Chapter 284: Hunting

Inside the laboratory.

Xu Xiaochuan was soaked as if he had just been fished out of water; cold sweat had drenched his tattered school uniform, sticking to his body in a clammy, wet, and cold mess.

His hand was still pressed firmly against the sensor panel on the console that glowed with a faint blue luster, the burning pain from his fingertips growing stronger and stronger, the electric current drilling up his arm as if it wanted to bore into the gaps in his bones and burn him to ash from the inside out.

"There are... seventeen seconds left..." Xiao Ya's voice drifted in his mind, growing weaker and weaker, like a signal with poor reception, liable to be cut off completely at any moment, "The Authority... is about to disappear..."

Xu Xiaochuan gritted his teeth so hard his gums were about to bleed, his eyes fixed intently on the complex 3D structural map on the console. The red dots representing Lin Yu and Xuanyuan Qing were currently stopped within a constantly flashing area.

"Where have Lin Shu and the others reached?"

"B2 Level... Secondary Power Room..." Xiao Ya's virtual image distorted violently, as if being torn by an invisible force, her voice intermittent, "Someone... is approaching them... it's very dangerous..."

A burst of bone-chilling electric current, far stronger than before, surged up from Xu Xiaochuan's fingertips, violently tearing at his nerves.

He felt his consciousness being forcibly split in two—one half still painfully trapped in this sweat-drenched, trembling body; the other half uncontrollably following that blue-glowing sensor panel, seeping like a ghost into the vast and cold electronic veins of the Observatory.

Through this bizarre and intense Connection, he vaguely "saw" the scene in the B2 Level power room—not with his eyes, but through the fragmented information flow fed back by the countless sensors within the building.

He "felt" Lin Yu's cold gun barrel aimed directly at a stranger, and Xuanyuan Qing's precarious vital signs, like a flickering candle in the wind, pulsing weakly amidst the complex Data Stream.

"Who... can be trusted?" Xiao Ya's voice carried an unprecedented urgency.

"What did you 'see'? What exactly is that person?" Veins bulged on Xu Xiaochuan's forehead, and cold sweat rolled down his cheeks, dripping onto the cold floor.

"He has Authority... B3 Level... biological lock..." Xiao Ya responded intermittently, her voice struggling to pass through the chaotic electronic noise, "But he... is not entirely human... his body has been... deeply modified..."

The timer in the corner of the console ticked mercilessly—eight seconds left, and the temporarily acquired Authority would disappear completely!

"Quick! Tell them, don't trust that guy surnamed Xiao!" Xu Xiaochuan gritted his teeth, his voice hoarse.

Xiao Ya's virtual image was like a candle in the wind, flickering violently, almost on the verge of collapsing: "Cannot... contact directly... need... more energy..."

Xu Xiaochuan's bloodshot eyes swept rapidly across the control room, his gaze suddenly locking onto a row of power distribution panels with flashing indicator lights on the right wall.

"That! Can that provide more energy?" He pointed fiercely with his chin.

Xiao Ya's image seemed to freeze for a moment, as if performing rapid calculations, "Dangerous... high-energy access will trigger... Main System multiple... defense alarms... even... Self-Destruct Program..."

"Screw the self-destruct!" A beast-like low growl erupted from Xu Xiaochuan's throat, his lungs feeling as if they were about to burst from shouting, "I promised to get you out! I can't just watch Lin Shu and the others die!"

He swung his hand violently, ignoring the excruciating pain from the hand still pressed against the sensor panel, grabbed a heavy metal instrument stand nearby, and with all his might, smashed it against the locked power distribution panel!

"Clang—!" With a deafening boom, the metal latch shattered upon impact, and sparks flew everywhere.

Xu Xiaochuan didn't even care about his arm, which was numb from the recoil and possibly already fractured, and yanked open the twisted and deformed panel door, revealing the dense, spiderweb-like complex circuits and rows of red and green switches inside.

"Which one? Tell me!"

Xiao Ya's virtual image was already so disordered it was almost unrecognizable, her voice like shattered glass: "Red... main power access... third from the left... but it will... immediately trigger the highest... alarm..."

Xu Xiaochuan's finger hovered over that conspicuous red switch without hesitation. Just before Xiao Ya's image disappeared completely due to energy fluctuations and her voice cut off abruptly, he used his last ounce of strength and pressed it down hard!

"Click!"

The lights in the entire room instantly fell into a frantic flicker, alternating between light and dark, and a piercing, shrill alarm sound, far sharper than any before, swept through the entire space like a tsunami, making one's eardrums ache!

The pale blue liquid in the Life Support Pod surged violently, as if boiling; inside the pod, Xiao Ya's withered and thin real body's fingers twitched suddenly—the movement was tiny, but real.

Almost at the same time, on the console, Xiao Ya's virtual image, which had been on the verge of collapse, suddenly solidified, becoming clearer than ever before, a hint of luster appearing in her hollow eyes, and her voice suddenly became loud and powerful, though it still carried the texture of electronic synthesis:

"Xi Tong Qiang Zhi Chong Qi! Emergency power mode activated! Taking over B District broadcast lines!"

All the screens on the console lit up instantly, the images clear and stable. Next to the red dot representing Lin Yu and Xuanyuan Qing, the stranger Xiao Chengzhou, who had previously been just a normal marker, was now flashing with a blinding yellow warning!

"Now! Can you contact them?" Xu Xiaochuan braced his hands on the cold console, swaying, blood dripping from his fingertips onto the floor, blooming into tiny flowers of blood.

"Yes, but there is only a seven-minute window," Xiao Ya's voice responded quickly and calmly, "After seven minutes, the Life Support System will forcibly shut down the main consciousness connection due to lack of oxygen."

"Then tell them!" Xu Xiaochuan bared his teeth, his smile carrying a reckless madness, "That guy named Xiao Chengzhou is no good! Tell him to get lost!"

——

On B2 Level, inside the Secondary Power Room, the atmosphere was tense to the extreme; the air seemed to have solidified.

Lin Yu's gun barrel remained motionless, locked firmly onto the center of Xiao Chengzhou's brow. Xiao Chengzhou, however, maintained that bizarrely relaxed posture, as if the pitch-black gun barrel before him were merely a toy.

"Don't play dumb, damn it," Lin Yu's voice was cold enough to scrape off ice shards, "This godforsaken place has been abandoned for thirty years, and you're the only one left alive? Where are the others? Did they all evaporate, damn it?"

Xiao Chengzhou tilted his head slightly, the movement minimal, yet carrying an inhuman, gear-turning stiffness, "They all left, or rather, they remained in another way. Only I was given the mission to stay behind and look after 'her'."

"Her?" Xuanyuan Qing leaned against the cold wall, forcing herself to stay awake, catching every word.