180: Chapter 180 Half-step to the sixth rank? To put it bluntly, it means not yet at the sixth rank.

In front of the giant bronze gate, the bone mecha paused for half a second.

Soon, a harsh electronic static sounded in the channel.

"Low-level carbon-based threat detected."

"Threat rating: Unknown."

"Recommended course of action: dismantle, salvage, and seal any valuable tissue samples."

The bone mecha slowly turned around.

It was nearly six meters tall, its outer armor pieced together from grayish-white metal and bone structures. An inverted cross was embedded in its chest, and eight mechanical arms extended from its back, two of which were still pressing against the golden seal on the outer layer of the sea-stabilizing needle.

Mio's projection flickered in the first carriage.

"It is a Dismantler."

"A ruin cleanup unit from the Gray-White Mechanical Holy Court, specialized in dismantling high-order seals."

Jiang Jiuyou sat before the secondary command console, her fingertips hovering over the fire control keys.

"Level?"

Shen Wanbing stared at the panel, speaking quickly.

"Mechanical energy level is close to the Sixth Order, but the core strength hasn't reached it yet—half-step Sixth Order."

Blood Rose leaned lazily against the side of the sofa, draped in Chen Chen's black coat over her red camisole. Her snow-white shoulders and neck were exposed. She looked languid, but her words were venomous.

"Half-step Sixth Order? Simply put, it hasn't reached the Sixth Order yet."

Su Xiaoqi was busy gnawing on a Fifth Order steak.

The Dismantler's electronic voice blasted again.

"Carbon-based natives."

"You do not possess the qualifications to occupy the ruins."

"This Holy Court has requisitioned the Deep Sea Royal Court treasury."

"Evacuate within ten seconds, or we will dismantle your hull, skeletons, and nervous systems."

Su Xiaoqi's hand trembled.

A piece of roasted meat fell to the ground.

She looked down at the meat, then looked up at the communication screen, her dark eyes widening instantly.

"He interrupted my meal!"

She raised the half-gnawed bone, so angry that her twin tails were shaking.

"Big Brother, I want to smash that tin can flat!"

Blood Rose laughed out loud, the curves of her chest rising and falling gently with the movement.

She leaned closer to Chen Chen, her arm pressing against his shoulder, her voice carrying the huskiness of just having recovered.

"Master, they're practically insulting us to our faces."

"If you endure this, Commander Jiang will look down on you when we get back."

Jiang Jiuyou didn't even turn her head.

"I look down on this piece of scrap metal right now, too."

Shen Wanxing hugged her blanket and shrank behind Shen Wanbing, adding a quiet jab.

"He really is so noisy..."

Chen Chen raised his hand.

The first carriage immediately went quiet.

The Dismantler did not wait ten seconds.

Its eight mechanical arms operated simultaneously, and the speed at which it stripped the seal from the sea-stabilizing needle surged.

The golden pillar in front of the giant bronze gate began to vibrate.

Twelve grayish-white mechanical warships also turned in sync, their bow main cannons glowing with grayish-white rings of light.

Mio became anxious.

"They're going to fire!"

"The Gray-White Holy Court's fission cannons will directly dismantle shield structures; we can't take too many hits head-on!"

The Dismantler's electronic voice came again.

"Cleansing initiated."

"Target: Unknown sea-air hybrid fortress."

"Salvage priority: High."

Chen Chen didn't waste any more words on it.

"Jiang Jiuyou."

"Full Fleet Link activation."

"Sea Scale secondary battery array, lock onto the twelve warships."

Excitement welled up in Jiang Jiuyou's ice-blue pupils.

She had just broken through one hundred points of Spirit, and the firepower nodes of the entire vessel arranged themselves into a map in her mind.

"Understood."

Her hands descended, and the secondary command console lit up instantly.

"Fleet Link deployed."

"Sea Scale secondary batteries connected."

"Ghost Fortress traction fire control connected."

"Firepower Overload, activate!"

[Mechanical Empress: Starport Resonance activated.]

[God-level active skill: Firepower Overload activated.]

[Duration: 180 seconds.]

[All linked weapon attacks force ignore 50% of the target's armor.]

Below the Sea Scale, the secondary battery wells on both sides of the dilapidated hull turned one by one.

Under the high pressure of the deep sea, the water around the cannon muzzles was pushed aside by nuclear energy pulses.

Jiang Jiuyou tapped her finger down.

"First round."

"Hit its left wing."

Boom!

Blue-white nuclear energy pulses tore through the deep sea.

The seawater was instantly vaporized into massive bubbles, and over a dozen cannon beams slammed into the grayish-white fleet simultaneously.

The grayish-white mechanical warships raised inverted cross shields.

The Dismantler emitted a cold, stiff electronic voice.

