305: Chapter 305 Data on Peristalsis

Chapter 305: Writhing Data. "External signal access request detected."

green text suddenly popped up, its tone serious. "It's not the Old Blind Man, it's that data drive! It's trying to bypass my firewall and access your underlying logic directly."

"Stop it."

"I can't! Its permission level is higher than mine! It's root-directory level!" green text screamed. "Damn it, what on earth is this thing? It's reading your biological waveband!"

Chen Mo's heart rate suddenly accelerated.

Thump-thump.

Thump-thump.

The vibration frequency of that data drive actually began to synchronize perfectly with his heartbeat.

With every pump of his heart, the data drive vibrated once.

A strange sensation welled up in his heart.

It was as if... this piece of cold metal had come to life, becoming a part of his body, a second heart.

"Ah!!!"

Chen Mo suddenly let out a miserable scream.

It wasn't because of the welding on his leg.

It was because the data drive suddenly released an extremely strong electric current, instantly surging through his entire body.

"What's wrong?!"

The Old Blind Man was startled, his welding torch nearly poking Chen Mo's face. "I'm just connecting a nerve, what are you yelling for?"

Chen Mo gasped for air, drenched in cold sweat.

That moment just now.

He saw it.

The moment the current passed through his brain, he saw an image.

It was a massive, red... cocoon.

Countless tubes were plugged into the cocoon, and something seemed to be gestating inside.

The image flashed and vanished.

"What was... that?" Chen Mo muttered to himself.

"I saw it too," green text's voice trembled slightly. "Those were memory fragments. That data drive doesn't store code; it stores memories! Whose memories?"

Before Chen Mo could figure it out.

Boom!

The heavy iron door was kicked violently from the outside.

The massive vibration caused dust to fall from the operating table.

"Old Blind Man! What's taking so long!"

The Drifter's roar came from outside the door, mixed with the jeers of others. "Taking this long just to remove a hand? You're not planning to keep it all for yourself, are you?"

The Old Blind Man stopped his work and grumbled as he turned off the welding torch.

"Stop rushing me! This thing's structure is incredibly complex, it's not that fast!"

"Cut the crap! Open the door!"

The voices outside became rougher. "We're coming in to watch! Otherwise, who knows if you'll swap the good parts for junk!"

The Old Blind Man glanced at Chen Mo.

"Looks like your creditors can't wait." The Old Blind Man toyed with the welding torch, his eyes flickering. "How about... I cut it off for you now? To save them from rushing in and smashing my shop."

This was a test.

And a threat.

If Chen Mo were weak enough to be unable to resist, the Old Blind Man would definitely take the opportunity to chop him into pieces and split the loot with the people outside.

In this godforsaken place, there was no mercy, only profit.

Chen Mo slowly sat up.

His right leg was only half-connected; he was still lame.

But his feeling at this moment was very strange.

The data drive had stopped vibrating, but the current seemed to remain in his body, making his perception exceptionally sharp.

He could hear the heartbeats of the people outside the door.

Seven.

Besides that Drifter, there were six more people.

Their heartbeats were fast, filled with greed and excitement.

They all had metal weapons in their hands.

"Open the door."

Chen Mo got off the operating table, stepping barefoot onto the oil-stained floor.

"What did you say?" The Old Blind Man was stunned for a moment.

"I said, open the door."

Chen Mo picked up a blood-stained rag from the floor and casually wrapped it around his right hand. "I need to settle the bill."

The Old Blind Man stared at Chen Mo for a few seconds, then suddenly grinned.

"Alright, you've got guts."

He pressed the switch on the wall.

Creak—

The iron door slid open slowly.

Seven Drifters crowded the doorway, holding pipes, machetes, and one holding a homemade nail gun.

The leading Drifter saw Chen Mo still standing with all his limbs intact, and his expression changed instantly.

"Old Blind Man, are you playing me?"

The Drifter raised his machete and pointed it at the Old Blind Man. "You said this kid was dying! Does this look like someone who's dying?"

"He is dying."

The Old Blind Man stepped back and leaned against the console to watch the show. "But this kid is tough; king yama won't take him. If you want that hand, come and get it yourselves."

The Drifter turned to look at Chen Mo.

His eyes were full of murderous intent.

"Kid, a man has to keep his word."

The Drifter licked his lips, his gaze fixed on Chen Mo's silver-white left arm. "You said it yourself: once we reached the place, this arm would be mine."

"It is yours."

Chen Mo took a step forward.

His left arm was indeed broken, but he hadn't said his right hand was useless.

