284: It went berserk.

Palpitations, tinnitus, flickering at the edges of her vision, a needle-like stinging in her temples... and a cold, viscous fury that drowned out everything else. Cynthia's world collapsed into a humming blur of bright red.

Her parents were fake, her memories were fake, her quest was fake—even her very existence as 'herself' might be a meticulously designed forgery.

Logic, missions, moles, the future... all these concepts disintegrated and evaporated in her mind.

At this moment, her entire consciousness was occupied by nothing but the most primal, most violent impulse—to kill the person in front of her. This 'Creator' who had given her a false life, only to tear it apart with his own hands.

"Die!!!"

Broken syllables squeezed out of her throat, and the blue light on her Mechanical Gauntlets flashed frantically. There were no longer any tactics or techniques; she simply channeled her entire body's strength, all her despair and rage, into the simplest and most direct strikes. Punch after punch, like an out-of-control pile driver, she smashed toward the staggering Dr. Chen Ruian!

"Damn it! How could..." Dr. Chen Ruian felt his Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering. The calm calculation on his face had long since vanished, replaced only by the most instinctive fear in the face of death.

He dodged by rolling and crawling, his ears filled with the howling wind of her fists and the loud thuds of pits being smashed into the floor and walls. He had thought that revealing the truth would leave her broken and bewildered, perhaps even shaking her stance to buy him an opportunity or control over her.

"I really... overestimated your mental fortitude! No, I underestimated the 'flaw' in this creation!"

He roared in his heart with a mix of shock and anger as he dodged desperately.

Golden Bone's seemingly casual question from before now exploded in his mind like a thunderclap—that inquiry about the nature of memory and self. The answer was so cruel and direct!

When the shell of false memories was stripped away, what was exposed was such an uncontrollable, destructive core!

Escape! He had to escape! If he were captured, there might still be room to maneuver, but in Cynthia's current state, she would absolutely beat him to death!

But how could the speed of an ordinary person compare to an Evolver whose full potential had been unleashed and who was equipped with a Mechanical Exoskeleton? Not to mention the explosive power currently driving Cynthia's madness.

After only a few breaths of pursuit, Cynthia was closing in again.

The doctor felt a vicious wind coming from behind and lunged forward with all his might!

Thud—Crack!

A heavy, dull impact was accompanied by the clear, tooth-aching sound of bones shattering!

The mechanical gauntlet missed his heart, but it slammed solidly into his left shoulder blade, which he hadn't quite managed to pull away in time.

Terrifying power erupted instantly.

The doctor's entire left arm was completely smashed off his body from the shoulder joint. Like a broken doll part, wrapped in shredded fabric and bone fragments and mixed with a large amount of blood, it flew backward, tracing a gruesome arc before hitting the ground several meters away.

"Aaahhhhhh—!!!"

A shrill scream that didn't sound human erupted from Dr. Chen Ruian's mouth. He fell to the ground screaming, his right arm desperately clutching the gushing stump of his left shoulder. His body curled into a ball from the extreme pain, twitching violently as his face turned as pale as paper in an instant.

Accompanied by a burst of blinding electric light and a violent explosion, the hideous beast that had been artificially accelerated finally collapsed under Lu Jianchuan's flying kick, which was condensed with high-intensity bio-electricity. It stopped moving. Shen Mingyuan quickly followed up with a few shots to confirm it was no longer a threat.

The two didn't dare pause for a moment and immediately rushed toward Cynthia and the doctor.

As soon as they approached, they saw Dr. Chen Ruian lying in a pool of blood, screaming with a severed arm, and Cynthia standing before him, her Mechanical Gauntlets stained with blood, her entire being radiating a cold, violent aura.

"Cynthia! Are you okay?" Seeing this, Lu Jianchuan instinctively shouted.

"No way, Brother Lu," Shen Mingyuan couldn't help but blurt out from the side, his tone urgent. "Does that even need asking? It's obvious she's not okay! What you should be saying is, 'Cynthia! Calm down!'"

"Is this the time for your commentary!" Lu Jianchuan barked, his gaze locked on Cynthia's obviously out-of-control back. "Hurry and stop her! Something's wrong with her state!"

