The cold, sticky sewage, reeking of rust and decay, was like millions of tiny, poisonous insects, gnawing furiously at Lu Chenen's skin through his torn combat uniform. Every cough evoked a piercing pain deep in his chest, and the gushing sewage mingled with dark red blood. His vision blurred, his ears tingled, and the whole world spun and shook madly.
"…coordinate…"
That cold, flat electronic synthesized sound, like a poisoned ice spike, fiercely pierced Lu Chen's chaotic mind. He suddenly lowered his head. The turbid water rippled, reflecting the metal sheet on his chest, which was firmly pressed by the mechanical fingers of Zero. It was flickering with a faint but steady green light.
Beehive logo! Tracker!
The pump station... the recorder... the green laser that detonated the reagent... it turned out the real killer move was the positioning beacon that had silently attached itself to him! The chaebol... they had calculated everything long ago! They had turned him, Lu Chenentang, into a beacon guiding destruction!
“Ugh—!” A mixture of extreme anger, the humiliation of being fooled, and icy fear rushed to his head like volcanic magma! Lu Cheneng’s only remaining right eye was instantly filled with terrifying bloodshot. Like a dying beast, he erupted with the last of his strength, and his only remaining right hand desperately grabbed the hilt of the Demon Blade at his waist!
Kill him! Kill this ghost! Get Qingyi back!
However, Zero is faster!
Just one tenth of a second before Lu Chen'en's fingers touched the cold shark-skin handle of the Demon Blade, Zero's black-armored mechanical hand suddenly loosened his collar, and at the same time, his wrist turned at an incredible angle. The edge of his palm was like a heavy blunt weapon, and with a sharp whistle that tore through the air, it chopped the side of Lu Chen'en's neck with incredible precision!
Bang!
A dull thud.
The rage and murderous intent swirling in Lu Chen's eyes froze instantly. His pupils dilated, and the last remaining image before him was Zero's crimson, icy, electronic compound eyes, staring into the abyss. Boundless darkness surged over him like a tide, completely devouring his remaining consciousness. Like a puppet with its strings cut, his body sank limply into the murky water.
"Brother Lu—!!!" In the distance, Ajie's bloodshot roar, like the wail of a wounded beast, ripped through the stifling air at the bottom of the mine. He was paddling frantically towards them, his face a mixture of dirty water, blood, and utter fear.
Wen Shifei also struggled to get closer, her face as pale as paper. The exhaustion of her mental strength and the stimulation of the cold sewage made her whole body tremble violently, but she stared at Zero intently, and asked in a hoarse and desperate voice: "What did you do to him?!"
Zero's crimson electronic compound eyes scanned the unconscious, sinking Lu Chenentang with indifference, then the grief-stricken Ajie and the shaky Wen Shifei. His black-armored mechanical arm remained like the sturdiest cage, firmly imprisoning the unconscious Lu Qingyi.
"Eliminate the threat. Delay the pursuit." The cold electronic voice was silent, as if stating a fact that had nothing to do with them. "You... take him away. West. To the landfill. The 'Mole' sign."
Before he finished speaking, Zero, without any hesitation, clutched Lu Qingyi and sank violently into the murky water. Like a shark merging into the darkness, leaving only a circle of ripples spreading out before instantly disappearing beneath the foul-smelling surface! The speed was so fast that Ajie and Wen Shifei had no time to react!
“Qingyi——!!!” Wen Shifei let out a heart-wrenching cry and desperately wanted to dive underwater to chase her, but was choked by the cold sewage and started coughing violently.
"Sister Shi Fei! Save Brother Lu first!" Ajie's roar was tinged with tears. He pounced on Lu Chenshang's sinking position and used all his strength to drag his heavy body out of the sewage. Lu Chenshang's head drooped weakly, his face pale, his breath almost imperceptible, and the side of his neck was a shocking purple.
Wen Shifei watched Zero disappear into the water, then looked at Lu Cheneng, who was being dragged by Ajie, his life or death unknown. A sense of overwhelming despair and powerlessness gripped her heart like cold iron claws. She bit her lower lip tightly, only to taste the strong smell of blood before she forced herself to suppress the near-collapse.
"Let's go... listen to him... head west!" Wen Shifei's voice was distorted by extreme pain and oppression. She wiped the dirt and tears from her face, her eyes filled with a nearly numb tenacity. She swam to Ajie's side and, with her equally scarred arms, helped Ajie support Lu Chensheng's heavy body.
The murky water at the bottom of the mine was roiling violently. A massive landslide on the cliff wall continued, sending rubble and mud tumbling down, stirring up even larger, turbid waves. The leaden sky hung low, oppressive and suffocating. The air was thick with the stench of radioactive dust and sewage.
Like two wounded wolves dragging their heavy prey, Ajie and Wen Shifei trudged chest-deep in icy sewage, one foot deep, one foot shallow, toward the landfill, where Zero had pointed westward, emitting an even stronger stench, like the breath of a decaying beast. Each step felt incredibly heavy, the cold sewage stripping away their warmth. A shadow of despair enveloped them. Lu Chencheng's body grew heavier, like a block of cold lead, the shadow of death creeping across his sallow face.
Cold.
Boundless and absolute coldness.
Lu Chenen felt as if he were floating in a void devoid of gravity, time, or light. His consciousness, like a shattered ice crystal, drifted in the dark ocean currents. A strange, though not painful, burning sensation emanated from Mithril's left arm, like a deep-buried charcoal fire, slowly and tenaciously burning beneath the ice.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com