Star Odyssey

Chapter 3141: Battle Commences

At the same time, Bu Qing had guided Mu Ke to a place where he could see a massive mecha that rose above the wall that surrounded the imperial palace. The mecha was inside the palace, which meant that only a small part of it was visible, and it was rather inconspicuous.

"This mecha is called Regisword, and it’s piloted by the Pillar of Heaven, Huan Zhan. Huan Zhan is the Imperial Academy’s chief instructor, and he once taught the current emperor. His mecha is equipped with the sharpest weapon the Infinity Empire has ever forged, and the blade is also called Regisword. The sword is the reason for the mecha’s name," Bu Qing explained.

Mu Ke looked up at the towering mecha. The sharpest sword, huh? He was eager to test that out for himself.

"And where is Huan Zhan?" Mu Ke asked.

Bu Qing shook her head. "All I can do is bring you here. I can’t reveal myself right now, but even before I was captured, I didn’t have a high enough status to have the privilege of meeting with Lord Huan Zhan. He is someone high above my father, and even the emperor is respectful to the man."

"Give me a picture of him," Mu Ke requested.

Bu Qing easily found a picture of Huan Zhan, as the man’s identity was no secret. After all, he had been the Imperial Academy’s chief instructor for a long time, and none of the Pillars of Heaven’s identities were secret.

Mu Ke casually grabbed a handful of dust, raised a hand, and then threw it towards the imperial palace. It drifted over the wall, past the mecha, and onwards into the distance.

"He's inside the mecha," Mu Ke stated.

Bu Qing asked, "So, what now?"

"We wait," Mu Ke replied.

Elsewhere, Hong Yi led Big Sis to another mecha.

"This mecha is called Sorrowforge, and it’s piloted by the Pillar of Heaven, Lord Ying Du. Whenever Lord Ying Du fights, he makes his enemies experience great pain. This has led him to becoming the most feared of the Pillars of Heaven," Hong Yi said nervously.

Big Sis sneered. "Using a tool to achieve his strength? What’s the point of that?"

Hong Yi was much smarter than Bu Qing, and she had already prepared pictures of all five Pillars of Heaven. Big Sis glanced at the images, and then turned to stare at the imperial palace.

"He's inside the mecha," she stated.

"What now, Senior?" Hong Yi asked.

"We find another one," Big Sis responded.

As for Xu Wuwei, Fei Su served as his guide, and he also observed a mecha. This one was called Perpetua, and it was piloted by Jiao Feng. The man was standing atop the imperial palace’s wall.

Fei Su looked up at Jiao Feng standing on the wall and knew that the man was already doomed. Without their mechas, pilots were all just ordinary humans.

Xu Wuwei made a move, because Jiao Feng was about to enter his mecha. As soon as the pilot entered the mecha, Xu Wuwei would have to break it open to seize control of the man.

Jiao Feng was about to enter his mecha from the top of the imperial palace’s wall when he suddenly froze. His eyes darted about. Why was he unable to move?

Xu Wuwei easily took control of Jiao Feng. "Done."

Fei Su watched events unfold. He could not help but think that, without their mechas, the Infinity Empire was nothing compared to the Fifth Mainland.

Xu Wuwei sent a message to Lu Yin, who immediately replied, "Thanks for the help, Senior."

"It’s not a problem. He’s just an ordinary person," Xu Wuwei responded. However, the moment he finished speaking, a piercing alarm rang throughout the Imperial City, and Perpetua gave off a red glow that drew the attention of the entire city.

Xu Wuwei was startled. "What's going on?"

Fei Su's face turned pale. "This is bad! We've been caught!"

In front of Perpetua, Jiao Feng's expression grew somber. Someone tried to control him, but were they an outsider or an insider? He did not know, but whoever it was, they were too naive. The Pillars of Heaven were ordinary humans without their mechas, and they could easily be controlled. To address this vulnerability, the five Pillars of Heaven all adhered to strict protocols regarding the time that they spent outside of their mechas.

Leaving too early or returning too late, even by a second, would trigger alarms throughout the Imperial City.

The Pillars of Heaven represented the security of the Infinity Empire and the safety of the emperor himself, so no caution was regarded as excessive.

Jiao Feng had been controlled, which resulted in him being late to return to his mecha, and that had triggered the alarm.

Only the five Pillars of Heaven and the emperor were aware of this security protocol. Even the crown prince, Shang Tianzong, the fifth prince, Shang Cheng, and the ninth princess, Shang An'an knew nothing about it, let alone someone like Hong Nian.

At this moment, it no longer mattered who knew about the security protocol, as with Jiao Feng compromised, the entire Imperial City sprang into action.

At the center of the imperial palace, the emperor instantly entered his mecha. After many years of peace, the Imperial City was once again facing an enemy.

Boom!

The ground trembled as a mecha dropped down near Jiao Feng. It landed outside of the imperial palace’s walls and stared at the man.

Jiao Feng was still unable to move.

Xu Wuwei felt helpless. He had only just reported his success to Lu Yin, and the moment he had, trouble had arisen. Given the circumstances, the man had no choice but to take action.

The mecha moved to capture Jiao Feng, who was immobilized, yet it was clearly controlled by someone. The top priority was to get the man away.

Xu Wuwei instantly released his Spiral Domain, which spread across the entire Imperial City. Lines of space, which should have been invisible to the naked eye, struck the mechas while leaving the people inside unharmed.

There were at least twenty mechas within the Imperial City, but aside from the Pillars of Heaven's mechas, all the others were stationed outside of the imperial palace.

The moment that Xu Wuwei attacked, half of the mechas were defeated. Most mechas were not able to withstand Xu Wuwei’s power.

In fact, a mecha needed to at least be a twelve ring mecha to fight back against Xu Wuwei. After all, the man was a sequence powerhouse.

