Chapter 85: Treatment Time (IV)

Inside the control center, the floor was already a sea of blood.

Thud.

When the last segmented corpse collapsed to the ground, Feren gave a soft laugh and flicked the blood from his scalpel. Using the commander’s ID card, he had entered the most critical part of the settlement with almost no effort at all, and then methodically cut down the guards stationed here.

Time is running out, Master. We should begin at once.

“No problem.”

At Delin’s reminder, Feren smiled and snapped his fingers. Then he stepped up to a tightly shut iron door, took out the ID card, and swiped it through the slot beside it. With a faint beep, the door swung open, and in the next instant a rich surge of energy washed over him like a gust of wind as it passed by.

This place looked much the same as the node in the ruins. Rows of servers flickered with green light, while streams of symbols and code flowed like little rivers around the central pillar. Compared with the node in the ruins, it was only a little more spacious, with fewer servers. Beyond that, there was little difference.

A node. A core. Network energy.

Coming to a halt before the slowly turning cylinder, Feren was silent for a moment. Then he raised the ID card and aimed it at the pillar. Soon, a green glow flashed, and in the next second a virtual screen unfolded before him.

Top-level node access obtained. Please issue commands.

“Disable the firewall. Begin initialization.”

Seeing the information before him, Feren issued the order without the slightest hesitation. In response, the river of flowing data began to flicker rapidly, then dimmed at a visible pace. In that instant, the very air changed.

What happened?

Eluka lowered the gun in her hand and looked up in surprise toward the center not far away. Not only her, but even the soldiers fighting below her all instinctively turned their heads toward the area where the network energy core was located. In that moment, each of them felt that something had gone wrong with the network, as though a person browsing the web had suddenly discovered the speed slowing to a crawl. The ceaseless gunfire came to a stop, and even Kris, who had been lying in wait in the shadows, stopped firing and peered out from the darkness toward the core area.

At that very moment, a line of information suddenly appeared before Kris and the others.

“Move!”

The instant she saw it, Eluka swept her left hand to her waist, tossed several grenades toward the street in the distance, then grabbed Krona beside her without even looking back and sprinted down the escape route. Under the cover of the explosions, Eluka and Krona leapt from the platform and rushed to a nearby armored off-road vehicle. Its driver had already been killed in the chaos of battle, but fortunately the vehicle itself was still intact. Eluka dragged the corpse down, climbed in at once, turned the vehicle around, and, with Krona flattened into the back seat, sped away along the burning street.

“The enemy’s fleeing! Fire! Capture them!”

At this point, the Federation soldiers reacted at last. Raising their rifles, they rained wild shots at the departing off-road vehicle. But just as they opened fire, the leading soldiers suddenly lurched backward and crumpled to the ground without a sound.

“That sniper!”

The Federation soldiers were professional troops, so naturally they would not remain ignorant after fighting for so long about how many opponents they were dealing with. Through their respective communications, at the very least they had learned they were facing two groups of enemies. One was the elusive sniper. No one knew where he was hiding, but every round he fired came from the most unbelievable angle, and as if endowed with life, it would cut down everyone around him in droves. The other was the group that had suppressed them earlier. That group was equally strange. By all appearances there should have been only one or two rifles, yet their firepower was so ferocious that it kept the Federation troops completely pinned down. It was like being hammered by two light machine guns in crossfire, so much so that even the concrete wall they had been using as cover had been blasted apart in huge chunks.

Could assault rifles really put out firepower like this?

Even the Federation soldiers could not make sense of it. But in any case, they remained dutiful to their orders and continued fighting a street battle against the enemy. After paying so many lives as the price, they had also realized that, aside from overwhelming firepower and that bizarre sniper, the enemy seemed to be few in number. The Federation had originally intended to use their advantage in numbers to surround and annihilate them. Yet no one had expected the other side to suddenly turn and run halfway through the fight. Caught off guard, they tried to pursue, only to be pinned by the enemy sniper’s cold shot. At this point, they could no longer catch up—wait. They still had the armored unit that had just arrived!

Thinking of this, everyone hurriedly looked toward the armored troops that had just appeared and had not yet shown what they were capable of. This was the moment for you to shine. For the Federation, charge on—huh? Why are you running?

Under everyone’s stunned gaze, the armored personnel who had just arrived got out of their vehicles, only to climb back in again with dark expressions, and then—turn around and head back the way they had come.

What in the world was this?

Watching the armored convoy recede into the distance, the others stood rooted in place, for a moment unable to react at all.

What were they supposed to do now?

But compared with the bewildered Federation defenders, Eluka did not have to worry about that problem at all, because Feren’s orders to them were simple and clear: escape the settlement within five minutes, return to the Harmony, and wait for further instructions—or die where they stood.

Though she did not know what Feren intended to do, Eluka naturally did not dare take her commander’s words lightly. Driving the off-road vehicle, she smashed through a roadblock and sped toward the gate.

“Big sister!”

Just as Eluka drove around the second corner, Kris slid swiftly down from a rooftop on a rope. The off-road vehicle roared around the street corner, then stopped neatly beside Kris. Without the slightest hesitation, Kris jumped in, raised her sniper rifle, and fired again toward the rear. With the crack of the shot, an off-road vehicle that had been trying to follow behind instantly veered wildly out of control and slammed headlong into the wall beside it.

“Hurry, hurry, hurry! We don’t have time!”

Before Kris had even settled in, Krona slammed down on the gas. With the screech of tires against the ground, the off-road vehicle surged forward once more and raced on. They were not fools; although they had already eliminated the enemies guarding the gate, Eluka and the others had deliberately left the heavy machine guns and other defenses on the outer perimeter untouched in order not to alert the enemy. Once those soldiers regained control of those heavy weapons, they would be finished. So Eluka did not hesitate. After picking up Kris, she drove straight out through the gate and sped away into the distance.

Rat-a-tat-tat!!!

Just as Eluka had expected, not long after they left the gate, a burst of gunfire exploded behind them. Bullets ripped through the air and struck the off-road vehicle and the ground beside it, throwing up sparks and sprays of dirt. At the same time, they heard the roar of engines from nearby. It was obvious the enemy had no intention of letting them get away so easily.

Soon, three fully armed off-road vehicles came racing up behind them, and dozens of heavily equipped soldiers lifted their rifles and fired madly toward the front, while Eluka had no choice but to wrench the steering wheel hard to evade their attacks.

“They don’t mean to let us leave. What should we do, sis?”

Clutching her teddy bear tightly and crouched low beneath the seat, Krona shouted the question at the top of her lungs. Hearing that, Eluka gritted her teeth hard, her silver twin tails whipping with the motion, and made her decision.

“What should we do? We fight!”