80: Chapter 79 Iron Man (Third Update)

Countless petri dishes appeared around Xia Xingchen, but most of them were shattered, and the organisms being cultivated inside had vanished without a trace.

Xia Xingchen could clearly see that most of these tools were still present.

If one only spent some time restarting this place, this laboratory could function once again.

However, Xia Xingchen did not pay too much attention to this laboratory.

That cold, mechanical voice echoed in the dark space:

"What is this place used for?"

Hearing Xia Xingchen's inquiry, the space fell silent for a long moment before answering him:

"You can understand this as a place for conducting genetic research and modification during the Dark Age of Technology."

As Xia Xingchen walked, he saw a huge, shattered incubation tank with a black claw left inside.

"What was the creature inside?"

Xia Xingchen asked about the creature that had been studied inside this experimental tank.

"Data missing, unable to verify."

The mechanical voice suddenly echoed in the space, answering Xia Xingchen's question.

He said nothing, instead continuing to walk forward. As Xia Xingchen approached, the mysterious door in the depths opened once again.

"Just how many levels does this pyramid of yours have?"

Xia Xingchen asked, surely he couldn't keep climbing upwards forever?

Xia Xingchen demanded a precise answer from the mysterious voice—at the very least, how much longer did he have to walk?

"You only need to climb three more levels," the mysterious voice said, then immediately added, "And the further you go, the shorter the distance."

Xia Xingchen had no choice but to start climbing up the new staircase in the passage again.

Seriously, why didn't they install an elevator here?

Xia Xingchen complained inwardly, but his feet still stepped onto the stairs.

Continuing upwards, when he reached the next level.

What the hell!!!

Xia Xingchen could hardly believe what he was seeing; a large group of Men of Iron stood in place here.

Impossible, impossible.

How could there still be such a massive number of Men of Iron?

According to the Warhammer World setting, basically all Men of Iron had been destroyed, with only a portion of the loyalists having been sealed away by the Golden Men.

Xia Xingchen stood where he was, not daring to move an inch.

It was only after a while that he realized these Men of Iron seemed to be in a dormant state, and only then did he boldly start walking again.

Xia Xingchen walked through the gaps between the immensely tall Men of Iron, the metallic luster reflecting onto his body.

Xia Xingchen looked up at these Men of Iron.

They stood there like imperial icons.

Their steel-forged bodies gave off a cold, faint glimmer in the darkness, every inch of alloy plate armor looking as if it had been forged from the fragments of stars.

Truly a masterpiece of humanity's peak era, a declaration of perfection.

The heads of these Men of Iron had no hair and no skin, only metallic skulls polished to a near-mirror finish. Their facial features were deliberately kept in a human contour: high bridge of the nose, tightly closed lips, deep-set eye sockets. But there were no eyeballs within the sockets, only two clusters of ghostly blue cold fire, like phosphorescence in the deep sea, like the final gaze of a death star before it collapses.

Seeing these sights, Xia Xingchen felt nothing but a shiver of dread.

Because Xia Xingchen knew clearly that these things were once humanity's strongest combat force, and also the existence that had dragged humanity's most prosperous Dark Age of Technology into the abyss.

Xia Xingchen watched these Men of Iron; although they were motionless, the murderous atmosphere about them had not diminished in the slightest. Finally, summoning his courage, Xia Xingchen took the initiative to place his hand on the torso of a Man of Iron.

A sensation of icy cold instantly spread through Xia Xingchen's palm.

In an instant, Xia Xingchen felt as if he had touched ten-thousand-year-old ice, the bone-chilling pain spreading from his palm to his limbs.

Xia Xingchen looked at the torso of the Man of Iron; he didn't know how many types of destructive weapons were hidden inside those torsos.

If one had to use an image to describe this moment, it would be like thousands upon thousands of neatly arranged Terracotta Warriors standing before you. But you know the Terracotta Warriors are dead and won't come back to life, so you dare to visit them boldly. The problem is that the group of Men of Iron before me now are alive; they really might stand up.

Xia Xingchen only felt his heart pounding in his chest, terrified that in the next second, some Man of Iron would turn its head and swat him into cosmic dust.

"Then how many Men of Iron do you have?"

As Xia Xingchen's voice fell, a voice quickly rang out again inside the pyramid.

That mysterious voice full of mechanical sensation:

"To be precise, one hundred thousand and ten."

Xia Xingchen was stunned upon hearing this, then, unable to care about anything else, asked loudly:

"Are these Men of Iron still usable? Have they been sealed? Or what is the situation?"

The mysterious voice immediately provided Xia Xingchen with an answer:

"After the Men of Iron Rebellion was quelled, humanity placed a portion of the Men of Iron that had always remained loyal to them and had never rebelled here. As for the reason, I do not know either."

Xia Xingchen nodded after hearing this.

In fact, during the Men of Iron Rebellion, although the vast majority of the Men of Iron had betrayed humanity, a portion of the Men of Iron chose to continue their loyalty to humanity.

They helped humanity fight against the traitorous Men of Iron, but their ultimate fate was to be sealed away by humanity.

At this moment, Xia Xingchen looked at these things before him, stunned for a moment, and then proceeded to ask a question.

"Don't tell me there are Golden Men or Stone Men up there too."

Hearing this, the mysterious voice did not say much, but continued to say to Xia Xingchen:

"What you want to know, and what you want to see, are all waiting for you above."

The mysterious voice's vague words made Xia Xingchen swallow a mouthful of saliva, and then he continued to walk upwards.