401: Chapter 401 The rebels are in chaos, and the Chen family presses their advantage.

Smoke swirled in the wind, thick with the scent of rust, while only the smoldering embers of broken mechs remained on the battlefield.

Atop the high cliff, Chen Wuwang's hand remained suspended in mid-air, his fingertips slightly curled as if he had just withdrawn from a cold stream of data.

His right eye scanned the battlefield while the blue light of his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye on the left side completely extinguished, leaving only a fine line slowly fading at the edge of his pupil.

Below, the rebel forces were no longer in formation.

Some crouched behind overturned chariots with their heads in their hands; others scrambled into ditches on all fours; even more simply threw down their weapons and knelt, raising their hands for mercy.

But no one dared to move—the Chen Family's people hadn't charged down yet, but everyone understood that this battle was already over.

“Family Head!” A messenger sprinted from the flanking mountain pass, nearly slipping down the slope. “The ambush team is in position! The third-line assault array is ready to press forward at any time!”

Chen Wuwang didn't look back; he simply raised his right hand and slowly waved it down.

“Seize the advantage and pursue. Leave none alive.”

His voice wasn't loud, yet it was like a blade striking frozen earth, cracking open a fissure with a sharp snap.

The messenger jolted, then turned and roared, “All forces, press forward! Kill!”

The horn blared.

“Boom—!”

At the eastern mountain pass, three hundred spiritual-energy mechs activated simultaneously. Treads crushed the scorched earth, and engines roared like thunder.

The lead Black Armor Type III Mech’s shoulder cannons charged, spitting red light as they locked onto a group of panicked remnants gathering in the distance.

“Target at three o'clock, fifty-man scale, prepare for cleanup!” the pilot yelled.

“Received! Rune Cannon charging complete!”

“Sword Cultivator Team, follow up! Don't let them slip into the woods!” another voice called out from the air.

From the direction of the drill grounds, dozens of figures took to the sky. Longswords at their waists unsheathed half an inch, their hilts clicking into the mech wrist interfaces, completing energy synchronization instantly.

“Third team rotating from training to combat formation, execute the 'Network Severing Strike' plan!” a young captain barked. “Remember the Family Head's words—leave no one alive, take no prisoners!”

The folding gliders on their mechs deployed, skimming the ground at high speeds, moving even faster than a galloping horse.

Meanwhile, in the western ruins, a team of light scouts quietly emerged. Each carried a small drone case on their back, fingers hovering over launch buttons, their eyes as cold as ice shards.

“Thermal scanning active, advancing in segments,” the squad leader ordered in a low voice. “Ignore those shouting surrender; first confirm if they're playing dead.”

Before the words had finished, a person suddenly lunged out from beneath a pile of scrap armor, hair disheveled, clutching a broken blade as they charged forward.

“Seeking death!”

“Bang!”

A laser beam hit the person's shoulder blade with precision. They collapsed on the spot, wailing incessantly.

“Mark for processing, continue advancing,” the squad leader said without blinking. “Next.”

In the center of the battlefield, the routing soldiers had begun to trample one another.

Someone tried to jump into a deep pit, only to find a corpse already buried there, scaring them back up;

Someone crawled into a mech wreck, only to be burned to the bone by leaking electrical lines, screaming in agony.

“Don't push! Let me in!”

“Get lost! That's my hiding spot!”

“You fucking stepped on my face!!”

Cursing, crying, and begging for mercy blended together like a boiling pot of rotten porridge.

Suddenly, a heavy sound of footsteps approached from afar.

“Thump! Thump! Thump!”

The ground vibrated slightly.

A few rebels hiding under a chariot poked their heads out, and their Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering—

A pitch-black heavy mech was marching toward them, the 'Chen' character emblem engraved on its chest. Its shoulder cannons rotated slowly, aiming directly at their hiding spot.

“Run—!”

“Don't fire! We surrender!!”

But the mech didn't listen at all. A red light flashed from the barrel—

“Boom!!!”

A wave of fire surged into the sky, flipping the chariot several yards away as shrapnel flew. A few rebels lucky enough to survive were covered in blood, scrambling to escape, but as soon as they stood up, a sword light sliced off half of their shoulders.

“Ah—!!!”

The one holding the sword was a young man in his early twenties, his face splattered with blood, but his eyes were frighteningly bright.

“Who just said they were going to trample the Chen Family Ancestral Hall?” he sneered. “Why aren't you acting tough now?”

He kicked the man to the ground, the tip of his sword pressed against his throat. “Speak up! Weren't you quite the boaster?”

The man trembled, unable to speak, his crotch soaked through.

