"How about we have a talk?"
Hearing the question from the blonde, blue-eyed elder, Coppelia did not relax her guard. "Who are you? What kind of person are you?"
The elder maintained a gentle smile on his face. "My name is Lessing. Just an insignificant nobody."
"Rest assured," he continued, "Miss Columbina is safe right now. We haven't harmed her, nor would we dare to harm her lightly."
"We have no intention of making things difficult for you and Miss Columbina." Lessing took a half-step forward, his posture appearing candid. "On the contrary, we have a request for you. It is simply that during the execution, some errors occurred, leading to all these conflicts. We can absolutely cooperate. As long as Miss Columbina is willing to lend us her power for a period of time to complete a few necessary experiments, after obtaining satisfactory results, we are willing to pay a remuneration that will satisfy you."
Lessing tried to make his tone sound sincere and unthreatening. His intent was clear: to persuade this mechanical creation, which was of vital importance to the Moon God, thereby indirectly influencing and changing Columbina's mind, eventually making her willing to serve the Kingdom.
This was also why he hadn't directly used the partial Spatial Authority he had already stolen to forcibly teleport and seize the Eternal Moon Essence from within Coppelia to conduct experiments immediately. "Persuasion" was still the safer route.
Coppelia did not respond immediately. She looked at Lessing, falling silent for a few seconds, then asked, "All we want is to leave safely. Can you guarantee that? Will you really let her go so easily? The power of the Three Moons doesn't sound like something one would easily let go of."
Lessing shook his head. "It is not 'powerful' enough to be indispensable."
Coppelia was stunned; she hadn't expected him to evaluate the power of the Three Moons in this way.
Lessing began to explain, his tone like that of a patient scholar: "In the distant Year of the Funeral Fire, the Three Moons hanging high in the sky fell into the battle between the Primordial Dragon and the Heavenly Principles, just like three rubber balls thrown at the feet of two fighting children."
He looked at Coppelia. "For us in Khaenri'ah, the direct utility of the Three Moons' power itself is actually quite limited."
Coppelia spoke: "You want to use the power of the Three Moons to connect to the 'outside of the world' and obtain the Abyss. That is the real goal?"
Lessing nodded slightly. "It seems you know quite a lot; I don't need to explain too much. Indeed, that is all we wish to do."
"Is the Abyss necessarily stronger or more useful than the Three Moons?" Coppelia asked in return. "Can the Abyss grant you the Authority to directly govern Life, Death, Time, and Space like the Three Moons?"
She was asking despite knowing the answer. The Five Sinners of Khaenri'ah, two thousand years later, would indeed master powers similar to Life, Death, Time, and Space through the Abyss. Her goal was not to get an answer, but to stall. Every sentence spoken was another moment for Suleiman and Seth to complete their capture of the experimental base.
Lessing didn't seem to mind her questioning; instead, he followed her lead. "Once we truly master the Abyss, we can completely use the power of the Abyss to 'mimic' or even surpass the Authorities of Life, Death, Time, and Space possessed by the Three Moons. By then, we naturally won't need to rely on the Moons' power anymore."
He paused, revealing an inquiring look. "Do you need me to explain the Abyss's 'mimicry' to you in detail?"
Natlan's Abyss can simulate the form of the Pyro Dragon King; the principle should be similar...
Coppelia looked away. "No need."
She changed the direction of her questions. "After the War of the Funeral Fire, it's impossible for the Heavenly Principles not to guard against the Abyss. How can you be sure 'That One' won't notice your little actions underground?"
Lessing's tone was steady. "The Heavenly Principles are still in a long slumber. He will not know what we are doing."
"The Heavenly Principles might be asleep," Coppelia immediately retorted, "but the 'Four Shades' are awake."
Lessing smiled. "Hehe. Let me give a counter-example. If the Heavenly Principles and His Shadows had the ability and the will to manage us, then the Kingdom of Khaenri'ah would never have been able to contact the traces of the Abyss underground from the very beginning. They simply cannot manage it, or perhaps, they do not want to."
