23,700 units.
"Over 20,000, and each one is no worse than the one outside."
Jin was silent for a few seconds. "Twenty thousand colonel-level officers joining forces... another Four Emperors army."
"More than."
Roy walked towards the nearest mechanical warrior and Telekinesis to probe its internal structure.
"The outer shell of this thing is harder than Seastone, and its energy weapon is at least ten times more powerful than a standard naval cannon."
Twenty thousand joined forces...
Roy didn't finish his sentence, but his meaning was clear.
If the World Government knew that something like this was hidden on the moon, they probably wouldn't be able to sleep soundly.
Scientists quickly poured in. Their eyes lit up at the sight of the mechanical warriors—the kind of eyes that gleamed like wolves that hadn't eaten for three days seeing meat.
"This core energy source..."
Gracia's assistant—a young researcher—was lying on the chest of a robotic warrior, gesturing back and forth with a scanner.
"Its flame wavelength is exactly the same as that of the Lunarian Tribe!"
The outer shell is made of an unknown alloy!
Another researcher tapped the mechanical warrior's arm.
"It's harder than Seastone, but much lighter!"
"Weapon system..."
A female researcher carefully pried open the mechanical warrior's hand, revealing the energy cannon muzzle inside.
"This precision, this structure—we're at least fifty years behind!"
Yamato and the others excitedly surrounded a mechanical warrior, banging and tapping on it, their interest growing with each look. " Roy! If only we could bring these big guys back to Hachinosu..."
"With these, fighting the navy will be a piece of cake!" Savi chimed in.
Enel even further, saying, "Could you take one apart so I can study it?"
Pea stared at the mechanical warrior in front of her and asked curiously, "Will they listen to us?"
Just as Roy was about to answer, he heard a "click".
Yamato's hand touched the blue core on the mechanical warrior's chest.
The core flickered.
The blue light started from that machine and spread outwards.
One, ten, one hundred, one thousand—the mechanical warriors throughout the square lit up one after another, like Domino.
"Invaded life form detected..."
Mechanical voices came from all directions, cold and orderly, like an army making a unified announcement.
"Unregistered race..."
"Start the cleanup process!"
All the mechanical warriors' eyes lit up red simultaneously.
The formation began to move. The arms of the mechanical warriors in the front row deformed, revealing dark, gaping cannon muzzles.
The mechanical warriors in the back row drew their lightsabers, the energy blades humming in the darkness.
Twenty-three thousand seven hundred mechanical warriors completely surrounded Roy and his companions.
"Fire!"
A volley of shots.
Thousands of energy projectiles rained down from all directions, as dense as a storm.
Roy immediately expanded his Telekinesis Field to its fullest extent, forming a hemispherical shield. The energy blast struck the shield, creating ripples.
Don't be impulsive!
Roy stopped the group from retaliating.
"Let me assess their combat capabilities first."
Each energy blast is as powerful as a full-force attack from a Rear Admiral.
Roy's shield could block it, but each impact drained his Telekinesis.
As the scientists said, the outer shell's defensive capabilities are indeed as strong; ordinary slashes simply cannot cut through it.
Bullet punched a mechanical warrior in the chest, only knocking it back a few steps, without even leaving a dent on its shell.
The joints are a weak point; Hawk Eyes slashed at the mechanical warrior's elbow, and the arm snapped off instantly.
Their coordination was terrifyingly perfect. Front-line firing, rear-line charging, flanking maneuvers, and rear support—their formation was impeccable, their advances and retreats measured, more disciplined than any human army.
Roy quickly assessed the situation: each of the mechanical warriors possessed the combat strength of a naval officer at the rank of colonel; 20,000 of them working together would be enough to annihilate the lowest-ranking members of a Four Emperors crew.
But just as Roy was about to order a full-scale counterattack, he noticed something.
All the mechanical warriors' attacks avoided the spot where Jhin was standing.
It doesn't seem like a coincidence.
Roy carefully observed several volleys and confirmed this.
There is always a safe zone with a radius of three meters around Jin.
No energy blasts flew toward him, no lightsabers slashed at him, and even charging mechanical warriors would avoid him.
"Jhin," Roy shouted, "Try taking a few steps forward."
Jin did as instructed.
The mechanical warrior's attack direction adjusts as he moves.
Wherever he goes, that place is safe.
"Stop!" Roy shouted again.
Jin stopped. The mechanical warriors around him ceased their attack, the red light in their eyes returned to blue, and some even bowed slightly, as if in salute.
"They know you," Roy said. "Or rather, they know your blood."
Jin took a deep breath. "I can feel... they're waiting for me to go somewhere."
"Where?"
Jin pointed to the end of the plaza. There, an even larger metal door was embedded in the wall, engraved with the same Lunarian totem as the entrance to the stone temple.
"Let's go," Roy said, "Let's go take a look."
Protected by Roy's energy shield, the group passed through the mechanical array.
The mechanical warriors automatically made way for them.
Soon a metal door appeared before them, smaller than the entrance to the stone hall, but still several tens of meters high. Without hesitation, Jin placed his palm on the door.
A golden light swept across.
The metal door slowly opened.
Behind the door is a huge circular hall, 500 meters in diameter, with a towering dome.
The walls were covered with screens and control consoles. The screens were still black, but the indicator lights on the consoles were flashing, indicating that the system was still running.
In the center of the hall, a huge blue sphere of light floated.
It is at least thirty meters in diameter, radiates pulsating blue light, and possesses astonishing energy.
Countless optical cables extend from the optical sphere, connecting to the surrounding equipment, like the root system of an upside-down tree.
"This is the central hub," Roy murmured.
The moment Jhin stepped closer to the orb of light, the blue light turned gold.
" Lunarian's bloodline confirmed..."
Mechanical voices came from all directions, gentler than those of the mechanical warriors outside.
"Priority level... highest."
The screen lit up one section after another.
Holographic images were projected around the sphere of light—a map of the mechanical legion's distribution, a structural diagram of the moon's interior, a route map of energy flow... a dense array of data pulsed around.
Jhin reached out and pressed his hand against the energy projection on the surface of the sphere of light.
"Stop the attack." His voice wasn't loud, but the system understood.
"Command confirmed. Mechanical Legion enters standby mode."
In the square, the 23,700 mechanical warriors simultaneously extinguished their blue lights.
As the crisis subsided and everyone rushed into the hall, they were all awestruck by the enormous blue sphere of light in the center.
The scientists, disregarding everything else, rushed to the control panel and began operating it.
The data on the screen was jumping rapidly, and the holographic images were constantly switching, making the entire hall seem to come alive.
Olvia sat at the main control console, staring at the Ancient Script, her fingers flying across the virtual keyboard. Her eyes grew brighter, her breathing more rapid.
"Captain... the information here is... abundant."
"Pull it up and take your time to look at it."