A cold, deathly, mechanical will, like absolute zero, swept across the entire star field in an instant, like a silent storm.
Outside the Ark, in that desolate steel graveyard.
One, ten, a hundred... tens of thousands of warship wrecks that had been silent for countless millennia, their long-extinguished observation windows, at the same time, silently lit up with countless... scarlet single eyes.
"Warning... The Graveyard Administrator... has... awakened..."
Qiyuan AI's last intermittent warnings were like a stone thrown into a stagnant lake, yet they stirred up a monstrous wave.
Before the words were even finished, the entire Star Sea Graveyard came to life.
It wasn't the roar of engines starting, nor the cacophony of alarms, but a chilling awakening from deathly silence. One, ten, a hundred... thousands upon thousands of warships, silent for countless millennia, their long-extinguished observation windows simultaneously and silently lit up with countless single, crimson eyes.
The cold, metallic scraping sound, like a symphony from hell, resonated eerily in the vacuum of space. Broken starships, rusted mechanical arms, and severed cannons, under the influence of an invisible force, began to disassemble and reassemble themselves. Like building blocks imbued with life, they rapidly assembled into a cold, massive, death-laden steel legion.
The Creation Ark, this ancient ship carrying the remains of giants, now resembles a lamb surrounded by wolves, small and helpless.
"It's over." Iron Crow's face drained of all color, leaving only a deathly pale hue. She gripped the control panel, her body trembling slightly, a desperate, self-deprecating smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "The Graveyard Administrator... the highest-level AI in this godforsaken place, a... mechanical monster with strength comparable to Martial Venerable."
She looked at Xiao Han and Lin Qingxia, whose faces were grave, and said in a hoarse voice, "Its core command is only one thing—'recover' all outsiders and anomalous energy sources. Our earth-shattering dimensional jump just now was like setting off a hundred strings of firecrackers next to its sleeping ear, directly triggering its highest alarm."
Martial Venerable.
This word weighed heavily on Xiao Han and Lin Qingxia's hearts like an invisible mountain. It represented a terrifying existence that surpassed even the Martial Emperor and truly stood atop the Star Sea. And what they were about to face was a tireless, emotionless mechanical Martial Venerable composed of the entire Star Sea Graveyard.
In this suffocating despair, in Xiao Han's mind, the final gift from the Qiyuan AI —the complete inheritance data package—slowly unfolded like a galaxy.
A deluge of information flowed by, overturning his previous understanding.
It turns out that the so-called "Creation Divine Court" is not a power in the traditional sense, but an ancient race whose origins are untraceable—the "Creators ". They do not pursue domination and conquest, but rather, like dandelions, sow the seeds of life in every corner of the universe.
"Ode to Life" is far more than just a healing technique. Its true name is "Genesis Divine Art," a terrifying divine art capable of directly reading, editing, and even rewriting the genetic sequence of life from scratch! This is a power unique to the "Creator."
At the end of the data packet was a tattered star map. In one corner of the star map, the Qiyuan AI used its last strength to mark a coordinate, labeled "Cradle World".
That was the legacy left by another fallen Creator, a safe zone yet to be discovered by any force.
But now, this only way out has been completely blocked.
In the direction indicated by the star map, a 10,000-meter-tall Mechanical Titan, pieced together from the wreckage of thousands of main warships, slowly rose from behind the steel legion. It had no facial features, only an enormous, scarlet single eye, whose icy gaze seemed capable of freezing the soul.
It is the main body of the Graveyard Administrator.
It was their dead end.
"Cough..." Lin Qingxia coughed softly, fully waking up from the infusion of the vast life force. She felt the surging power within her body, and a vibrant emerald green appeared in her originally cold eyes.
"My power seems to be able to restrain them." She raised her slender hand, and a wisp of emerald green cold air swirled around her fingertips. Wherever that cold air passed, even light seemed to be frozen, and the life force contained within it seemed to be able to directly disrupt the energy core at the bottom layer of the mechanical unit.
A flicker of surprise crossed Iron Crow's eyes, but it quickly faded. "It's no use. There are too many of them, and... the main body is too strong."
As if she had made up her mind, she took out a black core covered in cracks and flickering with unstable data streams from her bosom.
"The Defector Core," Iron Crow said with a wry smile, "Is the 'backdoor key' that Qiyuan left me. Theoretically, it can infiltrate the administrator's system firewall and paralyze it for a moment. But the prerequisite is... I have to send it to that big guy."
This is tantamount to suicide.
A bold, almost insane plan instantly took shape in Xiao Han's mind.
He glanced at Lin Qingxia, then at Iron Crow, and said in a deep voice, "One is paralyzed for a moment, the other can be slowed down over a large area. Perhaps... that's enough."
Iron Crow was taken aback. "Enough of what?"
Xiao Han's gaze pierced through layers of steel golems, locking onto the colossal Mechanical Titan, which stood tens of thousands of meters tall. He said, word by word, "Enough for me... to turn its army against me."
Iron Crow and Lin Qingxia were both stunned, thinking they had misheard.
Turning a mechanical legion directly controlled by a top-level AI into a rebel? That's even more of a pipe dream than defeating a Martial Venerable head-on.
Xiao Han didn't offer much explanation; time didn't allow it. He simply gave the two of them a deep look.
Lin Qingxia read the resolute determination in his eyes and nodded without hesitation, "I'll pave the way for you."
Iron Crow glared at the two men, then gritted her teeth and cursed, "Madmen! You're all fucking madmen! I'll go crazy with you today!"
The plan was finalized instantly.
The next moment, the battle broke out!
"Life Ice Prison!"
Lin Qingxia let out a shout and leaped into the air. Endless emerald green ice crystals, centered on her, swept across the entire battlefield like a dazzling blizzard. Once those fearless steel golems were touched by the ice crystals, emerald green patterns immediately appeared on the metal of their bodies, the operation of their energy cores became noticeably sluggish, and their movements became extremely stiff.
At the same time, Iron Crow, piloting her dilapidated "Crow" starship, overloaded its engines and spewed out its last plumes of flame, charging fearlessly toward the Mechanical Titan like an arrow aimed at a god!
Chance!
Xiao Han suddenly closed his eyes.
With the blessing of the Genesis Divine Art, his mental power transformed into countless invisible tentacles, instantly locking onto the nearest Slaughterer Puppet.
He did not attack, nor did he show the slightest hostility.