Samsara Space: They're all begging me to heal them one more time.

Underground, fifty meters deep.

The air here is hot and murky, and the surrounding rock walls still bear the claw marks left by the tank bugs when they dug.

"Watch out, there's something ahead."

As soon as they landed, Lin Qingyue, who was walking at the front, suddenly narrowed her eyes and held the demon sword horizontally in front of her. "There's killing intent."

"Sizzle—"

Before anyone could react, four hidden automatic sentry machine gun turrets suddenly flipped open from the rock walls on both sides of the tunnel. Red laser sights instantly wove together into a deadly web in the narrow space, locking onto the intruder's brow.

"Da da da da da da—!!!"

Flames spewed out. Without a word, a metal storm instantly engulfed the entire entrance to the passage.

"Qiang! Shield!"

Zhang Yuan reacted extremely quickly, pinning Tao Tao behind him. Meanwhile, Huang Mao A Qiang roared, not using his physical body to withstand the attack, but instead using his exoskeleton's powered arms to lift a massive concrete rubble to use as cover.

"Clang clang clang—"

Debris flew everywhere, sparks flew. The people trapped behind the cover couldn't even lift their heads.

"Welcome to my slaughterhouse."

A hoarse, electronically synthesized voice, accompanied by the heavy creaking of hydraulic pistons, came from above everyone's heads.

Everyone looked up in shock.

Above the tunnel's dome, a giant steel spider was hanging upside down.

[Opponent Faction Reincarnator: Engineer]

[Status: Mechanical Ascension (45% Modification) · Six-Legged Spider Form]

The man retained only his upper body as a human; his lower body was completely embedded in the highly mobile spider-like mech. Six sharp mechanical legs were deeply embedded in the rock wall, allowing him to move effortlessly across vertical walls and ceilings.

His left arm was a six-barreled Vulcan cannon that was being preheated, his right arm was a huge hydraulic pliers, and the missile pod on his back had been opened, revealing menacing miniature tracking missiles.

"Is this what gives you your confidence? A nanny with a fire poker and a big, dumb dummy who can only spray bullets?"

The engineer hung upside down in the air, his electronic prosthetic eyes flashing red—the light of data analysis.

"Fire traverse calculation complete. Fire coverage: 100%."

"Die!"

"Whoosh whoosh-"

Six miniature missiles, trailing flames and whistling, traced eerie arcs, bypassing A-Qiang's cover and heading straight for Zhang Yuan and Tao Tao in the back row!

This is the fighting style of seasoned veterans—using terrain, technology, and information asymmetry to carry out one-sided slaughter.

"A trivial skill."

Facing the incoming missile, Zhang Yuan remained calm, slamming the cross in his hand heavily to the ground.

【Holy Light Protection (Lv.1)】!

A golden shield rose out of thin air, forcefully blocking the shockwave from the missile's explosion.

"Lin Qingyue! Forget about that Iron Spider! Go take down the tower!" Zhang Yuan calmly ordered amidst the roar of the explosion. "His mobility is too high; A-Qiang can't lock him down. Pull out his teeth first!"

"clear!"

A dark shadow shot out from the light shield.

Lin Qingyue brought her movement skills to the extreme; she was like a black swift, weaving through the gaps in the dense hail of bullets.

The demon sword, blessed with [Weapon Blessing], is incomparably sharp.

"Crack!" The first sentry gun was cut in half.

"Boom!" The power supply line to the second tower was cut off.

"Damn bugs!" The engineer roared in fury, maneuvering the spider mech rapidly across the ceiling, while the Vulcan cannon turned and fired at Lin Qingyue. "You think you can outrun bullets?!"

He moved with the agility of a monkey on the ceiling, and the blond Gatling gun couldn't keep up with his speed at all, its bullets hitting empty air.

"Qiang, don't chase his shadow!"

Zhang Yuan saw through the situation. "Tao Tao! Block the road!"

"Where...where should we seal off?"

"The ceiling! Where he's going to land!" Zhang Yuan pointed to the path the engineer was moving along. "Stick him up there!"

