Chapter 245: Duel in the Cocoon

"Look at it backwards!" She suddenly smeared blood on the monitor frame; in the reflected surveillance footage, Xu Jianhua's hand gestures transformed into the arrangement of the Big Dipper. The Silver Bell Fragment suddenly adhered to the nearest server interface, and the computer case spewed blue smoke mixed with the scent of Laba Garlic.

Xu Xiaochuan's canvas shoes were stuck in the mucus of the Data Cocoon, the tread on the soles being decomposed into Binary Code. He stared at the leek juice seeping from the cracks in the maze and suddenly pulled out half a bottle of strong liquor he had swiped three days ago, splashing it on the ground. The alcohol outlined a Hexadecimal Contour, fitting perfectly with the oil stains on the back of his school uniform.

"Old Xu sewed a Navigation Map into the clothes!" He tore open his school uniform and slapped it against the wall; the fabric fibers exuded the latitude and longitude coordinates of the Donkey Meat Burger Shop. Thirty-seven clones suddenly changed direction, the Barcode scanning beams on their chests aimed at the Data Cocoon core.

Qin Tianluo's Mechanical Arm tore open his chest casing, taking out a pulsing, meat-bun-shaped Chip: "Back then, he stuffed into my Energy Core..." Before he could finish, the Chip suddenly played a message from Xu Jianhua: "Little Qin, if you're hearing this, it means the plan is eighty percent complete..."

The surface of the Data Cocoon suddenly bulged into the shape of a human face, and Xiao Chengzhou's gold-rimmed glasses floated out from the mucus. Twenty monitors simultaneously popped up red windows, the countdown numbers scrolling in the Void mixed with a price list for Donkey Meat Burgers.

Xuanyuan Qing suddenly pressed the Silver Bell Fragment against the back of Xu Xiaochuan's neck, and Bronze Solution seeped into the scar left by the clone. The entire maze suddenly rang with a deafening sound of traditional wind instruments, and a funeral procession formed by Data Streams emerged from the ground; on the paper money was handwritten code from Xu Jianhua's missing finger joints.

"He tampered with the funeral!" Xu Xiaochuan's school uniform pocket suddenly sprayed rainbow candy wrappers, the sugar stains burning scorch marks onto the surface of the Data Cocoon. Three hundred clones simultaneously raised their hands to make an "OK" sign, and the convergence point of the blue light revealed the Energy Valve of the Zero Machine.

Qin Tianluo suddenly snapped his own smoking mechanical finger, the parts forming a key that he shoved into the valve. The moment the gate opened, Xiao Chengzhou's digitized avatar lunged out from the core of the cocoon, yet his Tactical Suit was stained with leek leaves from Xu Jianhua's bun shop.

"You are the Zero-th clone!" Xuanyuan Qing flung a Steamer Lid wrapped in Data Cables, the hot steam scorching through the opponent's virtual projection. Xu Xiaochuan's school uniform suddenly disintegrated, revealing the Core Code tattooed on his back—it was the very order form Xu Jianhua had been clutching when he fell from the building twenty years ago.

The moment the Silver Bell Fragment pierced the Data Cocoon, three hundred arcs of electricity crawled up Xuanyuan Qing's arm. She gritted her back teeth until they creaked, the scent of charred skin in her palms mixed with the aroma of Sugar-Fried Chestnuts. Xiao Chengzhou's facial features emerged from the Data Torrent, and asphalt-like mucus seeped from his gold-rimmed glasses frame.

"Old Xu taught you to stuff viruses into bells?" Spikes protruded from the surface of the Data Cocoon, instantly piercing Xu Xiaochuan's left shoulder. Blood droplets splashed onto the virtual pixel blocks of leek filling, sizzling as they corroded smoking holes.

Qin Tianluo's Mechanical Arm suddenly folded backward, a Liquid Nitrogen Nozzle ejecting from the elbow joint. The moment blue mist enveloped the Data Cocoon, twenty-seven phantoms of Xiao Chengzhou floated out from the freezing layer, each holding a blue-glowing Donkey Meat Burger.

"Watch out for the filling!" Xu Xiaochuan lunged over to knock Xuanyuan Qing aside; half a virtual burger flew past his earlobe, burning a QR-code-shaped scorch mark onto the wall. The rainbow candy in his school uniform pocket suddenly melted, the sugar stains forming the first nine digits of Pi on the surface of the Data Cocoon.

