"7442*7442*597, so that's the full scale of Tiberius Laboratory? Honestly, I'm a little disappointed."
Amidst a strange mechanical humming, the massive Overlord Golem stood motionless. With a hiss, twenty-four hollow slots on its body opened and closed in turn. From each opening, dark brown spheres the size of tennis balls rolled out, instantly transforming into Octo-Constructs—spider-shaped modular devices—that scurried into the doors lining both sides of the corridor.
These spider-like Octo-Constructs are the Overlord Golem’s plug-in modules, equipped for scanning, detection, and more. But their most crucial function is identifying valuables and collecting them at lightning speed. Soon enough, a tidal wave of Octo-Constructs surged back. Some carried items solo, some hauled loads in teams, transporting heaps of research equipment, results, documents, and samples nonstop to the Golem.
The Octo-Constructs flooded into the Golem’s enormous chest with their cargo, then rolled out of the twenty-four slots empty-handed, rejoining the moving army. Despite the sheer volume of materials, the Golem showed no sign of running out of space.
The magical Cube of Truth spun ceaselessly atop the Golem’s head, powered by a supercharged energy quota. It rotated at an incredible speed, as if unraveling strange rules and gradually filling in its own empty spaces, making the cube look fuller and fuller.
“There’s some value in these research materials, sure, but they feel a bit bland—hardly worthy of this legendary sanctuary.” The Golem’s tone was relaxed and casual, like a refined professor, completely at odds with its imposing appearance. Clearly, this massive Golem was just a shell, a speaker—its true master wasn’t present.
"Still, there are some surprises. The phenomenon of spatial compression and pressurization is a perfect research subject. If I can unravel its underlying rules, spatial magic could become even more stable. Or maybe, with a different approach, I could invent a black hole spell. Wouldn’t that be something?"
Suddenly, one of the Golem’s heads received a signal.
"Ugh, every time, someone has to interrupt me." The Golem muttered in annoyance as a sound like turbocharging filled the air and its magical runes glowed faintly. It crouched slightly, preparing to spring, and the Cube of Truth quickly retracted into its body. "But I’m curious—among these weed-like humans, is there anyone who’ll really catch my eye? If not, I’ll be very disappointed."
Boom!
The air was compressed into iron and then shattered apart—the Overlord Golem seemed to skip both launch and acceleration. In just a split second, it blasted forward with a powerful shockwave.
Walls, floors, pillars, beams—the Overlord Golem didn’t dodge a thing. Everything in its path was smashed to dust and left far behind. A shimmering white line hung in the air, only to fade away in the swirling wind.
Seven hundred meters away, a dozen Chosen Ones had teamed up to battle the Octo-Constructs released by the Golem. These constructs could combine into larger fighting forms, but even so, the Chosen Ones pressed their advantage and drove them back step by step.
"Wipe them all out, then follow the trail and find whoever’s behind these bugs!" The team leader swung a greatsword, its blade gleaming as he kept it moving like a wall of water. "Snag all that precious tech—if we pull this off, we’ll be rolling in cash!"
Suddenly, a strange sense of danger prickled at the team leader—something bad was coming. No sound, but the tremor under his feet said it all. Before he could even react, the brief spark of life had already slipped away.
Boom—an explosive blast shattered the ground. Before the sonic boom hit, the gigantic Golem shot up from below like a cannonball, tearing through the whole Chosen Ones squad.
The fight erupted—and ended. Three seconds later, the Overlord Golem grabbed the team leader by the neck, lifting the squirming man up to eye level. Its three heads gave him a quick once-over, then, bored, the Golem squeezed its fist tight.
"Boring."
Crack—the neck snapped, and the head shot into the sky like a champagne cork. The body went limp, then was tossed aside like trash. "There should be people with more potential, more promise. If this is all we’ve got, then I’m seriously disappointed."
Just then, the Golem’s heads turned again—it intercepted a new signal. The encryption was tough, impossible to crack quickly with tech alone. But the Overlord Golem had a built-in, upgraded decryption spell, so it just brute-forced the message with magic.
"This is Raindrop. Emergency report: Do not go near the laboratory’s edge—repeat, do NOT go near the lab’s edge!"
Huh?
The signal source seems to be nearby.
A signal means there’s company, and company means trouble. Can’t I just quietly finish collecting all the tech, calmly hunt down and crush my rival for hyperspace control, take over the whole dimension, and finally squash everyone else like bugs—without all this drama?
"Seriously, it’s always something. Never goes smoothly, like fate itself is out to mess with me. I really hate fighting—guess I’ll just hope for a surprise." The Golem crouched, its magical runes glowing even brighter than before. "Let’s see what turns up."
The word "up" vibrated through the air, and with a thunderous sonic boom, the Golem shot forward like a cannonball. Everything in its path was torn apart, and the massive Tiberius Laboratory shrank to a mere speck for a fighter of this caliber—instantly within reach.
Eight hundred eighty meters away, seven people were sprinting. Besides Li Yuncong and three others, they’d met up with three more allies, forming a bigger team. Thanks to their leader, most Chosen Ones had some martial arts training. Whether major or minor, a strong body helps you go further in life—so except for Rachel Luo and the senior brother, the other five moved with ease.
