Baiyu tilted his head to look over, a man in combat gear was beckoning to him.

Stranger.

That was Baiyu's first impression of him.

But at this moment, the stone carving in Baiyu's hand, engraved with the pattern of Seven Coils, emitted a faint glow once more, with fallen leaves on the ground forming lines of text around him.

"Follow Colonel Arnold and escape into the base with him. This is currently your safest way to escape. Certainly, you can explore on your own, but it will be extremely dangerous and uncertain. For your safety, I suggest you follow him."

This text was composed of fallen leaves.

After Baiyu read it, it scattered on its own.

Baiyu calmly decided to heed the advice of Seven Coils, after all, they were the ones who pulled him into this situation.

At times like this.

Listening to their advice wasn't wrong.

"Let's go, the Mechanical Country has torn up the treaty, and full-scale war is about to break out. We must hurry back to the base."

Colonel Arnold came to Baiyu's side and said solemnly.

"Thank you, Colonel."

Baiyu responded politely, following behind Colonel Arnold as they navigated through the dense rain of bullets.

Besides Baiyu.

Many others were fleeing on the surrounding grassland, some in combat gear, some in ordinary clothes.

Colonel Arnold treated everyone equally, gathering them into a mighty group, starting to escape from this bombarded grassland.

Patches of dense bullet rain fell.

Baiyu saw a man who was running with him moments ago turn to dust in an instant, without even a complete corpse left behind.

In such intense bombardment.

Surviving was entirely down to personal luck. Although Baiyu felt that the stray bullets wouldn't kill him, it was a game set by Seven Coils. Who knew if his strength was weakened now.

He couldn't take the risk.

Attempt and perish, Baiyu had seen that happen often. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Fortunately, luck was always constant.

Normally, Baiyu's luck was terribly poor. But this time, he hadn't been hit by any stray bullets.

The group of people rushed out of the grassland and into the nearby forest.

Colonel Arnold navigated through the dense forest, dodging bombardments and stray bullets, quickly arriving at a well-hidden underground fortress.

Colonel Arnold opened the fortress door using his fingerprint.

The door slowly rose.

Inside, several teams of armed soldiers simultaneously aimed their guns at Arnold until the Colonel presented his identification.

After they lowered their guard.

The hidden machine guns and defense mechanisms also ceased their aim.

"Colonel Arnold, how are things outside?" a member of the armed guards asked.

Arnold shook his head, "The Mechanical Race has broken the agreement and begun attacking the planet. Many cities are already engulfed in war; the Human Race government on this planet has disintegrated. We must notify the Imperial immediately."

Upon hearing Arnold's words, the faces of the armed soldiers changed instantly.

No one expected such a rapid collapse in the situation.

Although this planet was located on the edge of the Tornado Star Realm, it was under the Imperial's control. The Mechanical Race's attack is equivalent to declaring war against the Imperial.

Recently.

The main force of the Imperial Star Realm Army was dealing with the Insect Race. It would be quite difficult for them to come here shortly. They have to hold on until the Star Realm Army arrives, which would be very challenging.

But it's their duty.

They absolutely cannot back down.

Baiyu followed Colonel Arnold into this underground military base. After leaving the door, the group took an elevator deep down.

The elevator buttons were quite complex.

Baiyu glanced at them, roughly estimating that the military base had dozens of layers, extending deep underground. Each level was carefully constructed from white metal, looking very tidy.

Finally, the elevator stopped at the 12th level.

To his surprise, it was a clean hospital, busy with doctors and nurses aside from armed guards.

There were beds, and they were all occupied.

"Everyone must undergo a check-up to see if there are mechanical bacteria," Arnold led a group to the examination room.

Baiyu, along with other soldiers, underwent the check-up.

The doctor's methods were exceptionally professional, where even blood withdrawal was painless, and results came in mere minutes. A full-body check-up took less than ten minutes.

Certainly.

Arnold and the doctor were the first to view the report; Baiyu didn't have access.

Nonetheless.

Arnold quickly approached him alone.

"Physically normal, no mechanical bacteria from the Mechanical Race, but your muscle density is a hundred times that of an average person, and blood active factors are also a hundred times more. Are you a Cultivator?"

Arnold looked at the report in his hand and surprisingly asked Baiyu.

Clearly, his expression revealed that.

He was quite surprised.

"Yes."

Baiyu, unsure of the situation, could only follow along.

"That's peculiar. Why are you on Wood Iron Star? Don't be tense; I have no bad intentions. In these circumstances, we must unite every force," Arnold's eyes showed more caution and respect.

"I'm not sure either."

Baiyu paused in silence, unsure how to explain.

Fortunately.

Arnold didn't ask further, just said, "Looks like you've got a problem with your Cultivation. But finding a Cultivator on the edge of the Tornado Star Realm, I hadn't expected. Now, I'd like to request you to join us. You are certainly a trustworthy ally for the Imperial!"

Baiyu was baffled by Arnold's incomprehensible words.

For the Imperial?

He didn't even know what the Imperial was.

But.

As Baiyu hesitated, suddenly, the Seven Coiled Stone Token in his pocket again emitted light, producing rows of text.

This moment Baiyu realized.

Arnold and his team couldn't see the text.

"Challenge 2: Help Arnold defend the fortress against the Mechanical Race's attack."

The second challenge from Seven Coils had appeared.

Baiyu had no choice, and no right to refuse, as Seven Coils had said when accepting the challenge: if he couldn't complete the task, he would be trapped in this world, only succeeding would allow him to return.

"You can rest assured Colonel Arnold, as a member of the Human Race, in such dire times, I will not leave.

For the Human Race, I won't take a step back."

Baiyu said solemnly.

Arnold's eyes lit up, showing an extremely excited expression, "Thank you, the Mechanical Race's attack will arrive shortly. It's currently only aerial bombardment, soon they'll perform landing operations.

My fortress can't remain hidden for long.

Now I must organize the fortress's defenses. You can come, this way you'll understand the interior of the base fortress."