Chapter 596 - Machine God Left Arm

In his Black Dragon King form, Han Wu charged forward without fear and destroyed every automaton he encountered. Numerous glimmering Energy Parts drifted through the air, suspended as if waiting to be claimed.

Han Wu soon reached the location he had sensed earlier. There, he saw a massive core wrapped in innumerable steel cables that functioned like roots. The core was pulsating like a heart, every beat sending commands through the cables and into the steel trees.

The trees received the orders to block Han Wu. At the same time, countless automatons jumped down from the steel trees and overwhelmed Han Wu with suicidal attacks. Even when he shattered their frames, they could still overload their cores and detonate to stop him.

The relentless explosions made it impossible for Han Wu to approach the core. For the first time, he found himself hating kamikaze warfare. It had once been his primary method of attack through his units, and now he was on the receiving end.

He quickly sought out a solution to stop the explosions. He turned to his Peace Aspect and activated Tranquil Domain. Everything within the domain grew calm and subdued. The automatons lost their ability to self-destruct, allowing Han Wu to bypass them and advance directly toward the core.

The massive core beat rapidly as Han Wu studied it with keen interest. He had a feeling that this was the Machine God described in the rumors that surrounded the restricted zones. It manipulated the steel trees to absorb energy directly from the air and transformed nearby biological life forms into mechanical ones. As long as one didn’t destroy it, the restricted zone known as Steel Forest would continue to exist.

“I wonder what kind of reward I’d get if I destroy you now.” Han Wu licked his lips, which made him look even fiercer in his Black Dragon King form. He raised his claws and attacked the core.

The core shuddered, and the ground beneath Han Wu quaked. The steel trees ran toward the core, as if they had received a certain signal to chase him away.

Han Wu knew that he had hurt the core. The Machine God was afraid.

“This isn’t over!” he shouted.

The Divine Ring behind him changed into the Pressure Ring. In this form, his Black Dragon King form's strength weakened, but he gained the power to control pressure. That force enveloped the area and crushed the steel trees to the ground. The pressure was so powerful that cracks spread through their trunks.

Han Wu seized this chance and infused pressure into his claws, making them a billion times heavier. Thankfully, he could endure such force. Otherwise, his claws would have been pinned to the ground too.

He drove his heavy dragon claws into the core. Without the effects of Dragon Fear, he relied solely on physical strength. Even so, the pressure magnified the power of the strike.

A huge boom followed. The ground quaked again, and the core cracked open.

A horrifying shriek echoed through his mind before fading away. The steel trees collapsed like puppets with their strings cut and reverted to their original forms.

With the core shattered, the source that transmitted commands to the steel trees stopped functioning, and the Steel Forest regained its peace.

Han Wu deactivated his Divine Ring and panted. He had used both his Great Dragon and Pressure Rings in quick succession. The strain drained much of his strength, though the gains were well worth the cost.

Something ethereal flew out from the core. It resembled some form of fire. Han Wu reached out to touch it. The flames burned his hand and spread up his left arm. He panicked and tried to put it out, but the fire dissipated just as suddenly as it had appeared.

He examined his left arm and was surprised when an interface appeared before him.

[Machine God Left Arm: EX rating. Effects unknown]

“What the heck? What is an EX rating? Why did my arm turn into a mechanical device?” Han Wu exclaimed.

He waved his left arm and found nothing amiss. He then activated Black Dragon King Transformation to check for changes. The rest of his body transformed as usual into the muscular Black Dragon form. Only his left arm became metallic, ending in sharp metal claws. In this form, it resembled the limb of a mechanical dinosaur.

He canceled his transformation, and his left arm returned to normal too. He pinched his arm and was relieved to find that he could still feel pain.

“I have no idea what this is. I should look for Ms. Kerry and ask her about it,” he muttered.

Meanwhile, items continued to drift out of the core. Other than the strange fire, an inky green chip and a blueprint appeared. Han Wu couldn’t tell what the chip contained. When he tried touching it with his left arm, a chip slot opened in his left palm.

“Is it trying to tell me to insert the chip?” he mumbled and inserted the chip into the slot.

A stream of unfamiliar data surged in his mind. He couldn’t fully comprehend it, but its function became clear. It was called Cable Form and could transform his left arm into strands of tough cables. He could use them as ropes, insert them into other machines to hijack them, or siphon energy. It was a versatile chip with powerful effects.

Han Wu was still a novice in mechanical engineering, so he decided to wait for Kerry before delving deeper into the research.

Then there was the blueprint. This one, he could understand. It detailed the construction method of a support automaton with an X rating, equivalent to a World life form!

The name alone stirred his excitement: BD-04 Luxun. BD stood for Big Dipper, and Han Wu knew that it referred to a constellation of seven stars. Luxun was the name of one of those stars.

Does that mean there are other automatons named after the remaining stars in the other restricted zones? How powerful must something be to bear the name of a star?

he wondered.

Anticipation welled up in him. The blueprint came from the legendary Machine God, and an automaton with an X rating wouldn’t be weak at all.

He carefully stored the items, then waved his arm at the surrounding Energy Parts. An enormous tide of Energy Parts surged toward him. However, there were simply too many of them. With space cut off in the Lawless Civilization, he couldn’t take them all.

At that moment, Kerry brought her Black Rose Squad along with Akanzor and Bart to rendezvous with him. They had collected many Energy Parts along the way, though their haul still amounted to less than a quarter of the Energy Parts beside Han Wu.

Kerry was astonished by how strong a World life form was. There were countless Energy Parts here, but they couldn’t bring everything with them. Leaving them behind felt like an intolerable waste.

Kerry decided to use them on the spot by constructing automatons. This approach would consume part of the stockpile and solve the transportation problem.

Han Wu took this chance to show her BD-04 Luxun’s blueprint. She carefully inspected it and finally confirmed that the available Energy Parts were sufficient to build it immediately.