Chapter 517: Chapter 461: The Price (4K)_2

The ultimate advanced version of Li Cheng’s Gravity Energy Orb skill.

Mobius forcefully swung his arm, and the Dark Star rapidly drifted toward the mechanical horde.

The latter turned around, with the thrusters on their backs fiercely spewing flames to create distance with difficulty.

From afar, Li Cheng saw this scene on the banks of the Thames River, stomped on the ground, leaped into the air, and shot a Bat Hook Claw into the outer wall of a building, flinging himself and Gray Rain, who also had a piece of Floating Engine, outward.

The Bell Tower Mages, including Nikola, had not yet recovered from the intense soul pain. Seeing this, their eyes widened in rage, and they all cast spells trying to intercept Li Cheng.

But he didn’t even turn his head, just snapped his fingers.

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

One after another, six-legged armored tanks appeared behind Li Cheng’s flight trajectory.

As soon as they landed, these tanks rotated their cannons, blasting out intangible yet substantial force field bombs toward the mages, interrupting their spellcasting once again.

In some respects, there really was no way for Nikola and the others to explain their grievances.

Firstly, all of the top-tier combat forces of the Bell Tower had been taken away by the guild leader Hornheim to explore the killing field, leaving London understaffed.

Secondly, as mages, in combat they often relied on melee professions like warriors, martial monks, or golems to attract boss hate and create space for output,

making it easier for them to chant spells and guide the release of high-power spells.

But the Bell Tower’s super large war golems were all locked in at the Greenwich Observatory Headquarters by the defense array hastily set up due to the crimson alert, unable to be deployed.

These coincidences made a terrifying suspicion emerge in Nikola’s mind.

Could it be that the Side of Truth from the Evil Science Alliance is providing precise intelligence to Pifu?

Could their goal be to strike the Bell Tower and even destroy London?

Li Cheng paid no mind to Nikola’s chaotic thoughts, flying through the air, his deep voice resonating from beneath his faceplate, “Stick to the plan.”

“Okay,”

Gray Rain nodded, glanced at the buildings below, and said softly, “You be careful.”

Although she often prided herself as the chosen Huazi, the Iron-blooded War Wolf, a pure Chinese lurking in the Zelro Civilization,

being a nanomachine, a war intelligent machine, she couldn’t really understand what parents or an orphanage were.

The only thing she could do was trust Li Cheng.

The fierce wind roared past her ears, the torrential rain seeming as if it would submerge the city into the sea,

Gray Rain released her grip, removed the Floating Engine, and crashed heavily into an abandoned warehouse under the force of gravity,

searching for another team of MI6 and Jacob Thompson, Cai Anjie’s foster father, whom they had hidden away.

As for Li Cheng…

He flew straight toward the mechanical horde, the armor on his body automatically opening, revealing skin-covered tendons and electrical wire interfaces hidden within.

Just like what those comments in the Whale Song streaming room said, the deeper into the killing field it gets, the stricter the hierarchy becomes, making cross-level challenges excessively difficult.

Thus, one must maximize their strengths to the fullest.

Bam!

The armor at the front of the mechanical horde’s neck automatically fell off, revealing a giant infusion device as thick as a human arm hidden within.

The syringe was filled with crystalline translucent liquid, with strands of blood interspersed within.

Or rather, 200ml of Qilin Blood.

With the roar of the engine inside the horde, strong muscles squeezed the infusion device, pumping all the transparent liquid with Qilin blood strands into the blood vessels.

The Qilin Divine Beast’s blood, upon first contact with the plasma cells of the Insect Lord Demon, boiled and surged, unleashing its full potential.

The horde, still flying at full speed, trying to escape the gravity of the Dark Star, emitted dense crackling sounds all over its body.

Tendons tore and regenerated, bones fractured and grew anew.

Overgrown muscles, driven by the infusion’s overpressure, deformed the metal components, making the already vast body appear distorted and ferocious.

This was not enough, yet another “boom” sounded, and the armor beneath the horde’s ribs also fell off, revealing a second infusion device, pumping in a transparent liquid mixed with 300ml of Qilin Blood.

