42: Chapter 14 Full-scale Manhunt

Darkness.

Pressure.

Suffocation.

And the endless, violent jolting that felt as if it would crush every inch of bone.

Lin Feng's consciousness drifted in a dark tide. The severe pain of his body and extreme mental exhaustion dragged at him like lead weights, but another, more bizarre sensation tenaciously prevented him from sinking completely—a cold burning sensation erupting from inside his chest, along with incomprehensible fragmented images and distorted symbols flashing constantly in his mind.

The "Source" had become abnormally active, even... restless. It was no longer passively responding to his commands, but was autonomously and greedily absorbing the faint yet incredibly lethal energy fluctuations leaking from the metal container kept close to his body—radiation from the "initial protocol" fragment.

>> Warning: Unauthorized Energy Assimilation Detected. "Source" Core Stability Compromised.

>> Cognitive Integration of Foreign Data Patterns: In Progress. Side Effects: Unknown.

He felt like a balloon that was about to be burst from being overfilled and simultaneously hollowed out.

Rumble!

Another violent collision jolted him slightly awake from his semi-conscious state.

Ling Yue's suppressed curses, accompanied by heavy gasping, reached his ears: "...Turn left! Avoid that falling main beam! Lei Kun! The right tunnel entrance! Move!"

And Lei Kun's low growl, still steady but clearly raspy with exhaustion: "Hold on tight!"

The piercing sound of metal grinding was agonizing. They seemed to be driving some dilapidated vehicle, racing for their lives through a collapsing tunnel.

Lin Feng struggled to open his eyes. His vision was blurred, only able to see jolting shadows and occasional sparks of white-hot metal friction. He was curled up in a narrow space, a cold, hard metal plate beneath him. Beside him was the metal container emitting an ominous aura, and on the other side, someone seemed to be leaning against him (was it Ling Yue?). He could hear her rapid heartbeat and the faint hum of her mechanical arm operating.

Memory fragments flooded in—the earth-shattering discovery at the Library's core, the sudden attack by Razor and the authorities, Lei Kun holding the rear like a god of war, the ancient vehicle Ling Yue had desperately started, and his own final moment, recklessly using the power of the "Source" to cover the container in an attempt to isolate its energy fluctuations...

Did they succeed? Did they escape?

But at what cost?

Another world-spinning violent jolt, accompanied by Ling Yue's short gasp and the loud crack of breaking metal! The vehicle seemed to lose control completely, spinning as it plunged downward!

Bang!!!

A heavy impact sounded. Lin Feng felt himself thrown into the air, then slammed down hard, losing consciousness entirely.

An unknown amount of time passed.

Cold water droplets fell on his face, carrying a heavy smell of rust.

Lin Feng coughed violently, aggravating the wounds all over his body. The sharp pain instantly brought him to full consciousness.

He found himself lying in a pool of cold water, surrounded by completely twisted and deformed metal wreckage—the remains of the ancient vehicle they had been riding. Faint emergency lights flickered deep within the wreckage, providing the only light source. He was inside a larger space that appeared to be an underground main drainage tunnel.

"Cough... cough..." A weak coughing sound came from nearby.

Lin Feng struggled to turn his head and saw Ling Yue laboriously crawling out from under a pile of cables and broken parts. Her new mechanical arm had several scratches and dents, and a few new bloody gashes had been added to her face, but she didn't seem to have any fatal injuries. Her first priority was looking at the metal container rolled into the standing water; seeing that its casing only had a few more dents and the seal was still intact, she breathed a sigh of relief, then immediately looked around tensely.

"Where's Lei Kun?" Lin Feng's voice was terribly hoarse.

Ling Yue's face went pale, and she snapped her gaze toward the other end of the vehicle's wreckage.

There, a large piece of twisted metal bulkhead was shoved aside! Lei Kun's tall figure staggered to its feet. He was covered in blood, his combat uniform severely damaged, and his left arm hung unnaturally, seemingly dislocated. A wound on his forehead was still oozing blood, staining half his face red. But he stood straight, his eyes still sharp as an eagle's in the darkness, quickly scanning the environment to identify threats.

"Safe... for now." He panted, his voice raspy but carrying a reassuring firmness. "We fell into a discarded main drainage layer from the Old Era. We've lost them for the moment."

A narrow escape from death.

