Chapter 1 Under the Burst Tunnel...

A world-shaking battle, a thunderous deterrence.

Facing the Demon Lord's fierce onslaught, Lu Te responded calmly, without fear.

With every move they made, they wielded devastating power.

Fortunately, their battlefield was beneath the Burst Tunnel, where a spatial rift existed, allowing most of the runaway energy to flow into another dimension. Otherwise, most of the city would probably have been destroyed by them already.

"Looks like it's about time..." Lu Te said in a deep voice after the nth exchange with the Demon Lord, "Your remaining power is less than 6%. Shouldn't you give up?"

"Hmph... you can see that too?" The Demon Lord's tone remained as arrogant as ever.

At first glance, his condition seemed no different from when the battle began. Dark energy still crackled around him; the fighting spirit in his four demon eyes was even stronger than before.

But the world in the eyes of a Derivatist was a different sight altogether...

"Your strength has indeed exceeded my initial calculations," Lu Te continued, "But... it's still within the correction value."

Lu Te's appearance at this moment was somewhat different from before. She had abandoned her ordinary human form and transformed into a liquid metal being, her entire body like mercury. In this form, even if she were blasted into thousands of droplets, she could reform in a very short time, making her virtually immortal.

"If this were the Inner World, I could completely obliterate you in just one minute," Lu Te said coldly, "But here, I have to expend a little more effort..." She slowly raised her right hand, extending a finger, and a white energy ball rapidly condensed at its tip, "So far, you have 'killed' me a total of six times. Or rather... you have successfully used six fatal attacks on me."

At this point, Lu Te paused for two seconds, and a hint of a smile appeared on her liquid metal face, which only had a simple outline: "However... I'm sure you've also noticed that with each such attack, I become stronger."

With a gentle flick of her finger, the energy ball shot out like a cannonball, blasting a white streak of light, charging towards the leader of all demons with the force of a whirlwind.

In the next moment, demonic energy ignited, and demonic flames devoured the light.

The Demon Lord raised a hand, a black fire appearing in his palm, instantly incinerating the light ball that Lu Te had sent hurtling towards him in mid-air.

Lu Te watched the deity standing proudly in the flames with cold eyes, and snorted coldly... Then, she continued in a calm tone: "I might as well be frank... since coming to this space, I have undergone a total of fifteen 'deviations'. With each one... I become a little weaker than my 'original form'." She paused, "After fifteen times, I finally reduced my strength to only about three times stronger than a Level One Derivatist. Because only in this way... can I enter places outside the Inner World without causing an abnormal reaction from the system."

As Lu Te spoke, she began to stride closer to her opponent: "As a controllable data, the fact that you were able to make me shed six forms with your own strength is indeed a bit of a surprise to me. But... this is where it ends." Her voice seemed to carry an invisible pressure, "The current me, although still not as good as you in terms of destructive power, energy intensity, and speed... even if you use up all your remaining power at once, you won't be able to inflict fatal damage on me."

As she spoke, Lu Te's footsteps did not stop, and she unhurriedly came to within five meters of the Demon Lord, her arms thrusting out, her ten fingers suddenly extending like abruptly grown steel cones.

Faced with this sudden attack, the Demon Lord did not dodge or evade, but met it head-on. The black armor on his body was also no ordinary object, and it remained undamaged under the impact of the liquid metal.

Clang clang clang clang—

Dense collision sounds rang out one after another, splashing a few black sparks.

"You just keep talking and talking when I don't say anything, huh... Derivatist." Although the Demon Lord had not retreated a single step, the light in his pupils had dimmed a little, "You really think... this king has used all his strength?"

As soon as he said this, even Lu Te's expression changed.

"You're getting carried away playing with the power accumulated in this space..." A sinister smile crept onto the Demon Lord's face.

His four pupils were getting darker and darker, seemingly foreshadowing something. It turned out that this was not a sign of exhaustion, but...

"Since you're so confident, then this king will unleash his true power and kill you another ten or eight times... what's the harm?"

Whoosh—

Suddenly, a beam of light came from the side, passing right between Lu Te and the Demon Lord.

The power of this attack was not that strong, but it was enough to make these two powerhouses react.

"Please calm down... Lord Demon Lord." A slightly shrill male voice rang out.

The leader of all demons glanced at the newcomer out of the corner of his eye, and said without turning his head, "What are you doing here?"

"Of course, it's to stop you from making impulsive moves at this moment..." the man replied.

