'Miracle Stone · Empty? What is "Tendo" talking about? Is this another new setting suddenly added by the production team?'
'I don't know, it hasn't appeared before.'
'What do you mean "hasn't appeared before"? Didn't that special envoy of the General Association say that the Doctor had the key he'd been looking for? I guess this [Miracle Stone · Empty] must be that so-called key.'
'Do you think this [Miracle Stone · Empty] has something to do with the protagonist, Chen Kong? After all, Chen Kong's name has "Kong" in it, and his first Star Core is called Empty Rune. It doesn't look like a coincidence at all.'
'The one before me, remove the "maybe." I feel like this thing definitely has something to do with Chen Kong, and I also feel that Chen Kong's future main storyline should be inseparable from these so-called [Miracle Stone · Empty].'
Although it was the first time they had heard the words [Miracle Stone · Empty].
Based on their valuable experience accumulated from years of watching anime.
The dimensional viewers immediately guessed why the production team chose to reveal this crucial information through Tendo at this critical moment at the end of the first season.
No need to guess, this was definitely laying groundwork for the second season, " Prequel of the Stars: Embers."
In fact, these "Miracle Stones" might even become the main plotline for the entire " Prequel of the Stars" series later on.
And the dimensional viewers were not wrong.
Just as every protagonist in a series has a clear goal and an inherent destiny.
Chen Kong, as the officially designated protagonist of " Prequel of the Stars."
Naturally, he also had his own mission.
And this mission was to collect the "Twelve Miracle Stones" scattered throughout this world.
As for why Chen Kong could accomplish this.
The core reason lay in his first Star Core, Empty Rune.
Or rather, it was the Miracle Stone · Empty that existed within his body.
Because only the "Miracle Stone · Empty" could neutralize other "Miracle Stones" and prevent them from repelling each other.
Therefore, in Tendo's view, the so-called "Miracle Stones."
They were essentially equivalent to the "Infinity Stones" in Marvel, or the "Dragon Balls" in "Dragon Ball."
And Chen Kong, the protagonist, was like a walking "Infinity Gauntlet," a special container specifically designed to hold the "Miracle Stones."
Of course, Tendo himself didn't know the complete information about the twelve Miracle Stones.
He didn't even know the specific effects of these "Miracle Stones."
He had simply deduced this information from Yun Meng's words to Benjamin in the original work.
And the reason he chose to reveal this information now.
Firstly, it was to act as Yun Meng's substitute, becoming the strongest mouthpiece for the Prequel of the Stars production team to reveal settings.
This subtly increased his own screentime in " Prequel of the Stars."
Secondly, he wanted to appropriately reduce the number of Benjamin's helpers.
After all, the already injured Yun Meng, whose strength was greatly diminished in the original work.
Relied on this very tactic to have Benjamin kill the remaining Association Star Envoys for her.
And, as Tendo expected.
Soon after he uttered the words "Miracle Stone."
Benjamin... made his move.
Boom, boom, boom—!
As four dazzling explosions flashed within the dim underground drainage space.
Four new, charred corpses immediately appeared before Tendo.
Among these newly appeared corpses was the Association Star Envoy who had reacted first.
But failed to escape in time.
Looking at their eyes, which were wide open in death, Tendo feigned regret and sighed.
Then, lightly tapping his foot on the ground, he leaped onto a nearby elevated platform, looking down at Benjamin from above.
At this moment, he seemed to be standing on the moral high ground, beginning to point fingers at Benjamin.
"Sigh, I was hoping that one of those people could answer my question about justice and evil."
"But you, you didn't even give them a chance to speak, just killed them."
"I have to say, you synthetics truly have no humanity. If I'm not mistaken, you must have undergone surgery to remove human emotions long ago, right? Otherwise, how could you be so cold-blooded?"
Although a playful smile hung on Tendo's face, his eyes were as cold as ice.
Facing Tendo's mockery, Benjamin's reply was chillingly calm.
"On the path to miracles, some people always become sacrifices. There's nothing strange about that."
At the same time, his facial expression showed no fluctuations whatsoever as he spoke.
Only the cold gleam unique to the nano-metal coating remained.
Because as the latest type of nano-synthetic, he had indeed long ago discarded "human emotions," such superfluous things.
Upon receiving this answer, the smile on Tendo's face gradually faded.
