Gamers Are Fierce-Chapter 661 - 659: Rebirth (6K)
This voice came from the hundreds of Bug Clan units within the war chariot, who were worshipping their creator with great reverence, led by the Brain Worm.
Li Ang awoke.
On a frequency channel others couldn't hear, thousands of Bug Clan members were madly praising the return of their creator.
At this moment, he was levitating deep within the vehicle, controlling the Leviathan War Chariot through plant vines that extended from his limbs and torso.
That statement he had just made was indeed composed by him, but it was the Brain Worm that had recited it with such emotion.
The Brain Worm was a very peculiar existence within the Biological Weapon sequence.
Unlike lesser worms, they possessed complete biological brains, capable of a certain degree of complex thought, and even had independent consciousness.
Most of the Brain Worms had been brought out by Li Ang from the Shengnan King's Dream; some of them were later made by Li Ang using the brains of domesticated animals like rabbits and pigs.
The brains of more intelligent creatures were clearly far more responsive than rabbit brains. The smarter the brain, the more of its previous memories it could retain.
Combined with the modification from the Origin of Life, they became mechanical "Believer's Brains," fervently worshipping Li Ang.
Each Believer's Brain could provide Li Ang with a very faint trace of Divine Power, forming a Divine Power Connection.
When necessary, Li Ang could control the "Believer's Brain" hosts—the Brain Worms—through this connection over vast distances.
The Brain Worms were followers, centers of the Divine Power Connection, and the signal nodes Li Ang used to control more Biological Weapons.
However, Li Ang had always restricted the Brain Worm collective.
Their intelligence level was constrained to a very low limit, communication among them was forbidden, and they were incapable of independently performing complex tasks. They could only do low-level work, such as supervising worm laborers or assisting the Queen Bee in managing the swarm.
The reason was simple. The Queen Bee had been cultivated single-handedly by Li Ang; he had countless methods to either control the swarm or let it disintegrate on its own.
But the first generation of Brain Worms used the brains of external creatures—
and these were the brains of intelligent beings.
Liberating the Brain Worms' intelligence meant Li Ang could easily have a large number of highly intelligent laborers.
It also meant unknown risks.
Intelligence engenders thought.
Thought breeds will.
Will desires independence.
And independence seeks freedom.
The perfect creation will eventually surpass its creator.
Just as the Whale Song Organization greatly feared super artificial intelligence with malice, Li Ang worried about rebellion stemming from the free will of the Brain Worms.
Until just now.
In this scenario world, where one could leave at any moment, he took an experimental step.
He transformed the Stryker Armored Vehicle into a mutated creature and lifted the intellectual restrictions on a fortunate Brain Worm (to a limited extent, of course; its overall intelligence was roughly equivalent to that of a golden retriever), allowing this Brain Worm to command the hundreds of subordinate Bug Clan units within the Mutant Chariot.
This Brain Worm came from a bandit in the Shengnan King's Dream. Its original memories and will had been thoroughly obliterated after countless brainwashings, becoming an utterly low-intelligence, fanatical devotee of Li Ang.
Now that the restrictions on its intelligence were lifted, the Divine Power it provided to Li Ang surged (though still far below that of a normal human).
After gaining wisdom, the first thing this creature did was not to wonder who it was or where it was.
Instead, just as in its low-intelligence period, it began shrieking praises of its supreme veneration for the Lord of Flesh and Swamp, the Unifier of All Things.
With its current level of intelligence, it couldn't conjure any clever words, mostly just "AHH AHH AHH AHH CREATOR AHH AHH AHH AHH!" and similar gibberish.
It was far less elaborate than the diverse spectrum of sycophantic flattery he was used to.
This was Li Ang's first interaction with his extreme fanatics.
In the real world, those who disliked him far outnumbered those who liked him.
For a moment, he had no choice but to use a stern Divine Power Fluctuation to interrupt the Brain Worm's senseless praises and bluntly told it that its name was Leviathan and that it was to start operating the vehicle now, immediately, without delay.
The Brain Worm was a superior Biological Weapon.
Even with low intelligence, it could coordinate the work of different kinds of worms using its biological instincts.
Now that it had become more intelligent, it could command thousands of worms even more effectively.
