The difficulty of passing through the fourth layer was much lower than Hank had anticipated. They did not run into any worthwhile resistance. Even Feng Bujue and Flashes of Sword did not think that it would be so successful.
The Village of Heavenly Blessing had a small population, only several hundred, and every one of them held their lives preciously. Once the alarm in the village rang, pretty much everyone went into hiding. There were just slightly over one hundred guards, and sixty percent of them was dispersed at their posts, and a small portion were still patrolling. Even though the communication between guards was not blocked, they did not have the structure and leadership needed to mount an effective resistance. There were only so many of them, and they did not have the structure of a highly-trained unit. When the enemy was Feng Bujue’s group who moved fast and had a monster-like fighting ability, the little resistance that they put up was nothing.
Corben, who resided in the Shrine, was given the news of the intruders at first notice, and it was Corben who had given the order to ring the alarm. If the number of intruders was not three but three hundred, he would have surrendered already. However, at that moment, he was not that worried because he was in possession of God’s power, and he was confident that he could make the three intruders’ journey into the Shrine one with no return.
In less than ten minutes, the three arrived within one thousand meters of the Shrine. The modification done to the remain of the spacecraft had distorted its original appearance. In fact, it looked more like a palace. However, the original outline was still there, and at this distance, Feng Bujue could discern certain qualities.
“I was wondering what this ’Shrine’ is that the villagers have been talking about… So, it is a spaceship,” Feng Bujue commented with a smile. “Then, with this, the last few questions have been answered.”
“What,” Hank asked, “is a spaceship?”
“Oh, right, that concept is not one that you are familiar with,” Feng Bujue explained. “To put it simply, it is a large shark coach that can transport you into space.”
“Oh… Corben told us that the Shrine is the creation of God and thus is only suitable for the accommodation of God’s Child. Those who enter the Shrine without permission will be cursed and die,” Hank said.
At this point, Feng Bujue had a full grasp over everything that had happened here. He explained, “Don’t focus too much on this talk of God and curses. Based on my prediction, this spaceship should have been built by the ancient humans, or the people you’d call outsiders, several hundred years ago. I am not clear what really happen to this Earth, but I believe it can’t be anything else other than an environmental issue or war, which led to humanity’s forced migration into space. Some remained for their own reasons, and your ancestors were among the minority that remained on Earth.
“Perhaps it was not their choice to stay. I suspect the spaceship that they took crash-landed here, or maybe they came across this ruin by a pure stroke of luck and decided to settle down here. I have no idea what the history that the Corben family has been plying to the rest of you since their family usurped the power is, but there are only so many ways you can spin religious rhetoric. Certainly, they would have pronounced most things as God’s miracle.”
“Brother Feng… if you repeat these things outside of the game, you’ll offend many people,” Flashes of Sword said.
“Then I hope those people that I have offended will kneel down and pray to their Gods to smite me where I stand.” Feng Bujue shrugged.
As they chatted, the three reached the Shrine. At the entrance, there were about forty special guards lined up in a row, preparing to face the enemy. They raised their anti-gravity shields to form a wall. The anti-gravity guns they held were loaded with metallic bullets, and they were aimed at their targets.
“This is such a rare chance. I do have an exhaustible area-of-effect skill that I’ve been meaning to try out,” Flashes of Sword said with a smile.
“Is it Blade Fury?” Feng Bujue asked with interest.
“Er… no,” Flashes of Sword answered.
“Oh, okay then.” Feng Bujue’s expression stated very clearly that he had lost interest in the skill.
———
Name: Ittoryu-Yakkodori
Skill Card Type: Active Skill, exhaustible
School Type: Fighting
Effect: Use a single arm to launch a long-distance slash. The slash has a large area of effect, powerful damage, and medium speed. Activatable when using a bladed weapon.
Consumption: Three hundred Stamina Points
Learning Requirement: Fighting D, Level \u003e 15
Remark: This skill was created by a famed three-bladed swordsman born on 11.11. Many years later, looking back, it felt like there was no logic to the naming of his skills after all.
