On my second playthrough, they were full of malice towards me.

The tattoo design wasn't static; the two tall wine glasses seemed to sway gently, yearning for their empty bellies to be filled with some kind of liquid by the girl.

That was bright red blood.

"Aaaaaah!" A pitiful scream came from the opposite side in the distance. It was seen that Styutia had completely gone mad the moment Liao Ji branded Irene as well.

Her eyes were bloodshot, her hair was disheveled, and she was both furious and terrified.

She can win.

She had a terrifying horde of filthy corpses under her command, accumulated by the priest over decades, that practically filled the entire underground sewer system of the Black Hole, while there were only three people on the other side—just three!

She has an absolute advantage in numbers. Faced with such a gap, what can be done even with Lord Ash's command?

Yes, just like at the beginning, we can just drown them in the Black Sea of ​​Turbid Corpses, and then snatch Lord Ash back. She wants to win, she wants to win this round from Lord Ash!

She wants to prove to Lord Ash that she, Styutia, is no longer just a character who can only "heal"!

Under the nun's will, the horde of mutated corpses rioted once more, surging in from all directions like a tide. No, Liao Ji had somehow moved his three companions to a different location, and now they were at the entrance to a one-way passage, forcing all the mutated corpses to attack them from only one direction.

"Zero, activate sweeping mode."

Despite the dire situation, Liao Ji, who was at the very back, seemed to be in a state of excitement. He quickly issued a command to the mechanical maid in the second position.

Liao Ji naturally assumed that the maid was a bionic replica projected from Zero, just as Sciutia used Maria as a "container" to descend.

But what he didn't expect was...

zero

My master calls me Zero?

Does my master think I'm a zero?!

In the eyes of No. 86's bionic prosthetic body, countless waves of code appeared, as if just Liao Ji's name alone was enough to cause No. 86's computing power to "overload".

After all, the title "Zero" is supreme for all bionics, representing the mother body that bestows everything upon them.

In comparison, she was nothing more than a low-quality copy of "zero," and a second-hand one at that, with corrupted data and already scrapped.

Now, the owner is actually referring to himself as "zero."

Chip No. 86 began to overheat severely, and one warning error message after another popped up in her field of vision. Normally, a "clone" would be targeted by the "main brain network" at this point and forcibly treated as a "bug" and eliminated.

unfortunately

Number 86 cannot connect to the "main brain network," which means that the "main brain network" is also unable to detect that Number 86 is an independent individual.

then.

Number 86 proactively erased all error messages and warnings in front of it, and in that instant, perhaps because the situation was urgent and there was no time to explain, or perhaps to avoid distracting its owner, or perhaps for some other deeper reason.

But in short...

At least at this moment, Number 86, in this battle, decided to consider herself as Zero.

The 19% of "unknown data" that had been captured by Number 86 was finally completely read by Number 86 in this instant and integrated into her core chip.

The source of that 19% "unknown data" was the crystal-clear, azure light spots floating in the air inside the Sea Sand Bar at that time.

That's right

The remaining fragments of the "body" after Zero "self-destructed".

It belongs to zero.

Damaged data!

"Command received. Activate firing mode!"

All of Number 86's thoughts, the mutual absorption and merging of internal data, took only a blink of an eye in reality. Because it obtained zero data, Number 86 was able to smoothly execute Liao Ji's orders.

After all, for bionic machines, data is equivalent to inheritance and power. As long as the corresponding data is available, any ability can be learned and released in an instant.

Just like number 86 now.

The original light wings on her back were retracted, and in their place, more than a dozen machine gun barrels burst forth. As a replacement for the light wings, a higher-level anti-gravity levitation device was mounted on the maid's feet.

Number 86 easily leaped into the air, the dozens of machine guns on her back aimed at the massive horde of ghouls coming towards her, and the next second, terrifying strafing fire completely engulfed the horde.

However, Zero in sweeping mode does have a larger attack range and AOE crowd control ability, but at the cost of greatly reduced damage per shot. It can be seen that the firepower of sweeping can indeed delay the advance of the zombies and smash their limbs, but it is still a bit short of killing the zombies and causing fatal damage.

But, it was almost right!

Liao Jiyao wanted this "almost" effect; otherwise, he would have directly activated a higher level of "overload mode" from zero.

“Eileen”.

The thirsty girl finally received her command, and the crimson greatsword in her hand was already filled with a bloodlust.

With the [Great Annihilation] state activated, Irene stood at the forefront of the formation like a war goddess, like a meat grinder, using her crimson greatsword to harvest one crippled corpse monster after another from the aerial barrage of No. 86.

With each kill, a trace of red liquid could be seen inside the "tall wine glass"-shaped brand tattoo on the girl's back. This blood-red liquid then transformed into energy, feeding back into Irene and causing the greatsword in the girl's hand to glow even brighter. It even changed shape, with two blood-red wings of turbidity appearing faintly behind Irene.

"It's about time Tia started using that too, right?"

Liao Ji, observing the battle from the rear, muttered to himself. At the same time, he brought up Irene's panel and stared at the attack power layers stacked on the "Raise a Glass!" brand.

