Chapter 225: Glimmer of Choice and the Abyss's Call

The roar of the assault boat's engines was like a predator's shriek, piercing through the thin energy membrane and echoing clearly above the dead silence of the Abyss of Destruction. Several cold scanning beams swept brazenly across the wreckage of the observation platform like searchlights, passing over Xiang Lingna and the unconscious Sister Ai Li several times — they had clearly been spotted.

A desperate situation! A truly desperate situation!

The sliver of hope that had just been kindled by Lin Mo's faint thread of intent was instantly crushed to dust by this cold reality. Xiang Lingna's heart plunged as though into an abyss of ice, making even breathing unbearably difficult. The searing pain from her severed right arm and the injuries across her body now felt numb, leaving only boundless despair and cold.

What could she do? What could she possibly do? Sister Ai Li unconscious, herself gravely wounded and crippled, Zero destroyed, Grona missing, Brother Lin Mo unable to save himself, and Sister Priestess Liyana having just woken — what could she possibly do? Facing the fully armed, battle-ready elite Dr. forces, they didn't even a shred of strength to resist.

Could it be… was it really going to end here? All the effort, all the sacrifices, in the end earning nothing but futility and capture?

Xiang Lingna's gaze swept over the Abyss of Destruction below, still churning with black-purple energy and spatial turbulence, then lifted to the assault boats circling overhead like vultures. Falling into Dr.'s hands would likely be a fate worse than death. Perhaps… jumping down, melting into that maelstrom of destructive energy, would be a cleaner release?

The thought coiled around her heart like a venomous snake.

Just as she had lost all hope and was even beginning to shift her body downward, the faint green glow at the broken stump of her right-arm crystal — that nearly extinguished ember — stubbornly flickered once more! This time, the flicker was clearer, and it carried a faint yet strangely familiar warmth — the unique aura of Sister Priestess Liyana's natural energy!

At the same time, Lin Mo's broken, intermittent thread of intent struggled once again through layer upon layer of obstruction, slightly clearer than before:

【…energy…connection…stabilized…a little…Liyana…can sense…you…】【…don't give up…downward…is not the end…】【…in the abyss…there is…an emergency escape route…not completely destroyed…the entrance…was torn open…by the explosion…】

Downward? An emergency escape route? Xiang Lingna froze, staring in disbelief at the apocalyptic scene below. How could a place like that still hold a path to survival?

But Brother Lin Mo and Sister Priestess Liyana wouldn't deceive her! The flicker of that lingering green glow confirmed it as well!

But… what about Sister Ai Li? She was unconscious, and with her own hand crippled, there was no way to take her down together!

The assault boats above seemed to have finished their scan and lock-on, and began to descend. Hatches opened, revealing the cold figures of Scavenger soldiers in pale uniforms, wielding energy weapons. In no more than a minute, they would land and capture them.

There was no time to hesitate!

Xiang Lingna glanced at the unconscious Sister Ai Li, a flash of resolute anguish in her eyes. She couldn't abandon Sister Ai Li! But staying meant death for both of them! Perhaps…

An extremely reckless plan flashed through her mind in an instant.

She gritted her teeth, and with her still-functional left hand, laboriously dragged Sister Ai Li behind a relatively sturdy metal plate, keeping her as far from the platform's edge as possible. Then, she herself struggled to crawl to the very edge of the platform, and raised high toward the descending assault boats above her broken right-arm stump, still flickering with a faint green light!

She would use herself as bait! Draw the enemy's attention! Buy Sister Ai Li a slim chance to live! And at the same time, gamble on the passage that might exist in the abyss!

"Zero… if you can still hear me… protect Sister Ai Li…" she prayed silently in her heart, even though she knew Zero was likely gone forever.

Sure enough, her action immediately drew the attention of every assault boat! The scanning beams instantly focused on her, especially on her broken right arm radiating that peculiar energy fluctuation! Dr.'s target had always been her, that "key"!

One assault boat immediately changed course, diving toward the edge where she stood with a powerful gust of wind pressure, its cold mechanical grapples aimed straight at her!

Now!

A final flash of madness in Xiang Lingna's eyes — the instant the claw was about to touch her, she threw herself backward and plunged headlong into the abyss below, where destructive energy churned!

The howling wind and the shriek of energy turbulence instantly enveloped her! Weightlessness took hold, the shadow of death rushing toward her!

The diving assault boat caught only air; the pilot, apparently not expecting her to jump into the abyss on her own, hastily pulled up, scanning beams locked dead onto the falling Xiang Lingna.

And as she fell, Xiang Lingna desperately gathered the last of her spiritual power, communing with that speck of green at her right-arm stump, amplifying its faint resonance to the utmost! Sister Priestess Liyana, Brother Lin Mo, guide me!

As if answering her call, that speck of green flickered again, pointing toward a specific direction — on the side wall of the abyss, a damaged pipe opening exposed by the explosion, spewing chaotic streams of energy! Deep within that pipe opening, a faint, unnaturally formed metallic glint seemed barely visible!

That's it!

Xiang Lingna struggled to adjust her falling posture in midair, and like a moth hurling itself into flame, charged toward that pipe opening without a shred of hesitation!

Just at the instant she was about to crash into the energy-spewing pipe opening, the pursuing assault boats above seemed to receive shoot-on-sight orders, and several energy beams fired viciously at her!

Fwip! One beam grazed her shoulder, tearing away a large chunk of flesh! Another struck precisely at the broken stump of her right-arm crystal!

Crack!

The last of the crystal shattered completely! That faint green glow went out with it! Xiang Lingna screamed, her consciousness instantly blurring, and like a kite with its string cut, she tumbled into the dark pipe opening and was swallowed in an instant by the surging energy streams and darkness!

The assault boats above circled the pipe opening a few times, their scanning beams unable to penetrate that extremely chaotic energy zone, and finally pulled up helplessly, shifting their target back to the unconscious Sister Ai Li on the platform.

And Xiang Lingna, fallen into the dark pipe, felt herself tumbling and crashing wildly through a cold, rough, debris-choked passage, not knowing how many bones in her body had broken, before finally slamming heavily onto a relatively flat spot and losing consciousness entirely.

Just before she blacked out completely, she seemed to hear a sigh — impossibly distant, yet as if right beside her ear — heavy with ancient weariness. At the same time, a cold, inhuman, yet strangely familiar electronic synthesized voice rang out in the depths of her mind:

【Key bearer detected…vital signs…draining rapidly…】【Matches…emergency protocol…initiating…】【Welcome…fallen one…to…the 【Shelter】…】