The three of them dragged their scarred bodies, struggling to gather on a relatively dry patch of high ground. Lei Kun gritted his teeth and reset his dislocated arm himself. He let out a muffled groan, cold sweat instantly covering his face, but he didn't make another sound. Ling Yue took the last of the hemostatic gel and bandages from her medical kit to provide simple treatment for their most serious wounds.

The atmosphere was heavy and oppressive. They had succeeded and obtained the item The Engineer wanted, but the process had been more tragic than imagined, and they were still deep in a desperate situation.

"That thing..." Ling Yue glanced at the metal container placed between the three of them, her eyes complex. "Did it... affect the vehicle's control system just now? Before we lost control, my sensors read an abnormal pulse."

Lin Feng nodded silently. He had felt it most clearly. Even with the container's isolation, the fragment's energy was still invisibly spreading, interfering with everything around it. "The 'Source'... is very active," he said simply, unable to describe the feeling of his very soul being modified.

Lei Kun tore a strip of cloth and tied the wound on his forehead tightly, his gaze sweeping over the container. "The mission is complete. The problem now is how to give it to The Engineer and then get out of this hellhole." He took out the communicator The Engineer had given him and tried to make contact.

There was only static in the communicator. >> Scanning... Broad-Spectrum Jamming Detected. Source: [Sky Curtain] Military-Grade. Powerful military-grade jamming covered the area.

Just then!

Woo—woo—woo—

A low yet highly piercing alarm sound actually penetrated through layers of earth, faintly reaching the depths of the underground where they were! This was no longer an alarm limited to The Nest, but a city-wide, highest-level alarm!

Immediately after, the dormant public network receiver they were carrying (from Ling Yue's tool kit) was suddenly forcibly activated!

On the screen, there was no signal, only a line of scrolling, enlarging, blood-red emergency announcement text covering the whole city, accompanied by a piercing alarm sound effect:

[Global Most Wanted Order]

**Names: Lin Feng, Ling Yue, Lei Kun (Identity information attached)**

**Crimes: Endangering public safety, theft of Universal Group's highest secrets, terrorist activities, subverting state power**

**Danger Level: Extreme**

**Authorization: Shoot-On-Sight**

**Bounty: Five million credits per person (Dead or Alive)**

**Issuing Party: Joint Security Committee of the Four Great Consortiums, [Sky Curtain] Network Regulatory Bureau**

Below the text were facial photos and basic information for the three of them, even including Lin Feng's recent record as a delivery man and Lei Kun's blurred discharge information!

A wanted order! Highest level! Global release! Shoot on sight!

The Consortiums had completely torn off their disguises! They no longer cared for any rules; they wanted to completely eliminate the three of them! Clearly, the incident at the Library had touched their most core taboo!

The air seemed to freeze.

Lin Feng's heart felt as if it were being squeezed by a cold hand, almost stopping. He had never thought he would become "world-famous" in this way, with the price being made an enemy of the entire world.

Ling Yue's face was as pale as paper, her fingers instinctively clenching, her mechanical arm emitting a slight hum. She knew the shamelessness of The Consortium, but she hadn't expected the intensity to be this great, this resolute.

Even the usually steady Lei Kun's pupils contracted sharply, and he gripped the gun in his hand, his knuckles turning white from the force. This was no longer a game of pursuit in The Nest, but a true declaration of war.

"Heh..." In the silence, Ling Yue suddenly let out an ambiguous light laugh, filled with endless mockery and a trace of despair. "They really... think highly of us."

Immense pressure crushed down like something physical.

But under this extreme pressure, Lin Feng felt that the cold burning sensation in his chest seemed to become clearer. The speed of those fragmented images flowing in his mind accelerated, and some incomprehensible symbols seemed to be attempting to reorganize.

>> External Stress Level: Maximum. "Source" Adaptation Accelerated.

>> Foreign Data Pattern Analysis: 2.1%. New Subroutine Unlocked: [Reality Perceptron Alpha]?

The "Source" seemed to be utilizing this extreme pressure and the radiation from the fragment's energy to accelerate some kind of evolution?!

Just then—

Tick.

Lin Feng instinctively looked down at the cheap electronic watch on his wrist that had long since stopped working.

The numbers on the watch face actually jumped once. From an eternal 00:00, it became 00:01.

It wasn't the start of actual timekeeping, but... some kind of omen.

The fission had quietly begun.

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