Lin Yu's white hair moved without wind in the Data Stream. He stared at the Chaos Code tattoo emerging from his chest and suddenly grabbed the nearest Xiao Chengzhou phantom, pressing it into the flowing wall of code. Gold and black energy exploded from between his fingers, the entire Data Cocoon resonated, and the clones in the Culture Pods suddenly opened their eyes in unison.

"The Cold Storage coordinates are at..." Qin Tianluo's Electronic Eye burst with static, a warning mixed with the sound of electricity squeezed from his throat, "Every thirty turns of the Steamer..." Hydraulic oil suddenly sprayed from the corners of his mouth, congealing into a dark red trail of Sugar-Fried Chestnuts on the ground.

Xuanyuan Qing flung the Silver Bell Fragment to pin down three phantoms, and the bronze shards suddenly adhered to the cracks in the Data Cocoon. Her wrist was dislocated by the recoil, and cold sweat dripped down her chin onto the smoking virtual bun: "Xiaochuan! Change the order of the Fibonacci Sequence!"

Xu Xiaochuan's canvas shoes slipped in the Liquid Code, and coin-sized holes were corroded into the soles of his worn-out socks. He felt the rock-hard frozen bun in his pants pocket and smashed it with force toward the center of the vortex at the top of the Data Cocoon. The Chip embedded in the meat filling suddenly played "The Most Dazzling Folk Style," shattering seven of Xiao Chengzhou's phantoms.

Lin Yu suddenly knelt on one knee, gold and black energy crawling up his neck along his arm. He stared at the Zero Machine core emerging from the depths of the Data Cocoon, memories from twenty years ago flashing in his pupils—when Xu Jianhua had jabbed the tattoo needle into his collarbone, his missing-jointed right hand had been shaking violently.

"Now!" Xuanyuan Qing tore off her glove with her teeth, slapping her blood-mangled palm onto the Silver Bell Fragment. The entire Data Cocoon suddenly collapsed inward, revealing a pulsing purple orb of light in the Core Area. Three hundred clones suddenly changed direction, the sharp teeth of the Mechanical Dogs biting into Xiao Chengzhou's Data Stream entity.

The back collar of Xu Xiaochuan's school uniform was suddenly entangled by Data Tentacles. He reached back and pulled out the strong liquor he had swiped three days ago, splashing the alcohol onto the virtual bun and igniting it. The flames followed the nano-circuits in the leek juice and darted into the cracks of the Data Cocoon, burning out an escape passage that smelled of charred aroma.

"The password is the PH Value of Laba vinegar!" Qin Tianluo suddenly snapped his own mechanical index finger; the moment the Chip was inserted into the center of the vortex, the entire Data Cocoon suddenly began playing a recording of Xu Jianhua playing the finger-guessing game. Xiao Chengzhou's gold-rimmed spectacle lenses shattered with a pop, and blue blood gushed from his seven orifices.

Lin Yu's tattoo suddenly detached from his skin and floated into the air; the pattern, after the Chaos Code was reorganized, was exactly the floor plan of the Donkey Meat Burger Shop. He grabbed the back of Xu Xiaochuan's collar and threw him toward the escape exit, the gold and black energy condensing into a materialized Steamer Lid that covered the pursuing Data Stream.

"Take Old Qin and go!" Lin Yu's white hair stood on end, his Tactical Boots sinking into the Liquid Code. The clones' Mechanical Dogs suddenly turned and lunged at him; the moment their fangs bit through his Combat Uniform, the entire Data Cocoon exploded with a blue light brighter than the sun.

A harsh scraping sound erupted from the gears in Qin Tianluo's spine. He tore open his chest armor plating, and half a bag of moldy Sugar-Fried Chestnuts jumped out from a hidden compartment, the oil stains etching Hexadecimal coordinates onto the packaging bag.

"Seventh Turn of the Steamer!" Hydraulic oil overflowed from the corners of his mouth, "Cold Storage vent..."

The Mechanical Arm suddenly folded backward at a ninety-degree angle, a Micro Projector popping out from the elbow joint. The moment the blue light swept across the laboratory, the biological mucus on the entire wall suddenly boiled, revealing a 3D map of the Donkey Meat Burger Shop's Cold Storage. Xu Xiaochuan's canvas shoes brushed past smoking electronic components, and his pant legs were scorched with holes by the splashing mucus.

Xiao Chengzhou's Data Stream condensed into a giant claw and slammed down. Xuanyuan Qing flung the Silver Bell Fragment, pinning it to the center of the claw, and a handwritten formula from before Xu Jianhua fell from the building suddenly appeared on the bronze surface—the square root of three multiplied by the last seven digits of Pi.