Chapter 1 Bloodshed

Fresh blood trickled, turning into winding scarlet snakes on the metal floor, gathering into a pool of blood.

Nijia lay on the ground, battered and covered in blood, beneath him a huge equilateral triangle-shaped mechanical suction cup, glowing with a faint blue light, its enormous gravity and traction holding him firmly in place. His hands, feet, and torso were bound by black, heavy alloy rings—special mechanical shackles that came with an extremely strong energy interference field and utilized subspace conversion technology to transfer the energy released by the target, providing a certain degree of magic prohibition effect on mages.

At the same time, four pipes extended from the metal floor on Nijia's left and right sides, penetrating his spine, injecting nanobots that internally disrupted his Qi circulation, causing his nerves to go haywire and affecting his control over his body.

Nijia could only barely crane his neck, his blurred vision parallel with the ground, his gaze filled with the mechanical lower limbs of countless mechanical soldiers surrounding him.

They were currently on the surface of a steel fortress, a mechanical war fortress brought by the Machinery Country, now littered with battle traces and broken mechanical parts.

The surrounding spatial coefficients had been forcibly stabilized by the Machinery Country's stabilization instruments, and he had also deployed magic interference devices, rendering Nijia's teleportation术 ineffective. Nijia had nowhere to retreat and could only fight.

However, in addition to the Machinery Country's "Lord's Advent" avatar, this remote mechanical unit also possessed four Apostle Weapons. Nijia was no match for this remote mechanical unit and had been severely wounded in the… ahem, group fight. At this moment, the Staff of All Gods had fallen into the hands of the Machinery Country.

"I was waiting for you to use the Staff of All Gods, but you never did. So that's what was going on…"

The Machinery Country's Lord's avatar held the amber sealing the Staff of All Gods, stroking it carefully, marveling at the special energy insulation of the spacetime amber material.

"You dare to snatch the Staff of All Gods, Mannison. Are you not afraid of the wrath of the Void Spirit Church?!" Nijia gritted his teeth.

"Don't misunderstand. I have no interest in the Staff of All Gods. I'm just doing a small favor for the Radiant Federation."

The Machinery Country glanced askance at Nijia and beckoned to the side.

A bright silver mechanical life Apostle Weapon walked over, its entire body as smooth as a mirror, without any mechanical structure lines.

The Apostle Weapon squatted down, its fingers transforming into sharp spikes that pierced Nijia's back. Then, its entire body turned into a liquid, flowing and injecting into Nijia's body through the wound.

In the next moment, the Machinery Country released Nijia's restraints. However, the Apostle Weapon inside Nijia's body also suppressed his ability to control his body. He could only glare at the Machinery Country.

"What do you want to do to me?"

"The Radiant Federation asked me to kill you and destroy the evidence. However, your body is still useful to me."

The Machinery Country casually threw out a compression orb, which transformed into a confinement pod, imprisoning Nijia.

Confirming that Nijia could not escape, the Machinery Country turned back and continued to observe the amber sealing the Staff of All Gods, developing a great interest.

"Hmm, this is a very special new material. Since Black Star has the manufacturing method… I must find an opportunity to contact him in the future."

…

"Lost contact? Explain to me, what does lost contact mean?!"

The Void Spirit Church high-level quickly received the news that Nijia, who should have returned to the Central Star Sea through the Star Gate, had lost contact not long ago!

This shocked the bishopric. They thought Nijia had escaped from danger and would be able to bring the Staff of All Gods back smoothly, but unexpectedly, an accident occurred just as everything was about to settle.

Now that they couldn't contact Nijia, the worst-case scenario was that he had been attacked and killed.

But even if attacked, Nijia shouldn't have failed to send back a message. The Void Spirit Church's Star Gate monitoring station hadn't reported any anomalies either.

There was only one explanation for this situation… that was that there was a Virtual Mechanic among the attackers who had tampered with the data and prevented communication connections.

The bishopric immediately thought of the most suspicious Black Star.

But Han Xiao had just visited the Star Pupils Divine Race and was currently on his way back to headquarters, giving him an alibi… but they couldn't rule out the possibility that Han Xiao had used a remote unit to carry out the attack.

"If Black Star is the culprit, is the Crimson Empire behind it? The Empire has already captured four of us, forcing Sisko to publicly apologize. Are they still not satisfied?" Someone wondered.

"The possibility is not high. We are currently conducting hostage redemption negotiations, and we have reached a preliminary agreement. The Empire is well aware that continuing to pursue and beat us may not be beneficial. If they were to seize the Staff of All Gods, it would force us to flip the table and turn against them, which would probably be a loss for them."

