Under the Blast Tunnel…

A battle shook the heavens, a thunderous awe.

Facing the Demon Lord's fierce onslaught, Lu Te met it calmly, without fear.

Between the two of them, every gesture possessed devastating power.

Fortunately, their battlefield was beneath the Blast Tunnel, with this spatial rift present, most of the rampaging energy would flow to another dimension. Otherwise, most of the city would have already been destroyed by them.

"Looks like it's about time..." Lu Te said in a deep voice after the *n*th exchange with the Demon Lord, "Your remaining power is less than 6%, you should give up..."

"Hmph... you can see that too?" The Demon Lord's tone remained as arrogant as ever.

At first glance, his state was no different from when the battle began. Dark energy still surged around him; the fighting spirit in his four demonic eyes was even more intense than before.

But the world in the eyes of a Derivative was a different scene entirely...

"Your strength has indeed exceeded my initial calculations." Lu Te continued, "But... still within the margin of error."

Lu Te's appearance at this time was somewhat different from before. She had abandoned the form of an ordinary human and become a liquid metal being, her entire body like quicksilver. In this form, even if she were blasted into thousands of droplets, she could reform in a very short time, almost immortal.

"If it were in the Inner World, I could completely erase you in just one minute," Lu Te said coldly. "But here, I have to put in a little more effort..." She slowly raised her right hand, extended a finger, and a white energy ball rapidly condensed at her fingertip, "So far, you have 'killed' me a total of six times. Or rather... you have successfully unleashed six fatal attacks on me."

At this point, Lu Te paused for two seconds, and a hint of a smile appeared on her liquid metal face, which had only a simple outline, "However... I presume you've also noticed that after each such attack, I become stronger."

With a gentle flick of her finger, the energy ball shot out like a cannonball, blasting a white path of light and rushing toward the Lord of All Demons with the force of a sweeping wind.

In the next second, demonic energy ignited, and demonic flames engulfed the light.

The Demon Lord raised a hand, and black fire appeared in his palm, instantly incinerating the light ball Lu Te had launched in mid-air.

Lu Te watched the deity standing proudly in the smoke with cold eyes, and snorted coldly... Then, she continued in a calm tone: "I might as well be frank... I have undergone a total of fifteen 'deviations' since coming to this space. Each time I complete one... I become a little weaker than my 'source form'." She paused, "After fifteen times, I finally reduced my strength to only about three times stronger than a level one Derivative. Because only in this way... could I enter places outside the Inner World without causing an abnormal reaction from the system."

As Lu Te spoke, she stepped forward and approached her opponent: "As a controllable data entity, the fact that you could force me to shed six forms with your own strength is indeed a bit of a surprise to me. But... it ends here." Her voice seemed to carry an invisible pressure, "Although I am still inferior to you in terms of destructive power, energy intensity, and speed... your remaining power, even if used all at once, cannot cause me fatal damage."

As she spoke, Lu Te's pace did not stop. She came to a spot five meters in front of the Demon Lord, and thrust out her arms, her ten fingers suddenly extending like steel cones.

Faced with this sudden attack, the Demon Lord did not dodge or evade, but met it head-on. The black strange armor on his body was also no ordinary object, and it was not damaged in the slightest by the impact of the liquid metal.

Clang clang clang clang—

Dense impacts sounded one after another, splashing a few black sparks.

"You just keep yapping when I'm not saying anything, huh... Derivative." Although the Demon Lord did not retreat a single step, the light in his eyes dimmed a little, "You really think... this king has given it my all?"

As soon as these words came out, even Lu Te's expression changed.

"I was just playing around with you using the power accumulated in this space, and you got carried away..." A sneer climbed onto the Demon Lord's face.

His four pupils were getting darker and darker, seemingly foreshadowing something. It turned out that this was not a sign of exhaustion, but...

"Since you're so confident, then what's the harm in this king unleashing my true power and killing you another ten or eight times?"

Whoosh—

Suddenly, a streak of swift light came from the side, passing right between Lu Te and the Demon Lord.

The power of this strike was not that strong, but it was enough to make these two powerhouses react.

"Please, take it easy... Lord Demon Lord." A slightly sharp male voice rang out.

The Lord of All Demons glanced at the newcomer, and said without turning his head, "What are you doing here?"

"Of course, it's to stop you from making impulsive moves at this moment..." the man replied.

Lu Te turned to look at the other person.

