A few days ago, Silent City.

“The Crimson World’s set of flesh-and-blood colonial armor—I’m currently deconstructing their overall data for principles. Plus, the information they are researching at the White City Institute, I will synchronize all of it to you later.” Mochizuki Shinji said calmly.

“Hmm… alright.” Lin Xian asked seriously, “Am I being a bit abrupt like this?”

“It couldn’t be more abrupt.”

Lin Xian: …

“Seems like powerful ability users have all been targeted by the Crimson World.”

As he was leaving, Lin Xian said to Mochizuki Shinji, “But you probably aren’t worried, since you’re not an ability user anyway.”

“I’m afraid you’re mistaken.” Mochizuki Shinji looked at Lin Xian calmly. “From the preliminary data of the experimental research subjects, a large portion are ordinary people—or rather, people without awakened abilities. Obviously, the Crimson World’s research on individuals follows different paths.”

“What do you mean?”

“Is it that hard to understand?” Mochizuki Shinji explained, “Ability users are used to research the development of abilities, as well as the human-abnormal and colonial armor systems. What the Crimson World truly wants to grasp is the process of why humans awaken abilities.”

Lin Xian had always remembered Mochizuki Shinji’s words. After seeing the massive clone population inside the Celestial Hall, it reminded him that Chu Yan once told him the Crimson World had obtained her DNA to clone a human body, aiming to replicate the mental-type ability—a bug-level survival skill in the Star Abyss—but all attempts had failed.

So, after last night’s communication with Chu Zhaonan and the conversation with Chu Yan on the way here about the Crimson World’s fanatic logic, Lin Xian kept pondering one question.

That is, why did the Crimson World so easily cooperate with Chu Zhaonan and provide mycelium brain-machine technology, suppressors, and constraint array technology? From the failed A-grade colonial armor device underground in Jinhai, Lin Xian once thought their goal was to obtain this S-grade corpse for experiments. But now that this corpse has been turned into a barrier-breaking device about to be launched, after Chu Zhaonan disbanded the Federation Council and handed over the Phoenix Society, facing the Dawn City garrison, the Phoenix Society’s Iron Guard Brigade, and millions of survivors in the city, what could the Crimson World possibly take from here?

It’s impossible that they did all this just to silence their own people and then flee hastily after being used by Dawn City.

Impossible. Logically, Chu Zhaonan intends to use the Crimson World, and the Crimson World must have plans to use Chu Zhaonan as well.

Last night’s warning from Chu Zhaonan to Lin Xian, combined with Julius’s words now, made him even more certain of this.

Colossal God Peak Launch Site, White Hall.

Julius’s face had completely darkened at this moment. His eyes narrowed as he stared at Lin Xian, then he laughed with a trace of defiance.

“Chu Zhaonan is a meticulous and nearly flawless character. Dealing with him is much more troublesome than politicians like Zhou Mingyuan. I even once believed that he would sacrifice the world’s destruction for the Vanguard Initiative. Unfortunately… your arrival here shows that his principles have wavered…”

“I guess the Galaxy Heart’s main control is now in your Phoenix Society’s hands. Alas, human civilization develops slowly precisely because of the rigidity of thought and reason, which becomes a weakness. Unfortunately, I’ve made some preparations.”

At this moment, a noise came from the ground as a gate opened. Behind Julius, a row of large cryogenic chambers rose up, each several meters high, filled with various forms of Red Human Ghosts.

There were gigantic bodies and normal human-sized ones, about ten in total. Each radiated violent dark invasion energy and spiritual fluctuation. Connected by various restrainers and suppressor pipelines, their appearance instantly caused the hall’s lights to flicker abnormally.

Nearby, the ‘Julius’ clones originally asleep were influenced, triggering widespread zombie mutations. Struggling and roaring wildly in the water, their veins blackened, blood fouling the water, they stretched out sharp claws, scratching the chamber walls.

Lin Xian raised both hands slightly and spoke with some regret to Zhou Jin, “They originally had no chance to lead a small group out before dawn. After all, the replication experiment was meant to comprehensively observe how these desperate strong individuals mutate in fear, how they degenerate, and how abilities awaken. But now you’ve changed your mind. You think locking small weapons and mechs on the city walls onto 700 survivors outside will make for a boring scene. Don’t worry, for the experiment, you’ll selectively keep some of them.”

“He’s dreaming!” Zhou Jin replied heatedly.

Liao Linyu smiled and shrugged, “Goodbye. You’ll come back to collect their bodies later, after all, they still have some research value.”

After saying that, I turned and prepared to leave.

Beep!

A sharp alarm sounded. At the same time, ten cryogenic chambers were activated. The suppressors under the Red Human Ghosts outside stopped working. Heartbeats thundered loudly. Ten pairs of blood-red eyes all turned toward Zhou Jin.

