Chapter 268: Nothing Pleases a Craftsman More Than a Dead Rival

Within just a few minutes, the aberrant examinees had each shown what they were capable of by breaking through the outer spirit matter defenses and storming straight into the base as if they owned the place.

There was a reason people said no one wanted a craftsman dead more than another craftsman. Even the weakest among these aberrant examinees had a trick or two for dealing with spirit matter defenses, each one alarming enough to make Ji Jue’s heart sink. Watching them, he wanted nothing more than to slap himself a few times.

What the hell? I only just thought about it, and now it’s happening? Great. The deserted island battle royale has officially begun.

Ji Jue sighed helplessly and looked up at the ceiling, as though he could see the examiners outside the simulation gloating over his predicament. So this was how they wanted to mess with him, huh? Resigned, he waved a hand and shrugged.

The entire underground base was rocked by a violent tremor. With a terrifying roar, the entire subterranean base shook. Flames surged through the narrow corridors, instantly engulfing those at the head of the charge.

A moment later, sharp clicks sounded from beneath the floor. Bounding mines shot up through the cracks, spun through the air, and exploded with a thunderous bang, spraying shrapnel like a torrential downpour. Elsewhere, incendiary charges concealed in recesses above the ceiling and buried among the rock were triggered, turning empty halls into blazing infernos.

Always have a safety plan. And always have a safety plan for the safety plan.

After everything that old geezer Jian Yuan had put him through, Ji Jue had even gotten into the habit of preparing one final contingency plan whenever circumstances allowed. Aside from the explosives and weapons buried around the various entrances, he had also reinforced the entire uppermost level of the underground base and deliberately designed it as a combat zone in case the defenses were breached.

Naturally, he had hidden all kinds of nasty surprises throughout the place. Since the Association had clearly decided to stop pretending to be humane, there was no reason for him to keep pretending to be some upright gentleman either.

As for these guys in front of him...

How dare you show off such petty tricks in front of an expert! You fuckers really have no idea what you’re getting yourselves into!!!!

BOOM!

Amid the endless chain of explosions and thunderous impacts came the roar of artillery and the relentless chatter of machine gun fire. Every aberrant apprentice who charged inside received a warm welcome from Federation military hardware.

The thirty or forty aberrants at the very front were wiped out almost instantly, not leaving a single intact corpse behind. But there were still plenty more behind them, and they immediately grew cautious, refusing to charge forward recklessly. The simulation data had clearly granted them a considerable degree of intelligence. The moment they encountered resistance, they sought out cover and safer positions. Some even dissolved the rock into mud and tried tunneling downward.

Suddenly, the gunfire and explosions stopped. The entire workshop fell silent as the door leading to the lower levels slowly opened.

Every creature froze momentarily. Traces of their original personalities and habits clearly remained. A few cautiously backed away, while others seized the opportunity and immediately rushed past the defensive positions toward the entrance.

And then...

SMACK!

They were sent flying backward and splattered against the wall. Some were simply crushed into pulp.

From the darkness beyond the doorway came slow, heavy footsteps. Steel struck against steel with every step, the metallic echoes ringing out like hammer blows against the heart, sending chills down one’s spine.

A steel monstrosity slowly emerged from the darkness, his armor still smeared with thick blood and scraps of flesh. He casually tossed the half-corpse in its hand onto the ground, then raised one foot and stomped down.

Blood sprayed in all directions. On his beast-like steel face, the bloodstained eyes lit up crimson as he swept his gaze across the room, looking down upon every invader with contempt. “You’re nothing but a bunch of worthless trash. How dare you stand against me? How dare you challenge me?!”

He had actually chosen to leave the absolute safety of the workshop’s core and stepped into the fray. The hero unit[1], Ji Jue, had entered the field!

The moment Ji Jue revealed himself, every intruder stopped hesitating and charged toward him at full speed. Some had even managed to dismantle the defensive weapons at some point and take them for themselves. They pulled the triggers without hesitation.

Bullets hammered against the armor, only to drop harmlessly to the floor without leaving so much as a scratch. The steel giant standing at the center of the black tide formed by the aberrant apprentices merely looked down with indifference, not even bothering to react.

With the slow grind of metal, limb after limb unfolded from behind him.

These were the arms he had removed from the evil creature. After being transformed by the furnace and modified through Fluid Alchemy, its flesh had been replaced with metal, while blood-red mercury surged through its steel-hardened veins.

Dozens of monstrous arms spread out, like a towering tree bursting from the ground in an instant, only its branches were arms forged from steel and mercury, and its numerous leaves were fingers sharper than blades!

Now, all he had to do was casually reach out, and bright red, round, juicy “fruits” immediately appeared among the branches. Then, just as easily, they would be crushed to pieces!

Once the evil creature’s arms were attached, the savage armor’s presence surged. Its aura skyrocketed.

Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!

There was no need to draw a weapon. With eighteen steel limbs of varying lengths and functions sweeping effortlessly around him, Ji Jue could unleash devastation and slaughter with ease.

With a casual swing, one of the intruders was swept off its feet and smashed into the ceiling, reduced to a mangled heap. He crossed his arms, and a downpour of blood followed as another aberrant was ripped cleanly in half, or into even more pieces. Whenever an iron fist came crashing down, the impact sent shockwaves and violent gusts through pools of blood.

This was a massacre in every sense of the word.

Ji Jue didn’t hesitate for even a moment. These guys actually dared set their sights on his mushroom cultivation center, his mouse breeding base, his water purification system, his swimming pool, his materials, his whole workshop!

“Today, I’m going to smash every last one of you worthless bastards!”

