# Chapter 352: Blood of Machinery Headquarters — The Hall of Flesh

Seven days later.

Lu Yuan's body appeared abruptly in the vacuum of space.

He immediately began surveying his surroundings. The region was devoid of celestial bodies — utterly desolate. As far as he could see, the nearest stars were dozens of light-years away.

He raised an eyebrow. *Still nothing?*

Seven days of searching. Had Fortune Pathfinding failed him this time?

*Might as well try again. If it doesn't work, I'll figure out another approach.*

Just as he was about to leave, he paused. His gaze was drawn to a particular stretch of empty space, and surprise flickered in his eyes.

The spatial lines in that area were twisted in a peculiar way.

If he hadn't possessed a Divine Grade Spatial Type Transcendent Gene, he might never have noticed the anomaly — even at War God level. Someone had clearly gone to great lengths to conceal it.

Lu Yuan narrowed his eyes, curiosity stirring. Warping spatial lines across such a vast region was no trivial feat. *Who could have done this?*

He activated Shadow Divine Kingdom and Spatial Rift to cloak himself, then drifted slowly toward the distorted region. Though the spatial lines had been tampered with, slipping through them was simple enough for him. His body melded into the warped space like a fish gliding into water.

As he passed through, the scene before him transformed. In the dim void beyond, an enormous metal fortress floated in silence. The fortress was jet-black, its surface traced with glowing green patterns. Green flames burned across various sections of its hull.

A suffocating wave of Aberration energy permeated the pocket of space, making Lu Yuan frown.

*An Aberration zone!*

The concentration here dwarfed even the star system corrupted by Aberrant Beasts that he'd encountered before. With Aberration energy this dense, he didn't need to think twice — this was the headquarters of Blood of Machinery.

*No wonder I searched for days across different directions and regions without finding it. The whole place is hidden behind spatial power.*

*And more than that...*

He glanced at the twisted spatial lines around him. This fortress could likely move freely within its interdimensional pocket, which made locating it exponentially harder than he'd imagined.

*If I didn't have both spatial power and the power of fate, no one could have found this place without a lead to follow.*

But found it he had.

Lu Yuan studied the fortress, his eyes hardening with cold resolve. Shadow and spatial power intertwined around him as he maintained his concealment and drew closer.

Soon, he detected numerous powerful auras within — Battle Emperors, Battle Saints, even War Gods.

However, he noticed that only two of the War God-level Mechanical Lifeforms were present inside. The other two were absent.

He frowned slightly. This was a scenario he hadn't considered. If he destroyed the headquarters, the two missing War Gods would surely sense it. Tracking them down afterward might prove difficult.

*If it comes to that, I can always use Fortune Pathfinding again.*

Having succeeded twice in a row, his confidence in the technique was growing. *If it can find a hidden headquarters, finding individuals should be manageable too.*

*But where have those two War God-level members gone? Are they at the front lines, planning something?*

After a moment's thought, he decided to infiltrate first. Ideally, he'd learn the locations of the missing members. If that proved impossible, he'd simply strike.

Lu Yuan slipped through a massive entrance and into the fortress interior. Beyond the threshold, crimson flesh sprouted from the seams of the metal walls, laced with a web of green veins. The fusion of machinery and organic matter gave the fortress an unsettling, aberrant appearance.

Lu Yuan took it in with a glance, then looked away. His attention shifted to the patrol squads moving through the corridors. Some patrollers had flesh growing on their bodies to varying degrees, while others still appeared to be ordinary members of the Mechanical Race.

The patrols were far from weak — rank-and-file members were Battle Sovereign-level, and squad leaders reached Battle Emperor. Lu Yuan passed right before their eyes without slowing. Not a single Mechanical Lifeform noticed his presence.

He moved toward the auras of the two War God-level Blood of Machinery members, hoping to learn something about the other two.

Before long, he reached the fortress's inner depths unimpeded. Here, the organic growth was far more prevalent. Some corridors had walls entirely engulfed in flesh, the green veins pulsing with faint, worm-like movements — as though alive. The sight was deeply unsettling.

Lu Yuan followed a flesh-covered passage until he arrived before a massive door, also partially overgrown with organic matter. His senses confirmed it: the two War God-level powerhouses were right inside.

