Chapter 230: Risking Life and Fighting for a First-Tier Immortal Fate!

"Beep—Target's vital signs have disappeared. Second-tier mutated Windwalker Lizard, kill confirmed."

A chilling system notification sounded from inside the tactical helmet.

In the center of Ruins 043, the massive, fragmented remains of a Windwalker Lizard lay scattered on the scorched earth. Piles of foul-smelling, bluish-green demonic blood gathered, hissing as they evaporated under the residual heat of the overclocked psionic cannon fire.

Nine exoskeletons, radiating astonishing heat and with their runes slightly blackened due to overload, stood silently on the battlefield like nine blood-soaked steel statues.

"Ugh..."

Zhang Rui abruptly turned off the overclocking mode.

The moment the safety lock closed again, the pseudo-spiritual energy that had been raging wildly through the meridians finally dissipated like a receding tide. But what followed was an extreme pain, as if a thousand tiny knives were simultaneously slicing through the nerves and flesh!

He opened his mouth, and a large mouthful of dark red stagnant blood sprayed directly onto the helmet's display screen.

It wasn't just him. Over the communication channel came the extremely heavy breathing of the other eight team members, accompanied by painful groans.

"Report...the casualties..." Zhang Rui asked hoarsely, enduring the excruciating pain that felt like it was tearing his soul apart.

There was a two-second silence on the communication channel.

"Captain... nine survived. The average damage rate to the machine is 15%." A team member's calm voice was tinged with a sob. "Sixth Brother... he detonated his pseudo-spiritual root. Inside the receiver, there wasn't even a single intact bone left..."

Zhang Rui fell silent.

Their ten-man squad was forged from among thousands of veterans. Now, only nine remain.

Through his blood-stained goggles, he stared at the site of the explosion, which had created a crater several meters deep. There was nothing there except a few twisted and deformed pieces of debris.

The sixth brother, who was usually always laughing and joking, chose to be a man like a second-tier demon beast and perish together with it at the last moment, proving in the most tragic way that a mortal's life can also be tough.

"Take the serial number plate off Lao Liu's machine and bring it back."

Zhang Rui took a deep breath, swallowing the bloody taste in his throat. He looked up at the stealth transport plane still circling in the sky, a complex, cold glint flashing in his eyes.

"Live-fire test complete. Calling for data recovery."

……

Two hours later.

Kyoto, the center of the Alliance's highest council.

The video recording of that practical test of the god-making project has been played verbatim to all the highest-ranking officials present.

When they saw Lao Liu press the self-destruct button, and then see the nine exoskeletons overclock and focus fire, blasting a second-tier monster into pieces, the entire circular conference room fell into a deathly silence.

Shocking! Utterly shocking!

Those members of the cultivation clans who were usually high and mighty and regarded mortals as ants all had expressions of disbelief on their faces at this moment.

"A second-tier demonic beast... just like that, killed by ten mortals without spiritual roots, using a bunch of crudely made scrap metal?!" The portly councilor from a powerful clan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his voice trembling.

It's important to understand that to kill a second-stage early-stage demonic beast using conventional firearms, it would require at least the sacrifice of a full-strength heavy armored battalion! And if it were a cultivator, it would require at least five Qi Refining Grand Perfection cultivators or one Foundation Establishment early-stage cultivator to kill it.

Now, the Academy of Sciences has achieved a kill against a higher-level enemy using only a ten-person mortal team and at the cost of one-tenth of its casualties!

"This is simply a miracle! Professor Wang, what exactly is the mass production cost of this exoskeleton?" Another military commander stood up excitedly.

Wang Mingyuan adjusted his glasses and projected an extremely detailed report onto the holographic screen.

"Reporting to the commander, based on the combat data we collected at Ruins 043, the cost of the first-generation mass-produced rune exoskeleton can now be precisely calculated."

Wang Mingyuan's finger swept across the screen. "The main frame is made of industrial-grade alloy, the external conductive lines use the tendons of a first-tier Ironmane Wolf, and the basic array imprints are mass-produced by CNC machine tools. The only expensive part is the pseudo-spiritual root that serves as the core engine, which requires a certain amount of low-tier demon beast essence blood."

