Chapter 385: Deadline

Chapter 385: The Final Deadline

From Yu Qian, Chen Jian obtained the latest intelligence on Wanzhou City.

The corrupted Mechanical Cult, the bishop who has broken away from the Mechanical Cathedral, and the audacious “Guardian Army” that launched an assault on the Imperial Guard.

And, of course, their now‑mutated faiths.

They worship machines, yet they are no longer satisfied with merely “controlling machines.”

They are striving to merge with the machines, even attempting

to become machines themselves.

Chen Jian excised the detailed intel from his smart visor.

Truth be told, the photos and videos Yu Qian sent back filled him with a profound unease.

That unease differed entirely from the revulsion of seeing mangled limbs on a battlefield.

In a high‑intensity war, the fiercer the clash, the clearer the line between life and death.

Between life and death lies only a thin wall; step over it and you are gone, stay behind it and you survive.

Death itself becomes an abstract notion, incapable of stirring any emotional shock.

But.

In those videos, the boundary between life and death is blurred.

Chen Jian could not tell whether those people nailed to decaying exoskeletons were still alive or already dead.

But that mattered not.

For their flesh and blood were, in themselves, a sacrifice.

Neither death nor life brought any change.

He exhaled heavily and turned to He Shuo beside him, saying:

“​The collapse of the Mechanical Cult is even faster than we imagined—saying that is inaccurate.”

“To be precise, our understanding of the Mechanical Cult is shallower than we thought.”

“Now I can somewhat grasp why Zhang Tao pursued such radical reforms.”

“He has probably already uncovered some… clues.”

“Yet he cannot reveal those clues to us.”

“In his eyes, we are no different from flies.”

“If we were to discover the rotting wound, hiss.”

He shook his head at that.

Behind his helmet, his expression was indistinct.

But He Shuo understood his meaning instantly.

“If we had foreseen the decline and collapse of the Mechanical Cult, I feel our first target would not be the mountain city, but the Cult itself.”

“Right?”

“Wrong.”

Chen Jian left the makeshift command room and sat beside a crude concrete bunker.

“To be exact, our target is not the Mechanical Cult.”

“It is the cities it has seized, one after another.”

“Our greatest concern is the Cult’s deep‑rooted influence, its formidable grip on thought.”

“But now it seems that concern was… overly cautious.”

“When a god loses its power, its divine authority crumbles of its own accord.”

“And now the last clay effigy symbolizing that authority has been shattered.”

“It is time… to begin the harvest.”

He Shuo straightened his posture.

Instinctively, he clenched his fists.

After a brief pause, he asked, “Where do we begin?”

“Nanjing.”

Chen Jian replied, “It can only be Nanjing.”

“The more the core is damaged, the more the nerves decay.”

“Moreover, the interwoven routes are not far in breadth or depth.”

“Previously they had already charted a relatively mature path.”

“Now that path can be put to use.”

On the other side, within Wanzhou City.

Yu Qian stared silently at the intelligence displayed on his PDA, his gaze tangled with complexity.

In truth, he had long anticipated that one day he would receive such an order.

Yet he never expected the command to arrive so swiftly.

It came so fast that he could not even react.

It came so fast that he did not know what attitude to adopt in facing it.

Turning off the PDA’s screen, Yu Qian stepped out of the temporary command post set up outside the Mechanical Cult’s cathedral.

At that moment, the wasteland’s sky was a blanket of darkness.

Wanzhou City, freshly scarred by artillery, lay in a deeper, death‑stilled hush; only the distant infirmary occasionally emitted a moan— to Yu Qian, that sound resembled the low, ghostly howl of a specter.

Many had already perished on this day.

And in the days to come, countless more might still fall.

He felt powerless to stop it.

For the power to decide did not rest in his hands.

—

Indeed, it did not rest on his side at all.

The true arbiters of fate are those who have yet to know what plight awaits them.

Yu Qian watched the flickering silhouettes in the infirmary’s light in silence— for a long stretch he had not understood why the commanders always made the infirmary the brightest spot in the camp.

A faint trace of his former, petty‑minded self‑interest, the one he held when he was still an “ordinary person,” lingered in his heart.

He always felt that, after all, the infirmary was filled with people who were dying or on the brink of death.

If that were so, why waste precious electricity on them?

It seemed a poor bargain.

Yet now, a faint insight began to stir within him.

That light was never meant for the dead.

It was meant for the living.

Should a combat‑ready soldier gaze upon a moribund, despair‑laden infirmary, the morale of the whole unit would be all but shattered.

Therefore the infirmary must be lit.

And precisely because it shines brightly, its purpose becomes unmistakable.

The tasks that follow

will proceed with greater ease.

Yu Qian summoned the volunteer company’s adjutant who had trailed him all the way, whispered a few instructions, then stepped into the infirmary.

Under a light so bright it bordered on blinding, Guo Xu clutched a dagger, laboriously scraping the burrs from the lining of his armor.

He looked up at Yu Qian, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

“Still awake?”

“Nothing urgent on my end; I’m listening to you. The doctor said I need to keep observing.”

“If the wound shows no acute infection by the middle of the night? That’s what you mean, right?”

“If there are no signs of acute infection, I can go back.”

“So, what does your commander say?”

“Did you inform them of the situation in Wanzhou City?”

“I did.”

Yu Qian nodded.

He took a seat beside Guo Xu.

Then, meeting Guo Xu’s eyes, he posed a blunt question.

“Do you think the Mechanical Cult still has any right to exist?”

Guo Xu’s hand froze mid‑motion.

He slowly set the armor lining aside, laying the dagger across his knee.

“Is that your decision?”

“No.”

Yu Qian shook his head.

“It’s your decision.”

“You have one night to decide.”

“Because Jinling will change hands tonight.”

“Tomorrow at eight in the morning is the final deadline.”

“If your choice diverges from the one we desire, we will strip you of your arms.”

Guo Xu stared into Yu Qian’s eyes.

He spoke:

“Do you intend to eradicate the Mechanical Cult, or the faith in the Holy Trinity?”

“Both.”

Yu Qian answered without hesitation.

Yet he added, almost immediately,

“This matter is not without room for maneuver.”

“In truth, the greatest obstacle lies within yourself.”

“I want you to see this clearly.”

“Even if you ultimately choose resistance, with your current cohesion only a handful will survive.”

“And your deaths will be utterly meaningless.”

(End of Chapter)