"Rumble..."
"RUMBLE!!"
Under Lin Mo's vigilant gaze, the hundred or so Ruin Guards once again shifted their weight, poised to move.
In the next instant, the Ruin Guards suddenly raised their chests high.
The mechanical cores in their chests began to glow with an intense, blinding light.
"Hiss... This woman... is she serious?!" Lin Mo was instantly alarmed.
This posture was the charging sequence before a Ruin Guard launched its missiles.
Each Ruin Guard could fire at least eight powerful projectiles.
A hundred Ruin Guards... that meant eight hundred missiles!!
Even the Geo Archon in his prime would probably frown instinctively facing such a dense barrage, wouldn't he?
Faced with this terrifying display of force, how could Lin Mo possibly wait for them to fire?
"Divine Retribution!"
With Lin Mo's low shout, the clear, sunny sky over the mountain instantly darkened.
A meteorite, massive as a mountain peak, tore through the sky above Dragonspine and plummeted towards Lin Mo's location.
At the very moment before impact, Lin Mo roared, "Everyone, get over here!"
He shielded the others beneath him with his body.
"BOOOOOOM!!!" The earth shook, the mountains trembled, heaven and earth roared in unison.
The meteorite struck the peak of Dragonspine.
Instantly, it triggered a massive avalanche.
The several avalanches caused by Durin's rebirth were child's play compared to this one.
The snow-capped peaks crumbled in an instant, revealing the bare, rocky cliffs beneath.
The battlefield where Lin Mo stood was now a scene of glittering, golden splendor.
Every single Ruin Guard had been transformed into a dazzling statue under the impact of Lin Mo's world-shaking "Divine Retribution."
Five seconds later.
The petrified Ruin Guards began to crack, inch by inch.
Finally... they shattered into countless scattered parts littering the ground.
Standing amidst the ruins, Lin Mo looked towards Rhine, who still sat upon the hand of the Ruin Grader, and frowned. "Rhine, whatever this is about, we can discuss it privately. Aren't you afraid of harming the innocent with actions like these?" Lin Mo's mention of the innocent didn't just refer to Yae Miko, Eula, and Hemalia.
It also included Hua Hua, Durin's girlfriend.
But Rhine did not respond.
Witnessing her legion being annihilated in an instant, Rhine didn't show a trace of surprise.
Instead... the corners of her mouth curled into a fanatical smile.
Seeing this reaction, Lin Mo couldn't help but feel bewildered.
A woman's heart is an ocean's depth.
But a yandere's heart is even more unfathomable!
However...
In the very next moment, Lin Mo finally understood the reason behind Rhine's fanatical smile.
"Clack~!"
"Clack-clack-clack~!!"
The sounds of shifting parts, dense and numerous, filled everyone's ears.
"What?!"
Lin Mo's eyes widened in shock.
He saw the Ruin Guards, which had just shattered into fragments during petrification, rapidly reassembling and reactivating at a visible pace.
"How is this possible?!"
The Ruin Guard legion, which should have been reduced to piles of scrap, had fully regenerated in less than ten seconds!
Lin Mo was utterly dumbfounded.
He couldn't fathom just how advanced Rhine's bio-alchemical techniques had become.
To think she could restore completely destroyed Ruin Guards to their original state without any manual repairs...
Didn't this mean...
This was an immortal legion capable of rampaging unchecked across the continent of Teyvat?
"Mother!"
Durin cried out anxiously, "I think you two should really talk this out properly!"
Durin's shout, imbued with draconic resonance, actually succeeded in halting the Ruin Guards' movements.
Rhine cast a dismissive glance at Durin.
In the eyes of both Lin Mo and Rhine at that moment, Durin seemed like a pitiful child trying to mediate a violent conflict between adults.
Perhaps Durin's genuinely anxious gaze did touch something in Rhine.
She controlled the Ruin Grader with a slight wave of her hand. The "Goliath" immediately began sprinting down the mountainside.
This scene shocked Lin Mo once more.
This "Goliath" had definitely been specially modified by Rhine.
Its agility and nimbleness were nothing like the slow, clumsy iron lumps he had seen before! It probably even surpassed the mobile armor from Fontaine!
It seemed...
In these five hundred years, Rhine's bio-alchemy had made astonishing progress.
She had likely already broken through the level of "Gold" and reached an entirely new realm.
In a daze, the "Goliath" had already vanished from sight.
Only then did Lin Mo snap back to reality and quickly give chase.
Rhine's old laboratory was located at the highest cave opening in the Starglow Cavern.
Lin Mo only needed to leap down the mountainside to reach it easily.
Soon, Lin Mo arrived once more at this familiar place.
And there sat Rhine upon the hand of the "Goliath," as if she had been waiting for some time.
"Rhine..."
Just as Lin Mo began to speak.
"Swish!!"
"SWISH!!! SWISH!!!"
From the ground around him, eight Ruin Scouts (jellyfish) and Ruin Cruisers (snakes) suddenly emerged.
In an instant, they tightly coiled around and bound Lin Mo.
"Huh?!"
Lin Mo was taken aback. "What are you doing?"
Although he could easily break free, he knew it would be pointless!
Because these Ruin creatures were likely just like the Ruin Guards, capable of reassembling and reviving.
Rather than breaking free repeatedly, it was better to see what Rhine actually wanted.
Seeing Lin Mo remain obediently still without struggle, a look of satisfaction flashed in Rhine's eyes.
The next moment, she lightly jumped down from the "Goliath's" palm and slowly walked up to Lin Mo.
Seeing the trace of infatuation mixed into Rhine's smile, Lin Mo felt inexplicably nervous. "Rhine, be... be normal... You weren't like this before. Sure, you were quiet, but you weren't an unreasonable, genius bio-alchemist who acted on whims!"
"That... was just the me from five hundred years ago~"
Rhine chuckled softly, using her fair, slender hands—stained slightly with grease—to gently cup Lin Mo's face.
Lin Mo grew even more panicked!
That infatuated look in her eyes... it wasn't the look one gives a person!
It was the look one gives a precious artifact!
"You... what do you actually want?" Lin Mo asked nervously.
"Well, Lin Mo!"
"Over the years... I've successfully developed super-brain technology~"
"With some modifications, it can make the subject more intelligent, with significantly faster reaction times~"
"Can I perform a little surgery on you~"
"It won't hurt~ I promise!"
Lin Mo broke out in a cold sweat!
He had heard Rhine mention the concept of this technology before!
Forget the potential benefits of the modification.
Because the most important point...
Was the one Rhine hadn't mentioned!
From the moment the subject's brain was modified, they would unconditionally obey and pledge loyalty to the modifier!
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T/N:
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