“KIKI!”

Zhou Jin immediately shouted to KIKI, who immediately understood and used Julius to try to capture Liao Linyu.

Unexpectedly, a surge of black water suddenly overflowed from the ground, spreading widely. Water droplets shot like sharp swords at everyone. KIKI’s expression changed instantly, reflexively opening a telekinetic shield to dodge!

Boom!

Like a tsunami hitting, a massive water jet sprayed on KIKI’s telekinetic shield.

At this moment, the ten Red Human Ghosts fiercely launched their attack. Among them, a giant butcher roared, tearing off all its cables and sprayed a torrent of blazing flames at Lin Xian’s side!

Fire-type ability!

“Fall back!”

KIKI reacted first, stepping forward to block with a telekinetic wave. Flames exploded outward, instantly shattering most of the cryogenic chambers in the hall, trapping the ‘Julius’ inside the fire. Some already mutated screamed madly as they ran out of the flames, while others burned alive.

“Don’t let him escape!”

No sooner said than, terrifying Red Human Ghost figures appeared in the flames on both sides, attacking Lin Xian’s team.

Chomp!

Zhou Jin emptied a magazine of bullets and stepped forward to face a wind-breaking shadow. His entire body turned into silver-black metal skin. Using an iron shoulder ram, he created a huge shockwave. The ground cracked in ripples beneath his feet.

Looking up, he saw a heavily armored black man whose skin had almost fused with his metal armor. His crimson eyes gleamed darkly. The next moment, a recoil force knocked Zhou Jin back violently.

“Ha!”

Zhou Jin grunted and quickly ordered, “Xiao Yan, Li Su, protect Team Lin!”

Xiao Yan held two electric knives, arcs of light flashing. She nimbly jumped out from a two-Ghost combined attack and came beside Lin Xian. “Team Leader Lin, I’ll cover you!”

Lin Xian opened his AT force field shield, activating mechanical ability control and absorption simultaneously. He quickly shredded the armor and weaponry of a tall Red Human Ghost in front. His kinetic cannon blasted two blood holes, but didn’t cause much damage.

KIKI rushed over, reaching out with telekinesis to grab a smaller Red Human Ghost attacking from the air, pushing Lin Xian and Shiori back toward the rear passage.

Buzzing, Lin Xian’s drone legion rained down fierce bombardment across the White Hall. Various laser beams and magnetic storm shocks suppressed the Red Human Ghosts and the zombie-mutated Julius clones.

“Grace!”

“I’m here!”

Bang bang!

Grace, who was tearing open a Red Human Ghost’s head armor with her five fingers, heard Lin Xian’s order and leapt down to cover him as he charged into the rear passage.

Emerging from the institute’s passage, Lin Xian immediately located the main control room.

Boom!

Suddenly, a rapid impact struck from the floor above. Lin Xian reacted quickly, pulling Shiori back with him. KIKI also retreated swiftly using telekinesis. A black object crashed through the floor where Lin Xian had just stood like a meteor, smashing a huge hole downward—it was a fully armored Red Human Ghost!

The floor’s collapse triggered a chain reaction;

the entire area where everyone stood began to crumble. Lin Xian, caught off guard, activated the power armor’s thrusters, grabbed Shiori mid-air, turned, and leapt onto a platform.

“Lin Xian!”

KIKI flew over, and as Lin Xian landed, he immediately fired a kinetic cannon!

Pew!

A blue beam pierced through, striking a dark shadow approaching KIKI. Then Lin Xian summoned four “Iron Curtain” drones to shield Shiori. With a thought, his energy burst forth. A magnetic storm shock over ten meters wide exploded from Lin Xian’s center. White-hot plasma sparks blasted a fist flying toward his back away!

Triple assault!

Beep!! Just as one wave subsided, another rose. Amidst smoke and dust, a barrage of furious bullets swept toward Lin Xian and KIKI. Lin Xian raised his AT force field, flashed out instantly.

“Ability user detected—Angel level!”

Before the sentence finished, a man in power armor appeared before Lin Xian like a phantom, raising his hand glowing with red light, ready to strike Lin Xian’s face!

In the next instant, his power armor joints were locked. The chopping motion caused his own arm armor to crack. Surprised by Lin Xian’s quick block, the man prepared another attack but quickly retracted, flashing an electric knife with arcs of light. He retreated rapidly, vanishing as a red flash.

Xiao Yan charged forward, retracting her electric knives but was slammed flying by another Red Human Ghost. Li Su arrived, firing several pulse cannons in retaliation—bang bang bang!

“Team Leader Lin, watch out!”

Lin Xian dodged backward. Amid the dust, a shockwave burst out. A woman in black tight clothes was blasted out by KIKI’s telekinesis.