———
The guards did not waste time chatting with the intruders. When the three entered their firing range, which was fifteen meters, with the order from the leader, they fired their guns in unison. More than ten metallic bullets flew at them, and Flashes of Sword activated his skill in response.
He used his single arm and slashed. A piercing wave rushed forward, and the metallic pieces bounced away like they had hit a wall. The blade wave did not slow down at all and aimed right at the defensive line formed by the special guards.
The crushing and falling of the shields created a thunderous echo. Then came the guards’ screams and groans. The few who stood at the edge of the formation were lucky to have escaped the area of effect. The guards in the middle though were thrown apart like bowling pins.
“Sigh… There’s not even a chance for me to show off anymore,” Feng Bujue grumbled as he headed toward the Shrine.
The interior of the Shrine looked no different from a lavish home. Other than the few men from the Corben family, they had to provide accommodation for the women who were there to receive ’blessings’. Other than that, they had to account for the rooms for the help. The servants were mostly old women past their prime. They were summoned into the Corben family when they were young, and they were unfortunate enough to not have produced any heirs. Years later, when the men lost interest in their bodies, they could only use such a method to continue serving the Corben family.
The interior of the spacecraft was large and complicated. If Corben had intended to hide, it would have been hard to find him. Thankfully, Hank knew where to find this God’s Child. In such a situation, York Corben would be in the Room of Heavenly Decree. It was a room where only members of the Corben family were allowed entry.
The Village of Heavenly Blessing would hold a large gathering at indeterminate intervals. The timing depended on the situation. During the gathering, the Corben family would showcase their ’miraculous’ power before the villagers through some ’rituals’, like healing the sick or predicting the arrival of an eclipse. Then, the Corben family would use the chance to disseminate some new ’God’s Decree’. It was a means to control the people because, every few months, the villagers would be reminded that the God’s Child was not to be questioned or challenged.
This kind of ritual needed an audience, but the pavilion before the Shrine was not large enough to fit the entire village, so only those ’chosen’ villagers could go to observe in person. The choice was actually quite easy to understand. Most of the ’lucky’ participants would be randomly chosen from the first or second layer, and after they had witnessed the God’s Child’s power, they would return to spread the news with some exaggeration.
Hank had been chosen to witness one such ritual before. Even though he had not been inside the Shrine, he knew where the Room of Heavenly Decree was. That room was visible outside the Shrine and was one level lower than the spacecraft’s command center. The God’s Child would walk out from the Room of Heavenly Decree every time, standing on a higher platform to give his orders to his people.
The three moved forward, and there was no one to stop them along the way because there were practically no guards inside the Shrine, and they would pose no threat anyway. After some time, the door to the Room of Heavenly Decree appeared before their eyes, and in the corridor before the door stood a man.
“This is York Corben’s younger brother, Harvey Corben,” Hank said.
Harvey was shorter than Hank, so incredibly fat that oil seemed to ooze out of his face. When he saw the trio, he did not show any trace of fear and angrily demanded, “Blasphemer, do you know what you have done?”
He glared at Hank and revealed a wicked smile. “Do you understand the severity of your sins?”
Hank ignored him and raised his anti-gravity gun to fire the loaded ammo. The metallic piece the size of basketball flew at Harvey at high speed, but the latter did not try to evade. He raised his left arm and used his hand to catch the projectile.
With a dull thud, the metallic piece sounded like it had hit a wall, but in reality, it merely landed on Harvey’s palm and fell weakly to the ground.
“Humph, you dare to challenge the God’s power?” Harvey chuckled coldly.
“No wonder you dare to stand in our way,” Feng Bujue responded with the same wicked smile. “Your body has been mechanically-modified, yes?”
In an airy tone, he exposed Harvey’s ’God’s power’ easily, and the latter’s expression became drawn.
