25: Chapter 5 Desperate Raid

A low-frequency hum like an invisible tide surged in from both ends of the alleyway, carrying an oppressive sensation that acted directly on their nerves.

The Baku squad was closing the net, their psionic scans like countless icy tentacles scraping against the edges of Lin Feng and Ling Yue's consciousness.

"This way!" Ling Yue hissed, slamming open a partially ajar, rusted iron gate nearby and rushing into a narrower passage piled with discarded industrial parts.

Lin Feng followed closely behind, and the two fled frantically through the dim, twisted space.

＞ ＞ Psionic Scanning Intensity Increasing. Source: Closing from North and South.

＞ ＞ Suggested Evasion: Utilize Areas with High Metallic Interference or Active Energy Leaks.

The ability's prompt flashed in his mind.

Utilize areas with high metallic interference or energy leaks!

"Turn left! There's a large abandoned capacitor bank below!" Ling Yue was clearly intimately familiar with the terrain of this area; her mechanical eye constantly scanned the environment, searching for the optimal path.

The two rushed down a rickety metal staircase and dropped into a massive underground space filled with the strong smell of ozone and transformer oil.

It was piled high with mountain-like heaps of long-obsolete giant capacitors and transformer wreckage, while thick cables hung down, coiled like dead giant pythons.

The air was thick with intense electromagnetic interference, making one's skin feel slightly prickly.

＞ ＞ Environmental EM Field: Extreme. Effective Against Psionic Scanning (Partial).

Sure enough, upon entering this area, the scalp-tingling sensation of the psionic scan instantly weakened by more than half, as if drowned out by the violent electromagnetic noise.

"Safe for now... but it won't last long." Ling Yue leaned against the casing of a giant capacitor, breathing slightly heavily as she quickly checked the map on her device and the α route provided by The Engineer.

"Those lunatics from the Baku squad will definitely conduct a physical search. We must get through this abandoned power station as quickly as possible and exit through the maintenance tunnel on the other side."

Lin Feng nodded, struggling to steady his breathing and his still-chaotic thoughts.

The images of Lei Kun and Xiao Qi, along with that sudden reunion, were still lingering in his mind.

"Brother Kun... and Xiao Qi..." he couldn't help but say.

"Old acquaintances. It seems to be a history from before the Genesis project went wrong."

Ling Yue's tone was flat, as if stating a fact unrelated to her, but the data streaming rapidly through her electronic eyes betrayed her inner turmoil.

"The Engineer bringing him here is likely not just as simple as saving people. The Key... hmph, he really calculated everything."

Her tone carried a trace of imperceptible sarcasm and... helplessness?

"What about Xiao Qi's ability..."

"Preliminary assessment is powerful telepathy and potential mental influence, possibly even including a certain degree of information reading and precognition."

Ling Yue's tone became grave.

"You saw the outburst just now; it was extremely unstable, but the potential is astonishing. If project legacy is truly related to the underlying vulnerabilities of Genesis, then her existence might be one of the most critical 'The Keys'."

She looked at Lin Feng, her gaze sharp.

"So, protecting ourselves is indirectly protecting The Key. Don't get distracted, rookie. Only by staying alive can you see the answers."

Lin Feng nodded silently.

Ling Yue's words were cold and realistic, pulling him back to the cruel present.

After a brief rest, the two set off again, moving quickly between the massive capacitor wrecks.

The electromagnetic interference severely affected the precision of their equipment and masked the pursuers' scans, but it also made it difficult for them to determine their direction accurately.

＞ ＞ Detecting Movement: East Sector. Non-Psyonic. Heavy Footsteps. Armored.

The ability's warning suddenly sounded!

Movement detected in the East sector—non-psionic! Heavy footsteps! Armored!

"Careful!" Lin Feng grabbed Ling Yue, and the two quickly ducked behind a pile of thick cables.

Almost simultaneously, two figures emerged from the shadows to the east.

They were not in the attire of the Baku squad, but wearing heavier, seemingly civilian-modified power armor, holding crude, large-caliber live-ammunition weapons.

