Chapter 154: Beast Tide from the Heavens, the Light of Lingering Grace

Wooooo—! Wooooo—! Wooooo—!!!

The shrill alarm was like an invisible giant hammer, slamming brutally into Xiang Lingna and Wrench's hearts! The heavy metal ceiling overhead shook violently amid dull, thunderous crashes and skin-crawling scraping sounds! Every impact made the entire shelter space sway; every scrape felt like a giant beast's claws tearing at their nerves! Dust and rubble rained down like a dense downpour from the cracks and seams of the ceiling, instantly blanketing the floor in a thick layer.

"Up there! They're digging in!" Wrench screamed in terror, clutching his head as he dodged falling rocks.

Xiang Lingna's face went deathly pale. The sharp stabbing pain from the brand on her right arm and the devastating, maddening will pouring through it let her clearly sense the terrifying presence massing above! Those weren't scattered monsters—it was a beast tide! A corrupted frenzy, driven by the Doctor's will, powerful enough to crush everything!

"Move! Get out of here!" Xiang Lingna decided on the spot, snatching up the emergency data reader box connected to the backup hard drive and clutching it tightly to her chest. This was intelligence they had traded their lives for—she absolutely could not leave it behind! Her other hand gripped the jade shard tightly; the emerald glow lit up once more, painfully driving back the stabbing pain and dread brought by the brand.

"The exit! Where's the exit?!" Wrench looked around frantically, at a loss. The crack they had entered through was on the other side, but right now the entire space was shaking, rocks kept falling—going back the way they came was clearly unrealistic.

Xiang Lingna's gaze swept quickly across the control room. Her eyes suddenly locked on something behind the console—next to an alloy hatch sealed tight, covered in scorched-black cracks and oozing dark purple energy—there stood an unassuming little metal door painted dark red, with a running-man symbol painted on it!

Emergency evacuation passage!

"This way!" Xiang Lingna grabbed Wrench and stumbled toward the little door. Wrench used all his strength to turn the rotary valve on the door.

Creak—bang!

The heavy little metal door was pushed open, and a wave of even thicker, stale air rushed in. Behind the door was a narrow, steep metal staircase descending into the unknown depths, lit only by sparse emergency lamps on the walls casting a sickly green glow—like a corridor leading straight to hell. The stairs were coated in thick dust and dark purple moss, slick and treacherous.

"Down! Hurry!" Xiang Lingna stepped in without hesitation. Wrench followed right behind her, struggling to pull the little door shut again and slide the bolt home. The bolt's metal groaned amid the violent shaking, as if it might snap at any moment.

The instant the little door closed!

BOOM!!!!!!!

An unprecedented, terrifyingly massive roar erupted from above their heads! As if the heavens had collapsed and the earth had caved in! The entire shelter space seemed struck by a giant god's hammer and plunged downward in a single lurch! From the direction of the control room came the heart-stopping cacophony of metal twisting, tearing, and collapsing! The piercing alarm cut off abruptly!

Immediately after came a terrifying sound like a mountain flood bursting forth—countless heavy objects mixed with viscous liquid pouring down in a torrent! Accompanied by a more intense, nauseating stench of corrupted decay, it instantly filled the ventilation ducts and poured into the narrow stairwell!

The shelter's ceiling had been breached! The beast tide was pouring in like filthy floodwater!

"RUN!!!" Xiang Lingna and Wrench were scared out of their wits, scrambling and tumbling down the steep, slippery metal staircase! Behind them, the sounds of collapse, of heavy objects slamming down, and countless hair-raising noises—snarls, chewing, the squelching of slime—pursued them like a maggot clinging to bone! The entire stairwell shook violently; the emergency lamps on the walls flickered crazily, as if they might go out at any moment and plunge them into eternal darkness.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Wrench cursed as he half-climbed, half-slid downward on hands and feet, nearly tumbling down several times. Xiang Lingna paid no heed to her body's weakness and pain either; the instinct for survival drove her to squeeze out every last ounce of strength. The data reader box in her arms was unusually heavy, but she held it in a death grip.

