Chapter 235: Chosen One Hunt List! Mechanical Race Descends, Iron Men Rebellion

Chapter 235: The Heavenly Pride Hunt List! The Mechanical Race Descends, the Iron Men Rebel!

Just as Qin Feng’s battle intent reignited and he set for himself the grand goal of the “Eternal Singularity,” a communication request suddenly popped up on the virtual light screen before him.

It was Caesar.

With a thought, he accepted the call.

“Qin Feng, how are you now?”

Caesar’s voice came through, carrying a hint of magnetism and arrogance, with the faint glimmer of star chart data streams flickering in the background.

“I’ve emerged from seclusion.”

Qin Feng’s reply was as concise as ever.

“Good.”

Caesar replied with just one word.

The next second, the space within the ice cave suddenly rippled violently.

An interdimensional passage was forcibly opened, and a figure clad in magnificent golden battle armor, with a tall and upright posture, stepped out from within, appearing precisely before Qin Feng.

It was Caesar.

He glanced around the crude cave, which was nothing but ice, and his brow twitched almost imperceptibly, as if surprised by Qin Feng’s choice of seclusion environment, but quickly focused entirely on the matter at hand.

“Qin Feng, the situation has taken a turn that’s somewhat beyond my expectations.”

Caesar’s expression was very serious, a thoughtful and solemn light flickering in his azure eyes.

As the commander of the alliance, he rarely used the word “unexpected,” which was enough to indicate the severity of the issue.

“Before I participated in the Cosmic Genius Tournament, I specifically looked up the public recordings of the previous Cosmic Genius Tournaments from the Empire’s archives.”

Caesar said in a deep voice. “But because the competition time was so long, I only got a rough understanding, but it was enough to draw one conclusion: each Cosmic Genius Tournament might have the same core format, but the specific twists are absolutely different.”

He extended his finger and traced streams of data in the air.

“For example, the point elimination system, the hunting system, and the hidden item system we’re experiencing now—these core frameworks have been in place for four consecutive tournaments.

However, the galaxy environments, venue sizes, time mechanisms, and so on, are completely different each time.

This has led to some errors in my previous judgment of the situation based on the ‘conventional warfare’ model.”

Hearing this, Qin Feng’s gaze also turned serious.

“What do you mean by that?”

Qin Feng asked. “I’ve also come up with some new ideas. Why don’t you share your thoughts first?”

“Alright.”

Caesar nodded, organized his thoughts, and began, “To be honest, those who qualify for the major war zones are all the most outstanding geniuses among the younger generation of various war groups and galaxies.

They are top talents who have fought bloody battles step by step from among billions of warriors. Before… I underestimated the heroes of the world a bit.”

When Caesar said this, his expression was candid.

“Although our progress is the fastest in the entire major war zone, we haven’t achieved an absolute, insurmountable lead.”

“These guys are improving at an extremely fast pace as well.

Moreover, not a few of them made preparations in advance.

According to my intelligence analysis, before the tournament began, at least a hundred people had already prepared eighth-level killing technique inheritances!

Not to mention that some, during the competition, also obtained eighth-level killing technique inheritances from various newly emerged top-tier resource points.”

Caesar’s words made Qin Feng nod slightly in acknowledgment.

He deeply understood this point.

He had obtained the eighth-level killing technique “Cangmang Mountains” from the reward of the betting token.

And if he could have such fortune, other top geniuses could as well. It was just a matter of probability; with a large enough base, the numbers would be significant.

Then, Caesar continued, his tone growing even more serious.

“The most direct reflection of this is the Combat Power Ranking and the Interstellar Alliance Ranking.”

“First, the Individual Combat Power Ranking.”

Caesar brought up a dynamically changing list, with countless names scrolling wildly. “Seventy years ago, you killed seven initial stellar-level warriors from the Capdo-Kaler Alliance in one strike—a remarkable feat. You leaped to first place on the Combat Power Ranking, and your individual points ranking was also first.

However, during the seventy years you were in seclusion, the Individual Combat Power Ranking underwent extremely violent fluctuations.”

He pointed at the list and said solemnly, “It’s no exaggeration to say that in these seventy years, no warrior who made it into the top ten has held that position for even a year!

At most a year, often just a few months, and they would inevitably be pushed down by a more brilliant achievement from a later contender.

The top ten list has changed batch after batch.”

