94: Doomsday Countdown

Central Square.

This was no longer a golden holy land, but a complete Shura slaughterhouse.

"Ah—!"

A Mercenary from the Scorpion Squad had just emptied a magazine and hadn't had time to reload when a golden afterimage flashed past his side.

Puchi!

He didn't even see how the enemy attacked before he was sliced in half at the waist! His upper body flew several meters away, his intestines and organs mixing with hot blood as they spilled onto the ground with a wet splat.

His lower body remained standing, wobbling twice before falling over with a thud.

The Golden Warriors' killing involved no wasted movement.

Every swing they made followed the most efficient logic of slaughter; the golden arcs drawn by their energy blades were like death warrants.

These battle-hardened mercenaries had gone completely mad, their spirits utterly broken.

The law of the jungle, battlefield experience, and fearless ruthlessness they took pride in were a massive joke in front of these steel lumps that bullets couldn't even penetrate.

"Fuck! I'll take you down with me!"

A burly man with a face full of scars saw his teammate's tragic death and his eyes turned blood-red. He threw away his empty rifle, pulled out a military dagger from his waist, and roared as he lunged at a Golden Warrior, trying to pry open the opponent's joints with the blade.

But the Golden Warrior simply twisted its body mechanically and swung its hand back.

Kacha!

A flash of blade light passed, and the burly man's roar stopped abruptly.

His entire person, along with the dagger in his hand, was cleanly split from the top of his head to his crotch, divided into two neat halves as a mist of blood exploded outward.

In the sky, those diamond-shaped flight units were still circling. Like vultures circling over a corpse, they used cold firepower to block everyone's escape routes.

A Mercenary had just pulled out a grenade and hadn't even had time to pull the pin when a crimson energy beam descended from the sky, accurately hitting his grenade!

Boom!

The violent explosion blew him and two nearby comrades into flying bits of shredded meat.

The Scorpion Squad was finished.

In contrast, Osiris's silver-gray guard was in slightly better shape.

Although the energy weapons in their hands couldn't take down a Golden Warrior in one shot, the powerful impact could effectively hinder the enemy's movements, causing them to stiffen for a moment.

They operated in three-man combat teams, standing in a triangular formation to cover each other and alternate fire, stubbornly holding a small patch of ground amidst the tide of Golden Warriors.

But they were only just holding on.

There were too many Golden Warriors!

As soon as one fell, two more immediately moved up from behind. They would even charge over the 'corpses' of their companions; that endless sense of pressure was enough to make any army collapse.

Osiris stood at the center of the guard.

The expensive trench coat he wore didn't have a single wrinkle, looking completely out of place amidst the flying flesh and blood around him.

He didn't move, nor did he show even a hint of tension. Those gray-blue pupils were as cold as if they lacked any human emotion, merely scanning the entire battlefield with indifference.

He was calculating.

Calculating the data of every Golden Warrior, calculating the ammunition consumption rate of his guard, and calculating the life value of every subordinate.

Ultimately, he calculated a result—it was a loss.

"Captain! We can't hold on! These tin cans just won't die!"

The captain of the Scorpion Squad, that previously arrogant scar-faced man, now rolled to Osiris's feet covered in blood. One of his arms hung limp with shards of white bone exposed; his face was covered in snot and tears, written with fear and despair.

Osiris didn't even look down at him, simply ordering into his headset in a flat tone: "Night Owl, report losses."

"Reporting, Boss. Four dead in the guard, seven wounded. Energy reserves depleted by over sixty percent. Based on current model projections, our defensive line can hold for fifteen minutes at most."

A cold, synthetic electronic voice came through the headset.

Fifteen minutes.

There wasn't a hint of struggle or hesitation in Osiris's pupils.

He looked up at the distant spire that had already been scorched black by bombardment. There, the knowledge and power that should have allowed him to stand at the top of the world were supposed to be kept.

Just a little bit more!

A silent surge of anger and unwillingness churned in his chest.

But it only churned for a moment.

