Amidst the alarms of Green Valley Garden, Lu Chen gazed out from the Vine City Wall. The vanguard of the Skeleton Cult had already crossed the three-kilometer warning line. Leading them were not ordinary cultists, but a pack of berserk warriors whose bodies were covered in mechanical prosthetics. They carried bone rocket launchers on their shoulders, each step they took leaving deep imprints on the ground. In the center of the formation, a colossal vehicle, a fusion of bones and mechs, lumbered forward. Seated on the throne atop the vehicle was a burly man wrapped in bandages—a scar ran from his brow to his jaw on his left cheek. This was "Bloodthroat" Scar, who had once achieved a record of one hundred consecutive wins in the underground fighting rings.
"Lu Chen! Those mechanical limbs are made from the remains of Ruins Guards!" Old K's voice trembled as familiar insignia fragments flashed on the monitoring screen. Lu Chen clenched his fists, his fingernails digging into his palms. Three months ago, it was Scar who led the surprise attack on the supply convoy for the water station. Now, those blood-stained gears had become playthings for the enemy.
The roar of the vehicle halting echoed across the sky. Scar licked the blood from the corner of his mouth and raised a bone microphone. "Hand over the Sacred Object Container, and I'll leave your corpses intact!" His mechanical eye flashed with red light, locking onto Lu Chen's position. "I heard you can crush Crystal Cores with your bare hands? Wanna play?"
Su Wan placed a hand on Lu Chen's shoulder. "It's clearly a trap! His mechanical heart must hide at least five Self-Destruct Crystal Cores." But Lu Chen had already leaped off the wall. Black Iron-tier energy gathered at his feet, and upon landing, he imprinted spiderweb-like cracks on the concrete. Scar laughed at the sight, his mechanical finger joints cracking as he spoke. He tore away his bandages, revealing a dark red mechanical heart pulsing in his chest. The heart was covered in sharp spikes, each carved with the Curse Runes of the Skeleton Cult.
As the first punch, accompanied by a sonic boom, arrived, Lu Chen dodged sideways. Scar's mechanical elbow blade grazed his ear, slicing a three-foot-deep gash into the city wall. "Too slow!" Scar's laughter was laced with madness. His mechanical limbs suddenly spewed bone powder. Lu Chen's pupils contracted—that was a Forbidden Substance capable of eroding Life Energy.
"Taste my new toy!" Scar roared as his mechanical heart suddenly expanded, spewing not blood, but a mass of black bone energy. Lu Chen activated the Crystal Core Devour Technique. A faint glow flashed, and he actually swallowed the entire mass of energy. Scar's smile froze. He looked at the Zombie Markings appearing on Lu Chen's skin, and fear surfaced in his voice for the first time. "You've actually merged..."
Lu Chen gave him no chance to finish. Crystal Core Energy and Black Iron-tier power converged at his fingertips, forming a dark golden Energy Warhead. When his fist struck Scar's chest, the spikes on the mechanical heart were shattered by brute force, revealing a Skeleton Cult Priest curled within—an Energy Core made from a living person's spine.
"Impossible..." Scar knelt on the ground, smoke rising from his mechanical limbs. "I am the King of Fighters..." His words were cut short as Lu Chen gripped his throat. Lu Chen looked at the fear in his eyes, suddenly remembering the look in Lin Xiaotang's eyes when she was abducted, and his voice turned as cold as iron. "You have two choices now: surrender, or die."
The Skeleton Cultists in the distance raised their bone staffs, but froze when they saw Scar's trembling back. This King of Fighters, who once struck fear into the entire underground world, now cowered at Lu Chen's feet like a dying dog. Scar's Adam's apple bobbed, and he squeezed out a few words with difficulty. "I... surrender."
Lu Chen released his hand. Scar immediately pulled out a dagger and carved the emblem of Green Valley Garden onto his mechanical heart—a mark of loyalty. The moment he finished the carving, Lu Chen's system suddenly chimed: "Detected! A Legendary Creature has surrendered! Acquired passive skill 'Deterrence?Novice'." "Unlocked Scar's memory fragment: The Skeleton Cult is assembling the 'Progenitor's Body' and needs to gather seven Ancient Holy Relics."
When Su Wan and Old K arrived, they saw Scar kneeling on one knee. Old K raised his scanner, his voice filled with surprise. "His mechanical heart is still connected to the cult's communication network! We can follow the signal to find—" Before he could finish, Scar suddenly convulsed violently, black blood flowing from all seven orifices.
"A trap!" Lu Chen wanted to stop him, but it was too late. The mechanical heart in Scar's chest exploded, revealing the Self-Destruct Crystal Core within, its surface etched with countdown runes. At the critical moment, Lu Chen activated 'Black Iron Bulwark,' shielding Su Wan and Old K behind him. The blast wave sent him flying more than ten meters, his back hitting the city wall heavily, yet he heard the system notification: "Crystal Core Devour Technique triggered automatically! Absorbed self-destruct energy, acquired skill 'Energy Shield?Novice'."
When the smoke cleared, Lu Chen looked at the Crystal Core Fragments still remaining in his palm. The face of the High Priest of the Bone Cult was reflected in the fragments. The opponent's bone staff pointed to the sky, and Lin Xiaotang was suspended by chains within the chest cavity of the 'Progenitor's Body.' The 'Heart of the Progenitor' on its chest was resonating with a mutated seed. Old K struggled to his feet, adjusting his crooked glasses. "The signal... it's been tracked! They're assembling the body at the Old Observatory, where the celestial projector corresponds to the ancient rune—"
Lu Chen stood up, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, and looked at the bone clouds in the sky. Scar's corpse had already turned into a pile of scrap metal, only the Green Valley emblem he carved was still glowing. A new mission prompt popped up on the system interface, but Lu Chen closed it—he knew that every second now was crucial for saving Lin Xiaotang.
"Notify all guards, we depart in five minutes." Lu Chen clasped Su Wan's hand, feeling the firmness transmitted through their Symbiotic Contract. "This time, we'll directly smash their altar." In the distance, the leaves of the Tree of Life suddenly turned northward, as if guiding their path. And the Crystal Core Fragments in Lu Chen's palm, following the patterns of their Symbiotic Contract, were continuously transmitting the enemy's location information.
As the first rays of dusk painted the sky, the gates of Green Valley Garden slowly opened. Lu Chen walked at the forefront, followed by newly equipped Ruins Guards. Scar's mechanical limb remains had been repurposed into temporary turrets. Su Wan watched his retreating figure and suddenly realized his shoulders seemed straighter than before, and in his shadow, the dual silhouettes of a zombie and a Black Iron warrior seemed to overlap.
At this moment, under the dome of the Old Observatory, the High Priest was embedding the final Bone Rune into the forehead of the 'Progenitor's Body.' Lin Xiaotang's consciousness struggled in the darkness; she could feel Lu Chen's presence approaching, like sunlight piercing through clouds. Little did she know, on the Crystal Core Fragment in Lu Chen's palm, a line of blood-red characters only he could see was appearing: "When the seventh Sacred Object is in place, the Doomsday Gate will open for the true master."
And this time, Lu Chen was prepared to use his fists to smash a crack in this dark world.