Six Hundred Eighty-Fifth Chapter: Mechanical Intelligence
Inside the enormous mountain body, a castle could be accommodated. In the dim and vast space within the mountain, the owner of the castle and the mountain, Gold Stone Demon Fredrico, was continuing to chase after the thief who dared to steal his possessions, using ruthless and relentless methods.
Facing the thief still fleeing within his castle, Fredrico unhesitatingly unleashed various elemental attacks to bombard the intruder. However, the opponent relied on their mysterious abilities and agile movements, never truly being hit and losing their mobility. Confronting this slippery adversary, Fredrico began to feel somewhat impatient.
“You won’t be able to hide anymore!”
As he spoke, Fredrico spread his wings and flew downward. At the edge of a tall tower, he raised his stone hammer and smashed it against the tower’s edge with force. With the assistance and amplification of the stone warhammer, Fredrico released his reversed ability throughout the entire castle, instantly concealing it. The majestic structures inside the cavern vanished completely in an instant.
In an instant, the interior of the massive cave became incredibly spacious. After the castle disappeared, the thief, now completely exposed without any cover, was fully revealed to Fredrico. Without hesitation, Fredrico flapped his wings, preparing to release a wide-range ice storm that would freeze the ground and immobilize the thief below.
“Old man, watch out!”
At that moment, a familiar voice came from afar. Upon hearing this voice, Fredrico immediately turned his head towards the source of the sound, only to see a sizable fireball flying at high speed directly towards his face, exploding with a flash of light and a roar.
After the explosion, Fredrico’s undamaged face reappeared amidst the flames. He angrily looked in the direction where the fireball had come from and saw his subordinate Henri flying there, glaring viciously at him.
“What are you doing, Henri?!”
“Teaching you a lesson, old man!”
“Hand over all your treasures!”
Fredrico did not receive a response from the distant Henri but instead from two other figures swiftly approaching him from both sides. They were Dock and Craven, who were now wielding claws heated to red-hot and rushing at Fredrico at high speed. Seeing this, Fredrico was momentarily stunned before quickly returning to combat mode and retaliating fiercely.
“Are you all rebelling against me?!”
Though Fredrico was puzzled as to why his subordinates suddenly turned against him after fighting alongside the thief’s accomplice, he did not hold back his retaliation. Fredrico directly blocked Craven and Dock’s scorching claw strikes with his body, then swung his stone warhammer to send them flying. The two were struck back and joined Henri in attacking Fredrico mid-air.
Fredrico engaged in a fierce battle with his three subordinates. Since all four were extraordinary beings specializing in “Stone,” the situation was quite intense for a while.
Henri’s trio, under Adele’s influence, had become slaves to desire, acting like puppets venting their anger only towards specific targets. Adele, having received her teacher’s spiritual legacy and performed the Dance for the Deity in the Palace of the Goddess, had significantly enhanced her ability, though it was still not at the full Red Rank strength. It surpassed what ordinary chalk could match.
Adele controlled her desire manipulation as the main ability, complemented by Dorothy’s hypnotic affinity, guiding Fredrico’s attacks through a magic hat, successfully redirecting the trio’s hatred towards their master. At this time, she was observing the battles of the gargoyles in the large shadow area at the bottom of the cave, continuously exerting her influence.
Henri’s trio continuously attacked Fredrico with various elemental assaults without pause. However, neither elemental nor physical attacks left a mark on Fredrico’s metallic body, making it impossible to break through his defenses. Conversely, Fredrico’s counterattacks against Henri’s trio were also ineffective, unable to defeat them immediately. The four were locked in a stalemate.
Although Gold Stone Demon solved gargoyles slower than other Red Ranks handled chalk, it wasn’t much slower. Gargoyles absorbed elemental forces at a certain ratio; not all elemental attacks were fully absorbed, and the damage from the non-absorbed parts had to be taken. Due to these damages often being too small to harm the gargoyle’s skin, they appeared immune to elemental attacks.
