Chapter 67 Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland 30

A blazing fire, mixed with countless metal fragments, swept outwards in all directions! The power of the acetylene cylinder explosion far exceeded Zhou Jue's imagination.

The entire workshop trembled violently from the explosion; the ceiling lights shattered instantly, sending dust plumes of smoke down. Zhou Jue had already rolled away the moment the explosion occurred, taking cover behind one of the heaviest stamping machines.

Even so, the terrifying shockwave still slammed into her back.

"puff!"

She lunged forward and fell to the ground. The back defense index of her combat suit instantly dropped to zero, her ears rang, and she temporarily lost her hearing.

Fortunately, the system's protective shield shielded her, preventing any physical harm. She shook her head, quickly regaining her senses, and peered out at the center of the explosion.

Amidst the flames, the dozen or so puppets that had come down from the ventilation shaft had been blown to pieces, with limbs and fragments scattered all over the ground.

However, Zhou Jue's mind did not relax in the slightest.

Because she saw that the scattered fragments on the ground were writhing in an extremely strange way, and countless tiny black nanobots were emanating from the charred remains, as if guided by some invisible force, and began to gather on the ground.

In just over ten seconds, a pool of black fluid, more than two meters in diameter and constantly writhing, appeared at the center of the explosion. It had no fixed shape, its surface gleaming with a metallic sheen, as if countless tiny vortices were swirling inside.

This thing might actually be the true form of nanoviruses!

It abandoned its human disguise and revealed its true fangs!

"Brother Tong, analyze the target!"

[Target: Nanorobot swarms.]

[State: Highly reactive polymer.]

[Threat Level: Extremely Dangerous!]

[Warning: High-intensity energy reaction detected; target is accumulating energy!]

Almost at the same moment the system warning sounded, the pool of black fluid suddenly contracted, and then, a pitch-black "tentacle," like an arrow released from a bow, shot out from the aggregate, straight at the machine tool where Zhou Jue was hiding!

Extremely fast!

Zhou Jue's pupils contracted sharply, and the hairs on her body stood on end! Without thinking, she used all her strength to roll to the side!

"laugh--!"

A corrosive sound rang out.

The massive machine, cast from a special alloy and weighing over ten tons, was instantly corroded into a bottomless hole at the spot where the tentacle struck it, as if it had been doused with highly concentrated sulfuric acid!

Black smoke, accompanied by a pungent odor, billowed from the hole.

Zhou Jue watched this scene with a tremor in her heart. If this attack had hit her, she didn't know if the system's protective shield could have withstood it! She couldn't help but ask the system in her mind.

[Analysis in progress...]

Before she could catch her breath, the pool of black fluid transformed again, splitting into three or four identical tentacles that blocked all her escape routes from different angles and launched another attack!

At the same time, from another direction came a sound of despair.

"Boom—!"

The door, which had been blocked by heavy objects, was finally broken open under the combined attack from both inside and outside! The mountain of obstacles at the entrance was violently pushed aside by a tremendous force, and countless metal parts rolled to the ground.

A dense, dark mass of people, the controlled residents of the base, surged in through the broken doorway like a tidal wave.

Their numbers far exceeded hundreds and thousands! The entire corridor, and even the plaza outside, was filled with these silent puppets! They surged into the workshop without the slightest pause, marching in perfect unison from all directions, surrounding the center of the workshop, the location of the power armor manufacturing platform.

There are nanopolymers with unknown forms ahead.

Behind them was an endless army of puppets.

Zhou Jue was instantly plunged into an unprecedented predicament.

She glanced at the countdown timer for the power armor's production.

【05:48:13】

There are still nearly six hours left. Can she hold on? No, she has to hold on even if she can't!

[Host, the system's energy shield can withstand physical attacks from nanobots.]

However, there's a chance that nanobots could sneak through the protective shield and infiltrate my database.

[The background firewall has been upgraded, the antivirus software has been upgraded, security has been strengthened, and the energy shield has been upgraded. Host, charge forward with confidence, I will guard the protective wall!]

A sense of joy rose in Zhou Jue's heart. She stopped running away and instead took the initiative to meet the black tentacles that were attacking her.

Within the confined space, her body twisted, folded, and dodged with a flexibility that surpassed the limits of the human body.

The tentacles whistled as they brushed against her clothes and hair, leaving shocking trails of corrosion on the ground and walls.

At this moment, her mind was extremely calm. She dodged while calculating rapidly.

The puppet army's target appears to be the "powered armor" manufacturing platform.

The nanopolymer's target is herself.

She had to isolate these two threats! With a sudden, desperate effort, she made an extremely risky decision. Instead of dodging, she charged back towards the army of puppets that had just flooded into the workshop!

She's trying to shift the blame to someone else!

Sure enough, the nanopolymer did not hesitate to manipulate its tentacles, chasing after Zhou Jue's figure and piercing into the group of puppets.

"Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!"

The sound of corrosion was incessant. The puppets struck by the tentacles were instantly pierced, decomposed, and turned into a pool of black water that merged into the ground.

But there were simply too many puppets. They were fearless and fought one after another, using their own bodies to build human walls.

Zhou Jue was like a slippery fish, weaving through a dense school of fish.

The boundary-breaking shovel in her hand was no longer used for attacking, but for blocking, using leverage, and deflecting the arms reaching towards her. She compressed her presence to the extreme, blending into the countless puppets and constantly changing her position.

The situation has reached a temporary stalemate.

The nanopolymers were attacking Zhou Jue relentlessly, but inevitably, they were also "mistakenly killing" a large number of puppets.

The puppet army was temporarily blocked outside the manufacturing platform due to the indiscriminate attacks of the nanopolymers and Zhou Jue's deliberate luring.

But Zhou Jue knew this was merely a temporary fix; her stamina was being depleted at an alarming rate, even after she had the system draw her two mouthfuls of "Blue Abyss Lake Water" to relieve her fatigue. Even her spiritual energy, which had just recovered to the second level of Qi Refining, was rapidly depleting during this intense dodging.

She felt like her body was an engine about to break down, which could shut down completely at any moment.

【04:30:10】

【03:15:22】

【02:01:59】

Time slowly slipped away amidst the torment.

Zhou Jue's consciousness began to become somewhat blurred.

Her movements were no longer as fluid as they had been at the beginning. Several times, she was nearly grazed by the tentacles, and her combat suit was corroded and torn in several places.

"No... I'm almost at my limit..." she murmured to herself.

Just then, the nanopolymer seemed to lose patience. It stopped extending its tentacles, and the entire polymer began to writhe and deform violently, as if a dough was being pulled and kneaded by a pair of invisible hands.

Eventually, it transformed into a pitch-black humanoid monster over three meters tall, with thick limbs and a ferocious head!

"roar--!"

A roar, unlike anything human and composed of countless electrical noises, came from the monster's mouth.

It abandoned its ranged attacks, took heavy strides, and charged headlong towards Zhou Jue! All the puppets that stood in its way were easily smashed, torn apart, and absorbed!

Zhou Jue's pupils reflected the ever-approaching, enormous black shadow.

She wanted to dodge, but her legs felt as heavy as lead.

It's over.