Chapter 1365: Death Wore a Lab Coat

There was unmistakable pride in the voice, even a note of welcome.

Only that final word—"death"—gave them pause.

Whatever could create beings like Kravik and Granthor was unlikely to be friendly.

Once the War Machine finished speaking, two long mechanical arms sprang from the sides of its metal chassis.

It turned around and rolled forward across the gray-white ground, waving both arms behind it to signal for everyone to follow.

Ethan did not trust it completely.

He took a cautious step forward.

One step was all it took for the world around them to change.

The gray-white forest vanished.

In its place stood a sprawling industrial complex. Towering factories connected to one another, their metal walls covered in rust and their exposed pipes broken in countless places.

The factories were badly dilapidated, but all of them surrounded a circular building at the center.

The War Machine leading them changed as well.

Its long mechanical arms stretched forward, and the metal structures at their ends rearranged themselves into a pair of enormous scissors.

The blades opened and closed at the group.

Scrape. Scrape.

Sparks sprayed from the grinding edges.

At the same time, factory doors began opening all around them.

War Machines and mechanical animals emerged from every direction. Treads rolled over the ground, metal limbs hammered against the road, and tightly packed ranks of mechanical units charged toward them.

Before they could get close, a transparent barrier rose between the two sides.

The first War Machine slammed straight into it, the impact crushing and deforming its metal chassis. The machines behind it could not stop in time and crashed into those ahead of them.

The barrier did not budge.

The machines remained trapped on the other side, throwing themselves against its smooth surface again and again.

Ethan regarded the small machines with cold indifference.

White lightning crackled from his fingertips and traveled down his arm into his palm. The writhing arcs tangled together, compressing into an energy sphere that grew brighter by the second.

Just as the lightning was about to leave his hand, a heavy grinding noise came from the circular building at the center of the complex.

Its rusted dome split open. Metal plates scraped against one another with an earsplitting shriek, sending sheets of rust and dust raining into the building below.

An enormous shadow rose through the opening.

It was a War Machine far larger than the others. Heavy armor covered its entire body, and several launch tubes stood open across its back.

Fire flared deep within them.

Missiles streaked toward the group, trailing thick smoke. A storm of bullets followed from multiple elevations, cutting off every possible escape route. The other War Machines trapped behind the transparent barrier raised their weapons at the same time and opened fire.

Gunfire erupted from all sides.

Andona quietly stepped to the front of the group.

Pale golden light rose from beneath her feet and closed around her on both sides, forming a broad shield. The first missile struck the golden screen, and flames and smoke billowed outward from the explosion. Only a faint ripple passed across the shield’s surface.

Then the bullets arrived.

Metal rounds flattened against the barrier and fell to the ground, striking it as rapidly as rain against a window. Even the missiles bombarding it could do no more than make the golden light flicker.

Against Andona’s shield, the entire barrage barely counted as an attack.

Golden light filled her eyes.

A blade took shape in her hand. Divine Power flowed along its spine and gathered at the tip.

She did not even bother charging it properly. She simply tossed it forward.

The moment the blade left her hand, golden light spread out behind it. Surging Divine Power filled its entire flight path, layer after layer of radiant force converging behind the edge like an advancing army.

Every bullet in its path was crushed by the golden light.

The missiles collapsed from within before they could touch the blade, losing power and falling to the ground as useless metal wreckage.

The giant War Machine tried to change altitude.

Too late.

The golden blade crossed the remaining distance and pierced its chest. Its armor caved inward before the tip punched through, golden light spreading along the circuitry inside.

The War Machine froze.

A heartbeat later, blinding golden light erupted from within its body.

The surrounding mechanical creatures were caught in the blast. Golden power swept across their metal shells, erasing War Machines and mechanical animals one after another until almost all of them had vanished into the radiance.

Only a small amount of wreckage fell back to the ground.

At that moment, an unseen force pushed open the doors of the central building.

The two badly rusted metal doors scraped across the ground with a long, piercing shriek. A foul stench rolled out from behind them—a mixture of blood, decay, and the moldy reek of a place sealed for far too long.

Before anyone could see inside, shuffling footsteps sounded between the surrounding factories.

Zombies crawled out of the darkened corners.

The moment they smelled the odor spreading from the laboratory, they turned toward the central area. Some ran along the roads, while others scuttled on all fours. They trampled over the fallen War Machines on the way, snapping their already broken bodies apart.

The zombies soon reached the pale golden shield.

They opened their mouths and gnawed frantically at the light. More climbed over the bodies of those in front, stretching out their arms in an attempt to grab Andona, who hovered in the air.

Some of their bodies could not withstand the strain. Their upper and lower halves tore apart at the waist.

Neither half stopped moving.

Their legs continued walking in place while their upper bodies crawled onward, dragging their exposed entrails behind them. Severed fingers, arms, and even half-heads kept writhing across the ground.

Andona looked down at them in confusion.

No wonder she had failed to sense their presence earlier.

They could still move, but every trace of life within them was long gone.

She raised her blade, sending Divine Power surging high along its length.

"Judgment! Golden Crucible!"

Golden patterns spread beneath the zombies’ feet.

Several pillars of light rose along the formation’s perimeter, sealing together at the top and bottom to create a radiant golden cage around every zombie gathered outside the shield.

Andona pressed her palm toward the cage.

Sacred energy poured into it without end. The brilliant golden light gradually thickened, flowing down from the top of the cage like molten gold and filling every gap.

The zombies continued biting and clawing.

Golden edges swept back and forth through the cage, slicing their bodies into countless pieces. The severed parts had barely begun crawling again when the descending golden liquid engulfed them.

The level continued to rise.

Only after the entire cage had filled with gold did Andona stop pouring Divine Power into it.

No screams of pain came from within.

All they heard was the wet sound of flesh being torn apart over and over, echoing throughout the laboratory complex from inside the Golden Crucible.

Ethan paid no attention to the golden prison behind him.

He walked toward the circular building alone.

Rust had sealed both its dome and doors, and the internal mechanisms had nearly rotted away. Ethan grabbed one side of the doorframe and pulled, wrenching the metal door open by brute force.

Screech—

The hinges tore free from the wall, leaving the entire door hanging crookedly to one side.

The laboratory was pitch-black.

Only the faint glow of the Golden Crucible outside passed through the grimy windows, casting several dim bands of light across the floor.

Ethan stepped inside.

The floor had been stained bloodred. Only a small patch near one corner retained its original white color, making what had happened here all the more obvious.

Several monitors had gone dark long ago.

Deep cracks covered the keyboards, desks, and equipment casings. Faint electrical pulses still flickered within the gaps, occasionally producing a brief crackle of current.

A few zombies stood scattered throughout the back of the room.

At the sound of Ethan’s footsteps, their heads slowly turned. The moment their clouded eyes settled on him, their sluggish movements became frenzied.

It was as if they had spotted a hated enemy.

"Raargh!"

The zombies charged him with twisted faces.

Their white lab coats had long since been dyed red with blood, the torn fabric flapping as they ran. The zombie in front spread both arms and lunged straight for Ethan’s face.