Chapter 262: The Flesh and Blood Cage of the Biological Computer

The prosthetic eyes flashed twice, emitting a flat, mechanical synthesized voice: "Biological identification complete. Target locked: Carrier of Xu Jianhua's genetic markers."

The voice was mechanical, but underneath, there seemed to be a trace of human voice remaining, carrying an indescribable despair and pain.

The bronze liquid at Xuanyuan Qing's fingertips burned suddenly. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her face was even paler: "They... still have fragments of consciousness... locked by the program. I can feel it... it's all pain..."

The group of Mechanical Gravekeepers moved forward a step, their metal joints emitting a uniform friction sound.

"Please... cooperate... proceed to the south of the city... electronic waste processing plant..." The voice of the Gravekeeper in the lead suddenly stuttered, intermittent, as if fighting against something.

He raised a hand abruptly, and in that human eye that hadn't been modified, a moment of clarity actually flashed.

The voice became abrupt, filled with struggling agony:

"Trap...! It's a trap there... Zhou Weihong... lied to everyone...!"

Before he could finish, his two prosthetic eyes erupted with blinding blue light! The metal interface on his neck sprayed sparks and black smoke!

A scream that didn't sound human tore through the air!

The lead Gravekeeper clutched his head with both hands, kneeling heavily on the ground, his whole body twitching violently.

"He's resisting!" Lin Yu understood immediately, his white hair instantly turning into countless sharp whip shadows, lashing out at the other Gravekeepers trying to surround them.

A burning, excruciating pain suddenly came from the receiver on Xu Xiaochuan's back!

A chaotic data stream was forcibly poured in! He subconsciously tried to capture the source, discovering it was actually the Gravekeeper twitching on the ground!

It wasn't the standard format of the Zero Machine; the signal was encrypted, like private goods forcibly stuffed in!

"Wait! He's transmitting something to me!" Xu Xiaochuan gritted his teeth, the muscles on his back taut like stone. The receiver was terrifyingly hot, his entire back feeling like it was about to burn up.

That data stream squeezed rudely into his brain.

"Don't... go to the south of the city... really... backup shell... in the north of the city... Tianshui District... старый колодец..." (Old Well)

The information was intermittent, mixed with a large amount of garbled code and system errors, along with a few words he couldn't understand at all. But that last place name burned into his memory like a branding iron—North of the city, Tianshui District, a long-forgotten old industrial zone.

At this moment, the Gravekeeper on the ground stopped twitching.

The blue light in his prosthetic eyes extinguished completely.

He slowly raised his head, a smile of relief actually on his face, forcibly squeezed out from the corners of his mouth clamped by metal.

The next second, blue light flashed at the core of his chest.

"Boom!"

The whole person exploded into a pile of parts and charred fragments, completely still.

The remaining Mechanical Gravekeepers paused for a moment, as if receiving a new command.

Immediately, they resumed their stiff pace, approaching in unison.

"Go! Find an exit!" Lin Yu didn't delay, his remaining Void energy erupting without reservation, forming a visible shockwave that sent the first few Gravekeepers flying, crashing into the tunnel wall and sending sparks flying.

Xuanyuan Qing had already dropped from the ceiling, the last bit of bronze liquid at her fingertips flicking out, drawing a faint light that precisely cut the line of an emergency light in the distance of the tunnel.

The entire tunnel plunged into pitch-black darkness.

"Follow me!" She didn't hesitate, running back the way they came, toward the subway entrance, her movements as light as a civet cat.

Lin Yu grabbed Xu Xiaochuan and followed closely.

Behind them, the blue light emitted by the mechanical Gravekeepers' prosthetic eyes swayed in the darkness like ghost fires, in hot pursuit.

The three of them ran headlong, finally seeing the broken maintenance manhole cover ahead, with faint light from the ground shining through the well mouth.

Lin Yu lifted Xu Xiaochuan up with one hand, his white hair instantly weaving into a net to push him up. Xuanyuan Qing was agile, climbing onto the rusted iron ladder on the well wall in a few moves.

"Pull him!" Lin Yu roared, the sound of footsteps behind them already close at hand.

Xuanyuan Qing leaned out, grabbing Xu Xiaochuan's wrist tightly and dragging him out of the well mouth with a violent tug.

Xu Xiaochuan collapsed on the ground as soon as he came up, panting heavily, the blue light of the receiver on his back still flashing, the ibex skull pattern appearing and disappearing.

"Uncle Lin!" he shouted toward the well mouth.

Lin Yu grabbed the ladder with one hand, flipped out of the well mouth, and slapped the Gravekeeper chasing him without looking back. The Void energy compressed into a point and exploded in the narrow well passage!

The shockwave of the explosion made the entire maintenance well buzz, dust and gravel falling down with a rustle.

Lin Yu landed on the ground, stumbling, his white hair covered in dust, looking utterly disheveled. "Go!"

They were currently in an abandoned station in the southeastern suburbs of Beijing.

Weeds grew wildly, the sky was gray, and a light drizzle was falling, quickly wetting their tattered clothes. Blood mixed with mud dripped down their trouser legs, forming small puddles on the ground.

Xu Xiaochuan supported his knees with both hands, his lungs wheezing like a broken bellows: "That... Gravekeeper just now... what did he want to tell us..."

Lin Yu's tactical boots stepped into the mud, making a squelching sound. He looked up at the gloomy sky and wiped the rain from his face. "The word he said at the end, старый колодец... Russian, meaning 'Old Well'."

Xu Xiaochuan was stunned, suddenly remembering: "Qin Tianluo! Qin Tianluo is of mixed Russian and Chinese descent! That Gravekeeper... could it be him?"

Xuanyuan Qing could no longer feel any temperature from the bronze liquid in her palm. She was terrifyingly pale, barely standing by leaning against a rusted iron rail. "But... why would he help us?"

"Who knows." Lin Yu's voice carried no emotion. "But at least one thing is certain: the south of the city was a bait Zhou Weihong deliberately released; the real big thing is hidden in the Tianshui District in the north of the city."

He paused, his tone deepening.

"One trap exchanged for another... this old thing, I'm afraid he's been waiting for us for a long time."

The rain grew heavier.

The sound of the rain drummed against the tin roof of the abandoned factory, like countless drumbeats, dense and irritable.

The three of them walked step by step through the abandoned factory area in Tianshui District in the north of the city. The dilapidated factory buildings stood silently in the rain, rusted mechanical wrecks lying in the mud, silently telling of the desolation here. This area had long been forgotten by Beijing, becoming a dead corner on the map, where even wild dogs wouldn't stay long.

The receiver on Xu Xiaochuan's back kept burning, his soaked school uniform sticking tightly to his skin, bone-chillingly cold. The ibex skull pattern flashed blue on and off through the fabric, stirring together with his heartbeat.

"It should be that one ahead." Lin Yu pointed to an exceptionally dilapidated factory building in the rain, his tactical boots stepping into the murky puddles, splashing mud. "The 'Old Well' the Gravekeeper mentioned." ===== CHAPTER 263 =====