Chapter 333

The guard guarding the door moved!

He moved without any warning, like a lurking viper.

His body lunged forward violently!

The target wasn't the manager, nor Liu Chengfeng!

It was Xuanyuan Qing on the stretcher bed in the corner, still unconscious and completely defenseless!

A cold light flashed in his hand—a military dagger glinting with blue light, stabbing straight at Xuanyuan Qing's throat!

"Watch out!" Xu Xiaochuan roared, but it was too late!

Lin Yu didn't even stand up!

He sat on the ground, his body exerting force violently, kicking precisely at the edge of the metal medical tray beside him!

Clang!

The tray slid rapidly across the floor, crashing into the inner shin of the mole who had rushed over!

The guard was well-trained and had a stable stance, so this didn't make him fall, but the momentum of his charge was violently halted, his body stiffening for a fraction of a second!

Just this fraction of a second!

Xu Xiaochuan lunged like a mad little beast!

He didn't care about anything, using all his strength to hug the mole's thigh tightly!

The mole hadn't been prepared, and was dragged by this brute force, groaning in his throat as his body lost balance.

The trajectory of the dagger shifted, grazing Xuanyuan Qing's neck and leaving a teeth-grinding scratch on the alloy stretcher!

Opportunity!

Lin Yu forcibly suppressed the churning blood and the tearing pain of his wounds.

His body leaned in, his left hand's five fingers forming a claw, precisely hooking the wrist of the mole holding the knife, his fingertips exerting force!

A faint, crisp sound came from the mole's wrist bone, and the dagger flew from his hand, landing with a "clang."

At the same time, Lin Yu's right hand formed a knife with his fingers, pointing like lightning at a hidden numbing acupoint on the side of the mole's neck!

The mole's body felt as if its bones had been pulled out, instantly collapsing softly to the ground, his eyeballs rolling back, completely losing consciousness.

All this happened terrifyingly fast; in the blink of an eye, the crisis was resolved.

Xu Xiaochuan was still hugging the mole's leg tightly, gasping for air, his face covered in sweat and lingering fear.

Liu Chengfeng stood there in a daze, mouth agape, not closing it for a long time.

The manager reacted extremely quickly, stepping forward a few paces and ruthlessly pressing several acupoints on the unconscious guard's body, completely locking his ability to move.

Only then did he squat down and begin to search him roughly.

Soon, he found a micro-communicator and a vial of strange-colored fast-acting poison in the lining of the guard's combat suit.

"Speak! Who sent you? How many more 'Ouroboros' people are hidden in the Liu family?" The manager grabbed a bottle of cold water from the side and splashed it directly onto the mole's face.

The mole was jolted awake by the cold water, coughed a few times, and seeing he had been subdued, a look of despair flashed across his face.

Immediately, he gritted his teeth, wanting to bite the poison sac hidden in his teeth!

The manager had been prepared, grabbing his chin and twisting it hard!

With a "crack," his jaw was dislocated, preventing him from committing suicide.

"Code name!" The manager's voice was cold as ice.

The mole whimpered, his eyes full of resentment, but he couldn't speak.

"Viper." Lin Yu spoke for him, his voice exhausted but very clear.

"'Ouroboros' pawn planted in the Liu family, responsible for passing information, and at critical moments... clearing obstacles, or providing support."

The manager raised his head to look at Lin Yu, for the first time having a sense of inquiry beyond gravity.

At this moment, the communication panel on the wall flashed again, transmitting a slightly exhausted but steady voice: "Manager, the attackers have all retreated, and the west wall breach has been sealed. Our side... suffered thirty-seven casualties, fifteen seriously wounded."

The secret room was deathly silent.

The Liu family had repelled the enemy, but at a heavy price.

In the heavy silence, an especially light moan sounded.

Everyone stopped their movements, looking in unison toward the stretcher in the corner.

Xuanyuan Qing's long eyelashes fluttered a few times, and she slowly opened her eyes.

Those eyes were blank and empty at first, as if she had just struggled out of the abyss.

Slowly, her focus began to condense.

Her gaze swept over everyone in the secret room, passing over Lin Yu's exhausted face, the manager's cold side profile, and Liu Chengfeng's lingering fear.

Finally, it settled on Xu Xiaochuan, who was still sitting on the ground, looking utterly disheveled.

The feeling was very complex—there was the weakness of surviving a disaster, an indescribable confusion, and a strange resonance that seemed to cross something.

Her cracked lips moved, as if wanting to say something.

The voice was thin as a thread, intermittent, every word seeming to exhaust her last bit of strength.

"You... on your body..."

She lifted her hand laboriously, pointing vaguely toward the position on Xu Xiaochuan's back.

"... mark..."

Xu Xiaochuan's whole body tensed violently.

The skin on his back instantly became terrifyingly hot—not the burning pain from before, but a scorching heat that felt like it was piercing into his bones!

Xuanyuan Qing's breathing became rapid, and saying these few words nearly drained her.

"... resonance... is... part of the key...?"

Key?

These two words struck like a heavy hammer against their hearts; in the secret room, everyone except the unconscious mole changed their expressions.

Lin Yu had been leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, forcibly enduring the churning weakness in his body, but upon hearing this, he opened his eyes violently.

He struggled to sit straight, the wounds tugging with excruciating pain, and sweat immediately appeared on his temples.

He moved to the side of the stretcher, his voice very light, afraid of disturbing her, but the urgency couldn't be hidden.

"Miss Qing, you're awake. YA-001, what exactly is it?"

He leaned over, his fingers gently resting on her pulse, which was so weak it was nearly imperceptible, while simultaneously transferring a bit of extremely faint but pure internal energy to help her hang on to that breath.

"Your father, Dr. Xuanyuan, what exactly did he discover?"

Xuanyuan Qing's consciousness seemed a bit clearer, but her gaze was still scattered, her memories like a shattered mirror that couldn't be put back together.

Her brows knitted tightly, and she tried desperately to think.

"YA... 001... is not... not a thing..." Her breathing was very difficult. "It is... the shell... of the heart... the energy core..."

Shell? Carrier? Lin Yu's heart skipped a beat.

"Then what about the 'key'?" He urged, "Is it used to open the core? Or does it control the core?"

"... the key... is... the life gate..." Xuanyuan Qing's voice was even smaller. "Open... control... authority... shattered... shattered into... several pieces..."

She gasped rapidly, water droplets falling from the corners of her eyes.

"Dad... he discovered... they were... building... monsters... wanted... wanted to take me away... was..."

Before she could finish, she began to cough violently, her face, which had just shown a bit of blood color, rapidly turning gray and defeated again, and her eyes closed.

Lin Yu quickly withdrew his internal energy, not daring to stimulate her further.

But these few intermittent words were enough to piece together a contour that made one's scalp tingle.

YA-001 was the carrier of some kind of energy core, and that "key" was the authority to activate and control it, and it had been split into several parts!

The mark on Xu Xiaochuan's back, and the chip burning in his pocket, were likely part of the "key"! It was a backup plan left behind by Dr. Xuanyuan!

The manager stood on the side, not making a sound, but heard every word clearly.