"Then could it be that Black Star is scheming for the Staff of All Gods and acting on his own…"

"Hmm… come to think of it, this is more harmful than beneficial for Black Star. He has gained a lot this time, so there is no need for him to risk seizing the Staff of All Gods, right? Even if he did seize it, he wouldn't dare to use it, and holding it in his hands would only invite trouble. The only way would be to hand it over to the Empire… But so far, the personality displayed by Black Star shows that he is not a person who likes to take risks. In addition, his cooperation with the Empire is still in its honeymoon period, so he wouldn't risk doing something that is more risky than rewarding behind the Empire's back."

The bishopric frowned deeply. All the signs indicated that this was not the action of the Empire and Black Star.

Could it be that those forces lurking in the dark were fishing in troubled waters?

To intercept Nijia, two preconditions had to be met: first, there had to be a powerful intelligence network in the Shattered Star Ring to lock onto Nijia's whereabouts; and second, there had to be Super-A Grade combat power and a Super-A Grade Virtual Mechanic to defeat Nijia silently.

After thinking it over, another target that met these two conditions came to mind.

The bishopric was immediately shocked.

"Could it be… the Radiant Federation?!"

The Shattered Star Ring was the Radiant Federation's territory. Although the Radiant Federation seemed indifferent to this star field, the intelligence network they had secretly set up was absolutely not to be underestimated. They had been operating here for many years, and although they didn't show it, their intelligence capabilities were likely to exceed those of the Crimson Empire, which had only entered the market a few years ago.

The Crimson Empire didn't discover Nijia's whereabouts, but the Radiant Federation did. This made sense.

The bishopric's face turned livid. The more they thought about it, the more they felt the Radiant Federation was suspicious.

When they lent out the High-Dimensional Apocalypse Transporter, those sons of b*tches had the goal of fishing in troubled waters.

This time, their Void Spirit Church's Super-A Grade combat power had suffered a lot of losses, and their relationship with the Crimson Empire was also strained. For the Radiant Federation, this was an excellent opportunity to strike.

The bishopric then realized that the troops they had sent out this time had been completely wiped out. A mouthful of old blood was stuck in their throats, almost causing them to spit it out.

Radiant Federation, you son of a b*tch!

At this moment, the virtual screen on the conference table appeared, displaying the Cardinal's order:

"First stabilize the Crimson Empire, redeem the Super-A Grade allies… then negotiate with the Radiant Federation."

The bishopric looked at each other, their eyes revealing helplessness and depression.

Yesterday, they felt that the Staff of All Gods was coming back, but today they received bad news. This feeling of falling from heaven to hell made them extremely uncomfortable.

So close, yet so far.

Without evidence, the Radiant Federation would not admit it. The other party was also a force of the same level, so they would not be threatened and were not afraid of confrontation…

Now, this was the only way. After stabilizing the Empire, they would then tear up with the Radiant Federation, the traitor.

…

Radiant Federation's mother planet.

President Baddel put down the communicator and smiled at the members of the council present.

"Mannison succeeded. The Staff of All Gods is ours."

Upon hearing this, everyone present revealed a triumphant smile.

The chief elder paused on his cane and praised, "As expected of one of the strongest Ancient Ones. The Machinery Country is as reliable as ever."

Baddel nodded with a smile. The Machinery Country had always been an ally he valued, not only because of its terrifying combat power but also because its remote units were elusive and could evade surveillance to complete many secret operations.

"The Void Spirit Church may suspect the Empire, or they may guess that we did it, but they have no evidence. Moreover, they will not announce the theft of the Staff of All Gods to the outside world."

"According to intelligence, the way to use the Staff of All Gods is very simple, but we do not have the corresponding technology to repair it. However, it can also be used as a trump card with a limited number of uses, which is deadly to Super-A Grades… Ahem, as long as it is not used in front of Black Star."

"Although it may have angered the Void Spirit Church, we made a big profit this time by obtaining the Staff of All Gods. Not only did we seize the Void Spirit Church's assassin's mace against Super-A Grades, but it is also a bargaining chip against the Void Spirit Church's interests."

Many council members smiled and discussed in a lively manner.

"The Machinery Country said that the Staff of All Gods was sealed by a special material. After he comes back, I will have the research institute crack it."

Baddel's tone was calm and smiling, and he did not take the so-called seal to heart.

——

ps: It was posted early today, and I wrote a little less. I have been coughing for a while, and my body is not very good today. I feel weak and tired, and my cervical and lumbar vertebrae, the two strained parts, are very uncomfortable. I will go out tonight to find a master to massage me, take a bath, and go to bed early.