“Hmm… With just the knowledge of mechanical engineering but without the support of this era’s bio technology, this kind of modification is impossible,” Feng Bujue mumbled to himself. “This means that you not only possess the technology recovered from this spacecraft but technology from beyond the village. Looks like… all the priests that helped you to complete this body have been killed, right?”
“We can cultivate as many of those slaves as we want. After all, we have the information, and we decide who has the right to learn it and how much they can learn.” Harvey scoffed and then added, “Outsiders, even if you might know things that these slaves do not, don’t think you can violate our power. You are not going to leave this place alive, and no one in the village will believe your words.”
Feng Bujue sighed. “Your stupidity brings a tear to my eyes…”
The blade glinted, and the steel sword appeared in his hand. Feng Bujue held the blade in his right hand and the gun in his left. As he rushed forward, he fired off the bullets, but as he fired the gun, Harvey raised his arm to shield his body. At the same time, he stooped downward and barreled forward with a roar. The bullets landed on his body and bounced away, creating a series of tinkling sounds.
The close-quarter combat between the two could only be described as sad. Harvey did not know how to fight at all, and his fighting skill was much worse than Feng Bujue’s. During the battle, Harvey only knew how to wave his limbs wildly about… Feng Bujue only needed to take two steps back and wave his blade twice to chop off Harvey’s arms. He did not even apply much force; Harvey did most of the work himself.
“How is this possible?” Harvey looked at his two detached arms in shock. He did not feel much pain; he was merely shocked that his iron arms could be chopped off so easily.
“That was so sad. I could barely look at it.” Flashes of Sword shook his head. “From how you move, you haven’t been in a fight since you were young, right?”
For some reason, Feng Bujue seemed to be reminded of something, and he laughed dangerously. “Hahaha… ’Even my father has never laid a hand on me’… I believe that is the character he’s modelled after.”
Flashes of Sword chuckled. “It is because of people like you who like to misquote famous phrases at the wrong time that they lose their meaning.”
Feng Bujue put his gun away and strode toward Harvey while wielding the sword. “Alright, it is time for us to see how your God’s Power operates.”
Since Harvey had lost his arms and was so fat, he could only stagger a few steps before he lost his balance. “What… what are you going to do?”
Feng Bujue ignored him and continued his monologue. “When I fired the gun earlier, your first reaction was to raise your hands in defense. This means that you recognize a weapon like this gun, and you defended your head because that is the only place that is not fully mechanized…”
He poked the blade into the man’s leg. Robots-Must-Die’s effect was applicable on a mechanized body, so with the damage buff, it pierced through the leg easily.
“Hmm, most of your body has been fully modified until there is not even a sense of pain anymore…” Feng Bujue pulled the sword out and poked it into the man’s chest. Harvey took in a cold breath in shock, but even with the sword poking out of his chest, he was still alive. Only his breathing became slow, and he lost the ability to speak.
“As I expected, the function of the heart has been modified as well,” Feng Bujue said. “After all, you are one of the Corbens. You have been prepared for the worse. Even if there is a huge tragedy, causing the air quality of the village to drop, you’ll be fine because you don’t need the protective gear to survive.”
He then stomped his feet on the man’s round belly, and this time, the man showed a painful grimace.
“Oh… so the digestive system is not upgraded. I guess that’s logical. If it had been modified, you would be sporting a washboard abs.” Feng Bujue smiled. “I believe your reproductive organs haven’t been upgraded as well, because it will get in the way of your fun…”
Feng Bujue aimed the tip of his sword lower.
Even though Harvey’s throat could not produce much voice, he tried his best to beg for mercy. He shook his head in desperation as if begging Feng Bujue not to kill him.
“Don’t worry, I’m just joking.” Feng Bujue put the sword away. “Even though there is no machine down there, cutting you open will not reward me any Skill Points, and I will have to clean up the guts and blood. How tiring will that be?”
Harvey had no idea what the man was talking about, but it sounded like he was going to survive.
Unfortunately, the next second, Feng Bujue took out a wrench from his inventory, and a maddened look came over him as he studied Harvey’s skull with manic interest.