Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

But it still wasn't enough.

Even the speed of that AI just now seemed absolutely fast in Bai E's eyes, and simply relying on his current base attributes, he absolutely couldn't keep up with its speed.

A Level 7 specialization ability might be considered top-notch among humans, but it was clearly still inadequate when facing this AI.

The skill tree unlocked after specializing to Level 4 in light weapons didn't just include "Magic Blade"; another skill, "Graceful Dance," hadn't been unlocked then due to the nature of the opponent faced. But now, when confronted with an adversary where agility and speed were required, this skill was more than appropriate.

[Payment: 2 * reserve points, 2000 battle experience points.]

[Skill acquired——Graceful Dance.]

[Graceful Dance: Grace is the only essence of light weaponry; Insight Performance +3, Reflex Performance +3, Attack Speed +30%, Dodge +30%, Movement Speed +30%. Consumption: 10 Spiritual Energy (100 action power reserve)/min.]

Turn it on, turn everything on!

Almost all skills required the use of Spiritual Energy, yet Bai E, with his high-speed recovery of Spiritual Energy in the virtual world, had an abundance of it.

Kill!

Bai E, with all basic and combat attributes elevated to an extreme state for the moment, instantly charged out, and his response to the "Knight AI" was in sync, "No need!"

Inherent opposition in their stances necessitated no mercy or compassion.

"Swoosh!"

With a flash of silver sword light, the "Knight AI" only had time to block Bai E's lightning-quick strike with its round shield.

After the flash of the sword, an extremely fine crack immediately appeared on the round shield.

But before Bai E could launch another attack, the crack wriggled as if it had a life of its own, rapidly healing until it was as good as new, as if it had never been damaged.

The battle information list once again showed a new ability from this "Knight AI"——

[Power Source Shield: A round shield with an endless power source can repair any damage sustained at the fastest speed. Until you break through the shield's defense, you won't be able to cause any harm to the body behind it. Durability 200/200]

The strongest sword, the strongest shield.

Combined in one entity—this was the absolute power of an original AI generation.

Energy! Energy!

All its weapons needed sufficient energy to operate, and the technology of small nuclear fusion reactors from the Golden Age provided these non-megastructures with nearly infinite energy supplies.

No wonder Nova's first action when facing them was to extract their internal energy using her own Spiritual Energy.

The power that an original AI with unlimited energy could exert was indeed terrifying.

Bai E's strikes were unable to directly penetrate the Power Source Shield, and the round shield would be restored to new by Nano-Repair before he could launch another strike, equivalent to an armor with infinite durability.

The "Knight AI" had sufficiently high mechanical quality, making it very difficult for Bai E to bypass the shield's defense and strike its body with a sufficiently destructive blow.

However... if there was a possibility to defeat it, that was enough.

After all, the Power Source Shield's maximum durability was only 200, and the mechanical materials that made it were indeed stronger than the military longsword Bai E had forged from a binary alloy, but not by much.

His attacks weren't incapable of breaking through, it's just that they couldn't destroy the round shield in one hit.

What if... they could?

Shatter the round shield before its ability to recover kicks in?

A dangerous glint flashed in Bai E's eyes.

The next moment, frantic alarms raised subconsciously in his mind.

An aura of destruction enveloped Bai E's entire body, and the reactive Bai E rolled away just in time.

"Boom!"

A violent explosion erupted behind Bai E, the sinister cloud of destruction far more ferocious than the earlier barrage of rocket fire.

Even with Absolute Defense constantly activated, Bai E was somewhat apprehensive in the wake of that bombardment, as for the first time he felt the peak threshold that his undefeated defensive power could withstand.

But before Bai E could feel relieved at dodging that terrifying strike, the breath of destruction once again clung to his heart.

Dodge Again!

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

The successive bombardments grazed closely past Bai E's scalp, hitting the ground and instantly annihilating everything within the explosion radius.

The ground shattered, and even steel turned to dust.

The aftershocks of the explosions that hit Bai E made his organs tremble.

The damage from the hits allowed Bai E to discern the characteristics of his opponent, with the information displayed clearly on the panel—

[??? (AI) (Hostile): HP ???/???; Defensive Power ???; Activeness 100%; Traits: Energy Gathering Rifle (Dual-Wielding), Super Alloy Armor, Nano-Repair...]

[Energy Gathering Rifle: With built-in rocket propulsion, the bullets boast an impressive range and maintain their top velocity throughout the trajectory, and the gathered energy projectiles can explode with a force comparable to a small nuclear bomb, while also possessing the firing rate of an assault rifle. It is one of the finest personal weapons from the Golden Age, with an exorbitant cost.]

The bombardment akin to a small nuclear blast brought not just damage but also a forced displacement that accompanied the explosion's shockwave.

Even as Bai E tried as much as possible to move against the forced displacement, he inevitably fell into an inescapable situation under the rapid-fire barrage of the Energy Gathering Rifle.

The shooting skills exhibited by the first-generation AI, with its strongest analytical capabilities, would not be inferior to any human marksman.

The AI wielding dual Energy Gathering Rifles could precisely track Bai E's dodging route, sealing all of his escape paths after a few shots.

"Boom!"

An energy projectile hit Bai E's back accurately, the intense explosion blasted against the surface of the Absolute Defense, and after a moment of resistance, the thin Spiritual Defense Field shattered.

The solid explosion directly impacted Bai E's own flesh, and although a physical attribute of 17.3 might be considered exceptional among humans, it was still insignificant against an attack comparable to a small nuclear bomb.

"Bang!"

The dull sound threw him into the air, a charred body tumbled through many AI units from a great distance, limbs went limp, and surprisingly lost all signs of life.

Nova, who was quite a distance from the battlefield yet sensed this change instantly, suddenly widened her eyes, completely unprepared for the abruptness of the event.

The gathered Spiritual Energy suddenly contracted, and an astonishing presence swept through the subconscious of every being with a Spiritual Body projection in the higher-dimensional space like a black hole.

However, in the next moment, this presence quickly disappeared.

The distant cold sun cast down a tranquil beam of light, soothing the startled emotions.

Resist death!

When the body suffers fatal damage, it can lock in the last drop of blood to prevent death.

This was also the second time the ability of the strongest human warrior from the Golden Age revealed its effectiveness. Under the charred body, countless fresh buds of flesh were regenerating amidst destruction.

"hui~"

The AI dual-wielding the Energy Gathering Rifles, like a cowboy, brought the muzzle of one gun to its lips and gently blew, as if clearing the smoke from the barrel.

The blue electronic eyes flickered slightly, and the synthetic electronic tones carried a distinct note of mockery, "Is this the level?"

The red "Knight AI" stayed silent, merely watching the direction of the charred body amid a crowd of AI units.

"Crack~"

"Crack~"

The tender flesh buds grew wildly, the charred shell was squeezed and fell away, and the reborn body revived with fresh vigor.

"This is the level." A human voice rose from among the AI units seemingly spectating the charred body, and five black alloy arrows emerged from the gaps between the multitude of AI units and writhed like dragons...