The snail-shaped Brain Worm dared not hesitate upon hearing the command from its creator. It instinctively stretched out lengthy nerve fiber bundles and connected to the bodies of other worms.
Just like a normal creature's brain, it began issuing commands to all the worms.
Throughout this process, Li Ang observed.
The Brain Worm proved to be a natural information node. Its proficiency in commanding large numbers of lesser units was only slightly lower than Li Ang's.
The unique method of information transfer among the Bug Clan, through neural connection, allowed the Brain Worm to understand the function, role, and energy consumption of all Biological Weapons in an instant.
Following the direction of Li Ang's Divine Power Fluctuation, it planned the energy supply for each organ, allowing this newborn Leviathan to grow in a balanced manner under the nourishment of Divine Power.
At that moment, the Leviathan possessed vast power, but its components were uncoordinated.
Li Ang was already struggling merely to output enough Divine Power to keep the war chariot running at high speed.
He could only let the Brain Worm continue to adjust the war chariot and activate its components.
(The Brain Worm remained silent throughout, but within the spiritual network of Divine Power, it exhibited an abnormally fervent silence, like one entering a solemn temple, daring not to speak loudly, only able to express the heart's agitation through frenzied worship.)
HUMMM—
An intangible energy fluctuation spread out in all directions from the war chariot's center.
Fine dust particles trembled and rose, pausing briefly in the air like a thin mist.
Silence. Soundless. The air seemed to have been sucked out, unable to hold any noise. Between heaven and earth, only the engine roar of the Mutant Chariot remained.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
A heavy, powerful, prolonged, and penetrating heartbeat echoed deep within the vehicle—a hybrid of machinery, flesh, and plants.
As if a Giant Beast from The Abyss, dormant for millennia, had opened its eyes, the headlights of the Mutant Chariot flared to life.
Something was slowly awakening.
The three players suddenly felt intense discomfort. The peculiar feeling, as if they had been swallowed by a monster and were cowering inside its writhing intestines, intensified, making their scalps tingle and chills run down their spines. They had to suppress their instincts, forcibly resisting the urge to attack this den and flee the demonic lair.
Ryu, behind them, also realized something.
A Martial Artist's intuition told him that the threat level of the bizarre war machine ahead had suddenly skyrocketed.
A violent, sinister, chaotically evil presence—filled with an endless desire to devour, consume, and assimilate, yet simultaneously gentle, tranquil, and brimming with vitality—an 'aura' centered on the Mutant Chariot, was continuously intensifying.
"Divine creatures, huh..."
Ryu's brows furrowed slightly. Central City had gathered all sorts of quirky game characters, many of whom carried Divinity or were outright deities.
Divine creatures indeed had an overwhelming advantage over mundane species. The Divine Pressure they unconsciously released was enough to shatter the hearts and spirits of weaker beings, rendering them incapable of any thought of resistance. And if this Divine Pressure was consciously focused and released, it formed Divine Might, which could briefly stun even powerful mundane lifeforms in combat.
However, the Mutant Chariot before them merely possessed Divinity; its Divine Power hadn't reached a boundless, profound level. It was entirely beatable.
Moreover...
Flames of 'battle intent' erupted fiercely in Ryu's eyes.
So what if it's a divine creature? In this isolated and forbidden data space, the overall data strength, data output power, and data application efficiency are what truly determine power! A Martial Artist forged in countless life-and-death battles fears nothing. Even if it's a god, I'll blast it to pieces for you to see!
The azure light orb of the Wave Fist shot out, absorbing the oncoming gale, continuously expanding as it chased the Mutant Chariot's rear.
As for Ryu himself, he half-squatted.
His tattered fighting gi and Red Headband fluttered wildly as a massive aura around him took on the tangible form of a whirlwind.
"Rising!"
The saying goes: all martial arts stem from the Rising Dragon.
Among all fighting techniques, the Rising Dragon Punch is not the most powerful, nor the fastest, nor even the most practical—its wind-up is too long, its openings too wide. A slight misstep, and an opponent could seize the chance to defend and launch a torrential counterattack, utterly losing all advantage.
"Dragon!"
Yet, it was simple and dependable, like a thousand-year-old boulder, weathered by countless storms, eternally unbreakable.
The Rising Dragon Punch is always a fighter's undeniable choice when facing an unknown, formidable enemy.
