The sensation of slashing through hard steel was obviously not as mesmerizing as cutting through flesh. Duanmu Huai frowned displeased, kicking the iron body he had just cleaved open to the side. At the same time, he bent down, dodging another attack from behind. Then, Duanmu Huai raised his Battle Axe, tearing apart another Skinner, the Power Axe slicing through its shoulder blade, severing the vine-like cables within its body.

Blood splattered out, mixed with flesh.

It wasn’t their blood, nor was it their flesh.

Duanmu Huai glanced again at the iron bodies lying on the ground. They looked like sealed cans of meat smashed open by force, with the meat paste inside pouring out through the shattered gaps.

No one knew how much flesh these Skinners stuffed into their bodies, but it didn’t matter.

The battle continued, Duanmu Huai gripped the Power Axe tightly, maneuvering among dozens of Skinners. Without the Power Armor, he couldn’t charge directly. Fortunately, he wasn’t entirely helpless.

"Play the song!!"

With Duanmu Huai’s command, one of his Mecha Servants clumsily opened the mobile phone player he had given it. Soon, the song of Inquisitor echoed through the entire tomb world.

Praise the Mecha Spirit, in the name of Omnissia.

If they were ordinary Space Undead, they’d have thousands of ways to deal with this sudden noise. But the Skinners couldn’t; their program logic had been completely wrecked by virus infection, leaving only their bloodlust and some combat skills, rendering their sanity not much better than the Green Skin.

Thus, when the melodious song sounded and echoed through the tomb, these mad, bloodthirsty, greedy Undead lusting after unattainable flesh finally slowed down for the first time. They raised their heads, looking around in bewilderment, trying to find where the soul-shaking music was coming from.

But unfortunately, they no longer had the chance.

At that moment, Duanmu Huai unleashed his full force, turning into a whirlwind that charged straight into the Skinners, swinging the Power Axe forward, and everything in its path was split in two. Yet they weren’t Duanmu Huai’s target. He didn’t even glance at the mechanical corpses filled with flesh; gripping the Power Axe, he dashed across the battlefield at his fastest speed, leaving the surging and loyal plasma bombardment to cover his rear.

His target was ahead.

A cloaked shadow stood there, caught off guard by Duanmu Huai’s sudden attack, and when Duanmu Huai charged at it, it hurriedly raised the scepter in its hand, striking hard at the ground. A ghostly green energy instantly exploded in front of Duanmu Huai, blowing off his Mechanical Religion cloak.

But that was all it did.

Duanmu Huai leapt into the air, jumping high. The shadow aimed the scepter at Duanmu Huai once more, but just then, Duanmu Huai’s thrown Power Axe, spinning, flew at it, striking its head. The shadow’s movements lost accuracy at that moment, and the white beam burst from the scepter’s tip swayed, sweeping across the battlefield, piercing through two Skinners before crashing into a nearby wall, creating a deafening roar.

Simultaneously, Duanmu Huai was already falling due to gravity, catching the handle of the Power Axe embedded in the opponent’s head, using all his strength to press down. Amidst the screeching of metal being crushed, Duanmu Huai landed firmly on the ground, and the iron before him had been sliced cleanly in half.

But it wasn’t over yet.

Duanmu Huai took a breath, ready to push forward—but at that moment, he stopped.

Time seemed to freeze, or rather, the entire world plunged into stasis. Music, explosions, the radiance of erupting plasma felt fixed in that moment, like a film interrupted, paused, everything suspended.

Meanwhile, a towering figure emerged in this frozen world. It had a sculpted physique, hunched back, shadowed by a hood with glowing green eyes.

It approached Duanmu Huai, gazing at the girl before it, uttering an expression of admiration.

It reached out, attempting to touch the girl in front of it.

Then, a shadow appeared before it.

Duanmu Huai’s tightly clenched fist hit its face without any finesse, even the super-alloy constructed body couldn’t withstand such an attack; the latter flew back, crashing through several layers of dark curtains, slamming into the wall, subsequently buried by the collapsing debris.

"Huff......."

Duanmu Huai breathed out, lifting his head, staring coldly at the debris before him.

"Stand up, Taraxin, I know you, damn bastard, don’t die so easily."

"Clang."

As Duanmu Huai spoke, the debris was overturned, revealing the battered tall figure that emerged. It raised its head, adjusting its crushed mouth, placing it back, gazing at Duanmu Huai with its glowing green eyes.

"Seems I can skip the introduction?"

"To do such shameless things, you’re the only one in the entire Milky Way."

Duanmu Huai, holding the Power Axe, narrowed his eyes, faintly gazing at the mechanical creature before him, the Space Undead.

"Unfortunately, you don’t qualify to make me part of your collection."

"Forgive my boldness."

The latter arched its back, striking a comical pose.

"But I hope you understand, when I hear a song that shakes my soul and fills me with pleasure, how excited I’d be... I believe it will be one of my finest collections."

Duanmu Huai stared at it, silent.

He knew who it was, Endless Taraxin, the most infamous Lord among the Space Undead, and the one all players wished to bankrupt thoroughly. Yet, unfortunately, most of the time, it was the one bankrupting players, with the players’ few victories often being pyrrhic.

This scoundrel’s favorite act was sneaking in when others were fighting intensely, stealthily snatching things it deemed valuable and meaningful. Not limited to Humans, Insect Swarm, Green Skin... Hmm, if there were a few 30K’s old-timers lying in its museum, Duanmu Huai wouldn’t be surprised.

Its presence here... well, not surprising either.

After all, Taraxin never enters personally; it always prefers using the bodies of other Space Undead to accomplish its goals.

"You really aren’t afraid of being infected by the Skin Stripping Virus, huh."

Duanmu Huai mocked, while the latter chuckled.

"Sometimes risks must be taken, and based on my calculations, this gain outweighs the risk."

As it spoke, Taraxin spread its arms.

"I hope you understand, this was originally my collection. Logically, it shouldn’t be interfered with, so I came to inspect the situation......"

"..........."

Alright, now Duanmu Huai understood why this ghostly place was entirely static; it was indeed something this shameless fellow could pull off.

"Where’s the oil man here?"

"They failed. They tried to solve the mystery of the Skinners but fell into the Abyss. Unfortunately, I hoped they’d bring me some small surprises."

"Alright, that’s that."

Duanmu Huai wasn’t surprised by the answer.

Oil man’s unique nature always resulted in them being handled, then needing the Tribunal to clean up after them, as always.

Duanmu Huai pondered for a moment, then again looked at the Space Undead overlord before him—even after millennia, this bastard was as detestable as ever.

But for Duanmu Huai right now, this wasn’t bad news.

"Let’s make a deal."

Then, he locked his gaze on Taraxin, speaking.