Purgatory Town

Lightning leaped from her hand, tracing a twisting path toward the automated turret. The turret showed no will to fight back until the moment it was destroyed, still pouring fire at the server.

"Andre, hurry and find anything usable."

"Got it."

"Found it!" Andre patted a server whose indicator light still flickered blue. It was lucky—just as the rotary gun's bullets were about to tear into it, Martha had destroyed the turret. Andre deftly connected the lines and began combing through every byte.

"Hurry... hurry..." Martha chanted in her mind as time ticked by second by second. She had focused all her energy tracking for days, fought a bitter battle—all for this day.

In the darkness, the blue light of the laptop screen flickered unsteadily. Martha's anxious mood infected Andre; his typing grew faster and faster. He pulled up his hood, making himself look like a real hacker.

Suddenly, Andre shouted through the mental link: "I need time!"

"These automated machines are all receiving commands from the same address. I can trace it, but I need time!"

"I don't know—maybe hours, maybe days..."

"No, no, no! Maybe we can finish it in just a few hours." Andre's face lit up with joy. "As long as we temporarily enter thought synchronization."

"You mean distributed computing?"

"Exactly... exactly! I need more of our kin to share the computing load, and I need you and the others to protect me."

Andre grabbed Martha's hand excitedly. "An AI is commanding these robots. I don't know who controls it, but if we trace it, we'll have our own war factory. With our abilities, we'll soon be the last Law-Ruler to appear! Human civilization will be destroyed by its own creations!"

"Martha, please convince the First Speaker and more of our kin!"

For Law-Rulers, the principles of psychology still applied. Though they styled themselves as civilization-killers, transcending the human species, retaining human thought and emotion while aiming to be efficient destroyers of civilization was undoubtedly a flaw.

The Tenth Law-Ruler thought meticulously, avoiding unnecessary actions and emotions. That is, they would most likely follow Qin Su's plan rather than do whatever they pleased out of interest.

The T-1000 and T-800 had already reached the outskirts of Kyshtym Town, these terrifying war machines standing by at any moment. They would make a grand show, creating a tense atmosphere, making the Law-Rulers believe Qin Su desperately didn't want them to know the coordinates. Qin Su would then let these Terminators display their true strength, keeping them firmly stuck in this town.

The sun gradually disappeared below the horizon. A silver moon hung high as T-600s, T-800s, and T-1000s hiding in the surrounding hills began gathering from all directions, forming an irregular arc to encircle Kyshtym Town.

The first wave of attack totaled 12 T-600s, 8 T-800s, and 1 T-1000. The second and third waves would each have 1.5 times the number of Terminators as the previous wave, and all T-1000s would also join in. These Terminators would charge recklessly toward the car factory with a single goal—destroy the server.

In the constructed 3D map, the Law-Rulers' positions began to shift. After several simulations, disregarding their special abilities, the Law-Rulers' defensive formation could almost perfectly counter Qin Su's attack rhythm.

"As expected, even changing the attack strategy yields the same result." The T-800s and T-600s participating in the first wave all turned red. The first wave failed as planned. The surviving T-800s, T-600s, and T-1000 would quickly withdraw from the battlefield and launch the second wave together with reinforcements.

Blazing fire gathered in his hand, aimed at the T-600 ahead. A dragon of flame shot forth, and the T-600 crashed heavily to the ground.

"That should be the last one here." A battered Law-Ruler reported to Martha with slight exhaustion.

"I'll temporarily deactivate thought synchronization. Fellow kin, please rest for a while." Clearly, entering the hive mind temporarily drained their spirits considerably.

"And stay alert. I'll reactivate thought synchronization when necessary."

The first wave was just a probe. Qin Su would adjust his tactics based on their abilities and combat characteristics.

"Total of 12 Ice-Fire ability users, individual danger level 6, combat core. The remaining 21 have danger levels between 4 and 5, providing support to the combat core."

