Reality World, Station 13
Watching the screen, the viewers of the Stars could feel Tendo's immense power. He simply sat in front of the Steam Furnace, but an invisible aura of pressure surrounded him, a posture so dominant it instantly filled the entire space.
Across the screen, a sense of pity for Chen Kong began to spread.
"Forcing Chen Kong to fight Tendo is like making a hero who just left the tutorial area challenge the final boss!"
"Couldn't agree more. Tendo from the first season, with his abilities sealed, still managed to absolutely dominate. Now he's in his complete form. How is Chen Kong supposed to win?"
"Chen Kong had a hard time fighting Liu Ma, who was ranked second to last. Let alone Tendo, who's ranked first among the Children of Stars."
The audience's complaints were not unfounded. This was based on Tendo's performance in both the first season and the second half of this season.
Even in his normal state, Chen Kong was no match. Even the corrupted White(Bai) Kong—who could show up and beat down the Hidden Star Syndicate's captain, Andromeda—was thoroughly schooled by the Tendo from six years ago in the soul space.
If the Tendo from six years ago was already too powerful for White Kong, there was no telling how strong he was now, in his complete form after six more years.
To the audience, this was the only enemy the protagonists, no matter what they did, had no chance of defeating.
After all, through Tendo's exclusive side story, The Innate Powerhouse, and his recent official return, the audience knew two things for certain.
First, in the first season, The Doctor had forcibly sealed Tendo's special ability, Overclocking Calculation, for his own protection. This meant that Tendo was essentially training with his hands and feet tied.
Second, the six years that Tendo "slept" weren't spent entirely in slumber. He was undergoing a special kind of training in a way that no one knew.
Although among the current Children of Stars, only Jing Liuli could train while she was asleep, the audience considered the idea of Tendo getting stronger in his sleep perfectly reasonable, given his status as a "favorite son" of the Stars production team.
They would have found it completely logical even if he got stronger just by breathing!
Faced with a being who was a natural-born powerhouse and a natural-born monster, the audience couldn't imagine how Chen Kong and his team could possibly win.
Besides, if Chen Kong actually won, wouldn't it ruin Tendo's entire character?
What a joke!
"Why did the production team put Chen Kong against Tendo?"
"Chen Kong: Tendo is a Child of Stars, but I'm a Child of Stars, too. Why not ask him if he fears me?"
"Can we surrender and lose half? Asking for a friend. It's urgent."
"Tendo, you've hit my teammate, so you're not allowed to hit me anymore, okay?"
No one believed Chen Kong could win. Not even Chen Kong himself.
However, Chen Kong wasn't the only one who had shown up. There were other Stars agents from the Steam Guild.
"Vice-Captain Yuchen, if I were you, I wouldn't do something so foolish."
Just as Yuchen secretly took out his Silver Falcon and prepared to launch a righteous sneak attack on Tendo, Tendo, who was sitting on a sofa, spoke.
His tone was calm, yet it was enough to make Yuchen, who had just grabbed his weapon, freeze. At the same time, the hearts of the surrounding agents were squeezed by an invisible hand, briefly stopping their breathing.
Ignoring their reactions, Tendo slowly straightened his body and leaned back into the sofa, his right hand casually propping up his chin. His calm eyes swept over Yuchen.
It was just a lazy movement and a calm gaze, yet it showed the posture of an absolute superior and an overwhelming sense of pressure that was difficult to describe in words.
As if to respond to Tendo's words, two five-meter tall Gear Guardians silently stood behind him. Like two loyal knights, they looked down at Chen Kong and the others.
And when their scarlet optical lenses scanned the group, the air around them seemed to freeze.
"They're the Gear Guardians..." a guild agent who seemed to have a deep knowledge of Steam City's history said, his face pale.
To help his companions understand the significance of these five words, he continued without stopping. "The so-called Gear Guardians are the twelve original creators of the Steam Furnace who assimilated their quantum data into the core of the Steam Furnace at its creation."
"Although their physical selves have long since died, their data has allowed them to achieve a form of immortality, and they've been protecting the Gear Core ever since."
Then, the man pointed at the two Gear Guardians standing behind Tendo and said in a grave tone, "They are Level Three... Every Gear Guardian here has at least Level Three power."
"And if we trigger the protection mechanisms, these Gear Guardians will attack us without hesitation."
"So... put away your weapon, Vice-Captain Yuchen. This is not the time to act."
Hearing this, Yuchen first glanced at Vivian, whose face was full of pain inside the Steam Furnace in the distance. He frowned and said, "But are we just going to watch? What was the point of us coming here?"
The agent opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately chose to stay silent. He didn't know how to answer Yuchen's question.
On one side, there was Tendo, who was so powerful he seemed unbeatable. On the other, there were twelve Gear Guardians who were equivalent to, or even stronger than, most guild captains.
No matter how you looked at it, they had no chance of winning. A sense of despair spread like a thick fog in everyone's hearts.
"This isn't a battle; it's a one-sided massacre announcement."
"Tendo: I'm enough on my own. You twelve... are you afraid I'll get tired and need some water?"
"Is this the superior matchmaking system of our Stars district? A suburban king matched against a world champion?"
Just as the audience was guessing the production team's intention in arranging this scene, a blood-curdling scream suddenly broke the silence.
"Ah!!!"
The Steam Furnace suddenly belched out a huge amount of white steam. Inside, Vivian's body was becoming transparent at a visible rate, as if she was about to completely vanish into the steam at any second.
Seeing this, Yuchen and Chen Kong could no longer hold back.
But before they could act, something completely unexpected happened!
The four Gear Guardians standing in the corner suddenly flashed with a red light. Then, the gears at their joints let out an ear-piercing grinding noise as they swung their heavy hammers at their comrades without any warning!
Faced with this sudden turn of events, the guardians who were attacked immediately counterattacked. The other Gear Guardians rushed to help suppress these four backstabbing traitors.
In the chaotic fight, the rebellious Gear Guardians let out a mechanical roar.
[Core Contamination Removal Protocol initiated]
The loyalist guardians, meanwhile, activated their defensive arrays.
[Protecting the Furnace... Suppressing rebellious units]
Watching the Gear Guardians fighting each other, Yuchen and Chen Kong exchanged a glance and instantly understood what the other was thinking.
This was a heaven-sent opportunity. If they could just find a way to stall Tendo for a moment, they would have a chance to rush into the furnace and save Vivian!
However, as the two of them exchanged ideas, the camera's focus shifted back to Tendo.
Amidst the guardians' chaotic battle, Tendo's posture on the sofa remained unchanged. He gently tapped the armrest with his left hand.
He looked at Chen Kong and the others with a calm, slightly mocking gaze.
It was as if everything that was happening right now was all within Tendo's expectations.
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