From Abyssal Invasion to Bursting Stars with a Single Sword

Spring equinox.

The sun directly shines on the equator, making day and night of equal length.

The temperature slowly warms up, with the noon sunlight being very bright.

And today, the countdown to conscription ends.

After dinner, the team of three gathers in the training room to make their final preparations.

"I just sent a scouting eagle to check on the situation at the Nuoya Hotel, and Iron Blood's people are still there," Su Muyu said, carrying a pot of red dates and silver ear soup into the room and then heading to the kitchen for bowls.

"It's been three days, and Hasegawa Tom hasn't shown up? Seems like he's waiting for us to enter the Abyss Battlefield," Lin Zeyu began to feel that the chance of being transported into the same Abyss battlefield was nearly one hundred percent.

"We're probably going to the same Abyss battlefield," Lu Heng felt, sensing that after this teleportation, they would need to face an extremely complex environment.

Hasegawa Tom had been missing for three days now—if not in the same Abyss battlefield, according to the time flow difference between the Abyss World and Blue Star, he should have been sent back by now.

Lin Zeyu pondered and asked, "We're not going to be ambushed by Hasegawa Tom as soon as we teleport there, are we?"

Lu Heng shook his head, "The location of our teleportation is uncertain; the possibility of being ambushed right after arriving is small. However, being ambushed isn't the biggest problem. The biggest problem would be if Hasegawa Tom uses his head start to control the situation."

If Hasegawa Tom entered the Abyss Battlefield early, he might simply use this advantage to locate teleport spots and ambush superpower users.

That would actually be the easiest situation to resolve.

The best strategy for entering the Abyss Battlefield early would be, with that advantage, to quickly gain control over the situation in Abyss World.

For example, by gaining reputation within an Abyssal force, controlling that force, and then using that force to deal with other superpower users.

He could even completely block others from completing their main quest.

That would be a real checkmate.

...

"Six grenades each, water, compressed biscuits…" Lin Zeyu began distributing supplies.

Although the supplies prepared last time hadn't been used up, facing such a complex situation this time, it wouldn't hurt to prepare a bit more.

After stowing the supplies, Lu Heng beckoned to call the Mechanical Tiger over.

The Mechanical Tiger bounded over and circled around Lu Heng twice.

If it weren't for the golden gleaming shell, just by its movements, it was no different from an animal.

Lin Zeyu curiously asked, "Can the Mechanical Tiger be brought into the Abyss Battlefield?"

"It can."

Lu Heng was certain about this because the data panel showed that the Mechanical Tiger was a Mechanical Follower.

Additionally, bringing the Mechanical Tiger back to Blue Star was one of the rewards from picking one out of three in a World Task, naturally, it could be brought into the Abyss Battlefield.

"That's awesome! Our team has four combatants," Lin Zeyu's eyes sparkled.

Although it was a team of three, they had four combat powers.

Lin Zeyu would not underestimate the combat capability of the Mechanical Tiger; even if he were locked in a cage fight with it, he would definitely lose without any chance of fighting back.

In a one-on-one outside, running away would be his only option.

There was no way around it; with its liquid metal shell and "Metal Enhancement" skills, the Mechanical Tiger was essentially immune to bullet shots.

Unfortunately for Lin Zeyu, who specialized in gunnery, he just couldn't beat this beast.

...

As midnight approached, the topic of their conversation started to focus on the types of Abyss Battlefields.

Since the upcoming Abyss Battlefield was almost certain to be a Source Material competition,

usually, any Abyss World where Source Material exists, comes with a high danger level.

The lowest level is 4 and can be even higher.

In Abyss World, Source Material is a very special kind of substance, or rather, an energy.

Even the Evil God needs Source Material Sacrifices during a Resurrection Ceremony.

Needless to say, Source Material is very important to those powerful Abyss Demon Kings.

That means, in a world where Source Material exists, there are likely to be powerful Abyss Demon Kings around.

Aside from that, the Mechanical Civilization also has Source Material.

For instance, the Source Material in Mechanical Tiger imparts it with biological traits and intelligence.

From these traits, it can be seen that Source Material is an energy closely related to life.

It can resurrect a dead Evil God and can give life and consciousness to lifeless mechanics.

...

As the time gradually reached midnight.

The three raised their right hands together and touched fists, "See you in the Abyss."

"See you in the Abyss."

The conscription countdown ended.

The teleportation began. The world in front of them darkened, followed by a piercing white light that made it impossible to keep their eyes open.

Afterward, as the bright light subsided, darkness enveloped the world again.

Teleportation data began to emerge in front of them:

[Teleport to Abyss World: Sikes Civilization, Queen Star Circle, Second Gaia]

[World Introduction: This is a Gaia planet transformed by the Sikes Civilization. The planet has a pleasant climate and is suitable for the vast majority of life forms. This planet is the culmination of the Sikes Civilization's technology and the most dazzling planet in the Queen Star Circle.]