Two of the guys lugged a massive communications hub together, while Xiaoying was carried by a third teammate. As they raced ahead, she streamed her paparazzi cam footage through the hub. The senior brother was so wiped out he swore he’d train for long-distance running if he survived.
"Sister Rachel, the lab’s materials are weird—they’re blocking my scans. I can’t map the whole place, just give a rough outline!" Shouting over the wind, Liu Xiaoying ditched her gear and yelled to Rachel Luo at the rear: "The lab’s even more wrecked now. There’s only a 4,700-meter safe zone left, and just 420 meters thick!"
"Spread the word." Whoosh—a sharp whine closed in fast as a black mech barreled toward them. Calm but alert, Rachel Luo ordered, "Also, check if any of our people are nearby. Set up an ambush ahead and take down that persistent pest!"
"Got it! I found our ally’s signal!" Liu Xiaoying exclaimed. "It’s the mech—"
"Dominance! Dominance!!" Out of nowhere, Li Yuncong roared, his energy erupting like an explosion. In that instant, he unleashed his full power. Rachel Luo’s scalp tingled, her hair standing on end—no sound, but a massive threat surged into their senses, barreling toward them like a tidal wave.
Bright Jade Technique surged through her body, the Prajna Skill ramped up, and her reflexes went into overdrive—
Boom!
Suddenly, the whole side corridor exploded—shouts and blinding light tangled together. The floor collapsed instantly, and the shockwaves from the blast swept across the area like a passing typhoon.
Liu Xiaoying screamed as the world spun and she fell again and again. A second later, her vision cleared—she’d landed in a massive tunnel, thirty meters wide, once a high-speed transit tube in Tiberius Laboratory. But Liu Xiaoying had no time to care; she scanned her surroundings, and her heart leapt in shock.
A terrifying black stone giant was throwing punches, while Li Yuncong battled it in a burst of light. Nearby, the communications hub was completely wrecked. Of the three teammates, two were gutted, and the third—a Paladin with a broken leg—was blasting Holy Light to save them. The senior brother was collapsed to the side, coughing nonstop like a useless pile of mud.
Ahead, the hum of sword trails flickered in the void, cold swordlight stabbing straight for the Golem’s eyes. At the same time, Dominance energy burst forth—a heavy "Dominance Chrysanthemum Smash!!" slammed into the Golem’s chest.
Thunderous explosions made Liu Xiaoying’s eyes sting. But she fought through the pain, gritted her teeth, and snapped a photo of the terrifying Golem. Rachel Luo immediately yelled, "Careful, it’s a trick!"
"Hyaa!" Suddenly, the senior brother rallied—it was him, slumped in the corner.
"Huh?" Someone was startled—it was the stone Golem, bathed in bright light.
Crack—a sharp snap, and a figure crashed to the ground: Rachel Luo. She rolled and staggered to her feet, spitting blood—three ribs broken. Up ahead, the Dominance Chrysanthemum Smash had left the Golem completely unscathed. Dominance could shatter mountains and part seas, but not even a scratch—was this Golem truly invincible?
The stone Golem was gripping Li Yuncong tightly in its massive hand.
"Careful, this big rock is loaded with spells!" Liu Xiaoying called out, "Just now it used ultra-effective Deflection Field, advanced Defense Boost, and advanced Countershock—and now it’s on cooldown!"
"Dominance—!" Even with the Golem’s hand clamped around his neck, Li Yuncong’s Dominance aura blazed even brighter. Energy crackled as he gripped the Golem’s fingers, muscles bulging and veins popping. With a creak, he pried the fingers open bit by bit. In a flash, Li Yuncong broke free, gasping for breath, now standing tall before the Golem—his fighting spirit burning hotter than ever.
"Oh?! That’s unexpected—really unexpected!" The Golem’s three heads stared at Li Yuncong. "You’ve got real potential." Then it glanced at Rachel Luo: "You’re not bad." At Liu Xiaoying: "Top-tier scouting skills." And finally, it focused on the senior brother, now slumped again, its voice full of surprise: "You can mess with my mind? That means you must have some incredible legacy or artifact!"
If the senior brother hadn’t disrupted it at that crucial moment, that advanced Countershock would’ve shattered Rachel Luo completely! His weak mental strength still pulled it off—proof that this unassuming guy had some truly special traits.
The Golem was getting excited.
"You’ve really surprised me!"
"There’s more where that came from." Rachel Luo grinned, then suddenly shouted toward the distance, "Reinforcements—take him down!"
Whoosh—through a blaze of plasma, a jet-black mech appeared right where Rachel Luo was staring.
[????]
[!!!!]
On the mech’s head, four question marks flashed—then instantly turned into four exclamation marks.
[Holy crap, those runners really did find reinforcements! But you want to take me out? Drop dead!] The four exclamation marks morphed into four missiles, all streaking toward the intimidating stone Golem. At the same time, a barrage of bullets poured down like a rainstorm, all targeting the Golem.