"Low-efficiency ship cannons."

"Unable to penetrate Holy Court sh—"

Before it could finish speaking.

The shield of the first grayish-white warship exploded.

The second one cracked right after.

The third was pierced straight through from bow to stern by the secondary batteries; its internal energy furnace lost control, and the entire ship exploded into countless fragments in the deep sea.

Shen Wanxing shrank her neck, startled by the bright light.

"It broke?"

Su Xiaoqi cheered immediately.

"Yay! The tin can is opened!"

Blood Rose laughed even more recklessly.

"Commander Jiang, beautiful shot."

Jiang Jiuyou had no time to spare for her.

"Second round, the three on the right."

"Mio, help me correct the underwater refraction!"

Mio swore while taking over the auxiliary parameters.

"I really owe you all!"

"Right-side target compensation at 7.2 percent, don't miss; if you miss, you'll hit the god needle!"

Jiang Jiuyou pressed the fire button directly.

The second round of cannon fire descended.

The three grayish-white warships on the right tried to scatter, but the Ghost Fortress's traction fire control had already locked onto their turning trajectories.

Boom, boom, boom!

The three warships were battered until their hulls buckled; one of them attempted to release a small escape pod, and Qin Hongye's voice cut into the sniper channel.

"The escape pod has an energy core."

Bang.

A Gauss projectile pierced through the seawater, precisely drilling into the tail end of the escape pod.

A small explosion lit up in the distance.

Qin Hongye reloaded.

"Next."

The Dismantler finally stopped dismantling the seal.

The inverted cross on its chest glowed with a strong grayish-white light.

"Combat model recalculated."

"Target danger level adjusted upwards."

"Executing forced dismantling."

Boom!

The eight mechanical arms behind the bone mecha spread out simultaneously, and the deep-sea water pressure was forcibly compressed into high-pressure water blades, slashing toward the Sea Scale and the Ghost Fortress.

Red lights flashed wildly on Shen Wanbing's panel.

"The water blades have high cutting intensity!"

"The port shield will be continuously whittled down!"

Jiang Jiuyou immediately maneuvered the vessel.

"Sea Scale, dive twenty meters!"

"Ghost Fortress, veer right!"

Mio simultaneously took control of the fractured hull.

"Don't go too low! There's rift turbulence below!"

Two forces collided in the deep sea.

In front of the giant bronze gate, space began to distort.

The seal on the surface of the golden pillar had been forcibly stripped away by half by the Dismantler earlier, and now, stirred by the cannon fire and turbulence, the seal patterns began to fall off in sheets.

Shen Wanbing's expression changed.

"The sea-stabilizing needle seal has loosened!"

"Spatial pressure has exceeded the limit!"

"If we keep fighting, this area will collapse!"

Shen Wanxing hugged her blanket in fear.

"What happens if it collapses?"

Mio's voice rose.

"We'll be sucked into the void turbulence; if we're lucky, we'll lose half a life, and if we're unlucky, not even our ashes will be found!"

Su Xiaoqi hugged her roasted meat package.

"Will my food be gone too?"

"Everything will be gone!"

Su Xiaoqi stood up immediately.

"That won't do!"

Chen Chen stared at the Dismantler in front of the giant bronze gate.

"Anchor chain."

Jiang Jiuyou reacted the fastest.

"void sea-suppressing anchor chain preheating complete."

"Target?"

Chen Chen raised his hand and pointed directly at the Dismantler.

"Lock it."

Mio paused for a moment.

"The anchor chain is usually for locking spatial nodes, not for tying people up."

Chen Chen glanced at her.

"Isn't it a node right now?"

Mio froze for half a second.

"...It's not impossible to use it that way."

Jiang Jiuyou did not hesitate.

"void sea-suppressing anchor chain, fire!"

At the bow of the Sea Scale, twelve dark silver locking rings shot out simultaneously.

Gray-blue runes lit up on the surface of the locking rings, passing through the turbulence and nailing themselves firmly into the spatial rift in front of the giant bronze gate.

The next second, the twelve anchor chains tightened simultaneously.

Six of them wrapped around the Dismantler's mecha waist and mechanical arms.

The other six pierced into the bedrock on both sides of the giant bronze gate.

The collapsing space was forcibly held in place.

The Dismantler's mechanical eyes flickered crazily.

"Error."

"Spatial anchoring hijacked by external authority."

"Release."

Its mechanical arms behind it slashed at the anchor chains.

Clang!

Sparks exploded in the deep sea.

The anchor chains didn't budge.

Mio slapped the main console.

"SS-grade equipment; you couldn't cut it even if you tried!"

Blood Rose loved to watch the excitement.

"The tin can is getting anxious."

Su Xiaoqi raised her bone.

"Big Brother, let me go down and smash it!"