Easy Prey

Luo Feng's body flickered, and he crouched beside the E9-grade laser gun, reaching out to pick up this seemingly simple masterpiece of the Machine Race. He ran his hand over the gun's peculiar material, which was very similar to the hull material of his silver pyramid spaceship. However, he could vaguely sense that the laser gun's material was likely even superior. Though called a gun, its muzzle caliber was actually more astonishing than some cannons on Earth. The laser gun's muzzle had a diameter of 1 meter. In the vast cosmos, the main cannons of some spaceships and warships have muzzles hundreds or even thousands of meters wide. A weapon with a mere 1-meter caliber truly falls within the 'gun' category in the universe. "Luo Feng, this is an XTH-122 series E9-grade laser gun, a creation only the Machine Race can produce," Babata communicated mentally. "It's renowned for its compact size and extremely short energy storage time. You should know that while our human race is quite adept at technological weapons, we can only produce tech weapons capable of annihilating Ninth-tier Sector Lords at most. As for creating tech weapons that can kill Undying beings, we humans cannot achieve that." Luo Feng nodded. Indeed, the leap from Sector Lord to Undying is a qualitative one. The human race can only produce alloys up to the peak of E-grade. F-grade alloys are definitely metals born in the cosmos. The same applies to technological weapons; once they reach peak E-grade, there's no way to break through and create stronger tech weapons. But the Machine Race is different! The Machine Race, the origin of technology in the universe, consists entirely of intelligent life forms. They can create technological weapons capable of killing Undying beings! They can create alloys comparable to F-grade and even higher! Moreover, these alloys possess superior properties compared to pure metals. For instance, the Machine Race Undying corpse Luo Feng saw in the Yunmo Star ship was actually an alloy body. That alloy was comparable to F-grade metal, and for an alloy body to achieve perfect flexibility and toughness was truly incredible. This is unique to the Machine Race; other races simply cannot achieve it. "Only the Machine Race can create technological weapons capable of killing Undying beings," Babata continued. "Of course, such tech weapons come at an extremely high cost. Only a very few Undying beings of the Machine Race possess such terrifying weapons." Luo Feng nodded. His own Machine Race spaceship was only equipped with E3-grade laser cannons and a planet-destroying main cannon. While the planet-destroying cannon was incredibly powerful, its energy storage time was too long, making it unsuitable for close combat. Furthermore, the planet-destroying cannon's massive size made it impractical for single-person use. "For the same power, the smaller the weapon, the more expensive it is! The shorter the energy storage time, the more expensive!" Babata said. "This E9-grade laser gun, so compact and with an ultra-short energy storage time, can be considered the bane of Sector Lords. It's extremely rare even among the Machine Race. Your teacher never managed to acquire one of these." "How expensive?" Luo Feng quickly asked. "The price is approximately 5000 mixed yuan units," Babata replied. "It's not too expensive for an Undying expert, but the problem is that it's a restricted item. It's very difficult to buy even with money, unless you're willing to pay several times the price." "That expensive?" Luo Feng's eyes widened. 5000 mixed yuan units, more expensive than a Machine Race spaceship. "Yes, this laser gun can be considered a family heirloom," Babata explained. "For example, if a family possesses such a laser gun, and a Sector Lord enemy flies into your planetary territory, when the planetary alert system detects the enemy Sector Lord, it only takes 0.1 seconds to fully charge. As long as that Sector Lord enemy dares to approach, they can be instantly killed with a single shot, before they even have time to react!" Luo Feng nodded repeatedly. Right. The planet-destroying cannon was formidable, but its charge time was 60 seconds. A peak Sector Lord could fly tens of thousands of kilometers in a second and reach the heart of a planetary territory. So, the planet-destroying cannon was only a great weapon for large-scale attacks! But the E9-grade laser gun, whether for close-quarters combat or as a family heirloom or national treasure, was incredibly potent! "From today onwards," Luo Feng murmured, stroking the laser gun in his hand and feeling its cold temperature. "I have another, more ruthless trump card." The Demon Killer Clan clone's speed was astonishing. For the Demon Killer Clan clone to wield the E9-grade laser gun, it would be incredibly easy to endure 0.1 seconds with its ghostly speed. Once 0.1 seconds passed... a single shot could kill the enemy! ... Luo Feng put the laser gun into his space ring, then examined the frozen corpse. Although the surrounding ice had melted and the water boiled due to the super-high temperature earlier, this was still the Demonic Mountain! Soon, the cold air from other areas permeated the spot, and within tens of seconds, the boiling water froze again, turning into ice. All the previous steam also condensed into frost and ice. *Crack!