The cold, dark blue life-sustaining fluid coursed through the metal tubes that permeated his body like blood vessels. Each cycle brought a sharp, stagnant pain, like a forcible suture, deep into his bones. Pei Du's remaining consciousness hovered in this chaotic sea of pain and cold, like a specimen nailed to an operating table, acutely aware of the process of his existence being torn apart and forcibly pieced back together.
The vision was shattered, cut into irregular fragments by the cold data stream and warning red light flowing on the inner wall of the helmet.
[Body reconstruction…completion…32.7%…]
[Energy core…fusion stability…output power…limit threshold 15%…]
[Neural link… synchronization rate… 67.4%… fluctuating wildly…]
[Warning: Entropy Field…Frontier Wave…Contact Countdown…3 minutes and 17 seconds…]
Cold logic, like steel needles, pierced his chaotic mind. Excruciating pain was the only constant. His broken lower body was replaced by a cold metal spine and bionic hydraulic transmission. His heavy alloy legs sank into a viscous, foul mire. Every attempt to move was met with the harsh groaning of metal joints and the soul-wrenching, delayed pain of synchronization from his neural connection ports. The remnants of his Starry Law torso were forcibly covered and riveted with thick, dark silver armor plating. The violently wriggling remnants of dark red energy were forcibly contained and suppressed by even thicker alloy pipes flowing with a faint blue life-sustaining fluid, like a heavy shackle on a furnace on the verge of exploding. All that remained of his left arm was the shoulder stump, attached to a thick, reactive armor-clad robotic arm. Its fingers were cold, sharp alloy claws, now twitching uncontrollably. Only the head, which still retained most of its original dark gold structure, was encased in an angular dark silver helmet, its cold metal edges pressing tightly against the temples. The visor was a single piece of one-way translucent dark red crystal, limiting vision to the data stream and flickering red light projected from within the helmet.
He had become a monster. A walking wreck, a forcible stitching of law and steel. The radiance of the starry sky was trapped within the thick armor, leaving only the faint blue flowing within and the occasional dim red glow of unstable energy that leaked through the cracks in the armor.
"Ugh...ah..." A hoarse, breathless sound, suppressed by the agonizing pain and creaking metal, emanated from within the helmet. Pei Du attempted to lift his heavy alloy right arm, his movements as stiff and sluggish as a door hinge corroded by age. The delay in the neural connection and the excruciating pain tore at his control over his arm.
"Energy... limited... action... optimize... save..." A cold electronic synthesized voice echoed from within the helmet, carrying an unmistakable command. It was that metal creature—the Watcher. It was a few meters to Pei Du's right and front, its heavy dark silver armor smeared with fresh mud, its twisted leg dragging through the mire, leaving deep furrows. Its only remaining, relatively intact arm dragged the rectangular metal source tank, its indicator lights on the side flashing a frantic red warning. Its dark red crystal window was fixed fixedly on the viscous darkness to the northwest, silently engulfing the world. The scarlet alarm light within the window stained the surrounding filthy mire with an ominous blood-red hue.
The black tide of entropy! The sticky ultimate darkness that denies light and existence is like the tongue of a giant beast crawling out of the abyss of hell, licking the horizon at a speed visible to the naked eye! The distance is getting closer! Pei Du can clearly see the dark vanguard passing through the dark red crystal visor. The space presents grotesque folds and distortions. The huge metal ruins as big as mountains, when touched by the darkness, melt and collapse silently like ice and snow under the scorching sun, turning into gray dust drifting in the wind! There is no sound, only the terrifying buzzing that sweeps across the soul, as if the skeleton of the universe is wailing, like billions of cold steel needles, fiercely piercing his transformed nerves!
The breath of extinction, like an icy entity, strangled the throat of this wasteland!
"Escape...path...calculate...optimal...Ark...core..." The Watcher's electronic voice was sharp and cold, carrying the clatter of metal rubbing against each other. It took a sudden step forward, its heavy metal feet sinking deep into the mud, the sticky, filthy mud nearly covering its knees. "Keep...follow...or...annihilate..."
Escape? Pei Du's remaining consciousness struggled between excruciating pain and icy commands. His heavy steel body felt like it was filled with lead, and every movement was accompanied by a piercing pain and sluggishness emanating from his neural connection port, threatening to tear his consciousness apart. The Ark's core? What was that? Was it the only way out? Or another hopeless trap?
There was no time to think! The instinct for survival, mixed with Xu Shuangyao's final cold command imprinted deep in his core - "survive" - was like the last fuel, igniting his dying will!
"Roar!" A roar, a mixture of pain, twisting metal, and the echo of stars, erupted from the helmet! Pei Du forcibly drove the unfamiliar, heavy steel body! The heavy hydraulic transmission structure wrapped around his right leg emitted a harsh metallic friction sound. The huge alloy foot suddenly pulled out of the mire, bringing up a large cloud of filthy mud, and took a heavy step forward!
Bang!
Mud splattered! The entire earth seemed to tremble! The excruciating pain from the synchronization delay shot through his body like an electric current, and the remaining part of Star Sky's torso convulsed violently under the armor!
[Neural Link…Overload Warning…]
[Energy core... output fluctuations...! ]
A cold warning flashed across the screen.
"Waste... inefficient... inefficient..." The Watcher's electronic voice carried a cold judgment. Without turning back, it exerted force with its only remaining arm, hurling the heavy source box further in front of it. At the same time, its stumped leg coordinated with its single arm, forcing its way through the swamp in a more efficient but also more energy-consuming manner! "Accelerate... Black Tide... Devour... Countdown... 2 minutes and 48 seconds..."
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