However, the elemental attacks created by Gold Stone Demon were too powerful. Even if gargoyles absorbed part of the attack, the remaining portion was too much for them to handle, similar to how the outer layer of Henri and company’s skin melted when hit by Fredrico’s heat rays. The three of them together couldn’t withstand several attacks from Gold Stone Demon. Fredrico couldn’t resolve his three rebellious subordinates quickly because he noticed something wrong with his attacks.
Whether it was heat rays or fireballs, ice spears or air cannons, Fredrico found his aim inexplicably deviating. Attacks that should have hit went astray. During his fight with his subordinates, Fredrico’s accuracy was unusually low. He felt himself becoming slightly disoriented whenever he initiated an attack, his attention waning. Originally aiming in one direction, he inexplicably wanted to aim elsewhere.
Mind interference! Fredrico immediately realized his mind must have been affected, causing so many attacks to go awry. Sensing the abnormal deviation of his attacks and considering the frenzied behavior of his subordinates, he quickly formed a hypothesis.
“Bourbon… Could there actually be Bourbon remnants involved?”
As the last prime minister of the Bourbon Dynasty, Fredrico naturally knew about the manifestations of the Extraordinary Ability of the Path of Desire. He immediately concluded that he and his subordinates must have been influenced by this ability! The thief’s accomplice he had just fought was actually a Bourbon remnant! Thief K might not only be connected to the Judge of Heaven Church but also to the Bourbon Royalists!
“Hmph… Truly unexpected. After more than a hundred years, almost a reincarnation of Shar’s desire has appeared.”
After clarifying the hidden force manipulating the battlefield, Fredrico coldly sighed and immediately took targeted measures.
Fredrico opened his mouth and spat out a metal pendant. The pendant was grayish-yellow, made of some kind of metal, and its shape was a complex geometric structure interlocking with each other.
After spitting out the pendant, Fredrico removed the chain and slammed the geometric pendant onto his head, embedding it firmly into a slot. With a faint glow, the pendant deeply embedded itself into Fredrico’s head, protected by armor. Afterward, Fredrico became silent, his obsidian eyes completely devoid of color.
Fredrico hovered motionlessly, while Henri’s trio continued their relentless attacks. Craven swung his red-hot claws at him.
Originally hovering, Fredrico moved again after enduring the attack. He grabbed Craven’s claw and shot a searing heat ray from his eyes, instantly cutting off Craven’s attacking arm. Craven retreated in pain.
But Fredrico didn’t intend to let Craven off. He charged forward, grabbing Craven’s shoulders and spraying heat rays from his eyes at close range. Fredrico’s heat rays burned Craven’s face continuously. In unbearable agony, Craven screamed and struggled, but it was futile. Within seconds, Craven’s petrified skin melted, and a large hole was burned through his head.
While Fredrico dealt with Craven, nearby Henri and Dock continuously used elemental attacks to try to rescue their comrade, but they couldn’t budge Fredrico at all. After killing Craven, Fredrico threw the corpse aside and swiftly turned to the remaining two, ready to clean up the mess.
Withstanding various attacks, Fredrico first rushed to Dock, pressing his claw against Dock’s chest and reversing his ability to make Dock’s petrified skin disappear, exposing a large amount of fresh flesh. Before Dock could scream, Fredrico burned away the flesh with a flame, leaving only a burning corpse that fell lifelessly. Seeing his comrade dead, Henri, driven by desire, fled toward the distance.
Chasing Henri, Fredrico pursued from behind, shooting chilling breaths at him. Precise and concentrated cold air soon froze Henri in mid-air, turning him into an ice block that plummeted rapidly. Fredrico ceased the wind beneath him, raising his huge warhammer and smashing it down with his own weight.
“Boom!!”
Upon impact, Fredrico’s warhammer struck Henri’s icy body, creating a large pit and numerous cracks in the ground. Henri, along with his ice encasement, shattered into pieces. Gold Stone Demon’s eyes, filled with cold indifference, showed no emotion.
In a short time, Fredrico successfully killed his three subordinates. Unlike the previous drawn-out struggle, he acted decisively and ruthlessly, with no missed attacks. This was markedly different from when he was influenced by the Desire Dancer’s mental effects.
