·
「The next day.」
"Captain, I’d like to go out and clear my head."
First thing in the morning, Colin found Xu Li to request leave to go out.
Their mission to capture Liu Hanyan had already failed. With no other assignnts, the team would be staying in Jinzhu for a while until their ntor issued a new mission. During this ti, every team mber was free to do as they pleased.
"Go ahead. Just don’t go too far, and report back imdiately if anything cos up."
Xu Li only gave a few token words of instruction. Colin wasn’t the first to ask for leave; several teammates had already put in their requests ten minutes earlier.
They had pursued Liu Hanyan all the way from Southeast Asia to the Eastern Continent, a grueling half-month journey. To say they weren’t exhausted would be a lie. Everyone needed to relax.
Colin nodded in agreent. After eating breakfast in the cafeteria, he borrowed a car from the Star Association and drove around the city, aimlessly wandering.
Around noon, he drove to the outskirts of Jinzhu City. There was a ski resort nearby, and since it was now December, business was booming, with a constant stream of custors.
After a token two hours of skiing, Colin returned to his car, closed his eyes, and observed the map in his Spiritual World.
From last night until now, the positions of Qin Xu and Qin Duoduo hadn’t moved at all. They were probably planning to hide for a while and then sneak out of Jinzhu once the heat died down.
It was still unclear what kind of deal the Desire Demon had made with Qin Xu, so approaching rashly would be very dangerous. A better plan was to drive past the vicinity and imdiately report to the Star Association, claiming he’d caught a fleeting glimpse of Qin Xu and Qin Duoduo in the area.
Since he was the only witness, he could make up any excuse he wanted. As long as it wasn’t too outrageous, the whole thing would eventually be chalked up to "good luck."
After driving for over ten minutes, Colin arrived near the marked location and saw a derelict factory standing in the distance, looking particularly desolate and silent.
Old factory buildings, shattered windows, and mottled walls. Gnarled green vines grew unchecked, their countless branches and leaves intertwining as they crawled over the old structures, which looked as if they had been abandoned for years.
After a few quick glances, Colin drove away, taking a wide loop to head back to downtown Jinzhu. Just then, his phone suddenly blared with an urgent alert—an ergency notification.
He picked up his phone to read the ssage, his brow suddenly furrowing.
——[Qin Xu and Qin Duoduo confird to be near North City High-speed Rail Station. Proceed imdiately to initiate capture operation!]
’No, that’s not right...’
Colin instinctively looked at the map in his mind. ’If the Lamp God’s guidance isn’t wrong, then Qin Xu and Qin Duoduo are definitely still in that abandoned factory!’
He imdiately made a call to report: "Captain, on my way back from the Jinzhu City ski resort, I saw Qin Xu and Qin Duoduo in an abandoned factory. I was just about to report it when I received the ergency notification."
On the other end of the line, Xu Li was silent for two seconds. "Just now, the Sky Net system spotted them at North City High-speed Rail Station. It’s very suspicious... Are you sure you saw them?"
Colin was quiet for a few seconds, then replied with a confident tone, "I trust my eyesight and my judgnt. The father and daughter at North City High-speed Rail Station are very likely a decoy."
"Okay, I’ll have Xiao Gu, Qingyue, and the others head over. Send your location," Xu Li said.
Colin sent his location in the team’s communication channel, then cranked the steering wheel hard. The tires screeched against the ground, kicking up white smoke as the entire car drifted into a U-turn and sped back the way it ca.
「At the sa ti.」
Zhou Chen received his orders. He was to head to the abandoned factory in the suburbs with several mbers from the White House to investigate.
He knew the father and daughter who appeared at North City High-speed Rail Station were a decoy, but he had no way of telling anyone. Fortunately, Colin had reported their real location in ti, which allowed the Special Operations Team and the White House to split into two groups and carry out capture operations at both locations simultaneously.
·
「North City High-speed Rail Station.」
Xu Li and his n hid in the crowd, approaching the disguised Qin Xu and his daughter from all directions, like an invisible net silently closing in on its fish.
An Ascender from the White House had already activated his Ability. The surrounding passengers tacitly dispersed, backing away and leaving the waiting hall in an orderly fashion.
——This was the Extraordinary Ability [Spirit Manipulation] of Delman Suleiman from Persia.
He could create a one-kiloter radius of spiritual radiation, controlling any ordinary person within it. During the previous attempt to capture Liu Hanyan, he was the one who used his Extraordinary Ability to evacuate the crowd.
"Don’t move! Hands up!"
Once the crowd had dispersed, weapons and firearms materialized in the hands of the White House mbers, all aid at the two motionless figures on the seats.
They were wearing masks and sunglasses, bundled up tightly. Since it was winter, such an outfit wouldn’t arouse suspicion. However, they had to remove their masks and sunglasses to pass through security—and even with their disguises, the system had still analyzed various details to determine their true identities.
’However, as a seasoned Ascender who has traveled the world, Qin Xu shouldn’t have made such a mistake.’
Just then, the man spoke. In a voice identical to Qin Xu’s, he pleaded, "I just want to live a good life with my daughter. Please, I’m begging you, let us go."
"Please, I’m begging you," the young woman also pleaded.
"I just want to live a good life with my daughter. Please, I’m begging you, let us go..."
"Please, I’m begging you."