Data identification:

—Bypassing firewall…

—Downloading data…

—Initiating counter-strategy…

Appearance identification database initiated, downloading, writing modification, writing, writing.

[Name: Talium]

[Faction: Lord of All Demons]

[Race: Curse Priest]

[Level: 359]

[Height: 180 cm]

[Weight: 60 kg]

[Combat style: Chaos Incantations]

[Skills: ???]

[Danger Level: ???]

Voice recognition: Established.

Location: x-044.

Tracking location: Unable to initiate.

Control status: Out of control.

Tactical control options: ???.

"Another one?" Lu Te muttered, "Hmph... anyway, the result won't change..."

Talium was sitting cross-legged on top of a building in the distance, talking to the two of them. He was wearing a black robe and a gorgeous cloak. His appearance looked very similar to that of humans, except that his cheekbones were a little higher than normal, and he had two pupils in each eye. In addition, Talium's skin was white, pure white…

"Lord Demon Lord, you've had quite a fun battle, haven't you? Why don't we just stop here." Talium said, although his wording was quite respectful, his tone sounded very frivolous.

"Do you think this king will lose?" The Lord of All Demons asked this question with undisguised killing intent.

"Certainly not, certainly not..." Talium quickly shook his head and waved his hands. "I just want to remind you... if you unleash your full power, this space will be finished." He shrugged and spread his hands, "If it comes to that... then you will neither be able to bring this place under your rule, nor will you be able to give the other three Gods an excuse. Besides... killing this Derivative will not do you any good..." He pointed at Lu Te, and continued, "Obviously, the purpose of this Derivative is not to occupy this place, so... you might as well return to the Chaotic Wasteland with me first, and after the fight between the Derivatives and those Interdimensional Travelers is over, we will come back. Even if something unexpected happens during this period, it will be the Time Officers, Jurors, and the Nine Wraith Lords who die, and you will not suffer any losses."

Talium's strategy was undoubtedly correct. As the Lord of All Demons' advisor, this Curse Priest was indeed dutiful, thinking about his superiors in every way, and calculating the accounts quite clearly.

"He's right." Lu Te actually agreed with this, and instantly restrained her fighting intent, "Continuing to fight will not benefit either of us."

Unlike the Four Pillar Gods, who are "controllable" data entities, an AI like Lu Te can completely compromise. In some cases, her response is actually similar to that of a "player."

This is not a difference in "wisdom," but a superiority in the mode of thinking. Taking dimensions as an example, Derivatives are beings that exist between players and NPCs. Players can ignore anything in this dimension, including the end of the world; while NPCs have pre-set personalities, positions, and ideologies, and they must follow their perceived worldviews and "live" in this dimension. As for Derivatives... they are rather peculiar. They are like a group of cultivators who can never transcend the tribulation. Even with transcendental consciousness, they still have to remain in the mortal world.

At this moment, Lu Te, as a higher-level AI, naturally did not want to risk 'the entire space being destroyed' to fight the Lord of All Demons. She would avoid any variables that would affect her ultimate goal as much as possible.

…………

At the same time, inside Golden Maggot Number One.

"Hey... you're not lost, are you?" Matcha Su asked with narrowed eyes from the back seat.

"I don't know the way anyway..." Xiao Tan replied, "I'm just driving in one direction..." He changed the subject, "But... I wanted to say this ten minutes ago, the road ahead looks familiar..."

"Then why didn't you say so!" Matcha Su shouted, "We're probably trapped by something, right?"

"C...could it be *gui da qiang* (being led astray by ghosts)?" Xiao Tan asked with a look of panic.

Matcha Su saw Xiao Tan's expression in the rearview mirror and immediately sighed, "I say, Little Wang, you're so timid, why do you always think about those terrifying developments after something happens?" She replied, "Can't you reason towards more scientific and practical conclusions?"

"Penrose stairs?" Xiao Tan said again, his reaction was quite fast.

"Uh..." Matcha Su continued, "Actually, I just wanted to say, maybe we've fallen into some skill or trap."

"You haven't heard of this term, so you're changing the subject, aren't you?" Xiao Tan's intuition was terrifyingly sharp.

"Stop talking nonsense! No matter what the reason... as the driver, you have the main responsibility!" Matcha Su replied angrily.

"Don't think about it... you guys are like the hands on a clock, just spinning in circles." Suddenly, a strange voice came from the roof of the car, joining their conversation, "You'll never get out without finding the caster..."