However, the "God of Pure Mechanization" hadn't even undergone proper testing yet.
Many crucial data points were still missing, and if he were to leave the "God of Pure Mechanization" behind today, who knows when he'd be able to create another?
That's why he had to come up with a way to escape with the "God of Pure Mechanization" intact.
Negotiation seemed unlikely—after all, he was at a disadvantage right now. Any attempt at negotiating would likely come at a great cost.
He had to raise his bargaining chips first.
After a moment of thought, "The Doctor" Dottore's lips curled into a slight smirk beneath his mask as he spoke:
"Dandro Archon, tell that adventurer next to you to stop, or I'll destroy this forest… and launch an attack on Sumeru City."
"Just imagine how many people would suffer because of that—I myself can hardly picture the extent of the devastation."
As he spoke, he stopped using the pink mist to attack the sword aura avatars. Instead, he sank down into the forest below, launching assaults on the innocent flora.
In truth, according to Her Majesty the Tsaritsa's orders, the Fatui Harbingers were supposed to collect the Gnosis without provoking the Seven too much—lest they turn them all into sworn enemies.
So large-scale attacks on the followers of the Archons were, in principle, forbidden. But using it as leverage in a threat? That was still within acceptable bounds.
Especially when dealing with people like the Dandro Archon and Nolan—people with strong moral convictions and an annoying tendency to meddle.
They would definitely not be able to accept innocent civilians getting caught up in disaster because of them. The chance they'd compromise under such pressure was high.
"The Doctor" thought this would be an excellent way to manipulate them.
Within the "shallow space," Nahida read his lips and flushed with anger.
"This man… is despicable!"
"Oh? What's wrong?"
Nolan was focused on controlling the "Lumine Sword God," launching attacks at "The Doctor" while trying to figure out how he was evading the sword energy.
When he heard Nahida's outburst, he turned to her in confusion.
"He's threatening us—using the forest and Sumeru City!" Nahida said furiously, quickly summarizing the situation.
"That really is… frustrating."
Nolan hated being threatened—especially when the threat was actually effective.
He truly couldn't just ignore the safety of Sumeru City and continue attacking Dottore recklessly.
But if Dottore thought that meant he had him cornered, then he was underestimating him way too much!
Nolan controlled six "Lumine's Sword Gods."
They instantly traversed space and appeared directly opposite "The Doctor." At the same time, the already-activated "Golden Barrier" rapidly expanded and fused into one, forming a massive shield that enveloped both the "God of Pure Mechanization" and the forest below.
Now, in the short term, Dottore could at most damage some trees and flowers—he wouldn't be able to break through this zone to attack Sumeru City anytime soon.
Then, Nolan resumed launching wave after wave of sword energy directly at Dottore.
Oh, so you can dodge damage? Then this time, he'd attack the "God of Pure Mechanization" instead. Let's see how a massive construct like that was supposed to dodge _anything_.
Let's see what matters more to you: your precious invention or some broken twigs and grass.
Golden sword energy rained down like a storm from the sky, crackling and slamming into the "God of Pure Mechanization."
Under the effect of "Sharp Intent," the golden blades easily sliced into the machine's hardened metal shell, leaving deep gashes behind.
"Hmph!"
Dottore let out a cold snort as his invisible mental pressure surged outward, clashing violently with the golden barrier.
Boom!
The golden shield let out a strained groan under the overwhelming force.
Even the golden sword energy that traversed space was partially weakened by Dottore's mental pressure.
Nolan's lips curled into a smile.
He commanded the six "Lumine's Sword Gods" to raise their blades simultaneously, an immense amount of golden sword intent gathering at their tips and rising into the sky.
A colossal golden longsword, many times larger than the "God of Pure Mechanization" and vast enough to blot out the sun, began to take shape.
Considering how a single stream of sword energy was enough to cut into the "God of Pure Mechanization," if this titanic sword came crashing down…
There was no doubt about it: in its current state—still not yet merged with the Wanderer—the "God of Pure Mechanization" would be split cleanly in two from top to bottom!
There was no other choice. Dottore's strength had exceeded expectations. Even after all this time fighting, he was still handling things with ease.
If Nolan didn't use a trump card now, Dottore might really think he was some soft target, easy to push around.
As for whether this would damage the "God of Pure Mechanization" and ruin its value as a collectible—well, that couldn't be helped. Deal with Dottore first, worry about the rest later.
As he stared at the massive golden sword in the sky, Dottore's expression darkened beneath his mask.
He could threaten others, yes—but others could just as easily threaten _him_. Battles between opponents of similar strength were always the most complicated.
"That damned Grand Sage!" Dottore cursed inwardly at his pig-headed ally.
There was no way he could let Nolan's attack land. If it did, all his meticulous efforts and the vast resources he'd poured into this project would be gone in an instant.
If the Wanderer had already successfully merged with the machine, and he'd obtained enough experimental data, then it wouldn't matter.
But right now, even if he had to take a loss, he _had_ to preserve the "God of Pure Mechanization."
He had no other choice. Dottore spoke up:
"Very well. You win—for now. Name your conditions. But if even a _single part_ of the 'God of Pure Mechanization' is damaged, don't think you'll get off lightly."
Even in negotiation, his tone held no hint of concession.
Inside the "shallow space," as Nahida relayed Dottore's words, Nolan realized he had successfully forced Dottore into a corner.
Since the "God of Pure Mechanization" wasn't fully completed, Dottore couldn't leisurely show up after the Wanderer had been defeated like he did in the original timeline.
Or perhaps… that battle back then _was_ just a part of his data collection.
But now, it was clear he hadn't yet achieved his goals, which meant—for the time being—he had no choice but to compromise.
Nolan turned to Nahida and asked, "What do _you_ think?"
He personally didn't care about Dottore's threats. But Nahida had to—Sumeru was vast, and if Dottore decided to cause chaos, she'd be the one to suffer.
So ultimately, the decision was hers to make.
Nahida gently pressed her lips together, hesitating slightly. As the god of Sumeru, her strength was relatively weaker among the Seven Archons.
If they provoked the Fatui into becoming an all-out enemy, it would indeed be troublesome.
But right now, Dottore had already conspired with the Grand Sage, abused the "Akasha" system to forcibly steal the citizens' _ability to think_, depriving them of even the ability to dream.
He had embezzled countless resources for the creation of this so-called "Artificial God"—and even tried to use it to _replace_ her!
After committing so many vile deeds, even if they had no choice but to let him off for now, it couldn't be done lightly. Otherwise, she'd come off as weak and easy to bully!
They _must_ demand the return of _everything_ he had taken—without a single item missing!
(End of Chapter)
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