The system is four years ahead of schedule, but Weird is still a cub.

Shen Ge's voice was full of seduction. He did not deny their beliefs, but instead placed himself at the "top" of their beliefs.

He portrayed himself as their "god," descending in person to bring... "gospel" to these lost lambs!
The squad leader in the brass mask trembled violently. His half-human eyes were filled with painful struggle, while his other half, a mechanical prosthetic eye flashing red, was blinking wildly, as if the processor inside had been completely overloaded by receiving incomprehensible information.

Shen Ge didn't give him any more time to think.

The "Ark No. 1," which had already transformed into an "armed fortress," suddenly contracted the eerie beam of light that shot straight into the sky from the "Eye of the Prophet" on its main mast!
The next second, a beam of strange energy, only as thick as an arm and compressed to the extreme, shot out from the eyeball at almost teleportation speed!

Its target was not any patrol boat, but a piece of aircraft carrier wreckage floating on the sea next to that "steel city" in the distance!
boom!
After the explosion came silence, a deathly silence.

All the members of the "Gear Guard" stared blankly at the massive wreckage that slowly slid to the sides and sank into the sea, their minds completely blank.

Their most powerful weapon, the "Purifier Main Cannon," which requires three people to operate in coordination and can only be fired with its steam core overloaded by 1000%, could only leave a hole a dozen meters wide in the wreckage of that aircraft carrier when fired at full power.

And this being before us...

I just... glanced at it.

Is this... the power of "God"?
"Pfft!"

The first to react was the squad leader with the brass mask.

Trembling, he knelt down on the narrow deck of the patrol boat, in the most devout and humble posture, facing the direction of "Ark One".

His modified, cold mechanical knees made a crisp sound as they collided with the rusty steel deck.

His kneeling was like a signal.

Immediately afterwards, on all the patrol boats, all the members of the "Gear Guard" knelt down one after another, like dominoes being toppled, with fervor and awe.

The look in their eyes as they gazed at "Ark One" was devoid of any hostility or disdain. Only the purest...faith remained in their devotion to "God."

The steam alarm had long since stopped, leaving only the roar of the engine and the sound of the waves crashing.

Under the humble "escort" of dozens of patrol boats, the "Ark No. 1," which had returned to its original ship form, slowly sailed into the vast, chaotic steel city.

Shen Ge stood at the bow of the ship, her face calm, but she felt no sense of relief.

He knew that the "combination punches" he had just used could at most intimidate these low-level "soldiers" whose minds had already been formatted.

The true masters of this city will never be so easily fooled.

Next comes the real test.

When the "Ark One" passed through a sluice gate, a repurposed wreck of a giant warship and decorated with rust and gears, and entered the city's inner harbor, they were greeted by an even more breathtaking scene.

The steel walkways on both sides of the port, the crane booms, and even the windows of the buildings were packed with people.

Most of them, like the previous "Gear Guards," had undergone some degree of mechanical modification.

They neither cheered nor discussed; they simply gazed silently at the "biological warship" filled with an exotic and unknown aura, their eyes a mixture of curiosity, awe, and scrutiny.

An invisible, heavy pressure enveloped the entire port.

The "Ark No. 1" slowly docked at a huge berth specially prepared for large ships, which was converted from the flight deck of an aircraft carrier.

Before they could lower the ropes, a “person” who had been waiting on the shore slowly walked up, surrounded by eight “archbishop’s guards” whose entire bodies were wrapped in heavy steam armor.

He was an old man who had not undergone any rejuvenation procedures. His face was covered with deep wrinkles, and his eyes were cloudy, filled with the shrewd and ruthless wisdom that had accumulated over the years.

Unlike other fanatics, he showed no obvious signs of mechanical modification. He wore a magnificent robe, similar to that of a bishop, decorated with dark red velvet and brass gears, and held in his hand a scepter made of the spine of some kind of enormous creature and intricate machinery.

But Shen Ge's eerie eyes clearly saw that beneath this aged yet "pure" flesh and blood body, his heart had long been replaced by a rapidly operating "miniature eerie energy core".

His brain was also covered by countless tiny, spiderweb-like networks of metallic neurons.

It's not that he didn't make any changes; rather, he hid all the changes in the deepest and most crucial places.

The old man in front of us is the one who has gone the furthest and faced the most danger on the path of "mechanical ascension" in this city.

"Welcome, guests who have come from afar," the old man said slowly, his voice hoarse yet carrying a sense of authority.

His gaze did not fall upon the fully armed "Archbishop's Guard," nor was he intimidated by the ferocious appearance of "Ark Number One." Instead, it passed directly through everyone and landed precisely on Shen Ge, who was at the head of the group.

His cloudy eyes collided silently in mid-air with Shen Ge's calm black eyes and indifferent dark golden eyes.

In that instant, Shen Ge felt an extremely subtle and cunning erosion of energy, like the sharpest scalpel, trying to cut through his mental defenses and probe his true nature.

“I am Archturus, the bishop of this ‘Rusty Heart’.”

The old man smiled and introduced himself.

"I wonder... how should I address you... this... 'divine messenger' who has descended upon this place?"

As soon as Bishop Arcturus finished speaking, Shen Ge felt the strange energy that was trying to probe into his mind become even sharper.

This is a test, and also a show of force.

An ordinary fourth or fifth-tier monster would likely have all its secrets exposed instantly under such precise erosion by strange energy, and might even be directly controlled by the other party.

However, Shen Ge's expression did not change at all. He did not even actively mobilize his demonic energy to defend himself. With this level of demonic energy erosion, it posed no threat to him whatsoever.

But the next second, the color drained from Akturus's wrinkled old face. He swayed violently, almost losing his balance, and slammed his heavy scepter onto the deck to barely steady himself. His cloudy eyes widened suddenly, filled with horror and disbelief. Shen Ge's eerie eyes merely glared at him, and the intense eerie energy seemed to devour him completely.