[Event: Behind the prosperity, there are undercurrents, and the highly advanced civilization cannot escape the devouring of the Abyss. The descent of the Abyss has sparked diverse ideologies within the Sikes Civilization, giving rise to the Descent Faction, Salvation Faction, and Escape Faction, along with many smaller factions. The infighting among these factions has led to turbulence in the civilization.]

[Danger Level: Level 5]

[Battle Mode: Survival Mode]

[Main Quest]

[1. Survive in the Mechanical Beast Fighting competition.]

[2. Choose whether to accept mechanical limb modification, which becomes permanent after the mechanical transformation and can be brought back to the main world.]

[3. Survive 15 days within the Sikes Civilization.]

[Challenge Task]

[1. Source Material Struggle, complete Source Fusion, and obtain a Second Transition Class.]

[2. Find the source of the Abyss contamination and eliminate it.]

[3. Join one of the three major factions and complete the task assigned by the faction.]

[Transport complete, loading common language of the Sikes Civilization.]

After reading the transport information, Lu Heng was slightly surprised.

He had entered the Sikes Civilization, more precisely the Second Gaia Planet in the Queen Star Circle.

In his reborn memories, the Sikes Civilization's conscriptions increased rapidly after a year of the Abyss Descent.

Unexpectedly, at the end of the seventh month, he was conscripted by the Queen Star Circle of the Sikes Civilization.

In his previous life, Lu Heng had entered the Queen Star Circle of the Sikes Civilization, but it was not this Second Gaia Planet, but the Capital Star "Queen".

Although it wasn't the same planet, both belonged to the Sikes Civilization's Capital Star Circle, with similar levels of technology and prosperity.

In addition, the team had previously entered a deserted planet of the Sikes Civilization and had some understanding of the civilization.

Entering the Capital Star Circle of the Sikes Civilization this time offered a slight advantage.

Upon waking, Lu Heng immediately determined his location and found himself in a glass pod, facing a glass wall.

The space inside the glass pod was quite small, about two meters square.

Lu Heng had some wires attached to his back; these were for monitoring vital signs, which were transmitted in real-time to the computer management system.

Because the glass pod was only two meters square and quite cramped, it contained only himself.

Lu Heng looked out of the glass wall and then saw Su Muyu and Lin Zeyu, who, like him, were locked in separate glass pods.

Besides them, Lu Heng also saw a Mechanical Tiger.

The Mechanical Tiger, like a sculpture, was in another glass pod, also connected with wires.

Su Muyu and Lin Zeyu had already woken up. After exchanging looks, none of them made any rash movements but instead observed the surroundings first.

The Mechanical Tiger was in a dormant state, probably powered off.

Lu Heng, seeing this setup, actually already knew what this place was.

Hints had been revealed in the main quest.

This was a Mechanical Arena of the Sikes Civilization; the individual glass pods were where the "beasts" were held.

The ruling class of the Sikes Civilization indeed had a unique passion for mechanical beast fights.

All leading mechanical technology companies would create powerful mechanical beasts for the competitions.

The technology companies that won the Mechanical Beast competitions would receive investments from various consortiums.

Thus, mechanical beast fighting in the Sikes Civilization represented a melee of mechanics and was also a contest of technology and financial power.

However, the Mechanical Arena didn't just feature mechanical beast fights.

The upper echelons of the Sikes Civilization also enjoyed watching mechanical beasts fighting against various creatures.

Such as mechanical beasts versus genetically engineered wild beasts.

There were also battles with demons, which had appeared after the Abyss Descent.

In addition, there were rarer fights, such as those between mechanical beasts and... humans.

To be precise, not just humans, the Sikes Civilization would bring all strange creatures that appeared in their world to fight against mechanical beasts.

And after being conscripted to the Abyss Battlefield, human Superpower Users became a new type of "beast" in the Sikes Civilization.

Now, Lu Heng and his companions were locked in "fighting cages."

They didn't know when they would be taken out to face various powerful mechanical beasts in a deadly duel.

In the Mechanical Arena of the Sikes Civilization, more creatures were killed by mechanical beasts than died at the dining table.

Because the mechanical transformation of the Sikes Civilization was at its final stage, nearing the transformation to a Mechanical Civilization.

This meant that the organic citizen population of the Sikes Civilization was quite small, and their need for food was also minimal.

This led to more creatures dying in the Mechanical Arena than being consumed.

After waking up, Lu Heng and the others tried speaking a few words, but the soundproofing of the glass pods was too effective, preventing their voices from carrying.

Fortunately, the three of them had prepared in advance and learned some sign language, allowing them to communicate through it.

Using sign language, Lu Heng informed the others about their current situation, clarifying that this place was a Mechanical Arena and they could be taken out at any moment to compete against mechanical beasts.

Even the first item in the main quest was ["1. Survive in the Mechanical Beast Fighting competition."].

If things went as anticipated,

the doors of the Mechanical Beast Warehouse slowly opened, and two track robots moved in along the corridor, starting to pick the "beasts" for the upcoming match.

And the direction the two robots were heading was exactly where Lu Heng and his companions were located.