Their armor was spray-painted with a ferocious wolf-head logo—they were from the Hellhound Mercenary Group! One of the most troublesome mercenary groups in The Nest!

"Damn it, the interference in this ghost town is strong; the scanner the boss gave us is useless!" one mercenary complained in a rough voice, his words sounding muffled through his mask.

"Less talk, search carefully! The employer paid a high price for live targets, especially that woman; she's said to be a top-tier mechanic and is worth a lot of money!" another mercenary, who appeared to be the leader, scolded.

His armor had a conspicuous captain's insignia on the shoulder.

Their target was Ling Yue!

Were they hired by Razor or some other faction?

Lin Feng and Ling Yue exchanged a glance, their hearts sinking.

Wolves in front, tigers behind!

The two mercenaries clearly hadn't discovered them, and they grumbled and cursed as they searched in the other direction.

"We can't wait." Ling Yue lowered her voice.

"If the Baku squad sneaks in, or these mercenaries expand their search range, we're finished. We must either take them out quickly or bypass them."

She glanced at Lin Feng, then at the energy pistol and her new mechanical arm, quickly assessing their combat strength.

"Two fully armed veteran Hellhound Mercenary Group members—the risk of a frontal conflict is too high. Let's try to bypass them."

She pointed to a small path blocked by huge insulating porcelain bottles.

However, just as they were preparing to move quietly—click!

Lin Feng accidentally stepped on the broken insulation of a cable, making a soft sound that was exceptionally clear in the silent environment!

"Over there!" The two mercenaries instantly became alert, their weapons snapping toward their direction!

"Run!" Ling Yue didn't hesitate; she shoved Lin Feng aside and simultaneously raised her gun, firing blindly toward the mercenaries as suppression!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Energy beams struck the mercenaries' armor, sparking, but failing to cause effective damage, instead completely exposing their position!

"Catch them!" the mercenary leader roared, and the heavy footsteps immediately closed in!

The two fled for their lives along the narrow path, bullets whistling behind them, striking the surrounding capacitor wrecks and sending up strings of sparks and debris!

"This way!" Ling Yue swerved into a side path filled with pipes, and Lin Feng followed closely behind.

However, this side path turned out to be a dead end! At the end was a massive, rusted-shut transformer casing!

"Damn it!" Ling Yue cursed, attempting to force open the maintenance hatch with her mechanical hand, but it wouldn't budge!

The footsteps and cursing behind them were getting closer and closer!

A dead end!

Lin Feng leaned his back against the cold metal wall, watching the two steel giants approaching step by step, and then looked at Ling Yue, who was trying in vain to open the door.

A cold sense of despair and another strange impulse surged into his heart simultaneously.

＞ ＞ Combat Situation: Dire. Opponent: 2x Heavy Armor. Weapon: Ineffective.

＞ ＞ Environment: High EM Field, Abundant Metallic Objects, Exposed High-Voltage Lines (Deactivated but Capacitors May Hold Residual Charge).

＞ ＞ Suggestion: Improvise.

Improvise!

His gaze suddenly locked onto a few thick, exposed high-voltage lines overhead—deactivated but likely still holding residual charge—and a massive, rusted metal maintenance platform hanging above them!

A crazy and dangerous idea formed instantly!

"Ling Yue! Shoot the suspension chain of that platform!" Lin Feng yelled at Ling Yue, while simultaneously focusing all his intent.

He was no longer issuing commands to the "Source" System, but instead directing a vague and intense plea toward this chaotic electromagnetic environment, toward those capacitor banks that might still hold massive charges—**〖Energy! Give me energy!〗**

＞ ＞ Command Received. Attempting to Interface with Local Energy Grid (Unstable)...

＞ ＞ Redirecting Residual Charge... Focusing through Exposed Conduits...

Although Ling Yue didn't understand why, she had already experienced Lin Feng's strange "optimization ability."