"Punch!"
As the last word fell like a tolling bell, Ryu stomped on the vehicle's roof, shattering the thick ice Kula had deliberately condensed. The entire front of their vehicle sank heavily, its rear tilting sharply upward.
His figure vanished from the roof in an instant.
Only a white afterimage could be seen streaking between the two speeding war chariots, crossing over ten meters to reach the rear of the Mutant Chariot.
Visible, rapidly swirling air currents condensed around his upward-striking Iron Fist, tearing through the air, pulverizing gravel, and grinding the already fine dust into an even finer powder.
An unprecedented sense of crisis enveloped the three players' hearts.
The Dusk Knight's eyes lost focus, two pure white crosses reflected within them. His entire demeanor changed abruptly—dull, stupefied, numb, devoid of emotion.
Sunset Gold Smelter was no different. His chest split open to either side, revealing cybernetic internal organs, half-mechanical, half-flesh.
Among them, a power-furnace heart, wreathed in orange flames, was particularly conspicuous.
As members of the Royal National Church Knight Group and the Whale Song Organization, they each had trump cards. But, just as no one playing Fighting the Landlord would lead with their strongest hand, the unique nature and side effects of these trump cards meant they could only be used at the most critical moments.
This was an unprecedented crisis.
The Witch let out a mournful wail from her throat.
She brought together several test tubes containing light-blue Magic Potion. Using a magical sleight of hand, she removed the stoppers and gulped down all the Magic Potion.
An overload of Magic Power surged through her Magic Circuits, wreaking havoc. Veins bulged, capillaries burst, and blood vessels ruptured across her arms. Faint blue scales even began to appear at the edges of her cheeks—the Witch's ancestors had once intermarried with half-blood Dragonborn, leaving a dragon heritage in the family bloodline so faint it was almost negligible.
This diluted bloodline had ceased to enhance the family's elemental affinity generations ago. It only manifested when exposed to massive amounts of Magic Power, causing family members to become slightly bloodthirsty and savage, losing their sanity like wild beasts.
The family elders viewed this as an unspeakable shame. While half-bloods, or even those with one-eighth Dragon Clan heritage, were symbols of strength, those with even less dragon blood were treated as slaves, mongrels, and emergency rations—no longer respected or revered, but instead scorned by both the Dragon Clan and powerful mages.
But now was not the time to fret over so-called "family honor."
The scaled Witch quickly chanted an obscure and profound incantation. In the sky, the projection of a dark-red, octagonal magic array appeared.
A short dagger hung at each corner of the octagonal array.
[Skill Name: Amber Sword Seal]
[Type: Spiritual Energy]
[Effect: Trace Sealing. Chant the incantation and summon the array to cause an individual life form to pause on a spatio-temporal level.]
[Cost: 20% Dragon Clan Essence Blood, 1,000 Spirit Energy Value]
[Cooldown: 72 hours]
[Usage Condition: Dragon Clan Bloodline]
[Note: The higher the target's rank and willpower, the greater the chance of failure. Failure results in backlash.]
[Note: The weaker the target, the longer Trace Sealing lasts. Only one Trace Sealing subject can exist at a time.]
[Note: The Dragon Clan has a weak sense of family. Offspring are ordered by their mother to leave the territory upon reaching twenty years of age; otherwise, they are considered new threats and slaughtered. Until then, however, a mother dragon will protect her young to the death, as fiercely as she defends her own life and treasure. Some mother dragons with exceptionally strong maternal instincts might even use the costly Amber Sword Seal spell to protect offspring on the brink of death for whom no immediate cure can be found—unaware that this spell was actually developed and disseminated by the empire's half-dragon mages to aid expedition teams in hunting dragons more easily. This was their revenge for the Dragon Clan's long-term enslavement of Dragonborn and their persistent plundering of the empire.]
This Unique Spell of the Dragonborn from an otherworldly land was still effective in this digitized world.
As the daggers sank into the array one by one, Ryu's speed became progressively slower, as if he were being encased in amber, grinding to a halt.
"You wish!"
Kula barked lowly, spreading her arms. Extreme Cold Air condensed into a hail of sharp icicles, piercing down through the array and plummeting towards the war chariot.
PFFT—
The Witch, suffering backlash from the shattered array, spat a mouthful of corrosive blood onto the vines inside the vehicle, raising a plume of acrid smoke.