“Back and forth, countless monstrous talents have ascended to the top ten, only to be pushed down by even stronger monsters.”

Caesar’s gaze finally settled on a spot beyond the top hundred on the list, where a somewhat “outdated” achievement was recorded.

“Look, your achievement of instantly killing seven stellar-level warriors has now been pushed out of the top hundred.”

“Your points ranking has also been pushed out of the top hundred.”

This fact spoke volumes.

Qin Feng understood in his heart.

This meant that the geniuses of the entire major war zone had passed the initial accumulation phase. With more and more resources appearing, the warriors had entered an explosive stage.

Stellar-level powerhouses were springing up like bamboo shoots after rain, frantically fighting and plundering each other, creating astonishing achievements.

“As for the Interstellar Alliance Ranking,”

Caesar shifted the topic and switched to another list. “The situation is exactly the opposite of the Individual Combat Power Ranking.

Decades ago, the competition for the Interstellar Alliance Ranking was also fierce, with rankings changing daily.

But in the last ten years, the changes have begun to slow down. The top twenty super alliances have basically stabilized their positions…”

“I understand.”

Before Caesar could finish, Qin Feng nodded and took over.

“When I just emerged from seclusion, I also calculated.

Under our ‘Six Major Galaxy Alliance’ alone, after nearly a hundred years of consolidation and training, the number of newly promoted stellar-level warriors has exceeded one hundred.

If we let them all consume high-level stellar resources, our current output simply won’t be enough.

Add to that the fact that we occupy too many galaxies, while our core members are relatively few, making it impossible to perfectly control every territory.

So, basically, after all large alliances expand their territories to a certain number, they all stop, almost in unison, to enter a phase of digestion and consolidation.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Caesar nodded slightly, a hint of approval in his eyes.

Although Qin Feng had been in seclusion, his insight into the situation coincided with Caesar’s, who had been constantly monitoring the overall picture.

“According to my prediction,”

Kai lost the analysis chart, his tone turning resolute. "The coming trend will see the top stellar-level warriors within each major alliance begin to operate in small teams. Their goal will no longer be to claim territory, but to seize those rarer, more precious 'galaxy-level resources.' Once someone succeeds, their strength will undergo a massive leap, shattering the existing balance. As for the vast territories we occupy, the immense resources they yield will be enough to support a large number of planetary-level peak members in advancing to stellar level—a veritable, endless arsenal."

"Exactly. That's what I think too."

Qin Feng nodded, signaling Kai to continue.

"Mm."

Kai went on, "Now that the major war zone has reached its six hundred and eightieth year, it may not be long before the next change in competition rules. My plan is to take advantage of this final period of stability to launch a blitzkrieg, swallowing up all those insignificant scattered galaxies and a few minor alliances around our alliance's territory!" A sharp glint flashed in his eyes. "Expand our alliance's domain from fifty-one galaxies to around three hundred! Strive to achieve this goal before the seven hundredth year arrives."

"No problem."

Qin Feng nodded without hesitation.

Three hundred galaxies—an extraordinarily staggering number, enough to multiply the alliance's resource reserves several times over, providing a more solid foundation for the subsequent struggle for supremacy.

"Oh, by the way," as if the serious matters were concluded, Kai suddenly remembered something and asked in a casual tone, "What kind of singularity are you aiming for in the future?"

"The Eternal Singularity."

Qin Feng replied calmly.

Hearing this answer, a knowing smile spread across Kai's face. "Me too." He chuckled. "Having experienced the benefits of an 'Ultimate Aperture,' there's no need to even think about such a choice. Of course, one must choose the strongest—the 'Eternal Singularity.'"

They exchanged a smile, and everything was understood without words.

Then, without further delay, a massive three-dimensional star map unfurled in the ice cave, densely marked with galaxy coordinates and power distributions. Pointing at the map, Kai began to detail the combat objectives: "Galaxies 170 to 190—these twenty are currently unclaimed and can serve as our first targets. Additionally, the 'Scorpion Alliance,' composed of six galaxies from 191 to 196, is the weakest and can be the first alliance we strike..." Qin Feng listened quietly, nodding occasionally or offering a suggestion or two. Soon, a detailed battle plan took shape.

Immediately afterward, a war mobilization order, co-signed by Qin Feng and Kai, was posted on the private forum of the six-galaxy alliance.

