Fresh blood trickled down, forming several winding Red Snake on the metal floor, eventually pooling into a bloodbath.
Ninja lay sprawled on the ground, covered in wounds and blood. Beneath him was a massive, equilateral triangular mechanical suction cup, glowing with an eerie blue light. The immense gravity and traction held him firmly in place. His hands, feet, and torso were bound by heavy black alloy rings—special mechanical shackles with a powerful energy interference field. They also utilized subspace conversion technology to transfer the energy released by the target, possessing a certain anti-magic effect against mages.
At the same time, four pipes extended from the metal floor on either side of Ninja, inserted into his spine, and injected nanobots to interfere with his energy flow and disrupt his nervous system, affecting his control over his body.
Ninja could only strain to tilt his head back, his blurred vision parallel to the ground. All he could see were mechanical lower limbs, and a dense swarm of mechanical soldiers surrounded him.
The two sides were now on the surface of a steel fortress, a mechanical war fortress brought by the Mechanic Emperor, now littered with battle scars and broken mechanical parts.
The spatial coefficients around him were forcibly kept constant by the stabilizing instruments of the Mechanic Emperor. He also deployed magic interference devices to disable Ninja's teleportation spell. Ninja had nowhere to retreat and could only fight.
However, besides the clone of the "Dominator's Descent" from the Mechanic Emperor, this Beyond Grade A mechanical force also had four Apostle Weapon. Ninja was no match for this ranged mechanical force. In a one-on-one fight... cough, in a group fight, he was severely injured. At this time Scepter of All Gods had already fallen into the hands of the Mechanic Emperor.
"I've been waiting for you to use the Scepter of All Gods, but you haven't. So that's why..."
The Dominion of the Mechanic Emperor, an avatar, held the amber that sealed the Scepter of All Gods, gently stroking it, marveling at the unique energy insulation properties of the Space-Time Amber.
"You dare steal the Scepter of All Gods?! Manison, aren't you afraid of the wrath of the Arcane Church?!" Ninja gritted his teeth.
"Don't misunderstand, I have no interest in the Scepter of All Gods. I'm just doing the Federation of Light a small favor."
The Mechanic Emperor glanced at Ninja and waved to the side.
A bright silver mechanical life form, Apostle Weapon, walked over. Its entire body was as smooth as a mirror, without any mechanical structure.
The Apostle Weapon crouched down, its fingers transforming into spikes that pierced Ninja's back. Then, its entire body turned into a liquid and began to flow, its entire form flowing into Ninja's body through the wound.
The next moment, the Mechanic Emperor released Ninja from his restraints. However, the Apostle Weapon within Ninja's body also suppressed his ability to control his body, leaving him only able to glare angrily at the Mechanic Emperor.
What do you want to do to me?
"The Federation of Light ordered me to kill you and destroy the evidence. However, your body is still of use to me."
The Mechanic Emperor casually tossed out a compressed sphere, which transformed into a restraint chamber, trapping Ninja inside.
Having confirmed that Ninja could not escape, the Mechanic Emperor turned back to observe the amber that sealed the Scepter of All Gods, and their interest grew.
"Hmm, this is a very special new material. Since Black Star has the manufacturing method... we should find an opportunity to make contact with it in the future."
"Out of contact? Explain to me, what does 'out of contact' mean?!"
The higher-ups of the Arcane Church quickly received the news that Ninja, who was supposed to return to the Central Galaxy through the Star Gate, had lost contact not long ago!
This greatly surprised the bishops, who thought that Ninja had escaped danger and would be able to bring back the Scepter of All Gods. They did not expect that an accident would occur just when things were about to settle down.
Since we can't contact Ninja now, the worst-case scenario is that he's been attacked and killed.
Even if it had been attacked, Ninja shouldn't have been unable to send back any messages, and the Arcane Church's stargate monitoring station hadn't reported any abnormalities.
There's only one explanation for this... that there was a virtual mechanic among the attackers who tampered with the data and blocked communication connections.
The bishops' conference immediately thought of Black Star, the most suspicious of them all.
However, Han Xiao had just visited the Star Pupil Protoss not long ago and was on his way back to headquarters, so he had an alibi... But the possibility that Han Xiao used long-range forces to carry out the attack cannot be ruled out.
"If Black Star is the murderer, was he authorized by the Crimson Dynasty? The Empire has already arrested four of us and forced Sisko to issue a public apology. Aren't they satisfied yet?" someone wondered.
