Chapter Sixty-Five: Mechanical Eternity vs. Supreme Firepower

Electric energy surged! At the tip of Mercury’s Cannon, a streak of acceleration array flickered. The compressed electric projectile passed through the acceleration array and drew a trail of light in the air, shooting straight toward Viktor’s body, then precisely piercing through the wall beside him.

Clearly, Jayce hadn’t lost all restraint; his attack was a focused burst, not an explosive shot. After all, he was already breaking the rules, and if he caused mass casualties, he had no idea what punishment might await him.

Viktor dodged the attack with a swift sidestep and began to run rapidly. He had arrived earlier than Jayce and was more familiar with the terrain. Combined with Jayce’s lack of murderous intent, he was only somewhat flustered for the moment.

Just as Jayce cornered Viktor, preparing to capture him alive, the wall behind Viktor suddenly turned incandescently red within a second. A beam pierced through the wall, shooting inside.

Viktor swiftly raised Mercury’s Cannon in front of him. Under the effect of the electromagnetic field, the beam was deflected to the floor beside him.

Immediately after, Jayce felt a sudden suction erupt beneath him, pressing him hard against the ground.

Viktor retreated a few steps and slipped out through the opening created by the death ray.

The gravity field beneath Jayce only served as a momentary surprise attack. Given Jayce’s abilities, he would break free before long. Once he did, at this range, Viktor’s chances of defeating Jayce were less than ten percent.

Boom! A brilliant light burst from the end of Mercury’s Cannon, piercing through the gravity generator.

Jayce braced himself on the ground, stood up, and charged in the direction Viktor had escaped. When he passed through the gap, he slowed his steps.

Before him stretched an endless formation of drones, blotting out the sky. Every drone’s death ray emitter was primed and ready, their muzzles glowing with yellow energy.

Jayce took a deep breath and launched the first attack.

Electromagnetic acceleration gate—ten successive bursts of electric fury!

Beams of energy cannon fired into the drone formation, erupting in explosions that sent scores of drones crashing down. Yet, against the sheer number of drones, this was but a drop in the ocean.

“The flesh is the greatest weakness of machines, Jayce. You will come to understand this,” Viktor’s voice drifted from behind the drone formation.

As his words fell, a storm of beams fired out, saturating the area before and behind Jayce in a deadly barrage.

Mercury’s Cannon—warhammer form!

With a mechanical clatter, compressed energy shells loaded into the warhammer, their casings ejecting as the hammer brimmed with uncontrollable, savage power.

Jayce gripped the hammer’s end with his right hand, swung his arm wide, and as his arm reached full extension, a jet of fierce flame erupted from the hammer’s tip.

Thunderous Strike!

Lightning surged forth with Jayce’s movement, a dazzling violet light blanketing the observers’ hidden vantage points.

The scattered lightning formed a towering arc-shaped wall before Jayce. Every inch of this wall radiated energy without restraint.

“Machinery is nothing! Firepower is all that matters!” Jayce roared. As lightning and death rays collided, a massive pit, dozens of meters across, was blasted into the ground.

Panting heavily, Jayce felt the strain of the compressed energy shells on his body. After using several in quick succession, even his mid-level knight’s physique was struggling.

Viktor silently watched the rising dust, hesitated for a moment, then turned and left.

Jayce had left the Hextech Institute fully stocked with ammunition and charged crystals. As for Viktor, his available energy crystals had only just been charged in the Stark Group’s new energy research lab.

With energy in such short supply, Viktor had no desire for a direct confrontation. Even unleashing a single singularity to create a chaos storm would drain his reserves, while Jayce, from the look of him, could still unleash several more Thunderous Strikes.

Viktor had departed, but the drone formation he left behind continued to play its role.

Unable to face Jayce head-on, the drones dispersed, employing guerrilla tactics. Their beams shifted from sustained barrages to rapid, intermittent bursts.

Jayce swung his warhammer, smashing the nearest drones to pieces with a few swift blows.

Then, Mercury’s Hammer shifted into cannon form. Jayce took aim at the sky, firing shot after shot to bring down the drones one by one.

He dared not pursue Viktor before dealing with these drones.

As Viktor had said, sometimes the flesh truly was a weakness when facing machines. It did not take long—just three seconds of continuous laser exposure would build up enough energy to pierce Jayce’s bodily defenses.

Of course, with his speed and reflexes, a single laser emitter would never suffice, but Jayce was unsure if more drones were lurking nearby or if gravity generators were lying in wait along his path.

As Jayce cleared the remaining drones, inside the battered laboratory, Stan eyed the table with burning eagerness. There lay the empty energy crystals Viktor had left behind and a handful of strange components.

After witnessing the battle between Jayce and Viktor, Stan knew neither man would fall into his hands, so he might as well seize the spoils before him.

Energy was a tricky thing—difficult to generate, harder still to store. If he could crack open these energy crystals and bring down their price to an affordable level, he could at least secure a foothold within the Stark Group.

Even if Tony wanted to get rid of him, he wouldn’t be able to—just as he had failed to get rid of Tony in the past.

“Boss! He’s nearly finished with the fight!” Stan’s secretary kept an eye outside and whispered a warning.

“Got it. Go stand by the breach and stall him!” Stan ordered as he hastened his preparations.

He worried that once Jayce finished off his foe, he’d return and clean out everything left behind.

“Boss! Boss! No need to rush anymore—he seems to be chasing after Viktor once he dealt with the drones!” the secretary reported, eyes shining with excitement.

Hearing this, Stan breathed a sigh of relief; his tension eased, and his grip loosened. A crystal struck the screwdriver.

The anti-tampering device Viktor had left behind was accidentally triggered. The crystal immediately began to self-destruct, shattering with a sharp crack.

Startled, Stan staggered back two steps, clutching the box to his chest.

Yet Viktor’s security measure had another twist: once one crystal’s anti-tamper was triggered, the others nearby would also begin to self-destruct.

A series of sharp explosions erupted in Stan’s arms.

The self-destruction of the crystals wasn’t especially powerful, but with over a dozen pressed to his chest, it was more than enough.

In an instant, the skin and muscle on Stan’s chest were blown open. He crashed to the floor, head hitting the ground with a heavy thud.