# Chapter 358: Conflict at the Front Lines

The front lines of the counterattack force.

The four-race alliance was locked in battle with Aberrant Beasts. Vast waves of Spirit Power rippled outward, their glow visible across the entire star system.

Behind the allied lines, the assembled War Gods floated in the vacuum of space, their gazes fixed on the distance.

Far ahead lay the Cosmic Boundary. The breach that had once been torn through it was now covered by a flesh nest, and Aberrant Beasts poured out of it in endless waves.

The War Gods watched the nest with wary eyes.

They were waiting for War God-level Aberrant Beasts to enter the battle.

The atmosphere was heavy with silence. Yingu watched as Beast Race warriors fell one by one, his eyes cold as ice. He spoke slowly:

"When are those Divine Grade Aberrant Beasts going to come out? It's been this long and they still haven't shown themselves!"

Jinka spoke from beside him:

"Give it a bit longer. If only a few Divine Grade Aberrant Beasts emerge, we concentrate our forces and overwhelm them—wipe them out as fast as possible and thin out their Divine Grade combat strength."

Bu Chang nodded. "Jinka's right. Stay quiet and wait."

Just then, a Mechanical Battle Saint came flying over, his expression fraught with urgency. He arrived before Mados and the others and said:

"My Lord Mados, something's happened!"

Every War God present turned to look.

Mados furrowed his brow deeply, mechanical eyes flickering as he demanded:

"What happened?!"

Under the scrutiny of so many War Gods, the Mechanical Battle Saint felt the pressure keenly. He bowed slightly and spoke:

"A report has come in from Gathering Point No. 63. A tremendously powerful presence has appeared in their star system—so powerful that from tens of millions of light-years away, it caused entire star systems to tremble. Adela, the commanding officer of the gathering point, has already departed to investigate. Meanwhile, the remaining officers initiated a warp jump with the gathering point to move it away from that region of space."

"What?! Making star systems tremble from tens of millions of light-years away?!"

Mados and the assembled War Gods stared in astonishment.

They exchanged glances, disbelief written across every face.

"What level of powerhouse could do that?!"

Even for beings like them, it was difficult to imagine what kind of entity could shake star systems from such a staggering distance.

Kro, the Saurian War God of the Human Race, raised his head to glare at Mados, fury in his voice. "Mados! You never mentioned that your Mechanical Kingdom had someone this powerful hiding in it!"

Mados and the other Mechanical War Gods looked equally bewildered.

Seeing the War Gods of the three other races staring him down with deep frowns, Mados hurried to explain:

"We don't know either—we have no idea who it is! Every Mechanical Race War God is right here. We've known each other for hundreds of millions of years. Surely you understand that by now?!"

"Then who is it?!"

Bingling's voice was sharp and cold.

Mados and the Mechanical War Gods exchanged helpless looks, unable to offer an answer.

At that moment, one of the Mechanical War Gods seemed to think of something and turned toward the Human Race contingent:

"If we're talking about a War God still inside the Mechanical Kingdom... the only one would be Brother Lu Yuan. He went to track down Blood of Machinery's headquarters—could it be him?!"

At those words, the Beast Race and Elf Race War Gods all shifted their gazes toward the humans.

Nuxing and the others froze, caught off guard.

Bu Chang and Kro also turned to Nuxing. If anyone here knew Lu Yuan best, it was undoubtedly him.

With every eye locked on him, the corner of Nuxing's mouth twitched, his expression beyond peculiar.

Bu Chang asked: "Nuxing, do you think it could be Lu Yuan?"

"Well..."

Nuxing grimaced, looking somewhat dazed.

Based on what he'd seen of Lu Yuan's strength back at the Battle Saint level, Lu Yuan had been a notch above him—roughly on par with Ruoshui. No... actually a bit stronger than Ruoshui too.

But Lu Yuan was a War God now. How strong he truly was—Nuxing had absolutely no frame of reference.

He couldn't say whether that presence belonged to Lu Yuan or not.

A powerhouse of that magnitude was obviously a matter of enormous significance. He didn't dare voice an opinion rashly.

Just as Nuxing was wrestling with his uncertainty, another Mechanical Battle Saint came rushing over, his expression tense.

"My Lord Mados! Something's happened!"

Every pair of eyes snapped toward the newcomer, gazes razor-sharp.

The Mechanical Battle Saint: "..."

His heart skipped a beat. He had no idea what he'd said wrong.

The first Battle Saint who'd arrived to deliver his report cast his colleague a sympathetic glance.

"What is it *now*?!"

Mados reached up and rubbed his forehead, weariness plain on his face.

The Battle Saint spoke quickly:

"It's a message from Adela, the commanding officer of Gathering Point No. 63."

"Adela?!"

At this, everyone's eyes lit up.

Mados fixed his gaze on the Battle Saint, unable to stop himself from seizing the messenger's shoulder.

"What message?!"

The Battle Saint's shoulder groaned under the crushing grip.