Above, Zhou Wei jumped two floors, firing his gun. His iron fist smashed through a female Ghost’s defense. Facing a barrage of fire from Red Human Ghosts behind, he grabbed a huge concrete slab and smashed it at the woman in black.

The woman wasn’t wearing power armor. Facing the slab, her body dissolved into black water mist in midair, dispersing and quickly reconstituting elsewhere.

Boom! The concrete shattered a wall, causing a tremor.

“Water-type ability?” KIKI looked surprised. She had seen Han Jun control rain storms with water abilities but never imagined a person could elementalize themselves. Fire Bro couldn’t do this either. Could abilities undergo qualitative changes beyond Angel level?

Lin Xian’s expression darkened. He grabbed Shiori, who was continuously restoring his mental energy, and slung her over his shoulder. Danger was imminent. His mechanical ability swept across. Neither of the two had brain-machine implants, meaning they were not clones like Qin Feng’s mycelium-brain-machine grafts but genuine independent individuals!

“Watch out, two of them are ability users, not Ghosts!”

As Lin Xian spoke, mechanical ability scanned something and activated thrusters to leap. But the floor beneath suddenly broke open. The huge shadow that had crashed down reached out a hand and grabbed Lin Xian’s foot, trying to pull him down.

“How dare you!”

KIKI reacted instantly, her eyes shining with powerful ability light. Several tons of telekinetic force crushed the black hand, squeezing and twisting it to one-third its original size, metal claws shrieking.

Lin Xian’s three hyperstring reactor phase halos lit up, crackling with ionization. He struck downward, mechanically dismantling the black hand’s devices. In moments, a mangled flesh-and-blood monstrous hand appeared before him.

Just as Lin Xian prepared to strip it away, the black hand’s owner seemed to sense danger and suddenly triggered a powerful explosion. Red ripples radiated, shaking several floors of underground streets violently. Dust rose everywhere. Four entire floors of the floor collapsed.

KIKI opened her telekinetic shield, grabbing several people to blow smoke away as she pulled Lin Xian and Shiori out of the debris.

Ten Red Human Ghosts plus two at least Angel-level ability users—Lin Xian and Zhou Jin hadn’t expected such formidable forces hidden here by the Crimson World.

“Lin Xian!”

Chu Yan’s voice came through the communicator. “I’m going after Julius. You deal with the Galaxy Heart. Don’t let the Crimson World control Dawn City!”

“Got it!”

Lin Xian carried Shiori, activating thrusters to fly upward through the broken floor of the underground city. Suddenly, a red flash shot through the air. Lin Xian’s eyes flashed urgently. AT force field was summoned. Fifty Iron Rain drones dropped from above, circling in groups of ten at supersonic speed, striking beside Lin Xian.

The man hadn’t expected Lin Xian’s precise drone control. He was hit by one drone, tumbling out of the air.

Seizing the chance, Lin Xian charged 200 Thunder Falcon drones in the air, firing 200 pulse rays instantly.

Whoosh whoosh!

The ultra-high temperature rays cut a whole floor section apart. The black-armored Ghost charged wildly with a punch aimed at Lin Xian’s face!

Grace appeared, precisely kicking the fist. Though her toes seemed small, the tough material pierced and shattered the black-armored Ghost’s fist armor, scattering metal fragments.

Lin Xian immediately controlled two Iron Rain drones to fly back to the main control floor. He found KIKI was alone, heavily suppressed by the woman in black and three Ghosts. Zhou Jin, Li Su, and Xiao Yan were overwhelmed. Besides the red-flash speed ability user and the extremely powerful black-armored Ghost, other Ghosts were attacking Lin Xian.

A red flash streaked by, destroying dozens of drones. They charged at Lin Xian, who dodged with a flash. His speed surprised the man. The man looked crazed and whispered, “Mechanical ability really has this strong solo combat power?”

“Then today you’ll see!” Lin Xian shot a kinetic cannon.

The man smiled strangely, vanished instantly, and appeared behind Lin Xian. The power armor’s thrusters activated, but the man grabbed his shoulder armor.

“Too slow, evolution too slow!” The man said, then transformed his hands into blades, glowing red, aiming to pierce Lin Xian’s armor.

A powerful shock, arcs flashing. The man’s smile froze as a hexagonal transparent shield appeared behind Lin Xian, blocking the hand blade. Suddenly, eight mechanical chains slithered like snakes to bind the man.

The man reacted, using abilities to retreat fiercely. Laughing, “Creative, but still too…”

Boom!

Before he could finish, a train car mysteriously appeared above and fell vertically, smashing him and the floor, crashing downward.

The man never expected a train to suddenly appear in the underground city and crash into him.

Lin Xian retracted the Black Star Forge and hurried into the control room with Shiori, but found the intranet terminal completely destroyed. His expression changed sharply as he checked the time—less than six minutes remained!

