1742 The Hundredth Floor. V

Hours flowed by akin to the desolate murky river within the hundredth-floor and before long more than ten squads had met their fate...

This was a huge number considering that the teams were at the foothold of the floor and were still a distance away from the entrance.

Fortunately, with so many beams fired in the past hours, the massive Eye began to droop, its relentless surveillance finally showing signs of wear.

With a slow, almost reluctant motion, the eye closed.

The ominous red hue that had bathed the entire floor began to fade, lifting the oppressive atmosphere at last.

Across the landscape, a collective sigh of relief swept through the ranks of squads, feeling like they had been given another chance at life.

"Let's get going, we need to cover as much distance as possible before the night cycle comes again." Commander Bia ordered with a stern tone.

"How about you show me the map and let me take you all to the entrance?" Apollo suggested lazily, "I guarantee we will arrive before the eye opens again."

"No." Commander Bia rejected his proposal without much of an explanation.

But, she didn't have to...Felix and the other mercenaries understood that she wouldn't hand the map to anyone even if it meant making their journey harder.

She wasn't stupid not to understand that Felix and Apollo were still hanging around them because of the map.

"As you wish."

Apollo shrugged his shoulders carelessly while creating a dark cloud and riding on it with Felix...Then, they ditched the stronghold and kicked off their new journey, following Commander Bia up close.

'The eye won't open up again until a minimum of five minutes.' Felix discussed with Apollo telepathically, 'This will make the squads more daring in their assaults. I am certain that if we meet another squad on the way, we will...'

Before Felix could finish his sentence, his eyes picked up an ongoing conflict over the horizon...When he zoomed in, he noticed that it was a fight between a squad of Planktons and Nanitesswarm.

"Prepare to engage, leave no one behind." Commander Bia ordered coldly as she rushed towards the battle.

Although some of those squad leaders had greeted her and showed a friendly approach on the tower's roof, Commander Bia had no interest in showing mercy.

It was already difficult enough to deal with the tower's challenges, she would be foolish to act nice and keep her competition alive.

'Captain, are you okay with this?' Sylas asked softly.

'It is what it is.' Plix replied emotionlessly, 'We have already picked sides.'As the only Plankton in the squad, it was normal that he wouldn't feel right about murdering members of his race.

The only reason he chose to join the Vibronoxians was because his race didn't accept foreign mercenaries and this meant he would need to let go of his squad.

Still, he didn't think too much of it since he believed that they would remain at the surface and search for treasures.

If he knew this would turn into a race to the ground floor, he wouldn't have bothered to join in the first place.

'I will make my move during the chaos, cover for me.' Felix shared.

'I gotcha.'

After getting closer to the battle scene, Felix and the others found out that the squad of Planktons was struggling to fend off the attacks of the Nanites Swarm.

"It seems like they have already gained control over half of the Plankton squad. F*cking parasites."

Dankin spat on the ground in disgust at the sight of half of the Planktons turning silver in color while their eyes seemed dead.

The Nanites Swarm was a unique race that was feared and avoided at all costs. Unlike other races, they had no attunement to a quantum law.

Instead, they possessed a central hive-like form, allowing each one to split into millions of wasp-like entities, each a tiny machine with a singular purpose...Invade and control!

If a single nanite parasite managed to enter someone's brain, it gave them full dominance over their powers!

Yet, their strongest traits were their toughness against the quantum laws and insane flexibility, allowing them to evade any attack by separating their forms!

The only reason such a race hadn't already dominated the quantum realm was because they couldn't maintain the possession for a prolonged period.

The host always ends up dead after some time.

At the moment, the possessed Planktons were using their spatial manipulation to keep up with the other Planktons and help the rest of the nanites succeed in their possession.

"Erect a repelling vibrational shield and keep your senses heightened." Commander Bia warned, "If anyone got possessed, I wouldn't hesitate to eliminate him."

Everyone nodded with a solemn expression as they watched the swarm advance while the Planktons intensified their efforts, creating spirals of space that looped back on themselves, dead ends that appeared out of nowhere.

But the Nanitesdivided further, reducing their size to slip through the smallest cracks in the Planktons' spatial defenses, exploiting every momentary lapse in concentration, every slight opening!

"Let me handle it, commander." Dankin uttered with a confident smirk, "It's been a while since I went all out.""Don't mess up." Commander Bia permitted.

Without an ounce of hesitation, Dankin phased into the heart of the battlefield, causing both parties to momentarily cease their movements, as all eyes and senses turned towards him.

The moment they recognized him and saw the sinister smile painting his lips, chills coursed down!

'Retreat!'

'Pull away!!'

The head of the Nanites Swarm Virona, ordered through their hive network while using the Plankton he possessed to teleport away some of his squadmates.

Alas, because they were too spread out, he couldn't get everyone away before Dankin made his move.

With a deep breath, he pulled back his arm, his fist becoming a nexus of concentrated energy...Then, with a motion that blurred the lines between speed and stillness, he unleashed his attack!

His fist struck the fabric of reality itself, a powerful spacetime punch that sent ripples through the dimensions!!

The impact fractured spacetime akin to a mirror shattering, creating cracks that spider-webbed across the battlefield!

These were not mere visual effects but deep ruptures in the very heart of the tower's floor, through which nothing could survive!

RUMMMMMBLE!!!

A massive shockwave erupted from the point of impact, unleashing a surge of destructive energy that annihilated everything in its path!

"ARRRRRRGH!"..."MY SPATIAL BARRIER!"...

The battlefield was transformed into a zone of devastation, the shockwave tearing through both Planktons and Nanites with indiscriminate fury!

Since the punch targeted the spacetime of the battlefield, barriers and such were utterly useless against it.

After all, if not even the spacetime could survive the punch, how could anyone within it survive it?

Thus, all who failed to exit the destruction zone in time were utterly erased while the rest were gone

As Dankin surveyed the destruction he had wrought, his grin remained, unbothered by the devastation surrounding him.

"See, we had nothing to worry about. Who can stand against the Vibronoxians?" Dankin uttered with a faint cold grin after returning to his squad.

He uttered the last part while gazing at Felix, seemingly telling him that if they had a rematch, his fate would be the same as those poor Nanites and Planktons.

Felix ignored him completely as his mind was focused on guiding a blob of green blood left behind under a dead tree's bark.

'I have deployed the clone.' Felix shared, 'It seems like no one noticed.'

'How could they?' Apollo chuckled, 'The f*cker shattered hundreds of kilometers of surface area.'

Indeed, no one's eyes were on Felix with such a grandiose display by Dankin. Not even Commander Bia picked up on his action as both of them used the necessary steps to conceal the small blood blob.

'Now, we wait for the next cycle and hope for the best.' Felix smiled sinisterly as he gazed at the crack in the sky, 'If the theory was proven correct, I have much more in mind than just to rule the floor.'