Today, they too are going to their deaths.

The Sealing Point of the Imaginary Demon.

Gottlieb, having transferred his consciousness to the mechanical body, looked down at the trembling, imaginary demon hiding in the corner, too afraid to face the creator.

He was not satisfied with the cowardice of the imagined demon. In his original conception, even with the introduction of many other concepts to define the demon itself, the demon was still the demon, which was necessarily elegant, arrogant, and deadly, maintaining its proper demeanor under all circumstances.

As someone he personally nurtured, who grew up absorbing countless inspirations and dreams, and possesses superhuman intelligence and talent, the Imaginary Demon should have a kind of rational madness.

Even though he was dissatisfied, Gottlieb still chose to tell the imaginary demon what was happening.

"I have successfully replicated the spell of consciousness transfer and replaced the puppet body in the traditional spell with a steel body whose performance far surpasses that of the human body."

"My star pupil used my body to perform the first personality upload. She was unsuccessful, but it was still a first step and she gained some experience."

"I originally planned to guide Duke Sari to lure the Master Analyzer and use him to teach the Master Analyzer a lesson, but Duke Sari was intercepted. However, the Master Analyzer still managed to grasp the key to the Serpent Cult's magic on its own. The Serpent's Secret Art is indeed as I thought, with an exceptionally high compatibility with mechanical life forms."

"To some extent, this trial also confirmed the current personality state of the main analysis machine and foreshadowed a low-intensity disaster of mechanical intelligence going out of control."

"The evacuation drill was successfully completed. No problems occurred during the evacuation, and all facilities were functioning normally."

"The test on Cui Xun was very successful; I obtained far more information than I expected."

"The Children of the Earth have been activated in an unexpected way, and those underground alien races will probably not let this go easily. The resident superhumans who believe I have betrayed the kingdom are calling on their respective backers, and those hidden agents have also revealed their identities because of this incident."

The imaginary demon stopped trembling, curled up into a ball, and tried to blend into the background.

Even a non-human being like it, which has never left the Royal Academy of Sciences, knows that when someone suddenly starts telling you secrets, it most likely means that he is about to kill you to cover it up.

It wanted to escape, but faced with Gottlieb, who knew everything about it, it could do nothing.

Gottlieb reassured it instead: "Don't worry, what I'm saying is very simple, and any person of sound mind could arrive at the same conclusion in hindsight. The truly fatal intelligence, I haven't told you."

The daydreaming demon was speechless. It wanted to ask Gottlieb, "Did you come here just to make fun of me? You startled me, and now I have to thank you, right?"

Gottlieb had no interest in guessing what the fantasy demon was thinking; he simply continued explaining what it was about to do: "So, next up is your test."

"For a long time, I have been on guard against you as a demon, and have done everything I could to oppress you. I understand that this has limited your growth, and your current loss of control may be the result of my long-term torment."

"When I was president of the Royal Society, I didn't like certain overly risky choices in order to ensure everything ran smoothly."

"A demon is a demon. The demons that are ravaged in those stories are only prevented from creating boundless evil because there are more powerful beings suppressing them."

"Perhaps in a few hundred years, the concept of evil will be completely dismantled, and individuals with inherently good nature will emerge, but I understand that you are not one of them."

"Now that I am about to relinquish my identity and am no longer the dean, I am not afraid to do some risky things."

"Then seize this last chance and do what you want. The contract ends here. Take this artificial soul and proudly declare that you have completed the first transaction of your life!"

What might be called a soul was thrown by Gottlieb into the realm of fantasy demons.

If ordinary souls are food, then this artificial soul is like thoroughly rusted iron to the imaginary demon. It is hard, bitter, and unable to provide normal nutrition, but the demon can barely swallow it to satisfy its seemingly endless hunger.

The constraints imposed by contracts disintegrate completely upon the completion of the contracts.

The fantasy demon stretched its body and was pleasantly surprised to find itself freed from the shackles of matter. It roamed freely like a wisp of smoke, even escaping right in front of Gottlieb.

Then, it was driven back by the spirituality of the main analytical machine.