"All things considered, the total hard cost of equipping a rune exoskeleton warrior is approximately 1,200 spirit crystals."

"One thousand two hundred spirit crystal vouchers?!"

A collective gasp filled the conference room. On the black market these days, that amount of money wouldn't even buy a low-grade flying sword discarded by a Kunlun outer sect disciple!

"It's so cheap... With this equipment, we can quickly produce a million, or even tens of millions, of extraordinary troops!" The military commander was so excited that his face turned red.

"But, gentlemen."

Wang Mingyuan's voice suddenly rose, interrupting the crowd's fervor. He pulled up the post-war physiological assessment reports of the nine surviving test subjects.

On the holographic screen, the veins and organs of the nine mortal soldiers were illuminated by a glaring red warning light in their body scans.

"What's cheap isn't just the equipment, but also... lifespan."

Wang Mingyuan's tone was tinged with an extremely cruel calmness: "The implantation of pseudo-spiritual roots itself is constantly squeezing the life essence of mortals. If the natural lifespan of a healthy mortal is ninety years, once implanted, the overdraft of physical functions will limit them to a maximum of fifty years old."

"While that brief two-minute 'overclocking' didn't kill them outright, the violent spiritual pressure surge forcibly burned away at least one to two years of their lifespan!"

"If they frequently overclock in the upcoming battles, their lifespan will be depleted even faster. This is essentially a machine that uses life as fuel."

The atmosphere in the conference room instantly turned heavy. Trading lives for combat power—this naked war of attrition made even those in high positions feel a sense of dread.

"but!"

Wang Mingyuan abruptly changed the subject, his eyes suddenly flashing with the extreme fervor characteristic of a research fanatic, and he stared intently at everyone present:

"That's precisely what makes this project so great, and also what drives people crazy!"

"My lords, a pseudo-spiritual root is not just a mechanical engine; it can also enable mortals to engage in true 'cultivation'! As long as they upgrade their spiritual roots by constantly fighting and plundering resources and absorbing the essence of demonic beasts before their lifespan runs out, they can eventually break through the limits of their physical bodies and reach a realm comparable to or even higher than the 'Foundation Establishment' stage..."

"Their life level will undergo a leap! Just like how cultivators can extend their lifespan by reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, once they break through, they can not only make up for their lost lifespan, but even gain a lifespan longer than ordinary mortals!"

Wang Mingyuan slammed his hands heavily on the table, the sound echoing throughout the hall:

"Sacrificing their lifespan and risking their lives, all to seize that sliver of immortality before death catches up with them! This is the ladder to heaven we've built for mortals!"

Quiet.

A deathly silence.

Then, the alliance's highest decision-maker, seated at the head of the table, slowly opened his eyes. His eyes held no pity, only an extreme coldness and resolute determination that had seen through the true nature of humanity.

"In an era where class divisions have become extremely rigid, despair is more terrifying than death."

The top decision-maker stood up, like a lion surveying its domain, and delivered the final verdict with a single blow:

"Immediately issue a conscription order in the name of the Alliance's highest military command to the lower city and all satellite cities!"

"Tell everyone: Join the exoskeleton legion and get implanted pseudo-spiritual roots! As long as you survive, your family will immediately be promoted to second-class citizens and enjoy a mid-grade spirit rice ration!"

"Tell them: This is a bloody path with a slim chance of survival! But as long as they can break through their current realm, they can defy fate and not only live, but also live as long as the heavens!"

"We must use this 'lifeline' to ignite the most primal madness within everyone!"

……

A few hours later.

This special recruitment order, carrying a strong stench of blood yet exuding a deadly allure, was not immediately announced in bustling cities. Instead, it was distributed directly through the Alliance military's secret channels to serious offender prisons and spiritual vein labor camps under the jurisdiction of each major war zone.

The military needs the first batch of the most obedient, fearless, and cheapest "consumables" to make up for the mortality rate in the early stages of mass production.

Jiuhua Mountain No. 3 Spirit Mine, 500 meters underground, is a labor camp.

