Chapter 96: A Shield, and Also a Weapon

The ancient technological relic, now detached from the ground, was immediately teleported back to the orbital shipyard.

"It's time to retreat," Qin Mo ordered his elite guards.

At the bulkhead, the battle raged on. Upon receiving the retreat command, Grey fired while backing into an open area, preparing for teleportation.

Without his suppressive fire, the enemy forces, who had been relentlessly assaulting the underground chamber, flooded in, surrounding the area and firing continuously.

One enemy officer noticed the relic was missing, and a cold sweat instantly dripped down his forehead.

Although no one in the entire Talon star system had ever been able to fully analyze this ancient relic—only use it—the absence of such a powerful artifact was catastrophic. 

If the relic's functions were deciphered, and the shield protecting the entire city was disabled...

The officer shuddered at the thought, quickly shouting, "Don't let them escape! Stop them at all costs, no matter what it takes!"

Yet, few soldiers moved, unwilling to throw their lives away.

The officer, anticipating this, had a backup plan.

As he issued his orders, his personal guards charged in from the corridor, mounting a four-barreled heavy felling gun and aiming it straight at their own comrades.

In an instant, hundreds of soldiers were cut down, their bodies torn apart and scattered across the floor.

The sudden betrayal shocked everyone. Those fighting to reclaim the underground chamber were forced to surge forward to avoid the deadly barrage, though none dared to mount a suicidal charge. After all, no matter how fierce the felling gun's firepower, it couldn't compare to the devastating power wielded by the six armored figures.

That didn't matter, though. All they needed to do was push forward.

The officer turned and fled, pulling a controller from his pocket and pressing the red switch.

In the next moment, the weapons held by his soldiers began to glow red, followed by a series of explosions.

All of this transpired in less than a minute.

Betrayal and treachery were woven into every corner of the Cult of the Lord of Wisdom's dominion, but that didn't mean such acts came without consequences. The cult had its own ways of forcing soldiers to fight.

Yet for those serving the Lord of Wisdom, the most tragic fate wasn't simply being deceived, but knowing that their unwilling sacrifices held no meaning.

As the explosions ravaged the underground chamber, Qin Mo and his guards had already teleported away.

"Disgusting, absolutely disgusting…" the officer muttered through clenched teeth as he surveyed the chamber.

The walls were scorched black from the blasts, and the remains of shattered bodies were strewn everywhere. His entire regiment was nearly wiped out, and they hadn't even managed to achieve a single victory.

If their enemies hadn't used teleportation, even if they had been a hundred times stronger, they would have been forced to retreat through this city's underground, giving his forces a chance to fight back. But now, they hadn't even seen how the intruders got in.

...

Within the orbital shipyard.

Clyne stared at the relic that had suddenly materialized before him. When Qin Mo and the six guards were teleported in shortly after, he turned his gaze toward them.

"What's the situation on the ground?" Qin Mo, appearing impatient, gestured to make the relic float behind him, eager to find a quiet place to study it.

But before delving into the relic's mysteries, he needed a battle report.

"Per your orders, all ground forces have been teleported to positions near the smaller cities. However, you and your guards returned so quickly that the troops are likely still preparing their assaults," Clyne replied.

"As long as there are no surprises, that's fine," Qin Mo said, clearly satisfied. Everything was progressing as planned.

From the outset, this war had been one of overwhelming superiority. Victory was inevitable, the scales of battle already tipped heavily in their favor.

"I'll leave things in your hands for now. I need to study this relic and find a way to deactivate the void shield." With those words, Qin Mo departed, taking the relic with him as he headed to a secluded chamber next to the briefing room.

He already understood the basic principles behind the relic. Now, he just needed to figure out how to use it to disable the void shield.

For Qin Mo, this wasn't a particularly challenging task. If he needed a void shield of his own, he could construct one—it would just take some time.

Reverse engineering the device, however, was a simpler matter.

Qin Mo began his analysis.

He scrutinized the materials, components, and design, soon arriving at a conclusion.

The relic drew its power from the warp. This was an astounding revelation—the device could siphon energy from the warp and utilize it, which explained why it wasn't connected to any external power source.

While its primary function was to anchor the city's buildings in another dimension, providing an impenetrable defense, the dimensional technology it employed wasn't particularly advanced.

And the relic's purpose wasn't solely defensive—it could also serve as a weapon.

However, operating the device wasn't easy. It had no control interface or input ports, a security feature ensuring it would perform its defensive role no matter who possessed it.

For anyone else, that would have been an insurmountable obstacle. Even attempting to destroy it by brute force would be futile, as the relic was made of a self-repairing alloy—not particularly hard, but capable of regenerating damage.

But after a brief moment of thought, Qin Mo knew exactly how to control it.

He used his "Creation Magic" to alter the relic's operation method, replacing its warp-energy source with one more to his liking.

With the necessary modifications complete, the void shield could now be deactivated. However, doing so came with a risk—when the relic's functions ceased, it wouldn't be just the shield that vanished.

After carefully considering the significance of Talon II's capital city and the feasibility of rebuilding it, Qin Mo decisively chose to deactivate the void shield.

As the warp energy supply was cut off and the relic ceased to function, the vast city on Talon II's surface vanished without a trace, along with the void shield that had once protected it.

The crews aboard the warships conducting orbital bombardments blinked in astonishment as they realized the city had disappeared, leaving only barren land where it had once stood, as if it had never existed at all.

To anchor a city in another dimension and then delete it—that was the true potential of the relic as a weapon.