He immediately summoned all drones for manufacture and maintenance and assigned Grace to take over.

“Grace, check damage!”

[Scan complete. Repairing intranet terminal equipment.]

[Detected intranet cable break.]

Lin Xian frowned. “Can you locate the break points?”

[Possible, but time-consuming. If cut deliberately, number of breaks unknown.]

Hearing this, Lin Xian’s heart sank. He stood still for a few seconds, eyes flickering. Looking at the huge Gray Mist Envoy outside the window, he suddenly realized.

“It must be deliberate. Gray Mist Envoy launch requires Galaxy Heart connection. This channel can’t be broken. We can tap in here!”

“Lin Xian!”

After a huge shockwave, KIKI’s voice came through the communicator. “There’s another problem. This is the intranet root server configuration point. If Julius deliberately damaged the terminal and cables, he probably set some kind of encryption key too!”

“Damn it!”

Suddenly, a torrent of water rushed into the control room, sweeping Lin Xian and dozens of drones out. A hand stretched from the black water, grabbing Lin Xian’s neck. Water flowed into the seams of his armor, trying to infiltrate.

Meanwhile, the red-glowing man stepped out from shadows, whispering,

“No chance left. Give up, mechanical ability user. You might join us…”

Beep beep beep beep!

Lin Xian looked at the alerts on his mech’s holographic panel and activated a magnetic storm shock. White-hot electric arcs exploded, instantly vaporizing the water vapor. Just as he broke free, the black-armored Ghost fell again, punching Lin Xian’s chest.

Unexpectedly, a particle shockwave slammed into the black-armored Ghost, sending him flying against the wall, shaking the building.

Simultaneously, ability waves erupted everywhere. A bullet storm swept over Lin Xian, KIKI, Zhou Jin, Li Su, and Xiao Yan, greatly reducing pressure. The red-flash man quickly fled.

Looking up, Lin Xian saw Qinuo’s team arriving to support.

“Sorry we’re late!”

Qinuo jumped down from the floor, punching out a resonance wave that blasted a fire-spewing Red Human Ghost away, asking Lin Xian, “How’s the situation?”

“No time to explain! Help me hold off these Ghosts. I’m connecting the cables now. Careful, two Angel-level ability users here!”

Lin Xian activated the power armor thrusters and flew with Shiori toward the Gray Mist Envoy.

Countless black raindrops shot like bullets at Lin Xian. Before hitting, a strong upward airflow swallowed them all. KIKI hovered, saying, “You go. We’ve got this!”

In the upper floors, more Red Human Ghosts ran down the corridors. Outside the control room, Zhou Jin’s team fought desperately in several underground levels. KIKI, Grace, the drone legion, and Qinuo’s Nightwalker subteam fought fiercely against the two ability users and numerous colonial Ghosts.

Lin Xian reached the docking launch frame of the Gray Mist Envoy. Mechanical scanning quickly found the information connection terminal. He made a repeater and began reconnecting the intranet cables to the control room.

The closer to this giant S-grade colonial armor, the stronger the dark invasion energy tortured Lin Xian’s sanity. Shiori looked terrified, exerting all her ability to help suppress him.

Lin Xian even activated the hyperstring reactor phase halos to boost his ability peak. The Mechanical Heart spun wildly.

Empty~

Suddenly, from below the underground city came eerie abnormal sounds, as if countless dark creatures were stirring. Whether due to darkness or resonance from the S-grade Gray Mist power was unknown.

“There seem to be many monsters below, blocked by something.”

“Valve.”

Lin Xian recalled when they first entered the city, Kezi led them through sealed underground transit systems, all closed off. Yet below seemed connected to somewhere.

He opened the underground construction map Zhou Jin had given, finding several ports beyond the first city wall. Once opened, billions of abnormal beings would flood in, turning the city into hell!

Shiori reacted, her face terrified. “If those monsters crawl into the city from here, where will they reach?”

“First underground city!”

Lin Xian’s eyes turned cold. “The very center of Dawn City! The Crimson World wants to turn the first underground city into a monster fountain. When night falls, the entire city panics, attacked inside and out. Dawn City becomes their massive experimental field. Millions become their observation subjects…”

“This… this is terrifying!” Shiori said.

Elsewhere, Chu Yan and her team fought several Red Human Ghosts chasing Julius fiercely.

The launch site entrance was a bloodied path. Several Red Human Ghosts were killed, and Chu Yan’s teammates left young lives behind. A small transport ship was docked on a platform at the launch site edge.

The remaining team members still fought two human Ghosts. Chu Yan chased to the transport ship platform.

Julius stood at the boarding gate. Unexpectedly, another Julius in a suit stepped down from the ship.

Chu Yan’s expression shifted slightly.

“Surprised?” The Julius in the suit looked calmly over the corpses. “Thanks to you, I had to consider more for your mental ability team.”

