The alarm sounded like a rusty steel saw, slowly sawing at everyone's nerves.
The metal ceiling panel made a teeth-grinding twisting sound, and pebbles mixed with sparks "crackled" and hit Long Wu's shoulder armor. He instinctively pulled Lin Yi half a step behind him, and when he gripped the battle sword tightly again, blood seeped out from his tiger's mouth.
"Experiment terminated, all targets eliminated." A synthesized voice boomed from the overhead loudspeaker. Chu Yao's holographic projection flickered twice, and a few streaks of dark red flashed into the originally pale blue data stream. "Energy core overload detected, structural strength reduced to 37%." Her voice was half a beat faster than usual—the micro-expression of an AI under high pressure. "There is one more core file that has not been uploaded, tagged 'Rebirth Project - Final Case,' stored on the main server in layer b3."
Lin Yi tapped his fingers twice on the control panel.
He could feel the ground vibrating at an increasing frequency, as if the self-destruct program was gnawing away at the entire research institute from underground.
The black-cloaked figure's last words suddenly surfaced in the mirror space: "The real test is never in the mirror." — At this moment, the static on the monitor screen had not completely dissipated, and the afterimage of that purple pupil from before was sparking with the words "Rebirth Plan" in his mind.
"We must take it." As he turned, Long Wu's sword cleaved through a fallen ventilation duct, sparks flying into the corner of his eye and burning. "The fact that the enemy can activate self-destruct means they'd rather perish together than let us get this file."
Xuan Mingzi suddenly tugged at the cuff of his Taoist robe, his fingertips pressed against a raised pattern on the wall—a metal plate disguised as decoration, with a charred notch burned into it by him with talisman paper. "Emergency escape route." The old Taoist's voice carried a hint of pride. "I participated in the design of this type of research institute three years ago. Each core area has a secret passage leading to the surface."
However…” He pointed to the stairs revealed after the gap, “you need to pass through three layers of containment zones, each with an automated defense system.”
"Split up?" Ivan suddenly straightened up from the corner, wiping the blood from his forehead with his sleeve. His Russian was mixed with a bit of broken Chinese. "I'll distract the defense system, you guys get the files." He avoided Lin Yi's eyes as he said this, as if afraid of being seen through.
"No." Lin Yi's answer was resolute. His gaze swept over Long Wu's tightly pursed lips, over Xuan Mingzi's hesitant frown, and finally landed on Ivan's unnatural profile—the data core of the man who had saved Chu Yao from the brink of consciousness collapse in the mirror space. "Now is not the time to disperse." He flicked the control panel with his finger; the self-destruct countdown on it had jumped to "08:52." "The fact that the enemy can trigger self-destruct so precisely means they are monitoring us."
Splitting up means giving them the opportunity to defeat the enemy one by one.
Long Wu suddenly groaned, his battle blade plunging into the ground with a metallic scraping sound mixed with a low curse: "The boss is right."
Last time at the desert base, Old Zhou was swept away by an energy storm when they split up. He turned to look at Chu Yao, "Where is that file?"
I'll carry you to the server room.
"Level B3, main server room." Chu Yao's projection suddenly dipped half an inch, a marker she was using to retrieve the 3D map. "Two levels down from here, you need to pass through a biometric gate." A series of red warnings suddenly popped up in her data stream: "Detected activation of the lockdown zone defense system. Weapon types: laser matrix, gravity trap, nerve gas—"
"That's enough." Lin Yi interrupted her, his palm pressed against his left chest, where he could clearly feel his heartbeat.
His time-space mastery was burning; he could feel the flow of time around him being subtly pulled by his consciousness—a habitual action he took when tense. "Long Wu, clear the way; Xuan Mingzi, cover the rear; Ivan, protect Chu Yao." His gaze swept over everyone, finally settling on Ivan's face. "If we encounter any defensive systems, I'll handle that."
"That file..." Xuan Mingzi had just started to speak when Lin Yi waved his hand to interrupt him.
"I don't want the files." Lin Yi pulled out his tactical goggles and put them on. The three-dimensional structure of the research institute immediately appeared in the lenses; he marked the location of the main server room on level B3 with a glaring red using his mind. "What I want is why they would rather self-destruct than leave it hidden." He turned and walked towards the gap in the escape route. Faint mechanical sounds came from the darkness below the stairs. "Let's go."
Long Wu was the first to jump into the gap, his battle blade drawing a semi-circle in front of him, the blade light cleaving through the laser net that suddenly lit up on the steps; Xuan Mingzi made a hand seal and chanted an incantation, three thunder talismans flew forward with a "whoosh," shattering the gravity trap that fell from the ceiling; Ivan half-crouched, protecting Chu Yao's projection, his right hand always pressed against his waist—where a dark silver short blade brought out from the mirror space was tucked, the pattern on the scabbard exactly the same as the purple pupils in the monitoring screen earlier.
Lin Yi walked in the middle of the group, his left hand in his pocket, his fingertips unconsciously stroking a fragment of a spacetime rift.
Just before the mirror space collapsed, the thing the black-cloaked man gave him still carried the residual warmth of the consciousness.
The emergency lights at the corner of the stairs suddenly went out. In the darkness, he heard his heartbeat suddenly quicken—not out of fear, but out of anticipation.
The real enemy should reveal themselves.
The moment the alarm pierced the air, the shadows at the corner of the stairs suddenly surged.
