The control chip inside her body was like a cold bomb buried in her spine. She knew the rumors about her within the fortress never ceased. Some saw her as a spark of hope, others as a scourge that would bring destruction. Every time she felt the faint tingling at the chip's interface, she shuddered, fearing that at any moment she would receive her father's cold "harvest" command, transforming her into a weapon to destroy everyone.
"Qingyi." Wen Shifei's voice came from behind, tinged with deep fatigue. She walked over to Lu Qingyi, her hands still wrapped in thick bandages, her movements somewhat stiff. She had just finished a long and heartbreaking wait outside Lu Chenenteng's clinic.
"Sister Shi Fei..." Lu Qingyi raised her head and tried to force a smile, but it looked uglier than crying. "How is my brother...?"
Wen Shifei was silent for a moment, her gaze fixed on the distant, gray skyline. "He... chose the most difficult path. He's integrating... new powers. It's painful, but he's persevering." She didn't elaborate on the hellish torture or the "growing" energy arm. There are some things that the less Lu Qingyi knows, the better.
"New power..." Lu Qingyi murmured, a complex light flashing in her eyes, a mixture of anticipation and deeper worry. "The price... is high, right?"
Wen Shifei didn't answer, but simply patted her shoulder gently, his movements appearing especially gentle due to the wound on his hand. "Don't overthink it. What you need to do now is to take care of your body. The fortress needs your clear mind."
At this moment, a steady and slightly heavy sound of footsteps was heard. Lu Cheneng's figure appeared at the entrance to the top floor.
Wen Shifei and Lu Qingyi's eyes instantly focused on him, filled with shock and disbelief!
He still wore his tattered combat uniform, but his entire demeanor had undergone a profound transformation. A heavy, oppressive, volcanic power emanated from him. Most striking was his left arm—no, it couldn't even be called an arm!
Extending from the shoulder, an arm radiated a deep, cold, metallic hue. Slightly thicker than a normal arm, its lines were fluid and powerful, its surface devoid of joints and gaps, as if cast in one piece. Strangely, its surface was not smooth, but covered in fine, flowing energy lines resembling liquid mercury. These lines rippled slowly in the dim light, emitting a restrained yet extremely dangerous glow. The palm, instead of five fingers, was a solid structure with energy-conducting grooves, designed to better suit weaponry. At this moment, the demonic blade, with its dark, deep, mercury-like luster, was firmly grasped by this metallic hand. The blade and the energy lines of the arm merged seamlessly, as if the arm were the scabbard, and the blade an extension of the arm!
This arm exuded an inhuman, cold metallic quality, yet it was strangely connected to Lu Chensheng's life force. It dangled quietly at his side, yet the air on the entire viewing platform seemed to freeze. Lu Chensheng's face remained pale, but his eyes were like tempered iron, sharp and cold, with the concentration of someone who had experienced extreme pain and power. His remaining right eye scanned Wen Shifei's bandaged hands, then fell on Lu Qingyi's pale face, a subtle wave of emotion flitting across his gaze.
"Brother...Brother?" Lu Qingyi's voice trembled slightly. Looking at the cold metal arm that emitted a faint light, she felt an inexplicable chill.
Lu Cheneng walked in front of them, his newly formed mithril arm slightly raised, the blade of the magic blade flashing a cold arc in the dim light. "The price is high," he said, his voice deeper and hoarser than before, like the friction of gravel, "but it's worth it."
He walked to the edge of the observation platform, his mithril arm resting on the cold railing, the gentle clink of metal against alloy. He looked down at the fortress below, operating like a giant anthill, yet exuding a sense of desolation and despair. The shattered fortifications, the crowded medical tents, the faint scent of blood and disinfectant in the air, and the tired yet alert figures of soldiers on the distant outer cordon.
"The beacon tells me the fortress's supply reserves are only enough to last two weeks at most." Lu Cheneng's voice was emotionless, yet it weighed like a huge rock on Wen Shifei and Lu Qingyi's hearts. "Medicines, especially stabilizers and anti-pollution agents, are being consumed at a rate far exceeding expectations. The energy core is also aging rapidly due to continuous overload. And..." He paused, his gaze sweeping across the depths of the fortress, "people's hearts."
Wen Shifei walked over to him, stood shoulder to shoulder with him, and looked at the scene below struggling for survival: "The counter-effect of the 'Resonance Virus' is weakening. The chaebol's 'hive' system seems to have found a partial immunity method. Their reconnaissance drone activities are becoming more frequent, and tentative attacks are also increasing. The Black Snake Gang... is like a hyena that smells blood." She remembered the intelligence brought back by Ajie. The low-quality stimulants injected by the Black Snake Gang minions seemed to be mixed with some kind of ingredient from the same source as the "Ark" energy, making them more violent and unpredictable.
"The Black Snake Gang..." Lu Chen's mithril fingers gently stroked the cold handle of the Demon Blade, making a subtle metal scraping sound. "Marcus...what does he want?"
"Chaos, resources, and... power." Wen Shifei's voice was cold. "He sent several messages, vague in their details, but the core message was that he wanted to discuss the division of territory in the old city and... certain 'technology sharing'. He probably wanted to take advantage of our weakness and get a piece of the pie, or... test our limits."
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