He had to find a safer place and medicine! This stairwell wouldn't last long! The "Hive" would lock onto this place soon!
"Stay still while I check the exit!" Lu Chencheng settled her down, shook her cold hand, and turned to explore upwards. The stairs spiraled upwards, leading to a locked maintenance access door. He tried to break the lock with brute force and a pulse pistol, but the heavy alloy door remained unmoved. A sense of despair began to creep in.
Just as he was about to risk turning back and looking for another way out, he kicked something soft. Looking down, under the green light of the emergency light, a body wearing the black combat uniform of the Chaebol Task Force was half-buried in the rubble! It was obviously a victim of the explosion just now. Lu Chen's eyes flashed, and he immediately squatted down to search. He pulled off the tactical bag on the waist of the corpse, which contained some standard ammunition, a tactical flashlight with almost no battery, a small roll of high-strength rope... and a small bottle of unopened military-grade broad-spectrum antibiotics and two analgesic injections! It was a life-saving straw!
However, what concerned Lu Chentang the most was the small knife the corpse had grasped, stabbing deep into his own chest! The blade was long and narrow, covered in dark red rust, but the edge reflected an unusually cold, sharp light under the green light, completely different from ordinary rust! The handle was made of some black, non-metallic bone material, and it felt icy cold. Lu Chentang pulled the knife out with force (the corpse had already stiffened), and it felt heavy in his hand. An indescribable chill passed through the handle and into his palm, even sending a faint, strange resonance through the chip in his brain! This was definitely not standard equipment!
He was filled with doubts, but now was not the time to delve into them. He quickly put the medicine, rope, and the strange rusty knife into his bag and returned to Wen Shifei.
"I found the medicine!" He first injected her with a powerful analgesic. The drug quickly took effect, and Wen Shifei's frown relaxed slightly, and her breathing became a little steadier, but she was still very weak.
"How do you feel?" Lu Cheneng half-knelt beside her, carefully treating the wound on her shoulder with the clean gauze and antibiotics he had found, his movements as gentle as if he were handling a rare treasure. He tore open the hem of his shirt, dipped it in water, and carefully wiped the dirt and blood around the wound on her forehead.
Wen Shifei gazed at his focused, distressed profile, feeling the slight trembling of his fingertips and the almost overflowing desire to protect him. Her heart felt both bitter and warm. She forced a weak, blood-tinged smile, her voice still thin: "You care about me like this... Aren't you afraid that I might suddenly... turn into a monster... and bite you back?" She recalled the eerie blue light from the Matrix's explosion and the strange feeling that lingered within her.
Lu Cheneng paused in his wiping motion. He raised his head, his gaze like the deepest night sky, locking onto her weary eyes. There was no trace of joking or hesitation in his eyes, only a soul-piercing, rock-hard determination and... a deep affection bordering on piety:
"Monster?" His voice was hoarse and low, like the friction of sandpaper, but it contained emotions as fiery as volcanic lava. "From the moment you risked your own life to implant the 'Scarlet Code' into my zombie-like body, I was no longer 'Lu Cheneng'! I was awakened by you... a 'monster' that belongs only to you!" He leaned down, his forehead almost touching hers, his scorching breath spraying on her pale skin. Every word was like a brand, engraved into each other's souls: "My only fear is that you will be hurt! My only desire is to protect you! Even if there is an abyss of genetic collapse ahead, a purgatory of eternal damnation, as long as I hold your hand, I will... fear nothing!"
This naked, fiery declaration reverberated like thunder in Wen Shifei's heart! All playfulness, all pretense, was instantly shattered! Without warning, scalding tears burst from her eyes, mingling with the blood on her face. She uttered no more words, but with all her remaining strength, she grasped his blood-stained and dust-stained hand tightly, tightly. The blend of cold and warmth conveyed a trust and bond that transcended life and death. Amidst the crumbling ruins and endless pursuit, two scarred hearts clasped together in the most primitive way, playing a silent, soul-stirring swan song of life.
However, this brief tranquility bought with blood and oaths was completely torn apart by a loud noise that was far more terrifying and magnificent than any previous explosion!
Boom boom boom——!!!!!!
It wasn't coming from underground, but from... overhead! From the sky above the entire Sky City!
The entire earth was shaking violently! Dust from the stairwell fell down! Lu Cheneng suddenly protected Wen Shifei under him!
Immediately afterwards, a pillar of indescribable blue energy, carrying the dual aura of destruction and rebirth, and over a kilometer in diameter, shot up from the original site of the Tianshu Building (directly above the seventeenth underground floor) like a giant sword, instantly tearing through the thick clouds and piercing the pitch-black sky!
Buzz——!!!
An invisible pulse of energy, carrying a powerful mental pressure, swept across the city! All electronic equipment instantly failed! Then, after reaching a critical point, the soaring beam of light suddenly exploded and spread in all directions!
The night sky... is on fire!
It wasn't flames, but countless twisting, flowing strands of genetically chained energy emanating a faint blue glow! Like living things, they crazily spread, intertwined, and swirled across the heavens! Finally, across the vast canopy covering the entirety of Sky City, they coalesced into a breathtakingly vast, incredibly detailed, slowly rotating seven-pointed star pattern! Countless tiny branches extended from each corner, resembling synapses or a cold technological matrix! At the center of the star was a dark singularity that continually collapsed and expanded, emanating a soul-shaking pressure!
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