Deep purple, viscous, mud-like radioactive dust, like a living miasma, slowly settled and wriggled within the vast ruins of the lair. Each particle of dust exuded a sickening, sweet-smelling stench and deadly radiation, silently corroding this utterly desecrated space. The vast chasm ripped open by the explosion resembled the hideous wound of a behemoth, exposing twisted and broken steel and shattered concrete, leading deep into the darker, older, unknown realms beneath the fortress's foundations.
"Brother Lu! Hold on! Brother Lu——!!!"
Ajie's hoarse cries were particularly piercing in the dead silence of the ruins. His hands were bloody and mangled as he desperately dug into the pile of rubble and the dark purple flesh that emitted strong radiation, burying Lu Chenen. Every touch brought a burning pain like a needle, but he didn't care, his eyes filled with desperate madness.
Wen Shifei stumbled to Ajie's side. Her vision darkened from exhaustion and the deadly dust she'd inhaled. Her lungs felt like they were on fire. She fought back the urge to vomit, struggling to pry away the heavy concrete with her equally injured hands. "Shen En! Can you hear me? Answer me!" Her voice laced with tears, fear entwining her heart like a cold vine.
Lu Cheneng's body was mostly buried beneath the rubble. His face was covered in thick filth and clotted blood. His eyes were closed, and his breath was so weak that it was almost undetectable. Wen Shifei's trembling fingers probed for his carotid artery, feeling the weak, almost stagnant pulse, and her heart instantly sank into an icy cave.
"There's still a pulse! It's very weak! Dig him out quickly!" she screamed, her movements becoming more frantic.
At this moment, a heart-pounding, dull "boom...boom...boom..." sound, like the beating of a huge heart from the depths of the earth, suddenly came from the depths of the blasted crack leading to the abyss underground!
This sound wasn't transmitted through the air; it felt more like it was acting directly on the bones and internal organs! Each heavy beat caused the ground of the entire nest ruins to tremble slightly! The purple dust settling in the air was stirred by an invisible force, forming a strange vortex! A more primitive, colder, and more soul-shaking malice, like an awakened ancient demon, emanated from the abyss and instantly captured everyone's heart!
"It's...waking up..." The cold, flat electronic synthesized voice sounded again, with unprecedented urgency.
The mysterious figure "Zero" had risen from the filth. His black-armored mechanical arms still held the unconscious Lu Qingyi securely, but the new wounds on his back and arms were shocking—large areas of his dark gray uniform had been torn, revealing the metal lining and bionic skin beneath, pitted and bruised by the highly corrosive burns of flesh. Some areas even flickered with tiny, unstable electrical sparks. The crimson electronic compound eyes on his mask were fixed fixedly on the chasm that resembled the throat of a giant beast, their light flickering rapidly.
"Something bigger?" Wen Shifei suddenly looked up, gazing at the boundless darkness deep within the chasm. A primal fear, born from life's instincts, instantly overwhelmed her. She felt it! That cold, chaotic, pure desire for destruction! It was a hundred times, a thousand times more terrifying than the monster in the sewer, than the tumor matrix just now! This was definitely not something a fortress should have! It was more like... an ancient disaster suppressed in the abyss beneath the earth!
“Bang!!!”
Another, heavier, clearer throbbing sound! The entire ruined lair shook violently! The rubble at the edge of the chasm tumbled down, falling into the bottomless darkness, swallowing up even the echo!
"No time!" Zero's electronic voice carried a sharp, metallic cacophony. "Go! Now!" He stopped looking at the rift, his crimson compound eyes turning to Wen Shifei and Ajie, finally resting on the buried Lu Chenentang. "Take him! West! Abandoned track!"
He stopped explaining and, clutching Lu Qingyi, turned and rushed towards the other side of the nest ruins, a dark tunnel entrance half-buried by collapsed debris and covered in rusted railroad tracks! His movements were still swift, but the sticky liquid oozing from the wound on his back, a mixture of motor oil and dark purple contaminant, left a glaring mark on his dark gray uniform.
"Let's go! Ajie! Carry Lu! Quick!" Wen Shifei made a split-second decision, her voice distorted by extreme fear and pressure. She didn't know which "abandoned track" Zero was heading to, but she knew that if she stayed here, she might become a snack for the awakened creature in the next second! She struggled to help Ajie pull Lu Chenentang's heavy body out from under the last boulder.
Ajie's eyes were bloodshot, and a beast-like growl emanated from his throat. Using all his strength, he suddenly lifted the nearly unconscious Lu Cheneng onto his back! Lu Cheneng's right arm drooped limply, the magic blade still tightly grasped in his hand, the tip dragging on the ground with a harsh friction sound. Ajie's old injury was excruciating under the heavy pressure, but he gritted his teeth and took heavy steps, closely following the two crimson eyepiece lights of Zero, which swayed like will-o'-the-wisp!
The three of them (Ajie carrying Lu Chenen) stumbled into the abandoned track tunnel.
The tunnel interior was even darker and more oppressive. The air was suffocatingly foul, a mixture of the thick smell of rust, the decaying odor of stale oil, and the pervasive scent of radioactive dust. Beneath the feet lay a thick layer of slippery mud and rubble, flanked by massive, rusted pipes dripping with a foul-smelling liquid. The tracks had long since been buried, leaving only a hazy outline.
Behind him, the heavy throbbing sound from the abyss beneath the earth didn't fade away, but instead became even clearer! Every loud "boom" was accompanied by a tooth-grinding groan from the entire tunnel structure! It was as if a sleeping beast was struggling, trying to tear apart the cage that bound it!
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