"Yes! Go, slime!"

Although Tao Tao was terrified, her skills became increasingly proficient. She swung the Codex, and a dozen or so green slimes blasted towards the top of the tunnel like mortars.

"Splat—"

The engineer was preparing to evade A-Qiang's anticipated shot by jumping and changing direction. Just as one of his mechanical feet pierced the rock wall, he felt something was wrong.

The green slime exhibited astonishing viscosity the moment it was pierced.

"What the hell is that?!"

The engineer instinctively tried to move the mechanical leg, but found it was as if it were welded to the rock and wouldn't budge.

The non-Newtonian fluid properties explode – the more you struggle, the tighter it sticks!

It wasn't just one foot. As he struggled frantically, his remaining mechanical feet also sank into the surrounding slime traps.

In a mere two seconds, this highly maneuverable spider mech was like a fly stuck in superglue, pinned firmly to the ceiling!

"It won't move?! Damn it! Pull it out!!" The engineer's engine roared in overload, but it was futile in the face of the laws of physics.

"Now! Ah Qiang!"

Zhang Yuan pointed to the metal lump that had turned him into a stationary target, "No need for prediction anymore. You know how to shoot at a moving target, right?"

"Die, you bastard!!!"

Huang Mao A-Qiang, who had been poised to attack, suddenly unleashed a fanatical and ferocious glint in his eyes. He stopped firing blindly and instead locked his gaze firmly on the immobilized enemy.

[Revenge of Light] + [Weapon Blessing] + [Depleted Uranium Armor-Piercing Rounds]!

Family bucket meal, let's get started!

"Thump thump thump thump—!!!"

The dull, heavy thud of the hammer striking the ground rang out once more.

This time, the engineer had no way to avoid it. He could only activate the mech's [Deflection Field Shield] to take the hit head-on.

"It's useless! My force field can deflect any kinetic weapon..."

The engineer's roar was interrupted by the sound of metal tearing apart.

That was the sound of the depleted uranium core undergoing a self-sharpening effect under extremely high pressure. The moment that pale blue energy shield came into contact with the depleted uranium bullet, which was enveloped in divine light, it was like a thin membrane being pierced by a red-hot iron rod—instantly overloaded and shattered!

"Puff puff puff puff—"

Without shields and mobility, a mech is nothing but a pile of scrap metal in the face of a barrage of 50 depleted uranium rounds per second.

The thick alloy armor plates were melted through, the precision servo motors were pulverized, and the flesh and blood hidden in the cockpit were turned into a blurry mass of minced meat in the metal storm.

"No—!! I haven't lost yet! I still have…"

"BOOM—!!"

The mech's core miniature reactor was breached, and a dazzling fireball exploded in the center of the tunnel, engulfing the engineer's last words.

[Defeat the enemy faction's vice-captain (engineer) to receive 3000 reward points, 1 C-rank side quest, and 6000 Federation war merits.]

The smoke and dust cleared. All that remained overhead was a pile of scrap metal, still sparking with electricity, teetering on the verge of collapse.

"call……"

Ah Qiang, panting heavily, plopped down on the ground, his Gatling gun still spinning aimlessly. In the previous exchange of fire, his bulletproof vest had been torn apart by stray bullets, and if it weren't for Zhang Yuan's [Slow Healing] keeping him alive, he probably would have been lying on the ground too.

This is true veteran combat. If Zhang Yuan hadn't commanded effectively, using Tao Tao to break the opponent's mobility, that agile spider mech alone could have wiped them all out.

"Is this the strength required to reach the C-level threshold...?" Lin Qingyue sheathed her sword, looking at the pile of scrap metal with a solemn expression.

"That's right. There are no weaknesses in technology, equipment, or awareness."

"Unfortunately, he ran into us."

"A team that's rich, has cheat codes, and doesn't have any martial ethics."

Zhang Yuan's gaze turned to the depths of the tunnel.

There, an even denser purplish-black mist was spreading.

"Be careful." Zhang Yuan put on a gas mask. "This thing isn't something you can inhale. Everyone, put on your gas masks."