Lu Te turned to look at the other party.

Data recognition:

—Breaking through the firewall...

—Downloading data...

—Initiating countermeasure strategy...

Appearance recognition database activated, downloading, writing correction writing writing.

[Name: Talium]

[Faction: Leader of All Demons]

[Race: Curse God Officer]

[Level: 359]

[Height: 180 cm]

[Weight: 60 kg]

[Combat Style: Chaos Incantations]

[Skills: ???]

[Danger Level: ???]

Voice recognition: Established.

Location: x-044.

Tracking location: Unable to start.

Control status: Out of control.

Tactical control options: ???.

"Another one?" Lu Te muttered, "Hmph... anyway, the outcome won't change..."

Talium was currently sitting on top of a building in the distance, talking to the two of them with his legs crossed. He was wearing a black robe and a gorgeous cloak. His appearance looked very similar to a human, except that his cheekbones were a few points higher than those of an average person, and each of his eyes had two pupils; in addition, Talium's skin was white, pure white...

"Lord Demon Lord, you've had quite a fun battle, haven't you? Why don't we just stop here?" Talium said, although his wording was still quite respectful, his tone sounded very frivolous.

"Do you think this king will lose?" The Demon Lord's question was full of murderous intent.

"No, no, no..." Talium quickly shook his head and waved his hands, "I just want to remind you, my lord... if you unleash all your power, this space will be finished." He shrugged and spread his hands, "If it gets to that point... then you will not only be unable to bring this place under your rule, but you will also give the other three gods something to criticize. Besides... killing this Derivatist won't do you any good..." He pointed at Lu Te and continued, "Obviously, this Derivatist's purpose is not to occupy this place, so... why don't you return to the Chaos Scorched Earth with me first, and after the battle between the Derivatists and those interdimensional travelers is over, we'll come again. Even if something changes during this period, it will be the Time Officers, Jurors, and the Nine Nether Liches who die, and you won't suffer any losses, my lord."

Talium's strategy was undoubtedly correct. As the Demon Lord's strategist, this Curse God Officer was indeed dutiful and responsible, always thinking of his superior and calculating the accounts very clearly.

"He's right." Lu Te actually agreed with these words, and instantly restrained her fighting spirit, "Continuing to fight will not benefit either of us."

Unlike the Four Pillar Gods, who were "controllable" data, Ai like Lu Te could completely compromise. At times, her response was actually similar to that of a "player".

This was not a difference in "intelligence", but a superiority in thinking mode. Taking dimensions as an example, Derivatists were beings between players and NPCs. Players could allow anything to happen in this dimension, including the end of the world; while NPCs had pre-set personalities, positions, and ideas, and they had to follow their perceived world view and "live" in this dimension; as for Derivatists... they were rather peculiar, like a group of cultivators who could never pass the Heavenly Tribulation. Even with transcendent consciousness, they still had to remain in the mortal world.

At this moment, Lu Te, as a higher-level Ai, was naturally unwilling to risk 'the destruction of the entire space' to fight the Demon Lord. She would avoid any variables that would affect her ultimate goal as much as possible.

…………

At the same time, inside the Golden Maggot No. 1.

"Hey... are you lost?" Matcha Su asked, squinting from the back seat.

"I don't know any roads to begin with..." Xiao Tan replied, "I'm just driving in one direction..." He changed the subject, "But... I wanted to say this ten minutes ago, the road ahead looks familiar..."

"Then why didn't you say so!" Matcha Su shouted, "We're probably trapped by something, right?"

"Co... Could it be a ghost wall?" Xiao Tan asked in a panic.

Matcha Su saw Xiao Tan's expression in the rearview mirror and immediately sighed, "I say, Brother Wang, you're so timid, why do you always think of things in terms of horror after something happens?" She replied, "Can't you reason towards more scientific and practical conclusions?"

"Penrose stairs?" Xiao Tan said again, his reaction was quite quick.

"Uh..." Matcha Su continued, "Actually, I just wanted to say, maybe we've fallen for some skill or trap."

"You probably haven't heard of this term, so you're changing the subject, right?" Xiao Tan's intuition was frighteningly keen.

"Stop talking nonsense! No matter what the reason... as the driver, you are primarily responsible!" Matcha Su replied angrily.

"Don't think about it... you guys are like the hands on a clock, always spinning in place." Suddenly, a strange voice came from the roof of the car, joining their conversation: "You'll never get out until you find the caster..."