What is Art? Art is Explosions!

The man was drenched in sweat. This was the core, after all.

Whether a mecha could be piloted normally depended entirely on its core, so the protection around it was extraordinary. Calling it one with the machine wouldn't be an exaggeration. So why had it been separated from the body?

Before the man could react—

Suddenly, cracks appeared across his mecha. Immediately after, a blinding white light flashed before his eyes.

"Warning, warning, core detached. Activating emergency escape device!"

The intense white light seemed as if it would pierce through his eyes. The mecha urgently activated its emergency escape device and, with a whoosh, ejected him.

His whole body was flung out of the mecha. He landed sitting on the ground, his eyes blank with confusion, as if he still had no idea what had just happened. Then a curious voice reached his ears:

"So this is the core that lets the mecha move with energy?"

Lin Yuan toyed with the energy core in his hand, clicking his tongue in wonder. This energy core seemed to be made from some especially precious metal and gave off a soft, glowing white light.

Hmm, the inside is extremely unstable. If I weren't using Gravity to stabilize that energy field, it would probably explode at any moment.

When the man saw the ball of white energy in Lin Yuan's hand, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"What the hell? How did my energy core end up in your hand?"

He watched Lin Yuan point behind him. A bad feeling instantly washed over him, and he whipped his head around. Only then did he see that, at some point, a huge hole had split open in the center of his mecha.

The man: ?

And right then, Lin Yuan's leisurely voice rang out:

"Also, let me correct one thing. It isn't just 'mine.' It's 'ours.'"

Lin Yuan smiled. The next second, four metallic collisions that made people want to cover their ears rang out one after another.

The man turned his head stiffly, only to see that the other four people's mechas had ended up just like his. A huge hole had split open in the center of each one, and they had likewise been ejected onto the ground, faces blank with confusion.

Four cores circled around Lin Yuan's body like planets orbiting a star. Lin Yuan looked at the damaged mechas and nodded in satisfaction.

Looks like my mastery of Universal Pull has deepened another step. I can already precisely rip the cores straight out of the mechas, and it costs even less Soul Power than using it normally.

Lin Yuan observed the energy cores while gradually walking toward them, smiling as he said:

"Next, it's time to deal with you lot."

The man's body instantly went cold, and he roared wildly:

"I advise you to calm down! It's still not too late for you to turn back now!"

"I'll tell you the truth. I fired a signal flare just now. A huge group of our people will be coming afterward. You think you can handle dozens of us at the same time?!"

While shouting threats, the man cursed the intelligence gatherers like mad in his heart for being so unreliable!

Didn't the intel say this was a Soul Master with two rings at most?!

He had ripped an energy core out by force. Was that something a damn two-ring Soul Master could do? Even a Soul King couldn't do that, right?!

"A huge group of people coming?" Hearing this, Lin Yuan immediately stopped.

Sure enough, Lin Yuan soon heard rumbles coming from every direction, far at first and then drawing closer.

Tch, what a pain.

Although he could wipe out that group if he spent a little time on it, the little Dragon God and Uncle Ye at Skyscraper Tower probably couldn't hold out for long.

Thinking of this, Lin Yuan sighed.

"Forget it. The little Dragon God is more important. Can't let that poor kid end up with some kind of psychological trauma."

He looked at the man before him, then looked at the energy cores. Thinking of how unstable they were, he asked a completely baffling question.

"Do you know what art is?"

"Art?"

Their faces were full of confusion, as if they couldn't keep up with Lin Yuan's jumping train of thought.

"Tch, people with no artistic sense. I'm leaving. Oh, right, I'll give your cores back to you. I hope you can understand what true art is."

Lin Yuan gave a soft snort, and his whole body floated into the air. Immediately after, Shinra Tensei accelerated him continuously, turning him into a white dot flying toward the tallest building in Ziluo City, Skyscraper Tower.

Only after Lin Yuan had completely vanished did the group collapse onto the ground, exhaling a turbid breath.

"Is that guy an idiot? He actually left us alive and let us report back?"

