The Emperor's Personal Unit

In the darkness of the deep sea, across the vast and desolate seabed, countless sea rock martial statues buried or half-buried in the silt began to tremble violently. Beneath thick layers of sediment, the ancient god remains, now forged into bodies of steel, once again sensed the call of their soul. Obeying their most primal connection, ancient engines began to roar. Stone carapaces cracked under internal pressure, and as the outer layers fell away, heavily armored mechanical giants were revealed.

Dull mechanical thrums pulsed through the water. Re-energized after a thousand years without a trace of rust, the steel giants slowly rose from the mud. They tilted their heads upward, looking toward the raging torrent of silt and water above. Thrusters on their backs flared open, spewing scorching flames that hissed against the seawater, creating clouds of bubbles. These twenty-meter-tall heavy frames were propelled straight upward; looking across the desolate seabed, lines of white wake could be seen shooting toward the surface from every direction.

"Lady Inari... she can actually command the puppets left behind by the First Emperor?" On the plaza of the Sea Nation, Uminari murmured in shock as he watched the metal giants soar. He was bewildered by the connection between a deity of the northern lands and an emperor of the western continent.

Empowered by Miketsu, the ancient Great Qin mechanical warriors reactivated. Following Miketsu's will, they engaged their thrusters and dove straight into the massive, raging torrent. Gripping weapons engraved with glowing runes, they plunged into the turbulent chaos.

Within the torrent shield of the ancient god, the mechanical giants' thrusters provided immense power, allowing them to resist being swept away. Their steel bodies, forged from ancient god remains, were indifferent to the invisible water blades hidden within the currents. Thus, they pressed forward through the brutal environment, closing in on the skeletal remains of the ancient god of the sea.

Then, they raised their weapons and struck directly at the already battered, colossal skeleton. One mecha even pressed a large spiritual energy cannon against the bone and fired point-blank, sending bursts of light exploding across the ancient god's remains.

"—!"

The ancient god of the sea erupted in a silent scream of agony. It began to roll across the seabed, grinding its body against the floor to shake off the mecha clinging to it.

Preoccupied with the mecha, the ancient god momentarily lost its focus on maintaining the crushing water pressure against Miketsu, granting her a brief moment of freedom.

Miketsu breathed a sigh of relief as she watched the situation below. She closed her eyes, focusing her senses to scan the sea for more of her remains, specifically those that could still be used for combat.

'Twelve units? And a large amount of other mechanical wreckage... too damaged to use... are those warships?'

Through her detection, Miketsu found a total of twelve mecha forged from her remains in this area. Aside from the mecha, a significant portion of her remains had been forged into other forms, such as warships.

However, unlike the twelve mecha, those other machines were not entirely made from her remains. The warships only used her remains for critical components; the rest was normal metal. Consequently, many had been destroyed in the war a thousand years ago, and those that survived had been severely corroded by time, rendering them completely useless for battle.

From the wreckage scattered across the seabed, one could imagine how fierce that war a millennium ago must have been. Back then, the ancient god of the sea was not only stronger but also led a vast legion of followers.

Miketsu continued to manipulate the Great Qin mecha forged from her remains to battle the ancient god. Relying on their sturdy bodies and powerful propulsion, the mecha ignored the torrent shield to strike the entity directly. This forced the ancient god to continuously roll on the seabed to drive them away. Finally, unable to endure the harassment, the ancient god increased its energy output, raising the range and intensity of its torrent shield to a new level.

Instantly, the silt-laden vortex nearly doubled in size and became even more violent. The speed of the current exceeded the mecha's ability to maintain balance. The harassing units were swept away by the water, unable to close in again.

"Are you at the end of your rope?"

Miketsu murmured as she watched. She understood that the ancient god's current display was merely a death struggle.

The power of modern gods comes from their godhead, while ancient gods draw from their soul. Therefore, as long as the soul is not severely damaged at the moment of death, they can retain immense power. Miketsu suspected this was the case for herself.

Unlike Miketsu, however, the ancient god of the sea had died twice. Its soul was extremely weak, unable to generate enough energy to drive its remains. The energy it was currently using was the life force it had stolen from the Sea Nation. It had originally planned to use this for a resurrection ritual; after that failed, it intended to use the power to drive its remains to the land to devour yokai and plunder ley lines. It never expected to be intercepted by Miketsu.

Therefore, if Miketsu wanted to win, it would be simple: she just had to wait. She could wait until the ancient god exhausted the energy stolen from the Sea Nation, at which point it would naturally stop moving. However, there was a problem—she had promised to restore life to the Sea Nation. If this energy was used up, that promise would be difficult to keep.

To ensure a better recovery later, Miketsu intended to preserve the remaining energy. This meant she had to finish the ancient god quickly and stop this lingering struggle.

She would end the battle now!

With a wave of her hand, a boom echoed through the water. From the distant depths, a streak of light approached Miketsu at high speed. As it drew near, it revealed itself to be a mecha—one quite different from the others.

This unit was significantly taller than the standard mecha, standing over thirty meters high. Its armor was more exquisite, its patterns more complex, and its helmet adorned with more decorations. It even wore a black cloak made of an unknown material, embroidered with a massive, soaring divine bird.

If the other mecha were like garrison soldiers, this one was a general.

At Miketsu's command, the mechanical structure at the back of the mecha's neck opened, revealing a cockpit. This general mecha was designed for manual operation; it was the First Emperor's personal unit!

Entering the cockpit and sitting upon the iron imperial throne, Miketsu looked around. She found that while the interior was luxuriously decorated, there were no control sticks or levers, unlike the mecha cockpits she had seen in stories.

It was clear that the First Emperor's method of controlling this mecha—and the entire steel legion—was the same as Miketsu's: through thought.

"I see. Is this how you were able to control and harness my remains?"

Miketsu did not feel curious as she looked at the scene; instead, she gave a slight smile. She now understood why the people of Qin were able to process and wield her remains.

The reason was simple: the First Emperor himself. He was a natural ritual priest born among Miketsu's Qin followers. Thus, he was able to command the remains of the darkness ancient god and utilize the power within.