"To speak so lightly of other people's lives, as expected..."
Mid-sentence, Tendo's figure instantly vanished from his original spot.
The accumulated water beneath his feet suddenly burst into a perfect circular splash, caused by the violent shockwave generated when he rapidly pushed off the ground.
When Tendo reappeared, he was already beside Benjamin.
A side kick, accompanied by a piercing whoosh, aimed directly at the other's head.
"...You guys truly deserve to die."
Facing Tendo's sudden attack, Benjamin's nano-synthetic pupils flashed wildly with green data streams.
Then, in an instant, he raised his right arm, blocking Tendo's attack with astonishing precision.
Boom!
The moment Tendo's right leg kicked Benjamin.
The nano-metal skin on his arm suddenly decomposed into hundreds of tiny metal particles.
And in a brief moment that was difficult for ordinary people to react to, they instantly detonated.
The orange-red fireball generated by the explosion rapidly expanded between the two.
The powerful shockwave that emerged simultaneously sent both of them flying.
Tendo elegantly flipped his body in the air, sliding for a distance after landing, then completely stabilized his posture.
During this process, the vector field around Tendo twisted all the flames generated by the metal explosion, completely isolating them from his body.
Completely nullifying all explosion damage from Benjamin.
On the other side, in mid-air, Benjamin's back skin suddenly opened up several gaps, revealing several miniature thrusters within.
These thrusters detonated many pre-calculated nano-metals.
This allowed Benjamin to forcefully halt his retreat using this special explosion propulsion method.
But neither Benjamin nor Tendo lingered excessively in their original spots.
They immediately rushed towards each other again in silence.
And at this moment, their speed was so fast that they only left blurry afterimages in the anime screen.
During this process, Benjamin perfectly demonstrated the terrifying "rationality" of a synthetic.
His fighting style was impeccable; every piece of nano-metal was under the precise control of his "synthetic super-computing power."
Sometimes transforming into a blade, sometimes decomposing and exploding.
At times, he could even suddenly shoot metal spikes from his elbow while blocking Tendo's attacks.
Attempting to catch Tendo off guard.
However, for some unknown reason, Tendo, despite being merely flesh and blood.
Showed no concern about being injured by Benjamin.
All his attacks were carried out in a "life-for-life" manner.
Yet, Benjamin truly had no counter to this.
Because all his attacks mysteriously stopped at a distance of '9 millimeters' from Tendo's body, completely unable to inflict any effective damage.
Although it was only a few brief exchanges, the battle between the two was not only cool, but the production team, in order to highlight the splendor of this battle.
Whether it was the sound effects, the screen detail, or anything else, everything was pushed to the extreme, making the dimensional viewers shout with excitement while also letting them know Benjamin's main fighting style.
As a "nano-modified synthetic," Benjamin's entire body was crafted from expensive, special nano-metals.
This not only gave him strength far exceeding that of an ordinary second-level Star Envoy.
But also maximized the effect of his "Star Source · Metal Explosion."
Because he could, whenever he needed.
Suddenly differentiate a small portion of his own nano-metal and make it produce astonishing explosive effects.
After all, the power of his metal explosion was not only related to the size of the metal itself.
It was also related to the material of the metal itself.
Nano-metal was truly a high-grade material among all metal materials.
Under the same volume and mass, the explosive power generated by nano-metal was several times that of other ordinary metals.
And because his entire body was made of nano-metal.
This meant that Benjamin's strength, defense, and attack power far surpassed other Star Envoys of the same level.
And when these were combined with the synthetic's unique "supercomputing power" and "information collection."
It meant that although Tendo had already displayed terrifying strength far exceeding that of an ordinary second-level Star Envoy and was fearless of Benjamin's attacks.
He was still, uncharacteristically, being suppressed by someone.
Bang!
Accompanying Benjamin's expressionless punch to Tendo's chest.
A violent explosion of fire instantly engulfed Tendo completely.
The astonishing aftershocks generated by this explosion directly caused a noticeable tremor throughout the entire underground drainage space.
The concrete ceiling, unable to bear the immense pressure, developed numerous cracks.
Large chunks of debris fell like rain into the accumulated water below, splashing up water droplets.
However, although Tendo's figure was sent flying in the explosion's fire.
He merely executed a flip in the air and landed steadily on the ground.