【Alliance Supreme Directive: All members, end your rest period. War begins now!】

This brief announcement, like a nuclear bomb dropped into a calm lake, instantly detonated the entire alliance. Every member who had been in seclusion, training, or on a mission, upon seeing the announcement, unhesitatingly dropped everything. The battle spirit suppressed for nearly a century was ignited in that moment. Warriors responded en masse, rushing to the designated assembly areas for combat.

Thus, a new round of large-scale expansion war commenced.

This time, the mode of war was entirely different from before. Facing the scattered stellar-level experts in those minor alliances, Qin Feng and Kai only joined forces for a few thunderous decapitation strikes at the war's outset. Like phantoms, they descended upon the enemy alliance's core, obliterating their stellar-level leaders with an unstoppable force. After eliminating the highest-end combat power, they refrained from further involvement. The remaining vast battlefield was entirely handed over to the more than one hundred newly promoted stellar-level warriors under the alliance.

Cang, Lengyu, Yanwu... these former prodigies had now grown into powerful stellar-level combatants capable of standing on their own. They maneuvered across the expansive battlefield, leading a sea of planetary-level warriors like sharp daggers, tearing the enemy's defenses to shreds.

It was a one-sided massacre. Faced with an absolute disparity in strength, those scattered galaxies and minor alliances could mount no effective resistance; warriors were eliminated one after another.

In just thirty years, when the war zone's time pointer reached the seven hundred and tenth year, the territory under the six-galaxy alliance had crazily expanded from the original fifty-one galaxies to a full three hundred! A behemoth spanning hundreds of star domains had taken shape.

On the ice cave planet, Kai looked at the latest consolidated battle report and nodded with satisfaction. "The resources from three hundred galaxies will be enough for the newly promoted stellar-level warriors to consume for a short while. The alliance's merit system can remain stable for now." He turned to Qin Feng and said, "Next, the two of us can go into seclusion again to elevate our strength further. At the same time, we should start paying attention to intelligence on 'galaxy-level resources.' So far, it seems no galaxy-level resource point in the entire war zone has truly been claimed."

"Good."

Qin Feng nodded.

...

However, just as Kai was about to delve deeper into intelligence about "galaxy-level resources," a sudden change occurred.

Buzz—

The ancient jade tokens hanging at their waists, serving as competition credentials, simultaneously flared up without warning, emitting an unprecedented radiance. Then, lines of golden characters formed from pure energy emerged from the tokens as if alive, clearly imprinting themselves on their retinas.

【Competition has reached 700 years】

【A large-scale alien invasion event has been activated within the war zone. Those killed by aliens can be reborn but cannot enter the hunting period and will be directly eliminated】

【The 'Mechanical Race' invasion event has begun. Please pay attention and participate】

【Ten universal stellar-level prodigies have been deployed into the war zone. Please be aware】

【Universal stellar-level prodigies: 'Human Prodigy Hunt List' level】

【...】

One piece of information after another emerged from the jade tokens, each containing explosive content capable of overturning the entire war zone's landscape.

The ice cave fell into a deathly silence.

Both Qin Feng and Kai, the latter always composed and shrewd, were momentarily stunned upon seeing these messages.

Qin Feng's first reaction was to immediately divert a thread of his consciousness into the public private forum covering the entire war zone. As expected, the public forum had already erupted. The entire interface seemed to be boiling; thousands of posts refreshed within the same second, creating an unprecedented data storm of information density. All sections were completely flooded by the two keywords: "Mechanical Race Invasion" and "Universal Prodigies."

"The Mechanoid invasion... and the deployment of the paragons of ten thousand races?"

"I never imagined... they would pull a stunt like this!"

Caesar could not help but chuckle under his breath, "Qin Feng, it seems our previous worries were entirely superfluous! The Eternal Singularity... looking at it now, is not only possible, but highly feasible! The resources delivered right to our doorstep are simply immense!"

Qin Feng withdrew his drifting thoughts, his gaze sharpening in kind.

"If I remember correctly, the biological entities of the Mechanoid race themselves are an extremely precious resource."

"More than just precious!"

Caesar's tone was filled with profound emotion, "They are quite literally a tonic tailor-made for us!"

He began to explain in meticulous detail.

"The Mechanoids, as one of the pinnacle races of the universe, possess a highly unique life form.

Below the planetary level, their individual strength is not considered top-tier, but they can manufacture an immense variety of highly functional mechanical creations, forming a terrifying swarming tactic that is exceedingly formidable."

