Chapter 194: Insufficient, Insufficient, Insufficient

Luo Sanlin had been on missions with Lv Ping and had spoken with him, but they could basically only be considered acquaintances.

Even so, upon learning from Liu Mu that the thing covered in a layer of ice was Lv Ping, he still found it somewhat hard to accept.

Of course, this was also because he had never seen what Xu Xiaofeng looked like as a plant, and he had only heard Liu Mu mention the black lizard.

People turning into animals, or other forms of life, was truly something beyond the cognition of peaceful people.

"How do I communicate with it? Just speak directly?"

Seeing that Liu Mu's complexion had not improved for a long time, Luo Sanlin was very worried. "Let them take you to a warm place first; I will do the questioning."

Liu Mu leaned against Luo Sanlin's chest, keeping her eyes closed the whole time, her body temperature still frighteningly cold.

"No," after a long while, she slowly opened her eyes, but no pupils could be seen in the opened eyes; seemingly aware of her own changes, Liu Mu's voice was pressed extremely low, "Don't be afraid, don't make a sound, I still need five minutes."

Those eyes—it was less that the eyeballs were invisible, and more that the eyes were glowing, as if two light bulbs were embedded in the flesh of the eye sockets, white as a sheet.

Even though he had already seen quite a few mutated animals and plants, and there was an oval-shaped Lv Ping right in front of him, Liu Mu's pair of eyes still made Luo Sanlin feel a slight chill in his heart.

"You are..." Thoughts racing, Luo Sanlin raised his hand to cover Liu Mu's eyes, which were clearly no longer those of an ordinary human, "Rest, recover first."

Liu Mu's frozen face could barely move, but it twitched slightly, "Okay, thank you."

—"New Human Complete Form, sole defect: unable to survive long-term in extreme cold or extreme heat environments. If biological body temperature remains above or below the survival range of homeothermic animals by 15°C for a prolonged period, it will result in death."

This time, she had truly experienced it.

Even the newly implanted layer of Hydraulic Membrane and the energy directional device in her abdomen did not have the effect of stabilizing body temperature; what she hadn't expected was that, at the final moment, it was actually the tattoo rolled out by the Life Dice that saved her life.

For a moment, she also had a new doubt: if she were to die in long-term extreme cold or extreme heat, could she still be reborn?

Or, as the system warned—it would result in death.

After all, after the system crashed, even the 100% Self-healing Ability went offline; whether the rebirth ability could be used was a question mark.

The first part to regain sensation was the arm where the Life Dice was located.

Warmth—she had never felt such comfortable warmth!

It was as if, after being fished out of an icy lake, she had fallen into warm water; that was the kind of feeling that could melt a person's heart.

In this sensation, Liu Mu not only regained her body temperature, but the fear of death deep in her consciousness was also dissipating; that was the chill of her past life's death dissolving.

With this realization, she finally understood the meaning of the so-called "Growth and Hope Flower."

It was also only at this moment that she felt she had truly been reborn, from body to mind, completely bidding farewell to her past life and becoming a true, new life form.

【System initializing. Initialization complete. Current initialization scope: 10%. Energy replenishing. Replenishment complete. Current replenishment progress: 15%.】

【Host base insufficient, system integrity insufficient, operating energy insufficient, operating components insufficient, operating space insufficient...】

The chaotic sounds were like being tied to an electric drill, frantically boring into Liu Mu's brain; the comfort she had just obtained vanished instantly.

【A pile of "insufficient," Heitao A, you truly live up to being a useless, moronic system.】

Liu Mu moved, only to discover she was still being held by a warm person.

"Awake?"

"Mm," Liu Mu climbed up and stretched, "I'm fine, let's handle the real business."

At this moment, her voice full of "insufficient" ended with the final sentence—【System ID: 000, Codename: Heitao A, initialization complete.】

This system had slipped up again; Liu Mu didn't complain, just acting as if she hadn't noticed.

Her decisive rising made Luo Sanlin, who had been holding her the whole time, feel a bit unaccustomed; he exercised his somewhat sore and weak arms and stood up as well.

The others were already busy with their own tasks at Xu Xiaofeng's request. Seeing Liu Mu stand up, she stepped forward to look her over and touched her forehead, "Finally, there's some warmth; you scared me to death!"

For nearly an hour, Xu Xiaofeng had to look after the Split Body while constantly checking on Liu Mu's condition, walking back and forth who knows how many dozens of times.

If it weren't for Liu Mu saying she couldn't eat and seemed to be asleep, she would have gone to get some hot soup for her regardless of the cost.

"I'm fine," Liu Mu grasped Xu Xiaofeng's hand; her body temperature was already slightly higher than the other's, "It has to stay here for a while; the temperature in the sea is too low, it can't go back."

"What exactly is this thing? I talked to it and it didn't answer; it hasn't frozen to death, has it?"