Observing Tendo, who had regained his footing not far away, Benjamin's visual sensor suddenly detected an anomaly.
That was, Tendo, who had been repeatedly hit directly by metal explosions, surprisingly didn't even have a corner of his clothes scorched!
Thinking of this, Benjamin immediately observed carefully.
And soon he discovered the reason.
At 9 millimeters outside Tendo's current body surface, there was a layer of vector field ripples flowing that were difficult to detect with the naked eye.
And it was precisely by relying on this vector field, named "All-Repulsion Reflection," that Tendo.
Had harmlessly negated all of Benjamin's attacks.
[Vector Control · All-Repulsion Reflection]
[Effect: When activated, it can establish a vector filter net around the body, based on a specific calculation formula, categorized into 'harmful' and 'harmless'. It reflects all dangerous substances, except for necessary things like gravity, air pressure, light, oxygen, sound wavelengths, etc., back outwards.]
Although in terms of performance, the "All-Repulsion Reflection" that Tendo was currently using.
Was very similar to the "Azure Flow Garment" he had used in Deep Blue City before.
Both could harmlessly block all attacks from enemies.
But in reality, there was a huge difference between the two.
Because "All-Repulsion Reflection" was based on a rational calculation to use the minimum amount of star energy to maximize the neutralization of any attack that could threaten Tendo.
Whereas "Azure Flow Garment" was merely equivalent to draping a directional protective shield over Tendo.
Regardless of the enemy's attack strength, it consumed a large amount of his star energy to maintain.
It can be said that in terms of star energy usage efficiency.
"All-Repulsion Reflection" far surpassed "Azure Flow Garment."
Therefore, "All-Repulsion Reflection" can be seen as an advanced version of "Azure Flow Garment."
However, to use "All-Repulsion Reflection," Tendo not only needed the "Future Sight" of "Star Eclipse Heavenly Eye" and "Star Energy Observation."
He also needed to possess the "Overclocked Computation" ability, a talent exclusive to synthetics, to accomplish it.
After all, when to reflect, and how much star energy to use during reflection to ensure maximum self-preservation.
Only "Overclocked Computation" could achieve this in an instant.
And this was also an important reason why Tendo was willing to spend "500,000 popularity points" to exchange for the "Portable Quantum Hub."
This item was simply too big of an upgrade for him right now!
If he didn't have this equipment, Tendo could only use "Azure Flow Garment" to counter Benjamin.
But in that case, Benjamin wouldn't need to think about how to break his "Azure Flow Garment."
He would only need to consider how to deplete his star energy.
After all, basic star energy value was his biggest advantage as a second-level Star Envoy compared to Tendo.
Synthetics wouldn't fail to see this point, nor would they let it go.
"Overclocked computation based on auxiliary equipment, in exchange for efficient vector field defensive means."
"I have to admit, your ability to develop Vector Control to this extent has indeed presented me with a considerable challenge."
"Because according to my calculations, if I continue to maintain this intensity of combat with you."
"Then I, the second-level Star Envoy, will be the first to exhaust my star energy."
Benjamin looked at Tendo, who stood in the accumulated water not far away.
He calmly stated his judgment.
To this, Tendo not only showed no complacency but also calmly said, "But you should have also seen the flaw in this move, right?"
Facing Tendo's question, Benjamin nodded.
Indicating that he had indeed found a way to crack "Vector Control · All-Repulsion Reflection."
And this method was actually not complex.
It was "vision."
Because for Tendo, who had not yet completed his "Star Eclipse Heavenly Eye."
His current eyes, while possessing various special effects.
Lacked the most important ability for "All-Repulsion Reflection."
That was "full coverage vision."
In other words, as long as an attack could be launched from Tendo's blind spot.
Tendo's "All-Repulsion Reflection" might not be able to react at all.
And this was the only weakness of Tendo's "All-Repulsion Reflection" at the moment.
"Astonishing, truly astonishing. At just first-level Star Envoy, you're already capable of such exaggerated feats."
"You should know that before you, even the General Association Head, who was hailed as the strongest Star Envoy of our time, couldn't possess such terrifying strength at the first level as you do."
"I can't say whether this is because of your high compatibility with Vector Control, or if your talent has already far exceeded ordinary people's imagination."
"But no matter which one it is, none of that matters now."
"Because you, who stand in my way, today... must die here."
With that, Benjamin's body underwent a noticeable transformation.