* He stomped, breaking the ice, and took the space belt from Pato's corpse. "I wonder what's inside," Luo Feng thought, his mental force sweeping through it. With Luo Feng's discerning eye, ordinary treasures were truly beneath his notice. Pato's entire fortune combined was far less than 1 mixed yuan unit. "Huh, there are over three thousand black tokens here." Luo Feng was pleasantly surprised as he took out the large batch of black tokens. Each token floated in mid-air before Luo Feng, a dense mass of them. Each black token represented the life of a Universe-level human at minimum. Over three thousand lives! "The Demonic Mountain is indeed a place of nine deaths and one life," Luo Feng shook his head inwardly. "I hope my identity token doesn't become someone else's spoils of war." With a wave, he collected all the black tokens. With this unexpected gain, Luo Feng's total collected black tokens reached 4320. ... *Whoosh!* Luo Feng quickly flew to the Machine Race spaceship in the distance and observed it carefully. The dent caused by the super-strong laser beam had almost completely vanished without a trace. "It seems it will be completely restored in a moment. This alloy's memory recovery ability is truly impressive," Luo Feng praised inwardly. "Babata, put it into your storage space." "Understood." The Machine Race spaceship, which had been lying against the rock wall with a layer of ice condensed on its surface, instantly disappeared. ... In the icy rock cave, Luo Feng, tiny like an ant compared to the cave, was rapidly advancing with his Blood Shadow Blade strapped to his back. "Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit!" "If I encounter a somewhat troublesome opponent, I'll directly switch to my Demon Killer Clan clone for an instant resolution." Luo Feng walked, reflecting on the previous battle. The reason he had entered such a dangerous situation was because he initially underestimated that Ninth-tier Domain Lord opponent, leading to that outcome. Luo Feng frowned as he walked. "Babata," Luo Feng called out mentally, "the warrior who tried to kill me shouted 'It's really you!' and even pulled out an E9-grade laser gun, which even Undying beings rarely possess..." "Firstly, that warrior was just a native of Nine Star Sea. Logically, he absolutely couldn't have obtained an E9-grade laser gun," Babata's voice replied. "Anyone who could obtain an E9-grade laser gun would likely be an Undying being. And one with a significant background! Combining his 'It's really you!' comment after seeing the Moyun Teng, and the Sector Lord who previously pursued you..." "Everything points to a powerful figure with a background wanting to kill you!" "This powerful figure gave the laser gun to this Ninth-tier Domain Lord warrior and told him your characteristics—that you possess a Ninth-tier Domain Lord Moyun Teng." "And the Sector Lord who pursued you earlier, stubbornly guarding the cave entrance, was likely also part of this." "From this, we can conclude!" "This powerful figure wants to kill you and has arranged more than one person. There's a Sector Lord, and a Domain Lord with a laser gun," Babata explained. Luo Feng's pupils contracted. Who wanted to kill him? He didn't seem to have offended anyone. "A powerful figure wanting to kill you probably involves some high-level grievances," Babata continued. "I speculate there are three possibilities: first, factional struggle; second, personal vendetta; third, racial war." "Because each Venerable of the Virtual Universe Company independently leads a faction, and you will belong to the Nine Swords Venerable's faction. If the factional struggle is fierce, someone might foresee your threat and try to eliminate you. However... assassinating a genius like this is a despicable method. If they dare to do so, it must be a very deep factional hatred." "Second, personal vendetta. You are Zhenyan King's disciple. So, others' grievances with Zhenyan King could very well involve you. But similarly, daring to do this suggests a very deep hatred, otherwise, they wouldn't take such a risk." "Third, racial war. The struggle between the human race and other races in the universe is fierce. It's not uncommon for powerful individuals to infiltrate other races and assassinate their geniuses." Luo Feng nodded slightly. All three possibilities were plausible. "Luo Feng, as you grow stronger and your status rises, the people you inadvertently offend, or those who want to kill you even if you haven't offended them, will increase," Babata said. "So you must be careful." "Mm," Luo Feng nodded. He couldn't die! If he died, the fate of Earth's humanity, whose foundation was still fragile, would likely change immediately. And the incredibly wealthy Pinghai Group would probably quickly attract covetous eyes, with unpredictable consequences. After all, even the Virtual Universe Company, being so vast, was a mixed bag of good and bad, with countless interest groups. This was a power far larger than a Cosmic Nation. ... Luo Feng became even more cautious, advancing along the way. Any opponent from Seventh-tier Domain Lord upwards was swiftly dealt with by his Demon Killer Clan clone, while those below Seventh-tier Domain Lord were handled by his human true body. Despite his caution, killing was ultimately unavoidable. The black tokens quickly accumulated to 4831. ... On the 75th day in the Demonic Mountain. Luo Feng, with his Blood Shadow Blade strapped to his back, walked through the ancient, cold-mist-filled cave. Suddenly, his pupils contracted. Looking into the distance, about ninety kilometers away, two Universe-level youths were carrying an exquisitely carved long chair. An emaciated old man with a goatee lay on the chair, occasionally humming, with five other youths following nearby. "Is that him?" Luo Feng's pupils narrowed. "That old pervert?"