Chapter 644: War

In the Breeding Factory, under Abu's watchful eye, the petri dish in front of him opened, and his brother crawled out from inside.

Looking at his own well-built muscles, Steelheart proudly posed in front of the mirror, "So, I died again? How did I die this time?"

Under cloning technology, the once huge lion head was gone, revealing his true appearance, a blond youth who looked to be in his twenties or thirties.

To go back to having a furry lion's head, he still had to undergo some cosmetic modification.

At that moment, Abu's expression was very complex as he looked at his brother, "I can no longer remember how many times it's been. With you like this now, I don't know if you're really my brother or just my brother's clone."

Steelheart put down the bicep he had been flexing and looked towards his brother. "Bro, why are you still hung up on this? Back when we were running the streets, after I got killed the first time, didn't we agree not to dwell on this issue?"

He turned around, and upon seeing the expression on Abu's face, he came up to him and said very seriously, "Bro, don't worry. No matter what trouble we face, I will always stand in front of you, just like back then."

"Slap." Abu delivered a smack across his face, "I damn well want you to stay alive!"

Feeling the sting on his face, Steelheart looked at his brother, "Bro, you've said it before, if we're out here getting mixed up in this life, we can't be afraid of dying. If you show fear, our turf will be taken by others. If they don't care about their own lives, you have to care even less about yours."

"When we first took Eighteenth Street's turf, wasn't it because of my recklessness? It's the same this time. Even if your brother is a bit slow and can't do your tasks, only fit for the rough jobs, don't worry. No matter how many times I'm revived, I will always stand in front of you!"

Hearing these words, Abu reached out to touch his brother's cheek, his face showing a glimpse of distress.

"Steelheart, let's run away."

"What?" Steelheart showed a hint of surprise on his face, finding it hard to believe these words came from his own brother.

"Let's run away. You might not know what's happening with the higher-ups from the front lines, but I can tell you, we have no chance of winning. Our forces are retreating. The enemy's strength is just too overwhelming," fear was visible on Abu's face.

"Run? How? Where to?"

"Some people have prepared a spacecraft, planning to leave Earth. I secretly hijacked it. Let's leave this damned Earth on that ship and head into outer space! It doesn't matter where we go, anywhere is better than here. I'm sick of dying, and I don't want you to be cloned again."

"What about the others, though? Our brothers from Eighteenth Street?" Steelheart's face showed hesitation.

Abu began to breathe rapidly. "I can't worry about them now! If there was a chance to win, I'd be unequivocally committed, but there's no hope left! Whatever the hell the Third Class's plans are, none of them are working! Besides, what others don't know is that the current Sun Jack is already a damn clone! His original self has long disappeared to who knows where! And Tapai's gone too! They've all fled!"

As Abu spoke more breathlessly, he turned to leave. However, at that moment, Steelheart's large hand landed on Abu's shoulder, holding him back. "Bro, they haven't escaped."

"What?" Abu turned around, astonished at his brother, who in the past had never contradicted him, but this time seemed different.

"Others might know things I don't and be smarter than me, but I do know one thing about clones—if someone wants to escape, creating a clone to take their place just won't work. A selfish clone will never help its original."

"Sun Jack could do anything, but he would never run away. That's the only thing I'll give him credit for, bro. You go ahead, I'm not leaving."

"Why?" Abu looked at his brother in shock, unable to believe that he actually wanted to stay and face death.

A look of disdain crept onto Steelheart's face, "Damn it, the first time we clashed, I was particularly pissed at him. If he hadn't played his clever tricks, how could I have lost? Ever since, I've always wanted to surpass him, but his territory just kept growing."

"I could let other things go, but since he hasn't run, I absolutely cannot let him outdo me on this."

"You!!" Abu stared at his brother, but seeing his expression, he knew his brother's stubbornness was kicking in.

A mixture of emotions played across Abu's face, but ultimately she let out a deep sigh, "Fine, if you won't leave, then I'm not leaving either. Going to outer space is merely a hopeless cage anyway."

Hearing this, Steelheart immediately hugged his brother with glee, "Haha, that's the brother I know who's not afraid of anyone! Don't worry, if we work together, we won't even consider that shitty out-of-control AI a threat!"

"You idiot, just a reckless fool, acting on impulse and not realizing what we're up against."

Abu let out a sigh, and as she remembered the severity of their current situation, she ended up sighing deeply again and started patting her brother on the back, mimicking their mother's gesture.

Everyone in the Metropolis was busy with their own matters, and no matter what happened—even if it was the end of the world—life had to go on.

However, the sudden anomaly in the sky made everyone look up. Something seemed to be rolling within the snowing clouds, and soon people noticed there was something wrong with the snowflakes—they were moving! They were like swarms of worms devouring everything they touched.

"Not good! These aren't snowflakes, they're camouflaged nanoworms! Damn it! How did they get past the air defense system?" Along with the piercing alarm, the entire red city of the Metropolis went into alert.

The white nanoworms that fell with the snow now sprang into action, rabidly consuming everything in the Metropolis, including humans. The screams and explosions shattered the city's dead silence.

In an instant, a massive defense grid rose, air defense cannons began firing rapidly at the clouds, and the nearby Spacecraft Carrier on alert mode started gearing up for battle and rushing back.

Against the attack from the Poet's mechanical forces, the battle-hardened Metropolis had already been prepared, quickly raising and lowering to transform into a giant mechanical fortress.

The Metropolis's defense grid and air defense cannons wove a dense network of fire, attempting to block the continuously falling nanoworms. Drone swarms flew in formation, releasing jamming signals to disrupt the nanoworms' communication.

The weaponry systems of the Sky Mother Ship were fully activated, with high-energy laser beams and missiles raining down like showers at the clouds, trying to destroy these deadly bio-weapons at their source.

But the nanoworms were just the beginning, not even qualifying as an appetizer. With more and more mechanical units joining the fray, the dead quiet Metropolis instantly became the center of the battleground with roaring and exploding noises coming from all directions.

At this moment, the whole city became a colossal meat grinder, incessantly devouring all life within.