"Plan focus: support units."

"The plan doesn't need to defeat the Law-Rulers, but letting T-800s and T-600s be wasted is still a pity." After much thought, he found a flawless method—trade one-for-one with the supports. The six pairs of Ice-Fire ability users needed to combine to effectively damage the T-1000, so they couldn't protect everyone. The second wave would target the supports.

Minutes later, more Terminators joined the battlefield. Crowds of steel bodies scaled walls and leaped between buildings. The Terminators' frames gleamed with a cold luster, assaulting the Law-Rulers' vision, their oppressive presence constantly tugging at their sight.

Law-Rulers wouldn't panic over this. A Law-Ruler was an ultimate lifeform—even a thousandth of one was still a Law-Ruler. She calmly activated thought synchronization, and all Tenth Law-Rulers would perfectly follow her plan in every move.

Suddenly, a metal skull appeared in Martha's vision, followed by more Terminators charging at her. Red plasma bolts flew from plasma rifles; one struck her arm, charring part of her skin black.

The second wave's focus was on her. Qin Su hadn't originally known who led the Law-Ruler group, but from the first wave's intel, their defensive posture subtly centered around her, and she had been tracking him all along. Even if it was partly guesswork, killing her wouldn't be a loss.

The leading two T-1000s were inches away from her, while the Forest Ice-Fire People rushing to support stood 200 meters off. Martha's heart stirred. White light danced from her fingertips like water, shooting straight at the two T-1000s' faces.

"Useless attack."

Qin Su initially thought it was just futile struggle. But the lightning didn't strike the T-1000s' faces—it exploded extremely close to them. In that instant, white light scattered. The T-1000s' optical detectors were briefly blinded for a few seconds by the intense brightness. The satellite in the sky was also temporarily blinded over this area, losing track of Martha.

Martha temporarily disconnected thought synchronization. The defense plan was perfect, but she had overlooked one thing—camouflage.

"Damn it. I need to find a more concealed position." Martha leaned against a wall with one hand, cautiously glancing left and right. She had let these robots see she was the commander.

This trick could only be used once. The same move wouldn't work again. In another dozen seconds, the supporting Law-Rulers would arrive. What she didn't expect was an iron hand grabbing the wall's edge. Boom! The entire wall was ripped open into a large hole, bricks flying. Through the dust, two T-1000s leaped out. She could even feel the vibration of these heavy killing machines landing.

The Terminators wouldn't give her any more chances. Moreover, fleeing to an empty area was her biggest mistake.

Even at this life-or-death moment, Martha's expression barely changed. But Qin Su could tell—this cold, expressionless look was just a front. She slowly raised her right hand. Blue arcs of electricity coiled around it, and a torrent of current shot from her index finger toward the two T-1000s.

Boom! A thunderous crack erupted from her finger. The two T-1000s uncontrollably dropped to one knee. Clearly, this strike rivaled lightning in intensity, piercing through the T-1000s' insulation layers. But this Lightning Law-Ruler wasn't much better off. Her face turned terrible, she gasped heavily, and she braced herself with both hands on the ground to keep from collapsing.

At that moment, a fire-attribute Tenth Law-Ruler arrived to support. He jumped down from the eaves, helped Martha up, and asked, "Are you alright, Martha?"

"Mm... take me away from here first." Martha placed her hand on his shoulder, her eyes turning to the two destroyed T-1000s.

"!" Martha's eyes widened in disbelief at the two T-1000s she should have destroyed. They were no longer kneeling in place—they had stood up.

The T-1000s, their bodies flowing like mercury, stood there as if mercilessly mocking this exhausted Lightning Law-Ruler. Then they lunged forward.

"How is that possible?" She didn't speak, only silently gritted her teeth.

T-1000s were made of liquid metal. This material could move freely. Just before the arc struck them, the T-1000s separated the outer liquid metal from the inner layer, creating a vacuum gap between them. Since current couldn't propagate through a vacuum, it was grounded instead.

