"Where's the logic?! Where's the underlying logic?!" another team member roared, subconsciously raising the muzzle of his heavy pulse rifle to point at the darkness of the corridor outside the door, which was cut by chaotic light and shadow. His knuckles turned white from the pressure. "The dome is blowing up! Who the hell is giving the orders?!"
"It's a remnant... or... something deeper..." Jiang Li's fingertips didn't leave the screen, and he spoke as fast as a bullet. "Su Wan's permissions have been cleared, but the command logic may have been deeply rooted... or... something is taking over..." He suddenly turned his head, and his sharp eyes pierced me with the precision of a scalpel, "Lin Xi!"
My heart suddenly skipped a beat. The words in his eyes were too complex, too heavy—a desperate madness, a desperate determination, and a trust that bordered on sacrificial sacrifice.
"Your 'line'!" Jiang Li's voice suddenly rose, with a sharpness that pierced the soul. "Only you can 'see' it! Now! Immediately! I need you to see them! See where those instructions are flowing! See the ghost giving orders in the ruins! Find it! Cut it off! Otherwise, all of us, and every person still breathing in this city, will be torn to pieces by this uncontrolled steel frenzy!"
"Threads?" I repeated unconsciously, my throat dry and tight. Those golden threads, faintly visible amidst the data deluge, seemingly possessed of life? At the moment of the core explosion, I was swept away by the raging data tsunami, my consciousness nearly shattered. I could only vaguely "feel" countless cold, malicious "threads" frantically growing, spreading, and entwining in the darkness... It felt so real, yet so illusory. Now? In this physical ruin and virtual purgatory, could I truly "see" them again? Could I control the torrent without being completely swept away and consumed by it?
Fear, like an icy snake, instantly wrapped itself around my heart and every part of my body. The terrifying experience of the core explosion, of my consciousness being ripped apart by a torrent of data, nearly annihilated, flooded back into my mind like an icy tide. Every cell screamed in resistance.
At this moment, a short and extremely shrill scream, like a red-hot steel needle, suddenly pierced the depression in the control room!
The sound came from the corridor outside the door! It was only about ten meters away from us!
"Ah! Help... Ugh!"
The screams abruptly ceased, replaced by a terrifying, scalp-cracking sound of flesh and bones being torn and crushed by the rapidly rotating sharp metal! Puff! Snap! Sizzle!
The strong, fresh smell of blood, mixed with the burnt smell produced by high-temperature metal friction and the strange smell of some volatile lubricating oil, was like an invisible devil's claw, instantly swooping in through the cracks in the door and the wall, strangling everyone's breath!
"Old K!!!" The team member closest to the door, eyes bloodshot, let out a wild animal-like howl. The team member nicknamed "Old K" had just seconds ago been anxiously guarding the door due to the communication jam!
"Be alert!!!" Jiang Li's roar was like a thunderclap, instantly suppressing all shock, anger and grief.
Almost at the same time as he roared!
boom--!
The control room's massive door, made of a special alloy and already warped by the previous explosion, was struck head-on by a battering ram! With a deafening roar, the entire door exploded inward! Countless twisted and deformed metal fragments, like deadly shotgun shells, hurled themselves into the room, accompanied by a raging cloud of air and thick smoke.
"Get down!" Jiang Li's reaction was as fast as a human's limit. He pressed me to the ground with one hand, and at the same time, his body bounced up like a cheetah, knocking away another team member next to him with huge momentum!
Puff! Puff! Puff! Swish!
Metal fragments whizzed past our heads and sides, embedding themselves deeply into the metal wall and the wreckage of the control console behind us, making a dull, tooth-grinding sound. A scorching air wave mixed with smoke and dust hit us in the face.
Amidst the smoke and dust, a tall, ferocious figure blocked the completely destroyed door frame.
That wasn't a human at all! It was a "Scavenger-III" integrated maintenance robot! Originally designed for cleaning, carrying, and simple repairs, it was now smeared with sticky, dark-red blood and fragments of shattered human tissue. The ends of its sturdy hydraulic arms had been forcibly modified or improvised with high-speed, rotating alloy circular saws, sharp alloy drills, and massive, barbed metal claws! Warm drops of blood and a thick, sticky liquid dripped from these deadly appendages. The optical sensor array on its head, originally used to scan the environment, now flashed a chaotic, violent red light, like a pair of demonic eyes from hell, scanning every living thing in the control room with emotionless abandon. Heavy metal feet pounded the floor strewn with shattered glass and metal debris, making a terrifying "clang! clang!" as it stepped into the room.
It just tore Old K apart! And now, its "elimination" target has locked onto all of us!
"Open fire! Hit its joints and sensors!" Jiang Li's roar was filled with a tearing determination, and the high-energy pulse pistol in his hand instantly spewed out a dazzling blue beam of light!
"Da da da da—!" "Bang! Bang!" The surviving team members reacted extremely quickly. The roar of heavy pulse rifles and the blast of electromagnetic pistols instantly filled the air! Dense energy beams and solid projectiles poured down on the Iron Butcher like a torrential rain!
Ding-ding-dong! Puff! Sizzle!
Energy beams blasted the Scavenger-III's thick alloy armor with dazzling ion sparks, leaving charred marks but unable to penetrate! Physical projectiles were deflected one after another! Only a few energy beams accurately struck the joints or the optical arrays on its head, causing its massive body to sway slightly, emitting a harsh metallic friction sound and causing the red light on its head to flash at a momentary disorder. But this did not stop it at all!
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