Chapter 276 Escape from the Collapse

The aftershock of the beacon explosion came through the tunnel. Xiao Ran's shoulder hit the rusty pipe, and the sound of metal friction made his eardrums hurt.

Su Wanqing grabbed Lin Che's arm and ran forward. A muffled sound came from above her head, and gravel fell down.

"The original route is blocked!" Su Wanqing pulled out the system map, the blue light in her palm making her dizzy, "The backup passage in the east—"

Before he could finish his words, he heard a scraping sound behind him. Xiao Ran turned around and saw three mechanical guards crawling out of the collapsed ruins, sparks flying from their joints.

He drew the pulse gun from his waist and shot three bursts through the chest of the nearest guard, "Go!"

Lin Che stumbled two steps, his knees hitting the rails. Su Wanqing bent down to help him up, and was stunned when she touched his arm—the scales were peeling off, revealing the normal skin underneath. "What are you doing?"

"Reorganization." Lin Che twitched his lips, half of his face still covered in blue scales. "It's not getting better, nor is it getting worse. It's... mixing together."

He coughed twice, and the blue liquid splashed on the rails. "Don't stop, the pursuers are coming."

The passage suddenly shook violently. Xiao Ran looked up and saw spiderweb-like cracks appearing on the ceiling. "Run!"

Just as the three of them rushed into the backup passage, a loud bang was heard behind them. Su Wanqing looked back and saw that the tunnel entrance had been blocked by fallen rocks.

Lin Che leaned against the wall and gasped for breath. Half of his eye was a faint blue, while the other half still had a human color.

"This way." Xiao Ran pointed his gun forward, "Cross passage."

The walls of the cross passage were covered with mold, and Su Wanqing's system map suddenly went black.

She tapped the jade bracelet. "The signal is being jammed."

Lin Che suddenly looked up and stared at the fork in the road to the north. "There's wind over there."

He stumbled over, "Towards the ground."

Xiao Ran followed behind, the butt of the gun against his shoulder, "How did you know?"

"I can feel it." Lin Che reached out and touched the wall. "The direction of the air flow."

The three of them turned into the north passage. The mold on the wall suddenly glowed blue, as if activated by some energy.

Su Wanqing's jade bracelet began to flicker. She reached out and touched the wall, and the entire wall suddenly lit up with a door-shaped light.

"The system prompts that this is the time anchor point." Su Wanqing stared at the jade bracelet, "Maybe I can teleport out."

Xiao Ran pointed the gun at the light gate, "A trap?"

"There's no time to try." Lin Che coughed so hard that he couldn't straighten his back. "The pursuers are here."

The beeping of the mechanical guards came from behind. Su Wanqing gritted her teeth and dragged the two of them into the light gate.

A feeling of dizziness washed over them, and when their vision cleared, they were standing in an abandoned warehouse with peeling walls and rusty oil drums piled on the ground.

"This is..." Xiao Ran walked to the window and could see the billboard in the distance through the broken glass. "It's in the suburbs, at least five kilometers away from the entrance."

Lin Che leaned against the oil drum, his voice weak, "The time is off too. We went underground at two in the morning, and now..." He pulled out his tactical table, "eight seventeen."

Su Wanqing checked the jade bracelet, "The system shows that the time is offset by six hours."

She squatted in front of Lin Che and scanned his neck with the medical scanner. "The mutation program in your body is being reconstructed. It's like the gene chain has been reprogrammed."

"Can you control it?" Xiao Ran put the gun at his feet and stood guard at the door.

Lin Che shook his head. "I can't really say. Sometimes I can sense the mutant's location, and sometimes it feels like something is pulling me underground."

He lifted his sleeves, and the scales on his arms were falling off, revealing pale blue veins under the skin. "Just now, in the light gate, I seemed to hear someone talking."

"Who?" Su Wanqing asked.

"I can't hear it clearly." Lin Che closed her eyes. "It sounds like many people talking at once, or like the wind."

Suddenly, there was a scraping sound outside the warehouse. Xiao Ran put his finger to his lips, grabbed his gun, and ducked to the window.

Through the broken glass, he saw a dark shadow swaying outside the warehouse. It was a completely black silhouette, neither like a mutant nor a mechanical guard.

