Chapter 67 Useless Li Nai

To preserve the body intact?

What did the system buy this time? What's it going to do today?

A panda cub lay flat on a small soft bed, holding a ball in its arms and idly swinging back and forth. With a burst of strength from its short, stubby limbs, the ball bounced away.

It got up, rolled away, and lazily reached out a paw to pry at the ball.

Boom!! ————

The room suddenly shook violently. Crash! A ceiling light fell down.

The entire room was plunged into darkness.

What's going on?! What's going on?!

Li Nai held the ball and looked around, feeling dizzy and his trembling body swaying with the ground.

[The forced takeover function has failed; should I switch bodies?]

Li Nai's eyes lit up, and she made a decisive confirmation.

If we don't change it now, when will we ever get another chance?

As soon as her consciousness entered her body, the excruciating pain instantly killed her brain. When she regained consciousness, she was awakened by an electronic notification sound.

[The machine's repair level is 70%, meeting the minimum requirements for startup. Power on?]

Power on...

The computer has started up.

"Oh, you woke up so quickly?"

Before I even opened my eyes, I heard a woman's voice that was alluring and captivating.

She saw a pair of fox-like eyes lower and get closer.

"Qi Shuihan?"

Qi Shuihan smiled, raising her delicate eyebrows. "I thought you were going to sleep for a few more days. As expected of a chosen one, you didn't get blown to pieces."

Fry it into seven or eight pieces?

A flicker of doubt crossed his eyes, and four words popped into his mind.

"Preserve the whole body"

[Preserve whole body: One-time special skill. Prevents the machine from being severely damaged (bold red text) and thus extending the repair period.]

[Standard repair time for the body. Complete body: maximum repair time 3 days. Body torn to pieces: maximum repair time 7 days. Dead vital organs (heart, brain): maximum repair time 15 days. ...Flesh and blood fragments: repair time undetermined, starting at 1 year.]

What's the system going to do with this? To physically stop a nuclear bomb? No, if it's a nuclear bomb, it'll just vaporize and die.

A blank stare pierced through the virtual control screen, noticing a section of crumbling wall crushing a small white inspection machine. Sparks flew from broken wires beneath the damaged white casing.

I sniffed it; it smelled strongly of burnt smoke and dust.

Turning my head to look around, I saw ruins and smoke everywhere, a far cry from the clean and bright scene of the past. One section of the roof had even been blown off, revealing the blue sky, with a wisp of black smoke rising in the distance.

"The base has been attacked?!"

Her slightly sunken eyes widened as she stared at Qi Shuihan, and the woman withdrew her gaze from surveying her surroundings upon hearing the sound.

"Yes." The fox-eyed man teased as he looked her over. "Thank you for offering yourself. May your little panda not explode everywhere, otherwise Lin Jingru would have to search for three days to find it all."

Where is Lin Jingru?

Qi Shuihan turned her gaze away and continued to survey the surroundings. "Who knows? My only responsibility is to rescue you. Don't speak, let's get out of here first."

Qi Shuihan stood up.

She found herself nestled in Qi Shuihan's arms. Despite her slender frame, Qi Shuihan possessed surprisingly strong arms.

A soft sigh came from above.

"You've lost weight again."

Li Nai looked up and happened to see her wrist resting on the other person's shoulder, thin skin clinging to the bone. She also noticed that she was wearing an unfamiliar white lab coat, with nothing underneath.

A sentence popped into my mind.

—During the body's repair period, it is best not to turn on the machine prematurely.

What's the meaning?

Qi Shuihan carried her as they ran and jumped freely among the ruins.

A thicket of black smoke billowed from the trees ahead.

Upon entering, they realized they had underestimated the concentration of black smoke while outside.

Clang! The machine gun was cocked with a crisp click.

Qi Shuihan stopped at the same time.

The fox-like eyes swept down at the stones beside its feet, then suddenly kicked up with its toes.

Where the stones flew, gunfire suddenly erupted.

Another kick in the opposite direction sent the dead branch flying, followed by a burst of fierce shooting.

"Be careful of weapons hidden underground." Li Nai thought of the dangerous rainforest she had entered with Lin Jingru.

Qi Shuihan gazed into the depths of the woods. She set down the person in her arms, then walked towards the spot where the pebbles had probed.

Tap tap tap! ...

The sound of machine gun fire was deafening.

A barrage of bullets struck a cluster of silver-white round shields.

Behind the round shield, Qi Shuihan approached the weapon under heavy fire—the red-hot machine gun protruded high from the burrow—and with a decisive low swing, a gleaming scimitar flashed past. The machine gun mount was cleanly severed. Silence returned to the surroundings.

When he returned to Li Nai's side, he was carrying a weapon.

Hold me tight. If you don't want your butt to get a beating.

Li Nai felt a little confused, but she still obediently hugged the other person's neck, put her legs around his waist, and clung tightly to Qi Shuihan like a koala.

"They're gone."

Someone patted my butt.

"Hey, you!—"

Qi Shuihan suddenly ran, hugging the other person tightly and burying her head in the crook of their neck, her hot, fragrant breath filling their nostrils. Out of the corner of their eye, they were surrounded by patches of fiery red, and the clanging of bullets against the silver-white round shields rang in their ears.

The two went through a dangerous ordeal together. Li Nai cautiously watched Qi Shuihan, trying to avoid any stray bullets from behind. As she watched, she noticed that the special silver substance within Qi Shuihan's body seemed to be weakening.

A bullet grazed Qi Shuihan's calf, and the fresh blood stained her red socks and shoes again.

According to the character panel, the special metallic substance in Qi Shuihan's body is sufficient to envelop his entire body and resist damage from thermal weapons under these circumstances, and can even conjure up a variety of weapons.

