Martial arts have become extinct worldwide, yet I am forced to have a large family.

The camp outside the entrance to the rift.

Three mech formations were neatly arranged on both sides of the rift entrance, with all their cannons aimed at the spatial rift.

The cordon has been set up, and no one is allowed to approach within 500 meters without permission.

In the sky, a purple dot of light rapidly approached.

The speed is ridiculously fast.

Several martial artists on guard looked up, their pupils suddenly contracting.

"That's... the aura of the Seventh Realm!"

"It's Chief Liu!"

The purple mech came to an abrupt stop at a height of thirty meters above the ground, its thrusters spewing out dazzling blue flames, and landed steadily in the center of the camp.

The ground shook the moment it landed.

The mecha's outer shell contracted and folded inward, with layers of metal parts fitting together, eventually transforming into a fist-sized purple core that hovered above a fair palm.

Liu Qin emerged from the light.

Her long, deep purple hair fluttered slightly in the wind, and her gaze from behind her glasses swept over everyone present.

"Greetings, Chief Liu!"

"Greetings, Emperor Liu Wu!"

"I've met him..."

The surrounding martial artists bowed in greeting, their voices rising and falling.

Liu Qin nodded, without saying anything more, and her gaze immediately locked onto a middle-aged man in the crowd.

"Teacher Zhong."

"Chief..." Teacher Zhong greeted him.

Yang Xian was his student, and he rushed over as soon as he received the news.

I've been waiting here for almost an hour.

"What's the situation inside now?"

Liu Qin walked up to the holographic map and glanced at the densely packed red markers on it.

Each red dot represents a confirmed sighting location of an iron-eating worm.

Teacher Zhong shook his head:

"Except for Yang Xian and one of the Guo family's descendants who are missing, everyone inside has been evacuated, and no casualties have been reported so far."

"I've already dispatched multiple rescue teams at the peak of the third realm to search, but the environment deep within the rift is too complex, and the Iron-Eating Insects' activity range is constantly expanding..."

He paused at the end.

"The chances of finding Yang Xian are slim."

"..." Liu Qin did not speak.

She stood behind the blockade, looking at the dark red crack.

Everyone else was able to evacuate safely; given Yang Xian's abilities, there's no reason he shouldn't be able to escape.

unless……

He didn't want to leave at all!

Liu Qin knows that guy too well.

His purpose in entering the rift was to access the core of the "mechanical life form".

If it's not finished yet, he won't budge even if the sky falls outside.

However, the Iron-Eating Bugs are not ordinary monsters, and their reproduction rate is astonishing.

The longer you stay inside, the more dangerous it becomes.

"This is really a headache..." Liu Qin muttered under her breath.

------

Deep within the fissure.

"It's almost time..."

"As planned, I'm going out to deal with those disgusting bugs."

"Stay here and don't wander off!"

Yang Xian parked the white mecha in front of the mud house and turned to look at the orange mecha that had just been repaired.

Guo Jingyi's voice immediately came from the other end:

"Sister Yang, please be careful. If it's not feasible, don't take the risk; let's discuss it further!"

"Don't worry," Yang Xian replied, and stepped out of the mud house, controlling his white mecha.

With the thrusters operating at full power, the white figure traced a straight line through the mist and rose rapidly.

The wind pressure tore through the churning fog, and the view quickly opened up.

As Yang Xian increased the altitude, he looked down at Lingling, who was perched on the mecha's shoulder.

The palm-sized iron-eating worm was firmly gripping his shoulder armor, and the blue light spots on its abdomen were flashing rhythmically.

Yang Xian couldn't help but sigh.

"Lingling, I never thought you'd be able to fight alongside me before you even have your own mecha body."

He extended a mechanical finger and touched Lingling's carapace.

"Let's work together today to get rid of all these pests!"

The voice just fell.

Lin Ai's dissatisfied voice echoed in his mind.

【ha--?!】

Yang Xian! What do you mean by that?

[It's clearly three "okay"s!]

Lingling echoed, and the blue light in her abdomen flashed twice.

Three!

Yang Xian's lips twitched.

"Yes, yes, three, three, it's three."

"What I mean is, Lingling and I will be competing together today, and Lin Ai, you just need to cheer us on!"

【Yang Xian—！！！】

【I'm ￥%@*】

The white mech continued to ascend, and the surrounding dark red mist gradually thinned.

Once the altitude reached a certain level, Yang Xian stopped.

"Alright, alright, calm down for a second! You're the biggest contributor to this operation!"

【Humph! 】

Lin Ai gave a coquettish laugh.

She knew Yang Xian was joking, and Yang Xian also knew Lin Ai was joking.

So neither of them took it to heart.

"The height is about right." Yang Xian withdrew his gaze and looked down at Lingling on his shoulder.

"Let's begin."

The shimmering blue light flickered for a moment, then suddenly brightened.

A special frequency signal was released from the tiny iron-eating worm and spread to every corner of the crack.

This signal was specially written by Lin Ai.

It simulates a summoning command.

All the iron-eating insects will recognize this signal as a command with the highest priority.

Then, they gathered in the direction of the signal source.

Yang Xian hovered high in the air, looking at the scene below.

At first, the changes were not obvious.

But soon, he noticed that the dark red dots of light began to move.

One, two, ten, dozens...

The points of light converged into tiny streams of light, surging into the depths from all directions of the rift.

------

at the same time.

Rescue Team No. 3 is advancing along a narrow canyon.

The captain's name is Sun He, who is at the peak of the third realm. He has served in the city defense army of Star City for several years and has fought in no less than a hundred battles, large and small.

"Be on guard. Traces of iron-eating insect activity have been detected 500 meters ahead."

Sun He raised his left arm, signaling the team to slow down.

The team consisted of six mechs, advancing slowly in a wedge formation.

"Captain, I haven't detected any signals from the insects," the scouts at the rear reported.

"I don't have any here either," came a reply from another direction.

Sun He frowned.

Not right.

They have been advancing for nearly two hours since they entered the crevice.

We did encounter quite a few iron-eating insects on the first half of the journey, and fought several small-scale skirmishes.

But the iron-eating worms disappeared twenty minutes ago.

Not a single one.

"Captain! Look over there!"

One of the team members suddenly pointed to the right.

Sun He turned the mecha's head, and the optical sensor magnified the image.

In the dark red mist, seven or eight iron-eating insects were rapidly crawling along the canyon wall.

But they weren't heading towards the rescue team.

Instead, it moved deeper into the crack.

"They're going in?" Sun He was taken aback.

"It's not just those few." The scout's voice was tense.

"Captain, I've scanned the surrounding three-kilometer radius with sonic detectors."

"All the detectable iron-eating insects are moving deeper into the rift."

"All...without exception!"