"That brat... Once our brothers get here, we have to teach him a brutal lesson and tie him up to send to Heaven Planet for the big shots' amusement!"

Very soon, a dozen or so people piloting the same yellow-purple mechas rushed over.

"Old Zhu, your mission is complete... You failed?!"

The man in the lead looked at the disheveled man known as "Old Zhu" with a face full of surprise.

"Hey, don't worry about that. Hurry up and gather our brothers. I have to go teach that little bastard a lesson!" Old Zhu said through gritted teeth.

Though the man was puzzled, he still nodded.

Just as he was about to approach, the energy balls flickering with halos suddenly caught his attention. He saw the five cores in Old Zhu's hands flashing with light, their rhythm growing faster and faster.

The man's pupils shrank, and he hurriedly shouted:

"Old Zhu, hurry up and throw away the core! It's about to blow!"

Old Zhu's eyes nearly split with rage, and he suddenly remembered Lin Yuan tossing the energy core to him.

"Fuck, that kid is playing us!"

The words had barely fallen when, in an instant, a fireball more than ten meters tall exploded with a bang. Dense flames surged up, swallowing everyone whole.

At that moment, Lin Yuan, up in the sky, seemed to sense something. He looked toward the inconspicuous fireball on the ground and muttered to himself, "Idiot. Art is an explosion."

Tianluo Planet, Ziluo City, Skyscraper Tower, Think Tank Center.

Skyscraper Tower.

People had been going about their day as usual, shopping here or playing on the trampolines, while Lan Xuanyu was on one of the floors of Skyscraper Tower, playing on a trampoline.

After Lan Xuanyu finished jumping, Nan Cheng walked over and stroked his head. "Xuanyu, did you have fun?"

"Mm-hm." Lan Xuanyu nodded.

"In that case, Xuanyu can go shopping with Mommy."

"Ah..."

Seeing refusal written all over Lan Xuanyu's face, Nan Cheng could not help laughing.

This peaceful scene was suddenly shattered by a burst of urgent alarms.

All at once, the lights in the entire hall dimmed.

Immediately afterward, a piercing alarm blared.

Cries of alarm rose and fell all around as staff shouted, "Everyone, don't panic! The power outage is temporary. The building has a backup power system."

But the blackout had come so suddenly—how could people not be afraid?

Amid the commotion, someone saw that the lights in the emergency passage were still on. Just as everyone was about to rush toward the emergency passage, the sound of a beam rang out!

Crack!

A shot hit the ceiling, and everyone was instantly stunned by the sudden gunfire.

Immediately afterward, dozens of well-equipped guards wearing small mechas charged out of the emergency passage.

"Nobody move. You're already surrounded. As long as you behave, we absolutely won't hurt you."

The one in the lead held up a laser gun.

"Go to hell!" someone roared. "Shoot if you've got the guts!"

Fear had already overwhelmed reason. Someone ignored everything and was just about to charge down.

Suddenly—

Biu!

A red beam struck the ground at his feet, blasting out a small pit ten centimeters deep.

Watching the man who had been shouting just now collapse to the floor in an instant, not daring to move, the lead guard chuckled.

"I advise you all not to try anything rash. We from Heaven Planet hate disobedient captives the most."

Heaven Planet... Sin Planet?!

Soul masters who knew something about Sin Planet immediately had this thought.

The guard who had fired raised his gun and slowly aimed it at the crowd one by one.

"Now, everyone, squat down with your hands over your heads!"

Rustle, rustle.

Everyone fearfully squatted down with their hands over their heads.

Nan Cheng did so most of all. Although she was a soldier, she was in a clerical post and had not taken part in combat for a long time, let alone a group battle like this...

More importantly, Lan Xuanyu was beside her. What if a fight broke out and Lan Xuanyu got hurt?

Hugging Lan Xuanyu tightly as she crouched down, Nan Cheng's voice trembled. "Xuanyu, don't be scared. Mommy will protect you. It'll be all right soon."

"Mommy..."