85: The Secret of the Space-Time Rift

The pupils of Old Ye and the other two men suddenly constricted, and they instantly adopted a defensive stance.

The next moment.

Su Lei's figure vanished like a ghost in the dim light, leaving only a slowly twisting afterimage.

Time seemed to freeze in that second.

"Boom!"

PX-0's right arm, along with its shoulder, suddenly exploded, and its body was sent flying by an invisible shockwave.

Countless metal fragments splattered like a rainstorm, carving dense indentations into the concrete walls.

Disordered data streams appeared in its electronic eyes for the first time, and a sharp alarm blared within its body.

"Re-evaluating..."

PX-0's mechanical head slowly rose, its cold electronic eyes locking onto Su Lei.

Its voice was very soft, yet it caused the other three to unconsciously retreat several steps.

"Threat Rank: Annihilation. Initiating final defense protocol..."

"Target locked. Annihilation countdown: 3, 2—"

Su Lei slightly raised his eyes.

His figure once again vanished from its original spot.

Zhao Tianhe only saw a thin golden line pierce through the entire space.

The lingering image on his retina reminded him of a meteor streaking across the night sky.

It was the purest form of the "Slash" concept, without any fancy techniques, merely a horizontal slash so fast it broke physical limits.

PX-0's movements froze in a charging posture.

Sizzle... crackle... A golden line appeared in the center of its body, then the upper half of its armor slowly slid off, and dazzling electrical sparks erupted from the fractured circuits, with the blue glow of an overloaded energy core seeping from the cracks.

"Final protocol... failed..." The light in its electronic eyes gradually dimmed.

"Initiating... self-destruct sequence..."

"Retreat!" Su Lei's voice was calm and urgent, "It's going to explode!"

"What?!" Zhao Tianhe's face changed drastically.

"Everyone immediately evac—"

Boom!!!

A deafening explosion swallowed his command.

An extremely dazzling blue light burst forth from PX-0's remains, and a shockwave swept through the entire underground space like a tsunami!

... The aftershocks of the explosion continued to rage, and the entire underground space was on the verge of collapse.

Concrete debris rained down, exposed rebar twisted into grotesque shapes, and electrical sparks crackled between broken pipes.

Amidst the rolling smoke, the four men barely managed to erect Protective Aura shields, yet they were still thrown several meters by the shockwave, landing heavily in the rubble.

"Cough... cough cough..."

Zhao Tianhe struggled to climb out of the pile of gravel debris, spitting out a mouthful of blood mixed with dust.

His combat uniform was already tattered, and his exposed skin was covered with burn marks.

His right arm hung limply, clearly having sustained new injuries in the recent explosion.

"Are... are you still alive?" His voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible.

Not far away, Chen Xuan propped himself up with a broken sword, his face ashen white.

His left arm was unnaturally bent, clearly fractured, but his eyes remained sharp.

"Old Ye! Su Lei!"

In the dust, a hunched figure slowly stood up.

Old Ye's beard and hair were mostly singed, and his robe was tattered. "This old man... is fine."

He coughed, his gaze sweeping around, finding Su Lei's figure not far away.

Su Lei was on one knee, his right hand pressed against his left abdomen, blood continuously seeping through his fingers.

But his expression remained calm, not even a frown, as if it wasn't his own body that was injured.

Chen Xuan leaned on his broken sword, panting heavily, sweat mixed with blood dripping from his chin.

"That monster... is finally dealt with."

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly coughed violently, spitting out a mouthful of bloody saliva.

"Let's continue."

Upon hearing this, everyone turned their heads to look at the end of the hall.

At some point, the distorted blue rift had vanished without a trace, leaving only a mess on the ground.

The air instantly solidified.

"Lin Xiaotian still managed to escape."

Zhao Tianhe punched a nearby ruin, and concrete fragments crumbled down.

He gritted his teeth, his voice suppressing a monstrous rage, the veins on his neck bulging.

Old Ye and Chen Xuan's faces were equally grim.

Suddenly, Su Lei walked towards the remains of PX-0.

Metal fragments were still red-hot, and the air was filled with a pungent burnt smell and the scent of ozone.

He kicked away a twisted armor plate and bent down to pick up a small piece of dark blue crystal from the rubble.

"This is..."

Everyone gathered around in unison, holding their breath.

The crystal fragment was only the size of a fingernail, but it refracted an eerie glow in the sunlight.

The energy it contained caused subtle distortions in the surrounding air; staring at it for too long, one even had the illusion of their Soul being drawn in.

"Is this... the core of that reactor?" Chen Xuan's tone suddenly rose.

Su Lei nodded lightly, then walked to the end of the hall and found another fist-sized crystal fragment from a pile of rubble.

Old Ye's pupils slightly contracted.

"Although Lin Xiaotian wasn't captured... the value of these two fragments is probably far beyond expectation."

He looked at Su Lei, a hint of hesitation flashing in his expression, but finally, he slowly spoke: "Although it might not be appropriate to say this..."

"But could you let this old man take one of them back for the Federation to study?"

"It would also be an explanation for this mission."

"Under their research, who knows..."

Before he could finish, Su Lei had already lightly tossed the smaller crystal over.

"All units, attention. Block off a five-kilometer radius."

"Team B is responsible for energy residue detection, and Team C will collect all mechanical remains."

"Remember, even a single screw must be numbered and archived."

Under Zhao Tianhe's command, the team waiting outside quickly took over the scene.

Several military helicopters also landed outside.

The rotors stirred up a sky full of dust, and the roar of the engines tore through the silence of the desert.

Old Ye's robe flapped in the airflow as he looked back at the underground base, now a ruin, and sighed softly.

"Let's go."

... When the helicopter landed on the tarmac of the Western Military Base, the setting sun was painting the runway crimson.

"Now that things are over, I should head back too."

Chen Xuan slung the broken sword, wrapped in cloth, onto his back, paused at the cabin door, and looked at Su Lei.

"This time... thank you."

"If it weren't for you, we might all have perished there."

Su Lei nodded lightly, not saying much more.

"I heard about what happened with the Jiangnan City Martial Alliance Association back then, what a pity..."

Chen Xuan shook his head, seemingly unsure how to continue.

He solemnly handed over a gilded business card, its edges still stained with dried blood.

"No matter what, I owe you a favor."

"If you ever need help from the Martial Artist Association in the future, just ask."

"Take care."

With that, Chen Xuan turned and boarded the military transport plane that had been waiting for a long time.

Scientists in white coats directed soldiers to load containers with experimental samples onto the plane.

Old Ye slowly walked over, leaning on his wooden staff.

"This old man is returning to headquarters to report; I'll leave this place to you."

"If anything comes up, just contact me. The organization will always be your strongest backing."

Su Lei nodded slightly, and just as he was about to say something, his phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated.

He pulled out his phone, and a familiar name flashed on the screen.

It was a text message from Lin Qianqian.

Big Wolf Book Source warmly reminds: Due to special reasons, the group has been forcibly disbanded! New group rebuilt, Group 1 ID (298732622) Group 2 (1062268835) To prevent loss of contact, tg: t.me/dahuilang888. This message will be displayed until tomorrow noon!