Damn it, something's wrong with the gacha I got.

Hiluva exclaimed in surprise.

Sensing something amiss, the crew of the ship grabbed their weapons and went on guard.

"The fate of this city—Belberg—is sealed. Its future will unfold in our hands, and you will become the cornerstone of the new world!"

Cocolia's eyes were filled with determination. She pointed the Guardian's Spear at the high platform beside her and shouted:

"Without breaking with the old, there is no way to establish oneself. As the Great Guardian, I command you to rise—Creation Engine!"

"Oh no, she's going to take control of the creation engine!"

Hiluva exclaimed in shock.

As Cocolia floated into the air, she raised the Guardian's Spear.

A giant mechanical arm suddenly rose from the other side, the steel emitting the loudest hiss in the wind and snow. A giant robot, hundreds of meters tall, stood up, like an imposing mountain.

Chapter 36: The Prelude to the Battle

March 7 was stunned when he saw the enormous robot in front of him.

"How...how do we fight?"

Their attacks are probably only good for scratching this giant robot, right?

Hilva immediately understood Cocolia's purpose: to have the Creation Engine annihilate them.

The vibrations from the steel made the group momentarily unsteady, and they all went into battle mode.

"It's an ancient machine used by the city builders, everyone be careful!"

"Hiluva shouted."

At the very moment the Creation Engine ignited, countless Rift Monsters from the nearby Rift Realm unleashed their power, hurtling towards the Bloodstained Drum.

Chen Bai decisively turned all these rift creatures into cats.

"Wow! A robot even bigger than Schwarzkopf!" Xing exclaimed.

At this moment, an ice arrow shot out, but it did not cause any real damage to the creation engine.

"Xing, stop talking nonsense! Come and help!"

The sound of March 7th reached my ears.

Dan Heng and the others all frowned; this creation engine was indeed difficult to deal with.

The Builders' robots were originally designed for construction, but they are still equipped with combat systems, such as laser beams, which are commonplace.

Under Cocolia's cold command, the massive creation engine roared to life.

On its steel body, which resembles a mountain, countless energy nodes lit up one after another, emitting an ominous, eerie blue light.

Immediately afterwards, hundreds and thousands of bright white laser beams, like thunderbolts hurled by a raging god, tore through the air and poured down onto the steel platform.

In an instant, the platform transformed into a purgatory.

The laser bombarded the thick metal deck, exploding into clusters of blinding white light, followed by a series of deafening explosions.

The pungent smell and billowing smoke instantly filled the entire space. The sturdy platform trembled violently under the successive impacts, as if it might disintegrate at any moment.

"Watch out!" March 7's exclamation was drowned out by the roar of the explosion.

Her face paled, but without hesitation, she took a step forward, her hands rapidly tracing intricate patterns in front of her. A sudden chill condensed, and several crystal-clear, intricately patterned, arc-shaped ice shields instantly formed, layer upon layer, standing before the icy, malfunctioning creature.

The laser slammed into the ice shield, shattering it into countless ice crystals. Spiderweb-like cracks quickly appeared on the surface of the ice shield, which she painstakingly repaired.

Fortunately, as it observed, the behemoth's attack system seemed to focus more on area defense and deterrence than on precise annihilation.

Although the laser beams are dense, their firing rate and tracking capabilities are not invincible.

On the high platform, Xing Sui remained calm and composed, using her agility and battlefield instincts to weave and dodge between explosions and lasers.

Upon seeing this, Cocolia's eyes flashed with malice.

The Guardian's Spear in her hand drew a cold arc, not pointed at the enemy, but slammed heavily into the ground again.

That was a signal that transformed her will into tangible instructions, which were then poured into the dormant core of the creation engine.

"Smash them." Her voice wasn't loud, but it was like a blade chilled by ice, clearly piercing through the aftershocks of the explosion.

The moment the command took effect, the laser beams across the sky suddenly went out, as if a sudden rainstorm had just stopped.

The massive body of the Creation Engine emitted a dull metallic roar as it slowly straightened up from its semi-bent attack posture, resembling a steel mountain range awakening.

Its head-raising motion caused countless thick hydraulic rods and transmission structures to creak and groan, moving almost cruelly slowly.

Then, his right arm roared and erupted, each inch of its lifting accompanied by the groaning of twisting steel, accumulating suffocating potential energy in the air.

The entire platform, along with the tiny, ant-like creatures on it, was completely obliterated by the ever-expanding shadow of death cast by the slowly rising giant arm.

But the next moment, the creation engine, which was originally as huge as a mountain, was transformed into a steel cat by a white light and buried in the snow with a thud.

The fishy smell was so strong!

Cocolia: "..."

"Great, Ah Bai has made a move."

March 7th patted his chest and breathed a sigh of relief.

Just then, Himeko suddenly called.

"Hey everyone? Can you hear me?"

When I heard about March 7th, I was incredibly excited.

"Sister Himeko, I've finally gotten in touch with you."

Himeko: "I'm so sorry, Mitsuki. It took me a long time to get the signal to you. But your pioneering journey was really exciting. I was about to fire a shot at that big robot, but you guys solved it yourselves."

Chen Bai: "Sister Ji Zi, it's me. I just turned that big robot into a cat."

Himeko: "A cat? Well, it seems to be the power of your strange object again... Be careful, and contact me and Walter immediately if anything happens."

"Ok."

However, before the fish could even finish speaking, Mu Huiqingzhao, Mao Zhenyidong, Mu Shanshan, and the others could finish speaking, Mu Huiqingzhao, Mao Zhenyidong, Mao Zhenyidong, Mao Shanshan, Mao Zhenyidong ...

