Free Web NovelLynn and Zuo Zuo both jolted, but clearly, Alice and the others couldn't hear that voice.
It carried no identifiable gender or source, as if it were a distant call echoing from the deepest recesses of flesh and consciousness.
And almost at that very moment.
Lynn clutched his wildly pounding heart and snapped his gaze toward the center of the battlefield.
A pillar of crimson light pierced upward, churning through the sea of black mist.
...
At the very center of the battlefield, the God of All Machines and Sir Aiwen's ferocious assault ground to an abrupt halt simultaneously, both of them retreating hundreds of meters.
"That is..."
Sir Aiwen's head shot up, his eyes locked onto the crimson beam that burst forth from the Desire Mother Tree's main trunk.
The God of All Machines narrowed his eyes, rolling torrents of mist surging from the corners of his enormous draconic maw.
"Colossus!"
They all felt it—that bone-deep, familiar aura of flesh and blood.
The very same Flesh Ascendant who, before its fall, had been the only one to forge a Technological Civilization as the core, condensing billions of living beings into a single Colossus!
Was it about to awaken?
Or had the Desire Mother Tree deliberately triggered some restriction within that tower.
"It seems the time has come, Mother Tree."
The massive eyeball writhing within the rift let out a hoarse, grating voice.
The Desire Mother Tree glared fixedly at the God of All Machines and Sir Aiwen, a constant cracking sound echoing from deep within her main trunk. Her colossal blood-and-flesh vines ceaselessly pierced and spread across that silver-white tower.
The overwhelming fluctuations radiating from the entire Colossus's Tower made even her feel waves of intense crisis.
Under her deciphering, the Colossus's Brain had already begun a massive acceleration in its awakening process.
"But I still haven't seen through your true intentions."
The Desire Mother Tree stared unflinchingly at the God of All Machines and Sir Aiwen, then spoke coldly to the Flesh and Blood Dominator, who shared her alignment:
"You neither want the Colossus's Brain, nor do you care about the Leviathan's fall. Could it be that you're involved in this affair merely to deal with the God of All Machines?"
That was also the biggest question plaguing her this whole time.
No creature of Chaotic Alignment ever harbored any selfless motives. For him to remain utterly indifferent to the Leviathan's fall could only mean that the gain he was chasing far exceeded any benefit a Leviathan could provide.
And that was precisely what put her most on edge.
What exactly did he want?!
The Flesh and Blood Dominator rasped, "Don't we have an agreement? The Colossus's Brain goes to you, and then we join forces to erase the Mechanical Cult from this world entirely. Isn't that why you agreed to this alliance, Mother Tree?"
Promising benefits in exchange for the cooperation of two major cults.
That was indeed the pact they had originally struck. Otherwise, the Desire Mother Tree would never have thrown herself so fully into the Cursed City's assault on the God of All Machines.
Yet the Desire Mother Tree still felt waves of hesitation.
Was it really just that?
Was it truly only that?
But she knew that now was not the time to dwell on such thoughts. The allure of the Colossus's Brain was too great for her. If she could devour it, she would undoubtedly ascend to become one of the foremost Root-level beings in this world.
"We cannot let them open the Colossus's Tower!"
"Attack!"
In that instant.
The God of All Machines, his gaze ice-cold and without a word of explanation, immediately opened his abyss-like maw and spewed a barrage of particle annihilation beams toward the Desire Mother Tree.
Sir Aiwen also instantly sensed something amiss. He raised his head sharply, and in the blink of an eye, the fluctuations of Psychic Energy twisted the reality of the entire battlefield like a kaleidoscope.
Because they all felt it.
What erupted from within the Colossus's Tower was an aura of pure, uncorrupted energy, utterly different from that of the Cursed!
"The Colossus's Brain... hasn't been cursed?!"
Sir Aiwen spun around abruptly, fixing a sharp gaze on the God of All Machines.
The God of All Machines let out a cold sneer. "Ha, it's far cleverer than you fallen ones. Did you really think those fragments of Colossus's Flesh and Blood scattered outside were merely the result of it breaking apart? No. It was simply using that method to delay the time when this world would take notice of it."
"It's been slumbering here for at least three thousand years. If not for us finding it, it might have spent another few millennia fully repairing its consciousness, then immediately recalled all its flesh and blood the moment it awakened, and burst straight out of this Dark World!"
"But how could I ever give it that chance!"
Boom—
A colossal wave of particles shook the vast branches of the Desire Mother Tree.
Gritting her teeth, the Desire Mother Tree frantically channeled her flesh-and-blood power to rapidly heal her limbs, roaring wildly:
"Both of you, the real show has only just begun! Do you really think you can suppress us so easily by joining forces here? Dream on! Once I find the Colossus's Brain's consciousness, it'll still be anyone's game who ends up dead!"
And almost at that very instant.
Her enormous branches plunged violently into the main body of the Colossus's Tower, which she had wrapped within her grasp.
Crack, crack, crack—
Crevices were torn open in a frenzy, and the blinding crimson radiance resembled a terrifying vessel on the verge of exploding from overload.
"See you later!"
And the moment she spat out those four frantic words.
The entire tower was detonated in an instant. From within the tower, a blazing crimson light burst forth, engulfing the entire battlefield for hundreds of miles in a flash.
It was an unfolding of an Upper World's rank, suppressing all Root-level presences.
And in that moment of expansion.
Whether it was the God of All Machines, Sir Aiwen, or Lynn and his group in the distance, clutching their hearts and grinding their teeth—they were all instantly swallowed by that crimson radiance, their very wills consumed.
And far above in the sky.
Deep within the black mist churned by the crimson light, the awakening of the Colossus's Brain vaguely stirred the attention of some existence watching from afar.
...
Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle—
It felt as though someone had forcibly shoved his head into a viscous, deep pool. An intense sensation of suffocation and vertigo washed over him instantly.
It was as if he had traversed into another world.
Everywhere, the deepening darkness of the crimson light gradually consumed every corner of his consciousness.
And then, the next moment.
Lynn snapped his eyes open from that suffocating haze. The contours of his pupils contracted violently as his consciousness instantly cleared.
Simultaneously, the System's notification rang in his ears.
[Ding! You have been dragged into the Colossus's Brain's deep consciousness. Proceed with caution.]
Lynn came to his senses immediately, panting heavily.
Deep consciousness?
Was it caused by that voice he heard earlier?
Lynn quickly looked around warily, his eyes scanning his surroundings at lightning speed.
The area was vast and empty.
It was as if he had been tossed into a desolate desert. His field of vision spanned barely three hundred meters, shrouded by an all-pervasive blood-colored mist. Even when he looked down at his own body, it seemed to be enveloped in a faint crimson glow.
It was like a blood-colored space, suspended somewhere between reality and illusion!
"Alice? Little One? Miss Puppet?"
Lynn's eyes flickered as he called out softly, but received no response.
So then.
Had he alone been pulled into this Mental Space, or had every living being affected by that crimson radiance been indiscriminately dragged in here?
He tried to wiggle his little finger.
But he immediately realized that the soul thread linking him to Hei Xianyue, which had always worked before, had become useless here, completely preventing him from sensing her location.
Yet he did not panic.
He immediately sat cross-legged on the ground, sinking into deep contemplation of his next move.
First.
Before that crimson radiance had swept over him, he had heard that ethereal call echoing within his consciousness.
Without a doubt, it must have come from the Colossus's Brain.
Because he had Bio-armamented the Colossus's damaged heart. After years of integration, it was perfectly natural for the Colossus's Brain to mistake him for part of itself.
"If that's the case, then what about Zuo Zuo?"
