Sweeping Clean — The Three Kings Take Notice

"That's right — the White Frost King! He's one of the three King Grade talents who entered the ruins this time! If you really wipe us out, he will absolutely come after you!"

Jigong glanced at the nearly shattered Crystal Shield and spoke at a rapid clip.

Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow.

*King Grade talent?*

The name brought Yeye to mind.

*She's probably a King Grade gene as well, right?*

"Lei Feng? What should we do?"

Amy had heard there was actually a King Grade talent involved. She furrowed her brow and turned to Lu Yuan, her expression asking the question her lips hadn't formed.

Lu Yuan smiled.

"Beat them first, figure it out later."

At those words, Amy's eyes lit up and a delighted grin spread across her face. She clapped Lu Yuan on the shoulder.

"Exactly what I was thinking! So what if the other side has a King Grade gene? This lady isn't scared of him!"

Jigong and Yangqian had watched Lu Yuan fall momentarily silent and assumed he was going to let them go. Both had exhaled with relief.

When they heard Lu Yuan intended to keep attacking, they stared at him with wide eyes and undisguised disbelief.

Yangqian's voice turned cold.

"Human — you dare?! Do you not plan to reach the Central Floating City? We will send word to the White Frost King!"

Lu Yuan smiled and ordered the Mechanical Chiefs to launch the next wave.

A thunderous roar erupted.

The Crystal Shield — already fracturing — shattered in an instant.

The color drained from Jigong's and Yangqian's faces.

The two exchanged a glance. Their own Mechanical Chiefs materialized at their sides — two for each of them.

"Everyone — hold them off!"

Jigong commanded.

Neither of them was willing to be swept off the board so easily.

In the entirety of the Aier Mechanical Ruins, the Central Floating City was the greatest prize of all. If they were eliminated now, they would have no share in it.

That was far too much to sacrifice.

As long as there was hope, they would fight for it.

By this point, Jigong and Yangqian had abandoned any thought of actually defeating Lu Yuan and Amy. Their only goal was to escape.

If their Mechanical Chief puppets could hold back Lu Yuan and Amy — and those twelve Mechanical Chiefs — for even a moment, they might have a chance to flee.

They would lose four invaluable Mechanical Chief puppets in the process, but for the treasures of the Central Floating City, the trade was worth it.

They had both explored Floating Cities earlier and had acquired their own Mechanical Chief puppets as a result.

Lu Yuan blinked when he saw them produce Mechanical Chief puppets of their own, then broke into a quiet smile.

*Bringing out Mechanical Chief puppets in front of me. Are they serious?*

A faint, ethereal light stirred in Lu Yuan's eyes. Spirit Power surged, and Mechanical Control activated.

In the next instant, all four puppets — which had been set to intercept Lu Yuan's group — lurched to a halt. Then they turned, redirecting their aggression toward Jigong and Yangqian.

The lead puppet, a Mechanical Chief bearing a massive greatsword, drew a pale blue arc of sword energy through the air and slashed toward Yangqian, the nearest target.

Yangqian had been moving to retreat at full speed. He caught the surge of Spirit Power an instant before the strike and spun sharply, blade rising to intercept.

*Clang!!*

The sheer force drove him back several steps.

When he realized the thing that had just attacked him was his own Mechanical Chief puppet, his eyes flew wide.

"What?! Impossible! He can control even a Second-rank perfect Mechanical Chief?!"

Jigong, who had also been retreating, found himself driven back in the same fashion — and was equally thunderstruck.

Yangqian's Four Cornerstones and the three subordinates Jigong had brought fared no better. Under the first assault, they could not withstand the overwhelming Spirit Power and were torn to pieces.

Sixteen Mechanical Chiefs encircled Jigong and Yangqian while Lu Yuan and Amy stood at a distance, watching calmly.

As the two princes scanned those sixteen Mechanical Chiefs — knowing that four of them were puppets they had handed to the enemy with their own hands — their expressions turned utterly grim.

The two shared a look. Then Yangqian reached into his storage and produced a black cylinder.

He poured Spirit Power into it and hurled it toward Lu Yuan and Amy.

It never reached them. A Mechanical Chief carrying a massive shield stepped into its path and caught the cylinder on its Crystal Shield.

Then a blue radiance ignited.

**Boom!!**

A concussive wave erupted. Powerful Spirit Power rippled outward as frost spread in all directions.

A thin layer of white rime crept across every Mechanical Chief in the vicinity.

Even Lu Yuan and Amy felt a bite of cold and furrowed their brows slightly.

