Chapter 227: Encirclement and Attack

Lin Che walked up to Su Wanqing, stretched out his hands, and hugged her gently. His movements were a little stiff, but it was obvious that he was hugging her with great force.

He loosened his hand, looked into her eyes, and lowered his voice: "No matter what happens, remember that the real purpose of the jade bracelet is to seal, not activate. If I fail to reach the rendezvous point on time, don't wait for me, don't hesitate, and start the sealing process directly."

He took out a micro storage device from the inner pocket of his work clothes and stuffed it into Su Wanqing's hand. "Here are the complete sealing steps. Only you, as the anchor, can execute it."

After saying that, he turned to Lu Zhao, his expression more serious than ever before: "If everything gets out of control...if I am controlled by Night again...you know what I mean. Don't hesitate. When necessary, destroy me and the three cores. This is the last line of defense."

Lu Zhao remained silent and nodded heavily.

There was another loud crash against the outer wall. The three said no more and quickly evacuated from three different secret exits of the safe house, soon disappearing into the shadows of the city.

Su Wanqing and Lu Zhao walked through the dilapidated streets and buildings. Lu Zhao was responsible for leading the way and avoiding patrols, while Su Wanqing held the container containing the second core.

According to the plan, Lu Zhao would activate the energy replicator every certain distance.

The brief energy pulse emitted by the device was like a torch in the dark night. Sure enough, the roar of the pursuit and the advance of the mechanical troops from behind soon caught up and firmly locked onto their direction.

In a narrow alley, they were blocked by a group of extremely fast mutants.

Just as Lu Zhao was about to throw the electromagnetic pulse grenade, the jade bracelet on Su Wanqing's wrist suddenly emitted a dazzling light and resonated strongly with the purple core in the core container in her arms.

The system interface in her mind was instantly updated, and a new line of text appeared: [Anchor point permissions are upgraded, unlocking the trial version of the time intervention function, which can temporarily slow down the flow of time in a local area. ]

Lu Zhao looked at the scene in front of him with a little surprise on his face: "This confirms Lin Che's theory. You are indeed the anchor point selected by the system. The jade bracelet is adapting to your energy characteristics and gradually unlocking more functions."

Su Wanqing thought about it and had no time to hesitate. She raised her hand and pointed the jade bracelet at the group of mutants rushing in front of her.

As her mind focused, an invisible wave spread from the jade bracelet.

Those mutants that were originally ferocious and swift in movement suddenly became as if played in slow motion and almost stopped.

However, at the moment of using the ability, Su Wanqing felt a strong sense of dizziness and her body inevitably shook.

System warning appears: [Time intervention consumes the life energy of the anchor point. Excessive use may cause permanent damage.]

"Let's go!" Lu Zhao supported her, pulled her through the gap between the almost motionless mutants, and quickly evacuated the scene.

He analyzed as he ran: "It seems that these advanced functions have serious side effects. 'Night' is likely planning to take advantage of this and make you use up all your final sealing abilities... We must remember Lin Che's warning."

At the same time, on the other side of the city, Lin Che was quietly moving along the intricate sewer system.

He was wearing a special invisibility cloak that could absorb most energy fluctuations. It was the last stock in the safe house.

The stench and darkness did not slow down his speed, and he approached the underground area of ​​the military outpost silently like a ghost.

However, as his position got closer and closer to the target point on the map, a sharp pain suddenly came from deep inside his body.

He leaned against the slippery wall of the pipe, curled up in pain, and could feel the blue lines under his skin begin to flicker uncontrollably, as if resonating with something.

With every step forward, the Orion Sequence in the body becomes more unstable.

He realized a horrible fact: the fragments of "Night's" consciousness that were temporarily suppressed by the blood injected by Su Wanqing were being awakened by the third core nearby and were trying to regain control of his body.

He clenched his teeth, sweat rolled down his forehead and dripped into the muddy sewage.