The two Juliuses smiled at Chu Yan, one left, one right.

Suddenly, a red flash attacked. Chu Yan used mental shock, her mechanical body twisting barely avoiding the strike.

“Do you know why I’m waiting for you here?” one Julius sneered, “Because I’m curious if the Phoenix Society knows despair?”

Chu Yan’s delicate face was blood-stained. She looked cautiously between the two Juliuses and the red-flash speed ability man.

The opponent was too fast. Though in her mental ability domain, he could hardly approach, she also struggled to focus and defeat him.

Julius sneered, “Mental-type ability—just a thought can kill. Such a perfect power, rivaling gods. Ha, the ace of the North America United Alliance. Why hesitate now?”

“Oh, because you can’t kill me. You want to fully obtain the Dark World’s info from me. Ye Lan must’ve told you this might be humanity’s last chance to gain the initiative.”

Chu Yan didn’t respond but cautiously contacted Lin Xian via communicator.

“Lin Xian, how’s your side? Can you secure the Galaxy Heart?”

“Not that simple…” Lin Xian was sweating heavily. The Black Star Forge’s manufacturing sequences were all cleared. He was making cables and intranet terminal equipment.

When he connected the intranet cable with the repeater, as KIKI said, the entire Colossal God Peak Launch Site was set with a strict authentication key. His expression changed instantly as he told Chu Yan, “There’s a problem. To connect the intranet and continue control, Julius’s iris authentication is required.”

Chu Yan furrowed her brows. “Can it be forcibly broken?”

“Root server iris key is doubly encrypted. Not enough time. He must be present!”

“I have some trouble too.” Chu Yan looked at the two Juliuses, updating Lin Xian.

Lin Xian frowned. “Do you know which one is the real Julius?”

“I can scan differences in mental wave fluctuations between individuals. Due to time and training, clones vary. But these two seem similarly trained or neither is the real Julius.”

“So cunning. Then what?”

If neither is Julius, they can’t be sure who is connected to the Dark World.

Chu Yan was well aware of this.

Crash!

Ability bursts erupted on Chu Yan’s side. Another fierce battle. Teammates killed a Red Human Ghost and came to support. But against the red-flash man, some were overwhelmed. Two remaining teammates were injured.

Taking advantage of a retreat opportunity, Chu Yan told Lin Xian,

“We must solve the Galaxy Heart first. The Skybreaker Ship and 83rd Iron Guard Brigade have arrived. Not sure how long until dawn. If weapons systems are seized now, both inside and outside the city are doomed!”

“I know!” Lin Xian wiped sweat, frantically operating repairs, shouting, “And Crimson World sabotaged the underground network. Those abnormal beings can enter the city through the launch site or other routes. They want to experiment on the entire city amid total fear!”

Chu Yan’s eyes flickered. “Whether these two are the real Julius or not, one thing’s sure.”

“What?!”

“If authentication is needed, activating the Gray Mist Envoy is included. So the one able to perform iris verification must be among them!”

Lin Xian realized, “Makes sense. Julius is cautious. He must ensure Crimson Number Three completes city-wide central control. Otherwise, their long-prepared plan is wasted.”

Lin Xian’s thoughts raced. “Chu Yan, don’t let Julius escape. I’ll come to you soon. I have a way to solve this remotely!”

Chu Yan wiped blood from her face, whispering,

“Okay!”

Beep, beep, beep!

A loud alarm sounded inside the Colossal God Peak Launch Site.

[Launch sequence about to start, launch well opening.]

Far outside Dawn City, in a suburban area, streets and buildings trembled. A giant gate hundreds of meters wide slowly opened.

In an instant, massive rubble and countless abnormal beings sprinting in the dark fell like rain from the sky.

Boom!

Thunder rumbled throughout the launch site. Rain poured down, soaking the Gray Mist Envoy and various engineering supports.

Seeing this, Lin Xian handed Shiori a photon storage device after installing the repeater. “Shiori, I’m almost done here. You’ll be responsible for inserting this continuation control key later.”

“Huh?!” Shiori’s face instantly paled, nervously stammering, “I…I…”

“Listen!”

Lin Xian firmly held her shoulder, looking at the time seriously. “Three minutes left. Once connected at 10 o’clock, the Galaxy Heart will open ports due to the barrier-breaking device activation. Crimson World will definitely use this opportunity to control the Galaxy Heart. Though Julius set keys on the servers here, he doesn’t know Chu Zhaonan deliberately left a 10-second offline window. Because Crimson Number Three’s computing power takeover of the city takes 10 seconds, we have 10 seconds to reclaim control!”

“But…” Shiori was anxious, not expecting such an important task.

Lin Xian, panting, whispered near her ear, “Don’t be afraid. I believe you can do it.”