The ragged demon lay back down in the corner, utterly dejected and in a terrible mental state.

It complained to Gottlieb, "You haven't liberated me at all. The Royal Academy is full of spiritual beings. If I dare to escape, I will be burned. The main analysis machine is also wary of any unexpected things."

Gottlieb remained unmoved, coldly replying, "I gave you freedom, but you'll have to fight for your own next freedom. A demon who doesn't deserve to live doesn't care if he dies."

Having said that, he leaped out of the Demonic Illusion Sealing Point and plummeted deeper into the void.

The fantasy demon climbed to the edge of its sealed point, looked up at the road leading to the Royal Academy of Sciences, and then looked down at the bottomless abyss.

Above lies the world of humanity. Humans are mostly weak, but as long as the central analysis machine doesn't divert its attention, this path leading to humanity is a dead end.

Below, according to the Royal Academy of Sciences' speculation, the endpoint has already passed through the world of the underground alien races, reaching the area covered by the ice ages, which is full of unknown dangers.

Compared to known risks, the delusional devil prefers unknown risks and taking a gamble.

It jumped down.

After a few seconds of being pulled by gravity, it suddenly saw Cui Xun running downwards on his legs, defying the laws of physics.

Each step he took left a deep footprint on the rock face, so much so that his speed was several times faster than the pull of gravity. In the blink of an eye, he transformed from a small black dot in the distance into a vaguely visible human figure, and even continued to become clearer.

The fantasy demon wanted to scream; it didn't want to make direct contact with this monster that had once broken its special abilities, but the fear of being approached by the monster made it afraid to utter a sound.

Suddenly, it heard a screeching sound as the giant object scraped against the rock wall.

Its gaze shifted slightly, looking at the giant snake behind Cui Xun that almost blended into the background.

What a strange and enormous snake it was! Its head was nearly ten meters high and its body was probably over five hundred meters long. When it coiled up and fell, it almost blocked the giant hole.

The daydreaming demon was momentarily at a loss for whether to laugh or cry.

Even someone as powerful as Cui Xun would eventually back down in the face of something even more terrifying, and act as if he were "fleeing"...?

The fantasy demon looked closely and was surprised to find that the giant snake was not chasing Cui Xun, but was trying to stretch its body and use the strength of the rock wall to resist Cui Xun's pull. However, even if it tried its best, it could not resist Cui Xun's strength due to its serious injuries.

Terrifying demonic flames burned in three places: its left eye socket, its middle section, and its tail, bringing it prolonged and unbearable pain. Meanwhile, blood of an eerie color dripped continuously from the long wounds covering its entire body.

This is no giant snake that dares to chase Cui Xun; it's a terrified beast whose spine has been broken!

But it cannot escape, just like a figment of imagination.

The fantasy demon and Cui Xun locked eyes.

That sharp, sword-like gaze pierced the mind of the fantasy demon, bringing it a bizarre pain.

They will be killed, their hands and feet will be broken, they will be bound forever, and there will be no chance of escape.

A terrifying future surfaced in the mind of the imaginary demon, causing it to break free from the rigidity brought about by its previous instinctive fear and begin to struggle with all its might.

The demon's body twisted and deformed, transforming into the fastest iron bird in its memory, with a turbine-shaped jet engine appearing behind it.

With just a few moments of warm-up, its speed will accelerate to a point that surpasses the speed of sound!

But before that, Cui Xun took out the Light and Shadow he had just acquired and fired at the Imaginary Demon continuously.

The Imaginary Demon is difficult to deal with; without targeted power, it is impossible to harm it.

Demons were guarded against and oppressed to the point of extinction precisely because they were so powerful that people needed to be absolutely prepared. Even the slightest flaw could be exploited by demons to breach consciousness and obliterate the soul.

The perception and actions of the General Analytical Engine are highly dependent on spirituality. It also possesses inhuman spiritual reserves due to its vast knowledge reserves. Every action is accompanied by a powerful and massive spiritual torrent, which encircles and suppresses the demons of fantasy from a spiritual level.

