Reverse flow of the Yellow Springs

In the dim light, a flurry of sounds returned. Heavy footsteps pounded the ground, and the familiar click of a molten metal hand cannon being cocked echoed.

The enemy has arrived, so quickly?

Or perhaps Zhou Ding had already calculated the area where everyone would fall and had laid an ambush there with attack-capable machine spirits?

He instinctively raised his hand, wanting to unleash flames to illuminate the surrounding environment and the enemy's status.

However, the moment he raised his hand, a sense of foreboding washed over him.

He abruptly stopped his movements. His inspiration had brought a warning: if the fire were lit, something terrible would happen.

"Don't move, I've got an idea. There might be methane gas here!" Strawberry warned. "He's deliberately leading us to his territory."

"I realize we're really on the defensive. Zhou Hao, can you pinpoint Zhou Ding's exact location?" Zha Dan was furious, his teeth itching.

Now, he felt a surge of resentment, as if he had been toyed with by the enemy. The group hadn't even seen Zhou Ding yet, and they'd already been attacked. Who knew how many more such attacks they would face along the way?

Psionicists of their caliber are naturally not easily harmed by methane explosions. However, if the terrain were altered again, triggering further collapse, it would put them in a very passive position.

At the same time, Li Yelai and his companions also saw what the enemy looked like.

Those were a dozen or so tattered Border Guard armored vehicles, their battered hulls indicating they had been swarmed by killing insectoid swarms.

They were the Iron Guards who sacrificed themselves within the fog of disaster!

The warriors inside the armor were long dead, but the unmanned armor raised its weapons against the human warriors.

More than a dozen unmanned armored figures, each wielding a hot melt gun, charged toward the four at top speed.

To sacrifice the armor of the Iron Guards to attack human warriors! What blasphemy!

Li Yelai's gaze darkened, and a murderous intent began to rise within him.

"Zhou Ding, you deserve to die!"

Zhou Hao's angry roar and the sound of molten metal exploding rang out at the same time.

The intense heat ignited the marsh gas in the space, and an even more violent explosion resounded.

Zhou Ding felt incredibly pleased to see this scene through the surveillance camera mounted on the Iron Guard helmet.

Although the viewpoint was quickly destroyed, the faint tremors beneath my feet indicated the success of the plan.

He lured the enemy into his trap, gradually weakening them.

Even a sixth-level psychic would have a chance to win.

Come on, smash through all the machine spirits, exhaust all your means, and come before me!
Unfortunately, the explosion destroyed all the Iron Guard armor.

Otherwise, he could at least see from the footage how much his chances of winning had improved.

"Your Excellency Ziyu, when the image disappeared just now, did my chances of winning increase?" Zhou Ding asked.

"Of course, apart from that one, the odds of winning for everyone else have increased by several points. They'll need to expend a lot of psionic energy to survive the explosion."

"What about that prodigy?" Zhou Ding asked. Li Yelai was his ultimate goal, and if there was any hope, he was willing to give it a try.

"Of course there have been changes, there's an extra zero now," Zi Yu chuckled encouragingly.

"This is quite a surprise." Zhou Ding's heart skipped a beat. An extra zero?

So, my chances of winning against that powerful opponent were originally only in the single digits?

This caught Zhou Ding off guard, but thankfully, his plan had worked in the end.

Whether it was originally 3% or 6%, adding a zero makes it less invincible.

"It really works exceptionally well!"

"Isn't that right?" Zi Yu chuckled.

She wasn't lying; going from 0.01% to 0.001% is just adding a zero.

"Then, the key is to switch their view to me when they reach the next area." Zhou Ding said cheerfully.

The feeling of sitting in the rear, watching the enemy overcome obstacles and go to great lengths to finally confront you, is truly wonderful.

The combination of numerical values ​​and the core of the machine god is too perfect.
"Now, let's first take a look at the position of the former patriarch."

The scene quickly shifted to the old patriarch in the background.

"What methods should I use to deal with the old patriarch?" Zhou Ding wondered.

But soon he noticed that the old man in the picture was standing still in thought and did not move.

This puzzled Zhou Ding. What was going on? Weren't we moving forward?
As a sixth-level awakening expert in the Netherworld Path, did he hesitate when faced with the trap?
"Old patriarch, are you afraid to take any more risks? The battlefield assassin of yesteryear has grown old after all," Zhou Ding thought to himself.

Immediately, his expression changed drastically.

"Send the nearest vehicle over there!"

A minute later, another image appeared, captured by a camera on an activated engineering vehicle.

The screen was empty. Yet, in the surveillance footage, Zhou Yuan should have been right in front of him.