“No… I can’t… be your puppet… again…” He whispered in pain, holding on to his body and continuing to move towards the depths of darkness.

The severe pain in his body was like a tide that kept rising and falling, and every impact almost made him kneel down in the cold sewage.

Lin Che gritted his teeth and leaned his body weight against the rough pipe wall. Sweat stuck to his hair and collar.

He could feel the blue lines beneath his skin flickering uncontrollably, resonating fatally with some distant but powerful source.

He thought, this was the price of getting close to the third core. Those fragments of "Night's" consciousness that were temporarily suppressed by Su Wanqing's blood were being awakened.

He forced himself to stand up straight, followed the route marked on the map, and crawled out of a maintenance opening in the sewer.

In front of us is an area surrounded by barbed wire and high walls. This is the military's temporary outpost.

The special invisibility cloak on his body absorbed most of the energy fluctuations, while the remaining Orion sequence in his body became the best pass at this moment.

He walked around the searchlight in the open and approached an outer energy-sensing door. The indicator light on the door briefly jumped from red to green and then returned to normal.

He was like a "ghost" recognized by the system, sliding silently into the base.

The entire outpost was in a state of high alert. Teams of fully armed special forces soldiers patrolled at key intersections, and hurried researchers shuttled between makeshift laboratory buildings.

Lin Che’s target was clear—the core experimental area located in the center of the base, protected by three layers of heavy security doors.

He avoided the surveillance cameras and stuck to the shadow of the building like a gecko, and finally found the air duct leading to the interior of the experimental area.

The narrow pipe was filled with dust and the smell of engine oil, and he crawled carefully towards his destination.

When he looked down through one of the vents, he saw a scene that took his breath away.

In the central experimental area, Xiaoling's tiny body was floating in a special transparent suspension device.

The purple third core was suspended in front of her chest. Countless purple energy lines as thin as hair connected the two together, forming a strange yet stable symbiotic system.

Xiao Ling closed her eyes tightly, but her lips kept moving, making a language with strange syllables that he had never heard before.

Around her, several sophisticated translation devices were rapidly converting her voice into text on the screen.

Lin Che had good eyesight, and he could clearly see the lines of human language scrolling by:

"...Coordinates locked...Time barrier about to collapse...The forerunners have reached the edge...72 hours is the deadline..."

Lin Che's mind buzzed. This was completely consistent with the intelligence information that Lu Zhao had intercepted before.

He waited patiently until a break in the changing of guard occurred.

He quickly slid down the ventilation duct and connected to an unattended terminal nearby.

His fingers kept flying on the virtual keyboard, and the Orion sequence in his body made it extremely easy to crack the military firewall.

Soon, a report marked as top secret and code-named "Whale Fall" appeared on the screen.

He quickly read the contents of the report. The report recorded in detail all the abnormal changes that occurred after Xiaoling came into contact with the core: unknown elements that did not exist on Earth appeared in her blood, and the activity pattern of her brain was completely rewritten. It was no longer a human way of thinking, but more like an efficient signal receiving station that could directly translate and relay the alien information transmitted by the core.

The last page of the report is an even more disturbing speculation: the researchers analyzed the source and pattern of the information and believed that the content did not come from Orion, but from an older and more advanced civilization - the "Weavers."

The report's conclusions suggest a terrifying possibility: the escape of the Orion civilization was no accident; they may have been using the Earth as some kind of "bait" to attract firepower, or as a "barrier" to defend against even more terrifying existences.

At this moment, the sequence in his body suddenly erupted with an unprecedented violent fluctuation.

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The third core sensed his presence, and the strong resonance made his eyes go black, and a piercing pain rushed from his spinal cord all the way to his brain.

He tried hard to control himself, but his right eye had begun to flash an eerie blue light uncontrollably, and a cold, cruel fragment of consciousness whispered in his mind, trying to regain control.

"Beep! Beep! Beep! Alert! Unauthorized Orion sequence signal detected!"