The young man scoffed and sheathed his sword. “Trash.”

He looked up toward the high cliff, seeing the silver-haired figure still standing motionless in the distance. He saluted, then turned and leaped onto a mech to continue the pursuit.

Elsewhere, several rebels tried to form a defensive formation. Seven people stood back-to-back in a circle, their Magical Artifacts glowing faintly as they barely managed to maintain a shield.

“Hold steady! As long as we hold out until reinforcements...”

“Reinforcements my ass!”

A loud shout descended from the sky.

A bipedal mech leaped from the hillside, kicking up a wave of dust as it landed, crashing directly into the crowd.

The shield shattered with a 'snap.' Three people were sent flying, the sound of breaking bones clearly audible.

Inside the cockpit, a member of the Chen Family grinned savagely. “I've waited three years for this day! Didn't you want to tear down my Artifact Refining Workshop? Come on! Tear it down!”

He slammed the console, and serrated blades popped out from the mech's gauntlets as he delivered a full-circle sweep.

“Crack!”

A head soared into the air, a pillar of blood spraying three feet high.

The remaining few collapsed instantly, throwing down their Magical Artifacts and running.

“Want to run?”

“Swoosh swoosh swoosh—”

In mid-air, a dozen small drones rose, micro-locking devices extending from their bellies, red dots marking the backs of the fugitives one by one.

“Target locked.”

“Clear.”

“Phew phew phew—”

A series of lasers fired, and the deserters fell one after another, without exception.

At the edge of the battlefield, an old rebel general sat paralyzed in the mud, his long spear already broken.

He watched the Chen Family warriors attacking from all directions, his lips trembling, before he suddenly burst into laughter.

“Hahaha... Quite a Chen Wuwang... Quite a Cyber Cultivation... We use spiritual power to form arrays, you use code to kill... We speak of Dao and rules, you directly sever networks and hijack control... I’m impressed... truly impressed...”

Before his laughter finished, a shadow loomed over him.

He looked up to see a mech stopped in front of him, the cockpit slowly opening to reveal a burly man with a face full of scars.

“What did you say?” The burly man grinned. “Speak up, my ears aren't so good.”

The old general smiled bitterly. “You won.”

“Bullshit!” The burly man slammed a fist onto the console. “We didn't just win; we never planned on losing in the first place!”

He waved his hand. “Take him away! Tie him up tight, don't let him commit suicide on the way! The Family Head wants to question him personally!”

As the old general was dragged away, his peripheral vision caught the figure on the high cliff—

The wind once again swept the stray hairs from his forehead, revealing that intact right eye.

The wind swept the hair from his forehead, revealing that intact eye. Clear and sharp, as if it could cut through a person's heart.

“Report!” another messenger rushed up. “Eastern line cleanup complete, seventeen hiders discovered, all subdued! The western line is advancing, expected to clear remaining enemies within half an hour!”

Chen Wuwang nodded, his voice calm. “Continue.”

“Yes!”

The messenger turned to leave but heard a low whisper from behind.

“Tell each team... do not let a single thermal signal escape.”

“Even if it's a 'corpse,' scan it three times with the detector.”

The messenger's heart chilled. “Understood!”

He had just run two steps when a commotion suddenly came from the distance.

“Over there! There's movement at the bottom of the ditch!”

“Thermal fluctuations! Two! Three! Still increasing!”

“Not our units! Prepare to engage!”

At the bottom of a dry trench, several pieces of broken armor shifted slightly. Then, seven or eight figures suddenly lunged out, clutching Detonation Talismans, rushing toward the Chen Family mech swarm like madmen.

“Wanting to take us down with you?”

“Seeking death!”

Three sword lights flashed simultaneously, and the heads of the three in front flew off. The ones behind froze for a moment, then immediately knelt and kowtowed.

“Don't kill me! We were forced! The higher-ups made us come!”

“Shut up!”

A laser grazed the tops of their heads and hit the ground, blasting a crater.

“Move again, and the next shot won't be a warning.”

Several warriors quickly surrounded them and took them into custody.

High-altitude drones continued scanning, constantly reporting new coordinates.

“Hidden target found in Sector B7!”

“Respiratory frequency detected in the C3 gully!”

“Vital signs under the D1 ruins, suspected heavy injury and unconsciousness!”

Orders were passed down one by one, and the pursuit teams pounced on every corner in batches.

The entire battlefield no longer had a single place of peace.

Chen Wuwang finally moved.

He slowly raised his right hand, pressing it against the hilt of his dagger once more, his knuckles turning white from the force.

“It's not over yet,” he said in a low voice. “None shall think of escaping.”