Zhou Ding's eyes widened in horror: "Damn it, the Machine Soul has rebelled!"

The cost of using the Machine God Core is that after activating ten Machine Souls, the eleventh Machine Soul may disobey orders or even become hostile to the user.

Therefore, Zhou Ding would always test the loyalty of the machine souls at the beginning.

Even if some surveillance cameras refuse to provide service, they simply block the view.

Now, the camera that was supposed to be watching Zhou Yuan has betrayed him.

Its mechanical soul created the illusion that Zhou Yuan was still far away!

It had never been exposed before, until I decided to do something drastic to myself?
Now, a psionicist from the Netherworld Path has disappeared from Zhou Ding's sight, which alarms Zhou Ding.

The battlefield assassins of the Netherworld Path have vanished into the net passage and may now be rapidly approaching.

That damned rebellious machine spirit is trying to kill me!
"Destroy that camera!" Zhou Ding angrily ordered. "All on alert!"

Numerous machine spirits were awakened: vehicles, automated turrets, armored armor, and even a massive underground exploration machine. All were activated under Zhou Ding's command, standing guard against potential enemies.

Meanwhile, in the underground space where Li Yelai and the others were located.

As the aftershocks of the explosion gradually dissipated, a thick but dilapidated stone wall collapsed, and Li Yelai and the others emerged from it.

This was Zhou Hao's divine power, Earth Shaping. He controlled the soil to transform into a stone wall and increased its hardness. It became a barrier that blocked the powerful swamp gas explosion.

It is said that the construction of the giant city back then was inseparable from the help of this ability.

However, this depleted a significant portion of Zhou Hao's spiritual energy.

"What do we do now? Should we keep going?" Strawberry asked, looking at Zhou Hao, who was panting heavily.

“The enemy is in the shadows, while we are in the light. Continuing forward might lead us into another trap,” said Grenadier. “Perhaps we should go back first, gather more manpower, or notify the authorities.”

Zhou Ding had clearly planned ahead; if he continued forward, who knew what kind of tricks he would be used against him?

The four were attacked twice in succession, and they hadn't even seen anyone. If they continued forward, there was a risk of casualties.

“Indeed, the authorities should take over. Regardless of Zhou Ding's actions, that forbidden item must be confiscated by the authorities,” Li Yelai added. “You want to negotiate with Zhou Ding to get him back to the family. But he's showing no mercy.” “No, don't worry. The bigger the commotion we make, the sooner the old patriarch can get close to Zhou Ding,” Zhou Hao said. “If Zhou Ding doesn't repent, then the old patriarch will naturally clean house.”

"So that's how it is. No wonder you planned to use us as a feint from the beginning when you separated from us." Zha Tan clicked his tongue.

“There’s no way around it, this forbidden item is just too troublesome. It’s very difficult for us to find it on our own.” Zhou Hao said after his breathing gradually calmed down, “I apologize, everyone. Let’s keep going. With our strength, even a trap won’t be able to harm us; on the contrary, it can attract his attention. Of course, I will double the reward. It’s all on me!”

“Actually, I have a better way,” Li Yelai said.

"what way?"

"You all retreat first, I'll go on alone," Li Yelai said. "I have a forbidden item that attracts the enemy. But the cost of using it will be high, so I hope you will leave first."

Li Yelai intended to use the inevitable encounter with a powerful enemy to lure Zhou Ding, or rather, to find Zhou Ding.

Of course, this is under the condition that the curse determines Zhou Ding to be a formidable enemy. However, since he possesses a forbidden object, he might be able to succeed.

"The way you're talking makes it sound like you're grinding for monsters," Throwing Grenade retorted, but then suddenly paused.

A mob spawner? From the champion team? Holy crap, no way?
This Lord Feng Yu, could it be...?
Before he could speak, everyone's attention was drawn to another voice.

‘click’

‘click’

The sound of heavy footsteps came closer and closer.

The four frowned. "Again?"
Each gripped their weapon.

When the four people saw who it was, they were surprised.

It was a tattered Iron Guard armor. Through the torn breastplate, one could see that the armor was empty, with only a large patch of blood that had turned black. The wounds indicated that this Iron Guard had been ambushed by hunting insects.

At this moment, the unclaimed Iron Guard armor, somehow evaded the impact of the explosion and was not completely destroyed.

Instead, he stood before the crowd, his metal fingers trembling as he pointed in a certain direction.

"What does this mean?" Strawberry frowned. "It means...we're telling us to go this way?"

"What kind of act are you putting on now?" Zha Dan sneered. "Zhou Ding, you've got too much of a show to put on!"