But the exposed liquid metal had to endure the entire shock, and every drop of a T-1000's liquid metal was its CPU—which was why the T-1000s briefly crashed.

"Sigh." Martha let out a soft sigh, scolding him through the mental link: "You shouldn't have come alone." Without thought synchronization, the Tenth Law-Ruler would act on its own impulses. Though Martha had devised a plan for them, the commander being attacked was never part of it.

T-1000 sprinted behind them with lightning speed. The Fire Law-Ruler turned his head in terror, but T-1000 seized his shoulder, and the spike formed from its right hand pierced heavily through his back, straight through his heart.

T-1000 spoke its first words, cold and flat: "You have been terminated."

Pfft. A massive gush of blood erupted from his mouth, staining half of Martha's skirt. T-1000 pulled its arm—along with the Law-Ruler Core—out of his body. Icy silver and crimson blood intertwined along T-1000's arm. The cold, merciless killing machine snapped his neck, then flung him toward the wall, leaving a large spiderweb crack in its wake.

Exhausted, Martha lost her support but did not fall. She simply stood stubbornly, expressionless, staring at T-1000 as if to say, "Go ahead."

T-1000's left hand gripped her neck like a chicken or duck awaiting slaughter. The spike formed from its right hand hung in the air, ready to pierce her skull—but then T-1000 stopped.

Qin Su had suddenly taken an interest. Many Tenth Law-Rulers would choose to end themselves when on the verge of capture, but clearly she had not. Fire Moth's internal records had once reported that a few anomalous Tenth Law-Rulers behaved differently from the majority.

"I absolutely cannot let such valuable material slip away."

T-1000 released Martha, but Martha instead thrust her hand violently into T-1000's body. Qin Su had already guessed her intent before she even extended her arm. Sticking her hand in would find nothing, and instead expose it to vacuum. Though the pressure difference was immense, for a Law-Ruler's body, these factors were actually negligible.

His five fingers locked around her arm, then extended and encircled, forming a ring-shaped cuff. Now she could neither advance nor retreat. Her hand was firmly stuck inside T-1000's body, enduring the agony of tremendous force. T-1000 prepared to withdraw with her.

The next second.

"Heh." Martha let out a soft laugh. This was the first time Qin Su had seen any emotion from a Thousand-Man Law-Ruler.

A faint, soft pfft—as if some liquid had sprayed from inside T-1000. The sound came from her body.

Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth as she smiled, disheveled and weary.

As a Law-Ruler, controlling one's own body was a basic function. Using Honkai energy as power, compressed blood as the fluid, and blood vessels as nozzles, she had turned her arm into a simple water gun, intending to conduct electricity through her own blood as a medium.

Martha pushed herself nearly to her limit. A surge of blue arcs erupted across her body. All the Honkai energy within her Law-Ruler Core was spent. Clearly, this was her final electric strike. Flickering lightning coiled around her form, and a hint of smugness showed on her face.

T-1000's hand rapidly reverted to its original shape, trying to pull away from her—but it was too late. T-1000's core was directly pierced by the overwhelming voltage. This Lightning Law-Ruler turned to dust in the explosion of her core.

Qin Su couldn't help but lament: "Mutual destruction—truly the worst outcome." This T-1000, which could have swiftly eliminated the Law-Ruler, perished together with her in the blast as the price of underestimating an opponent.

Underestimating others never leads to good results. Miss Sirin had already demonstrated that with herself as a vivid example.

Still, Qin Su did not regret the loss of the T-1000. He only regretted failing to capture the Law-Ruler alive. After all, these T-1000s were all meant to be sacrificed in the plan.

Though the decapitation operation here had gone smoothly, the status of the other T-800s and T-1000s had almost all turned red, forcing them to withdraw from the battlefield. This also marked the failure of the second wave of assault.