"We're being followed." Xiao Ran turned around, "We have to go."

Just as the three of them reached the warehouse door, Lin Che suddenly grabbed Su Wanqing's sleeve and said, "Wait."

He stared at the ground. "There's energy fluctuation."

Su Wanqing called up the energy monitor, and a glaring red dot popped up on the screen. "Southeast direction, mutant."

"Elite level." Half of Lin Che's eyes turned completely blue. "The scales are denser, and the movements are more coordinated."

Before he finished speaking, footsteps were heard outside the warehouse. Six mutants emerged from the shadows, their bodies covered in perfect blue scales, energy blades clutched in their hands.

The leader raised his knife, pointing the tip of the knife at Su Wanqing.

"Secure the anchor." It sounded like metal grinding.

Xiao Ran fired, and the bullet hit the mutant's chest, only splashing a few sparks.

Su Wanqing activated space protection and barely blocked an energy knife.

Lin Che suddenly roared, and blue light surged from his body, knocking the two mutants closest to him to the ground.

“Go!” Lin Che’s scales began to spread. “I can’t hold on any longer!”

The three of them ran towards the back door of the warehouse. Xiao Ran turned back and fired, distracting the pursuers.

Lin Che's breathing became heavier, and he stumbled every two steps.

Su Wanqing took out her communicator, "Lu Zhao? Got it, please reply!"

"Wanqing?" Lu Zhao's voice was mixed with noise. "Energy fluctuations detected. Where are you?"

"Abandoned warehouse in the suburbs!" Su Wanqing shouted, "Bring support!"

The back door suddenly burst open, and three mutants rushed in, their energy blades flashing blue light.

Lin Che turned around, pressed his hands to the ground, and blue light surged over like a wave.

The mutants suddenly stopped, their expressions becoming confused.

“Hurry up!” Lin Che’s voice no longer sounded human. “They’ve been reset!”

Xiao Ran dragged Su Wanqing out. In the distance, they heard the sound of an engine. An armored vehicle rushed around the corner. Xiao Ling poked her head out and shouted, "Get in!"

Lin Che was the last one to jump into the car. Xiao Ling immediately pulled out a syringe and said, "Temporary inhibitor, bear with it."

The needle pierced Lin Che's arm, and his blue light gradually faded, and he passed out.

Lu Zhao closed the car door and said, "The fortress will be there in ten minutes."

Su Wanqing looked out the car window and saw the dark shadow appear again on the rooftop in the distance, watching them quietly.

The wall of the abandoned warehouse was falling down. Lin Che was half leaning on a rusty oil drum, breathing rapidly.

Su Wanqing squatted in front of him, the medical scanner pressed against his neck. The blue light of the screen made her brows tighten slightly. "The mutation program is reconstructing. It's not getting worse or better, it's reorganizing."

Lin Che raised a hand and touched her cheek. In some places, the scales were peeling off, revealing normal skin, while in other areas, the scales were becoming increasingly prominent, as if being torn apart by two forces. "After the beacon exploded, the connection with the Weaver was mostly severed, but lately, I feel like there's something else messing with it."

"There's movement." Xiao Ran suddenly lowered his voice. He had his back to the broken window, the muzzle of his gun pointed at the ground. The sound of metal scraping was so light, like fingernails scratching iron.

The three of them held their breath. A faint scraping sound could be heard from outside the warehouse, approaching from far away.

Su Wanqing took out a tactical flashlight and shone the beam through the window lattice - there was a completely black human silhouette standing in the corner, with no facial features and no outlines, as if the night sky was kneaded into a human shape.

It stood there, its head turning slightly, as if scanning something.

"We're being targeted." Xiao Ran pulled the gun closer to his chest, "We have to leave."

The shadow swayed again and disappeared into the night in the blink of an eye. Su Wanqing helped Lin Che to his feet. His arm was incredibly hot, but his fingertips were as cold as ice.

After leaving the warehouse, the abandoned area on the edge of the city looked like a dead city. Xiao Ran walked ahead, stopping at every corner to scan the broken walls and ruins with his tactical scope.

Lin Che had to hold on to the wall to catch his breath after taking two steps. Half of his eye was bright blue, while the other half still had a human color.

"The communication is still not working." Su Wanqing held the communicator tightly, and the screen was full of snowflakes.

