Who hid My Corpse!

Chapter 102: Thirteen Locks Can’t Hold You_2

“Well, it looks like that guy wasn’t wrong,” Gerard slowly raised the metal bar in his hand, aiming it at Ocot. “Sometimes, I do need to do things that were unimaginable before.”

Ocot slightly furrowed his brow.

That guy?

Who was he referring to?

Gerard had no intention of explaining, his body leaning forward ever so slightly.

“Rest assured,” Gerard said, “after I’ve slaughtered you, I’ll go and pay the fine.”

…

Sky Tower.

The young man sitting alone in the office opened his eyes and, watching the gradually setting sun, suddenly spoke, “Why hasn’t Ocot returned?”

Just as an elder pushed open the door and entered, he heard the young man and immediately bowed, saying, “Lord Yong Xin, Ocot is on the gear train heading to Fifth Zone. According to his report, a Knight of Night Star did something outrageous today. He went to handle it and then an accident happened.”

Then, the elder told the young man everything that had happened that day.

The young man fell silent for a while, then said softly, “Gerard’s Heart Lock really did break.”

“Yes,” the elder replied, “It’s the first time in ten years that he’s entered the archive room, the first time he’s behaved ‘outrageously.'”

“…Interesting,” said the young man with a smile. “For the past ten years, we’ve been preventing him and trying to eliminate him under the pretext that he was polluted and his ‘Heart Lock’ was unstable, even though we knew it was false. But now…his ‘Heart Lock’ has truly broken.”

The elder was silent for a while before saying, “It is indeed unexpected, whatever it was that caused the ‘lock’ in his heart to break.”

“It’s been ten years, that Heart Lock was able to restrain him for ten years, already exceeding our expectations,” the young man said. “That’s why we arranged for him to go to Rhein, hoping to truly finish him off… It’s just a pity that he was lucky, or rather, the Archbishop of Rhein was unlucky, which led to some issues in our plans.”

After saying this, the young man fell silent again, looking at the sun that was now half-sunk, and from his angle, it appeared as if the sun were about to be devoured by the steel city of Lyra.

After waiting for a while, and seeing that the young man showed no intention of speaking, the elder couldn’t help but speak, “As for Ocot…?”

“Hmm?” The young man seemed to suddenly wake up, “What about him?”

“He said he felt like he was being targeted, which is why he headed to the Fifth Zone,” the elder said. “What do you think he’s been targeted by?”

In the elder’s memory, the young man always dealt with things calmly, suggesting that nothing could ever be beyond his control.

This time, however, a hint of hesitation flickered across the young man’s face.

“To be honest, I don’t know.”

The elder’s face immediately showed surprise.

“It’s all too coincidental, everything is too coincidental,” the young man’s brow furrowed slightly as he continued softly, “I didn’t feel it before, but thinking about it now…indeed, it’s too coincidental. The final moment is about to come, Night Star who should have died in Rhein came back unharmed, and unlocked the Heart Lock that hadn’t been unlocked for ten years, he began to act in such a short time and accurately found the entry point. And today, Ocot seems to have been targeted by something. It’s all too perfect, too much so.”

The elder felt unease from the young man’s words, “What do you mean?”

After a moment of silence, the young man said, “I feel that there is a reason behind these changes, but these clues alone are not enough to find it. I must observe further… However, I have a premonition that Ocot is likely not coming back, and what’s chasing him could very well be Gerard.”

The elder’s eyes widened incrementally, “How could that be? Not to mention how Gerard could find Ocot, even if he did, he shouldn’t be a match for Ocot, right? Ocot has undergone the Rebirth transformation, whereas Gerard… even if his ‘Heart Lock’ has been unlocked, his ‘Body Lock’ is still in place.”

“I’m just saying I have this premonition,” the young man replied softly. “Unfortunately, my premonitions tend to become reality, and besides, relying on a ‘Body Lock’ to completely restrict a former Night Star…”

The young man did not finish his sentence, but the elder already understood the implication, leaving him unsure of how to respond.

Long after the sun finally disappeared into the iron body of Lyra, and darkness spread across the sky like ink, the elder heard the young man speak.

“Prepare for the worst and deal with Ocot. Now is not the time for the showdown.”

The old man’s body trembled slightly, but he didn’t dare say much more, just quickly promised and left, leaving the young man alone, gazing at Lyra after nightfall.

…

What’s going on?! What’s going on?! What’s going on?!

Inside the cramped carriage, Ocot continuously directed his mechanical arms to attack Gerard. His mechanical arms were specially made, moving at speeds even faster than the most agile and deadly viper during a hunt.

In such a space, an outdated relic from a bygone era should not be able to make any effective evasive maneuvers.

Of course, Gerard did not evade. He charged straight at Ocot, swirling a metal rod in his hand into a circle. What shouldn’t have been a weapon became in Gerard’s hands like a drawn sword, cutting down one “venomous snake” after another that leapt at him, the moment of metal against metal emitting a grating and sharp whine, with golden sparks scattering.

With the escort of sparks, Gerard’s advance was unstoppable, and under this overwhelming onslaught, he was unharmed.

Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!

Ocot wasn’t a combat specialist, nor had he joined any of Lyra’s units, but until just moments ago, he hadn’t considered Gerard to be worth acknowledging because he had received enhancements, the most confidential and state-of-the-art kind.

His eight mechanical arms were each stronger than any prosthetic limb out there, their technical complexity beyond even the capabilities of the “Devil” units that fought against the pollution.

So how could such an obsolete relic compete with him?

People are like machines, the newer and more advanced ones naturally should replace the older and more outdated ones.

But why could this man…

“Clang!”

Gerard had already rushed up to Ocot, raising the notched but still intact metal rod high before swinging it fiercely at Ocot’s other arm.

Ocot immediately prompted two mechanical arms to defend himself, and at the same time, a sound emerged from Gerard’s metallic body. Chains spread from the deepest parts of the metal body, seeking to restrain the surging Gerard.

This was the oldest and most stringent of all of Lyra’s metallic creations— the “Body Lock.”

Initially, the “Body Lock” was only applied to the units stationed in the Pollution Zone, to prevent the troops contaminated by the pollution from using their formidable weapons to harm Lyra in their uncontrolled state. Gradually, the lock spread to all of Lyra, with such a mechanism embedded in everyone’s prosthetic limbs, becoming the most critical safeguard for maintaining the security of Lyra.

And now, it had become Ocot’s greatest hope.

Gerard’s “Body Lock” had been triggered, and even if his level of body modification was far below that of Lyra’s new generation of troops, the “Body Lock” could still restrict over seventy percent of Gerard’s strength.

In that case…

“Clang!”

The two mechanical arms Ocot used to block Gerard’s advance were once again chopped down, but the slashing movement did not stop, and the notched metal rod continued to cut into Ocot’s right shoulder until the rod was fully embedded and finally came to a halt.

“Aaaahhhhhhhh!”

Ocot let out another wail of agony.

The remaining mechanical arms immediately attacked Gerard, who, realizing he could not achieve greater success in this attack, didn’t linger in battle but swiftly retreated to a safe distance.

Then, he looked down at the “locks” on every metal part of his body—his thighs, chest, and shoulders—all fully deployed; his every movement now heavily restricted.

The ancient rules of Lyra were still protecting Ocot.

But…

Gerard looked at Ocot, who was wailing madly not far away, silently wiping the blood off the metal rod.

It’s not going to hold.