Chapter 492: Defection

The scarlet world was like a bloody nightmare. Lin Xian looked at the scene that was like hell, his whole person frozen in place. Unknowingly, endless fear and sorrow raged in his heart.

In the hell before him, he seemed unable to muster any strength to resist or struggle. His spinal nerves were numb. The scenes he saw were all of him being torn into flesh and blood fragments and dying in pain, and all he saw were his teammates struggling and screaming in despair as they sacrificed themselves...

"Stop looking!"

A voice like a tolling bell instantly impacted Lin Xian's rapidly collapsing sanity. He only felt a cold arm pull him out of the scorching scarlet hell before his eyes, and he almost suffocated.

*Hiss! *

Lin Xian, catching his breath, took a sharp breath. His face was deathly pale at this moment, and he stood there in astonishment, looking at Seeing Chu Yan in front of him: "Dark invasion?!"

"More terrifying than that." Seeing Chu Yan turned to face the window, raised her hand, and used nano-spray particles to seal all the gaps in the window frame. At this moment, the cold feeling in the room immediately lessened a lot.

"After the Star Abyss anomaly began, the Dark Tide started to be accompanied by scarlet, making the areas it swept through enter the Polar Night zone faster than before. In other words, the diffusion efficiency of the Star Abyss has accelerated."

Seeing Chu Yan said to Lin Xian: "Moreover, this scarlet coverage will make the area an absolute land of death, appearing with anomalous creatures that hadn't been detected before. Not S-level, nor human-anomalous. Anyone exposed to this environment will see their SAN value drop rapidly, accompanied by physical canceration. At the fastest, in just 20 minutes, your immune system will completely collapse. Even with a Dark Energy Co-potential Device, it cannot be shielded."

Lin Xian frowned upon hearing this: "When did this kind of scarlet appear?"

"Three days ago, the night you lost contact with us. The Star Abyss began large-scale anomalies, and the scarlet descended. Now, the Zhen Tian Ship and the Dawn Center's transfer troops are all trapped in the Qionggu Strait, which is the Gulf of Alaska, and have suffered heavy casualties. The Commander has ordered Dawn City to transfer, and the Dawn Center will march with the highest mobility after dawn. Our North American front, the Interstellar Army, and the Night Walkers have already launched a radiation rescue plan to help rescue teams in various places complete their assembly as quickly as possible."

Seeing Chu Yan looked at Lin Xian, her expression serious: "Deterrence balance has failed. All of humanity is fleeing to the polar regions to build defenses!"

Lin Xian was silent, his gaze flickering. He didn't understand. The Dark Civilization shrinking from the Star Abyss, assassinating the Sword-Wielder, Hua Xiaoling making contact—all these behaviors made them think that deterrence existed, or existed on some level. But the Star Abyss suddenly began to accelerate its invasion. What exactly happened in between?

"So how much time do we have?" Lin Xian asked in a low voice.

"I don't know the time. The spread frequency of the scarlet is accompanied by the Dark Tide, but the extension area and frequency are different. If we expand the range according to the Polar Night speed, we still have more than a year. But the Dark Tide covers all areas outside the Polar Day of the polar regions every day, so theoretically..."

"Just one night?"

"Yes."

Lin Xian's gaze narrowed, and he looked up toward the window: "Will you be in danger?"

Seeing Chu Yan also turned toward the window and said: "An interesting point is that buildings have a physical blocking effect on this kind of scarlet. So if you stay in a building or vehicle, the impact received is less than 5% of the outside. This can be considered good news, provided you don't get targeted by the monsters in the scarlet. Those things don't seem to be affected by the Dark Mark."

Lin Xian frowned upon hearing this and said immediately: "But if this area is swallowed by the scarlet, we can only find a way to leave as soon as possible. Does that mean humanity's range of activity has been thoroughly stripped away?"

"That's right."

"Damn it!" Lin Xian spat: "This is just like the nuclear doomsday winter of radioactive dust."

"About the same. Our research team is also thinking in this direction."

"When can you return to the Phoenix Society?" Lin Xian asked Seeing Chu Yan at this moment: "I want to talk to Professor Ye."

Seeing Chu Yan looked at Lin Xian, her gaze flickering, then said: "About two days at the earliest, provided I don't die here tonight."

"What about your teammates?"

"Two blocks away. Can't contact them. Life or death unknown."

"Signal shielding?"

"None at all. We can only wait until after the night, assemble at the pre-arranged meeting point, and then leave this area. Night and scarlet exist at the same time. Currently, there is no opportunity to survive." Seeing Chu Yan said: "What about your side? What exactly happened?"

Lin Xian took a deep breath. Under the dim cold light, he told Seeing Chu Yan everything about Haiyan Island and the situation on Hawaii Island, including the discussions with Hua Xiaoling and the theory proposed by Ding Junyi.

Whether it was because Seeing Chu Yan's spiritual consciousness was affected by the Scarlet Land, even Lin Xian could feel a suffocating coldness. After Lin Xian finished speaking, he found that Seeing Chu Yan didn't seem to be too surprised by Ding Junyi's conjecture about the same origin of enemy and self. He immediately understood that Ye Lan and the others at the Phoenix Society must have discussed this aspect long ago. After all, the Phoenix Society's research on lattices was already very deep. Combining the data from the original Angel Project, Lin Xian didn't find it strange at all that the Phoenix Society's researchers would have deeper discoveries.

Instead, after Lin Xian mentioned Hua Xiaoling, Seeing Chu Yan suddenly said: "Did she invite you to join the Foundation?"

"No, why ask that?" Lin Xian asked.

Seeing Chu Yan pressed a device on her arm at this moment, and then a projection gun slowly rose. Then she used a holographic light screen to project it into the air in front of the two.

Characters and identity information kept scrolling on the screen. Lin Xian recognized it immediately and became serious.

"Cheng Yu, Gender: Female, Scientist at the Phoenix Society High-Energy Physics Research Institute. Resume: Former core member of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), led the dark matter detection project 'Night Owl Project'. After joining the Phoenix Society, responsible for analyzing the characteristics of Star Abyss matter, successfully developed the first generation of dark energy shielding coating. Missing since August 21, Apocalypse Day."

"Mike Xiao, Gender: Male, Commander of the North American Southeast Defense Line / Phoenix Society Mecha Aid Force Staff Officer. Once commanded the 'Angry Wave Defense Line' after Apocalypse Day to resist the first large-scale anomalous tide for 72 hours, winning critical time for the North American Joint Front transfer. Defected on July 19, Apocalypse Day, leading a 40,000-person troop to join the Advent Sect organization."

"Su Lin, Gender: Female, Former Chair of the Federal Ethics Committee / Sociologist and Philosopher. Founder of the Doomsday Ethics School after Apocalypse Day. Her work 'Humanity's Anchor in a Dying Civilization' laid the foundation for the Esper Human Rights Act. Presided over the formulation of the 'Wartime Ethics Convention for Espers', advocated for banning the tragedy of human experimentation on espers in the Federation, and was called 'Socrates of the Dark Age' by civilians. On September 3, she was taken away by a mysterious troop, later confirmed to have joined the Foundation organization."

"Du Yan, Gender: Male, Captain of the Ash Snake Convoy, European Beyond-level Esper, 5,300 people in the convoy, the entire convoy went missing on August 13..."

Lin Xian looked at the scrolling characters on the screen, his expression gradually becoming solemn. These people were clearly not ordinary characters. Among them were high-level scientists, philosophers, military generals, high-level espers, leaders of large convoys or organizations, and even many important personnel within the Phoenix Society organization. And the reason these people were recorded was almost for one reason. ===== CHAPTER 493 =====