“I… I…” Seeing Lin Xian’s firm gaze, Shiori’s face flushed red. She nodded seriously.

“I understand.”

Lin Xian entrusted the continuation control key to Shiori because besides Chu Yan, she was the only one here less affected by dark invasion.

He had originally considered Grace for the task, but Grace needed to handle the Red Human Ghosts and drone repairs. Only Shiori had spare capacity.

Lin Xian completed the cable connection, flying with Shiori on thrusters back to the control room floor. Large sections of street floors had collapsed. The entire command post was shaking precariously.

“Zhou Jin, Qinuo, protect the control room and Shiori!”

“Understood!”

Boom!

Meanwhile, KIKI was suffocated by seemingly invincible black water. Her telekinesis felt like hitting the ocean and air, making her struggle to respond.

The black water transformed into rain and mist, flowing fluidly through the air.

Lin Xian realized, “She has a true body! This water is just her controlled shapeshifted form!”

“Grace! Find the ability user’s true body!”

“Grace!”

[Grace understands!]

Hundreds of drones swirled like a storm scanning. A higher floor revealed a black shadow. Instantly, countless drones fired on its body. The black water fled rapidly.

KIKI seized the chance to suppress. Both sides clashed in ability waves.

Lin Xian entered the control room, summoning Iron Curtain and construction drones to surround it.

“Team Leader!” Zhou Jin approached, armored all over. “More Ghosts are coming!”

“Hold this control room!”

“Got it!”

Meanwhile, all squad members fought while retreating, converging toward the command center. Lin Xian activated power armor thrusters and several drones, flying toward the launch site above.

Seemingly sensing Lin Xian’s move, the building shot dense black water jets like a torrential downpour, trying to block him.

Boom! A telekinetic wave hit. KIKI arrived swiftly, biting her silver teeth, exerting full ability power to form a protective shield for Lin Xian. She bled from the nose.

Lin Xian was about to act when KIKI, without looking back, used telekinesis to lift him upward.

“Don’t worry about me. You go!”

Only two minutes left!!

Lin Xian didn’t hesitate. Riding KIKI’s telekinesis and thrusters, he dashed through the storm and finally broke through the surface.

Outside, under a sky where night’s outline was indistinguishable, outside Dawn City’s first high wall, dense bombardments and artillery barrages rained down like fierce storms.

Waves of abnormal beings seemed endless, huge bodies climbing and battering the already breached concrete and metal-reinforced walls.

Millions of survivors fought in the sky and against mutated crowds. Smoke and gunpowder rose like dark clouds, and Lin Xian could smell blood and burning from the rain miles away.

Control room direction.

Zhou Jin saw the continuation control key in Shiori’s hand and understood their mission. The black-armored Ghost charged fiercely. He gritted his teeth, shouting angrily, unafraid, charging straight ahead!

“Li Su, Xiao Yan, hold this place to the death!”

“Received!”

“Old Qinuo, don’t damn break the command post. Battlefield separation!”

“I know!” Qinuo, covered in blood, hands trembling, said. Their four squads had fought from last night through underground passages until now. From over 40, only fewer than 20 remained.

Flame-spewing Red Human Ghosts burst from the passage. Qinuo charged with two teammates.

“Wei Chen, Zhang Xufei, shut its mouth!”

“Got it!”

Boom!

Inside the control room, countless drones repaired terminal equipment rapidly. Fierce battles raged at both ends. Li Su, Xiao Yan, and several Nightwalker squads fought desperately in the corridors. Outside, multiple floors fought fiercely, a bloody scene.

Shiori held the continuation control key before the server rack, eyes fixed on time. Through the window, the giant S-grade colonial armor radiated terrifying world-ending black energy.

One minute left!

Automatic devices began disconnecting fuel tower cables. Hydraulic support towers slowly separated.

Beep! Beep!

Yellow alarms rang inside the Colossal God Peak launch tower, each like a heavy hammer strike.

In the passage, Xiao Yan, pierced through the chest by claws, roared fiercely before dying, stabbing two electric knives through a Red Human Ghost’s lower jaw, piercing its skull!

Li Su, with only one arm left, detonated explosives in the passage, killing himself and incoming Ghosts, completely blocking that hallway.

Outside the control room, Nightwalker squads were suppressed by countless Ghosts, fewer than ten remaining. Zhou Wei, steel-boned, rammed through several concrete walls with the black-armored Ghost. The Ghost’s strength was shocking, snapping Zhou Jin’s metal skin wrist joint. Zhou Jin’s blood surged as he bit the Ghost’s neck, tearing off the breathing tube and jaw.

A bloody battle!

Elsewhere, Lin Xian flew out of the launch well and immediately saw Chu Yan struggling outside the small transport ship, and two ‘Julius’!

“Watch out!”