He rushed to explain: "Adela says he encountered two extremely powerful beings locked in combat. One of them is from the Human Race—specifically the human species. The other radiates intense Aberration energy, but it differs from a typical Aberrant Beast—it's a humanoid flesh monster with a terrifying aura. They started fighting for reasons unknown... Oh, and Adela also said he spotted several Blood of Machinery members on the far side of the battlefield, including two War God-level powerhouses: Kro and Garton."

At this, the Saurian War God Kro—who had still been reeling from the earlier shock—blinked in confusion and pointed at himself.

"...Me?"

Mados and the Mechanical War Gods collected themselves. Mados quickly clarified:

"Blood of Machinery has a War God who's also named Kro. He was originally a Battle Saint, but after joining Blood of Machinery, Aberration Corruption boosted his power dramatically—enough to reach War God level. It has nothing to do with you, Brother Kro."

The Mechanical Race already knew this, of course. The others, however, cast odd looks at the Saurian Kro.

Kro bared his teeth, cold killing intent flashing in his eyes. "Someone dares share my name *and* betray the cosmos? Unforgivable!"

Bu Chang patted Kro's shoulder. "Now's not the time for that."

His expression was grave as he turned to the Mechanical Battle Saint. "You're saying one of them is human?"

The Battle Saint nodded. "Yes. That's what Adela reported."

With this confirmed, the War Gods of all four races exchanged glances.

Bu Chang spoke: "Then it must be Lu Yuan."

Everyone drew a deep breath, shock plain on their faces.

Yingu looked at Bu Chang. His lips peeled back to reveal white fangs, and one clawed paw combed through his silver fur as he spoke:

"Bu Chang—you're saying this human called Lu Yuan really broke through only recently? How can he possibly be this powerful?"

The others wore expressions of equal curiosity.

Bu Chang gave a faint smile. "That, I couldn't tell you."

An Elf Race War God whose entire body blazed with flame spoke up:

"There are Blood of Machinery War Gods over there too... Brother Lu Yuan went to investigate their headquarters, and it seems he got results—though something unexpected must have happened. Who exactly is this being fighting him?"

As the Elf spoke, he turned his gaze toward the Mechanical War Gods. Every War God from the other three races followed suit.

Seeing all eyes on him, bitterness crossed Mados's face.

"I truly don't know. We've never encountered anything like a humanoid flesh monster inside the Mechanical Kingdom. If something like that existed here, there's no way it could have hidden among us."

After all, Mechanical Race bodies were composed entirely of metal—the difference from organic flesh was impossible to miss.

The assembled War Gods frowned at this.

Yingu let out a cold laugh. "You Mechanical Heart people are remarkably foolish. You can't even detect the dangers hiding in your own kingdom."

The Mechanical War Gods had no retort.

Bu Chang considered for a moment, then spoke: "Could it have slipped into the Mechanical Kingdom through the breach when it first opened?"

Mados and the others exchanged glances, recalling the circumstances of that time. Their expressions darkened.

"It's... not impossible."

"So what do we do?"

Yingu groomed his silver fur as he posed the question.

Mados and several Mechanical War Gods radiated killing intent. Mados spoke:

"Since Brother Lu Yuan has already located Blood of Machinery's members, the obvious move is to exterminate every last one of them—leave no loose ends. That will also prevent them from ambushing us during the counterattack."

Jinka flicked his forked tongue, his massive serpentine body coiled in the vacuum of space. He spoke slowly:

"Heh... Based on what your Battle Saint just reported, Mados—are you sure going there would actually help? Beings at that level are beyond anything we can handle."

"Well..."

At this, Mados and the others were left speechless.

Mados clenched his fist, then released it. He repeated the motion several times before determination flickered in his eyes.

"Regardless, this disaster was brought about by Blood of Machinery. Now that we've found them, they have to pay the price. Let Brother Lu Yuan deal with the Aberrant humanoid flesh monster—we'll handle those traitorous War Gods ourselves!"

Bu Chang frowned. "That may be true, but what happens if the Divine Grade Aberrant Beasts in that nest burst out while you're gone? Who holds the line here?"

The words had barely left his mouth when a wave of terrifying energy surged from the flesh nest. Every face changed, and all eyes snapped toward it.

From within the nest, Aberrant Beasts wreathed in green luminescence charged out—more than ten of them.

These creatures were grotesque, their auras overwhelmingly powerful, and they hurtled straight toward the four-race alliance.

"Divine Grade Aberrant Beasts!"

"Damn it—they're all coming out at once! We were hoping to lure out a few at a time..."

"Their numbers have grown!"

The four-race powerhouses' expressions turned grim.

Yingu's icy gaze swept toward Mados and the Mechanical War Gods. "Forget about Blood of Machinery for now! If you still want to hold the Mechanical Kingdom, kill these Aberrant Beasts first!"

At those words, the expressions of Mados and his companions grew even darker.

Then Spirit Power surged around Mados's body. A massive metal greatsword materialized in his hand, and his voice rang out through the waves:

"Mechanical Heart—with me! To battle!"