Her jade bracelet suddenly began to flicker, and a string of unfamiliar codes popped up on the interface, like a star map blown by the wind.

"It's coming again." Lin Che suddenly stopped. Everyone looked up. There stood the dark shadow on the rooftop opposite. This time, it didn't hide, but just stood there quietly. The moonlight shone on it, but it seemed to shine into a deep pool, leaving no shadow.

Xiao Ran raised his gun, aiming the crosshairs at the shadow's chest. The figure suddenly moved, not walking, but teleporting. The next second, it was standing in the middle of the road, ten meters away.

"Jade bearer, you have activated the Primordial Protocol." Its voice sounded like many people speaking simultaneously, men and women, young and old. "The flow of time has noticed you."

Su Wanqing clenched the jade bracelet tightly, and it felt hot in her palm. "Who are you? A member of the Weaver?"

"Time Observer." The black shadow tilted its head slightly. "Neither Weaver nor human. Observe, record, maintain balance." Its gaze turned to Lin Che. "The mutation carrier has begun its final phase transition. The timer has started."

Before he finished speaking, the shadow disappeared again. Su Wanqing looked down at the jade bracelet. The interface was still flashing, and this time, an option called "Time Flow Observation Permission" popped up, with the cursor jumping over it.

"Let's go." Xiao Ran pulled her. Lin Che suddenly stumbled and grabbed Xiao Ran's arm: "There's an ambush!"

As soon as he finished speaking, six mutants leaped out from behind the surrounding buildings. Their bodies were covered in blue scales, their movements were synchronized like a single being, and the energy blades in their hands glowed with a cold light.

The leader raised his knife, pointing the tip of the knife at Su Wanqing.

Xiao Ran fired three shots in a row, and the bullets hit Lan Lin, only splashing a few sparks.

The energy beam flew past Su Wanqing's ear and burned a charred hole in the wall.

She activated the space protection, and the shield barely blocked the second wave of attacks. Cold sweat seeped out of her forehead - the shield was at least half as thin as usual.

"They're connecting to my head!" Lin Che covered his head as blue scales crawled down his neck to his face. "A mental connection. They're trying to control me."

The mutants formed a circle and pressed forward. Xiao Ran took out the last modified pulse gun, the barrel still hot, which he had used in the previous exchange of fire with the mechanical guards.

Su Wanqing tried to transmit again, the jade bracelet interface flashed wildly, and the system prompt sound was stuck on "Unable to establish".

"Let me do it!" Lin Che suddenly roared. His eyes turned completely blue, and a blue light rose from his body, like a burning blue fire.

The two mutants closest to them were knocked to the ground, and the energy knives fell to the ground with a clang.

But the light burned too intensely. Lin Che's blue scales began to peel off in large flakes, revealing the blue-lined skin beneath. His breathing was as heavy as a bellows: "Go! I can't hold on!"

Xiao Ran dragged Su Wanqing towards the alley entrance. Lin Che yelled from behind, his voice becoming increasingly inhuman: "Don't look back! Run!"

The incident happened suddenly. Lin Che's blue light exploded with a bang, and the mutants around him suddenly stopped, their expressions dazed, as if they had been paused.

Xiao Ran took the opportunity to light the emergency flare, and the red flames cut through the night sky.

The sound of an engine could be heard in the distance. Xiaoling's armored vehicle came out from the corner of the street, and Lu Zhao was in the passenger seat, holding a gun: "Get in!"

Lin Che was the last one to jump into the car. Xiao Ling's wrist flashed silver, and the silver substance automatically wrapped around his arm.

The mutants did not chase, but just slowly retreated, as if pushed by some invisible hand.

"A temporary inhibitor." Xiao Ling took out a syringe and stabbed it into Lin Che's arm. "It's not perfect yet, but it will last for a while."

Lin Che's blue light gradually faded, and she passed out. Lu Zhao closed the car door, and the tires scraped against the ground with a sharp sound. "The energy fluctuations are ridiculously large. I guess it's you guys."

Su Wanqing leaned back in her chair, gasping for breath, and glanced out the car window—the black shadow appeared again on the roof of a distant building, standing quietly like a black monument.

