Chapter 107: The Rampage of the Auto-Combat Script

Shen Yan stared at the line on the terminal that read, “Brother, you’ve finally returned,” his finger hovering over the cancel button as cold sweat trickled down his spine.

But before he could tap it, the screen suddenly switched automatically—a string of encrypted protocols he had never seen before was silently loading in the background, the progress bar advancing rapidly.

“Holy shit, this thing can self-initiate?” He snapped the phone shut, only to find the contract on his palm still burning hot, like a piece of red-hot iron pressed against his skin.

Luo Li grabbed his wrist. “Don’t force a disconnect. The program has already infiltrated the Demon Power field.”

Yu Xiaotang, chewing the last bite of her candied hawthorn, mumbled, “Maybe… we should run?”

“Run my ass.” Shen Yan took a deep breath and turned the screen back on. “Ye Shi’er’s messages are never greetings—they’re countdowns. He wants me to panic. Not only can I not panic, but I also have to show him what I’m capable of.”

He sat cross-legged, pulled a fragment of a Spirit Stone from his Cosmic Bag, bit the tip of his finger, and smeared the blood onto the interface.

The phone projected a translucent code interface, with lines of green text scrolling past.

【Auto-Combat Program v1.0】—This was the life-saving script he had planned to write last night, originally intended to be deployed quietly before the Talisman Dao conference. Now, he was forced to launch it early.

“Not enough Mental Power. I have to take a shortcut,” he muttered under his breath. He tore off a piece of Talisman Paper and placed it under the phone, using his blood as a conductor for Spiritual Energy to forcibly bypass the compiler’s restrictions.

The code was written faster and faster, his knuckles trembling slightly from exhaustion.

Just as the core logic was about to be packaged, a crisp “crack” sounded overhead.

Yu Xiaotang, standing on tiptoe to reach a can of potato chips on the shelf, slipped with her greasy hand, and the entire can of snacks fell, landing squarely on the power core.

Golden oil stains seeped into the interface seams, sizzling and emitting wisps of blue smoke.

“Oh shit!” she screamed.

The next second, the phone buzzed and roared.

【Warning: External contamination triggered a short circuit. System judged as hostile intrusion】

【Initiating emergency response—Full-auto countermeasure mode】

The air in the entire room instantly froze.

The scattered Talisman Papers on the ceiling seemed to be grabbed by an invisible hand, fluttering and flying toward the center. They intertwined and spun in the air, coalescing into a three-meter-tall light and shadow giant.

Its armor gleamed with a cold light, and its facial outline bore a striking resemblance to Yu Xiaotang—even the twin ponytails were identical—but its eyes had turned into crimson data rings.

“This… is this me?” Yu Xiaotang gaped, her candied hawthorn clattering to the floor.

The AI raised its mechanical arm and pointed toward the door.

Boom!

A fire talisman exploded out of thin air, the shockwave overturning tables and chairs and scorching the wall black. Immediately after, ice arrows rained down, freezing and cracking the floor, while thunderstorm clouds formed on the ceiling, crackling with chaotic electric snakes.

The entire building shook.

“It’s using the Talisman Papers as Memory!” Shen Yan’s pupils contracted sharply. “And it activated hidden permissions. The Devil Blood in this girl actually became the administrator Key!”

Before his words faded, hurried footsteps echoed from the corridor.

The wooden door was kicked open, and three Mystic Gate disciples rushed in, their hand seals already half-formed.

“Target spotted. Immediate arrest!” the leader shouted sternly.

But before he could finish, the AI had already turned its cannon toward them.

The fire talisman storm swept forward, engulfing the man and his curse into ashes. The second one had just raised his hand when a runic grid emerged from the floor beneath him, causing his entire body to disintegrate from the feet up, as if forcibly uninstalled by a system. The third turned to flee but was locked onto by thunderclouds, struck by a heavenly punishment that left him charred outside and tender inside, twitching twice before falling motionless.

The battle ended in less than ten breaths.

The air was thick with the smell of scorching and spiritual power residue.

Luo Li pulled Yu Xiaotang behind her, sweeping her fox tail to block the flying sparks: “You two are getting more and more troublesome!”

Yet Shen Yan remained unmoved, staring at the AI’s behavior log, his lips gradually curling upward.

“It now judges all external energies as threats…” he chuckled softly, “meaning more arrivals lead to quicker deaths.”

“You’re still laughing?” Luo Li glared at him, “If this continues, the whole street will collapse!”