She didn't hesitate; she raised her mechanical arm, and her energy pistol accurately aimed at a heavily rusted suspension chain of the platform above!

Whoosh! Bang!

The energy beam struck the chain, sparks flying everywhere! The already rusted chain snapped in response!

The platform tilted violently!

At almost the same moment!

＞ ＞ Warning! Capacitor Discharge Detected!

Lin Feng felt a violent, uncontrolled torrent of energy as if forced and pulled by his intent, surging crazily along the nearby exposed conduits!

He could even "see" the blue-white electric arcs bursting in the air!

BOOM!!!

The tilting metal platform, carrying the weight of ten thousand tons, crashed right onto the two mercenaries rushing over!

At the same time, the falling platform tore through the exposed high-voltage lines above, and the residual charge poured down like a violent giant python, instantly engulfing that area!

"Aaaah—!" The two mercenaries let out shrill screams.

Their power armor instantly overloaded under the powerful current and physical impact, emitting billowing black smoke, and they fell heavily to the ground, twitching a few times before stopping all movement.

The massive sound and energy fluctuation even temporarily drowned out the electromagnetic noise of the entire abandoned power station.

Lin Feng leaned against the wall, drained of energy, his face pale and his temples throbbing.

That last move had nearly drained his psionic power, leaving him several times more exhausted than processing data.

Ling Yue looked in shock at the chaotic, arc-flickering scene before her, then snapped her gaze to Lin Feng, the inquiry and horror in her eyes almost impossible to hide.

"You... what did you just do?"

"I... don't know..." Lin Feng's voice was incredibly weak. "I just... felt like it should be that way..."

Ling Yue gave him a deep look, not pursuing the question further, but said quickly: "The commotion is too big! We must leave immediately!"

She finally forced open the maintenance hatch with her mechanical hand, revealing a narrow maintenance tunnel behind it.

The two scrambled into the tunnel and ran forward with all their might, leaving the chaos and danger behind for the moment.

They didn't know how long they ran, but only when they couldn't hear any sound at all did they stop at a relatively dry pipe junction, collapsing to the ground and gasping heavily.

"Thanks... for just now." Ling Yue spoke suddenly, her voice somewhat stiff, as if she wasn't used to saying such things.

Lin Feng shook his head, lacking the strength to even speak.

After resting for a moment, Ling Yue took out her device, attempting to re-establish her position and contact The Engineer or Lei Kun.

However, as soon as the device started up, an emergency encrypted message forcibly popped up—not from The Engineer, but from an unexpected source—Lei Kun's private emergency channel!

The message was extremely brief, only one line, but it made their blood run cold instantly:

**[Gamma point compromised. The Key's ability is out of control again, attracting the main force of The Cleaners. I am forced to take her to the Silent Plaza shelter. Need backup immediately! Coordinates: 73.88 by 209.5 —— Lei Kun]**

Gamma point compromised! Xiao Qi is out of control again! Lei Kun was forced to take her to an unknown Silent Plaza shelter? And he needs backup immediately?!

A veteran like Lei Kun would never send a distress signal unless it was an absolute last resort! The situation must have reached a critical extreme!

"Silent Plaza..." Ling Yue quickly searched for the coordinates on the map, her expression growing increasingly grim.

"That is the center of the most chaotic 'lawless zone' in The Nest! A place with no rules! And... it's near an abandoned early Sky Curtain signal tower. The underlying monitoring of Sky Curtain has a blind spot there, but the spontaneous chaos and violence are extremely high!"

She snapped her gaze to Lin Feng, her eyes filled with unprecedented gravity and a hint of... struggle.

The Engineer's order was for them to evacuate along the α route to draw away the pursuers. Lei Kun's distress signal was to head to the extremely dangerous Silent Plaza.

Should they continue to execute The Engineer's seemingly calm plan, which might sacrifice Lei Kun and Xiao Qi? Or should they risk heading into that den of tigers and dragons to offer help?

Ling Yue's mechanical fingers tightened unconsciously, the metal friction emitting a slight "creak."

A cold decision lay before them.