He recognized it — an S22 Frost Grenade, with explosive force equivalent to a Second-rank Chief Grade, followed by a lingering freeze effect on detonation. Standard output from the central towers of the Floating Cities.

The Frost Grenade was no joke, but every Mechanical Chief carried a Crystal Shield. The blast had forced them back a few steps, and the rime left them sluggish — but nothing more.

At the epicenter of the blast — the heart of the encirclement — another Crystal Shield materialized around Jigong and Yangqian.

The instant the explosion faded, they seized the moment of the Mechanical Chiefs' slowed movement and drove hard toward the edge of the ring.

Neither of them was slow. As they burst through the perimeter, relief flashed across both their faces.

Then a streak of jade-white light appeared directly in their path, accompanied by a razor-sharp blade edge and the writhing tendrils of Tianrao Purple Vine.

The terrifying sword flash and twisting vines drained the color from both their faces in an instant.

Yangqian bared his teeth in a fierce snarl and charged directly into the white light.

*Clang!!*

Steel rang against steel. Yangqian's expression shifted as he stumbled back two steps, his face tight with something he couldn't quite name.

*Impossible.*

In a direct head-on collision, he had come out the worse — against a human?

Lu Yuan himself was mildly surprised.

*The three Lord Grade genes I've inscribed aren't at perfect completion. Even at full Black Steel Force output, I'm only barely edging him out.*

As a Lord Grade warrior, this Yangqian was genuinely formidable.

Still, all Lu Yuan needed was to stop him for a single beat.

By then, the Mechanical Chiefs had expelled the rime from their frames in curls of steam, Crystal Shields warming them back to full mobility. All sixteen surged toward Yangqian and toward Jigong — who had been snared by the Tianrao Purple Vine.

One-on-one, the two princes might have managed. But this was now eighteen against two — sixteen Mechanical Chiefs plus Lu Yuan and Amy.

In the space of a single exchange, both Jigong and Yangqian took hits, were sent tumbling through the air, and landed coughing blood.

"Cough..."

Yangqian crashed into a tower wall with a heavy impact and kept coughing. He watched the Mechanical Chiefs closing in, and his expression cycled through several shades of grim.

In the next instant, he pulled out several Second-rank Chief Grade grenades in rapid succession and hurled them into the advancing mass.

**Boom boom boom!!**

Under the rolling thunder, he turned and ran.

Nearby, Jigong saw this and did the same — flinging a handful of grenades and Talismans behind him as he spun and bolted.

As they fled, both uncapped Speed Serums and drank them on the move. They layered on speed-enhancing Talismans, burning through every acceleration method in their arsenals without a second thought.

Their speed surged dramatically.

Just as they dared to believe they might actually escape, an electromagnetic shriek tore through the air.

An electromagnetic barrier snapped shut around a one-kilometer radius. Jigong and Yangqian — every speed-boosting method still active, momentum building — felt their budding smiles freeze on their faces. They couldn't brake in time and slammed full-force into the barrier.

**Boom!!!**

Both were thrown violently backward, vomiting blood, their strength visibly diminished.

Lu Yuan held a grayish-white cube in his hand, pale-blue light pulsing slowly along its surface.

He looked at the two of them sprawled on the ground and let a small smile show.

"Do you think we haven't explored far more Floating Cities than you? Did you really believe a handful of tricks like that would be enough to run?"

At those words, Jigong's and Yangqian's expressions darkened further.

They stared hard at Lu Yuan. Then Yangqian spoke, his voice flat and cold.

"We've lost this round. On the White Cloud Continent — pray we don't meet again."

Lu Yuan's smile didn't waver. "Running into each other wouldn't be a problem."

Jigong let out a cold laugh and said nothing more.

White light enveloped both of them. When it faded, they were gone.

*Departure Crystals.* Lu Yuan thought. *Even if I'd wanted to keep them, I couldn't.*

Amy stood at his side, staring at the spot where they had vanished, her face etched with disappointment.

"What a waste. If we could have finished them off, they probably had all sorts of good things on them."

Lu Yuan chuckled. "No rush — we still haven't searched the Central Floating City."

That reminded Amy of something. She turned to him.

"Oh right — what about the White Frost King? If he's inscribed a King Grade gene, we're no match for him!"

Lu Yuan thought it over, then smiled.

"Don't worry. We'll head to the Central Floating City first and see. If we can get in, we go straight in, grab what we came for, and leave. King Grade, Frost Grade, whatever — it doesn't matter."

"And if we can't get the treasure?"

"We still have Black Bear No. 1. At Black Bear's speed, even the White Frost King can't catch us. And with Black Bear's defense and firepower — on par with a Second-rank high-tier Lord Grade — staying safe isn't a problem."

