The wind in the Grand Canyon began to reverse.
Amidst the stench of coke and rust, a hint of terror belonging to an apex predator mingled in.
An Oxfolk veteran's eyes bulged, his expression vacant, as the heavy battle-axe in his hand, taller than a person, fell with a "clang" onto the vitrified, scorched ground.
Around him, the Mantisfolk soldiers, who had been driven mad by the Broodmother's descent, now looked like marionettes whose strings had been collectively severed.
They stared blankly at the giant pit ahead, the appendages in their mouthparts twitching neurally, emitting meaningless "clack" sounds.
At the center of the pit, Broodmother No. 1, the very creature that had once driven the ten-thousand-man corps to despair, lay sprawled and wretched, like a giant beetle overturned by a mischievous child.
Its dark purple carapace, which could withstand the White Tiger Divine Power, was now covered in a spiderweb of vicious cracks.
Especially the massive gap savagely blasted open on its back by "Sam," which was continuously spouting high-temperature, deep green body fluids like an out-of-control fountain.
Its aura had become extremely chaotic.
A creature of this level possessed a vitality so tenacious it bordered on the absurd.
But now, it was truly unable to move.
Gulp.
Hao Chi's Adam's apple bobbed violently.
He rubbed his aching eyes, which had been strained from staring wide for so long, his gaze fixed on the helpless Broodmother, unable to look away.
"I must be hallucinating from too much overtime," he muttered to himself, trying to convince himself with this reason.
"A monster like this... even a battleship's main cannon might not be able to defeat it head-on... how could it... be beaten into paralysis?"
Robot No. 055's eyes were spewing visible electrical sparks due to computational overload.
Its once-precise logic library had completely crashed.
In its computational model, no matter how strong this silver Mecha was, it could at most stall for time against the Broodmother.
Downing it?
That was a feat only the White Tiger Celestial God, fighting at full strength, could possibly achieve in such a short time.
"Data model correction failed... Logical singularity detected... Redefining target 'Sam's' combat power assessment: Immeasurable."
The cold electronic voice crackled, betraying a hint of human-like confusion.
But on the battlefield, victors never grant the defeated time to breathe.
The twenty-meter-long, blazing white Fire Wings behind Sam snapped shut.
The Mecha, propelled by gravity, transformed into a silver meteor and slammed down onto the Broodmother's plaza-wide carapace.
It landed silently.
The only sound was the faint crackle of metal toes stepping onto the shattered shell.
At Sam's sides, two colossal blades slowly unfolded.
At the edges, green energy particles, compressed to their limit, glowed with a light-devouring, deep ink-green hue.
Within the cockpit's tactical visor, a massive, flashing red [Break] icon hung beneath the Broodmother's health bar.
In the status bar, the negative effect icons for "Forced Paralysis" and "Neural Pulse Disorder" spun frantically.
The adjacent countdown was rapidly ticking down: 9.8 seconds, 9.7 seconds...
"Alright, the most tedious mechanic phase is over."
Lin Qingyue's voice, amplified through the system, slowly rippled through the silence.
"Now, it's time for the fun part: the damage phase."
The command was given.
The thruster nozzles on the Mecha's back instantly multiplied from six to twelve.
The grill layers hidden beneath the silver armor slid open, and scorching pale-green coolant vaporized into white steam, billowing into the sky.
[Entering Full Combustion State: Secondary Overload.]
The electronic synthetic voice announced without emotion.
Sam's figure completely dissolved into a silver blur of light, dancing violently upon the Broodmother's back.
There were no complex techniques, only absolute speed.
Every strike sliced deeply and precisely along the fissures marked by the tactical AI.
The light blades were so fast that the ink-green afterimages they left in the air had not yet faded before the next and next strikes arrived.
The Broodmother's massive body began to tremble violently, letting out agonized wails.
Even in its paralyzed state, the excruciating pain from its nerve endings still relentlessly assaulted its consciousness.
Puchi!
A savage downward slash.
One of the Broodmother's main limbs on its left side was severed clean at the root!
The semi-metallic exoskeleton, strong enough to withstand the Celestial God's Metal Qi, was as fragile as discounted luncheon meat from a supermarket before Sam's full-power overloaded cutting blade.
The battle in the canyon had already become Lin Qingyue's solo show.
In the silver storm woven by the blade's light, purple-green ichor and shattered tissue were swept into the air, only to be instantly vaporized by the Mecha's intense heat.
However, just as five seconds remained on the [Break] countdown, just as Lin Qingyue locked onto the Broodmother's core, preparing to deliver the fatal blow...
A sudden mutation occurred!
A red warning window abruptly covered the entire screen.
[Warning! High-energy biological reaction detected! Logical collapse!]
[Target resistance growth curve slope is abnormal! Logical projection: Its Core Authority is forcibly intervening!]
Buzz!
An energy that made one's scalp tingle, carrying the mixed scent of rot and rebirth, erupted madly from the gaps in the Broodmother's shattered carapace.
It was the most core, primordial power of the Broodmother, filled with the aura of creation and nurturing!
In an instant, all the hideous wounds carved into the Broodmother's body began to squirm and heal at a visible speed under the surge of this energy!
The newborn purple carapace was even tougher and thicker than before, shimmering with an eerie, life-filled glow.
Even at the severed limb's stump, countless flesh buds were sprouting, rapidly reconstructing!
"Boom!"
A dull thud echoed.
An irresistible repelling force of life exploded from within the Broodmother, violently blasting the three-meter-tall Mecha hundreds of meters into the sky!
Sam performed several clean backflips in mid-air, steadily coming to a halt.
"Hmm?"
Inside the cockpit, Lin Qingyue raised an eyebrow as she stared at the instantly cleared debuff bar, as well as the Broodmother, now completely restored and radiating an even more ferocious aura than before.
"There's a second phase? No, is this an HP-Lock Mechanism?"
The recovered Broodmother was now thoroughly enraged.
Or rather, it had been driven into a desperate corner by terror.
Its originally noble dark purple body was now turning a sickly crimson due to the excessive burning of its life essence.
In its dozens of compound eyes, not a trace of the [Pride] of the strong remained. In its place was pure, boiling killing intent and hatred, enough to incinerate everything.
It had finally recognized this silver Mecha as its mortal enemy.
"Hiss—!!!"
The Broodmother opened its maw, large enough to devour mountains.
But this time, what it spewed was no longer sonic waves.
Instead, it was countless rapidly spawned self-destructing flying insects, their bodies shimmering with an eerie red glow!
Each of these flying insects was half a meter tall, with thin wings on its back and a highly swollen abdomen, making them living biological cruise missiles.
Their numbers were more than just tens of thousands.
Mixed with a Psychic Storm powerful enough to tear souls apart, they formed a red tide that covered the sky and earth, surging toward Sam in an overwhelming wave.
Each of these flying insects contained a portion of the Broodmother's life essence.
This suicidal attack was no longer a tactic.
It was a desperate, no-holds-barred madness aimed at mutual destruction.
Its purpose was clear.
Since physical attacks couldn't hit this slippery tin can, it would use endless psychic impacts and saturated self-destructions to grind the pilot inside to powder!