"Clear...threat...target...locked..." A cold, distorted, electronic synthesized voice like metallic friction came out intermittently from the loudspeaker in its chest.
Boom! A mechanical arm, loaded with a massive alloy drill, suddenly lifted up, shrieking and slamming like a battering ram into a member of my team who was replacing an energy magazine. The member only had time to raise his arm to block the blow before his eyes were instantly filled with the shadow of death!
"No——!" My heart almost jumped out of my throat!
At the critical moment!
A ghostly figure swooped down from the side! It was the taciturn team member codenamed "Shadow"! He burst forth with astonishing strength and speed, slamming his shoulder into the distressed team member!
Puff——!!!
The high-speed rotating alloy drill, with its terrifying, indestructible force, instantly pierced Shadow's tactical arm guard, then his arm, and finally pierced his side! Blood gushed out like a fountain! The terrifying sound of the drill churning flesh and bones was so clear that it was maddening!
"Shadow!!!" The team member who was knocked away let out a heartbreaking cry.
The red light on the Scavenger's head stabilized. It seemed unconcerned about piercing a human. The drill even stirred within the corpse for a moment before yanking it out, dripping with blood and shattered internal organs! The robotic arm swiveled, its crimson "gaze" once again locking onto its next target—Jiang Li, who was closest to it and attempting to attack the hydraulic pipe in its leg with a cutting blade!
The shadow of death loomed coldly. My companion's scalding blood splattered on my face, carrying with it the sickening smell of rust and warmth. The sound of the cold drill bit pulverizing flesh and bones reverberated wildly in the depths of my eardrums like the knell of hell.
"Line..." My mind went blank, leaving only Jiang Li's almost crazy roar. "See the line! Cut it!"
Without seeing those lines, without finding the ghost giving orders, all of us will be like shadows, like Old K, torn apart by these cold steels! Swallowed by this city!
After the ultimate fear, a cold, desperate madness, like a flood breaking through a dam, instantly overwhelmed my sanity. Damn losing control! Damn being swept away! I must see! I must catch it!
"Give it to me!" I raised my head suddenly, meeting Jiang Li's bloodshot eyes burning with the flames of determination, and roared, my voice distorted by extreme fear and desperate determination, "Neural interface! Now!"
Jiang Li's eyes instantly flashed with an astonishing light. Without the slightest hesitation or even a single unnecessary question, he, like a priest ready for sacrifice, pulled something out of a humble tactical bag at his waist with lightning speed and flung it towards me!
It was a cold, matte metallic device, its structure incredibly precise and imbued with an inhuman, futuristic quality. It resembled a miniature spinal neurosurgery stent, its core a translucent energy core emitting a faint blue glow. Extending from either side were several hair-thin, yet gleaming, silver-white probes. The ends trembled slightly like living tentacles, emitting a deadly allure and an aura of extreme danger.
"Access point! C7-T1 gap behind the neck! Quick!" Jiang Li's voice was like thunder, splitting a path amid the sound of gunfire, the clashing of metal, and the roars and screams of his companions. "Hold on! Lin Xi! Whatever you see, grab that 'line'!"
Before he finished speaking, he rushed out like a cannonball, and the high-energy pulse pistol in his hand burst out with an unprecedentedly dazzling beam of light, slamming fiercely into the flashing red sensor array on the head of the "Scavenger", trying to buy me those fatal few seconds!
Time seems to be infinitely stretched, and yet also seems to be compressed to the extreme.
The roar of metal, the shriek of energy, the roars and dying cries of my companions, the thick smell of blood and burning... all the sensory stimulation was like a raging tsunami, madly attacking my shaky consciousness. Before me, the iron butcher was wielding a deadly drill stained with his companions' blood, rushing towards Jiang Li! There was no fear in Jiang Li's eyes, only a madness that was almost burning with life. He was risking his life to buy me time!
There is no way back.
I grabbed the cold neural interface device, my knuckles turning white from the strain. My back pressed against the cold, scratched metal wall, and the chill sent a shiver through me. My fingers trembled as I groped for the tiny, specific indentation at the back of my neck—the C7-T1 space. An instinctive, utter fear of an unknown intrusion gripped me, and every cell in my body screamed in resistance.
"Ah——!" A scream so shrill that it didn't sound like a human voice suddenly came from the side!
It was the team member Shadow had just rescued! He was swept by the Scavenger's other robotic arm, loaded with a high-speed rotating alloy circular saw! His leg was instantly severed below the knee! Blood gushed out like a red fountain! The immense force carried him flying, slamming heavily onto the overturned console with a dull thud. Then, only heart-wrenching howls and violent convulsions remained!
A few drops of the splashing warm liquid fell on my cheeks.
The blood of a companion.
Jiang Li is risking his life.
The city is burning.
If I hesitate any longer, the next one to be torn apart will be Jiang Li, myself, and everyone!
Fuck fear!
A mad force, a mixture of despair, rage, and recklessness, suddenly broke through all the dams of reason! I let out a roar I had never heard before, like a dying beast. I gripped the neural interface device with both hands and, with all my strength, pressed the probes, flashing with deadly cold light, towards the tiny indentation at the back of my neck!
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