It was a higher-level, completely incomprehensible form of strange energy that ignored all his defenses and seemed to be about to "devour" him in half from an existential level.

If the other party's intention was not to test him, but to attack him, then he has likely become an empty shell without a soul.

“Bishop Arcturus, is that right?” Shen Ge’s voice was calm, as if the invisible confrontation just now had never happened.

“You may call me… ‘messenger’.”

Shen Ge didn't call himself a "god," that would be foolish. An ambiguous identity as a "messenger," open to endless interpretation, was the most suitable disguise.

Arcturus took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart. It took him several seconds to regain control of his facial muscles and force out a smile that was even more respectful, and even more... wary, than before.

"So it is the messenger who has arrived." He adopted an extremely humble posture. "Please forgive me for not being able to greet you from afar. Rusty Heart welcomes your arrival."

The eight archbishop's guards behind him, as imposing as iron towers, didn't understand what had happened, but they sensed the dramatic change in their archbishop's attitude. Their gazes towards Shen Ge instantly shifted from wariness and scrutiny to absolute awe.

In the "Cult of the Machine God" system of the Corrupted Heart, strength represents everything. Anyone who can make the Bishop suffer a setback must be of a higher rank than the Bishop.

“No need for formalities,” Shen Ge said calmly. “I’m just following God’s guidance to stop here for a while. And also… to see if His ‘flock’ is still moving along the right path.”

These words were extremely arrogant, yet perfectly in line with the persona of a high-ranking divine messenger.

A glint flashed in Arcturus's eyes, and he immediately seized the opportunity: "You are right, sir. We lost sheep are always in need of guidance from the divine kingdom. Would you mind if we went to my 'Forge Temple' for a chat? We have prepared the purest energy and the most sophisticated parts for you as a gift."

This is his second test.

"Pure energy" refers to the strange energy crystals. "Precision parts" refers to those high-level strange materials.

Shen Ge sneered inwardly, but remained outwardly calm: "Worldly supplies are meaningless to me. However, my 'vehicle' has suffered some wear and tear during the voyage and needs a good dock for repairs. Lead the way."

He demonstrated his "extraordinary" qualities while also giving the other party a legitimate opportunity to access and study "Ark One".

To completely fool this old fox, you must offer him enough bait that he cannot refuse.

Sure enough, upon hearing that Shen Ge was willing to allow "Ark No. 1" to enter the port for rest and repair, a hint of undisguised ecstasy and greed flashed in Akturus's turbid eyes.

To him, Shen Ge, this mysterious "messenger," was terrifying, but what truly made him drool was this "creation of the gods" that displayed a "perfect form"!
If we can figure out even a little bit of it, we might find a breakthrough opportunity in his decades-long stagnant path of "mechanical ascension"!

“It is our honor!” Arcturus immediately bowed and made a “please” gesture. “The largest shipyard in the Heart of Rust—the ‘Hand of the Myriad Machines’—is always open to you. Please, messenger, follow me.”

Under the personal guidance of Arcturus, Shen Ge and his group set foot on the steel city built on the ruins of the apocalypse for the first time – "The Heart of Rust".

The deck beneath my feet was cold and hard, and the air was filled with the pungent smell of coal smoke and engine oil.

Huge, exposed steam pipes were everywhere, hissing white steam from time to time. Countless thick cables and cranes, like the web of a giant spider, haphazardly connected drilling platforms and warship wrecks, forming layer upon layer of a three-dimensional steel jungle.

The lower levels of the city, dimly lit, are the living areas for ordinary residents and workers.

Shen Ge saw countless emaciated, numb civilians performing arduous, mechanized labor amidst the giant gears and conveyor belts.

Most of them replaced their missing body parts with crude prosthetics made from scrap metal.

The upper levels of the city were the domain of the "Gear Guard" and technicians.

The buildings there were more orderly and the defenses were more stringent.

Huge searchlights and steam-powered gun turrets formed a formidable defensive line.

This is a hierarchical and oppressive "machine kingdom".

Alai and the others watched in horror, following closely behind Shen Ge like little people who had strayed into the land of giants, filled with unease and vigilance towards everything around them.

As Shen Ge walked, she calmly "read" everything about the city.

His supernatural eyes took in all the structures, the flow of supernatural energy, and the distribution of personnel, and rapidly constructed a complete three-dimensional map in his mind that included all the weak points.

After passing through countless checkpoints and certifications, Arcturus led them to a massive domed building located in the very center of the city, at its highest level.

"The Forge Temple".

The interior of the temple was not the magnificent hall that Alai and the others had imagined, but rather a huge, slowly operating "ship engine room".

A gigantic sphere, over thirty meters in diameter and resembling a miniature sun, floated in the very center of the temple. Its surface was covered with blue electric arcs and complex pipelines, radiating terrifying energy fluctuations and high temperatures.

This is the power source of the entire "Rusty Heart," a "subspace engine core" that they dug out from the wreckage of a giant warship and successfully repaired and restarted.

Arcturus actually possesses such advanced technology from the old era!

This also surprised Shen Ge greatly; clearly, the level of technology in this "Earth" of the old era was far beyond his expectations.

It could be a hundred years or even a thousand years from now.

Even with such advanced technology, it's impossible to reverse the bizarre changes on "Earth," which makes Shen Ge somewhat worried about the future of "reality."

"Please sit, Messenger." Arcturus gestured for Shen Ge and the others to sit on the metal benches to the side, while he himself stroked the engine core, which was radiating immense heat, with a look of rapture.

"This is a gift from Omnissiah; He guided us to find this... 'Heart of God' from a sunken ancient warship called the 'Titan' class." (End of Chapter)