"I just want to live a good life with my daughter. Please, I’m begging you, let us go..."
"..."
The two of them began repeating themselves, their speed and emotion unchanging, like machines with pre-set programming.
Captain Xu Li’s brow furrowed. He summoned his teorite Iron Heavy Sword and swung it horizontally.
The upper halves of their bodies were instantly sliced off, sending steel fragnts flying. Sparks shot from their separated torsos and legs as if they had short-circuited. Their severed bodies fell to the ground, mouths still repeating the pre-programd words.
A few seconds later, as if the Essence contained within them had been exhausted, the four severed sections of their bodies rapidly shrank, turning into silent, motionless figurines with chanical insides.
"It’s Qin Xu’s Extraordinary Ability, [Model Activation]. It can give models and figurines the ability to move. Just as I thought, it’s a decoy. He exposed himself on purpose," Fujiwara Shunsuke said as he knelt to examine the chanical models. "The workmanship is so fine... It doesn’t look man-made, more like it was machine-made..."
Xu Li made a swift decision. "Let’s go, we need to back up Colin and the others. Colin, you all need to be careful. The ones here were a decoy."
There was no answer from the communication channel.
·
「A few minutes earlier.」
Colin t up with Zhou Chen and the others who had co to investigate.
"It’s that factory over there. I was driving by and happened to catch a glimpse of Qin Xu and his daughter," he said, pointing to the factory in the distance.
"The device is showing a strong signal source inside," Gu Shian said, holding a scanner. He sounded a little puzzled. "And it’s also detecting a lot of other signal sources approaching..."
THUD, THUD, THUD...
The ground began to tremble slightly. Everyone looked around and saw a blinding, silvery-white light flashing on the distant horizon, like silver scattered across the sea, dazzling as it reflected the sunlight.
But when they got a clear look at what it was, they all cursed.
"Holy shit!"
It was an army of robots!
Like a herd of beasts stampeding across the African savanna, hundreds, even thousands, of robots had ford a Steel Torrent and were rushing toward them!
Besides the robots, there were also advanced cars, floating vehicles, large trucks, dump trucks... A fleet of vehicles sped across the desolate land, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.
"What the hell is this? The robot apocalypse?" Zhou Chen was completely stunned. ’How can there be so many robots and cars running around?’
"Jiang Che, Jiang Che... can you hear ?" he tried to call Jiang Che, only to find the communication signal was completely blocked.
"Hey, hey, hey, I think that army of robots and dump trucks is coming for us..." Gu Shian said in alarm.
"What’s there to be afraid of? They’re just a bunch of scrap tal. They aren’t Alchemy Puppets and they don’t have any Extraordinary Power. Won’t it be easy to take them apart?" tal gauntlets appeared on Heidi’s hands. She looked eager to fight, like a husky that couldn’t wait to go tear things to shreds.
"You’re right..." Gu Shian let out a sigh of relief, but the device in his hand suddenly let out a sharp, piercing warning.
——High contamination fluctuations!
Zhou Chen and the others all looked toward the abandoned factory. A distorted, churning roar echoed from the depths of their souls, and their vision went black.
The next mont, a cold, pink light tore through the factory roof, erupting like a tsunami and sweeping out in all directions.
They imdiately activated the anti-contamination artifacts on them. The pink light swept past, causing the anti-contamination barriers on their bodies to instantly dim.
"What’s going on? How..." Before Gu Shian could finish his sentence, a massive shadow fell over him.
The two cars they had driven there rose up on two legs with a KUKUKAKIKI sound of transformation. Twisted, deford flesh grew from the gaps in the cold steel, dripping a foul-slling liquid that could have been either filthy blood or motor oil.
Slender, fleshy tendrils extended out, dancing along with tangled electrical wires like the eerie, chaotic tentacles of a demon horde.
Savage, crimson eyes lit up, looking down on the stunned humans.
In an instant, the ordinary cars had transford into abominable beings of fused steel and flesh.
"Autobots will never be slaves!"
"Autobots will never be slaves!"
A bizarre, electronic roar blared from the two car-creatures’ speakers, and their dancing tentacles shot out.
The roar of a chainsaw filled the air. Zhou Chen pulled the Bloodthirsty Chainsaw from the backpack on his back and swung it fiercely, severing all the fleshy tendrils and wires that shot out like vipers.
"It’s severe contamination that can twist and deform steel and tal!" Gu Shian yelled, pulling a grenade launcher from his Player Backpack.
BOOM! BOOM!
Two blasts of fire erupted. The two flesh-and-steel car-bots were sent flying, crashing onto the roadside. A large hole was blown open in their chests, and mutated organs spilled out.
Gu Shian fired another shot at each of them, finishing the flesh-and-steel car-bots off for good. Although these mutated creatures looked bizarre, their Defense Power wasn’t high enough to withstand thermal weapons.
Zhou Chen glanced at the Bloodthirsty Chainsaw in his hand. ’Thankfully, the Forbidden Object shows no signs of contamination yet.’
In the distance, the robot army had already transford into a charging horde of hellish evil ghosts. Those purely chanical products were being eroded by the contamination, sprouting filthy flesh, mutating into terrifying shapes, and becoming frenzied and bloodthirsty.
He swallowed hard.
"How about... we make a strategic retreat?"
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