14: Chapter 4 Broken Beacon

"All non-essential facility power, divert to emergency lighting capacitors... Overload release!"

Ling Yue's voice was cold and resolute, carrying a madness akin to mutual destruction.

In the palm of her mechanical prosthetic hand, blinding blue energy gathered frantically, emitting a teeth-grinding hum, as if a fierce beast had been forcibly awakened.

Lin Feng didn't even have time to cry out!

BOOM—!!!

An indescribable, terrifying torrent composed purely of light and heat erupted violently backward, originating from Ling Yue's mechanical prosthetic hand!

That was not an explosion, but a directional, devastating discharge of energy!

In an instant, the entire underground studio seemed to turn into the core of a sun!

All precision monitors, server arrays, instruments and equipment, and even the metal walls and conduits were melted and vaporized by unimaginable temperatures within a billionth of a second!

Blinding white light swallowed everything, and a massive shockwave followed closely behind!

＞＞ Extreme Energy Surge Detected!

＞＞ Initiating Emergency Shielding (Residual "Source" System Energy)!

Lin Feng only had time to hear a hurried warning from the "Source" System before his field of vision was instantly filled with endless blue-white light!

A scorching blast of air slammed hard against his back, lifting him up like a fallen leaf and hurling him toward the newly opened emergency passageway!

THUD!

He fell heavily onto the cold metal stairs and tumbled down, his entire body feeling as if his bones were about to fall apart.

He clutched the heavy device that had been shoved into his arms, it becoming his only lifeline.

A burning, stinging pain came from his back; his clothes seemed to have been scorched.

RUMBLE...

Behind him came the continuous, heart-wrenching sounds of melting and the deafening roar of structural collapse.

Scorching air currents, mixed with acrid ozone and metal vapor, poured out from the passageway.

"Ling Yue!" Lin Feng endured the excruciating pain and looked up, shouting.

Almost at the same time, a figure stumbled out from the scorching heat waves and thick smoke, hitting the wall at the top of the stairs hard before barely managing to steady herself.

It was Ling Yue!

She looked disheveled at this moment.

The tactical goggles on her face were cracked like a spiderweb, a few strands of hair were curled and scorched yellow by the high heat, and her work uniform was damaged in many places, revealing the internal protective layer beneath that shimmered with emergency light.

Most shocking was her mechanical right arm—exposed from the shoulder to the elbow joint, the complex hydraulic lines and energy conduction bundles clearly showed signs of multiple overload burnouts, flickering with unstable arcs of electricity and emitting an overwhelmed "sizzling" sound; the entire arm hung limply, as if temporarily out of commission.

But her eyes remained sharp, even carrying a hint of near-manic satisfaction.

"Cough, cough... Go!" She coughed up a mouthful of smoke-filled phlegm, her voice hoarse, and used her still-functional left hand to grab Lin Feng's arm, dragging him as they climbed upward desperately. "That hit... was enough to make that bastard suffer! But it won't hold for long!"

Lin Feng dared not delay and struggled to keep up.

The stairs were steep and long; from below behind them came constant, unsettling sounds of breaking and dripping molten material, and the entire structure seemed to be becoming unstable.

＞＞ ETA: ＜ 2 Minutes. Intruder Bio-Signature: Fluctuating (Injured). Movement: Slowed but Persistent.

"Razor" was still alive!

Although injured, he was still tracking them!

The two finally climbed to the top of the stairs.

There was a heavy, manually operated circular pressure bulkhead.

Ling Yue used her left hand to laboriously turn the wheel, and the gears emitted a harsh, grinding sound.

CREAK—

The hatch finally opened, revealing cold, fresh air and even dimmer light outside.

They seemed to have arrived in a larger, but equally abandoned space, like the ground floor of some old factory.

Ling Yue crawled out first, with Lin Feng following closely behind.

BANG!

She reached back and forcefully slammed the hatch shut, then turned an external valve to lock it.

"This way!" She didn't stop for a moment, running toward a patch of shadows deep within the factory.

Lin Feng gritted his teeth and followed; the burning pain in his back and the side effects of the recently injected medicine (slight muscle tremors) made his steps unsteady.

Ling Yue seemed extremely familiar with this place; she led Lin Feng through the shadows of giant, rusted mechanical equipment, finally hiding behind a massive, abandoned boiler reaction tank that was half-buried in the ground.

The tank body provided excellent cover, and the cold metal blocked the heat and noise from below.

The two were finally able to take a brief breath, slumping down on the cold metal floor, with nothing left but violent heartbeats and suppressed breathing.

Lin Feng looked at Ling Yue's nearly ruined mechanical arm and her pale, exhausted, yet still tense face, his heart filled with a complex mix of emotions.

Her attack just now was almost self-destructive, all to buy this short escape time.

"Your hand..."

"It's ruined for now." Ling Yue interrupted him, her voice still hoarse.

She tried to move her mechanical fingers, but only a few fingertips twitched slightly.

"The spare parts and tools are all down below... Damn it, what a huge loss." She cursed in a low voice, her tone filled with annoyance and regret, rather than concern for her own injuries.

She leaned against the tank wall and closed her eyes, seemingly assessing the current situation rapidly.

Lin Feng also fell silent, subconsciously clutching the heavy device in his arms tighter.

