"No!" Wen Shifei raised her head abruptly, her eyes burning with desperate fire. She pointed at the core of the 'Heart of the Ark' corroded by scarlet veins in the projection. "The log mentioned 'cleaning failed'! The 'Heart of the Ark' was contaminated, but part of it... may still be resisting! Pandora's contamination was not completely successful! This is our chance!"
She quickly walked to her terminal and called up the Lighthouse core database. Wen Yuan's unique neural totem symbol spun faintly on the screen. "Brother's authority! He has the highest level of access to the Ark Project in the Old World! His authority mark may be able to bypass the blockade of the contaminated 'Heart of the Ark' and directly access the deeper, uncontaminated backup control system of the base! Or... at least locate the location of the contaminated core module of the 'Heart of the Ark'!"
The flame of hope once again stubbornly ignited on the ruins of despair.
"Authorization takes time! And it's extremely risky!" Dr. Qin immediately poured cold water on us. "Once the contaminated 'Heart of the Ark' becomes aware of our intentions, it will mobilize the entire base's defense system, including more 'Scavengers' and even more terrifying weapons, to crush us into dust!"
"We don't have time to hesitate!" Li Shuo's voice was firm. His huge body stood upright, his eyes sweeping over the crowd. "The base's air circulation system can only maintain a minimum level, and the backup energy source won't last for a few days! Outside is a wasteland, and inside is a graveyard! This is our only way to survive!" He looked at Wen Shifei, his eyes full of heavy entrustment: "Shifei, the authority verification is up to you! If you need any resources, just ask!"
His gaze finally fell on Lu Cheneng, who was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, with a hint of barely perceptible worry: "Cheneng, you..."
Lu Cheneng slowly opened his eyes. Beneath the surging fatigue in his deep pupils lay a calmness as cold as a pond. He didn't look at Li Shuo, but instead at Wen Shifei's focused and resolute profile. The sting in his temples persisted, and the cold shadow within him lingered like a venomous snake waiting for its moment. But at this moment, he knew exactly where he stood.
"My mission is to defend this place." His voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable power, like a rock. "Until the access to authority succeeds or fails, nothing can disturb her." His eyes swept across the only entrance to the cabin. His eyes were cold and sharp, as if he could penetrate the thick alloy door and see the murderous intent lurking in the darkness outside.
Deep within the base, there is a wide passage traversed by a huge energy pipeline.
The emergency light was even dimmer here, flickering unsteadily, casting distorted, swaying shadows on the ground covered in oil and unidentified slime. The air was filled with a stronger smell of ozone and a sweet, fishy smell similar to that of a highly decomposed organism.
Yun Zhan's towering figure, like a sculpture blending into the darkness, rested quietly against a thick cooling pipe covered in rust and moss. His entire body was clad in dark bioalloy armor, threaded with pale golden nerves. His newly formed mechanical arm, covered in fine scales and tipped with three dark blue claws, hung naturally. A metal mask obscured most of his face, revealing only his eyes. Those eyes, no longer the blank, blank expression or furious murderous intent they once held, were now a deadly cold. Yet beneath this coldness, like a suppressed volcano, surged a fierce, silent struggle of agony.
From the connection between the robotic arm and the nerves came a constant, excruciating pain, like billions of red-hot steel needles churning through his bone marrow! Every tiny movement, every flow of energy, was accompanied by soul-wrenching torment. Even more terrifying was the battlefield deep within his consciousness—the cold fragments of commands belonging to his "weapons," like maggots in his bones, constantly trying to erode his remaining will, vying for control of this body. He had to use every ounce of his strength to suppress and resist, like walking a tightrope over an abyss.
[Command…Silence…]
[Clear...interference...]
[It hurts… It hurts so much…]
[I am... Yun Zhan...]
The cold electronic sounds and the painful whispers of humans clashed fiercely in his mind. His body trembled slightly from this silent war, and fine sweat oozed from under the metal mask.
Sudden!
Buzz——!!!
An extremely weak but intensely malicious mental fluctuation, like a stone thrown into a stagnant pool, spread out without warning from the even thicker darkness deep in the passage!
This wave was so subtle that it seemed to bypass conventional perception and act directly on the nerve endings of living things! Yun Zhan suddenly raised his head! Those dead, cold eyes instantly burst into a sharp, knife-like light! The blue blade claws of the mechanical arm silently extended half an inch!
Here they come! It's those "scavengers"! And... there's more than one! Like sharks scenting blood, they're drawn to the faint signals of battle or human activity lingering in the passage!
Yun Zhan's body instantly tensed, like a cheetah poised for a pounce. He suppressed the excruciating pain from his robotic arm and the chaotic screams in his mind, concentrating his attention on perception. In the darkness, the slick sounds of movement, the hissing of the mouthparts rubbing against each other, like a concerto of death, grew clearer and closer!
He didn't move, like the most patient hunter, waiting for the moment to strike the fatal blow.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three dark shadows, like ghosts, shot out from three different directions without warning from the shadowy gaps above and on the sides of the pipe! Their speed was as fast as lightning! Three whip shadows flashing with deadly blue and white arcs tore through the air, with a piercing scream, fiercely lashing at Yun Zhan's head, heart, and the connection between the mechanical arms! The angles were tricky and vicious, blocking all room for evasion!
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