Xu Xiaofeng grew up by the sea and had seen countless marine creatures, but she had never seen an octopus like this. Liu Mu said it was Lv Ping—well, even Xu Xiaofeng couldn't understand this kind of Mutation; could it be... that Mutated Animals and plants couldn't communicate?

She was puzzled, then followed behind Liu Mu.

"It's a part separated from Lv Ping after his Mutation. He must have received some news at sea and wanted to tell us, but ended up trapped by the Cold Wave."

When Liu Mu spoke, her tone was steady and her expression relaxed, as if the coldness and murderous aura that had accumulated in her for half a lifetime had vanished.

Just, very peaceful, like a kind old grandmother.

Ever since that incident, Xu Xiaofeng had been very sensitive, not just in her senses, but also in her perception of atmosphere and other people's auras. Although Liu Mu was the family member she and her younger brother trusted most, the icy killing intent that could erupt from the latter at any time, and that lack of emotion after killing many people, were still very obvious.

Liu Mu placed her hand on the Split Body; it felt cold to the touch, but it was already at the normal body temperature of a living creature.

Heitao A had become much more proactive after this reboot, directly providing the analysis results, showing that the Split Body's condition was stable but it could not communicate directly externally.

"I clearly heard it calling out earlier; was it an auditory hallucination?"

【It is a connection residue. Residual duration to be determined.】

This didn't need explaining; Liu Mu could understand it—it was about finding the Shuidianzhan a few days ago.

"Big Sister, I'm going in for a moment, you all wait outside. It's a bit weak and can't speak directly."

Following the same method as last time, Liu Mu entered the interior of the Split Body from the same position, and sure enough, she could hear Lv Ping's voice.

"Lv Ge, how are you now?"

Lv Ping's voice still sounded as if it were behind glass, only this time the volume was lower and carried a sense of weakness.

"I got into a fight with someone, a big clam shell; good heavens, it really had me confused."

Lv Ping was originally a northerner; his accent wasn't as soft as the south, but rather had the forthrightness of the north.

Hearing this, it clearly wasn't an ordinary fight, but Lv Ping seemed to be describing it as an insignificant trifle.

"I suppose I won. That's not what I wanted to say. There are icebergs on the sea, good heavens, and not just one or two. Looking from underwater, they are rolling and undulating, just like hills. Do you understand what I mean?"

"How large is the range, and where are they heading?" Liu Mu certainly understood, but with Lv Ping reporting the news so urgently, she had a bad premonition.

"I made a rough calculation; they should hit Haicheng in three to four days. You all should hurry up and evacuate now; I swam for thirteen hours and didn't see the end of them. The temperature was too low, so I had to find a gap to enter the deep sea."

"So big!" Liu Mu was numb, but her mindset was alright for the moment, "How much of that iceberg do you estimate the current waves can push ashore?"

"That's really hard to say, we aren't professionals," Lv Ping didn't just spout off; with the lives of tens of thousands of people in the Haicheng Barrier at stake, as a former soldier who had protected his country, he wouldn't joke about such things.

"Alright, I'll think of a way," Liu Mu's life and livelihood were all in Haicheng; others could evacuate, but she really didn't want to leave, "The underground Barrier should be able to provide temporary shelter. As long as Haicheng isn't submerged, we can pull through."

"Are you really going to take the risk?" Lv Ping didn't blindly try to dissuade her; he had asked in detail before when he heard Liu Mu say Haicheng was building underground works, "The floods for over half a year didn't submerge Haicheng, if it freezes into ice now, perhaps... you really aren't leaving?"

One could hear the undisguised fear in Lv Ping's words, but as someone who was living through it a second time, Liu Mu also knew that although this Extreme Cold was severe, it would only remain on the surface.

In her memory, those icebergs didn't directly strike the Haicheng area, but rather a place further south, a county adjacent to Haicheng. Liu Mu didn't remember the name; she had just happened to return from an outside mission to collect supplies at that time.

Under the Extreme Cold, quite a few people died too; Liu Mu pondered the timing, it seemed to be in these last few days.

"I will have everyone stay off the surface for the next few days. Lv Ge, how are your injuries?"

"A bit heavy, hiss, are you fishing for information from me?" Lv Ping changed the subject before he even realized it, but his stubbornness remained, "You all take good care of yourselves, leave this Split Body with you for easy contact."

Liu Mu had originally thought of this point, but, "Won't leaving it like this affect you?"

"The impact isn't big, but it also needs to eat. Avoid spicy food, otherwise follow human food. Three meals a day."

Liu Mu:... "Alright, can I have my eldest sister keep in contact with you? You know, I'm very busy."

Regarding who to contact, Lv Ping didn't have much of an opinion, only one point: they must be reliable and able to keep his secrets.

Xu Xiaofeng basically met all the requirements; after Liu Mu came out, she spoke with her eldest sister about the feeding and daily contact for the Split Body.