"But once they break through to the planetary level, their core undergoes a qualitative change, and their psychic power begins to grow wildly.

At this stage, they become capable of creating specialized mechanical constructs possessed of a machine soul.

These constructs possess a combat consciousness, and their battle prowess far exceeds that of ordinary machinery, though the speed of their manufacture becomes incredibly slow."

"As for when they reach the stellar level..."

Caesar's expression grew a fraction more serious, "Mechanoid entities of this grade possess an undying, indestructible characteristic similar to our undying projections.

They are, in themselves, a mobile super-arsenal; given sufficient time and energy, they can theoretically manufacture an endless legion of mechanical constructs of the same grade, each imbued with a machine soul.

One individual is an entire army!"

He paused for a moment, pointing out the absolute core of the matter.

"And our true objective is that very machine soul!

It is a highly condensed, pure core of psychic will; once hunted and refined, it can immensely enhance the strength and total capacity of our own psychic power!"

"As for the stellar-level Mechanoid entity itself, its value is simply beyond measure.

If one could refine its entire core, the enhancement brought about would be even vaster than refining thousands of machine souls!"

Hearing this, even someone as steadfast of mind as Qin Feng felt a burning light ignite within his eyes.

What was he lacking most right now?

It was the colossal mountain of resources required to sustain the expansion of his Undying Tower to the scale of ten million light-years!

And this suddenly descending vanguard of the Mechanoid army was practically a gluttonous feast tailored precisely for him!

Caesar seemed to discern Qin Feng's thoughts, adding with a smile, "After all, tracing back to their origins, the Mechanoids are an independent civilization that split off from humanity only after the Iron Rebellion during the nascent era of the Human Empire.

It can be said that they are a race created by the hands of our human race.

Therefore, their psychic cores share the exact same root and origin as ours, allowing for direct refinement and absorption without any rejection reaction."

"Looking across the entire universe, the only ones possessing this characteristic are the Mechanoids and another pinnacle race—the Zerg."

Caesar shrugged his shoulders, "As for the other intelligent species in the cosmos, such as those green-skinned ones whose brains are filled with nothing but WAAAGH!, the Rakshasa, the Shadow race, the Stone race, the Holy Spirits... their psychic fields all carry strong traits of racial contamination, making it entirely impossible for our human martial artists to directly refine them."

Qin Feng nodded in understanding. This was a point he had seen detailed in the Imperial forums.

If a human martial artist forcibly attempted to refine and absorb the chaotic, fanatical WAAAGH! field of the green-skins, their own psychic power would quickly become contaminated, and their soul would be twisted, eventually rendering them just like the green-skins—a maniac who knew nothing but combat and destruction.

And the ultimate fate of such a contaminated soul would only be to serve as a plaything for Khorne.

Therefore, among all the living races in the vast universe, those that could be directly refined and absorbed as a tonic by human martial artists were precisely two, and only two—the Mechanoids, who shared a common origin with humanity, and the Zerg, whose hive-mind cores were refined to the absolute ultimate degree of purity.

"So that is how it is..."

Qin Feng understood in his heart, and immediately asked another critical question.

"Then what about the paragons of ten thousand races and the Human Bounty List mentioned in the announcement?"

This question caused the relaxed smile on Caesar's face to slowly fade, replaced by an unprecedented gravity.

"Well..."

He pondered for a moment before speaking slowly, "The Paragon Bounty List is something we humans have, and in truth, all the ten thousand races of the universe have it as well.

To put it plainly, it is a blacklist.

Every race will place the names of the most potential-filled geniuses from hostile races upon it, aiming to mobilize all forces and spare no expense to strangle them in their cradles before they fully mature."

"To use an analogy."

Caesar looked at Qin Feng, "All the contestants in our grand battle zone, including you and me, have likely long since been placed upon the Paragon Bounty Lists of various hostile alien races.

After all, we are the absolute elite of the younger generation, selected by the major peak warbands of humanity from countless star systems."

Qin Feng nodded, signifying his comprehension of the concept.

"But,"

Caesar's tone grew heavier, "an alien race that can make it onto the Bounty List issued by humanity itself is an entirely different concept altogether."

His expression became exceptionally solemn.

"Those who can be listed on this directory by our human race are without exception the paragons among paragons, the monsters among monsters!