That's because the noise you're making right now isn't loud enough... Coppelia thought silently, but asked aloud, "Even if the Heavenly Principles and the Four Shades don't interfere, what makes you sure you can control the power of the Abyss? Instead of being controlled by it?"
Lessing's voice revealed a confidence based on rational research. "All things have laws. As long as we can understand its laws, we can control it. The Abyss is no exception."
What if... the Abyss is deliberately showing you some one-sided laws specifically to deceive you? Coppelia didn't say this out loud. She maintained this "idle chat"—seemingly a discussion but actually a stalling tactic—with Lessing, while focusing most of her attention on her perception, waiting for Suleiman's Primal Construct cluster to make enough noise, or waiting for any signal from the Moon Spirit she had sent out.
On the other side, at the perimeter of the experimental base.
The battle had already erupted.
Five-meter-tall humanoid war machines, the "Field Tillers," strode with heavy, rhythmic steps, swarming in groups from several main corridors into a relatively open underground space.
These open areas appeared empty, but in reality, countless Primal Constructs had long been deployed there. They were in a state of complete invisibility, as if dissolved into the air.
Pew—Pew pew—
Beams of gloom-blue high-energy lasers shot out from the void without warning.
The lasers struck the rock walls on the sides, instantly vaporizing the hard stone surface with high heat, leaving behind smoking craters.
When the lasers struck the bodies of the "Field Tillers," even with their thick metal casing protection, the energy beams burned continuously, melting through the outer armor bit by bit, exposing the complex piping and structures within.
Against these completely invisible enemies, the "Field Tillers'" built-in enemy detection systems could not function effectively.
But they were not without countermeasures.
Some "Field Tillers" quickly adjusted their formation, lining up in three rows. They collectively twisted their waists to rotate their upper bodies backward, planted their hands on the ground, and flipped open the heavy armor plates on their backs, revealing the honeycomb-like missile launch nests underneath.
Boom boom boom boom—!
Countless missiles dragging tails of flame shot toward the open area ahead, conducting indiscriminate carpet bombing. The fiery light of explosions flashed continuously, shockwaves reverberating repeatedly within the limited space, bringing down a rain of shattered rock.
Other "Field Tillers" adopted a more direct physical attack method. The joints of their arms made a click sound of extension, the already long mechanical arms extending another section forward. Then, their waists began to spin at high speed, driving the fully extended arms to "harvest" horizontally like a lawnmower toward the area ahead where enemies might be lurking.
The swinging giant arms sliced through the air, emitting a terrifying howl, occasionally accompanied by the Bang! Clang! of metal impact. That was the sound of Primal Constructs on the edge of invisibility being knocked out of their camouflaged state, or directly sent flying and shattered.
The fight between the two sides in this underground space was exceptionally fierce. Whenever a mechanical unit disintegrated in an explosion, had its core melted by a laser, or was swept into fragments by a giant arm, new units would soon surge from the rear passages to fill the gap. Metal wreckage and broken parts began to pile up on the ground.
In a passage slightly further behind the battlefield, Seth stood with his arms crossed and eyes closed. Through some invisible device, he was immersed in the sensor feedback of every frontline Primal Construct, monitoring the battle situation and issuing commands at high speed.
Suleiman stood beside him, observing the overall trend of the battlefield, occasionally whispering tactical suggestions.
The passage they were in was not safe; violent tremors occasionally came from the surroundings. That was Khaenri'ah's mechanical giant serpents relying on their powerful drilling capabilities to tunnel from the depths of the rock strata, attempting to find and destroy the commanders of the Primal Construct cluster.
But often, just as these mechanical giant serpents poked their heads covered in rotating gears out of the side rock walls, before they could fully emerge, they would be focused-fired upon by three to five Primal Constructs nearby that reacted with extreme speed.
Several high-energy lasers cut into the connecting joints between their heads and bodies, or the weak points of the drill structure. Accompanied by ear-piercing sounds of tearing metal and splashing sparks, these massive drilling machines were often cleanly dismembered, turning into two or more heavy segments of scrap iron, stuck in the rock walls, motionless.
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