those mining companies didn't hire the Sacred Unicorn mercenaries but specifically sought us out!"

"Damn it!" the Bearded Captain cursed furiously, "Why does the Earth Federation breed so many 'race traitors'?"

"Eh?" Gu Chen glanced sideways at the Bearded Captain. It seemed the Hell Angels Mercenary Corps hadn't been entirely clean either, engaging in business dealings with the Roman people.

"Enough, you can offer your dying words now!" Bolbot performed a graceful bow toward Gu Chen's position. "Because you caused our Holsam Family losses, and because one of you caused me extremely great personal loss, you all deserve to go to hell!"

Swinging his lightsaber fiercely, Bolbot was about to give the order for a full assault.

His eyes darted around a few times. Gu Chen stepped onto the windowsill, pointed at Bolbot, and shouted loudly, "Bolbot, I will perish with you!"

"Oh?"

Bolbot laughed mockingly, "Do you even have the qualifications to perish with me?"

Gu Chen roared with laughter, "Of course! Have you forgotten what lies beneath this Aurora Power Station? Beneath us is a thermonuclear fusion reactor with a power equivalent to twenty billion-ton hydrogen bombs!"

Bolbot’s face turned ashen, and he roared, "You wouldn't dare?"

Gu Chen yelled, "I'm already about to die, why wouldn't I dare? If you dare to attack, I will detonate every single nuclear reactor immediately! In just a few tens of seconds, we will all die together!"

Bolbot froze in shock.

The Bearded Captain started laughing gleefully, "Heh heh, this idiot. He planned to lure us away from the base to attack the Aurora Power Station, but he never expected this move, did he?"

Gu Chen pointed at Bolbot and sneered coldly, "Think about it: dying with me, is it worth it? My life isn't worth much; I’m just a mercenary who works hard for a living. But you? Your status is different from mine! You still have a great life waiting for you to enjoy!"

"Ugh!" Bolbot trembled with rage. He had been so focused on devising a plan to draw the Hell Angels Mercenary Corps away from their base that he chose the target closest to and most vital to their headquarters to attack. However, he had overlooked the fact that the reactors in this thermonuclear power station were lethal devices. Although these reactors were designed with complete safety measures, they couldn't withstand malicious sabotage by a squad of fully armed soldiers!

If he really launched the attack, and if Gu Chen truly went berserk and detonated the nuclear reactors, dying alongside him would truly not be worth the cost.

Bolbot stood stunned. The leader of the Roman soldiers behind him kept urging Bolbot to make a decision quickly. Although they had used minor tactics to draw away reinforcements from the Earth Federation Army, they couldn't delay for too long. If the main force of the Earth Federation Army arrived, this isolated contingent would be in grave danger.

Furious, Bolbot threw his head back and roared to the sky, "Retreat! Retreat! We'll settle this next time!"

Two Roman warships, each over three hundred meters long, swooped down from the high altitude. Bolbot watched the two vessels break through the clouds, a fierce glint suddenly flashing in his eyes.

Gu Chen noticed the hostile look in Bolbot's eyes and immediately shouted, "Bolbot, you are not allowed to retreat now! Leave the energy cannons mounted on those ten Guli Beasts, or I will detonate the reactors right now!"

The Bearded Captain nodded vigorously, muttering, "That's right, we can't let them leave now!"

Earth Federation reinforcements had not yet arrived. If Bolbot were allowed to leave just like that, once the two warships ascended to high altitude, a single sweeping barrage from their main cannons would be enough to kill most of the survivors inside the power station. Gu Chen and the Bearded Captain might survive due to their superior skills, but all the other ordinary soldiers would be annihilated.

Bolbot staggered, nearly falling over. He turned back and roared in anger, "You are blackmailing me?"

Gu Chen laughed loudly, "Leave the ten energy cannons, leave all the armaments of the Ling Clan, and swear on your family's name to shut down the weapon energy systems on both warships, or I will detonate the reactors right now!"

Bolbot's eyes flickered, and he sneered, "I’ll even give you the Guli Beasts!"

Gu Chen bellowed, "I don't dare take the Guli Beasts; I only want the energy cannons on their backs! Hmm, you also have to unload the standard Zakla energy crystals from your warships, or I will detonate the reactors right now! I’ll count down in tens of seconds!"

"Ten... nine... eight..."

Gu Chen counted off, completely unconcerned. Bolbot's expression changed rapidly, and finally, he reluctantly nodded, agreeing to Gu Chen's demands. He had truly chosen the wrong location for the ambush.

The laser rifles belonging to three thousand Ling Clan warriors were tossed onto the ground. The energy cannons on the backs of the ten Guli Beasts were dismantled and discarded. Piles of Zakla crystals were moved out of the warships' storage bays, and all the angry Romans retreated to their vessels. Everything Gu Chen demanded was accomplished in mere minutes.

The two Roman warships ascended into the sky with a hint of disarray. Several entirely black Earth Federation warships appeared frantically on the distant horizon.

Gu Chen and the Bearded Captain exchanged a look and simultaneously sighed.

The retaliation from the Holsam Family was severe. Although the Hell Angels Mercenary Corps had acquired a large amount of equipment this time, the personnel losses were painful enough to cause heartache.

"Next time, we absolutely cannot give them an opening!" Gu Chen murmured to the Bearded Captain. The Captain nodded, still feeling the lingering fear.

If not for the nuclear reactor beneath their feet, they would truly have been doomed this time. ×××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××× Comrades, where are the recommendation votes? If I push hard with recommendations and clicks, Pig Head (the author) will work hard to write more... Recommend, recommend, recommend!