They must inevitably possess a heaven-defying cultivation talent in a certain aspect that far surpasses their kin, and they must wield utterly terrifying combat power among those of the same rank...

It can be said that this is a list of extremely high caliber, one that could even be described as horrifying."

"And the ten paragons of ten thousand races deployed into our battle zone this time..."

Caesar took a deep breath, "They were likely captured alive from the battlefields of ten thousand races by some supreme powerhouse of humanity. To be captured alive and then deployed into our trial grounds as mere tools essentially pronounces their death sentence."

"They themselves must undoubtedly be aware of this fact."

"Therefore..."

A sliver of icy malice flashed through Caesar's eyes, "It is entirely foreseeable that once they are deployed into the grand battle zone, these madmen who know they are doomed will unleash a bloody slaughter upon our human geniuses in the most frenzied, cruel, and reckless manner imaginable!"

"The only unknown right now is exactly which tier of the stellar level these ten paragons currently occupy."

After listening to Caesar's explanation, Qin Feng understood completely.

If the Mechanoid invasion was a resource feast descending from the heavens, filled with opportunity, then the arrival of these ten paragons of ten thousand races was a pack of lethal hunters mingled within the banquet.

Of course, the Mechanoid invasion might not necessarily turn out to be a feast of resources either.

The cruelty of the entire grand battle zone, because of the issuance of these two announcements, had been pushed to a far more chaotic and bloody degree.

...

Inside the ice cavern, after absorbing the shocking information brought by the announcements, Qin Feng and Caesar exchanged a glance, both seeing a trace of wry, absurd amusement in the other's eyes.

"At the seven-hundred-year mark, a Mechanoid invasion suddenly breaks out, and they even throw in some paragons of ten thousand races."

Qin Feng could not help but voice his complaints, "According to this rhythm, they won't pull off some stunt like a Chosen of the Evil Gods or a Chaos Descent later on, will they?"

His words were half a joke and half a serious speculation.

The mastermind behind this Cosmic Genius Warfare seemed to always enjoy flipping the entire chessboard without warning just when the contestants believed they had grasped the rules.

"Don't laugh, but that is genuinely a possibility."

Caesar shrugged. “Who knows what bizarre things they’ll dig up in the eighth or ninth century.

This selection trial is far more complicated than we imagined.”

After the brief jest, the atmosphere turned serious again.

“So, what’s the plan?”

Qin Feng looked at Caesar, throwing the question out. “We have two paths before us.

One is what we planned before—to fight for the galaxy-level resources;

The other is this sudden Mechanical race army.

If we fail and die in the first, we only lose some points, then enter the hunt period and still have a chance to turn things around. But the latter…”

His voice paused, growing lower. “The announcement made it clear: facing an alien invasion, if you’re killed, there’s no hunt period—you’re eliminated directly. How do we weigh risk and reward?”

It was a difficult choice.

Galaxy-level resources were about whether they could outpace others in strength—a steady, solid improvement path.

Hunting the Mechanical race, on the other hand, was a high-risk, high-reward gamble. Win, and the road to the “Eternal Singularity” would be smooth;

Lose, and it was utter ruin—direct elimination.

“Which one do we choose?”

A confident smile had just curled at the corner of Caesar’s lips, as if he already had an answer.

Yet, the next second, the smile on his face froze completely.

His eyes were fixed on the virtual light screen before him, which kept refreshing the latest battle reports, and his expression turned visibly grim.

“Now…”

He took a deep breath, his voice heavier than ever. “We no longer have a choice.”

“Quick, look at the war zone private forum!”

Hearing this, Qin Feng immediately turned his attention to the public forum.

There, countless warriors from different alliances and different galaxies were frantically refreshing the latest updates in a tone bordering on collapse.

[ALERT! Mechanical race jump signals detected across the entire 1213 galaxy! Numbers incalculable!]

[Our patrol encountered a Mechanical race outpost—annihilated in one clash! The enemy units are at least planetary peak level!]

[Help! Galaxy 2301 is surrounded! Red dots everywhere! We’re trapped!]

One blood-red emergency report after another flooded the screen like snowflakes.

Caesar’s voice came out hoarse: “The number of Mechanical race lifeforms… far exceeds what any of us imagined!

This isn’t a pinpoint deployment, nor a regional invasion… According to the latest intelligence summary, almost every galaxy occupied by contestants has Mechanical race armies of varying scales!”