Before his voice had even faded, Lu Jianchuan charged forward, aiming straight for Cynthia as she was about to deliver another heavy blow to the fallen doctor.

Cynthia seemed to have eyes in the back of her head. The moment Lu Jianchuan got close, her blood-stained mechanical gauntlet didn't hesitate; she threw a backhand straight punch that was devoid of flair but packed terrifying power!

Lu Jianchuan had no way to dodge. He had to sink his hips and plant his feet, his right fist—encased in silver armor—likewise gathering strength to meet her head-on!

Boom—!

A dull, heart-stopping crash of flesh against metal and power against power exploded!

A shockwave erupted from the point where their fists met. Lu Jianchuan felt a tyrannical, overbearing force filled with chaotic killing intent travel up his arm. His footing immediately became unstable, and he staggered back three steps before he could barely dissipate the force, his arm going numb.

As for Cynthia, her figure only swayed slightly. Her feet were like roots, and she didn't retreat half a step.

She slowly turned her head. Those eyes were like a frozen pond, piercingly cold, sweeping over Lu Jianchuan and the approaching Shen Mingyuan without a shred of emotion.

Shen Mingyuan raised his dual pistols. He didn't aim directly at Cynthia's vitals but pointed them at the ground beside her, his voice clear and urgent: "Cynthia! I heard the conversation just now!"

"Listen!" Shen Mingyuan spoke faster, trying to penetrate that layer of ice.

"Even if your past memories are fake, even if they're implanted stories! But everything we've experienced since we formed this team—fighting side-by-side in the lab, chasing the enemy together just now—these memories and feelings are happening for real right now! They are what we and 'you' created together! Don't let the falsehood of the past swallow the reality of the present! You still have us!"

Cynthia had no reaction to his words; there wasn't even a flicker in her eyes. She just silently looked at Shen Mingyuan with those hollow eyes, and then at Lu Jianchuan, who was on high alert.

The next second, she moved.

She didn't answer. Instead, she included both Lu Jianchuan and Shen Mingyuan in her attack range and charged at them with that lingering, violent killing intent!

"Tsk!" Seeing this, Lu Jianchuan knew words were useless. "No choice. We have to restrain her first!"

"Got it!" Shen Mingyuan replied, his body already beginning to retreat to open up some distance, his tone tinged with frustration. "If only that kid Wei Ziqing were here. His nerve-paralyzing toxins would be way more convenient than us for this kind of situation... Forget it, let's go!"

A tactic formed instantly. As Shen Mingyuan retreated rapidly, he fired his dual pistols in succession. The bullets weren't aimed at Cynthia but were precisely shot in front of and to the sides of her charge path, kicking up countless fragments of stone and dust in an attempt to delay and disrupt her route, creating an opening for Lu Jianchuan.

Lu Jianchuan gave a low shout and met her head-on, his silver-armored arms held in front of him, preparing to take Cynthia's impact while looking for a chance to suppress or control her.

In this tense moment, Dr. Chen Ruian, lying on the ground pale from blood loss, had a flicker of hope for survival in his eyes. He used his remaining right arm to painfully prop up his body, trying to quietly crawl toward the shadows.

Bang!

A bullet slammed into the ground less than ten centimeters from his head, blasting a shallow pit. The resulting debris stung his cheek.

Shen Mingyuan's voice came over coldly. While maintaining his suppressive fire on Cynthia, he slightly tilted the muzzle of one gun toward the doctor:

"You, stay right there. Although I find you extremely repulsive right now," his tone was filled with undisguised loathing,

"if you dare move again, I don't mind blowing your head open right now on Cynthia's behalf. Do I make myself clear?"

The doctor's whole body stiffened, and the last trace of color drained from his face. Looking at the muzzle Shen Mingyuan managed to keep locked on him even during the fierce battle, and hearing those bone-chilling words, he hurriedly shouted with all his strength in a raspy voice:

"Don't—I won't run! I definitely won't run!" Having said that, he truly didn't dare move again, curling up where he was, doing nothing but bleeding from his stump and trembling violently from fear.