This liquid was a secret internal potion from the Thousand Throats Beast Guild, which Li Cheng had bought at a high price from the slum’s black market.

The specific composition was said to be a dried extract from the corpse of a certain Divine Calamity, rich in active elements like amino acids, antiscorbutic acid, glycoproteins, and mucine.

Similar to the rejuvenation fluid made from cockroach extract, I suppose.

All in all, it could slightly mitigate the side effects of directly injecting Qilin Blood intravenously.

Under the influence of two tubes of Divine Beast Blood, the horde’s thrusters on its back ignited the flames to their limits, finally tearing away from the suction of the Dark Star.

And now, the final step,

The armor on the chest of the mechanical horde, according to the predetermined procedure, sprung open to the sides, revealing a biomechanical engine heart.

The engine heart had been hollowed out, or rather, a humanoid groove had been pre-set, the inner walls of which were full of various cables and blood vessels.

Li Cheng abruptly turned in mid-air, precisely fitting himself into the humanoid groove.

The cables hung down like venomous snakes actively lunged forth, biting his hands and limbs.

Two rows of nine groups of crystal tube needles installed on the groove’s inner wall pierced through the skin of his back, interfacing with the spinal nerves.

Additionally, a total of eight data interfaces directly connected to the brain and the cerebellum at the back of the neck via invasive electrodes from the brain-machine interface.

Li Cheng and the mechanical horde simultaneously opened their eyes, accelerating and soaring into the high-altitude clouds.

————

“We have to hold him back!”

In the meeting room of the Yin City Special Affairs Bureau, Yuan Zhixia looked at the scene on the big screen, her pupils trembling as she subconsciously stood up from her seat, accidentally knocking over a bottle of mineral water on the table.

All power comes with a price, for Li Cheng to dare face Mobius at Level 35 directly, there must be a high, if not dire price to pay.

No one spoke in the meeting room, the heads of the Yin City Special Affairs Bureau, summoned instead for the meeting, all wore grave expressions.

Director Xing Hechou waved his hand and said solemnly, “Xiao Yuan, sit down first.”

“I apologize,”

Yuan Zhixia took a deep breath, sat back down, and calmly said, “My suggestion is that Cai Anjie is handed to us by Pifu.

The power of Cai Anjie herself, as an extraordinary Level 35 existence, is not significant, but her other identity as the Holder of Hidden Room Authority is. She’s the core of the Taoyuan Plan.

The Special Affairs Bureau will absolutely collaborate with her in the future, not in a governance or subordinate relationship.

We’ve long been embroiled in this incident; from both moral and interest perspectives, we have the responsibility and obligation to hold onto Pifu, at least to protect his life. We cannot let Cai Anjie and other insiders feel disheartened.”

“Mm, ensuring Pifu’s life is something we definitely have to do. How exactly to proceed, this matter has already surpassed our city bureau’s authority; headquarters informed us ten minutes ago that they are taking over…”

Xing Hechou was speaking when his tone suddenly paused, as if receiving a message from a friend, he immediately said to everyone in the meeting room, “Uh, those below level five authority, please step out.”

Members of the Mobile Task Force, including Su Jie, Yuan Zhixia, and others, got up and left the meeting room. Yuan Zhixia, anxious, quietly hastened her pace away from the crowd, exiting the Special Affairs Bureau building, and took out her personal phone.

Her friend communication to Li Cheng had no response, and she didn’t know how to reach him at this time…

Buzz.

The phone vibrated slightly; it was a message from Li Cheng.

To be precise, it was a pre-set, scheduled voice message.

Even with Yuan Zhixia’s sharp mind, as she answered the phone, her mind was filled with chaotic thoughts. The next second, Li Cheng’s somewhat amused yet brisk voice came through the earpiece,

“Hey, are you there? Could you do me a favor, think of a way to have the school canceled in the next couple of days? The price this time might be a bit heavy.”

At the same moment, in the clouds of the London night sky.

[Vital signs synchronized, neural interface progress at 100%, bioelectrical signal calibration complete]