Chapter 285

"Project codename YA-001," Xiao Chengzhou's sunken eyes flashed with a strange, near-fanatical light. "I think you're more used to calling her… Xiao Ya, aren't you?"

Lin Yu's eyes moved slightly, but the gun barrel remained steady as a rock. "Why wait specifically for us?"

"Because I understand her father," Xiao Chengzhou's tone was terrifyingly calm, as if stating an established fact. "Zhou Weihong was a complete madman, but his plans, the backup plans he left behind, never truly failed. He long ago anticipated that one day, someone would come here with that special receiver, with that lost chip. I am just… a pre-set waiter."

Xuanyuan Qing raised her hand, trembling, holding that pitch-black 'brain' engraved with fine, hair-like runes in her palm: "This thing, plus you, can open the door to the B3 floor?"

Xiao Chengzhou slowly shook his head, the strange arc on his face deepening. "Not enough. Still need core biological sample authentication; simply put, need me to take you there, using my 'authority'."

Just then, the old radio speaker on the power room wall suddenly emitted a sharp burst of electronic static, followed by a slightly distorted, yet incredibly clear girl's voice, mixed with noise, breaking out of the speaker:

"Uncle Lin… Xuanyuan… don't… don't trust him! His… body… has been deeply… modified by the Ouroboros system…"

Lin Yu's pupils contracted violently!

The composed expression on Xiao Chengzhou's face collapsed like a mask! The corners of his mouth twitched violently, veins on his neck bulging, as if countless tiny insects were crawling frantically beneath his skin!

"Xiao Ya?!" Xuanyuan Qing gasped, her voice filled with unbelievable trembling.

"He isn't… Xiao Chengzhou… he's a shell… inside is… a monitoring thing for the 'Ouroboros'…"

Xiao Ya's voice, tearing through the electronic noise, drilled out of the old speaker, every word carrying barbs.

"He's stalling for time… waiting for… the scavengers…"

The deathly calm on Xiao Chengzhou's face cracked with a 'snap'.

Beneath the skin on his neck, something was squirming frantically, veins jumping.

The corners of his mouth pulled back, tearing into an arc that no longer belonged to a human, carrying a metallic friction quality.

"The little thing is quite sharp," the voice from his throat was flat and cold, like metal scraping glass. "Too bad, it's too late."

Lin Yu's gun barrel hadn't wavered at all.

Trigger pulled to the end.

"Bang!"

The bullet precisely drilled into Xiao Chengzhou's brow.

The body just wobbled.

From the hole in his forehead, there was no blood; what flowed out was a sticky, eerie blue-glowing substance.

"Organic synthetic body," the thing mocked. "Gun?"

"Can't kill you." Lin Yu replied dryly.

He reached back and slapped the last piece of pitch-black C4 onto the outer casing of the control lines beside him.

"But this thing can cut off your line."

Xiao Chengzhou's pupils, no longer human, contracted violently.

His entire body lunged at Lin Yu like a cannonball!

Moving so fast only a blur remained!

"Ugh!"

At the last moment, Xuanyuan Qing used all her remaining strength to slam the black 'brain' she held into a recessed slot on the control panel!

The panel instantly erupted in a ghostly green light!

Bang!

A heavy thud of flesh colliding.

Xiao Chengzhou's modified body slammed hard into Lin Yu, the impact force astonishing, the two of them instantly wrestling and rolling on the ground.

Lin Yu's arm muscles bulged, veins popping, pushing hard against that twisting, deforming face that kept drawing closer. A strong smell of disinfectant mixed with pungent machine oil rushed into his nasal cavity, nearly suffocating him. This thing's strength was unbelievable, the cold, non-human power transmitted through the contact point, making his bones creak.

"Ugh!" A suppressed groan came from Xuanyuan Qing's direction. The moment Xiao Chengzhou lunged, she had used her last bit of strength to lunge toward the control panel, slamming the black 'brain' into an inconspicuous slot on the panel!

"Click." A light sound, nearly drowned out by the sounds of the struggle.

The control panel erupted in a ghostly green light, the 'zizz' of electricity sounding suddenly, fine electric sparks jumping at the interface.

"Go!"

Lin Yu roared toward Xuanyuan Qing, his eyes bloodshot. His free hand reached toward the C4 detonator he'd slapped onto the line casing earlier, pressing it without a second thought!

Boom——!!!

The deafening explosion instantly swallowed everything!

Only a high-pitched, continuous ringing remained in his ears; he couldn't hear a thing. Scorching hot air waves mixed with rubble and metal fragments swept brutally through the narrow power room. The fragile walls collapsed, and broken cables on the ceiling exploded in clusters of blinding sparks, the choking smoke and burnt smell instantly filling his mouth, nose, and lungs.

The green light on the control panel flared brightly under the impact of the explosion, emitting a sharp electrical overload sound, then dimmed.

In the chaos of smoke and fire, a previously inconspicuous, well-disguised secret door on the side wall slid open inward with a heavy metallic friction sound, 'creak—', revealing a passage leading deeper into the darkness.

"Cough… cough cough…" Lin Yu coughed out a mouthful of blood-flecked phlegm, exerting force to shove aside the half-shattered body that was still twitching and oozing disgusting blue mucus.

He climbed up unsteadily, feeling as if his internal organs had been violently shaken, his lungs burning with pain, his vision blurred.

Xiao Chengzhou's remains were convulsing unconsciously on the ground, those mechanical eyeballs that hadn't been completely destroyed staring blankly and lifelessly toward the secret door.

"You… can't… save… her…" the broken, intermittent voice squeezed out from the rotting flesh. "She… long ago… wasn't… human… just a system… replica…"

Lin Yu spat out the blood in his mouth, didn't even look at the remains on the ground, hoisted the nearly unconscious Xuanyuan Qing, who was as soft as a puddle of mud, and dragged her into the secret door without hesitation.

"True or not, what the hell does it have to do with a piece of junk like you?"

Lin Yu's heavy breathing and cold, hard words were cut off behind the slowly closing door.

"That kid Xiaochuan said he wanted to save someone, so I'll accompany him, break through this ghost gate again, so what?"