Qin Feng’s pupils contracted sharply, instantly grasping the chilling implication hidden behind those words.

“You mean, the wider the territory our alliance occupies, the greater the pressure from the Mechanical race we have to face?”

“Mm.”

Caesar nodded heavily.

For a moment, both fell silent.

The Six-Galaxy Alliance…

The name sounded imposing, but in essence, it was just a union of warriors from the original Galaxy 99 and Galaxies 115 to 119—six galaxies in total.

Yet, these mere six galaxies’ warriors had occupied a vast territory of three hundred entire galaxies!

Not long ago, that number had been a point of pride.

But now, it had become a shackle heavy enough to crush them.

Among all the super-alliances in the entire war zone, their “Six-Galaxy Alliance” was definitely a textbook example of “vast land, sparse population.”

This situation meant one terrifying reality—they had to use the forces of only six galaxies to simultaneously face the endless Mechanical race armies from three hundred galaxies!

The pressure was immense.

“We could choose to temporarily hunker down, pulling all our forces back to our original six galaxies for defense.”

Qin Feng analyzed calmly. “But that also means we must abandon the vast resource-producing territories of the three hundred galaxies we fought so hard to take.”

This choice was equally fatal.

Abandoning territory would instantly collapse the alliance’s internal system of exchanging battle merits for resources.

Those alliance members who had bled for battle merits would see their merits become worthless numbers; many warriors would be unable to accept it, growing disaffected and estranged.

By then, without the Mechanical race lifting a finger, the entire alliance would crumble from within.

Qin Feng and Caesar might even become targets of public criticism because of this decision.

If it were before, letting the alliance dissolve wouldn’t matter—they could just become lone wolves.

But now, the situation was completely different.

There were those ten prodigies of ten thousand races, with unfathomable strength and mysterious identities, lurking like venomous snakes in the dark, watching covetously.

Once they lost the alliance’s protection and fell into isolation and betrayal, those alien prodigies would surely seize the chance to launch a fatal ambush.

Qin Feng knew this all too well. He would never forget how, back when he was weak and being hunted by Wolf Seven, those warriors he had once killed had secretly tripped him up.

They spread his location, delayed his escape, and nearly sent him to utter ruin.

“So, we have to fight the Mechanical race, and we can only win.”

Caesar’s voice was resolute, filled with unshakable determination.

“However, the alliance’s battle merit system doesn’t need to be tied to this Mechanical race invasion.”

Caesar made the decision swiftly. “The Mechanical race’s ‘machine souls’ are pure loot—whoever can kill them gets the spoils. That will maximize everyone’s fighting spirit.”

Saying this, he let out a rare sigh, a trace of regret on his face.

“To be honest, I kind of regret not taking in some surrendered troops earlier.

All along our conquest, for the sake of efficiency and ‘clearing the field,’ we eliminated all the warriors from the conquered galaxies.

If we had kept some people as vassals, the pressure from the Mechanical race now would be much lighter.”

“Thinking about that now is useless.”

Qin Feng cut off his train of thought. “Let the past be past. For now, the plan to compete for galaxy-level resources has to be put on hold.”

“Right.”

Caesar nodded, his eyes sharpening again. “The top priority is to consolidate all our strength and deal with this crisis.”

“Gather everyone.”

Qin Feng said succinctly. “Command is yours.”

“Good.”

Caesar accepted the heavy responsibility without hesitation. “Time is tight. I need to carry out a relatively systematic ‘army building’ in the shortest time possible. It’s a big challenge, but it should be doable.”

Once the two reached a consensus, they immediately sent out a top-priority emergency assembly notice within the private forum of the Six Great Star Alliances.

While waiting for the alliance members to gather, both of them, almost by unspoken agreement, turned their gaze back to the public forum of the war zone, eager to see how the other alliances were faring.

But then, a newly refreshed battle report, forcibly highlighted in red by the system, made both their pupils contract sharply.

[Battle Report: Chakatay, ranked tenth on the individual combat power list, encountered the alien prodigy 'Stone Clan - Stone Panshan' in the 147th star system. After three minutes of fierce battle, he was defeated and killed, and has been completely eliminated from the competition!]

"..."

Chakatay!

Eliminated!

Qin Feng and Caesar's faces turned extremely grim.

"Chakatay..."

Qin Feng spoke slowly, his voice low, "I remember him.