This place is perpetually shrouded in darkness, filled with a high concentration of violent spiritual energy and dust.

"Cough cough... cough cough cough!"

Old Ding struggled to carry a heavy basket of low-grade spirit stone fragments. His rusty mechanical prosthetic leg made a dull, grating sound as it stepped on the slippery rock face. The intense labor of just a few days had already made him look somewhat haggard, and his breathing had become heavy. Occasionally, he couldn't help but cough, and a tightness would grip his chest.

"Hurry up! Stop playing dead, you bastards!"

The foreman, dressed in the uniform of the Wang Group, brandished a spiritual whip, mercilessly lashing the mortals in the mine tunnels.

Old Ding walked numbly. His heart was filled with despair. Although his wife had temporarily survived by drinking that drop of "ultra-liquid Fiery Sun Pill," she definitely wouldn't last more than a few months. And he was going to be trapped here for ten years. Forget about buying a real Fiery Sun Pill; he didn't even think he could survive this winter.

Just then, a piercing military alarm suddenly sounded from deep within the mine tunnel.

"All prisoners, drop what you're doing! Assemble immediately at the central shaft square! Quickly!"

A large number of Alliance regular troops, dressed in heavy riot gear, stormed into the mining area and forcibly took over its defenses. The once arrogant clan overseers could only obediently retreat to the side in the face of the military.

Old Ding and several hundred other ragged, zombie-like prisoners were driven to a wide square.

"Buzz!!!"

Above the plaza, several military drones projected a massive holographic screen. On the screen, a live video was playing of Zhang Rui's exoskeleton team blasting a Tier 2 Windwalker Lizard into a bloody pulp with crimson psionic artillery fire in Ruins 043!

Seeing those originally lowly mortals in the scene now wearing steel armor full of violent aesthetics and bursting out with power comparable to gods, a ripple suddenly appeared in the lifeless eyes of all the prisoners.

An officer with the rank of colonel on his shoulder stood on a high platform, his voice booming like thunder through the mine via a loudspeaker:

"I know what you're thinking! You're criminals, rotten flesh destined to be confined to this dark abyss until you die!"

The officer's icy gaze swept across the room. "But now, the Allied military is giving you a chance to defy fate!"

"The God-Making Legion's First Vanguard Team is recruiting suicide soldiers! The condition is: implant a 'pseudo-spiritual root,' don this armor, and fight monsters in the wilderness!"

"The price is that you will lose at least thirty years of your lifespan and could die on the battlefield at any time!"

The entire hall fell silent. Losing thirty years of lifespan? That's practically risking one's life!

But the officer's next words were like a spark thrown directly into a powder keg full of explosives:

"However! As long as you sign this life-or-death pact, and as long as you survive three battles, the Alliance will forgive all your crimes!"

"Your family members will immediately be promoted to second-class citizens, enjoying a ration of mid-grade spirit rice and free high-level medical care! If you break through your cultivation level on the battlefield, you will not only be able to recover the lives lost in the fire, but also defy fate and truly embark on the path of immortality!"

"Those who want to live, stay here and mine to die; those who want to stand up and be human, move to the left!"

After a deathly silence.

Suddenly, a heavy, harsh mechanical grinding sound came from the crowd.

"Crunch—crunch—"

Old Ding stepped over the hesitant, trembling crowd.

In this underground mine where there is no dignity, losing a few decades of lifespan is nothing! If you can't earn money standing up to save your wife's life, living to a hundred years old is just being an old beast wallowing in the mud!

He had a bloody path to choose from, paved with thorns and bones, but one that truly led to the heavens.

Old Ding slowly raised his right hand, which had only three real fingers left. His gaze grew increasingly resolute, like a battle sword that had been re-sharpened. Dragging his heavy mechanical prosthetic leg, he was the first, and the most resolute, to walk to the left side of the square.

"Old soldiers never die..."

Old Ding stared intently at the officer on the platform, his hoarse voice echoing through the square:

"Sir, ID S-7-0992. I request... to exchange for this chance at immortality!"