His nano-metal body began to compress continuously, emitting grating metallic sounds.
During this process, his figure visibly shrank, eventually settling at a height of only about 1.5 meters.
In addition, dark red patterns, similar to magma, appeared on his silver-gray metal skin.
The "power engine" in his chest continuously roared, releasing a reddish glow and high heat that even the nano-metal couldn't obscure, instantly vaporizing the remaining water stains on his feet and body into large amounts of white steam.
And the cause of all these phenomena stemmed from his synthetic-exclusive special technique—Overload.
To this, Tendo was equally generous with his praise for Benjamin.
"Compressing the body to gain stronger power and energy conduction efficiency."
"Sacrificing a portion of nano-metal to reduce self-weight while also allowing it to act as fuel for the power engine, and under the effect of Star Source · Metal Explosion, maximizing the energy release of these nano-metals."
"I have to say, while you synthetic Star Envoys are inhumane, in your approach and methods to solving problems, you always find the optimal solution."
"However..."
Tendo looked at the expressionless Benjamin, whose body was covered in dark red patterns.
He suddenly chuckled.
"...Over-relying on data, always making only the most rational and correct choices, how could you ever grasp the fleeting afterglow of a miracle?"
"Miracles... will not descend upon cold synthetics."
As he spoke, Tendo pulled out a special syringe filled with a light blue liquid from his embrace, unhesitatingly injecting it into his neck.
Under the stimulation of the light blue liquid.
Tendo's azure Star Eclipse Heavenly Eye became even brighter, and the star trail patterns flowing within it visibly grew much more complex.
Seeing this, Benjamin said somewhat unexpectedly, "Sacrificing lifespan and permanent blindness in exchange for short-term physical overload."
"Indeed, human emotions will always be something we synthetics can never truly understand."
"Because humans often know what the most correct choice is, but they always make some incomprehensible wrong decisions, just like you are doing now."
"Sacrificing yourself for others, such a decision seems to me... utterly foolish."
Benjamin spoke while slowly adapting to his overloaded, special body.
Making necessary pre-battle preparations for the ensuing combat.
At the same time, Tendo in the distance had also begun to adapt to his forcibly awakened "Star Eclipse Heavenly Eye."
And in this brief intermission, Tendo smiled and replied, "Foolish? I don't think so."
"After all, how could you guys, who only believe in cold data, understand that the biggest difference between humans and you is..."
Tendo tossed aside the syringe containing the "Heavenly Eye Beast Serum."
He looked up at Benjamin, who had also adapted to his overloaded state not far away.
He smiled and said, "...Believing that a miracle will appear, that in itself is already a miracle."
"Is that so?"
Benjamin instantly appeared behind Tendo and, while swinging his fist, calmly posed his question.
"Then let me see if the miracle you speak of will descend upon you, a human."
Without turning back, Tendo, who was clearly in Benjamin's blind spot.
As if clairvoyant, spun around and delivered a whip kick.
As Tendo's whip kick and Benjamin's iron fist collided.
All the falling water droplets within a ten-meter radius around them suddenly froze, then simultaneously burst into enchanting mist.
And soon, the two, having staked everything, once again clashed fiercely.
The concrete floor beneath their feet, unable to bear the astonishing combat repercussions, suffered widespread collapse.
At the same time, large amounts of accumulated water spurted out like fountains from the shattered surrounding walls.
Causing the water level of the entire underground drainage space to rise at an alarming rate.
Neither Benjamin nor Tendo paid any attention to this.
The two figures continuously flashed and collided.
Each exchange between them seemed to pause the surroundings, freezing splashing water droplets into bizarre geometric patterns.
During this process, Benjamin's chest power core continuously emitted overload-like warnings, and his nano-metal skin showed obvious cracking.
At the same time, Tendo opposite him was no better off.
Tendo's azure eyes began to show numerous bloodshot lines, and two terrifying trails of bloody tears flowed from the corners of his eyes, sliding down his cheeks and dripping onto the ground.
Clearly, in this earth-shattering gamble where both had staked everything.
They were both nearing their respective limits.
And although their situations were critical, neither Tendo nor Benjamin paid attention to their own conditions.
Because what they were gambling on was that the other would collapse first.
And they both firmly believed that the one who would collapse first... would definitely be the other.
To this, both sides were firmly convinced.