The alarm in the monitoring room instantly rang throughout the base. The red warning light flashed, and the heavy alloy door quickly fell down. The footsteps of soldiers came from all directions, blocking all exits.

Lin Che realized that he had no time left. He suddenly unplugged the cable, no longer hiding, and rushed straight to the experimental area.

He pressed his palm on the first security door, and the sequence energy in his body surged out. The complex electronic lock made a bursting sound, and the door was forced open by a short circuit.

He broke into the room where Xiao Ling was imprisoned. The guards reacted very quickly and pointed their guns at him immediately.

"Don't move!"

The sound of the bullet being loaded was clearly audible. But Lin Che did not stop. In the instant before he was shot, he used all his strength to rush towards the suspension device, stretched out his hand, and touched Xiao Ling's cold little hand.

At the moment of contact, a strange phenomenon occurred.

Xiaoling suddenly opened her eyes, and her pupils were no longer black, but instead, they glowed a deep purple like a core.

She looked directly at Lin Che and said in a mature and calm voice that was totally unbefitting of her age: “I knew you would come… and they knew it too.”

Her words caused Lin Che to pause for a moment.

"The three cores must be kept separately," Xiao Ling continued, every word clearly transmitted to Lin Che's mind, "The existence who calls himself 'Night' doesn't understand what he is doing... He opened not a defense screen, but an invitation letter."

Before she finished her words, Xiao Ling suddenly grabbed Lin Che's arm with her backhand, and with an astonishing force, she stuffed the third core floating in front of her chest into her palm.

"Take it away! Never let the three cores gather together!"

This action was like setting off a bomb. A violent energy wave exploded with the two of them as the center. The lights of the entire base went out instantly, all equipment was paralyzed, shrill alarms sounded one after another, and the world fell into a chaotic darkness and noise.

Lin Che felt that the core in his palm was burning like a branding iron, frantically trying to establish some deeper connection with the Orion Sequence in his body.

He didn't have time to think, he picked up the limp, unconscious Xiao Ling, and tried to identify the escape route in the chaos. - At the same time, at the other end of the city.

Su Wanqing and Lu Zhao's bait plan was going smoothly. But the detection device at Lu Zhao's hand suddenly issued a sharp alarm, and the energy light spot representing "night" on the screen drew a huge arc without any warning and changed direction.

Lu Zhao's brows knitted together. "He's not chasing us anymore. He's heading to the East City Outpost at full speed! He may have sensed the third core through the core, or... sensed Lin Che's presence!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the military communication channel he had cracked began to broadcast an emergency message: "Warning! An unknown high-energy entity is approaching the base at a very high speed! It is expected to arrive within six minutes! All personnel immediately enter the first level combat readiness state!"

Su Wanqing looked up towards the east of the city. Even from a distance, she could see a clear trace of blue energy in the night sky, like a meteor, falling straight to the ground.

Her heart skipped a beat.

“We must rush over to support Lin Che immediately!” She made a prompt decision.

Without any hesitation, she raised the wrist wearing the jade bracelet and activated the time intervention function.

A familiar feeling of dizziness came over her, and she could feel her vitality being rapidly drained away, but everything around her slowed down, and her speed and reaction ability were greatly enhanced.

“This way!” Lu Zhao immediately planned the fastest route for her and warned loudly into the communicator: “Lin Che, Night is moving at full speed towards your location. Evacuate immediately! We’ll be waiting for you at the scheduled meeting point, under the abandoned viaduct. Hurry!”

At this moment, a flying object they had never seen before suddenly appeared above the clouds in the distant sky.

It had no wings and was smooth all over, casting an object that shone with a cold, hard metallic luster.

The thing silently cut through the sky and landed precisely in the direction of the viaduct where they planned to meet.

Lu Zhao's detector issued an unprecedented alarm that almost tore his eardrums.

He looked at the energy readings that instantly exploded on the screen and muttered to himself, "What is that... That energy reading does not belong to Earth technology!"

(End of this chapter)