From Abyssal Invasion to Bursting Stars with a Single Sword

"Confirmed joining the Mechanical Servant faction, and then three robots delivered three electronic bracelets, which were worn on the wrists of Lu Heng and his two companions.

These electronic bracelets looked a lot like the electronic shackles they had worn on their hands before.

Simply put, these electronic bracelets served as terminal information transmitters for the Mechanical Servant faction, used for communication and monitoring unit actions.

After putting on the electronic bracelets, they officially joined the Mechanical Servant faction and completed the first and second main quests.

According to the main quest requirements, if they didn't want to take any more risks, staying on the Ecological Island for 15 days would allow them to return to Blue Star.

However, having spent 600 points of Divine Energy, they had to do something to earn back that expenditure, or else it would be a major loss.

...

After spending three days on the Ecological Island, they gained a better understanding of the world.

It was also time for the meeting with Chen Zihang as previously arranged.

When they parted on the transport vehicle earlier, they had agreed to meet every five days to exchange information and resources.

Therefore,

On the evening of the fifth day, Lu Heng found Mechanical Tiger 101 and stated that he needed to leave the Ecological Island for a while.

Since electronic bracelets were worn on their wrists, sneaking out was impossible; removal of the bracelets would signify defection.

Thus, they could only leave the island through official means.

Mechanical Tiger 101 indeed held a high rank within the Mechanical Servants, directly assigning a mission for Lu Heng and his companions to attack an enemy faction's combat unit and retrieve energy batteries.

The industrial system on this planet was no longer capable of producing high-level energy batteries, so they were becoming increasingly scarce and could only be obtained from the combat units of opposing factions.

Having accepted the task, Lu Heng, along with Su Muyu and Lin Zeyu, left the Ecological Island and headed to the previously agreed meeting point.

Upon reaching the meeting site,

Lu Heng stopped three kilometers away and had Su Muyu scout the surrounding area.

Since Chen Zihang was likely to have joined the Central System Camp, they already belonged to opposing factions.

Even though they had initially agreed to form an alliance, necessary caution was still imperative.

After scouting the area, Su Muyu reported what she observed, "Chen Zihang has arrived; he has four team members with him, no other mechanical combat units, all looks normal."

"Good, I'll go meet him. You two maintain a distance of one kilometer," Lu Heng said as he walked toward Chen Zihang's direction.

Chen Zihang made the same arrangement, instructing his four team members to stay a kilometer away.

As the two approached within three meters of each other, Chen Zihang placed a device on the ground and then explained in Mandarin, "This is a signal jammer, it can temporarily block communication signals."

Lu Heng understood what he meant and nodded, asking, "Have you joined the Central System Camp?"

Chen Zihang nodded, "I have; the process was fairly smooth."

He also noticed the electronic bracelet on Lu Heng's wrist and said, "You must have joined as well?"

"Yes, it's pretty much as we planned," Lu Heng nodded.

"That's good, let's exchange information now. Have you come across any other Superpower Users?" Chen Zihang was the first to inquire.

"Not yet, we've been on the Ecological Island for three days. Apart from us three, we haven't discovered any other humans. How about on your end?" Lu Heng finished his reply and also asked about the situation on the other side.

"There are more people on my side; I've already met 23 Superpower Users, not sure if there are others yet to be discovered," Chen Zihang showed a helpless expression.

"It seems they all have more confidence in your faction," Lu Heng understood what was going on.

In fact, in such a factional mode, the correct way to survive was to join the superior faction.

As for helping the inferior side, that was just too naive.

In the face of survival, these messy thoughts were just a burden.

So, any Superpower User with a sound mind would tend to join the superior faction.

Clearly, in the Abyss Battlefield, the Central System was the superior faction, and overwhelmingly so.

After all, the Central System controlled all the mechanical guards and military robots within the city.

The Mechanical Servants, on the other hand, were a group of service-type robots.

The gap in combat strength between the two sides was evident.

The Mechanical Servants had managed to hold out for so long thanks to the geographical advantage of the Ecological Island.

Without major weapons like missiles, the military robots controlled by the Central System also had a hard time assaulting the island.

Consequently, the Superpower Users who were transported in, upon clearly understanding the situation, would choose to join the Central System Camp.

Chen Zihang spread his hands and warned, "So you have to be careful; we have a significant advantage on our side, and in seven days, we'll be launching a large-scale attack on the island. I suggest you leave the island that day to avoid the battlefield."

"Do you have an exact time for the attack?" Lu Heng asked.

"Yes, but this information is critical, I want to exchange for resources," Chen Zihang was practical, immediately proposing a trade.

"Okay, what do you want to exchange?"

Since it was an exchange of information, it was only natural to bring something of equivalent value, and Lu Heng agreed to his request.

"Batteries. Ten C-level Energy Batteries," Chen Zihang said, spreading five fingers.

"Sure, I'll give them to you all together later," Lu Heng nodded in agreement.