Lu Yuan thought it through before answering.

"That actually makes sense!"

Amy considered it and broke into a smile.

There was one more option Lu Yuan hadn't mentioned to Amy.

Back-up.

From what he knew of Yeye, she had almost certainly inherited a King Grade gene. She was probably one of those three King Grade talents in the ruins herself.

If Yeye agreed to help, the White Frost King wouldn't be a concern.

The problem was that while he and Yeye were on decent terms, it was exactly that — decent terms, nothing more.

Whether Yeye would step in against a rival of her own caliber was far from certain.

And there was a real possibility that Yeye and the White Frost King were actually friends.

That wasn't out of the question.

So Lu Yuan decided the sensible move was to assess the Central Floating City first.

"Alright. Let's finish clearing the towers in this Floating City, then set course for the Central Floating City."

He said it with a light smile.

"Yeah!"

Amy's eyes lit up, a note of anticipation in her voice.

Every Floating City raid was something Amy looked forward to.

Core zone of the Aier Mechanical Ruins.

The core zone was nothing like the outer areas.

Every Mechanical Guardian here was Second-rank — far more powerful than anything in the periphery.

The zone wasn't enormous in terms of footprint; standing at its edge, you could already see the Central Floating City looming at the horizon like a continent suspended in the sky.

Somewhere along a street in the core zone at that moment:

A young man who looked almost human stood watching the pale light shifting inside a Communication Crystal. The resemblance ended at the ice crystals adorning his forehead and the sides of his face, and at his hair, which was white as snow.

"Swept off the board?"

The voice was cool and composed. His expression unreadable.

"Two humans inside a black flying craft? Interesting... But since they drove my subordinates out of the ruins — I'm afraid they've forfeited their right to my mercy."

Beside him, another young man of the same white-haired, ice-crystal-touched appearance spoke up.

"Young Master, shall I go kill the two humans?"

The White Frost King gave a slight shake of his head.

"They have a flying creature, and they can command mechanical lifeforms. Taking them down won't be simple."

"Then what do we do?"

The White Frost King's gaze drifted toward the vast shape of the Central Floating City on the horizon.

"We wait. They'll come to us in time."

Just then, a squad of Second-rank Mechanical Guardians spotted the group and charged.

They never got close. Wisps of pale mist curled through the air and swept across their frames.

Every Mechanical Guardian froze where it stood — encased in ice almost instantly.

The White Frost King's group didn't spare them a glance. They blurred into afterimages and continued deeper into the zone at blistering speed.

In another part of the core zone:

On the roof of a thousand-meter tower, a Green Demon of short stature — clad in heavy black armor, a massive blood-red battle axe resting in one hand — grinned at a Communication Crystal.

"Heheheh~ The mysterious black craft that's been the talk of every corner of this ruin — and it turns out to be a couple of human Gene Warriors at the controls? Now that's interesting. Those two must have stripped quite a few Floating Cities by now. I need to find a chance to help myself to everything they've collected."

Beside him, a Green Demon in leather armor laughed.

"Boss, two of Bai Lin's Lord Grade subordinates just got cleaned out by those two humans. That means our side has more Lord Grade muscle than his now. Big news for us."

"Heheheh~ In this entire ruin, there can't be more than thirty Lord Grade talents who've broken through to the Second Rank. Bai Lin only ever had eight of them — and now he's suddenly down two. Heheheh~ Beautiful! Those two humans are something else. If they're willing to hand over their loot, I might spare them the trouble."

"Boss, you're too kind!"

"Heheheh~ Of course I am — I'm the merciful Barton, after all."

His lips curved into a wide grin. A gleam of something savage flickered at the back of his eyes.

And in yet another corner of the core zone:

A white-haired Cat-kin girl flickered through the air and landed on the roof of a thousand-meter tower.

On the rooftop, two other Cat-kin girls had set up various equipment around a grill and were roasting meat.

Yeye sat to one side, watching the meat slowly turn golden, a look of barely-restrained longing on her face.

The white-haired girl approached and spoke softly.

"Your Highness, there's word. The flying craft that's stirred up so much talk lately — it turns out to be operated by two human warriors. They've also swept Bai Lin's two Lord Grade subordinates out of the ruins. Here is the information. Please review it."

Yeye tore her gaze from the grill with some reluctance.

When the faint image projected from the Communication Crystal resolved into Lu Yuan's face, she went still. Her jet-black Vertical Pupils widened slightly, surprise breaking through her usual vacant expression.

"Lu Yuan?"