Heading to the Forbidden Zone

[Illusion Domain]

The moment he appeared in the Administrative District, Jing Yan activated his ability.

"Human behavior always deviates from rational calculation," Svarog remarked, looking at his surroundings.

Although he was currently under Jing Yan's control, he had been explicitly granted permission to access his central processing capabilities.

As a result, he retained his original capacity for thought, his methodology, and his "personality."

"Perhaps. Though we've been old adversaries, I must admit, that's a fair point."

"You're referring to those people in the upper district, aren't you?"

Seele, who was sprinting alongside them, occasionally turned her head to look at Mr. Svarog as she spoke.

The Underworld Fire organization primarily looked after the interests of the miners, but because Svarog was searching for a way to save the Underworld, the Robot Settlement had grown closer to the vagrants who explored ancient ruins, leading to frequent disputes between the two factions.

Underworld Fire had long been on the losing end of these conflicts.

The reason was that their main force consisted of humans; even someone as strong as Seele was a rarity. Once a human was injured, they required a long recovery period, whereas machines merely needed their parts replaced.

Furthermore, the sheer volume of machinery left behind by the ancient Architects meant that the number of Mechanical Vanguards under Svarog's command completely overwhelmed Underworld Fire.

At this moment, under Jing Yan's manipulation, the "Resistance Alliance" personnel brought up from the Underworld consisted largely of those very Mechanical Vanguards.

"The Underworld... is the same," Svarog stated stiffly.

Seele felt a flicker of annoyance at his words.

"What a bucket of bolts," she couldn't help but mutter.

Even at a time like this, the machine still lacked any sense of "ally spirit."

Currently, Jing Yan's [Illusion Domain] was so powerful that it could easily cover a radius of one hundred meters.

Moreover, it exerted a total influence over everything within that range.

In truth, Jing Yan was capable of far more than this.

With the enhancement of the [Robe of Beauty], he could now exert a powerful, charming influence even on those from opposing factions, provided they did not harbor deep-seated hatred toward him.

He could make himself appear as a magnificent and beautiful figure in their eyes.

This was the combined effect of the Paths of "Eros" and "Beauty."

It was so effective that even the Silvermane Guards patrolling and maintaining order in the Administrative District felt their favorability toward Jing Yan rise above 70% to 75% the moment they saw him, causing them to involuntarily feel a sense of reverence.

If Jing Yan weren't conserving his divine power for the upcoming confrontation with Cocolia, he could have pushed his image's charm to a terrifying degree.

He could have appeared as a brilliant, radiant deity in the eyes of everyone around him.

Of course, he chose not to do so, as it was unnecessary.

Yet, even so, thanks to the influence of his [Illusion Domain], not a single person had any intention of stopping them; they didn't even realize anything was amiss long after the group had passed by.

"Jing Yan, your power..."

Stelle remarked from the side, looking surprised.

As someone with a Stellaron sealed within her, she knew her own potential was quite extraordinary.

She had once defeated the Doomsday Beast on the Herta Space Station, though she still couldn't fully control that power—or rather, the portion she could utilize was only a small fraction of what lay within her. But the man before her was different.

His Path power was unique, mysterious, and formidable. More importantly, ever since the three of them had come into contact with Jing Yan, they had noticed that his strength seemed to be growing stronger by the day.

They had reported everything that occurred after meeting Jing Yan back to Himeko and Welt Yang on the Astral Express, but they hadn't received a definitive answer.

The only response was: "Jing Yan is very special, and very powerful!"

However, they could at least be certain of one thing: Jing Yan was not a follower of "Destruction."

Nor was he their enemy.

This was a fortunate thing.

After all, if Jing Yan were to become their enemy, the consequences would be unimaginable.

With their current strength, they couldn't claim they would be able to withstand Jing Yan's divine power.

The moment Jing Yan influenced Bronya outside the Goethe Hotel in the Administrative District had left a deep impression on them.

They felt that the power commanded by Bronya was already formidable, and as someone on the Path of "Harmony" who excelled at clearing negative effects, she was no pushover. So...

If it were them, they felt they might not necessarily be able to escape Jing Yan's control.

Fortunately, Jing Yan had never once controlled them.

They had reached this conclusion because they were equipped with cameras and simple programs designed to determine if they were behaving abnormally.

If they exhibited any unusual behavior, it would indicate that Jing Yan might have controlled them.

This suggestion had been provided by Himeko and Pom-Pom after they had discussed it on the Astral Express.

However...

It seemed a bit redundant.

At least, that was what the three of them thought after hearing it and following the instructions.

"The threats in the outer perimeter of the Administrative District have been neutralized. Does anyone want to go in and search for information?" Jing Yan asked.

Upon hearing this, Seele ordered the members of Underworld Fire to inspect the Administrative District.

The rest of the group headed toward the Guard Restricted Zone.

According to the information they had, Everwinter Hill lay beyond the Guard Restricted Zone.

It was situated atop a vast snowfield.

Therefore, to reach it, they had to pass through the heavily guarded Guard Restricted Zone.

At that moment.

From a mechanical workshop at a distant street corner, a tall woman with golden hair streaked with deep indigo-purple and tips fading into glowing blue suddenly came running over.

"Serval?" March 7th said.

"You... surely aren't planning to force your way into the Guard Restricted Zone, are you?" Serval asked.

The group was somewhat surprised.

Although Serval had indeed helped them previously by revealing some information about the Overworld, some of those present still did not fully trust her, as she was, after all, an Overworlder and the sister of the Captain of the Silvermane Guards, Gepard.

However, Serval smiled and explained, "You don't actually need to be so suspicious of me. I was once expelled from the Architects by Cocolia, and since I originally belonged to the research department, I am certainly more familiar with the paths than you are. So, do you need me to lead the way?"

Serval asked.

"By the way, you must be the 'Child of Miracle' that little March mentioned?" Serval suddenly looked at Jing Yan and said.

"Child of Miracle..." Jing Yan muttered the name, feeling somewhat speechless.

He hadn't expected to have such a title.

However, upon hearing this, Seele, who was standing nearby, suddenly smiled.

"Actually, many people in the Underworld say this. It's just that most of them are miners and commoners, so perhaps Mr. Jing Yan hasn't heard it yet?"

Jing Yan heard this and let out a dry laugh.

He looked at Serval and said, "As for leading the way, there's really no need. What restricted zone?"

"In my eyes, it's completely unobstructed!"