The moment her toes touched the ground, the surrounding air seemed to freeze for a split second.

Immediately afterwards, a violent surge, almost visible to the naked eye, erupted from her body. The source of that power was the star core deeply embedded within her. Like an awakened heart, it pulsated with a dark and ominous light, each tremor making the surrounding cold even more biting.

Dan Heng stared intently, his brows gradually furrowing.

He saw that the snow beneath Cocolia's feet was not melting, but rather condensing into layers of dark blue ice crystals that spread around her.

The temperature in the air was dropping rapidly; her breath turned to ice, and even the falling snowflakes froze and solidified when they approached her, as if captured by some invisible force field.

“Be careful,” Dan Heng’s voice was low but clear to everyone, “She is deeply merging with the star core.”

Before she could finish speaking, Cocolia's figure was already framed by a layer of hazy, icy mist.

Ice crystals climbed and multiplied along her armor, producing a faint, dense crackling sound.

Her long hair danced wildly without wind, each strand covered in frost, and the human expression in her eyes was being eroded by a vast and cold will.

The power of the star core overflowed like a tide, stirring up the snow on the ground and forming a swirling, rising cold current.

In that oppressive moment when it was almost suffocating—

"Hmph, strike while the iron is hot and kill her!"

Chen Bai's voice broke the heavy atmosphere.

A sharp glint flashed in his eyes, clearly indicating that he did not intend to wait for the other party to complete their transformation.

Before he finished speaking, he had already raised the seemingly absurd yet mysteriously rule-bound Meow Meow Stick in his hand once more. The stick drew a white streak of light in the air.

A flash of light.

The next second, Cocolia, who was undergoing a dramatic change, suddenly shrank and transformed, and the violent fluctuations in the star core abruptly stopped.

The moment the icy fog dissipated, a cat with a pure white body and blue eyes that shimmered with confusion and arrogance appeared.

It crouched on the cold snow, tilted its head back and meowed, the last syllable still carrying a trace of lingering authority, yet it was all fluffy, abrupt, and comical.

The howling of the cold wind seemed to pause for a moment.

The star core is still somewhere, and the aura of the star has not disappeared, but it has been forcibly stuffed into a form that poses no threat.

"What do we do now?"

Xing turned to Chen Bai and asked.

"Then of course we'll use this star core to force it out of her body."

Without further hesitation, Chen Bai took out the warm, white horse talisman from his bosom.

The talisman lit up in his palm, but not with a blinding light; rather, it was a gentle, firm, and vibrant purifying power.

The light, like the first rays of dawn, warmly shone on Cocoalia.

The moment the light touched Cocolia's body, it collided violently with the icy power of the star core.

Amidst the hissing sound, white mist rose.

The dark energy of the star core struggled and twisted like a living creature, trying to take deeper root in the host's body, while the light of the horse talisman, like the most skillful hand, accurately grasped the external corrosive force and began to peel it away.

Cocolia let out a painful meow, her body trembling violently.

The ice crystals shattered and peeled off her body, only to be reduced to nothingness by the light of the talisman.

The process was slow and agonizing, with Danheng and his companions watching intently, ready to respond to any unexpected events.

Finally, with a heart-wrenching tearing sound, an irregular dark energy body—the Star Core—containing coldness, chaos, and endless whispers, was forcibly pulled from Cocolia's chest and then suspended in mid-air.

The moment the power was drained, Cocolia slumped forward, but didn't fall. Instead, she was caught by Bronya, who reacted extremely quickly.

"Mother...that's wonderful."

Bronya was in tears.

But Chen Bai pulled Bronya back immediately: "Watch out! The star core is still there!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a sudden change occurred!

The dark red energy in the star core did not completely disappear; instead, it burst forth in all directions as if it had come to life.

Like thirsty roots, they frantically sucked up the ancient, chilling poison hidden in the permafrost beneath Beloborg, as well as the long-frozen, scattered remains of the antimatter legions across the battlefield.

"Watch out! It's reassembling!" Dan Heng shouted sharply, his Cloud-Striking Spear already held horizontally in front of him.

The next second, a tooth-grinding crunch and the sound of metal twisting filled the air. Snow, ice shards, and even the frozen soil buried deep underground were violently ripped up by an invisible force, mixing and tangling with the metal limbs and broken shells of the antimatter phantom.

Countless remnants, drawn by the dark red energy, were being kneaded and condensed at high speed, as if by an invisible giant hand.

In just a few breaths, a humanoid creation stood erect amidst the stench of blood.

Its entire body presents a sickly pale and metallic coldness, its trunk is composed of ice and frozen soil, and several guardian spears formed from ice emit a chilling light.

The mother of falsehood!

It seems the Star Core is about to make its move!

"Outsiders... I underestimated you."

The swirling icy storm at the head of the Mother of Illusion suddenly intensified, the sound of metal rubbing and wind and snow howling, carrying boundless rage, resounding throughout the entire space.

"You dared to sever my connection with Cocolia, but today, you will be utterly wiped out along with this dying planet!"

"You talk too much nonsense!"

Xingmei's angry shout interrupted the chilling announcement.

Her eyes showed no fear, but rather a burning fighting spirit, as she gripped the seemingly ordinary baseball bat tightly in both hands.

With a powerful leap, she charged towards the colossal creature with a ferocity akin to a street brawl.

Her petite figure stood in stark contrast to the twisted frost giant, but her reckless, "unscrupulous girl" demeanor defiantly set the stage for the final battle.

"I'll beat you back to your knees!"

boom--!