Multiverse: Ragnarok's Beginning - The Hero King's Path

How to describe this door? It looked somewhat like a portal from a science fiction creation, with an oval light screen of white light appearing in the middle of the door.

This bizarre scene stirred even Xiang Yu's subordinates, who stared in shock, though a few among them remained calm, as if they had seen such anomalies before.

Then, a blurry figure appeared within the light screen, gradually growing clearer, as if someone inside was about to step out.

And indeed, someone did step out—a group of several dozen people.

The emergence of this group caused most of Xiang Yu's subordinates to change color, drawing their weapons one by one, ready for battle at any moment.

This group also made Brunhilde's face twist in astonishment.

That black battle armor—could it be the army of the Qin Dynasty?

Chapter 034: Has This Era Produced Humanoids?

This black-clad group—their armor was deeply off.

That armor simply didn't look like something the technology of this era could forge.

The metal armor of this period was typically assembled in the form of lamellar armor, with copper or iron plates strung together piece by piece to form a suit, usually covering only the chest and shoulders.

But this black-clad group wore armor that encased nearly their entire bodies in smooth, glossy black plating, not stitched together with threads but rather large, form-fitting streamlined pieces.

"This is—!"

Brunhilde recognized the material and couldn't help but be shaken.

The smelting technology of this era was utterly incapable of producing armor of this level; it would likely take the smelting techniques of a thousand years later to manufacture such metal armor.

Even a thousand years later, armor like this wouldn't be worn by ordinary soldiers—it would be standard gear only for generals.

Yet every single member of this group was outfitted like this, clearly indicating that such armor had been mass-produced.

As for why she thought this was the Qin Dynasty's army, it was because Brunhilde saw the marks on the armor—the character "[Qin]" and the war flag insignia of the Qin army.

Of course, what stunned Brunhilde most was this bizarre portal.

It looked like something born from so-called magic [called immortal arts in the East], yet it carried a hint of technological color, truly unsettling.

So, what lay on the other side of that portal?

An unknown place? Or was the other side another space, similar to the Different Dimension from King Solomon's era?

Unclear—only by crossing this portal could one know what was on the other side.

Returning to an earlier question: was this army the Qin army?

If it was the Qin army, why were these people bowing to Xiang Yu? It seemed as if Xiang Yu was their supreme commander too.

And what was inside the huge boxes they carried out?

Then, Xiang Yu walked toward one of the boxes and slammed his palm heavily onto it.

With a loud bang, the wooden box shattered under that blow.

In that moment, its contents were revealed: a person, a figure wrapped in a black robe?

This person was locked inside a box?

Dead? Brunhilde sensed no life force.

The next second, red light flared from beneath the large hood—a pair of red lights, as if glowing from where eyes should be.

Then, a faint sound of mechanical parts turning was heard, and suddenly, several tubes resembling cables shot out from this figure, their needle-like tips stabbing straight into Xiang Yu!

"Ugh—!"

This sudden change made Lantigreese, who was watching, cover her mouth.

This scene also made Brunhilde's pupils contract—too eerie.

Were those cable-like things sucking out Xiang Yu's brain marrow?

And the cables shooting out from its body—wasn't there a sound of machinery operating inside? Its body gradually began to glow.

This glow wasn't an overall illumination; it was like a robot being electrified, with certain spots lighting up.

Faced with this sudden turn of events, Xiang Yu's subordinates instantly rushed to save their king, but the black-armored men blocked them.

As the cables embedded in Xiang Yu seemed to finish absorbing something, they detached.

At this point, Brunhilde could be certain that Xiang Yu's life had ended.

Though he still stood, his eyes still open, they had lost their luster, and his heart had stopped beating.

She couldn't understand what was happening.

Why did Xiang Yu let that eerie Humanoid Thing take his life?

Brunhilde was sure Xiang Yu could have resisted, but he simply offered no resistance, allowing that strange Humanoid Thing to claim his life.

Was it because Xiang Yu knew he was powerless to change the current situation, so he lost all hope and made no move to resist?

No—from start to finish, Brunhilde had seen not a trace of despair, frustration, or rage in the Hegemon King's eyes.

In his eyes, there was only the look of everything being under control—that confident gaze.

Clearly, no matter how she looked at it, there was no chance of turning the tables, so she couldn't understand why he showed such an expression.

The historical records were also nearing their conclusion.

"St—stop!"

A low voice that didn't sound human rang out, and that voice came from the humanoid thing.

It was also a stuttering sound, as if speaking for the first time, producing noise.

This humanoid thing finally began to move, its motions somewhat mechanical, like a robot operating for the first time.

At that moment, the humanoid thing reached out, grabbed the black robe covering it, and tore it off, revealing the hidden appearance beneath.

In that instant, aside from the black-armored soldiers who remained calm, everyone else's faces twisted in shock.