Six dim red indicator lights lit up simultaneously, and the grinding sound of metal joints, like rusty gears grinding against everyone's nerves, was heard as seven guard robots squeezed out at an angle, their mechanical arms gleaming coldly, and dark purple viscous fluid seeping from the gaps in their joints.
"Infected!" Chu Yao's projection suddenly solidified, her right hand pressing on the data interface on the wall, and a large amount of garbled code appeared in the data stream. "The main control chip has been invaded by the consciousness symbiote, and now it only targets living things!" Her voice fluctuated for the first time, like a string of a musical instrument being ruffled by the wind.
Long Wu's battle sword trembled with a "hum," and the blade emitted a bluish light.
He stood at the front of the group, his sword slashing horizontally, shattering the chest cavity of the first robot.
But the metal construct ignored the damaged core and lunged at an angle, its serrated arm grazing Long Wu's shoulder armor, sending sparks flying.
"This is weird!" Xuan Mingzi stuck the lightning talisman on the robot's head, and purple arcs of electricity surged across its body, but it only made the robot sway slightly before the mechanical claw crushed the talisman.
Lin Yi's fingertips gripped the fragments of spacetime tightly in his pocket, and he could clearly sense the malice surging within those slimes—just like the fluctuations on the black cloak in the mirror space.
“They’re stalling.” His voice was as cold as ice. “The self-destruct program is accelerating; we must get to level B3 as soon as possible.”
"Boss, take them and leave first!" Long Wu suddenly stuck his battle sword into the crack of the steps, and as he turned around, his shoulder armor knocked off the wall plaster.
He ripped off the dragon-patterned pendant from his neck, its scales gleaming with golden light. Veins bulged on the back of his hand, and blue dragon scales were spreading from the base of his fingers. "True dragon blood grows stronger when faced with strength. I'll chop these iron lumps to my heart's content!"
"Long Wu!" Chu Yao's projection flashed with a slight distortion, as if the AI was suppressing its emotions.
"Stop talking nonsense!" Long Wu grinned, his canine teeth stained with blood. "If it weren't for you protecting me in the Mirror Space, I would have been torn apart by the spatial turbulence. Today it's my turn!" He drew his battle sword, the blade growing three inches longer. "Let's go! Two minutes, I'll catch up in two minutes!"
Lin Yi stared at the burn marks at the corner of Long Wu's eye—the marks left when he had blocked the ventilation duct for him earlier.
He knew that this brother couldn't stand seeing his companions in danger.
"Two minutes," he said. "If you're late, I'll come and get you myself."
"Alright!" Long Wu's battle blade drew a semicircle, forcing back the three robots.
With a flick of the back of the blade, a dragon's roar reverberated, making the steps vibrate. "Even if the King of Hell comes to drag me away, he'll have to wait until I've chopped down fifty of them!"
The group continued running.
The sound of metal shattering and Long Wu's muffled shouts came from behind him, each sound like a heavy hammer hitting Lin Yi's heart.
After turning the third corner, Ivan suddenly stopped, his right hand pressing tightly against the scabbard of the short blade at his waist, his knuckles turning white.
“Below…” he said, his eyes closed, veins bulging on his forehead, speaking with a heavy Russian accent, “deep down there, there’s something. Not the consciousness of these robots, but… something very ancient, very angry.”
Lin Yi's breath hitched.
The talent of the master of time and space surged beneath his skin, as if something was calling him downwards.
But the countdown on the console had already jumped to "03:17", and the red numbers stung his eyes.
“It’s too late.” He grabbed Ivan’s shoulder. “Get the files first, we’ll talk about the rest later.”
The biometric gate at layer b3 clicked open under Chu Yao's data stream intrusion.
The cold light in the main server room made everyone squint, and the label "Rebirth Project - Final Case" on the silver chassis at the far end was dazzling in the red light.
The moment Lin Yi grabbed the metal box, the research institute shook violently, and the ventilation ducts crashed down, blocking the way.
"Run! The core area is about to collapse!" Xuan Mingzi grabbed Chu Yao's projection and rushed towards the exit, his Daoist robes fluttering in the air currents.
As people ran frantically along the escape ladder, large sections of reinforced concrete collapsed overhead.
Lin Yi heard the sound of Long Wu's battle blade approaching, mixed with the crisp sound of the robot shattering.
The moment they rushed out the gate, a deafening roar shook the earth behind them—
00:00
The shockwave, like a giant hand, sent everyone flying.
Lin Yi flipped in mid-air, instinctively protecting the metal box to his chest.
It crashed into the rocks on its back upon landing, let out a muffled groan, but refused to let go.
"Cough cough... Boss, are you alright?" Long Wu lay three meters away, his battle sword broken in two, his shoulder armor torn open, and blood seeping from beneath his dragon scales.
"I'm fine." Lin Yi got up, blood seeping from his knees.
He looked at the burning ruins, the firelight reflecting off them and making his eyes shine. "Some people would rather destroy the research institute than not..." He looked down at the metal box. "The things inside are more dangerous than we thought."
Chu Yao's image appeared on the top of the box, and she tapped the combination lock with her fingertip.
Data streams poured down like a galaxy, and the lock cylinder popped open with a "beep".
The moment the screen lit up, everyone's breath caught in their throats—
In the center of the cold, glowing screen, a line of blood-red text starkly appeared:
[Believer No. 0, ID: Lin Yi]
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