This time I chose Paladin.

Chapter 300: The Respectable Guardians of Humanity Destroy the False God

As the fangs pierced his carotid artery, pain contorted his face, but the high priest's eyes remained unusually clear, clearer than ever before. He even felt a near-relief-like peace. He threw everything he had left—his life, his soul, and even his carefully considered 'loyalty'—as his final stake onto the false god statue.

"Link complete..."

His body rapidly withered away, and a solid, dark red energy was injected into the statue—energy extracted from flesh and blood, which was quite different from that of natural plants.

The statue trembled violently, and the originally chaotic light was pierced by this energy, bursting out with a dazzling and dangerous pale radiance.

This was like the final boulder thrown into a stagnant pool. The dark red energy did not dissipate; instead, it was absorbed by the statue.

In an instant, the pale light on the surface of the statue contracted sharply inward, as if gripped tightly by an invisible hand.

Immediately afterwards, a tooth-grinding writhing sound emanated from inside the statue, like the clatter of rock and flesh growing together. The stone shell, mimicking the appearance of Administrator Number Two, began to undulate unnaturally, as if ants or snakes were crawling across it, causing the muscles beneath the skin to spasm.

It came back to life.

But this life was not of the ordinary form; the stone surface did not become soft, but instead cracked slightly, growing beautiful pale crystals that reflected a cold, hard luster.

The statue's already blurred face became even more blurred and somber, yet a dim, indistinct white light shone from the center of its face, like a cold star in the distant night sky.

What is most unsettling is its roots. Where the statue's base connects to the earth, countless fine, dark gold lines, like those on a circuit board, spread rapidly, penetrating the blood-soaked soil like blood vessels, even piercing through the rock layers, drawing energy from the earth's veins, and... those life sources that have just died but have not yet completely dissipated.

This force caused its form to twist and expand further, emanating a strange natural aura.

However, within this surge of power, clearly imbued with the aura of foreign plunder, there was also a strange, intertwined pulse of life originating from the planet beneath their feet—

That is the power of the cycle of life and death.

Two distinct energies violently merge and clash inside the statue, making its activation process filled with unstable spasms and piercing noises.

The black snake below raised its massive head, a hint of confusion flashing in its sapphire-like vertical pupils.

It did indeed sense a familiar warmth emanating from the statue, a warmth stemming from shared roots. Its massive body tilted slightly toward the statue, emitting a low, mournful whine.

But the next moment, it sensed something more—beneath that warmth lay a colder, more greedy alien core, a predatory will that was trying to drain it dry and assimilate it!
The giant snake's head snapped back, instinctively turning towards Administrator Number Two in mid-air.

The figure and its pure white light, though carrying an unsettling sense of oppression, were incredibly real and did not conflict with the essence of this land.

Almost without hesitation, the black snake smoothly abandoned the false warmth, its massive body slithering and coiling up in the open space below Administrator Number Two.

The swarm of snakes emerging from the snake pit seemed to receive a silent command, gathering around the giant snake like a tide, raising their heads towards the figure in the air, and making rustling sounds.

Nie Weiyang: “…”

Having been attacked by snakes so many times, he always had the unsettling feeling that these creatures wanted to bite him...

He had been watching all of this. His perception penetrated the outer shell of the living idol, reaching its very core.

[Mass Production Type Watcher Mimicry Statue] -
Components for mass-produced biorecycling systems.
■■■■■■、■■ Jointly produced; counterfeiting will be prosecuted.
• Detect and automatically construct [specific Watcher mimicry statues], collect and transport energy.

Purchase Instructions: The core of this project needs to be parasitic on a natural celestial body. Work will begin after an intelligent race is detected. Local materials must be used, and the tissues of the extinct target organisms must be used as engineering materials. Some materials can be returned after the work is completed.

Using this engineering component requires consuming life force crystals, and the component itself must be strictly protected.
-
This engineering component complies with the 4105th version of the [Interstellar Civilization Code of Ethics] protocol. If you have any concerns, please contact us via ■■■■■■■■■■.

...It's this kind of thing again!

Like the [Netherworld Crystal - Stellar Stone Type], this item adheres to the 4105th edition of the Interstellar Civilization Code of Ethics and belongs to the mass-produced biological reuse system components, rather than the 'Adaptive Civilization Extinction System' like the Spirit Light Tower. However, Nie Weiyang strongly suspects that the '■■' mentioned in its "Purpose of Counterfeiting" statement might very well be the... manufacturer of the Spirit Light Tower?
In fact, he had already learned from Liang Zhenduan about the relationship between the interstellar giant and the boundary war.

So, are those two censored names some huge companies that dominate the cosmos?
Nie Weiyang's gaze fell on the statue, his expression strange beneath the mask.

Plunder. Extract. Pipeline.

This so-called statue is no different from the Spirit Tower and the Netherworld Crystal - Star Stone type; they are all mass-produced items used to extract planetary resources.

Compared to the Spirit Tower that requires Golden Angels and the Netherworld Crystal that lacks self-protection capabilities, this statue itself is a defensive system with powerful built-in defense capabilities!

It doesn't need external protectors like the Golden Angels, because it is the strongest protector itself.

The only difference is that it seems... not yet fully connected to a transmission network, and the energy it receives has no way to be transferred.

The same applies to the Star Stone Netherworld Crystal...

They draw life force and soul from this land, but like a blocked pipe, they can only accumulate energy inside themselves and cannot send it out of this world.

Now the question is—where is that component that is being shipped out?

Just then, the fully activated statue of life raised its head.

Its 'eyes,' burning with a cold, eerie light, locked onto the second administrator in mid-air.

It sensed a threat. The greatest threat.

—The guardian of this region that it imitates is right here!

"Om-!!"

A deafening roar, a tremor of energy mixed with the friction of rocks, erupted—a sound no living being could produce. The statue's massive, partially metallic arm rose, and in its palm, a complex array of dark gold patterns and pale energy instantly materialized. A pale torrent, condensed with ley line energy, the echoes of life, and a will to destroy, slammed into Administrator Number Two like a giant spear tearing through the sky, carrying an aura of annihilation!

A shockingly long health bar appeared. It entered battle mode and launched an attack. Against the true guardian of this land, against the one that hindered it from fulfilling its mission, it unleashed all the power it could muster.

That power was no longer pure, nor did it attempt to imitate the pure radiance of Administrator Number Two; instead, it presented a chaotic pallor.

It's not bad; it's just that the cyclical priest has simply embarked on a path that's different from ordinary people...

...and at this moment it is proven that at the end of this road, there is only destruction.

In mid-air, Administrator Number Two calmly watched the pale sacrificial light.

Nie Weiyang sensed the unwavering resolve within it… stemming from the agreement, from the norms, from a principle rife with malice towards humanity.

...But here, that doesn't change anything.

The human guardian slowly raised his hand, and the fragments of the Heart Prism shone brightly.

The pure white light converged and condensed, and in an instant, the Heavenly Strike Torrent was unleashed!
(End of this chapter)