Before he could speak, Chu Yan’s voice came from the communicator first.

A whistling wind sound approached. Lin Xian was still airborne when a red flash rapidly struck. He instinctively raised the AT force field shield but was thrown like a cannonball to the ground. Before he got up, another Red Human Ghost raised its fists to attack.

Boom!

At the critical moment, a female member of Chu Yan’s team arrived quickly, using an air blade to sever half the Red Human Ghost’s arm. She then pushed Lin Xian away but was hit from behind, blood spraying wildly.

Dodging, Lin Xian pulled the woman from the fist, loaded a Destroyer drone, activated the Black Hawk armor thrusters, flipping her in midair, and punched an electric hammer strike onto the Red Human Ghost’s head. The Ghost fell face-first onto the drone.

Boom!

A huge explosion ignited instantly. In the flash of sparks, Lin Xian activated hyperstring reactor phase halos, deploying a large AT force field shield. The shockwave sent both flying dozens of meters.

Smoke cleared, stones flew. Lin Xian seemed to hear only his breathing inside the mask. The violent explosion made his bones feel like they’d shatter.

His power armor holographic screen flickered continuously. Time passed second by second.

He wiped smoke from his faceplate, looked at the female teammate beside him, unsure if she was alive or dead. He stood and prepared to move toward Chu Yan, but the red-flash man had disappeared.

Lin Xian immediately became alert. At this moment, Chu Yan’s voice finally became clear in the communicator.

“Lin Xian… Lin Xian, can you hear me?”

“Yes.”

“Launch is imminent. Is the intranet equipment fully repaired?”

Lin Xian looked at the progress info from Grace on the holographic interface.

98%

“Definitely.” Lin Xian said seriously. “One person here can unlock with iris recognition. Maybe this person also knows the darkness info…”

Julius looked disdainfully at Lin Xian struggling out from the rubble, smirking.

“Chu Zhaonan proved humanity’s inevitable defeat theory with actions. He broke principles but gave you Phoenix Society a lesson.”

Julius glanced at the time, then showed his watch to the two.

“Oh, seems like you’re out of time.”

Lin Xian and Chu Yan looked up. The time just jumped from 9:59 to 10:00!

[Launch sequence started, thruster ignition countdown!]

Boom!

A tremor shook the Colossal God Peak launch site. Mechanical sounds and alarms ceased.

At the distant first city wall, weapon and automated turret fire suddenly stopped!

At this moment, still before dawn, under dark rain, a furious tide of abnormal beings surged.

The city wall defenders and millions of survivors fighting fiercely suddenly felt the world grow strangely quiet. Then, a deep terror grew in everyone’s hearts.

“Weapons stopped!”

“Out of ammo?!”

The city wall guards shouted. The commander sweat-drenched: “Use single-weapon fire! Mech brigade all on walls!”

With all automated weapons offline, Dawn City’s defense firepower dropped by two-thirds. Abnormal beings surged onto the walls, huge bodies battering breached areas. In the sky, countless flying creatures swarmed. Dawn City was filled with despair and screams.

At the Colossal God Peak launch site, mechanical voice announced launch countdown.

[Launch sequence countdown started, 10]

[9]

“Lin Xian!” Chu Yan’s face was determined as she shouted, “Listen to me, I’ll control Julius soon. Scan his iris immediately, then…”

[8]

Julius looked at the weapons offline, a smile breaking his gloomy face. “Behold this spectacle. I won’t kill you. After all, you two are still my most promising subjects.”

“Now, let the Phoenix Society inherit this mess. Hurry and run from my testing ground. Maybe your remaining vehicles can carry a couple million. Heh, but it doesn’t matter. For you, the weak, old, sick, children, and frail are useless. Those big convoys, evolved strong ones, probably want fewer burdens. So Crimson World is solving your troubles, right?”

“I’ll solve your mother!” Lin Xian told Chu Yan. “If he’s dead, can you still steal dreams with mental ability?”

“Even if his brain is dead, neurons don’t lose activity immediately. Micro electric signals in neurons cut off fully, but ‘thought,’ ‘memory,’ ‘judgment,’ and ‘organ perception’ persist for minutes…” Chu Yan replied.

Lin Xian glanced at the intranet terminal repair progress: 98%!

“Then kill him!”

[7]

Julius was calm hearing this. “So naive. Do you really think this body holds Dark World info, laid here for your mental team to seize?”

“I won’t fall for the same trick twice.”

He and the other Julius immediately prepared to board the transport ship.

[6]

Chu Yan shouted, “Lin Xian, catch him!”

“None shall escape!” Lin Xian shouted, activating mechanical ability. He instantly controlled the boarding ramp of the transport ship behind him, transforming it into two chains binding both Juliuses.

[5]

Julius frowned, seeing Chu Yan’s mental ability activating.

Beautiful!