The gaze returned to Qi Shuihan's back, waist, and legs, all covered by a layer of flowing silvery-white substance, which bounced off any stray bullets that touched it.

After running for an unknown distance, the branches overhead began to thin out, the blue sky expanded, and the sound of gunfire echoed sporadically through the forest.

Qi Shuihan threw away the broken machine gun in his hand, panting, his warm breath gently caressing Li Nai's neck.

The two maintained their posture and walked forward.

"How much longer do you want me to carry you?" Qi Shuihan teased, but showed no sign of stopping.

Li Nai's cheeks flushed slightly. She released her arms from the other person's neck and muttered, "Why don't you stop and let me down?" She looked down at the ground on both sides and twisted her body, looking for an opportunity to get down.

Suddenly, a pair of hands supported her buttocks, and Qi Shuihan stopped abruptly, squeezing hard with her palms, clearly not wanting her to get down.

Li Nai exclaimed in surprise, "Hey! That's going too far!"

She glared at Qi Shuihan, only to find that the other man's fox-like eyes were narrowed, staring solemnly at a certain spot.

Turning my head, my gaze rose to reveal two unfamiliar black-skinned robots blocking my path. They were extremely tall, estimated to be three meters in height, their thick, cold black steel limbs gleaming cruelly in the light, exuding an intense sense of violence.

"Where did they come from?" Li Nai's tongue trembled.

Qi Shuihan did not respond, but opened her right hand, and a layer of silver quickly seeped from her skin.

The two sides are locked in a stalemate.

Li Nai held her breath; at this moment, she could no longer feel the surrounding chaos caused by the gunfire.

Since the body wasn't fully repaired, the cheat system couldn't be used, so of the two of them, only Qi Shuihan could rely on it.

But……

She glanced at Qi Shuihan's hand, which had solidified into a silver dagger.

The dagger spun sideways, flashing with a blinding light. The moment she closed her eyes, her body lunged forward. Clutching her collar, she suddenly heard the whistling sound of the blade cutting through the air.

Clang!

There was a metallic clang, and then nothing more.

The muscles where Li Nai's hand touched tightened and trembled slightly.

Opening their eyes, they were shocked to find themselves imprisoned in mid-air by an unknown force, unable to move. Turning their heads, their eyes reflected the faceless, pitch-black iron face of the black-skinned robot. A silver dagger pointed at the center of the iron face.

Is the edge of the blade undulating?

Blink. Indeed, the more I shake, the more it gets, until my vision starts to blur.

Qi Shuihan's silver dagger spread out like grains of sand, floating slowly in the air.

The two black-skinned robots hadn't moved an inch since they appeared; their initiative only led them into a trap.

Peeking at the two "statues," I saw they were unarmed and didn't seem to intend to continue dealing with them.

What happened? What secret weapon did they use against Qi Shuihan?

Looking back at Qi Shuihan, her beautiful face was covered in sweat.

"How are you?" she asked softly as she leaned closer. "Your hand..."

The fox's eyes darted around, and its vocal cords tightened. "They...have...special...special devices. I—" It couldn't utter a sound.

At that moment, someone spoke up to answer her question.

"Don't worry. It won't kill her."

Two black-skinned robots stepped aside, and an elegant and capable woman stepped out from between them. She rested one hand on her elbow, and placed her index finger near her red lips, stroking a small red mole.

"It's just to interfere with her brain nerves so that she can't control the special metal."

As they spoke, Ji Fenglan approached them. Her amber eyes scanned the two women embracing with interest.

Li Nai felt her face burning under the gaze and forced herself to beg for mercy. "Dr. Ji, please let her go. I swear, I'll never run around with other people again."

“I told you. She won’t die, and as for letting her go,” Ji Fenglan said with a smile, shaking his head. “She’s my property. There’s no reason to leave money out in the open.”

Hearing the assurance, Li Nai felt a huge weight lifted from her heart.

Ji Fenglan's gaze shifted to Qi Shuihan's face. A pair of fox-like eyes stared at her with a questioning look in them, her lips moving with all her might.

Raise your hand and tap your palm with your fingertips.

"You shouldn't be here at this time." Qi Shuihan's voice returned to normal.

Her fox-like eyes calmed down; she had just realized something.

"Oh?" Ji Fenglan pinched a silver dot floating in the air with his fingertips.

"Go check if any of your belongings are missing." A wicked glint appeared in the fox's eyes.

Ji Fenglan glanced sideways, her amber eyes shining with amazement. "You think you can raze my base to the ground with just one missile? You're underestimating me. Even if you manage to get in, don't even think about running amok on my turf, let alone getting out." She laughed, completely disregarding Qi Shuihan's words.

Qi Shuihan shook her head slightly, laughing at her for being too confident.

"She and I are just fat fish that Missy released to lure you out of your hole."

She pretended to think for a moment, "Well, assuming I heard correctly, they plan to access your database, saying they want to steal some dark matter."

He glanced at Ji Fenglan, his amber eyes behind his glasses turning cold.

He curled his lips into a smug smile. "With the help of Lin Jingru and her daughter, you should have found it by now."

She glanced at Ji Fenglan again. The woman crossed her arms and nodded slightly, her glasses flashing, obscuring her eyes.

After a moment of silence, the woman touched a small red mole with her finger.

"I told you. Even if you manage to get into the core, don't even think about getting out."

Ji Fenglan raised her face, her confident countenance radiating brilliance.

Qi Shuihan raised an eyebrow, giving Ji Fenglan a knowing smile, and silently wished Mi Xike and the others good luck.

Li Nai's eyes widened, her initial amazement turning into a daze, her eyes slowly darkening with coldness.