This was what Ling Yue had shoved to him; it contained the data and route maps she was processing, and it might now be one of her most important assets.

＞＞ Device Analysis: Custom-Built Field Terminal. Encryption: High. Power: 78%. Contents: Partially Corrupted Data Streams, Navigation Maps (Sector 7-12), ... Unidentified Encrypted Log Fragments.

The device had sufficient power, but some data seemed to be corrupted due to the earlier energy shock.

There were also some encrypted log fragments...

Lin Feng's fingers slid unconsciously across the cold screen, trying to view those navigation maps to look for a possible way out.

Suddenly, the device screen flickered violently; a highly hidden background process seemed to have been accidentally activated due to the system oscillation, automatically jumping to an encrypted log interface.

However, due to damage, it only displayed a fragmented record with a timestamp from several hours ago:

**[...Yue... confirm receipt of 'The Engineer's'... marker. Target: Lin Feng (Anomaly Data Handler). Priority: High. Task: Provide minimum... ensure survival, and evaluate its... value. Avoid direct... conflict. May... abandon if necessary. Everything centers on... 'project legacy'...]**

The log stopped abruptly here, followed by a large amount of garbled code.

Lin Feng's breathing stopped abruptly!

"The Engineer"!

Ling Yue was indeed dispatched by "The Engineer"!

Priority: High. Task: Ensure survival, evaluate value.

Avoid direct conflict? May abandon if necessary?!

Everything centers on... "project legacy"?!

The cold words were like a dagger, piercing through the sliver of warmth and gratitude he had just felt.

So all the rescue and recruitment were just a cold, value-assessment-based mission?

Was he even an option that could be "abandoned" when necessary?

What was that so-called "project legacy"? More important than his life?

He jerked his head up and looked at Ling Yue, who was resting with her eyes closed, completely unaware of this.

Her profile looked exhausted and fragile in the dim light; the scorched yellow hair, the damaged clothes, the ruined mechanical arm...

To execute this "mission," she had paid a considerable price.

But was all of this just for that "project legacy"?

How much of her slight recognition of him and the experience of fighting side-by-side just now was real?

Trust had just been established, and in an instant, it was full of cracks.

Just then—

WOO-OO— WOO-OO—!

A piercing siren, different from the previous alarms and with an extremely wide coverage, rang out from outside the factory, from the sky above The Nest, getting closer from afar!

The sound became increasingly dense and louder!

＞＞ Alert: City-Wide Level 2 Security Alert. Channel: Official [Tianmu] Broadcast.

＞＞ Reason: Unexplained Energy Surge & Structural Collapse in The Warrens (Sector 7). Dispatching: Rapid Response Teams, Structural Integrity Units. Lockdown Imminent.

City-wide Level 2 Security Alert!

Due to unexplained energy surge and structural collapse in Sector 7 of The Nest!

The authorities have dispatched Rapid Response Teams and Structural Integrity units!

Lockdown is imminent!

Ling Yue opened her eyes abruptly, her expression becoming extremely grim.

"Damn it! The commotion is too big!" She struggled to stand up and looked toward the factory perimeter.

"The authorities' lackeys are mobilizing on a large scale; the blockade will be like an iron barrel! 'Razor' must have heard it too; he will slip away or hide in the chaos like a loach, but we are in big trouble!"

Her gaze swept quickly over Lin Feng and the device in his arms, her eyes complex for a moment, seemingly making a difficult decision.

Finally, as if she had made up her mind, she spoke extremely quickly: "Listen, rookie. The situation has changed. With the authorities intervening on a large scale, the original evacuation route is void. We have to split up."

She used her still-functional left hand to quickly operate her own intact personal terminal a few times, then brought it close to the device in Lin Feng's hands.

Beep.

With a soft sound, an encrypted coordinate map was transmitted.

"This is the coordinate of another backup safe house, more remote, safer. But there are many checkpoints on the way." She stared at Lin Feng, her eyes sharp and complex.

"If you can make it there alive, I will acknowledge that you are qualified to truly cooperate with me, rather than just being an 'assessment subject'."

She deliberately emphasized the words "assessment subject," as if she had seen through Lin Feng's discovery just now, but stopped at that.

"Then... what about you?" Lin Feng gripped the device, his voice somewhat dry.

"Me?" Ling Yue glanced at her ruined mechanical arm, a flash of ferocity crossing her face.

"I need to go get some 'parts' first to fix this thing. And by the way... cause some trouble for certain hyenas taking advantage of the chaos."

She pointed in another direction: "We will break out from different directions. Whether we can reach the safe house depends on our own abilities."

After saying this, she didn't give Lin Feng any chance to ask more, turned around, and quickly stealthily moved toward the shadows on the other side of the factory, her figure soon disappearing behind the giant mechanical ruins.

Lin Feng stood alone behind the giant boiler reaction tank, holding the cold device in his arms, the sound of the official sirens growing closer echoing in his ears.

Split up. Assessment. Safe house.

And that cold log— "May abandon if necessary."

He knew that what Ling Yue gave him was both a path to survival and a final test of strength.

And he had no other choice.

He took a deep breath of the cold, murky air, identified the direction of the coordinates on the device, lowered his body even further, and took a step toward the depths of the factory, which was full of unknown dangers, in the opposite direction of Ling Yue.

The real stealth mission had only just begun.