She could feel her head heating rapidly, her sanity draining away like a torrent. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖
The Magic Power, with nowhere to vent, surged through her Magic Circuits—first dry, then overfilled—causing her body to tremble violently, her skin cracking like brittle, yellowed paper.
"The Circle… The Circle… The Logic of the Circle… Destruction, embrace, acceptance, greatness, understanding, blood, offering…"
The Witch's vacant mumbling was abruptly cut short. A plump, white, translucent worm dropped from the vehicle's ceiling, opened its maw, and bit into her neck.
This was not an attack. Sunset Gold Smelter clearly saw a large amount of viscous, heavily medicated saliva flow from the worm's translucent mouth, submerging the Witch's head.
The Mind-Calming Potion from the Immaculate Furnace Shop had surprisingly worked. The distressing sensations of suffocation and nausea successfully dragged the Witch back from the terrifying hallucinations she experienced as her Magic Circuits neared collapse.
Myriad Bug Buzzes overlapped, forming a grand and solemn voice:
"'Tired, weary, and spouting nonsense? Have a swig of Dongpang Special to wash out your guts!'"
The Leviathan Brain Worm had finished calibrating all the war chariot's components. Obeying its creator Li Ang's twisted sense of humor, it recited a line it didn't understand, then commanded the plump worm to release the Witch's head and retract to the ceiling.
POP.
The Witch, her head drenched in saliva, pursed her lips, spat out the remaining fluid, and blinked, her clear eyes filled with confusion about what had just transpired.
The Leviathan Brain Worm paid no more heed to this hairless female ape. To the newborn Brain Worm, all humans were ugly, hairless apes. Of course, the creator was different.
The Lord of Flesh and Swamp, the Unifier of All Things, was heaven, earth, the one true god of this world—far beyond comparison to any hairless ape.
Vines extended, flesh swelled, worms mutated. All components, directed by the Leviathan Brain Worm, performed their designated functions, causing the entire war chariot to undergo a cataclysmic transformation.
As Li Ang had stated long ago, when two life forms are of comparable levels, greater mass means more mobilizable resources, and larger volume means more adaptable space and more comprehensive functionality.
There was a limit to what he could achieve in human form, but when he commanded a biological tank... the situation was entirely different.
He commanded the Brain Worm, and the Brain Worm, in turn, controlled all of Leviathan's components.
BOOM!
Ryu, finally free from the binding spell, slammed his fist into the rear of the Mutant Chariot.
Just as he expected, the Martial Artist's Ki blast scattered many of the war chariot's components, its rear end lurching high into the air.
The newly grown spiked carapace, not yet fully hardened, was still too soft and fragile to withstand the blow.
The biomass organs beneath were also violently blasted away, caught in Ryu's Ki-infused shockwave, and pulverized in mid-air.
"Pointless."
From within the vehicle came a cacophony of myriad Bug Buzzes and screeches.
Countless slender vines shot out from the war chariot's undercarriage and flanks, accurately snagging still-salvageable components from the air and yanking them back. Accompanied by the squelching of flesh, the damage swiftly healed, good as new.
The newborn Bug Clan unit was growing at an astonishing rate. The barbed armor on its surface became tough and resilient, the biomass cannons on its flanks loaded with ammunition, and the fusion of vines, flesh, and machinery grew ever more seamless.
The massive heart hidden deep within the war chariot supplied it with a constant, surging torrent of power.
The Brain Worm was its brain, machinery its skeleton, vines its circulatory system, and flesh its very foundation.
Ryu felt an even stronger threat.
He stood on the ice plow Kula had formed, preventing disqualification for leaving his vehicle.
He squatted down once again, adopting the timeless starting pose, "Rising Dragon Punch!"
"Useless."
The Bug Buzzes and screeches intensified as the Leviathan War Chariot's flanks extended, revealing over a dozen bio-cannons of varying shapes.
The ammunition in each cannon depended on the Bug Clan unit forming it—the cannons themselves were living bugs or parts of them, drawing ammunition through a complex network of tubes in the chariot's undercarriage.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The cannons smoothly swiveled towards the rear and fired in unison.
Dark green toxic sacs burst in mid-air. The corrosive liquid melted Ryu's fighting gi, searing large white blotches onto his resilient skin.
