"I... don't know." Lin Mo's voice was dry and hoarse, with the exhaustion and confusion of being forced into a desperate situation. "I am an orphan. I grew up in the ruins. Apart from this name, I have nothing."
"Orphan?" Shen Qingli's brows furrowed ever so slightly, as if dissatisfied with the answer. Her scrutinizing gaze roamed over Lin Mo's face, searching for any hint of deception. After a few seconds of breathless silence, the scrutiny in her eyes faded slightly, but the cold, searching gaze remained.
"Interesting," she spat out, her expression unclear, whether it was disappointment or something else entirely. She didn't press the issue, as if Lin Mo's answer had already been temporarily incorporated into her analytical model. "The 'beacon' has been activated, revealing the 'Ark's' location. The next attack is imminent, and its intensity will only increase. Passive defense is tantamount to waiting for death."
"What do you want to do?" Lin Mo suppressed the turmoil in his heart, and his voice returned to the cold and hard tone of a commander. He knew Shen Qingli was telling the truth. Being passive would only lead to death.
"Find it." Shen Qingli's silver-gray eyes gleamed with a sharp light, like a blade being unsheathed. "Find the source of that 'beacon' in the ruins of Hawkeye No. 3. Destroy it, or... analyze the power behind it." Her gaze swept over Su Mu lying on the hospital bed, hinting, "At the same time, the appearance of that chip also points to the same place. The truth lies deep within the ruins."
Take the initiative? Go deep into the ruins of Hawkeye III, which had just been attacked and still harbored unknown terrifying devices?
Lin Mo's heart sank. Danger! Extremely dangerous! But Shen Qingli was right. This was the only possible way out! Passive defense would sooner or later be crushed by that unknown force!
"Okay." Lin Mo said without hesitation. He glanced at the unconscious Su Mu, a flash of pain in his eyes, but then it was replaced by a deeper determination. He had to go! For the "Ark", for Su Mu, and also to... solve the damn mystery about himself! "I will lead the team myself. How many people do you need?"
"No need for encumbrance." Shen Qingli's answer was cold and direct. "The target area is contaminated by residual high-dimensional interference and strong information turbulence. The survival rate of ordinary soldiers entering is less than 5%, and they may become a new source of interference. You," her eyes locked with Lin Mo again, with an unquestionable meaning, "and me. Two people."
"What?!" Lin Mo was stunned. Two people? Going deep into such a dangerous place?
"Your 'homologous' characteristic may become a key variable that interferes with the 'beacon' locking or contacting the core under certain circumstances." Shen Qingli gave an almost cold explanation, "This is the optimal solution currently deduced based on the information entropy resonance model. Or, you choose to stay and wait for the next attack to come?" Her words were like a cold option, placed in front of Lin Mo.
Lin Mo clenched his fists again. He looked into Shen Qingli's calm silver-gray eyes and knew she wasn't joking. The optimal solution... the optimal solution of using him as an experimental variable! A sense of humiliation washed over him, but it was instantly suppressed by the stronger will to survive. He had no choice.
"...When do we set off?" Lin Mo's voice was low, with a kind of resigned determination.
"Repairing the Siphon core module will take three hours." Shen Qingli glanced at a subtle, skin-like blue band of light on her wrist. "At the same time, I need the highest level of access to the Ark database to retrieve all the original exploration data and structural blueprints related to the initial construction of the Hawkeye III outpost, especially..." She paused, "All the technical logs and operational records of the early warning array that Su Mu's mother, Dr. Su Yingxue, is responsible for debugging."
Su Yingxue!
This name made Lin Mo's heart tighten again. Shen Qingli wanted to check Su Mu's mother's records? Was it for the chip, or for... something else?
"Okay." Lin Mo suppressed his doubts. Now was not the time to ask further questions. "I'll grant you access. Meet at the hangar on the top floor of the base in three hours."
Shen Qingli nodded slightly, said no more, turned around, and left the ICU with precise steps. His dark gray figure disappeared in the pale light of the corridor, leaving Lin Mo alone, standing in front of Su Mu's bed, facing his unconscious lover and the bottomless storm of mystery, as if he was in the crater of a volcano about to erupt.
Three hours.
The last calm before the storm.
Atop the Ark base stood a massive, domed hangar. The cold air mingled with the scent of aviation fuel and metal. A pale searchlight beam pierced the gloom, illuminating the harsh, heavily armored Night Owl vertical takeoff and landing assault craft in the central docking area. On the side of the craft, the Ark insignia shone coldly in the light.
Lin Mo had already donned a suit of dark, heavy tactical armor. A high-frequency sword and pulse pistol hung from his waist, and a foldable individual energy shield generator sat on his back. He checked the last buckle, his movements steady, but the tight lines of his lips and the bloodshot eyes, still lingering, betrayed the heaviness of his heart. Three hours had passed in near agony. He only had time to take a deep look through the glass outside Su Mu's ICU before Lei Gang, Zhao Qiming, and the others dragged him to the deployment base, ordering them to enter their highest combat readiness.
The sound of footsteps came, steady and rhythmic.
Shen Qingli walked over. She wasn't wearing any additional armor, still in the same dark gray jumpsuit, except for a short hooded cape made of the same material. Her face had returned to its inhumanly cold paleness, with no trace of the previous energy overload. The most eye-catching thing was her right hand—the hand that had once pressed against Lin Mo's chest. It was now covered in a brand new metal glove that flashed with a faint blue energy circuit, extending all the way to the middle of her forearm and perfectly connecting with the skin under the sleeve of her uniform, exuding a cold and powerful sense of technology. At the fingertips of the glove, a subtle blue light could be vaguely seen flowing, like a living circuit.
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