CHAPTER 91: CHAPTER 90: BATTLE! MECHANICAL LEGION

This shockwave was different from the last. It raged like a ferocious, roaring beast, possessed of an unparalleled and destructive fury. It tore sand, stone debris, and bricks from the ground, sending them howling toward the interior of the base.

Confronted with such a powerful shockwave, Chen Pingchuan remained calm and composed. A translucent blue, circular energy shield automatically rose before him, shielding not only the space he occupied but also enveloping Monica, who stood nearby.

The reason I’m doing this is simple. This woman has clearly seen me before, so I might be able to get some useful information from her. If she dies, things will just get more troublesome; finding her in the real world would take a lot more effort. For now, the most ideal outcome would be to find the clues my future self left behind based on what she tells me. As for why my future self wouldn’t just give me the information directly... according to my own logic, if you could arbitrarily change the past, you wouldn’t be a god. You’d be a creator. There must be some kind of rule limiting direct intervention in reality to avoid destabilizing time and space.

But there are still too many logical inconsistencies. I’ll shelve that for now. I have plenty of tasks ahead of me. Restore my strength, find my missing emotional traits, locate energy crystals to reboot the simulation and get stronger, rebuild a home in this wasteland and save humanity, acquire enough combat power to change my fate... The missing traits are most likely Rage, Arrogance, Envy, Sloth, Greed, Gluttony, and Lust. Hmm, I’ve found Rage, and it seems Lust was never lost. I’m not in a rush for the others, but without them, my brain’s computational power is definitely limited.

Chen Pingchuan’s head began to ache. He didn’t dare push his deductions any further; there were simply too many variables to consider.

It’s a well-known fact that the brain operates at incredible speeds. A universe of thoughts can flash by while only moments pass in the outside world.

When Chen Pingchuan snapped out of his reverie, he saw that the entrance to the Mechanical Resistance Army base was already teeming with Mechanical Man troops of various designs.

Among them, humanoid Mechanical Men made up more than half of the total number. Humanoid Mechanical Men came in two forms. The first featured bright, silver metallic skin with sleek lines and a slender physique, resembling futuristic warriors. Their eyes flashed with cold light, and waves of detection ripples occasionally pulsed from them. The other type was cruder, with a shell made of yellow, square iron plates. Its angles were sharp, and its parts were all composed of rough, heavy materials, marking it as the most basic type of mechanical product.

Of course, the composition of the Mechanical Legion was extremely complex. Besides the humanoid Mechanical Men, there were also significant numbers of small aerial drones and mechanical beasts. Several cheetah-shaped liquid metal Mechanical Men were the most eye-catching among them. The destructive laser beams on standby in their eyes looked extraordinarily powerful, even at a glance.

The Celestial Palace faction, primarily composed of Mechanical Men; the Blood Beast Alliance, dominated by combat beasts; and the Genetic Warrior faction, centered on gene enhancement. Those are the three largest forces in this world. I don’t know anything beyond that for now.

I spent three years here, and I still lack the most basic understanding of this world. I don’t know whether to praise myself or curse myself. The greater the pleasure now, the greater the pain later—that’s a lesson my past life taught me. There must be a reason for all this, right? he consoled himself.

The Mechanical Legion gave Chen Pingchuan no opportunity to speak. From the moment they appeared, their assault was relentless. A dense barrage of shells, powerful laser beams, small grenades, and other weapons hammered his position.

The destructive barrage kicked up a thick cloud of dust that filled the hall, obscuring the vision of all the mechanical creatures. Even the infrared scanners they relied on to find their prey were rendered useless, unable to detect Chen Pingchuan’s silhouette.

It took several minutes for the dust to begin to settle. In that brief window, Chen Pingchuan accomplished several things. He first moved Monica to a safe position behind the stairwell and offered her a few words of comfort.

If my guess is correct, then in the next simulation, any woman I have close contact or an emotional connection with will receive my memories from that simulation in the real world. I’d say the probability of that is about eighty percent. Since I woke up, that girl who’s been acting as my sister, the one with the constantly stern face... she’s obviously the little girl I encountered in the previous simulation. As for why she’s pretending to be my sister and how she found me in the outer districts... there has to be a reason. One possibility is a memory infusion from the simulation. Another is that my future self came back and warned her. But if it was the second, she’d have no reason to be so secretive.

When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

Folmo Chuan was on the case.

Given the simulator’s twisted logic, this hypothesis is extremely plausible. Especially since my Lust trait wasn’t suppressed like the others.

Ever since regaining part of his cognitive functions, Chen Pingchuan found himself unable to control his own mind at times. Even in a crisis like this, his thoughts bolted about like a stallion that had broken its reins.

Of course, this wasn’t the time for idle thought. The smoke had cleared.

Chen Pingchuan was once again clad in his jet-black mecha. He was quite satisfied with his appearance; it was handsome enough. After all, power is temporary, but style is eternal. He felt a natural familiarity with this battle armor now.

He parted his lips slightly and commanded in a deep voice, "Activate Ultra-Sensory State!"

[Rage: 30. Activation Conditions Met.]

[State Activated.]

As the mecha’s deep, resonant confirmation tone sounded, the Xuantian-class mecha, Anger, underwent an earth-shattering transformation. Its once plain, inconspicuous jet-black surface suddenly ignited with mysterious, profound black flames. The fire, which seemed to have emerged from the Hell Netherworld itself, radiated a terrifying, oppressive aura. The black flames danced across the mecha’s shell as if they were alive, surging high one moment and dipping low the next, each flicker unleashing waves of destructive power.

Its seemingly ordinary weapons also underwent an astonishing transformation, morphing into a greatsword over two meters long. The blade, engraved with mysterious and complex runes, emanated a cold blue light. The surrounding air was incinerated by the blistering black flames, causing the space itself to distort with visible ripples and fluctuations.

Compared to the man from moments ago, Chen Pingchuan, now clad in his full battle mecha with the Ultra-Sensory State activated, was a different being entirely: divine, powerful, mysterious, majestic, unstoppable