"What—what is this? Sister!"

Lantigreese's face was full of turmoil as she stared incredulously at the figure that had lost its black robe's concealment.

"I don't know either!"

Brunhilde's voice came out dazed as well. The figure revealed beneath the black robe was none other than the Western Chu Hegemon King, Xiang Yu.

What was going on? Twin brothers?

How could that be?

One very eerie thing was that Brunhilde could not detect a heartbeat from this Xiang Yu. He felt like a cold, mechanical puppet.

Wait, a mechanical puppet?

This Xiang Yu had mechanical sounds inside him, the noise of gears turning.

"C—could it be!!!"

Brunhilde couldn't help but let out a trembling voice. An absurd possibility rose in her mind.

Heh heh heh!

Brunhilde couldn't stop shaking.

She had thought the third person would be a normal human, but instead she encountered such an abnormal sight.

Another figure hiding secrets unknown to the world.

So what was that possibility?

It was that this 'living' Xiang Yu before her, in the terms of this era, was a Mechanical Puppet.

If using modern terminology, he was an artificial human.

He had just directly uploaded the consciousness of his original body—his soul—into this frame!

This should be the truth, a truth that left one's mind in chaos.

Something that should have happened in a sci-fi future was actually appearing in this era!!!

Chapter 035: The Other Side of the Portal—The Qin Empire?

Xiang Yu had abandoned his flesh body and implanted his soul into a Mechanical Body.

What was his purpose in doing this?

Was it because his original body was diseased and nearing its limit?

But it didn't look like that at all.

Was it to gain greater power and a longer lifespan?

Just like future humans, who also tried to break the lifespan limit of short-lived species, one method was to implant their consciousness (soul) into machinery to achieve immortality.

Observing closely, Brunhilde felt that this Mechanical Body was not purely a product of technology, nor purely a product of magic (immortal power), but a fusion of the two?

Then, who built this Mechanical Body for Xiang Yu? How did he learn such technology? Was there support from the Immortal Gods of the East?

"Sister, over there—!"

Lantigreese pointed at the river beside them, indicating something unusual.

Looking at the flowing river, gazing toward the distant surface, the water there was churning violently, spreading toward them.

As if something in the water was surging fiercely in their direction.

"That is—!"

A normal human probably couldn't see clearly at such a distance, but Brunhilde made out something and couldn't help but be slightly startled.

There was indeed something surging in the river, and it was a massive creature.

That thing was called a Demon Beast in the West, and a Yao in the East.

It looked like a giant Water Serpent, churning the river's surface, forming a huge tide rushing toward them.

If they didn't leave this place, the wave would crash over them and sweep all these hundreds of people into the river.

Was that thing targeting these people, intending to eat them?

Judging by its frantic, eager manner, it couldn't wait.

Her gaze shifted back to Xiang Yu. He too had already sensed the malice approaching.

He raised his long halberd above his head, half-turning his body.

In simple terms, Xiang Yu made the motion of hurling the halberd in his hand.

The next second, the air exploded, and a vast cloud of white mist appeared around Xiang Yu.

The mist came from the sheer force of the throw, compressing the air and producing water vapor.

The halberd that had been in Xiang Yu's hand was now released.

Its extreme speed tore through the air, producing a sharp, piercing howl.

The friction of that speed against the air turned the halberd red-hot, leaving a trail of orange-red light in its wake.

That same speed skimmed across the river's surface, and the high-pressure airflow from the halberd sliced through the water, splitting the river apart.

This rift in the river spread all the way to the onrushing Giant Serpent.

In the blink of an eye, before the Giant Serpent—which had been churning the river moments ago—could even react, the halberd slammed into it, shredding its body into countless fragments as a massive spray of blood exploded outward.

Was this the power of Xiang Yu after gaining a mechanical body? With a single strike like this, he could already match an ordinary demigod.

But merely matching a demigod wasn't enough to defeat the gods. Still, Brunhilde believed this wasn't Xiang Yu's full strength yet.

After all, Xiang Yu had only just acquired this body; he wasn't familiar with it yet. That move was probably just a small test of his abilities.

Her pupils contracted. Brunhilde realized that it wasn't just the Water Serpent surging toward them—there were more Demon Beasts as well. These beasts quickly devoured the Water Serpent's corpse and then charged ferociously at Xiang Yu.

This sight left Brunhilde somewhat puzzled.

Looking at the eyes of these Demon Beasts, each one was utterly frenzied, as if Xiang Yu possessed some kind of miraculous elixir, and they were desperately rushing over to seize it.

A miraculous elixir? She guessed that there must be some special divine object within Xiang Yu's body that was attracting the Demon Beasts.

Then, at Xiang Yu's command, everyone entered the Portal, while he stood by the riverbank, ready to face the oncoming Demon Beasts alone.