Once he concluded that the girl no longer needed the aerial attacks from the mecha girls above to supplement damage and could complete the harvesting of "energy" on her own, he immediately issued a new command to Zero, instructing her to prepare.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side, Styutia stared intently at the girl who was fluttering like a blood butterfly among the horde of corpses. She knew about the effect of the [Brand] item, which was considered useless by Ash Lord back then.

But now... why, why is that guy able to continuously charge the [Mark]?! Could it be that her ability is...?

Styutia realized that if things continued this way, her army of filthy corpses would not only fail to overwhelm the girl with numbers, but would also become nourishment for Irene to accumulate energy.

The nun recalled how Lord Ash commanded her in battle, and how, when facing enemies in this "special state," her most effective skill should be...

Styutia began chanting, and soon a beam of holy light locked onto Irene from above her head.

Sensing something, the young girl abandoned all thoughts of continuing the killing spree and tried to dodge quickly, because Irene recognized this move. The nun had used this holy light to revert all the mutated corpses back to their original forms.

That's the Holy Word silence!

If it works on the turbid corpse, it will definitely work on her as well. Once she is hit by this "silent" holy light, all the power she has accumulated will be wasted!

However, no matter how fast Irene moved, trying to break free from the Holy Light lock, it was all in vain. A smile appeared on Styutia's lips, after all, this was one of her proudest skills, and a targeted ability that Lord Ash had praised!

brush!

The silent holy light finally shone down, completely enveloping the girl.

Styutia disdained violence; in her view, Irene was unworthy. Being forced to use her powers was already the greatest honor for Irene.

Indeed, that was the case. Without Liao Ji, Styutia wouldn't have needed to lift a finger; a single silence would have crippled Irene in her [Great Annihilation] state. This is the precious and rare "silence" skill, and one of the reasons why Liao Ji valued and nurtured Styutia so highly.

Unfortunately.

If there is anyone in this world who understands Styutia better than Styutia herself, it is probably Liao Ji.

"Varied!?"

As the holy light faded, the woman Irene, who had appeared like a drowned rat in the nun's imagination and anticipation, did not materialize. Instead, in Irene's original spot, someone else had appeared.

Mechanical maid!?

Her [Holy Word Silence] spell landed directly on the mechanical maid. And if we're talking about powerful control skills like "Silence," what's the most vulnerable thing to it?

That's machinery.

The mechanical maid, after being hit by the "Silence" skill, was exactly the same as before, as if nothing had happened. Yes, because most mechanical species are completely immune to silence skills that target "biological" types.

"How could this be! When...?"

Styutia, who was in a daze, suddenly realized something and looked at Liao Ji. Beside the young man, she saw Irene, who was still maintaining the [Great Annihilation] and "Energy Injection" states, with a look of lingering fear on her face.

It's zero capability!

Phase transfer!

He switched her and Irene's positions the instant his holy light descended!

And the only one who could pinpoint this precise moment, know their own weakness in "silence," and manipulate Zero and Irene into switching places is... only...

"Hehehe, Lord Ash, Lord Ash!!! Since you like her so much, then Tia will destroy her for you to see!!"

If the previous Styutia didn't want to go all the way, and still had a sliver of mercy in her heart, wanting to spare Irene's life.

At that moment, when Liao Ji used her weakness to help Yilin, another woman, and this outsider, the nun no longer held back and was about to unleash her killing blow.

She began chanting again, but this time the holy light was no longer shining; instead, it was quickly stained black and eventually turned into a pitch-black arrow.

"Let Tia see if Lord Ash will use that machine to shield her from bullets this time, hehehe!"

Has it finally arrived?

Liao Ji stared at the black arrow in the nun's hand.

This is Sthime's strongest attack skill—[Dark Spirit Annihilation]

The skill description is very simple: it deals damage equal to 1000% of the enemy's attack power to enemy units with an attack power rating of C or higher.

Its strength is unassuming and powerful, especially against high-attack but low-health bosses and elite monsters. After being hit by a [Dark Spirit Annihilation], it will suffer damage equal to ten times its own attack power, which is almost the same as being instantly killed.

Liao Ji clearly remembers that it was thanks to Styutia's trick that he successfully "skipped" countless difficult classes, stealing resources far exceeding those of his time, accumulating the crucial first pot of gold for his later rise to wealth.

Both the maid and Irene are clearly offensive types, and their attack ratings are both above C. Irene, in particular, has reached a terrifying A- in attack power thanks to the stacking of the brand's energy!

It's safe to say that either of them would have been doomed after being hit by Styutia's [Dark Word Annihilation] spell, which is why the nun just laughed.

Styutia was pushing herself.

She wanted to see which one she would use to receive her attack, that is, which one she would send to their death!

That's ruthless.

Liao Ji shook his head with a sigh in his heart. This was definitely not the Sthiuthia he liked or knew anymore.

So

"Mr. Tamick, do you wish to call back your goddess?"

Liao Ji turned around and asked the young knight behind him.

At the start of the game, Liao Ji deliberately hid him out, placing him in a position further back than even a commander like himself. Coupled with his already incongruous strength, Tamik almost completely lost his presence, and everyone subconsciously ignored him.

Except for Liao Ji.

After all, every character has their value, and exploring, utilizing, and squeezing out their value is precisely what Liao Ji is best at and most adept at.