CHAPTER 86: CHAPTER 85: DEFEAT! THE MECHANICAL LEGION ARRIVES EARLY

Compared to Chen Pingchuan’s miserable situation, Vivian’s was much better.

Although she was also sent flying by the shockwave, a potted plant in the hall fortunately cushioned some of the impact. Even though she was flung several meters, the buffered impact meant she wasn’t injured enough to lose mobility.

"Who was that?"

Having slammed into the Mechanical Battle Armor, Chen Pingchuan felt as if his organs had been rearranged, a searing pain burning in his lungs. Despite his serious injuries, he couldn’t resist making a flippant remark.

"Who’s so inconsiderate? Randomly throwing firecrackers at the door."

Vivian lifted her dazed head, fighting a wave of dizziness as she scanned the area. When she saw Chen Pingchuan slumped against the Mechanical Battle Armor by the entrance, her face went white. Forgetting her own injuries, she limped to his side. Her delicate body trembled as tears streamed uncontrollably down her face. "How are you?" she sobbed. "Are you okay? Where does it hurt? Tell me where it hurts... D-don’t scare me..."

"What are you crying for? I’m not dead yet."

Seeing Vivian’s tear-stained face, Chen Pingchuan felt a sincere connection to the girl he had only just met. His expression turned grim. He pointed to the entrance and spoke gravely, "Your Natural Church’s intelligence network is garbage. How could you miscalculate something as important as the time of the attack? No wonder you’re all just mice scurrying in the gutters."

Vivian instinctively wanted to protest. In her mind, the Natural Church was a peaceful group, so it was understandable that their military intelligence would be lacking. But a glare from Chen Pingchuan made her lower her head, looking aggrieved.

"Alright, don’t be upset. I’m not talking about you. Have you been completely brainwashed or something? What are you waiting for? Run! Unless you want to wait here and die?"

Actually, Chen Pingchuan had other reasons for not leaving. Since the simulator defined this place as a Mechanical Resistance Army dungeon instance, then as an instance, there must be a reward. The reward might be tangible, virtual, or maybe even emotional... but surely not a person, right? Still, recalling the last hotel dungeon instance and looking at Vivian, he couldn’t be sure. Maybe Vivian *was* the reward. After all, from the moment he entered the building, she seemed to have an inexplicable fondness for him. If he wanted to... do something, it seemed like it would be easy.

The thought made him shake his head violently, making his already hazy mind even foggier. He couldn’t let his thoughts run wild right now. The only sensible thing to do was escape.

"Let’s go! Quickly! We don’t have to be the fastest, but we can’t be the slowest. The bird that takes the lead gets shot, and the enemy chases the one at the tail end. If we stick to the middle of the crowd, we’ll have a good chance of escaping with our lives."

It wasn’t clear if he was talking to Vivian or himself. He forced his body up and, trembling, pulled Vivian toward the entrance. Fortunately, his physical constitution was quite robust. An ordinary person wouldn’t have been able to move so strenuously after such a blow.

The moment they ran out of the base entrance, the scene before them left them utterly stunned.

Under the blazing sun, the Mechanical Legion was arranged in small phalanxes. It was composed of Mechanical Men, Mechanical Dogs, small flying drones, and troops in exoskeleton armor. They wielded lasers, explosive shells, grenade launchers, and other weapons of mass destruction as they carried out a ruthless slaughter of the human fighters.

In contrast, the human forces were leagues weaker but continued to fight back. Some of them also wore exoskeleton armor and returned fire with unknown weapons, though it often cost several human lives to take down a single Mechanical Man.

Cannons roared, their thunder shaking the heavens. Limbs flew and flesh splattered. It was a war of steel against flesh, though at this point, it looked more like a one-sided slaughter.

That Chen Pingchuan was shocked by this scene was no surprise. But Vivian, a member of the Mechanical Resistance Army, was also frozen in terror. He couldn’t understand it. His eyes widened as he raised his voice, "Don’t tell me your Mechanical Resistance Army has never actually fought the Mechanical Men before."

Vivian started crying again. She had never witnessed a scene like this. Familiar faces, one after another, stopped breathing amidst the carnage wrought by the Mechanical Men. She felt as if she had returned to the moment the red rain fell a year ago—just as weak, just as helpless.

Before either of them could fully process the scene, a furious male voice roared from nearby.

"Guard Army, cover our retreat! Stop running, you idiots! We’ll all die if you run! Personal Guard! Where’s my Personal Guard? Cover me! I’m going to get the secret weapon!"

From the voice alone, Chen Pingchuan immediately recognized the man he had seen arguing with the female bishop in the stairwell.

BANG!

A stray grenade suddenly exploded nearby, and the shockwave knocked both him and Vivian to the ground again. Chen Pingchuan could no longer afford to think about the searing pain in his body. He grabbed Vivian’s hand and scrambled back into the building. Looking at the battlefield, any chance of escape was gone. They’d probably be killed by stray fire from the Mechanical Men before they got halfway.

As Chen Pingchuan and Vivian fled back inside, several other figures appeared beside them. They were the Personal Guards of the man who had been shouting orders. Behind them was the middle-aged woman in white whom Chen Pingchuan had seen in the plaza earlier.

As the group scrambled into the building, the man shouted, "Close the main gate! It doesn’t look like much, but it’s shielded against artillery! Hurry! If we close it, it can hold them off for a while. After that, I’ll lead you out through a secret passage I know."

Fearing the Natural Church’s Personal Guards might have other ideas, Marco deliberately mentioned a secret passage that only he knew. The four Personal Guards exchanged glances and ran back toward the entrance. At this point, they had no choice but to follow Markel’s instructions. Their main force was already surrounded by the Mechanical Legion; annihilation was just a matter of time.

The electromagnetic signal at the gate was jammed, so the four Personal Guards from the Natural Church had to close it manually. In the process, two of them were killed, their hearts pierced by laser beams from afar.

Finally, with only a gap small enough for one person to squeeze through remaining in the glass-like door, the last two survivors could no longer contain their terror and ran toward Markel.

Markel felt no guilt for what had happened. He only hated that the Natural Church’s Personal Guards lacked a spirit of sacrifice. If the four of them hadn’t been watching him out of the corners of their eyes while closing the door, he would have fled long ago.

Good, two useless ones are dead. Now I just need to... Glancing at Monica, Markel started fantasizing about a future where she would be on her knees, begging him for mercy.

The two Personal Guards had no idea what Markel was thinking, but Monica had known him for decades. She could easily guess his thoughts. A wave of disgust washed over her as she looked at his face. She turned to the two guards. "You two should go. The people outside can’t hold on much longer."

"I’m not leaving. I will stay here and accompany my God."

Monica’s voice was low, as if she were soulless. She stood beside the jet-black Mecha, her delicate hands stroking and polishing the exoskeleton’s shell. She seemed lost in a work of art, unable to pull herself away.

"Truly a crazy woman. If you want to die so badly, then stay here and wait for it alone!"

Enraged by Monica’s actions, Markel cursed her loudly and turned to flee.

But then, another cold, mechanical voice echoed through the hall.

"Thinking of leaving, little mice? Not so fast. All of you are staying here."