165: Welcome home, A-001

"That is a shell," Chen Mo said. "The real Professor Qin uploaded himself a long time ago."

"He is this tower now."

The figure in the white suit seemed to notice their arrival. He slowly turned around.

That face was exactly Li Ke Chen Mo's. Only those eyes were a pure, emotionless gold.

"Welcome home, A-001." "My... perfect creation."

"A-001?" Su Qingxue's knuckles turned white as she gripped her gun. She looked at the "person" on the platform, then back at the blood-stained Chen Mo.

Except for those inhuman golden pupils, the two faces were carved from the same mold. Even the imperceptible curve of the jawline was identical.

"Stop looking," Chen Mo spat out a mouthful of blood. He leaned on the rusty steel pipe and forced himself to stand straight. "Pirated versions always Li Ke to make their packaging flashier than the original."

"Pirated?" The "Professor Qin" on the platform chuckled. Amplified by a loudspeaker, the sound echoed through the massive underground cavern, carrying a condescending reverb.

"Chen Mo, are you mistaken about something?" He slowly raised his hand, his slender fingers grasping at the air. Hum! The air vibrated.

An invisible, immense force instantly slammed into Chen Mo. Pfft! Chen Mo was slapped against the railing of the maintenance platform Li Ke a ragdoll, and the steel pipe bent at a ninety-degree angle.

"I am a god." "Professor Qin" elegantly straightened his unwrinkled white suit. "And you are just a... prototype I created to test this divine body. In other words, a rough draft."

"A rough draft?" Chen Mo wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth; his ears were filled with sharp ringing, but he heard it clearly.

Inside that seemingly perfect shell, there was no sound of flowing blood. Instead, there was the high-speed whirring of countless micro-motors and the hissing of fluid rushing through hydraulic pipes. That was not a person. It was a precision instrument draped in human skin.

"Ten years ago, I extracted your genes," Professor Qin said nonchalantly, as if displaying a prized collectible.

"I removed those useless emotional modules and enhanced your hearing, reflexes, and computing power. This body possesses all your talents, but none of your weaknesses."

He pointed to his own golden eyes. "You can hear a heartbeat five hundred meters away, while I can hear the data flow of the entire city."

"Four minutes left on the countdown." "Instead of struggling, why not kneel and witness the birth of the New World?"

"Screw your New World!" Ninth Master suddenly erupted, swinging the baseball bat he had picked up, hurling it toward the white figure.

Although he was over ten meters away, he just wanted to smash something to vent his fear. The baseball bat flew from his hand, whistling as it smashed toward the platform.

But it stopped three meters away from Professor Qin, as if it had hit an invisible wall. Sizzle. The wooden bat instantly carbonized, turning into black powder that fell in a cascade.

"A magnetic field shield," Old Lin narrowed his eyes, a chill visible in his clouded pupils. "A high-frequency magnetic field created using the reactor's energy. Forget a baseball bat; even a bullet would be instantly vaporized if fired at it."

"Then what do we do?" Su Qingxue gritted her teeth. "Are we just going to watch him count down?" The numbers on the screen flickered, as if counting down everyone's lives. [00:03:45]

"Fatty," Chen Mo suddenly called out. Li Ke was lying on the ground, groaning half-dead.

"That code, it will run as long as it's inserted into the mainframe?" "Yes..." Li Ke raised his head with great effort and pointed to the black throne beneath Professor Qin's backside. "The interface... is right under that chair."

"Great," Chen Mo smiled, a rather ferocious smile. "Time to pull hairs from a tiger's backside."

"You have no chance," Professor Qin seemed to have heard their conversation, or perhaps he had read their lips. He shook his head, his compassionate expression nauseating to behold. "Since you are in such a hurry to die, I will grant your wish."

He snapped his fingers. Boom! The massive beam of energy suddenly expanded. A visible ripple of sound waves spread outward from him as the center.

"Cover your ears!" Chen Mo roared. But it was too late. That was no ordinary sound. It was infrasound. The frequency was extremely low, yet it could directly cause the internal organs to resonate.

Thump. Ninth Master was the first to fall to his knees, clutching his chest and vomiting uncontrollably. Su Qingxue's face turned pale; she felt as if someone had tightly squeezed her heart, and she couldn't even hold her gun steady. Old Lin swayed, a trickle of black blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

Only Chen Mo remained. He stood. Even though blood was already flowing from his ears, staining his collar red. Even though his kneecaps were trembling violently. He simply did not kneel.

"Hmm?" A flicker of surprise flashed in Professor Qin's golden eyes. "You can actually withstand my 'Divine Punishment'? It seems the prototype's tolerance is better than I imagined."

"Divine Punishment?" Chen Mo spat out a mouthful of blood. "Isn't this just the subwoofer the aunties used to use for square dancing back in the day? Look at you acting so tough."

"Stubborn," Professor Qin's gaze turned cold. The frequency of the sound waves changed abruptly. It became sharp and piercing. It was Li Ke fingernails frantically scratching a chalkboard, magnified tens of thousands of times. Screee—!

The gun in Su Qingxue's hand dropped straight to the ground; she clutched her ears in pain, curling into a ball. This high-frequency sound wave could directly damage a person's balance system and central nervous system.

"Chen Mo!" Through blurry vision, Su Qingxue saw Chen Mo move. He did not retreat. Instead, he took a step forward, meeting the sound waves that could scramble a person's brains. One step. Two steps. His broken leg dragged across the metal floor, creating a harsh, grating sound.

"Are you insane?" Professor Qin frowned slightly. "Your hearing is a hundred times sharper than a normal person's. For you, this frequency is Li Ke death by a thousand cuts."

"Yeah..." Chen Mo panted, his face covered in cold sweat, yet he was smiling. "It hurts Li Ke hell."

"But..." He took another step. He was only ten meters from the platform. "You, this so-called god, seem to have a flaw."

Chen Mo pointed to his ears. "Your voice is too perfect." "What?" Professor Qin was taken aback.

"The frequency is too stable, the waveform too uniform." Chen Mo grinned, revealing blood-stained white teeth. "It's Li Ke electronically synthesized lip-syncing. As long as I find that cut-off point..."

Chen Mo suddenly pulled a scalpel from his waist. It was the one Old Lin had shoved into his hand earlier. He didn't throw the knife at Professor Qin. Instead, he slammed it into the railing beside him. Clang! A crisp metallic clanging sound.

Immediately after, he used the steel pipe in his other hand to fiercely strike the metal floor beneath his feet. Thump! Clang! Thump! Clang! It was chaotic. Disorganized. But this seemingly random striking had a strange rhythm. It was Li Ke a needle, precisely piercing into Professor Qin's perfect sound wave force field.