He never underestimated War God-level fighters. Though he possessed ten Divine Grade genes, they were still Divine Grade — there was no guarantee a War God couldn't detect him. And whoever had hidden this massive fortress inside a Small World was clearly formidable among their peers.

So rather than pushing the door open or phasing through with spatial power, he simply stood by the entrance and waited.

Several hours later, a Mechanical Warrior strode briskly down the corridor — crimson flesh clinging to its frame, its metallic shell a deep red. The aura radiating from it marked it as Battle Saint-level.

The Mechanical Battle Saint rapped on the door and spoke with deference: "My Lords! I have a report!"

A low, muffled voice answered from within: "Enter."

The Battle Saint pushed the door open, revealing the chamber beyond. Lu Yuan had been standing right beside the Battle Saint the entire time, completely undetected. From his vantage point, he studied the hall's interior.

The entire chamber was consumed by flesh.

On one side of the hall sat an enormous mass of crimson flesh. Fleshy conduits branched out from it, burrowing into the walls and spreading outward in every direction.

*All the organic growth in this fortress probably originates from that thing.* The realization unsettled him. *What the hell is it? What kind of power does it have?*

Unable to draw a conclusion, he turned his attention elsewhere. At the far end of the hall stood four thrones sculpted from living flesh. Two were occupied by Mechanical Warriors whose auras were immensely powerful — unmistakably War God-level. Large portions of their bodies were covered in flesh, green veins writhing across the organic patches in a grotesque display. Where metal was still visible, one had a black shell and the other silver.

Both War Gods had their attention fixed on the entering Battle Saint, completely oblivious to Lu Yuan. The combination of spatial and shadow power made his concealment formidable indeed.

The Battle Saint stepped inside and turned to close the door behind him.

Seeing this, Lu Yuan slipped through in a flash — he couldn't afford to be locked outside and miss whatever useful intelligence might surface.

But the instant he crossed the threshold, the crimson mass shuddered. Then it convulsed violently. Bulging protrusions erupted across its surface, as if something trapped within was thrashing to break free.

A piercing, horrifying shriek erupted from within.

The sound stabbed directly into his soul. Lu Yuan's mind went blank for a split second, his aura fluctuating wildly — and his concealment shattered.

His eyes widened as he stared at the pulsating mass, shock written across his face.

*That sound...*

He'd heard it before. When he'd used Radiant Fire to purify Heavenly Calamity Star, the will of the Aberrant Beast Mother Nest had unleashed this exact same roar.

*The will of the Aberrant Beast Mother Nest?!*

*No — this thing has a physical form. It's trying to manifest through flesh!*

Ice flooded his veins. He had no idea how powerful the Mother Nest truly was, but one look at its endless hordes of Aberrant Beasts told him everything he needed to know — it was far beyond anything he could face right now.

*Who could have predicted something like this would be hiding in here?!*

Every muscle in his body went taut as he locked his gaze on the crimson mass.

Then he noticed something. Whatever was inside continued thrashing and raging, but it couldn't break free. Its aura, while terrifyingly powerful, wasn't entirely beyond what he could handle.

*It hasn't fully matured?!*

Relief washed through him, quickly replaced by razor-sharp determination.

*I have to destroy this thing. If whatever's inside reaches full maturity, no one will be able to stop it.*

While his mind raced, the two Blood of Machinery War Gods had already shot to their feet. They stared at Lu Yuan — now fully visible behind the Battle Saint — with mechanical eyes flickering in disbelief.

The black-shelled War God spoke, his voice trembling: "How is this possible?! A human? How did you get in here?! How can you be in this place?!"

The silver-shelled War God fixed Lu Yuan with an equally stunned gaze, Spirit Power surging around his frame. "Even a War God shouldn't be able to find this place! And even if someone did — how did you pass through the spatial barrier without triggering it?!"

Neither of them had ever imagined that someone could silently penetrate the spatial barrier that had kept Blood of Machinery hidden for hundreds of millions of years. That alone would have been shocking enough — but this intruder had walked right into the Hall of Flesh under their very noses. If not for their Lord's reaction, they still wouldn't have noticed him.

*What kind of monster is this human?!*