She had no idea how long they had been sprinting downward; the staircase seemed endless. The terrifying sounds behind them had been pulled to some distance, but still hung over their heads like a suspended sword. The corrupted aura in the passage grew thicker and thicker; the air became viscous and burning hot. The brand on Xiang Lingna's right arm, stimulated by the intense corrupted environment, began to ache dully again, emitting a faint purple light, as if resonating with the beast tide above and the Doctor's will.

"Kid... no... can't... gasp... gasp for a sec..." Wrench leaned against the cold metal wall, his face turning blue-green, his lungs heaving like a bellows.

Xiang Lingna felt her legs leaden too, her heart pounding so hard it felt ready to explode. She stopped, tilting her head to listen. The sounds of collapse and the monsters' roars above seemed muffled and distant, blocked by thick layers of rock. Safe for now? But this oppressive, deathly silent environment was even more unnerving than facing the monsters.

The passage seemed to have reached its end. Ahead was no longer a descending staircase, but a relatively open platform. In the center of the platform sat quietly a strangely shaped vehicle.

It was covered entirely in thick, angular dark-gray armor, with rugged, sturdy lines—like a crouching steel giant tortoise. The body was far larger than any wasteland-modified vehicle Xiang Lingna had ever seen, with an extremely high chassis and six enormous load-bearing wheels sheathed in thick rubber (now severely aged and cracked). There was no turret on the roof; in its place sat a hemispherical observation dome covered in thick blast-proof glass, with what appeared to be complex instruments inside. The front of the vehicle jutted forward like a shovel blade, covered in dents from impacts. The body was covered in rust and scratches, coated in a thick layer of dust, but one could faintly make out some blurred white numbers and markings—a globe pattern torn by claws, with "07" and the word "Explorer" beneath it.

"A vehicle? There's actually a vehicle here?!" Wrench lunged at it as if he'd found a savior, frantically wiping the blast-proof glass of the cockpit with his sleeve. Behind the glass sat a dust-covered driver's seat and a complex instrument panel. "Shelter 07's exploration vehicle! What a find! Look at this armor! Look at this chassis! A wasteland god-tier treasure!"

He excitedly reached for the cockpit door handle.

It didn't budge.

"Locked solid!" Wrench panicked, prying at it with a metal rod. It produced a piercing scraping sound and left only a few white marks on the thick armor.

"Identity... needs authorization..." Xiang Lingna stared at the blurred "07" marking on the vehicle body and, almost on instinct, raised her identity badge again.

Hum!

The moment the identity badge approached an unassuming recognition area near the cockpit door lock, an extremely faint, almost dying-struggle-like sound of energy flowing came from inside the vehicle. The dust covering the recognition area was brushed aside by a weak energy field, revealing a clear slot outline beneath—exactly the size of Xiang Lingna's identity badge!

Xiang Lingna pressed the identity badge onto it without hesitation!

Click... zzzzt...

A series of old mechanical gear-turning sounds and short-circuiting electrical noises rang out. The cockpit's heavy armored door gave a soft "pfft," internal air pressure equalized, and slowly sprang open a crack!

"It's open!" Wrench was overjoyed, hauling the heavy door fully open with all his might. A wave of stale smell—machine oil, dust, and a faint whiff of corruption—rushed in.

The two scrambled quickly into the cockpit. The space was cramped, with only two dust-covered seats. Most of the complex instrument panel was dark and lifeless; only the edge of a circular screen in the center, coated in thick dust, lit up with an extremely faint green halo.

Wrench dropped into the driver's seat, excitedly slapping the steering wheel and instrument panel: "Start up! Start up now! Baby! Get us out of this hellhole!"

No response at all. The engine was dead silent.

"Out of energy?" Wrench's eyes went blank, as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped on him.

