A piercing alarm shattered the brief silence atop the Emerald Tower, echoing wildly across the city like the final scream of a dying beast. On the three-dimensional projection representing Northwest District D7, a single crimson spot of light tore through the layers of defensive symbols of the City of Thorns at a despairing speed. It was no meteor, no meteorite; it was the crystallization of pure murderous will, a deadly fang forged from cold logic, now brutally piercing the flesh of Gaia's reborn heart.
"Target breaching the third defense ring! The energy trajectory is unpredictable! It... it's like a ghost!" Inside the control center, the technician monitoring the plant defense network's nodes spoke in a distorted voice, his fingers pounding futilely on the interface formed by the tangled roots, sweat soaking his crude protective suit. Each flicker of the crimson light signaled another barrier of animated vines and energy brambles being pierced mercilessly, like a fragile spider web.
Pei Du's hand, patterned with dark gold, suddenly tightened, his knuckles scraping softly from the immense force. He gripped Xu Shuangyao's fair hand firmly in his palm, the thorn imprint pulsing hotly where their skin touched, sending a silent alarm. His molten-gold pupils fixed their gaze fixedly on the madly advancing crimson reflected in the projection. Deep within them surged not fear, but a murderous intent as cold as an abyss frozen for eternity. The chaotic energy outline represented by the dot of light carried a sickening familiarity—cold, efficient, and an absolute killing logic that eliminated all superfluous emotion. It was the mark of the "cradle"! It was the aura of the stalker!
"I'll go." Pei Du's voice was as low as two pieces of obsidian rubbing against each other, each syllable drenched in the chill of the end. He didn't need to ask, didn't need confirmation. The threat had to be eliminated before it could cause further damage.
"Together!" Xu Shuangyao's voice rang out almost simultaneously, with unwavering determination. Her clear eyes reflected the raging trajectory of the projected light, the wrath of the planetary will like a suppressed volcano. This was her city, the home she had just rebuilt from the ashes, and she would not allow it to be trampled upon again! The golden flame mark between her eyebrows sensed her will, and its light suddenly grew blazing.
There was no time for argument. A complex expression flashed across Pei Du's molten-gold eyes, ultimately yielding to tacit agreement. The hand covered in dark gold lines didn't release Xu Shuangyao's grip, but tightened. The light of the thorn mark shone simultaneously between their clasped fingers, forming an invisible connection. The next moment, their figures suddenly blurred, disappearing from the tower's control center as if merging into the light, leaving only a slight ripple of energy behind.
Northwest D7 area, city edge.
This was once the wreckage of a bygone industrial zone. After being incorporated into the City of Thorns, it was slowly being covered and assimilated by tenacious vines and rapidly growing purifying plants. Thick, animated vines, like giant pythons, coiled around the broken alloy beams, forming an outer defensive barrier, a faint, purifying golden light flowing across its surface. However, at this moment, a massive hole, over five meters in diameter, suddenly appeared in this seemingly solid barrier! The vines at the edge were instantly torn and carbonized by some terrifying force. Wisps of strange, crimson energy still lingered at the broken edges, corroding the surrounding life veins like a living being, making a subtle, sizzling sound.
Inside the breach, a shambles reigned. Several patrolling animated root guards, each as thick as a bucket, had been severed in half, their cuts smooth as mirrors, oozing out emerald green juice mixed with pale golden energy. Several makeshift watchtowers, woven from vines and giant leaves, were completely destroyed, burning with an ominous dark red flame and emitting the acrid smell of burning metal.
The air was thick with gunpowder smoke, the sweet aroma of plant juice, and a cold, metallic, overloaded scent, like the scorching heat of precision equipment operating at high speed. A heart-wrenching silence enveloped the area, broken only by the sizzling sound of crimson energy eroding the vines at the edge of the hole, like the hissing of a venomous snake.
Buzz——
An extremely slight buzzing sound of energy, yet with an icy texture that penetrates the soul, sounded without warning!
In the shadows at the edge of the hole, space rippled like water after a stone was dropped. A figure, as solid as a ghost, appeared.
It wasn't a massive creature, standing roughly two and a half meters tall. Its streamlined metal body, coated in a matte, deep, dark silver paint, blended almost perfectly into the shadows of the shattered surroundings. Its lines were impeccably clean, devoid of any superfluous ornamentation or markings. Only subtle traces of energy flowing through its joints evoked a sense of inhuman power. Its head wasn't a traditional skull, but a smooth, slightly curved, multifaceted structure. It lacked any visible sensory organs, save for a single, bottomless crimson point of light in its center, like a gaze gazing into the abyss, coldly scanning its surroundings.
Its right arm wielded a ferocious composite weapon, longer than its height. At the front was a high-frequency oscillating particle blade, its edge emitting subtle ripples that sliced through space; at the rear was a thick energy acceleration track, now flashing a dangerous red glow. On its left arm was a strangely shaped diamond-shaped arm shield. The shield wasn't made of solid metal, but rather of highly compressed, dark blue energy, its surface crisscrossed with fine circuitry. Its dark silver metal feet trod silently against the charred ground, like an apex predator before its prey.
Hunter. The cold codename surfaced simultaneously in the minds of Pei Du and Xu Shuangyao. It gently turned its crimson "eye," its scanning beam silently sweeping over broken vines, burning watchtowers, and flowing sap. Its movements were without the slightest hesitation or emotional fluctuation, merely the most efficient information gathering and target-locking logic operating. As the scanning beam passed over the pale golden energy stream emanating from a broken root, the crimson light suddenly froze for a moment, then brightened slightly!
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