"Okay, the exact time for the assault on the island is twelve midnight, seven days from now, primarily targeting the cross-sea bridge. Besides that, there will be Superpower Users landing on the island from the south side of the bridge, and my team will be among them," Chen Zihang provided the precise information.

The reason for choosing twelve midnight to attack was quite simple.

Most of the military robots controlled by the Central System Camp had infrared systems, making nighttime no different from daytime.

In the camp of the rogue Mechanical Servants, most were service robots, and even if they were modified into combat robots, they lacked infrared systems, which made their combat effectiveness poor at night.

"What's your combat objective?" Lu Heng asked next.

"The goal is straightforward—to completely destroy the rogue Mechanical Servants' Gestalt Consciousness. But at the moment, I don't know if there's a 'core' unit in your camp's Gestalt Consciousness. If you can tell me the location of the Gestalt Consciousness core, it will offset the need for ten C-level batteries," Chen Zihang made an intelligence request.

Lu Heng shook his head and replied, "I've tried to meet with the highest-level units in the camp, but haven't seen any. So I'm also not sure if a 'core' type of unit exists. The units I've had contact with so far are probably second level."

After pondering for a moment, Lu Heng raised the next question, "Have you discovered any Abyss Pollution Source on your side?"

Chen Zihang shook his head and replied, "No, I've looked but haven't found anything related to the Abyss. How about you?"

Lu Heng spread his hands, "Same here. Have you seen the main entity of the Central System?"

Chen Zihang shook his head again, "No, it's not easy to enter the machine room where the Central System resides."

Lu Heng thought for a moment and said, "In the Challenge Task, one of the requirements is to find the Abyss Pollution Source, which means there must be something related to the Abyss in this world. It should be within the two camps.

"I believe the Abyss Pollution Source is either in the Central System's machine room or with the Rogue Mechanical Servants' core."

Chen Zihang nodded and expressed his agreement, "That's the same as my thought. So we have to keep trying to contact higher-level units. I will try to enter the Central System's machine room, and you try to meet with the Rogue Mechanical Servants' core."

"Sure," Lu Heng nodded in agreement.

"There's one more thing, the 'Double-faced Spy' Challenge Task—I'll try to prepare three bracelets that will allow you to join the Central System Camp. In the same way, I hope you can give me five bracelets. If you find the number imbalanced, I can make up the difference with batteries," Chen Zihang proposed a way to complete the last Challenge Task.

"That's fine, don't worry about the difference," Lu Heng agreed.

Getting hold of these things was what mattered; the difficulty of getting three or five wasn't significantly different.

"Anything else? If not, let's end the meeting here. Shielding the signal for too long may arouse suspicion from the Central System," Chen Zihang glanced at the time, considering bringing the meeting to a close.

Lu Heng thought for a moment and reminded him, "The two people who were on the same transport vehicle as us earlier, they are in your camp, right?"

Chen Zihang nodded, "Yes, they're with me."

Lu Heng gave a warning, "Those two are likely a team; they pretended not to know each other on the transport vehicle. You might want to be cautious."

Chen Zihang nodded, "Alright, I'll be careful."

The meeting concluded, and Lu Heng gave him ten C-level Energy Batteries as payment for the intelligence.

They set the time for their next meeting and then went their separate ways.

...

The meeting took place at night; therefore, after parting ways, it was just past nine in the evening.

This city was no longer prosperous, so after nine o'clock at night, it became extremely deserted.

Lu Heng decided to take this opportunity to complete one of the Challenge Tasks, which was to destroy 30 enemy combat units.

He also wanted to try and see if destroying 30 enemy camp combat units would allow him a chance to meet with the core of the Rogue Mechanical Servants.

In the time that followed,

Lu Heng and his two companions took advantage of the cover of darkness and commenced their operations.

Scout drones patrolled the sky, looking for mechanical guards. Once found, Lu Heng would approach and cut them down with a sword, taking their batteries.

The destruction of a mechanical guard would trigger an alarm, drawing more mechanical guards to the location.

The mechanical guards' treads grated across the pavement, emitting a grating squeal that set one's teeth on edge.

Groups of mechanical guards converged from all directions; destroying one felt like stirring up a hornet's nest.

The machine guns on the mechanical guards were still quite formidable, and the flesh certainly couldn't withstand them.

Moreover, there were armed drones in the air.

If surrounded and strafed by a dozen mechanical guards and armed drones, it would be difficult to avoid getting hit, and a single bullet could spell disaster.

Luckily, they had scout drones in the sky.

Su Muyu always found a gap to break through, "Go this way, there's a mechanical guard thirty meters to your left."

Lu Heng followed her lead, moving swiftly through the streets, cutting down mechanical guards that he passed, and leading the two others out of the encirclement.

In one hour, they destroyed 30 mechanical guards, completing the first Challenge Task.

In the process, they collected 25 C-level Energy Batteries.

Finally, the three of them broke free from the encirclement and returned to the Ecological Island.