Back when I had just advanced to the stellar level, this guy already had the glorious record of defeating a stellar-level powerhouse of the same rank in a direct confrontation.

He probably broke through to the stellar level earlier than both of us.

In terms of pure cultivation accumulation and the scale of his undying projection, he might even be stronger than us now.

I never expected... he would be killed and eliminated so quickly."

"Unbelievable."

Caesar was also deeply shaken. "In just over ten minutes, one of the top ten on the combat power list has fallen.

It seems our assessment of these myriad-race prodigies' strength was still too low.

Any one of them, at the stellar level, is definitely among the top-tier elites."

This news struck both of them with great force.

However, there were only ten myriad-race prodigies after all, scattered across the vast war zone, making the probability of encountering them extremely low.

What was truly pressing now was the endless army of mechanical lifeforms.

Caesar quickly composed himself, focusing all his attention on the massive light screen spread out before him.

His fingers danced across the screen at lightning speed, splitting into hundreds or thousands of threads of mental energy, connecting to the identity jade tokens of every alliance member rushing toward the assembly point. He began an unprecedented, large-scale unified deployment and temporary military formation.

"Based on groups of ten, establish 'combat squads,' each with one squad leader."

"One hundred squads form a 'company,' with one company commander and two deputy company commanders."

"Above that, we need 'regiment'-level units, as well as a battlefield discipline enforcement squad, an intelligence-gathering reconnaissance squad, and patrol squads..."

"..."

One command after another, one organizational structure after another, was sent out clearly and efficiently from Caesar to every member of the alliance.

His exceptional talent in this area was truly unparalleled.

In an extremely short time, a war system framework—though somewhat rough, yet complete with all necessary components—was forcibly constructed by him.

"Order: All reconnaissance squads that have completed their formation are to immediately, as squads, use subspace teleportation to begin patrolling the three hundred star systems under our alliance's jurisdiction!"

"Mission objective: Locate the specific coordinates of mechanical lifeforms!"

"Attention! Your mission is only reconnaissance—do not get bogged down in battle! Once a target is found, immediately report the coordinates, then retreat!"

"..."

With each command issued by Caesar, the newly assembled alliance army began to operate slowly, like a precise and efficient war machine.

As for Qin Feng, he stared intently at the public forum of the war zone, keeping an eye on the latest news to gather more information.

"The competition organizers are too malicious."

Qin Feng said helplessly, "The information on the jade tokens is just the simplest explanation, even with some teasing. There's a huge amount of hidden information not explained, like the fact that mechanical lifeforms appear in every star system."

"..."

Qin Feng watched quietly and soon spotted several more messages.

[Combat power list ranked thirteenth, 'Kapduo,' encountered a Shadow Clan prodigy, fell, and has been officially eliminated...]

[Combat power list ranked third, 'Raven,' encountered a Holy Spirit Flame Clan prodigy, fled in defeat, not yet fallen...]

[Combat power list...]

"Huh?"

"These alien prodigies seem to be targeting those ranked high on the combat power list for pursuit and killing."

Qin Feng was surprised.

"No, it's the points list!"

Caesar said.

"I see. Probably another trick by the competition organizers. There are far too many things they didn't make clear."

Qin Feng complained.

"Reconnaissance has detected signs of mechanical lifeforms."

"Qin Feng, we need to set out now. Every star system has one stellar-level lifeform, meaning three hundred stellar-level mechanical lifeforms..."

"If we're not careful, we could get eliminated."

Caesar's expression was grave.

Qin Feng had already donned his power armor, grasped his Star-Swallowing Spear, and activated the subspace teleportation network.

Similar scenes were unfolding within every alliance.

The rise of each star system alliance was built on slaughter; a large number of martial artists had been eliminated. Now, only about one-tenth of the original participants remained in the competition. Facing the mechanical lifeforms distributed according to star systems, every star system alliance was under immense pressure.

But even so, those stellar-level martial artists stationed at star-level resource points still showed no intention of leaving their resource points to return and support.

Because they had already spent too much time on those star-level resource points—the sunk cost was too great.

Meanwhile, in the official Imperial livestream room and the livestream rooms of various competition commentary organizations, the popularity had reached a new peak.

Martial artists from all over human territory were discussing animatedly, with bullet comments occasionally floating by, all very curious about the mechanical lifeforms.

(End of this chapter)