Chapter 532: A Familiar Taste, Subduing Knight

Through a somewhat exaggerated pair of binoculars.

The military camp being constructed in the distance was clearly visible in their view.

Thick alloy walls, clearly boasting astonishing defensive capabilities.

But the most important thing was the wall's height, reaching a staggering six meters—the height of a two-story building.

It was precisely this six-meter-tall alloy wall that completely blocked off the situation inside the military camp.

All they could see were a few watchtowers over ten meters tall and the massive building rooftops within the camp.

"So? Did you get a clear look?"

A voice came from below.

"Got it. Dog Five was right—a faction with a sizable number of people has appeared in that area. Their construction ability is impressive too. In less than a day, they've already surrounded themselves with an alloy wall at least six or seven meters high."

"A six or seven-meter wall? How is that possible? Let me see..."

The person below immediately climbed up the pile of mechanical garbage and put his eye to the binoculars.

Hiss—

A sharp intake of breath rang out.

"This... it's real! Who the hell are these people?"

In this world, mechanical metal was the one thing never in short supply. It was everywhere, more than anyone could ever use.

But all this mechanical metal existed in the form of mechanical garbage.

If they wanted to find specific mechanical parts or metals they needed.

They had to search and refine them on their own. There was no other way.

The process was simple in theory, but extremely troublesome in practice.

Energy, materials, technology, equipment—everything was an obstacle.

But now, a massive alloy wall had actually appeared here. How was that possible?

And in such a short time, no less.

"That's the territory of the 'Mechanic.' He already controls robot manufacturing technology, which makes him a tough nut to crack. And now that he's teamed up with these people, they're probably plotting something big."

"We've got the intel. We need to report this to the boss as soon as possible."

"Alright, let's head back quickly."

The two immediately shouldered their binoculars, jumped down from the mechanical garbage pile, and approached two punk-style kinetic motorcycles assembled from various mechanical parts, exuding a steampunk vibe.

They revved the engines and sped off into the distance.

But neither of them noticed that high above in the gray, hazy sky, a tiny black dot had clearly captured their every move.

"Alpha, the targets have left. They appear to be scouts from some faction. Should we pursue?"

Alpha watched the two fading black figures on the command vehicle's screen, pressing his lips together.

"Follow them. Let's see who they are."

"Roger!"

The drone traced an afterimage across the sky.

Although the two were moving fast, there was no way they could outrun the drone.

But when the drone's energy reserves had already dropped to the warning level without them reaching their destination.

Alpha issued the order for the drone to return.

Watching the two gradually disappear into the sea of mechanical garbage.

Alpha pondered for a few seconds.

He sent a message to Ghost.

[Alpha: Suspend the Freedom Tower island reconnaissance mission. Return to Green Forest City as soon as possible.]

Seconds later, Ghost's reply came through.

[Shadow: Roger!]

"Compile and organize the drone's flight path and the movement route of those two."

"Understood!"

Alpha's gaze remained fixed on the direction where the two had vanished.

"Coming all the way from that far to scout us... native factions..."

News of this situation soon reached Yu Yuan.

He thought for a moment, and a virtual map of the area materialized on his positioning watch.

The tactical display screen he'd discovered on Z007 player's mechanical armor, which Masier had decrypted, had yielded a wealth of map data.

Yu Yuan had only given it a rough look before.

Now that he heard Alpha mention someone was spying on them, he immediately thought of this map information. Perhaps it could provide some clues.

And indeed, on the virtual map, after zooming out a few times, several specially marked points of light appeared.

—[Shadow Vulture] Overlord-level faction. Possesses corrosive energy cannons and armed vehicle technology.

—[Polar Night Technology Company] Overlord-level faction. Hostile to Shadow Vulture. Possesses biological mutation technology.

—[Ground Furnace Steelworks] Quasi-overlord-level faction. Suspected of having Bronze-tier combat power, but no evidence found. Capable of smelting high-quality metal. Possesses advanced weapon crafting technology. Open to trade.

—[Unknown Cult] Suspected overlord-level faction. Possesses the ability to transform into lava fire-men. Has been hostile to Shadow Vulture and Polar Night Technology Company. Moves erratically.

—[Fuel Plunder Squad] Elite-level faction.......

Yu Yuan looked at the marked information and couldn't help but wince.

Damn.

Holy crap!

With all these overlord-level factions surrounding him, how the hell had he even survived?

Most people would be walking on eggshells just encountering one overlord-level faction.

But him? His entire vicinity was filled with them.

It was almost ridiculous.

If this were in a novel, it would be a textbook case of protagonist plot armor.

Yu Yuan studied the introductions for these factions, his gaze finally settling on the [Unknown Cult].

"Possesses the ability to transform into lava fire-men..." Yu Yuan caught a whiff of a familiar scent.

Also, the biological mutation technology controlled by [Polar Night Technology Company] gave him a similar sense of déjà vu.

Hiss—

"No... it can't be!"

Yu Yuan's eyes widened slightly as a possibility occurred to him.

If it really was what he suspected, then this world was going to get a whole lot more interesting.

"Come to think of it, Knight is still locked up in containment, isn't he?"

With that thought, Yu Yuan couldn't sit still anymore.

He assigned Alpha to handle matters here and teleported back to Green Forest City.

-

—[Rat Tail Whip Effect Triggered. Follower +1]

When Yu Yuan finally heard this long-awaited notification sound after three hours.

He let out a long sigh of relief.

"As expected, after advancing to Bronze Rank, the difficulty of subduing a Silver-tier follower has decreased. It seems the trigger is affected by the rank difference and tier gap between the subduer and the target."

Yu Yuan silently summarized the experience.

"Untie him... and treat him."

The security personnel, who had been waiting nearby, immediately stepped forward to skillfully treat Knight, spraying medicine and wrapping bandages.

Everything was done with practiced ease.

And indeed, they were extremely practiced, because in the past three hours, they had gone through this exact process several times already.

Nothing more to it than familiarity.

As for the protagonist of this ordeal, Knight, hearing Yu Yuan's words, was already shedding tears of joy inside.

"Finally... it's finally over!"

"So this is what being subdued feels like? Why did you take so long~"

"Three hours. Do you have any idea what I've been through in these three hours?"

Knight felt a sense of relief.

And indeed, he was finally released.

From the moment he was brought out of the containment room and strapped to the experimental bed, he had sensed something was wrong.

He immediately expressed his willingness to submit.

He was, after all, a bishop of the Orthodox Church, with loyalty and faith in the Lava Demon.

But the 'Lava Faith' emanating from the man before him was even more potent than that of the old-timers within the church.

Who was more favored by the 'Molten Demon' was obvious.

Only a high-ranking 'Lava Attendant' would possess such a rich aura of 'Lava Faith.'

Submitting to him wasn't considered betrayal.

But the damn thing was!

No matter how much he declared his willingness to submit, the man said nothing. He just kept swinging his arm.

Whipped until he was broken, healed until he was fixed.

Cycle after cycle, over and over.

Unable to die, unable to live—it was an absolute nightmare.

Thankfully, the nightmare was finally over.