299: Chapter 299 Trash should stay in the trash can

Chapter 299: Trash Belongs in the Trash Can. That red skull insignia was bright.

Bright enough to hurt the eyes.

Especially when it was accompanied by a straight, crimson laser beam, aimed with pinpoint accuracy at the old man's forehead.

"You see," the old man exclaimed as if clutching at a life-saving straw, his excitement making the wrinkles on his face tremble, "It's a rescue! My personal guard unit! Codename 'Archangel'! They've come for me!"

He even forgot that just moments ago he was begging Chen Mo for mercy.

It was an arrogance carved into his very bones.

As long as there was a glimmer of hope, he would revert to being that god looking down from on high.

"Russell! You traitor!"

The old man pointed at the councilor cowering behind the flower bed and shouted viciously.

"Once I'm up there, I'll throw your entire family into the incinerator! And you... Subject 001! Do you think you can control this place? That's a military-grade attack helicopter! It's armed with..."

"Shut up."

Chen Mo didn't look at him.

He was staring at the black giant bird hovering outside the shattered dome.

The helicopter's rotor blades whipped up a gale, sending the glass shards that had just been sliced apart flying everywhere.

Through the loudspeaker, an emotionless, synthesized electronic voice came down.

"Biological contamination source detected."

"Detection of illegal hijacking of highest-level permissions."

"In accordance with Article 7 of the Eden Emergency Protocol, initiating purification procedure."

The old man's smile froze on his face.

"Wh... what?"

"Purification?" He looked blankly at the red dot. "I am the Administrator! I am the Father! Who are you purging?"

"Targets confirmed."

That electronic voice held no inflection, as if reading out a takeout order.

"All personnel."

Zzzzt—!

The Gatling cannon under the helicopter's belly began to spin up, its barrels whirling madly.

Not aimed at Chen Mo.

It was aimed at every living thing on this floor.

Including the special forces soldiers kneeling on the ground with their exoskeletons locked, including Russell, and also including that old man who thought he was God.

"No! This is wrong! I am the owner!"

The old man waved his arms, charging towards the laser beam like a madman. "Stop! I am..."

Ratatatatatat!!!

Tongues of flame spat forth.

In that instant, no miracle descended.

There was only the shriek of large-caliber armor-piercing rounds tearing through the air.

The special forces soldiers kneeling on the ground bore the brunt of it.

Because their joints were locked, they couldn't even attempt to dodge.

They were like a row of bowling pins set up for a strike.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Blood mist erupted.

The sturdy exoskeletons were like toys made of paper before the 30mm rounds.

Limbless torsos and severed limbs flew everywhere. The elite troops who were so formidable moments ago turned into a mess of minced meat in the blink of an eye.

"Ah!!!"

Russell screamed, clutching his head and desperately trying to burrow into the dirt.

The old man was stunned.

He stared at the ground littered with the corpses of his own guards, watched as those bullets plowed through the earth, extending towards him.

The foul wind of death rushed at his face.

His legs gave way, and he slumped to the ground, a large wet patch spreading across his trousers.

Just as the bullets were about to tear him to shreds.

A hand grabbed the collar of his shirt from behind.

And yanked hard.

Thud!

The old man was flung away like trash, smashing hard against the trunk of a mechanical tree.

A line of bullet holes appeared where he had been sitting just moments before.

Dirt splattered, hitting his face with a stinging pain.

He looked up.

And saw a back.

Chen Mo stood in the hail of bullets.

He did not dodge.

His right hand, still connected to the control terminal, remained firmly pressed against his own heart.

The skin on his chest had turned a translucent crimson red, a sign of subcutaneous blood vessels overloaded and engorged.

One could even see the mechanical heart inside pumping frantically.

"Hot."

Chen Mo uttered a single word.

White steam erupted from all the pores on his body.

"green text, how much longer for the cooling system?"

"The system? It burned out ages ago!"

green text screamed in his mind. "Your core temperature is 180 degrees Celsius! In thirty seconds, your blood will boil! You've turned yourself into a pressure cooker!"

"Then release the pressure."

Chen Mo looked up, gazing at the helicopter wreaking havoc.

A flash of savagery passed through his eyes.

"That's my fuel."

"This building is my body."

Hummm—!

The entire floor suddenly lit up.

It was the energy transmission network buried underground.

All the mechanical trees ceased their camouflage at the same time. The solar panels, leaf-like in appearance, instantly flipped over, revealing the menacing energy nozzles underneath.

"What are you doing?!" the old man shouted in terror. "That's a Focused Energy Array! You can't fire it in reverse! It'll explode!"

Chen Mo completely ignored him.

He simply clenched his right hand into a tight fist.

"Fire."

Zzzzt— BOOM!!!

Hundreds of blue electric arcs erupted from the tops of those mechanical trees.

Not lasers.

Pure, violent streams of plasma.

It was the high-energy pulse originally used to ignite the reactor, now forcibly channeled by Chen Mo and fired in reverse towards the sky.

It was as if a forest of steel had suddenly come to life, stretching furious tentacles towards the heavens.

"Warning! Energy surge! Warning!"

The helicopter pilot finally panicked.

He tried to gain altitude, but it was too late.

The dense plasma streams instantly engulfed the black giant bird.

There was no sound of an explosion.

Because all electronic equipment was fried in an instant.

The helicopter looked as if it had been slapped hard by an invisible giant hand. It lost power, trailing black smoke, and spun down.

CRASH!!!

It smashed into the center of the garden.

Right beside that old man's carving table.

The massive rotor blades sliced through the ground like tofu, sending fragments flying everywhere.

Flames shot skyward.

The once-perfect Eden had now become a hellscape.

The dome was completely shattered.

With that thunderous crash, the false starry sky overhead disintegrated.

The real sky was revealed.

It was gray.

A sky filled with industrial fumes, acid rain, and radioactive dust.

Whoosh—

A gale-force wind rushed in.

Carrying a pungent smell of sulfur, it instantly dispersed the once-fresh air of this place.

"Cough! Cough! Cough!"

Russell coughed violently. "This smell... it's the smell of the Lower City District..."

Chen Mo stood before the sea of fire.

More steam rose from his body, even his clothes began to smoke.

But he still stood ramrod straight.

He walked up to the old man.

The old man huddled at the base of the tree, trembling all over, his eyes vacant.

His divine kingdom was destroyed.

Destroyed by his creation and his own kind, working together.

"Get up."

Chen Mo kicked him.

"Stop pretending to be dead."

The old man looked up, his face covered in snot and tears. "Destroyed... it's all destroyed... No shield... the radiation is coming in... We'll die... we'll all die..."

"The people in the Lower City District have lived their whole lives in radiation."

Chen Mo said coldly. "I haven't seen anyone as afraid of death as you."

He grabbed the old man by the collar and hauled him to his feet.

"Where are the files?"

"The files... right... the basement..."

The old man seemed to suddenly regain his wits. "The basement has an independent life support system! It's safe there! Take me! Quickly, take me!"

He, in turn, grabbed Chen Mo's arm, his nails digging deep into the flesh.

"The entrance is right under that house!"

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