"Come and take it."

The Drifters looked at each other.

They had the numbers.

And the opponent was an injured man.

"Go!"

The leader roared and charged first, his machete swinging down toward Chen Mo's head.

The movement was slow.

In Chen Mo's eyes, it was practically like a slow-motion replay.

He tilted his body slightly, dodging the blade.

His right hand shot out like lightning, grabbing the Drifter's wrist.

Crack.

The crisp sound of a bone breaking.

Before the Drifter could scream, Chen Mo had snatched the machete and swung it back.

Pfft.

A head rolled onto the ground.

Blood sprayed out, splashing onto the faces of the other six.

The air froze instantly.

The six men stopped dead in their tracks, as if they had been hit by a freezing spell.

They looked at the corpse on the ground, then at the blood-dripping knife in Chen Mo's hand.

Fear.

Extreme fear spread through their pupils.

"Who else wants it?"

Chen Mo's voice was soft, yet it felt like a heavy hammer striking everyone's heart.

"Run... Run!"

Someone shouted, and the rest dropped their weapons and turned to flee, wishing they had been born with more legs.

Chen Mo didn't give chase.

He didn't have the strength to.

That sudden burst just now had nearly exhausted the little physical energy he had just managed to gather.

Clang.

The machete fell to the ground.

Chen Mo turned around and looked at the Old Blind Man cowering in the corner.

The Old Blind Man's hand was quietly reaching for a shotgun under the console.

"Your hand is shaking."

Chen Mo looked at him.

The Old Blind Man's movements froze, and a smile more painful than crying appeared on his face. "Misunderstanding... it's all a misunderstanding. I was trying to help you chase them away..."

"Continue the repairs."

Chen Mo lay back down on the operating table. "This time, keep your little schemes to yourself."

"If I wake up and find a part missing."

Chen Mo pointed at the head on the ground.

"That will be your end."

The Old Blind Man swallowed hard and tremblingly raised the welding torch.

"Don't... don't worry. I'm a professional. Absolutely professional."

Surgery continued.

The sizzle of electric current rang out again.

Chen Mo closed his eyes.

But he didn't sleep.

He was talking to green text.

"What was that just now?"

"I don't know," green text's voice sounded confused. "The moment you moved to kill, that data drive injected a surge of energy into your muscle groups. This isn't scientific; it clearly has no physical interface, so how could it charge you?"

"Perhaps it doesn't need an interface."

Chen Mo thought of that red cocoon.

That image lingered in his mind, refusing to fade.

"Warning."

green text suddenly interrupted his thoughts. "Stop studying that broken disk. Something's come up."

"What?"

"The Drifter's communicator is ringing."

Chen Mo opened his eyes and looked at the headless corpse on the ground.

In the corpse's pocket, a worn-out walkie-talkie was flashing red.

Zzt... zzt... After some static, an encrypted, cold voice came through.

"Location confirmed."

"Target is in this area."

"Cleanup Squad Group B has arrived at the Scrap Iron City entrance."

"Purge begins in ten minutes."

The operating room fell into a dead silence.

The Old Blind Man's hand jerked, and the welding torch fell straight to the floor.

"P-Purge?"

The Old Blind Man's face turned pale, his single eye nearly bulging out. "Are those lunatics going to slaughter the whole city?! Just to catch you?!"

Chen Mo slowly sat up from the table.

Ten minutes.

That wasn't nearly enough time for a full repair.

But he had to get moving.

"I want that gun."

Chen Mo pointed to the shotgun the Old Blind Man had hidden under the table.

"And give me all the stimulants you have here."

Trembling, the Old Blind Man pushed the gun and a box of red injections over. "Take them! Take them all! Just get out! Don't bring that god of plague here!"

Chen Mo grabbed a stimulant and, without hesitation, stabbed it directly into his carotid artery.

The red liquid was pushed in.

His pupils dilated instantly.

That deathly feeling of weakness was forcibly suppressed, replaced by a morbid excitement.

His heart began to race.

Thump-thump.

Thump-thump.

The data drive in his pocket began to vibrate along with it once more.

This time, it was no longer a weak current.

Instead, it was a scalding heat wave.

"green text."

Chen Mo grabbed the gun and strode toward the door.

"Plan a route."

"We're going to play a game of hide-and-seek with those bastards in this city's sewers."

Friendly Reminder: The website will be updated soon, which may cause loss of reading progress. Please save your "Bookshelf" and "Reading History" in time (screenshots are recommended). Sorry for the inconvenience!