Chapter 266: Glimmer in the Ashes

"First one!"

He grabbed a horizontal pipe overhead, using the momentum to swing, his body drawing an arc in the air, dodging two intersecting energy beams by a hair's breadth, and landing steadily on the platform where the first node was located with a forward roll.

The cyborgs' bullets hit the spot where he had just landed, sparking a few times.

He threw the detector with all his might, hitting the energy conduit interface of the node squarely!

"Bang!"

The detector shattered, the chaotic energy accumulated inside instantly surging into the conduit, colliding violently with the node's own energy flow.

Choking black smoke rose from the interface, and the originally stable red light began to flash frantically, flickering on and off.

That huge flesh-and-blood computer twitched violently, as if struck in the heart by a heavy hammer.

"System fluctuation, Node 1 damaged. Upload progress hindered."

In the cockpit, Zhou Weihong's digital image lagged significantly, the data flow showing visible disorder. He let out a roar like an electrical short circuit: "Don't touch those nodes!"

Xiao Chengzhou's face changed, immediately understanding their goal, and no longer tangled with Lin Yu. He exerted force with his feet, lunging toward Xu Xiaochuan, his speed astonishing!

But Lin Yu blocked him a step faster, his white hair moving without wind, every strand sharp.

"Your opponent is me." Lin Yu's voice was low, carrying a suppressed rage.

Xiao Chengzhou's mechanical arm clicked several times, deforming into three claws flashing with ghostly blue light: "You can't stop true evolution."

The two collided violently again, the sound of Void energy bursting and metal skeleton friction mixing, a strong smell of ozone and something burning permeating the air.

Taking advantage of this gap, Xu Xiaochuan ran toward the second node.

The receiver on his back burned fiercely, the resonance with the core growing stronger, like an invisible thread pulling at him.

Energy tentacles whistled toward him, only to be tightly wrapped and severed by a few strands of white hair Lin Yu had split off in time.

"Hurry up!" Xuanyuan Qing's voice came, and she once again created small-scale energy interference, causing the other cyborgs who had surrounded them to fall into system chaos temporarily.

Xu Xiaochuan leaped onto a pipe covered in condensation, his arm burned by the high-temperature steam leaking from the pipe interface, the pain excruciating.

He winced, but his movements didn't stop for a second.

The connection valve of the cooling pipe was right before his eyes!

He gathered all his strength and kicked hard at the fragile connection!

"Clang!"

A harsh metal breaking sound rang out, low-temperature coolant gushing out like a fountain, rapidly vaporizing in the high-temperature environment.

A large expanse of white steam instantly filled the air, and the flesh-and-blood core twitched even more violently, the light on its surface flickering, as if it would extinguish at any moment.

"Node 2 damaged, cooling system failed, core temperature exceeds limit."

"No! Just a little bit more! Just a little bit more!" In the cockpit, Zhou Weihong's image twisted beyond recognition, his voice becoming sharp and piercing due to data distortion. "My research! My Lin!"

The flesh membrane on the surface of the biological core writhed violently, like an enraged beast, releasing even more violent and chaotic energy shocks.

Those energy tentacles lost control completely, no longer having a clear target, but lashing out wildly at everything around them, even failing to spare the cyborgs under Xiao Chengzhou.

The entire underground space was shaking violently, stones and metal parts falling from the ceiling, as if it would collapse completely in the next second.

"Third one!" Lin Yu roared during the fierce fight, his white hair wrapping around a thick pipe shaken loose, swinging it and smashing it toward Xiao Chengzhou, forcibly winning a gap for Xu Xiaochuan.

The position of the third node was the trickiest, hidden at the very top of the core, with a boiling, high-heat energy pool beneath it.

Xu Xiaochuan looked up, having no time to hesitate, grabbing a swaying cable overhead, and using the momentum of the swing to swing toward the target in the gaps of the violent energy rampage.

The cable couldn't bear the weight halfway and snapped with a "pop"!

Weightlessness struck! Xu Xiaochuan reacted extremely quickly, kicking hard at a protruding metal wall, his body forcibly rising a notch, his fingertips barely catching another slightly thicker pipe, his arm muscles instantly taut, nearly about to be torn.

The third node was within reach.

It was clearly different from the first two, its structure more complex, the surface flashing not only with dangerous red light, but also with a strange, water-like rippling pattern, emitting indescribable emotional fluctuations.

This was the key node connecting the core's emotional module!

Xu Xiaochuan pressed his palm hard against the cold metal surface of the node.

The receiver on his back resonated instantly with it, the blue light blazing like fire, nearly about to ignite his clothes!

At that moment, countless memory fragments rushed into his mind like a bursting dam:

His old man's slightly hunched back as he busied himself in the smoke-filled kitchen.

His clumsy movements as he treated his wounds, careful yet carrying a hint of annoyance.

That bag of sugar-fried chestnuts, piping hot in his hands, sweet and glutinous when peeled.

Xuanyuan Qing holding his hand in the data flow, a flash of rare, imperceptible warmth in those eyes that were always calm and waveless.

Lin Yu standing before them, his back as solid as a mountain, never taking a step back no matter how the storm raged.

These most ordinary, most real memories, these purest, most direct emotions, poured into the third node without reservation through the scorching receiver!

"System anomaly! Emotional module interfered with by unknown high-intensity emotional waveform! Unknown code activated!"

The counter-code hidden by Zhou Lin in the deepest part of the system, using Xu Jianhua's bloodline as a key, was completely awakened by this near-brutal emotional shock from Xu Xiaochuan!

The violently vibrating biological computer core suddenly became eerily calm.

Those wildly dancing energy tentacles stopped their brutality, slowly retracting into the core.

The blinding blue light on the surface of the core gradually faded, replaced by a soft, warm white light. The light was no longer scorching, but carried a power that soothed the heart.

A gentle, slightly exhausted female voice echoed softly in the empty underground space, clearly reaching everyone's ears:

"Weihong, enough, stop."

In the cockpit, Zhou Weihong's digital image froze completely, as if pressed by a pause button. The expression on his face turned from manic rage to disbelief, finally settling into a kind of terror originating from the depths of his soul.

"Lin? Is it really you? Lin?"

"It's me, Weihong, it's always been me," the gentle voice continued, carrying a sigh. "You took the wrong path. Xiao Ya... wouldn't want to see you become like this."

"Upload process forcibly interrupted. System core beginning reorganization." ===== CHAPTER 267 =====