"The possibility is not high. We are currently negotiating the ransom and have reached a preliminary agreement. The Empire is well aware that continuing to pursue us relentlessly may not be beneficial. If they seize the Scepter of All Gods, it will force us to turn against them, which would probably be a loss for them."
"Could it be that Black Star is plotting to seize the Scepter of All Gods and is acting on his own..."
"Hmm... Thinking about it carefully, this is more harmful than beneficial to Black Star. He has gained a lot this time, so there's no need for him to risk seizing the Scepter of All Gods. Even if he did, he wouldn't dare use it, and keeping it would only bring trouble. The only way is to hand it over to the Empire... But so far, Black Star's personality shows that he's not someone who likes to take risks. In addition, his cooperation with the Empire is still in its honeymoon period, so he wouldn't risk doing something with more risks than benefits behind the Empire's back."
The bishops frowned; all signs indicated that this was not an operation by the Empire and Black Star.
Could it be that those forces lurking in the shadows are taking advantage of the chaos?
To intercept Ninja, two prerequisites must be met: first, a powerful intelligence network within the Shattered Star Ring is needed to pinpoint Ninja's whereabouts; second, one must possess Beyond Grade A combat power and Beyond Grade A virtual mechanic, thus enabling the silent defeat of Ninja.
After much thought, another goal that satisfies both conditions came to mind.
The bishops were immediately taken aback.
"Could it be... the Federation of Light?!"
The Shattered Star Ring is the territory of the Federation of Light. It may seem that the Federation of Light doesn't care much about this star system, but the intelligence network they have secretly established is not to be underestimated. They have been operating here for many years, and although they do not show their strength, their intelligence capabilities may surpass those of the Crimson Dynasty, which has only been in the market for a few years.
The Crimson Dynasty failed to discover Ninja's whereabouts, but the Federation of Light did, which makes sense.
The bishops' faces turned ashen; the more they thought about it, the more suspicious the Federation of Light seemed.
When they lent out the High-Dimensional Apocalypse Teleporter, those scoundrels were just looking to fish in troubled waters.
This defeat resulted in significant losses of their Beyond Grade A combat power, and strained relations with the Arcane Church Crimson Dynasty. For the Federation of Light, this presented an excellent opportunity to strike.
The bishops then realized that their entire force had been wiped out, and they nearly coughed up blood.
Federation of Light, you son of a bitch!
At this moment, a virtual screen appeared on the conference table, displaying the leader's orders:
"First, stabilize the Crimson Dynasty and redeem our Beyond Grade A ally... then we can negotiate with the Federation of Light."
The bishops exchanged glances, their eyes revealing helplessness and frustration.
Yesterday they thought the Scepter of All Gods was coming back, but today they received devastating news. This feeling of falling from heaven to hell is incredibly upsetting for them.
All our efforts were in vain.
Without evidence, the Federation of Light won't admit it. The other side is a power of the same level; they won't be threatened, and they're not afraid of a direct confrontation...
That's all we can do for now. Once we've stabilized the Empire, we can then have a showdown with that Federation of Light.
The homeworld of the Federation of Light.
President Bader put down his communicator and nodded and smiled at the elders in the council.
"Manison has succeeded; the Scepter of All Gods is now ours."
Upon hearing this, everyone present revealed smug smiles of triumph.
The chief elder tapped his cane and praised, "As expected of one of the strongest Ancient Ones, the Mechanic Emperor remains as reliable as ever."
Bader nodded with a smile. The Mechanic Emperor had always been an ally he valued, not only because of Mechanic Emperor terrifying combat power, but also because Mechanic Emperor ranged units were elusive and could evade surveillance to carry out many secret operations.
"The Arcane Church may suspect the Empire, and they might even guess that we did it, but they have no evidence, and they won't announce the theft of the Scepter of All Gods to the outside world."
"According to intelligence, the Scepter of All Gods is very simple to use, but we lack the technology to repair it. However, it can still be used as a limited-use trump card, capable of fatally damaging Beyond Grade A... cough cough, as long as it's not used in front of Black Star."
"Although it may have angered the Arcane Church, we've made a huge profit by obtaining the Scepter of All Gods. Not only have we taken away the Arcane Church's trump card against Beyond Grade A opponents, but this is also a bargaining chip against the Arcane Church."
The council elders, all with smiles on their faces, discussed the matter animatedly.
"The Mechanic Emperor says the Scepter of All Gods is sealed by a special material. Once he returns, I'll have the research institute decipher it."
Bader spoke with a calm smile, not taking the so-called seal to heart.