Reason told him that staying here would only result in total annihilation. His life, Osiris's life, was precious; he could never die in a hellhole like this.

"Prepare to retreat."

He made the decision coldly.

"Re... Retreat?" The scar-faced captain was stunned. He struggled to crawl up, clutching Osiris's pant leg tightly, and shouted urgently, "Boss! The... the treasure..."

"Treasure?"

Osiris finally looked down, looking him in the eye for the first time with a gaze like he was looking at a cold corpse.

"Being able to crawl out of here alive is the greatest treasure you will ever receive in your life."

With that, he kicked away the scar-faced man's hand and ignored the fool who was about to die, continuing to issue commands into his headset.

"Night Owl, initiate Plan B. All units, abandon defense and break through toward South Exit Three! I need a clear path!"

"Command confirmed."

The moment the order was given, the six most elite guards by his side immediately broke away from the formation.

With synchronized movements, they unfastened metal discs from their backs and pressed them firmly onto the golden floor in front of them.

Wong—!

The six discs were activated simultaneously, and finger-thick blue electric arcs jumped and connected wildly between them, instantly forming a massive blue energy field that expanded outward!

High-frequency electromagnetic pulse!

Those fearless, unstoppable Golden Warriors shuddered violently the moment they charged into this blue energy field!

The golden light on their surfaces began to flicker wildly, and their movements became sluggish, distorted, and stiff, like robots with poor signals, as they began to twitch in place.

The intense electromagnetic interference caused a brief malfunction in their precision components and energy cores!

Though it couldn't destroy them completely, these few short seconds of stagnation were an escape route bought with lives!

"Go!"

At Osiris's command, he sprinted toward the city's southern exit without looking back, flanked by his guards.

Meanwhile, the remaining members of the Scorpion Squad—fewer than ten—along with several wounded guards, were ruthlessly abandoned where they stood, becoming cannon fodder to stall the machine army.

"Boss! Don't leave us! Boss!"

The scar-faced captain let out a pig-like shriek as he scrambled on all fours to catch up.

But he had only crawled two steps when several Golden Warriors behind him, recovering from the electromagnetic interference, surged over him with heavy strides.

A cold energy blade flashed.

His shrieking stopped abruptly.

Osiris didn't even turn his head once.

To him, the value of these mercenaries had dropped to zero the moment the mission failed.

Now, using their corpses to buy even a single second of escape time was their final and only value.

Cold-blooded and efficient.

However, just as Osiris and his group were about to burst out of the square's boundaries, that majestic, grand, non-human mental command once again echoed over the entire city like divine punishment!

"...Intruders detected attempting to flee..."

"...'Inheritor' screening plan... confirmed as a total failure..."

This voice was colder than any before, carrying a programmed finality.

"...City core mission terminated, existence no longer has meaning..."

"...Initiating... Final Purification Protocol..."

The next second, a command that made everyone's scalp tingle rang through the sky!

"...Golden City... dismantling..."

"...Countdown... one hundred and twenty seconds..."

Osiris, who was running for his life, saw his perfect, machine-like stride falter for the first time, nearly stumbling to the ground!

He stopped abruptly, spun around, and stared fixedly at this city of ultimate grandeur.

In those perpetually calm gray-blue eyes, for the first time, emotions called 'madness' and 'disbelief' filled them!

Self-destruct?

This damn Jokin Civilization was actually this decisive?!

They would rather completely erase everything they had spent countless efforts creating from this universe than leave a single bit for those who came after!

What bullshit treasure! What bullshit inheritance!

From beginning to end, this was a trap! A massive scam!

One hundred and twenty seconds!

Two hours? No! One hundred and twenty seconds!

Two minutes!

The entire city, including the land beneath their feet, everything would vanish into nothingness in two minutes!

Osiris's face turned pale instantly, and a chill originating from the depths of his soul almost froze his blood.

One hundred and nineteen seconds... one hundred and eighteen seconds... the cold countdown continued to tick mercilessly in his mind.

Could they escape before this dismantling city completely collapsed?