The mecha that was trying to capture Jiao Feng was Regisword.

The force of Xu Wuwei’s Spiral Domain pushed the mecha back and caused its energy shield to warp.

Inside of Regisword, a middle-aged man was stunned by the sheer force being brought against him. The mecha's alarms blared incessantly.

Suddenly, a long blade appeared, and the mecha slashed it at Xu Wuwei, who had been targeted by the mecha.

A cauldron appeared above Xu Wuwei. It was his lifebound voidforce puppet. Voidforce energy surged wildly, but the sword easily sliced through it, the attack continuing towards the cauldron.

Xu Wuwei was stunned; had his voidforce energy been sliced through? What a sharp blade!

The blade effortlessly split the void, the attack striking the cauldron with a deafening bang. Cracks started to spread across the cauldron, making Xu Wuwei's heart ache. The sword was sharp, to an almost unimaginable degree. Xu Wuwei was by no means weaker than the Regisword. Rather, it was the sharpness of the sword that gave the mecha an advantage.

However, regardless of how sharp a blade might be, as long as it did not connect, there was no threat.

At that moment, a slash appeared from the distance, and the attack slammed against Regisword’s sword. This attack looked miniscule in comparison to the mecha’s massive blade, and it was nearly invisible. However, the attack successfully deflected the enormous blade. The terrifying power behind the attack caught Huan Zhan's attention, as it meant that another powerful opponent was present.

At the same time, battles erupted in two other locations.

A sea of abyssal flowers blossomed as Big Sis attacked Sorrowforge. As for Xia Shenji, he clashed with a mecha that was covered with intricate engravings of flowers. This mecha was called Petalstorm, and it was piloted by Shang Qiu, who was the emperor's sister.

Fierce battles took place in four corners around the imperial palace, and alarms blared across the entire city, prompting numerous evacuations.

Hong Nian was standing in his courtyard, his face growing pale as he watched the distant battle. From where he stood, he was able to see Mu Ke's battle against Regisword.

Hong Nian was well aware of Regisword’s power, having seen numerous imperial records. Regisword had not been built specifically for Huan Zhan, as it was an ancient machine. Huan Zhan was nothing more than the mecha’s latest pilot. Still, the mecha's peerless sword was able to slice through anything, and even just looking at it could injure normal humans.

Forged from the sharpest material the Infinity Empire had ever encountered, the sword represented the empire's greatest weapon.

At this moment, Hong Nian was watching someone fight against Regisword head on, and each time the peerless sword slashed out, it was parried. The mecha was being pushed back. Just who were these people? They were all terrifyingly powerful.

Hong Nian turned around to look at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin was also observing the battle with great interest. As expected of the twelve-ring mecha, this weapon could withstand his senior brother's attacks. While Lu Yin could no longer see sequence particles himself, he could sense that his senior brother was using them. Even so, the massive blade was able to block Mu Ke’s attacks.

Twelve-ring mechas really were capable of fighting against sequence powerhouses.

However, this battle would not last for very long. In the end, a mecha was not a living creature, and machines had limits. Holding Mu Ke back was already this mecha’s limit.

The imperial city had fallen into chaos. The battle between the Pillars of Heaven and the Sixverse Association’s peak powerhouses had transformed the universe into a battlefield.

Lu Yin was still as calm as ever. "Hong Nian."

Hong Nian quickly looked over at the young man. "Yes, Lord Lu?"

"Let's go to the Energy Research Institute."

Hong Nian was taken aback by the comment, and he glanced at the distant battle. As he did so, Regisword's sword sliced upwards, splitting the void open to expose the Hollow. Hong Nian was left speechless by the sight.

If that attack had struck another mecha, it would have been instantly destroyed.

Lu Yin was unperturbed by the sight, and he reminded the other man, "Lead the way."

Hong Nian admired Lu Yin's composure. Even in the face of such an amazing battlefield, this man remained unfazed.

Hong Nian had no idea what Lu Yin had lived through. Was this an intense battle? Not at all. In fact, it was far from enough to catch Lu Yin's attention. It was just a small skirmish, nothing more.

Mu Ke and the others could handle the situation, and Lu Yin wanted to see the Energy Research Institute.

If a twelve-ring mecha could fight against sequence powerhouses, then what about a thirteen-ring mecha? Would that be at the level of the Seven Skygods? Maybe even as strong as an Ortuser?

Mechas most likely could not reach the strength of an Ortuser, as that was an entirely different cultivation realm. Still, a thirteen-ring mech would likely possess the same level of strength as the Seven Skygods.

If that was true, then Lu Yin would fully support the research, as he was doing whatever he could to ensure that humanity had more experts.

Aeternus wanted to overpower humanity through outnumbering them with powerhouses. Lu Yin wanted to try the same thing, and he would use every method that was available.

The Infinity Empire could not be destroyed.

Lu Yin had already given his people specific instructions, and they included a warning of just how important it was to preserve the Pillars of Heaven’s mechas.

Hong Nian showed the way, and Lu Yin moved at the speed of time to enter the imperial palace, which was where the Energy Research Institute was located. It was the most important facility in the entire Infinity Empire, as it formed the foundation of their strength.

Following Hong Nian's directions, Lu Yin arrived within the institute, only to be confronted by a scene that he could not comprehend.

There were various forms of energy on display. They had been collected from the parallel universes the Infinity Empire had conquered.

The place was full of people, all of whom were the Infinity Empire’s best researchers in the field of ring energy.

From time to time, the floor shook, and dust would fall, but the people in the Energy Research Institute ignored it all. This was not because they did not fear death, but rather because they were in one of the empire’s most secure locations. The people inside were not afraid of any battle that might break out outside of the institute.