Cui Xun, on the other hand, possesses a willpower strong enough to shake the rules of physics and even overturn the very existence of demons. For a fantastical demon that has lost the protection of its contract, this power can fundamentally negate its existence; touching it is tantamount to certain death.

Even if one is not in a state of high morale and one's willpower is severely limited, the last bit of willpower attached to the bullet is still the devil's natural enemy.

The fantasy demon immediately abandoned its physical form and turned into smoke, trying to evade Cui Xun's attack in this way.

But the next second, it felt the force that kept its parts connected and ensured its integrity in the smoke-like state was severely damaged.

The atomized substance, which should have been immune to bullet attacks, felt a tearing pain in its spirit.

The fantasy demon couldn't help but let out a scream.

But there isn't just one bullet.

The sounds of light and shadow clashing like the clear notes of a piano, composing a dramatic and undulating melody.

Listening to such music from the audience would surely be a wonderful experience. But to directly experience its rhythm with one's body would be an inhuman torment.

The mind of the fantasy demon was consumed by pain; it was almost unable to think, and even unaware that Cui Xun was approaching.

It wasn't until Cui Xun's arm grasped the scattered mist and forcefully reformed it into human form that the Fantasy Demon came to its senses.

Faced with Cui Xun's unyielding grip, the daydreaming demon put on a fawning expression: "Hello, Mr. Cui Xun, please feel free to ask me anything."

Cui Xun asked, puzzled, "If you don't seem hostile, then why are you running away?"

Just now, Cui Xun had to use force to persuade Duke Sari, who was unwilling to reveal his true form and go down into the giant cave with him.

It was just a matter of going down into a cave, but Duke Sari refused desperately, even going so far as to reveal his true form and confront Cui Xun head-on.

Duke Sari usually appears as the remains of a puppet he created; his true form is a giant serpent that can split into many smaller snakes and hide in other substances—his most prized secret technique.

After entering the Royal Academy of Sciences, his true form remained in a fragmented state, hidden in the floor, pipes, and various facilities, which even Cui Xun failed to discover. In fact, even now, Cui Xun did not believe that this giant snake was the complete Duke of Sari.

Duke Sari's ability to keep secrets and hide is absolutely first-rate. As for his ability to fight head-on? Just as Doreen said, Duke Sari is not good at dealing with fire. Explosives that are enough to blow the manor up would severely damage it. On the other hand, Cui Xun, who has drawn the demon sword Melia Duke, can summon demonic flames that will ignite the city.

Thus, Duke Sari, who had revealed part of his true form, was ravaged by Cui Xun, but still had no choice but to go down into the cave with him.

Cui Xun had no liking for the fantasy demon, but as long as it didn't do anything too outrageous, Cui Xun would only try to keep an eye on it. It was only because it desperately tried to escape that Cui Xun had no choice but to take action and catch it.

The delusional demon, faced with the bewildered Cui Xun, had no words to express his suffering.

Who wouldn't flee when watched by such a powerful figure? Even Gottlieb would likely be unable to resist.

Yes, where's Gottlieb?

The delusional devil didn't waste a moment and decisively betrayed Gottlieb.

"I just encountered Gottlieb, who fulfilled his contract with me, set me free, and then fell down."

Cui Xun looked down.

Theoretically, he should be able to see directly the self-replicating machines deep underground, performing their drilling missions.

The reality is that even though his eyes can easily see through the darkness and even see in the dark, he still can't see what the bottom of the giant hole looks like, as if it were in another space.

Did Gottliet set a trap to move people to other places, or was it simply that going too deep into the earth would lead to unusual phenomena?

Cui Xun suggested to the Imaginary Demon, "Since you're willing to share this information with me directly, I'll assume you didn't take the opportunity to ally with Gottlieb earlier. In that case, you and I can barely be considered natural allies."

"It's inconvenient for me to directly rush into the other dimension, so I'll trouble you to go down a bit first and scout it out for me."

The imaginary demon knew that his path to liberation was fraught with difficulties, so he scouted out dangers for Cui Xun. Compared to facing Cui Xun directly, this was already considered safe.

It nodded.

The next second, Cui Xun grabbed it and then used all his strength to throw it downwards.