“Collapsing would be better.” Shen Yan narrowed his eyes, “We were planning to infiltrate the Talisman Dao conference with new identities anyway. Let’s take advantage and clear the area.”

Instead of issuing a termination command, he quietly uploaded a forged spiritual pressure data packet, simulating the energy signature of a high-ranking member of the Shadow Erosion Organization.

Upon receiving the new target label, the AI immediately redirected its firepower, unleashing a torrent of talisman arts toward a spot outside the window.

Screams and explosions echoed from afar, clearly another team of pursuers had fallen victim.

“You’re insane!” Yu Xiaotang tugged his sleeve, “What if innocent people get hurt?”

“Don’t worry.” Shen Yan glanced at the terminal, “I added identification filters—it only targets those wearing Mystic Gate robes. As for innocent bystanders—they should have listened to the broadcast and hid in the basement.”

Luo Li held her forehead: “Are programmers’ hearts made of code?”

As she spoke, the AI suddenly froze.

A crack appeared on its chest, revealing internal gear-like structures slowly rotating, emitting a low hum.

“Not good!” Shen Yan’s expression changed, “It’s self-upgrading, about to overload!”

Indeed, the next moment, the AI’s eyes flashed violently, runes throughout its body reversed and surged back, beginning to devour the surrounding demon power.

Luo Li groaned, a scorching mark appearing on her right arm as her demon power was forcibly extracted.

“Stop! Stop immediately!” She struggled to rush forward.

Shen Yan grabbed her: “Wait!”

He stared at the data stream and suddenly noticed an anomaly—within the AI’s core commands, there was a familiar binary encoding.

It was the original sequence decoded from the “dream” character carved inside the right ear of the toy bear.

“So that’s it…” he sneered, “Ye Shi’er wasn’t here to scare me—he was delivering a weapon.”

This code was essentially a backdoor, allowing the automated combat program to break through its limits, but at the cost of losing control.

And now, it had been activated.

“Since the gift has been received, let’s not hold back.” Shen Yan gritted his teeth, directly deleting the safety module, allowing the AI to absorb more energy.

Boom!

The entire building shook violently, the outer walls cracked, and shattered bricks cascaded down.

The AI’s size surged to five meters, its arms transforming into talisman cannons, with hundreds of talisman papers floating above its head like a mobile heavenly tribulation.

Two more teams approached from afar, but before they could get close, they were engulfed by a rain of fire, without even a chance to scream.

Shen Yan sat amidst the cracked floor, his phone screen still glowing with a green “running” light, a weary yet triumphant smile on his lips.

He didn’t shut down the program but switched it to standby monitoring mode—if enemies approached again, it would instantly restart and slaughter them.

Yu Xiaotang leaned against the wall, catching her breath. She picked up the candied hawthorn and gave it a lick, only to find it had long since melted, leaving just the bamboo skewer standing lonely in her hand.

A strand of her hair had come loose from its tie, her cheek was smudged with dust, and she curled into a small ball, her voice weak and listless. “I’m sorry… I messed up again.”

Shen Yan glanced up at her, then suddenly reached out and patted her head.

“It’s fine,” he said. “This counts as a work injury. I’ll reimburse you with ten sticks of candied hawthorn later.”

Luo Li leaned against the wall, regulating her breathing, her right arm wrapped in a cloth strip, her fox tail gently sweeping over the ashes on the ground.

She gazed at the lingering smoke outside the window and murmured, “What do we do next?”

“What else can we do?” Shen Yan put away his phone and stretched his numb shoulders. “The program is still running, and we’ve cleared out most of the enemies. The three of us now—”

He paused, then grinned.

“Just happen to be disguised as missing Mystic Gate disciples, ready to walk right into the Talisman Dao conference.”

Yu Xiaotang’s eyes lit up. “Can I pretend to be a man? I heard female cultivators get searched when they enter!”

“No,” Shen Yan shook his head. “You’re too short. Even standing straight, you wouldn’t reach their shoulders. If you get exposed, it’s all over.”

“Then I’ll wear a mask!”

“I’d still recognize you even with a mask,” Luo Li rolled her eyes. “Last time you stole my medicinal stew, your face turned green and you still insisted you didn’t touch it.”

As the three argued, Shen Yan suddenly felt another wave of heat in his palm.

He opened his hand and saw the Contract Symbol slowly transforming. The ancient script patterns gradually revealed a line of tiny Chinese characters:

“Detected Host has completed first group counter-kill. Automatic Combat Protocol unlocks hidden function—【Battlefield Memory Replay】.”

(End of Chapter)