Fredrico’s change was due to the pendant he had used earlier, which helped him overcome mental interference.
“Mechanical Intelligence,” this was the correct name of the pendant. It was an extraordinary item that mechanized the user’s mental processes, turning them into precise machines.
The Mechanical Intelligence contained a highly precise and compact mechanical system storing a rigid yet efficient behavioral logic. Once connected, the user’s original consciousness was overridden, and the body was controlled entirely by the Mechanical Intelligence. As long as the Mechanical Intelligence received target commands, it could drive the body to execute various orders.
Fredrico’s actions were completed under the control of the Mechanical Intelligence, precise and unaffected by the mental interference of other extraordinary beings. Originally crafted by the White Stone Craftsmen Guild to provide high-ranking extraordinary beings with protection against mental abilities or poison recognition, the Mechanical Intelligence had spread beyond the guild due to various extraordinary transactions and internal technology leaks. Notably, it was also present among the upper echelons of other major organizations like the Dark Gold Society.
Currently, Fredrico’s command to the Mechanical Intelligence was, “Eliminate all interference factors, capture or k*ll all intruders, and retrieve the Light of Maria crystal.” After eliminating his three subordinates, the Mechanical Intelligence would proceed to the next stage: capturing or killing the intruders and retrieving the crystal.
However, this task was far from easy for Fredrico at the moment. Due to Henri’s trio’s disruption, the thief had disappeared into the vast darkness of the mountain cave. Since the cave was completely sealed off with no external exit, Fredrico, relying on his mechanical thinking, believed the intruder was still within the cave, hiding. Without the “Lamp” extraordinary ability, he found it difficult to locate the intruder immediately.
In this dark mountain space, the enemy had a powerful “Shadow” extraordinary being, Bourbon remnants, and unknown allies. Using conventional means to deal with them would be challenging. Therefore, Fredrico swiftly made a decisive decision, one that left no room for retreat.
Holding the massive stone warhammer, Fredrico flew upward at high speed, reaching the top of the vast cave. Then, he violently smashed down on an ancient magical array there. With the impact of the warhammer, an invisible force instantly spread throughout the mountain.
Triggered by Fredrico’s strike, numerous other extraordinary nodes within the mountain were activated. Under the operation of the originally designed “Stone” extraordinary system, the entire mountain began to shake violently, emitting loud roars. Both the exterior and interior caves of the mountain cracked open, and with the intense tremors, the ceiling of the cave started collapsing, sending countless rocks falling.
Knowing the enemy was tough to handle, Fredrico activated the ultimate defense mechanism of his base, collapsing the entire mountain to bury everyone, including himself, under tons of rock, turning the mountain into a tomb for all enemies! The collapsed mountain would become his absolute battlefield!
…
“Aah… What a commotion. That guy is getting impatient and smashing things.”
In the collapsing giant cave, Adele, dodging falling rocks, said to the flying Dorothy beside her, to which Dorothy responded calmly.
“Your statement is slightly incorrect. The guy’s current state doesn’t include ‘impatience.’ He’s simply making a decisive move based on the current situation. Indeed, he can no longer afford to engage us conventionally and must resort to drastic measures.”
Dorothy, wearing a long cloak, spoke calmly while deflecting falling debris with floating metal around her.
“No impatience? Mechanical Intelligence… What a fascinating device. For someone like me, it’s quite restrictive.”
Adele said, and Dorothy continued.
“Yes, but his current state… is exactly what we want. We’ve almost finished our tussle with him, everything is ready, and it’s time for the final resolution… By the way, did you remember to bring the item?”
“How could I forget?” Adele replied, pulling out a glossy object. Upon closer inspection, it was an irregular golden artifact, a fake base used to deceive the Dark Gold Society! When Fredrico discovered the deception, he angrily tossed it into the hall.
“I retrieved it from the start, but we need to go outside to use it. Can we get out now?” Adele asked Dorothy, who responded lightly.
“Don’t worry. I’ve prepared for this. To avoid suspicion, I kept it until now…”
Dorothy replied while taking out a beautifully intricate hollow ball from her cloak.
“We’ll be able to settle things with the prime minister soon…”
