Chapter 143 Two Mechanical Maidens
Liu Yang figured that his Soul Chain should target the brain directly. Since their brains were still fundamentally human, the skill should work regardless of their heavily modified cyborg bodies.
He wanted to test this theory on the two female cyborgs.
Seeing him step forward with two fingers raised, the women sneered with utter contempt.
"Heh! You actually think you can hack or control a robot, you fool? Come on, let's see if you don't end up with your fingers snapped off!"
Their systems were reinforced for lethal close-quarters combat, and they certainly weren't intimidated by a pair of bare fingers.
Ignoring the taunt, Liu Yang pressed his fingers directly against one of their foreheads.
"Huh?" The golden-haired, blue-eyed operative blinked in genuine confusion, entirely missing his intent.
Five minutes later, a system prompt chimed in his mind:
[Notification]
Ability Acquired / Activated: Soul Chain successfully bound target!
Instantly, the woman's gaze shifted.
Her posture went completely rigid before softening into absolute obedience. Every trace of hostility vanished, replaced by total devotion.
"Master," she murmured, her voice laced with submissive reverence. "Lucy awaits your orders."
The remaining female cyborg stared in absolute horror.
As mechanical operators, absolute loyalty to the organization was hardcoded into their survival framework. Betrayal meant an immediate cutoff from their energy liquid supply, leading straight to a slow, agonizing death.
Most cyborgs were merely survivors of the apocalypse who had been duped by the authorities under the guise of human evolution. But once the cybernetic conversion was complete, the built-in dependency on energy fluid ensured zero margin for treason. As reserves dwindled, neurological degradation set in-memories fading piece by piece while terror paralyzed the mind.
"What did you do to Lucy?" Lillian demanded, her voice trembling.
Liu Yang smiled coolly. "You'll find out soon enough. No need to rush."
Without missing a beat, he strode toward her with two fingers extended.
"N-No! Stay back! I don't want to be controlled! Without the fluid, we'll die! I won't-gah!-" Lillian shrieked as he closed the distance.
Liu Yang ignored her panic, pressing his fingers firmly against her temple.
Another five minutes ticked by before the familiar prompt flashed:
[Notification]
Ability Acquired / Activated: Soul Chain successfully bound target!
Lillian's eyes dulled for a fraction of a second before locking into the same submissive glaze.
"Master, Lillian awaits your orders."
Liu Yang nodded with quiet satisfaction.
Now that both female cyborgs were firmly under his control, he could haul them back to the villa later and test out a particularly bold hypothesis.
A stray thought crossed his mind: I wonder if female cyborgs retain any reproductive functions? If a mechanical maiden can trigger my Legacy Multiplier, that would be absolute peak performance....
He shook his head, brushing the wild idea aside for the moment, and turned his gaze to the remaining male cyborg-now severely handicapped after losing his limbs and primary combat modules.
The male operator flinched violently as Liu Yang's eyes locked onto him, having watched his comrades fall under the demonic sway of those two fingers.
"Don't come near me! I won't let you-"
"Bang!"
Before he could finish shouting, a sharp ice needle pierced straight through his skull.
Liu Yang glanced down at the twitching corpse. "You're a guy, what use do I have for you? Talk about delusional."
Lucy stepped forward promptly. "Master, we can harvest the energy liquid canisters from these three corpses for our own use."
"Good call," Liu Yang said, extracting the fluid containers from their chests and tossing them straight into his Dark Space.
He thawed the two women with a flick of his wrist and questioned them directly, "How often do you need a refill?"
"Under normal conditions without combat, a single canister lasts three months," Lucy reported. "Intense operations can drain it in under a month."
"Alright. With these three extra tanks, you two are set for half a year," Liu Yang calculated aloud. "By the way, you guys aren't the only vanguard team the White Eagle Empire sent into the Divine Dragon Empire, are you?"
Lucy nodded. "Ten squads total, fifty operatives to start. Only thirty-five of us are left.
"Every unit is typically paired with ability users and cyborgs. Our team was cobbled together from two battered squads after our ability users were wiped out, leaving just the five of us."
"Fifteen casualties already?" Liu Yang raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. The Divine Dragon Empire is crawling with heavy hitters, and operatives from other rival powers are moving in the shadows too. The threat level is off the charts," Lucy explained. "Compared to elite ability users on the rankings, our combat utility as baseline cyborgs has definite limits."
"Break down the remaining thirty-five for me. How many ability users, how many cyborgs? And what's the primary directive here?"
"The core vanguard consists of five Heaven Ranking ability users. The remaining squads are led by Earth Ranking commanders, usually structured around one Earth Ranking officer supported by four cyborgs.
"Aside from our surviving group of five, there are thirty remaining targets: five Heaven Ranking elites, five Earth Ranking officers, and twenty combat cyborgs.
"Our primary mission directive... is to hunt down and eliminate the number-one ranked powerhouse on the Monolith: Liu Yang."
Liu Yang blinked. Hearing his own name dropped as the target was always a surreal experience.
Compared to the Island Nation's assassination squads, the White Eagle Empire's deployment strategy felt surprisingly stingy.
Those island squads rolled deep with five Earth Ranking powerhouses, whereas a White Eagle team relied on a single Earth Ranking leader backed by four low-tier cyborgs. Was this supposed to be a serious deployment or a comedy sketch?
Clearly, the heavy lifting was meant for their top five Heaven Ranking anchors, while the rest were just high-tech cannon fodder.
Lillian chimed in, her tone shifting to cautious urgency. "Master, every cyborg broadcasts live telemetry straight to the main command hub. If a unit goes offline, command logs the death instantly. They already know an engagement happened here. I advise we relocate immediately."
Liu Yang waved dismissively. "No rush. You have a secure comms channel to the main team, right? Patch them through. Tell your superiors you've cornered Liu Yang and order them to assemble here right now."
Lucy didn't hesitate. "Understood, Master!"
Lillian hesitated, a flicker of doubt crossing her face as she looked up at him. "Master... are you actually Liu Yang? The number-one powerhouse on the Heaven Ranking?"
"Name's the same," Liu Yang replied casually.
The two women stared, their eyes widening in sudden, profound realization. "It really is you! No wonder the five of us stood zero chance against you!"
Liu Yang chuckled. "Give yourselves some credit-your team composition was just garbage. Even if you'd run into a standard patrol squad from the Divine Dragon Empire instead of me, you'd still be dead meat."
Compared to elite units like Tong Bingjie and Lin Xueer's Hidden Dragon task force, this White Eagle scouting party was amateur hour.
Lucy and Lillian nodded vigorously in complete agreement. "You're completely right. The arrogant bastards back home massively underestimated the Divine Dragon Empire!
"And Master Liu Yang, you probably haven't even heard-their president is already over eighty and so frail he suffers from severe incontinence.
"The guy literally wears adult diapers to high-level security briefings! It's an absolute joke! Hahaha!"
The two female operatives burst into genuine, uninhibited laughter.
Even Liu Yang couldn't help cracking a grin.
He had caught wind of those rumors floating around the intelligence networks before, but hearing it confirmed straight from the horse's mouth made it that much funnier.