"Now you're not even going to act anymore?" Zhou Hao was also quite angry.

Li Yelai approached the Iron Guard's armor, looked it up and down, and asked, "Is he there?"

The armor did not respond, or rather, it was unable to respond. Instead, it dragged its nearly falling-off body forward in that direction.

Li Yelai could vaguely sense that the weakened soul within the armor was urgently and urgently urging them to head in that direction.

"Has this ever happened before?" Li Yelai asked. "Did Zhou Ding's controlled machine spirit not follow the instructions?"

"I don't know. At the time, none of us knew it was activating the machine's soul; we thought it was just a hacker-related electronic attack," Zhou Hao responded.

"Okay, let's go take a look then." Li Ye looked at the three of them.

"Feng Yu, you really want to believe it?" Zhou Hao frowned. "Isn't this obviously a trap?"

"Do you think a machine spirit would betray Zhou Ding, who wields the forbidden object?" Strawberry asked.

"The Machine Soul is too mysterious. But I once saw a Machine Soul that was loyal to humanity. It always fulfilled its duty. It fired on the enemy of humanity when human warriors needed it most."

That was the Yan Yun destroyer of the human border fleet.

It had clearly exhausted all its fuel, and even its control system had been completely destroyed, lying quietly in the ruins like a silent tomb made of metal.

But it emitted a deafening roar, announcing its arrival!

Once again, we fight alongside humanity to bombard the flesh-and-blood mutants!

Now, this armor might also be a loyal machine spirit. Li Yelai was willing to believe it.

After all, with his strength, even a trap wouldn't be able to harm him.

Could it be that he couldn't beat Zhou Ding? He just couldn't find Zhou Ding.

This is the confidence of a champion!
Watching the Iron Guard walk further and further away, and considering Li Ye's reliable behavior before.

Zhou Hao gritted his teeth: "Fine, let's take a gamble. We'll see what happens. I refuse to believe Zhou Ding would plant a nuclear bomb here!"

Meanwhile, Zhou Ding had no time to pay attention to Li Yelai and the others.

At this moment, the alarms from the outside world were extremely piercing.

Outside the shelter, countless gunshots rang out. But Zhou Ding still felt the machine spirits being destroyed one by one.

A dark figure moved like a ghost through the fire, destroying one firing point after another.

That's the old patriarch, Zhou Yuan!

A former battlefield assassin, and currently the only sixth-awareness great psychic in the Zhou family!
Zhou Ding thought he was too old to fight anymore, how ridiculous!
Zhou Yuan had been waiting for the call of the giant city, waiting to throw his old bones onto the battlefield and kill as many enemies as possible.

For humanity, for the megacity, let's carve out a future!
How could such a drastic measure be deterred?
"Zhou Ding, give up resisting. Put down the forbidden object. If you can control your power, you are still a member of the Zhou family!" Zhou Yuan's voice echoed across the battlefield.

This intrigued Zhou Ding, but when his gaze fell upon Zhou Yuan...

My heart skipped a beat.

With a favorability rating of -50, the danger level is high; even with so many machine spirits attacking, my chances of winning are only 28%.
"You old liar! Don't even think about fooling me!" Zhou Ding cursed loudly upon seeing the 'data'.

With a negative 50% favorability rating, you still dare to say you're open to negotiation? An enemy is nothing more than this!

I'm afraid that if I let my guard down, I'll be beheaded.

Damn it, they're still lying to me even now?

Zhou Ding completely distrusted Zhou Yuan's statement and instead considered how to improve his chances of winning.

A 28% chance of winning is still too low, although the odds are slowly increasing as spiritual energy is depleted and health is waning. But it's estimated that it won't exceed 70% before that happens.

We have to use our trump card.
Zhou Ding was extremely hesitant, but in the end he made up his mind.

"What do you think I hid here for? It's because I don't want to be manipulated by you anymore!"

Zhou Ding picked up the mechanical cube; the power of this forbidden object was not just as simple as activating the machine soul.

Otherwise, how could he be called a machine god?

The blessing bestowed upon him by Lord Ziyu granted him immense knowledge and enabled him to comprehend the mysteries of the Rubik's Cube.

With that knowledge, Zhou Ding pieced together the last complex puzzle of the Rubik's Cube, and the entire cube released a terrifying pressure.

"Come on, let me show you the arrival of the Machine God!"

However, the next second, Zhou Ding heard two bursts of laughter.

That was the joyful laughter of a great being from the Void Realm.

The other one comes from the mechanical cube itself.

"Finally, humans have fallen for it!"

"The divine machine descends, Titan activates!" (End of Chapter)