In an instant, both Juliuses’ eyes bled, their minds blank—clearly forcibly controlled by mental ability.

[4]

At this moment, the red-flash man appeared suddenly, but didn’t attack Lin Xian or Chu Yan. Instead, he stabbed a dagger into the right Julius’s temple.

“Sorry, I guessed your trick long ago. If mental ability kills the target’s consciousness, the user also dies.”

The red-flash man smiled weirdly.

But he didn’t see error on Lin Xian’s face. Instead, he saw Lin Xian pointing a finger at him.

[3]

His expression changed drastically. He tried to retreat, but space behind him warped suddenly. A small black hole instantly swallowed the red glow and flesh on him. The man looked terrified, realizing his speed ability couldn’t escape!

“Impossible?!”

Lin Xian gritted his teeth, shouting. Right hand activated gravity lens, left hand summoned Black Star Forge.

[2]

Buzz!

A huge thundercloud appeared midair. A terrifying mechanical gate slowly opened, revealing a full set of root servers and intranet terminals with cables coiling like black pythons. At the front was a terminal iris recognition device, aiming directly at the Julius stabbed with the dagger!

A mechanical marvel!

Meanwhile, Lin Xian’s holographic panel showed intranet repair reaching 100%.

Network data flickered;

cables slithered. A recognition light scanned Julius’s face, beeping green!

The faint sound was like a bell to the left Julius, who abruptly woke from mental control.

[1]

Boom!!

Below Colossal God Peak, eight heavy plasma thrusters on the Gray Mist Envoy ignited violently. The strong thrust shook kilometers around. Huge airflows rose wildly, dispersing all rain. Scorching heat melted all launch frames and supports.

At this moment, the several-hundred-meter-tall super-large S-grade colonial armor slowly rose!

“What have you done?!” Julius shouted angrily. Before Lin Xian could respond, all automated weapons on Dawn City walls suddenly reignited, unleashing powerful firepower again. The muzzle flash was not aimed at survivors or defenders but at the dark abnormal tide, unleashing a full-metal storm of humanity’s industrial civilization!

“Impossible!!!” Julius’s face changed drastically. “Crimson Number Three clearly already controlled Dawn City!”

Dumbfounded!

A mechanical motor sound rang. Lin Xian stood opposite Julius, aiming a kinetic cannon at his forehead, coldly saying,

“Obviously, you don’t understand being human very well.”

Julius was furious. “Lin, I swear, you will…”

Bang!

A kinetic cannon shot pierced Julius’s forehead. The clone fell before finishing his words.

Lin Xian immediately rushed over to support Chu Yan. Chu Yan’s eyes, nostrils, and mouth bled profusely. She tried to open her eyes but trembled, her head twitching. Her mechanical systems screamed alarms.

[Heart rate overload, heart rate overload…]

[Detected life signs fading, automatically activating AED system.]

Wuu~zz!

Chu Yan’s AED activated automatically. Ionization sounds rang. She seemed to regain some consciousness, still trembling, eyes closed, trying to speak.

Lin Xian leaned close to hear.

“This is… the only… choice… don’t… abandon me…”

Her breathing slowed. Lin Xian slowly looked up. The woman before him had lost her breath. The crimson blood bloomed on her beautiful face like a flower.

Lin Xian stood. KIKI’s voice came through the headset.

“Lin Xian… we successfully obtained the Galaxy Heart.”

Inside the control room, the continuation control key was successfully inserted into the control panel at the last moment. Crimson Number Three’s consciousness core was captured by Grace before fully controlling the Galaxy Heart.

The room reeked of blood. At the door, Zhou Jin, chest cavity torn open, fought to the death with the black-armored Ghost. Qinuo had half a leg broken, leaning in a corner, lighting a cigarette, tears streaming down his face. Shiori tried to treat him.

Qinuo scanned the area, seeing many former teammates and comrades.

Lin Xian’s drones, except a few construction ones, were mostly destroyed. Grace rescued the exhausted KIKI from the rubble and took her outside the control room passage.

Boom!

At this moment, the remaining Red Humans looked at the steaming heat and smoke covering the launch site after the Gray Mist Envoy’s launch, as if in another world.

Lin Xian stood at the giant launch passage entrance, looking up amidst fires on all sides at the huge Gray Mist Envoy rising slowly into the dark rainy night. Meanwhile, Dawn City’s starport saw a giant starship seven hundred meters long, protected by numerous air defense weapons and aerial combat boats, trailing a brilliant arc light, heading skyward.

The arc light was humanity’s last torch before night, illuminating the sky and seeming to carry away Dawn City’s final radiance.

Hearing the Galaxy Heart’s retrieval, Lin Xian felt indescribably complex emotions. He knew they had survived this night but also knew humanity’s remaining survivors might only have a last, desperate flight left.