"Guang Biao?" Seeing the black mecha, the evil spirit master's expression darkened.
Mecha grades, like spirit ring grades, were divided into white, yellow, purple, black, and red.
Among them, Black-Grade Mecha were crafted from special materials, using unique designs and craftsmanship. Spirit Souls could fuse with the mecha to a certain extent, becoming like an extension of the pilot's limbs.
Piloting a Black-Grade Mecha required cultivation above the Soul Emperor level and spiritual power above the Spirit Sea realm. Only one person in the Eastsea Mecha Brigade possessed such qualifications — Guang Biao.
He hadn't expected the Mecha Brigade captain to arrive so quickly.
What was his worthless companion doing? Wasn't he supposed to be watching the Mecha Designer Association and causing a disturbance to divert the Mecha Brigade's attention? Where was he?
The evil spirit master was inwardly annoyed but did not sit idly by. He quickly took Tang Ziran hostage, pressing his scepter against the latter's neck, and looked at the Black-Grade Mecha.
"If you dare come any closer, I'll kill him."
"Dad!"
Tang Wulin lay on the ground, staring intently at the evil spirit master, his teeth clenched. He tried to get up again, but suddenly saw a figure appear behind the evil spirit master. His expression turned to one of surprise.
Seven spirit rings — and a mecha too. Could this be the one Xie Xie had mentioned...
Guang Long, his face green, barely opened his eyes. Seeing that figure, he also revealed a faint smile, then lost consciousness directly.
Really. You're not the protagonist of a story. Next time, don't time your rescue so precisely...
Seeing that the Black-Grade Mecha before he did not respond, the evil spirit master glanced at Tang Wulin's expression. His heart began to pound with fear. He suddenly remembered something.
Because he had no Spirit Soul, he had overlooked a characteristic of mechas — Spirit Soul Control!
As spirit beasts integrated into the human world, people (mainly the Spirit Transmission Tower) had specifically studied how to equip spirit beasts with Battle Armor and mechas. After all, there were differences between spirit beasts and humans. Human Battle Armor and mechas were not compatible with them.
The inspiration for Spirit Soul Control of mechas came from this. After all, the differences between Spirit Souls and spirit beasts lay in their state of existence and strength. Other aspects — such as intelligence — remained unchanged. If spirit beasts could do it, of course they could too. Moreover, at the Black-Grade Mecha level and above, Spirit Souls could even fuse with the mecha. Research progress had been encouraging.
By now, some thousand-year Spirit Souls, after training, could also pilot mechas. Some Inherited Spirit Souls from mecha pilot families might even be more skilled at mecha control than beginners. (Xie Xie: That's right — you're talking about me!)
Given the strength of a Black-Grade Mecha and its close connection with its owner, a ten-thousand-year Spirit Soul could pilot it. So... where was Guang Biao himself?
A large, sturdy shadow covered the evil spirit master's body from behind. He stiffly turned his head — before he could even see the figure, only the spirit ring configuration of two yellow, two purple, and three black, his field of view was blocked by a fist covered in scales.
Bam!
The evil spirit master's body traced an arc through the air, heavily crashing into a wall. A trace of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. His eyes revealed shock and fear.
However, before he could recover from the intense pain, the Black-Grade Mecha had already appeared before him like a shadow.
The Black-Grade Mecha's metal hand, like a vice, clamped down on the evil spirit master's shoulder. The mecha's optical eyes gleamed with a cold light, as if its prey.
Its other metal hand raised — clang! — smashed down on the evil spirit master's head.
"Ah!!!"
The evil spirit master only had time to let out a short scream before he was left dizzy by the heavy blow. His vision began to blur, and his consciousness gradually faded.
But the ten-thousand-year Spirit Soul seemed to have accepted Guang Biao's fury and did not let him off just like that. It continued to hammer the evil spirit master dozens more times with its head-sized fists.
Bam, bam, bam—
The terrifying pounding sound traveled far, making the residents who heard it tremble with fear. Only when the evil spirit master's face was covered in blood and he was completely unconscious did the mecha stop.
Tang San's divine consciousness: "..."
This mecha pilot already has a death wish!
Why did you have to arrive so timely?
This evil spirit master is so weak — he also has a death wish!
Why are you even an evil spirit master if you're this weak?
Of course, most importantly... Wulin, what is that look in your eyes as you stare at that Black-Grade Mecha and Guang Biao?!
Watching Tang Wulin's somewhat admiring gaze toward Guang Biao, Tang San's divine consciousness inexplicably felt a sense of unease.
But now that Wulin's crisis had passed, although somewhat unwilling, Tang San's divine consciousness chose to withdraw.
Only the Golden Dragon King's divine core on Tang Wulin's body could replenish his divine consciousness power to a certain extent. But that required Wulin to lift the seal to absorb it. So divine consciousness power had to be used where it was most needed.
If he consumed too much and really lost his memory as he had said before — that would be the end...
At the Mecha Brigade headquarters, Guang Biao brought his younger brother and the Tang Wulin family inside. He tossed the evil spirit master to his subordinates for treatment and found a healing spirit master to tend to the injured.
After that, he walked toward his office. Looking at the middle-aged man waiting inside, he asked with a grave expression:
"What did the investigation find? Why were they targeted by evil spirit masters?"
He was not in a good mood right now. That foolish younger brother of his had completely completely forgotten his warning. If he hadn't had a reminder from the Spirit Transmission Tower and arrived in time, he might have been dead.
But no matter how bad his mood, official business could not be delayed.
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man took out two documents and handed them to Guang Biao.
"Captain, these are some records I retrieved from above. The couple, Tang Ziran and his wife, were originally a mecha designer and a pharmaceutical researcher employed by the Federation. Later, for unknown reasons, they resigned and went into hiding. Only recently did they start working at the Mecha Designer Association — seemingly to earn money."
"Oh?" Guang Biao raised an eyebrow, took the documents, and asked as he looked through them: "Are you saying that the evil spirit masters had already targeted them back when they were Federation researchers?"
Otherwise, there was no explaining why two former Federation mecha designers and pharmaceutical researchers would need to go into hiding and now be so short of money that they had to earn it at the Mecha Designer Association.
They probably didn't even dare to use their old bank cards.
"That's correct." The middle-aged man frowned. "But I haven't been able to determine the specific reason yet. I might need to ask them directly."
"I'll do that later."
Guang Biao flipped to Tang Ziran's place of origin and was somewhat surprised. "He was originally from the Xingluo Federation?"
"Yes. He smuggled into the Federation from Xingluo. However, since he was hired as a researcher by the Federation, there probably aren't any problems." The middle-aged man nodded.
Ten thousand years ago, although the appearance of the Sea God Tang San had temporarily halted the war, everyone understood that this was only temporary.
The Sun Moon Empire's Silver Moon Douluo and his Soul Engineer Legion were unstoppable. Even Shrek Academy couldn't hold them back. The other nations had to find another way out.
In the end, the remnants of Tiandou and the Xingluo Empire actually found a way out.
They crossed the vast ocean, each discovering a continent. They then relocated their citizens and occupied the continents they had discovered, naming them the Tiandou Continent and the Xingluo Continent respectively.
Among them, Tiandou still followed an imperial system, calling itself the Tiandou Empire. The Xingluo Empire, on the other hand, changed to a federal system, becoming the Xingluo Federation.
And Tang Ziran was originally a citizen of the Xingluo Federation.
***
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