Her jade bracelet suddenly popped up a holographic projection automatically. The interface was a more complex one with the same symbols she had seen in underground facilities. The "Time Flow Observation Authority" in the middle flashed dazzlingly.

Su Wanqing reached out to touch it, then pulled back and whispered to Xiao Ran, "This system, the Weaver, and the Time Observer—the relationship is more complicated than we thought. They're all related to time, but from different perspectives. If it's alien technology, the possibilities we have are far beyond our comprehension."

Xiao Ran remained silent, staring at the unconscious Lin Che. The car was driving very fast, and the wind blew in, carrying Lin Che's peeling scales with it, which floated out the window and into the night.

The smell of disinfectant mixed with the hum of instruments, and the white walls of the medical room were stained gray by the blue light of the monitor.

Lu Zhao pinched the microscope eyepiece, his knuckles turning white from the pressure. Lin Che's heartbeat on the screen looked like a wire tangled by the wind.

Xiaoling sat beside the bed with a blood collection bandage tied around her wrist. A silver substance dripped through the catheter into the culture dish, and the "ticking" sound was louder than her heartbeat.

"A hybrid." Lu Zhao straightened up and brought up the comparison images from the two microscopes. On the left was the DNA strands of an early-stage infected individual, broken into a tangled mess. On the right, in Lin Che's sample, the blue particles and human genes were like two intertwined snakes. "It's not destruction, it's recombination. It preserves the advantages of both sides."

Doctor Zhang adjusted his glasses and pointed to the EEG graph on the monitor: "Activity in the consciousness area is normal, and the perception area has expanded."

He tapped the screen. "For example, I could only hear human voices before, but now I can hear ants crawling."

Xiao Ling's fingers rested on the back of Lin Che's hand. His skin was hotter than usual, and blue lines crawled across his wrist like tree roots.

"Is he still him?" she asked softly, as if afraid to startle the person on the bed.

Lu Zhao stared at the sample in silence for a moment. "My memory isn't lost. It's just that my way of looking at the world has changed."

The monitor suddenly beeped. Lin Che's eyelashes trembled, and her half-open eyes flashed blue before returning to a deep brown.

His voice was hoarse as sandpaper when he spoke. "The Time Portal is opening. The Weavers are gathering."

Xiao Ling's hand trembled, and the blood bag almost fell to the ground. Lu Zhao leaned over and asked, "Can you feel the exact location?"

Lin Che closed her eyes and shook her head. "It's like many people are shouting the same thing."

His fingers curled up lightly and grasped Xiaoling's sleeves, "It hurts."

The projection screen in the command room was lit, and a three-dimensional image of the dungeon was spinning above everyone's heads.

Xiao Ran inserted the USB drive into the port, and data flowed down like a waterfall: "The log of the underground facility, Gray and the others have been hiding it for three years."

Su Wanqing raised her hand, and the jade bracelet projected another holographic image—a blue vortex hovering below the city center. "The secondary beacon exploded, and the primary beacon is still absorbing energy."

She pointed at the center of the vortex. "At the current rate, 36 hours."

Lu Zhao pushed the tablet over, and the simulation program started. The vortex began to expand, and the area it covered turned red. "The time gate is not a portal, it's a passage."

He swiped the screen, "It will bring everything on the other end over."

Xiao Ling stared at the red area and frowned, "What to bring?"

"Returnees." Su Wanqing pulled out a wrinkled notebook she'd found in Gray's lab. "They say they built a civilization on Earth tens of thousands of years ago, but were later forced to leave by something. Now they're opening the gates to welcome the entire race back."

Xiao Ran knocked on the vortex in the projection, "Then we will become the ones occupying the nest."

Su Wanqing put the notebook on the table, "There is also a time observer."

She told him about the encounter with the shadowy figure in the warehouse. "That thing said it was maintaining balance and wouldn't help anyone."

Lu Zhao flipped through an old county annals, the pages yellowed. "The county annals mentioned a 'timekeeper' who wore black, was silent, and only appeared before a disaster."

He pushed up his glasses. "They say they're the 'keepers of time.'

Su Wanqing touched the jade bracelet. It had been getting hot in the middle of the night lately. "I suspect this bracelet is not an ordinary piece of equipment."

She looked up at the crowd. "It can open the underground door, it can transport us, and it can also... confront that dark shadow."