It was practically like stomping on cockroaches. The sickening sounds of bodies being crushed echoed without end. An armored unit fighting against unarmored opponents was easier than a grown man rampaging through a kindergarten. And this was powered armor, so it was more like dropping a dual-vector foil on the kindergarten and wiping it out from existence entirely.

And that was before counting the evil creature’s arms and the blessing module Ji Jue had only just installed. Chaotic repulsion fields exploded like bombs going off in the palms of his hands, forming hazy vortices around him. A simple sweep of his arms was enough to send blood and severed limbs flying, crushing everything in their path into pulp.

The examinees had no weapons or equipment whatsoever. All they possessed were a handful of craftsman techniques that were never meant for direct combat, and Ji Jue countered them completely. They had no chance to fight back. Aberration had increased their vitality and made them more dangerous, but it still wasn’t enough. At most, they had managed to cause some damage and thoroughly piss Ji Jue off.

By the time Ji Jue stomped the last intruder to death, the entire room had been dyed crimson. Corpses and body parts lay scattered everywhere. In the dead silence, he shook his head in incomprehension. How much pressure were a bunch of eliminated losers supposed to put on him?

If I was the examiner running this test, then at the very least... At the very least...

As that thought crossed his mind, Ji Jue froze, realizing something. His face twitched, and he could not hold back the furious curse that burst from his mouth. “You motherf—”

The projection on the floating screen outside the simulation was muted. Its auto-censor was absurdly fast. Even though Ji Jue started cursing without the slightest warning, they still managed to mute him in time!

Jiang Tongguang whistled, having successfully defended both his family’s honor and his dignity as a council member. He showed none of the restraint expected of someone in his position. Instead, he looked thoroughly pleased with himself for winning such a ridiculous, trivial exchange.

“Well now. Just from tasting the appetizer, he’s already figured out what the exciting main event is going to be? Young people these days really do catch on fast.” Jiang Tongguang shook his head with a sigh, narrowing his eyes. His anticipation only grew.

It was much like what happened when an ecosystem was overtaken by aberration. The overwhelming majority of aberrants were nothing more than failed scraps, much like the apprentices who had already been eliminated. Within the system, the only role they could serve was as food or as catalysts.

And as for those who had truly grown, broken through their limits, and evolved into “finished products” like evil creatures, weren’t they right there in front of him?

“About time. We can begin.” Jiang Tongguang raised a hand and snapped his fingers.

New changes appeared across the floating screens that had only just fallen silent.

***

Inside the simulation, the area around the observation station was a complete wreck. From the corpses of the intruders, countless prismatic spirit matter fragments crisscrossed through the air, forming an impenetrable defense.

“That’s just child’s play. Nothing worth mentioning.” Lou Feng scoffed as he glanced at the scene displayed on the spirit matter projection.

The aberrant intruders who knew alchemy were admittedly troublesome. If left alone, they could have actually torn his workshop apart, but with a little maneuvering, it had been easy enough to lure them into a trap. All he had to do afterward was send out the crystalline giant and wipe them out in one fell swoop.

Having effortlessly exterminated the invaders, Lou Feng elegantly raised his wineglass and took a sip of the cheap red wine he normally would not have even bothered smelling. Beneath the soft, warm lighting, he basked in the heat radiating from the fireplace. All that seemed to be missing was a beautiful piece of classical music.

Everything was finally back to normal. There was no enamel mug filled with strong tea, no bizarre nonsense breaking out every five minutes, and no relentlessly brainwashing DJ dance music.

Now this was what one called “living.” This was the good life, the dignity a craftsman ought to have!

Get lost, you uncultured swine[2]!

Sure enough, life was only good when Ji Jue wasn’t around. Life without that bastard was the only kind of life worth living! Hell, even the exam had become easy and enjoyable without him!

Lou Feng was almost moved to tears, but before those tears could fall, they froze in his eyes.

A shrill, metallic grinding sound came from the darkness outside the workshop, sharp enough to make his scalp prickle. Under the glow of spirit matter, a gigantic silhouette slowly emerged, its steel face as savage as a beast’s. Step by step, it advanced and crossed into the perimeter.

Another intruder!!!

“There’s still one left?” Lou Feng looked up at the spirit matter projection. The last trace of a smile remaining on his face froze solid.

Beneath the light, that imposing and ferocious suit of powered armor revealed itself in full, openly radiating a ferocious presence that surpassed that of an ordinary evil creature. Under Lou Feng’s horrified stare, many arms slowly unfolded from its back. Then, with a high-pitched hum like the droning of a swarm of insects, the repulsion destruction field activated.

A sudden chill ran down Lou Feng’s spine. He swallowed dryly, and his fingers began to tremble. So strong!

What truly unsettled him was not the terrifying aura radiating from the armor, but that vaguely familiar spirit matter structure, that design he knew so well he could recognize it even after it had been burned to ash, and that fucking aesthetic that could give him nightmares from a single glance.

No. Calm down, Lou Feng! You have to stay calm!!!

Maybe it was just a coincidence. Yes, maybe some bizarre twist of fate had made them look alike. Maybe he was mistaken... Maybe... Maybe...

Who was he kidding? He was fucking destined to be haunted by this motherfucking bastard for the rest of his life!

Lou Feng finally snapped, unable to speak properly.

Why?! Why the fuck...

“...is that motherfucker Ji Jue still stalking me?!”

1. In video games, a “hero unit” is a powerful, named character controlled on the battlefield. ☜

2. The original actually writes “uncultured mutt” but I changed it to “uncultured swine” as I’m sure you readers are more familiar with this phrase. ☜