The Briarvines manifested as a volley of brown seeds. Carrying a trace of Li Ang's Divine Power, they latched onto Ryu's body, rapidly taking root and sprouting into dense vines that interwove, seeking to strangle him.
Even an adult African elephant wouldn't last three seconds against such strangulation, but with a flex of Ryu's muscles, the vines shattered and lost their vitality.
Yet the Spore Sacs hidden within the Briarvines' brown seeds remained on the surface of Ryu's muscles.
As part of Li Ang's current Biological Weapon arsenal, spores had numerous variants. Some could spread extensively, developing into green vegetation that purified the air and terraformed environments. Others could contaminate land and water sources, causing the ground to bloom with toxic, vibrant mushrooms or lichens.
The spores fired by the Leviathan War Chariot, however, had a far simpler function.
COUGH! COUGH!
Ryu began coughing violently, his half-executed Rising Dragon Punch faltering.
Thousands of spores in his respiratory tract burrowed deep into his flesh, growing savagely and spreading aggressively under the influence of the residual Divine Power.
Ryu attempted to use his Ki and a martial artist's muscle vibrations to isolate the effect, but this only caused the mature spore dandelions to rupture, their contents seeping further down his respiratory tract and into his lungs.
In the blink of an eye, a large amount of white, powdery mist gushed from his mouth and nose. Each breath sounded like the rasp of a broken bellows.
BANG!
Ryu's burly frame collapsed, crashing heavily onto the icy plow.
Even so, this Martial Artist's eyes still burned with fighting spirit, as if flames were about to erupt and incinerate the despicable coward who had poisoned the air.
"Hand over the vehicle."
Leviathan's voice was sharp and grating.
Reluctantly, Ryu clenched his fists. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw both Brutal Brick and Marie Rose coughing up the same misty powder.
Acting on a premonition, Kula had hastily created an ice respirator for herself, but her two companions were already hit—especially Marie Rose.
Her eyes were vacant. In her right hand, she still gripped a sharp short dagger, holding it against her own slender neck.
Sunset Gold Smelter's Cyber Martial Arts Puppetry Secret Technique was still in effect.
"..."
A torrent of unwillingness surged through Ryu's heart. He clenched his fists tightly, then slowly relaxed them.
"Let's get off."
Kula's lips trembled; she looked as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.
She grabbed the furiously coughing Brutal Brick and the vacant-eyed Marie Rose. Together with Ryu, they leaped from the speeding vehicle, sliding down the freshly made ice ramp to a safe, decelerated landing on the ground.
Ahead on the road, they could see the Mutant Chariot, its rear gaping like a monstrous maw, spewing out vines to drag their Fighter vehicle into its 'mouth' and greedily chew it up.
The other war chariots were merely nutrients for Leviathan.
If not for the creator's lack of instruction, the Leviathan Brain Worm would have even wanted to keep those four high-energy life forms and assimilate them completely.
Reproduce, expand, devour, and offer unending, devout loyalty to the Lord of Flesh and Swamp—this was the iron law etched into the genes of all Biological Weapons.
Kula, having barely survived, was unaware of this.
The difficult memories of gathering materials for the war chariot—scurrying all over Central City, participating in countless fighting competitions—surged involuntarily, prompting Kula to blurt out, "Ryu, we've lost..."
"I know."
Ryu covered his mouth and nose, coughing, white spores continuously trickling through his fingers. The thrum of helicopter rotors echoed from the sky—the medical team was arriving.
"'My martial arts still aren't refined enough.'"
Ryu turned, his imposing figure appearing even heavier against the sun's backlight. "'I'm sorry.'"
"'...It's not your fault.'" Kula wanted to comfort her dejected comrade, but only dry words of solace came out. "'I mean... didn't you say it before? A true Martial Artist might fall, but they never fail. Those who fail aren't true Martial Artists.'"
Her awkward attempt at reassurance drew a bittersweet chuckle from Ryu. He coughed, scratching his short black hair.
"'Thank you.'" The fighter's expression shed its shame, becoming resolute and steady. "'This is the last time I'll show weakness. Before next year's war chariot race, I will definitely master the ultimate secret art.'"
"'The Killing Intention Fluctuation.'"