Xiang Lingna sat in the passenger seat, her gaze sweeping over the complex console. Her eyes fell on an unassuming, key-activated energy core activation slot below the main control screen. The slot was empty.

"Need a key... to activate the energy core..." Xiang Lingna's heart sank. Without a key, this "Explorer" was just a pile of scrap metal.

Just as the two were falling into despair, Xiang Lingna's gaze was drawn to a recess on the console in front of the passenger seat. The shape of that recess... matched exactly a protruding interface on the side of the emergency data reader box in her arms!

Her heart stirred, and she tried fitting the reader box into the recess.

Click.

A perfect fit.

Hmmmmm—!

The instant it slotted in, the entire console seemed infused with a spark of vitality! The dust-covered circular main screen in the center blazed to life! Though the brightness was low and it was full of snow and interference lines, a clean interface popped up:

【Emergency energy interface connecting...】

【Backup data core detected...】

【Explorer Vehicle—Sanitation System, Basic Sensors, Passive Defense Field—Emergency Mode Activated...】

【Main Propulsion Engine... Energy Core Missing... Unable to Start... Mobility Offline...】

【Warning: High-concentration corrupted energy erosion detected in external environment... Passive Defense Field strength continuously declining... Estimated duration: 12 hours 37 minutes...】

The screen's light illuminated Xiang Lingna and Wrench's disappointed faces. The only things that worked were the sanitation system (providing a pathetic bit of fresh-air circulation) and basic sensors? And a continuously decaying turtle-shell defense field? What use was that?

However, Xiang Lingna's gaze was drawn to a constantly flickering, noise-filled terrain scan map that had automatically popped up on the main screen. The map clearly showed their current position—a huge red dot deep underground (representing the shelter's remains)—and a winding, twisting blue dashed line extending from beneath their feet, labeled "Abandoned Maintenance Tunnel." The dashed line stretched all the way to the edge of the map, pointing to a location marked with a faintly flashing green signal tower icon! Beside it was a line of small text: 【Secondary Communications Relay—"Whistle"—(Status: Unknown)】.

"There's a path! And a comms station!" Hope reignited in Xiang Lingna's eyes! The Explorer couldn't move, but this map and the marked tunnel were their only way out! If they could reach that comms station, maybe... maybe they could contact Lin Mo's territory? Or send out a distress signal?

Just then!

Wooooo—!!!

A muffled, heart-chilling roar came from above again! Immediately followed by the dull thud of heavy objects slamming into the rock wall! The entire passage platform shook violently once more! Dust rained down.

"They've found a way down!" Wrench's face went deathly pale.

Almost simultaneously, a dense "pitter-patter" like hail drumming on sheet metal rang out against the exterior of the Explorer vehicle! Accompanied by a teeth-grinding "sizzle" of corrosion! On the main screen, the energy bar representing the passive defense field began to drop slowly, visibly to the naked eye!

The vanguard of the beast tide—the small, burrowing and climbing corrupted creatures—had already reached the outer perimeter of the platform! They were madly attacking and probing this last "turtle shell"! The defensive field could only block energy erosion and physical impacts, but it could not stop the sound and that ever-closer aura of death from seeping in!

The passive defensive field was like a fragile eggshell. Under the beast tide's frenzied assault and the environment's relentless corrosion, the energy bar was dropping slowly and steadily. The cold countdown on the screen 【Estimated Duration: 12 hours 21 minutes...】 was like a death warrant.

The path to survival was right there on the map before their eyes, but separated by this thick armor and an immobile vehicle, outside lay an endless, frenzied tide of death. They were trapped on this last steel island.

Xiang Lingna looked at the blue dotted line on the screen pointing toward the "Whistle" comm station, then looked at the dense, flickering crimson beast pupils in the darkness outside the vehicle window, and tightened her grip on the jade fragment. She had to find a way out! She had to charge into that tunnel before this "turtle shell" was gnawed through!