Xu Xiaofeng didn't find this strange; after all, it was a living thing, it couldn't just be left alone.

"What about the sea?"

"About that, I'll tell everyone in a moment, I'll go check on the underground residential area while I'm at it."

Of course, the underground architecture couldn't all be used for housing people; there were other functional areas, especially the constant-temperature warehouses for storing food, which were the key protected areas.

The group gathered together again, and Liu Mu used a 3D map to divide and display the major areas to everyone, and arranged the person in charge for each area.

"Do you want to find the people working under you yourselves, or should I arrange it here?"

Liu Mu spoke extremely fast, and everyone heard the urgency in her tone.

"We all have some people of our own, we can arrange it within today. Please rest assured, we will try our best to utilize the personnel and won't waste the group's supplies."

This was said by Liu Fugui; he was the oldest and had always been in charge of the group's personnel, so there was basically no problem with him saying it.

"Good, you can find my eldest sister for the maps later," Liu Mu put away the projection, her expression becoming increasingly serious, "Next, let's talk about serious business. A group of icebergs has appeared at sea, we must prepare to meet the iceberg impact at the fastest speed..."

The news of the iceberg hills was almost beyond the imagination of the people present; they had no idea what that concept meant.

At this moment, Hong, who had been listening quietly, suddenly spoke, "Although it cannot compare to tectonic plate collisions, it will definitely cause tsunamis and earthquakes. Without specific data, we cannot calculate the magnitude. Of course, there is also the Extreme Cold brought by the icebergs. That's right, it is Extreme Cold, not a Cold Wave."

"At the current temperature, once the icebergs run aground on the continental shelf, they are more likely to rush onto land, and the seawater won't be able to take them away."

"Won't be able to take them away, what does that mean?" Cai Zhenlong was almost the deputy manager at the Mine, and had some right to speak at this time, "Does that mean we can only go to the surface after they have all melted?"

"I don't know about the rest, but once there is a head-on collision, the Haicheng Barrier and the area where the group is located will be directly crushed by the icebergs." Hong's subordinates didn't just include the Mutation Laboratory, but also some other talents, and these people were all snatched by Liu Mu after being carefully selected by the Sky Viper.

Liu Mu was quite moved for a moment seeing the little boy speak so logically; she thanked the Sky Viper for its selfless gift of carefully selected talent!

The others didn't have her leisure; several people couldn't help but start whispering to each other.

"Fortunately, the Barrier and the group have underground passages and exits far from the coast, so everyone doesn't need to worry too much," Luo Sanlin encouraged everyone, "As long as we look out for each other, plus the support from the General Command, we will definitely be able to survive this disaster!"

"That's right, at least everyone isn't a scattered mess, and there is an underground place to live." Li Gang nodded. As the construction manager-in-chief of the group's Headquarters and a construction consultant for the Haicheng Barrier, his admiration for Liu Mu had reached its peak at this moment.

"Boss, thanks to you! If everyone were living on the surface, who knows how many people would die from this impact."

"Don't be happy too soon," Liu Mu shook her head slightly, but she was in no mood to boast, "For all areas, the top priority is waterproofing and drainage. I will have the Barrier manage this uniformly, no sloppiness allowed."

The meeting lasted no more than a quarter of an hour in total; Liu Mu didn't like to talk nonsense, especially in this kind of urgent situation.

Even if the icebergs might not directly strike Haicheng, one shouldn't fear the ten thousand, but the one in ten thousand. What if things turned out differently than in her previous life?

The defense of the group's Headquarters was fully managed by Li Gang, personnel by Liu Fugui, with Xu Xiaofeng assisting them from the side and responsible for monitoring every location.

The surface was too cold, so Liu Mu and Luo Sanlin went underground to the Barrier.

It was just that the passage hadn't been opened for long, and there weren't enough materials for internal finishing, so they could only walk.

Fortunately, the mud floor was relatively flat, and the overall height exceeded three meters; plus, there were voice-activated emergency lights every so often, so it didn't affect their speed.

And to complete these projects, besides Xu Xiaofeng's roots scouting the path in advance and the talents and machines brought down from the Sky Viper's ship, the most important Shield Tunneling Machine was sent by the General Command.

Liu Mu had submitted the perfect construction plan here, and Yang Shuo had exerted his influence there; the General Command was quite generous, and four Shield Tunneling Machines were delivered in less than half a month.

Of course, only two of the four were allocated to Haicheng, and the other two were given to other Bases respectively.

Other Bases, this was Liu Mu's biggest headache at the moment.

Of course, there weren't only two other Bases; there were very few that would listen and build underground works, even if it was just a sturdy shelter.

As for the rest, Liu Mu hadn't had time to deal with them yet; she only hoped the Extreme Cold wouldn't kill them all off.

As long as Liu Mu was willing, the group's Headquarters could be her one-woman show, but at the Haicheng Barrier, every time she held a meeting, she had the urge to just 'gun down' these old fogies.