The shattered images exploded into nothingness like an out-of-control flashback:

A snowy night. A biting cold wind whipped up heavy snow, whipping it against my face like a knife. A tall, exhausted man (his father?) carried him on his back, trudging forward through the snow, which was calf-deep. The man's shoulders were broad, yet they carried an indescribable heaviness. My younger self clung to the man's neck, my face red from the cold, snot and tears all over my face, yet I bit my lip tightly, not daring to cry out. Behind me... was it a flame shooting up into the sky? And... a shrill alarm? The memory was hazy and distant, carrying a biting chill and a fear that penetrated deep into my bones. The man's voice was low and hoarse, with an unquestionable determination: "Entero... remember... live... protect... Qingyi..." Was this... the starting point of a deliberate oblivion?

The glaring shadowless light. The clanging of cold metal instruments. His body was restrained to an equally cold countertop. A piercing pain shot through his neck! It was as if something had been forcibly chiseled open and implanted! A figure in a white sterile suit and a mask (Dr. Heisen?) looked down at him, his icy blue eyes devoid of any human warmth, only the fanatical indifference he possessed regarding experimental materials. On the cold screen of a nearby instrument, a complex neural signal pattern danced frantically, eventually converging into a miniature "honeycomb" logo. A cold electronic synthesized voice echoed in his ears: "Master control chip... implantation complete... adaptation rate... 92 percent... excellent material..." This was... the stigma of being reduced to "material."

A fiery stream of mithril. A violent explosion! A searing blast! Metal fragments whizzed by like the Grim Reaper's scythe! A bloody, mangled left arm, only a sliver of skin remaining! Unimaginable pain nearly instantly destroyed consciousness! And then... the touch of cold metal... the terrifying tearing sensation of searing energy forcing its way into nerves like molten lava! A vague, shadowy figure (an "engineer"?) stood at the console, its electronic eyes frantically refreshing data streams as an icy voice delivered the final command: "Mithril neural connection... Energy core synchronization... Activate!" Buzz—!!! Consciousness was completely consumed by the endless silver-white light and soul-tearing pain! This was... the price of becoming a "weapon."

My sister's eyes. Countless flashback fragments finally converged! Under the shadowless lamp in the isolation room, Lu Qingyi's eyes were hollow, burning with a cold, dark purple light! In them... there was no familiar dependence or warmth, only programmed scanning and destructive commands! "Clear command..." The cold, mechanical voice was like a death knell! Xiaolin's face, covered in blood and extreme fear! The screams of the dying! In the energy core channel, her hand, condensed with a ball of destructive energy, grasped at Wen Shifei's head! Finally... beneath the murky water of the mine, Zero's deep red, icy electronic compound eyes, and Qingyi, lifeless as a doll, in his arms!

“Qingyi——!!!”

A silent, heart-wrenching roar exploded deep in the soul!

Buzz——!!!

The void of darkness was completely torn apart by a sudden burst of violent silver-white light! This light did not come from the outside, but from the depths of his consciousness, from the mithril left arm that was severely damaged and whose energy core was on the verge of collapse!

Within the light, countless fine, living, silver-white energy threads surged, entwined, and reorganized frantically! They were no longer the gentle, flowing mercury sheen of before, but now filled with a primal, violent, and unruly aura of destruction! These energy threads ignored physical damage and the shackles imposed by the chaebol. Like a ferocious beast breaking free from its cage, they rushed backward along the neural pathways, fiercely bombarding the cold chip core in his brain, the symbol of absolute control!

Snap!

A shattering sound that only Lu Cheneng could "hear" himself, as if it came from the depths of his soul!

A tiny, yet real, crack suddenly appeared on the surface of the chip's core! A cold, chaotic stream of dark purple energy, filled with endless pain and a desire for destruction, instantly burst forth from the crack, like a poisonous dragon imprisoned for eons! This energy came from the remnants of Lu Qingyi's chip's forced activation! From the detonated purple reagent! From the contamination source from the sarcoma matrix's explosion! From the psychic radiation of the awakened "burial worm" beneath the ground! All the accumulated, suppressed negative energy, at this moment, was completely detonated by the Mithril Arm's violent counterattack!

boom--!!!

The world of consciousness felt like it had been bombarded with a nuclear bomb! Silvery-white, violent energy and the dark purple torrent of destruction collided violently, annihilating and devouring each other! Lu Chenen felt as if his soul had been thrown between the core of a star and the event horizon of a black hole, enduring the most extreme tearing and burning!

In the center of this energy storm that was powerful enough to incinerate all consciousness, an extremely faint, yet remarkably clear "voice" pierced through the roar of destruction like a candle in the wind:

"elder brother…"

It was Qingyi! It was the call from the deepest part of her consciousness, buried beneath layers of icy commands and violent reagent energy, belonging to "Lu Qingyi" herself!

At the edge of the mine, there is a huge abandoned landfill.

This place resembles a vast scar left by the decay of civilization. Beneath a leaden sky, a mountain of rotting garbage stretches as far as the eye can see, forming a sickening, iridescent mound of decay. Plastic, metal, decaying organic matter, broken electronic components... all sorts of waste, eroded by rain and time, seep and ferment, emitting a stench of sourness, rancidity, chemicals, and decaying corpses, enough to rust even steel. Turbid leachate, tinged with an eerie oily hue, trickles through the cracks of the garbage mountain like a venomous snake, gathering into bubbling, stinking puddles of strangely colored water.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!