"Faster!" Wen Shifei's voice was tinged with tears. She held onto the cold, slippery tunnel wall, her lungs burning with pain, and every breath felt like swallowing shards of glass. She glanced back at the tunnel entrance, at the crack in the massive nest ruins. A faint, sticky, dark purple light flickered like a breath. An invisible, suffocating feeling of oppression surged through the tunnel like a tide!
Zero rushed ahead, the crimson light from his goggles tracing a steady path through the darkness. He seemed to possess a terrifying familiarity with the complex, maze-like structure of the abandoned tunnels, choosing his path without hesitation at every fork in the road. He moved at breakneck speed, yet always maintained a barely manageable distance from Ajie, who struggled forward with his heavy load behind him.
"It's... hitting the seal..." Zero's cold electronic voice came intermittently as he ran, with the murmur of metal friction. It was obvious that the explosion and the broken shield had also caused damage to his internal structure. "There is... a way out... at the end of the track... time... is not much..."
Seal? Wen Shifei's heart was pounding! Could it be that the fortress built on the ruins of the old city wasn't just for resources? A deeper reason... was it to suppress the terrifying existence beneath the ground?! The thought gave her a chill!
Bang!
Ajie stumbled and was tripped by a sharp piece of gravel in the mud, and fell heavily to the ground with Lu Cheneng on his back!
"Ugh!" Ajie groaned in pain as his knee slammed heavily onto the hard track, instantly tearing his skin and flesh apart. Lu Cheneng, who was lying on his back, groaned from the fall, and a trickle of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth again.
"Ajie! Brother Lu!" Wen Shifei was horrified and rushed over.
"Don't worry about me! Let's go!" Ajie struggled to get up, but the severe pain in his knees made it impossible for him to support Lu Cheneng's weight for a while.
At that moment, Zero in front suddenly stopped dead in his tracks! Its crimson electronic compound eyes instantly locked onto a certain direction deep within the tunnel! A black-armored mechanical arm suddenly shifted Lu Qingyi behind it to protect her. The blade on its other arm popped out, flashing a cold light! The cellular transmitter on its wrist instantly charged, emitting a low humming sound!
"Take cover!" The cold warning sounded as sharp as metal!
Wen Shifei and Ajie's hearts stopped suddenly, and they subconsciously dragged Lu Cheneneng towards a huge pipe depression on the tunnel wall!
Almost at the moment they fell!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three scorching red laser beams, carrying lethal energy fluctuations, shot out like the tongues of a venomous snake without warning from behind the remains of a huge, rusted cooling tower deep in the tunnel! The beams shot with incredible precision towards the place where they had just fallen!
Chichichi--!
The laser beam pierced the mud, instantly sending up acrid white smoke and a burning smell! It left behind three bottomless molten holes!
"The chaebol's... scavengers!" Zero's cold electronic voice carried a hint of confirmation. His crimson electronic compound eyes, like the most sophisticated scanner, instantly locked onto the direction of the laser beam and the fleeting figures clad in matte black armor that flickered faintly behind the wreckage of the cooling tower! Their movements were swift, coordinated, and silent, like the most professional hunting machines!
"Damn it! The ghost is still lingering!" Ajie cursed, ignoring the severe pain in his knee. He quickly dragged Lu Chensheng to a deeper part of the pipe depression and picked up the shotgun that fell beside him.
Wen Shifei leaned against the cold pipe wall, her heart pounding. The Scavengers! The chaebol's most mysterious and ruthless internal cleansing unit! They only carry out the highest-level extermination missions! They'd actually tracked us down here! Were they trying to silence us? Or to recapture Qingyi?! Or... to prevent the underground entity from fully awakening?!
From behind the wreckage of the cooling tower, three figures emerged like ghosts! They wore dark gray combat uniforms similar to Zero's, but with a more uniform, standardized style. Their faces were covered by black, full-face helmets, revealing only their cold, electronic eyes. Their movements were silent, like gliding. Two wielded sleek laser rifles, their muzzles flashing red. The third held a pulse weapon with a thick muzzle, curled with blue-white arcs. Their targets were clearly locked on Zero and Lu Qingyi, who was protecting him behind him!
No warning! No communication! Only the purest order to kill!
Two scavengers armed with laser rifles instantly opened fire! Several scorching red beams ripped through the dark air, weaving into a deadly web of fire, blocking Zero's escape route! Meanwhile, the scavenger wielding a pulse weapon, a blue-white glow blazing from its muzzle, launched a thicker, more concentrated pulse beam, piercing Zero's head with a space-tearing shriek! The goal was clearly to completely destroy his core processor!
Zero is moving!
At the moment the laser and pulse beams were about to reach him, his body fell backward in a strange, completely unnatural way, almost parallel to the ground! The scorching laser beam grazed the armor on his chest, leaving a charred mark on the wall of the pipe behind him! At the same time, his black-armored mechanical leg kicked upward like a steel whip!
clang!!!
A sharp sound of metal clashing!
Zero's metal ankle struck the deadly pulse beam with incredible precision! A violent arc of blue-white electricity exploded, enveloping his entire mechanical leg! Fine sparks danced wildly! But Zero's movements didn't falter in the slightest! Using the kick's recoil, his prone body shot up like a spring, charging forward instead of retreating, sprinting towards the three scavengers! His arm blade slashed a cold arc of death!
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