Battle

At this moment, atop a meteorite hundreds of kilometers outside the Thunder Prison Realm.

A massive triangular mechanical race spaceship hovered silently.

Inside the ship, in the control room.

A mechanical race Immortal sat before the main console, a virtual screen in front of him projecting the scene within the Thunder Prison Realm.

"Interesting."

This mechanical race Immortal's body seemed forged from dark gold metal, covered in intricate and ornate armor patterns, his eyes flickering with a deep blue light.

He stared at the figure wielding a long blade on the screen, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

"One slash to sever hundreds of E9-level puppets... I didn't expect to ambush a human Immortal squad and run into such a formidable Domain Lord."

He paused.

"But since that's the case, I must completely annihilate this human squad."

"Thunder Prison Realm, overload mode activated."

He tapped a few times on the console.

"F9-level mechanical puppets, all deploy."

"Slaughter... begin!"

......

Inside the Thunder Prison Realm.

The group was frantically slaughtering the remaining E9-level puppets when suddenly—

"Boom—"

The entire space of the Thunder Prison Realm trembled violently.

The lightning curtains surrounding them grew wildly more ferocious, countless electric serpents leaping madly across the barriers, emitting piercing roars.

At the same time, the lightning curtains began to slowly compress toward the center, the space left for them shrinking continuously.

"What's going on?"

Wild Blade's expression changed.

Frostmoon's pupils contracted sharply!

"Not good—!"

Before the words faded, dozens of ripples suddenly appeared in the surrounding void.

Pitch-black mechanical puppets, larger in size, stepped out from the prison realm one by one!

One, ten, a hundred, a thousand...

Dense black puppets surged out like a tide, in an instant covering the entire void, numbering at least ten thousand.

"This is..."

Dreamshadow gasped sharply.

Frostmoon's face instantly turned extremely grave.

"They're F9-level mechanical puppets! Everyone, gather together quickly!"

Eight figures instantly converged, forming a defensive formation back-to-back.

"F9-level?"

The smile vanished from Wild Blade's face.

Windspirit said in a low voice.

"F9-level mechanical puppets are on a completely different level from E9-level—1,000 F9-level puppets are enough to hold back an Immortal!"

Frostmoon swept her gaze over the dense black puppets surrounding them and said slowly.

"Although I'm not weak among Immortals, I can at most contend with three or four thousand. As for you all..."

She didn't finish.

But everyone understood her meaning—aside from Frostmoon, the rest were Domain Lord generals.

Against F9-level mechanical puppets, they might handle one-on-one fights, but if surrounded, they absolutely couldn't withstand it.

Ironshan said in a rumbling voice.

"Damn, this mechanical race Immortal sure is rich. Ten thousand F9-level mechanical puppets—how much military merit is that?"

Dreamshadow smiled bitterly.

"Now's not the time to be marveling at that, is it?"

Frostmoon took a deep breath and quickly made a judgment.

"We can't fight him head-on here. Find a chance to break through the Thunder Prison Realm, concentrate our attack on one point, and retreat quickly!"

"Yes, Captain!"

The moment the words fell, countless F9 Mechanical Puppets around them stirred.

They surged forward like a black tide, their cannons aimed at the group as countless energy beams rained down like a storm.

"Move!"

Shuang Yue swung her short sword, and in an instant, a vast domain of laws expanded outward.

It was the law domain of an Immortal-level powerhouse!

"Boom—!"

The surrounding thousand-plus F9 Mechanical Puppets were instantly frozen into ice sculptures, their movements halted mid-charge.

"Go!"

Shuang Yue barked, her form turning into a streak of light as she charged toward the edge of the Thunder Prison Realm.

The seven followed closely behind, pushing their speed to the limit.

Yet those frozen puppets stalled for less than two seconds before the ice on their surfaces began to crack.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

One by one, the puppets broke free from the ice, their dark red eyes reigniting as they gave chase.

They were incredibly fast—more than twice as swift as E9 Puppets.

"Damn it!"

Mad Blade gritted his teeth.

"How are these things so fast?!"

Qian Yu glanced back, then looked ahead at the rapidly approaching edge of the Thunder Prison Realm.

This Mechanical Immortal was likely somewhere outside the prison realm, observing them.

Going by the habits of the Mechanical race, with an ambush of this scale, the Immortal was definitely nearby, commanding in person.

Which meant...

As long as they broke out of the Thunder Prison Realm, they could locate the Mechanical Immortal's position.

And then...

Kill him!

A cold glint flashed in Qian Yu's eyes.

This Mechanical Immortal was clearly no ordinary foe—commanding over ten thousand F9 Puppets, his wealth was surely immense.

If they killed him, wouldn't he complete his military merit mission in one go?

Just then!

"Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!!!"

Thousands of F9 Mechanical Puppets suddenly emerged ahead, forming an impenetrable web of firepower that sealed off their path.

Countless energy rays shot toward them.

"Stop!"

Shuang Yue had no choice but to halt, leading the group to hover in the void.

From all directions—front, back, left, right—endless mechanical puppets had them completely surrounded.

The black puppet army stacked layer upon layer, like an iron wall.

"This is a bit troublesome."

Shuang'er glanced at Qian Yu beside her, unable to resist a jab.

"Qian Yu, your luck really is terrible—first mission and you run into this."

Qian Yu twitched the corner of his mouth.

"Then you're pretty lucky—running into this situation with me still in the team."

Shuang'er rolled her eyes.

"Can you stop joking at a time like this? We might not make it out of here today."

Qian Yu said flatly.

"We'll make it."

Shuang Yue calmly surveyed their surroundings, speaking slowly.

"Don't be so pessimistic. If we want to leave, we still can."

She thought to herself in silence.

It seems... I have no choice but to burn the Immortal Body.

For an Immortal, burning the Immortal Body instantly amplifies combat power nearly a thousandfold.

Though burning the body causes a loss of strength that takes a long time to recover, in this situation, it is the only option.

With her power surging, she was confident she could lead the squad to break through and escape this place.

She took a deep breath, ready to speak.

"Captain."

Qian Yu's voice suddenly rang out.

Shuang Yue turned to look at him.

"No need to burn the Immortal Body."

Shuang Yue was taken aback.

"What did you say?"

Qian Yu's gaze swept across the endless tide of mechanical puppets around them, finally settling on a direction beyond the Thunder Prison Realm!

"Leave it to me."

How could he not know what Shuang Yue intended? She was surely planning to burn her Immortal Body, forcibly erupt with power, and charge out of the Thunder Prison Realm.

But for an Immortal, burning the Immortal Body was, in essence, burning their physical form.

The size of the body determined the size of the Immortal Body. And Shuang Yue's frame was even smaller than his.

She wouldn't last long before being gravely wounded.

Since she had looked after him for a while, he might as well leave something behind before he departed.