64: Search

The silver figure moved like a ghost, darting rapidly through the dim corridors of the old inpatient building. The superhuman senses and agility granted by the armor allowed Lu Jianchuan to easily capture distant footsteps and abnormal movements, enabling him to evade them in advance.

He chose sparsely populated passages as much as possible, tracking along the general direction the GUPA squad had taken earlier. However, the number of controlled people inside the hospital seemed to be increasing, spreading like a virus. At a connecting corridor leading to the central area, he eventually ran head-on into a small "crowd" of controlled individuals.

There were about five or six of them, including patients and caregivers. They had been wandering aimlessly like headless flies, but the moment Lu Jianchuan appeared, their hollow eyes snapped toward him. Then, as if receiving a unified command, they surrounded him stiffly but swiftly, attempting to trap him within the narrow corridor with their bodies.

He couldn't use lethal force; they were all innocent. Lu Jianchuan made a judgment instantly. He remembered the armor's ability to manipulate electric currents.

"A weak current should be able to knock someone unconscious, right?" The thought flashed through his mind, but he had never practiced it, nor did he know where the limit of "weak" lay. He could only suppress the output power to the lowest possible level.

He raised his right hand, aiming his palm at the man in hospital scrubs rushing at the front. He concentrated his will, trying to guide that power.

Zzt—!

A small cluster of blue-white electric sparks flickered in his palm, letting out a soft crackle that was much more conspicuous than he had expected. A slender arc of electricity shot out like a living snake, instantly striking the man's chest.

The man's forward momentum stiffened abruptly; his eyes rolled back, his body convulsed violently, and then he slumped limply to the ground, losing consciousness.

It worked!

Lu Jianchuan's heart tightened. Not daring to be careless, he moved rapidly through the crowd, his hands striking out repeatedly. Slender arcs of electricity accurately hit one controlled person after another. Like dolls with their power cords pulled, they collapsed one by one after brief convulsions.

The entire process made almost no loud noise, only the "zzt" of the jumping arcs and the muffled thuds of bodies hitting the floor.

Looking at the figures lying scattered on the ground, Lu Jianchuan quickly checked their pulses and breathing. Confirming they were only unconscious with stable vital signs, he breathed a small sigh of relief. Not daring to linger, he immediately stepped over these "roadblocks" and continued his pursuit.

Following an intuition and the direction where the controlled individuals seemed to be vaguely converging, he eventually arrived at the deeper parts of the hospital—the passage on the periphery of the Isolation Zone. This was exactly where the first parasite host had died; the air seemed to hold a lingering, faint scent—a mixture of disinfectant and an indescribable, cold stench of decayed biological matter.

At the end of the passage, near the door of the isolation room where the death had occurred, a figure stood quietly.

It was a woman with a graceful figure, dressed in well-tailored, dark casual clothes that were out of place in a hospital environment. Her back was to Lu Jianchuan, and her head was slightly lowered, as if she were staring at the closed door of the isolation room, or perhaps observing a moment of silence.

Lu Jianchuan's footsteps instinctively slowed and lightened; the soles of the armor's boots made almost no sound as they touched the floor. The evo factor in his body and the armor simultaneously issued a silent alarm, warning him of the extreme danger contained within that seemingly harmless back.

She was The Mother! The "Queen Bee" who controlled everything and could strip away the will of others with a wave of her hand!

He approached slowly, stopping about five meters away from her. His muscles were tensed, entering a state where he could launch an attack or defend at any moment.

Just then, as if she had eyes in the back of her head, the woman turned around slowly and elegantly.

Her face was fully revealed in the dim light. She was unexpectedly young, even beautiful, but that beauty carried a non-human, porcelain-like delicacy and coldness. Her gaze was calm and rippleless. When she looked at Lu Jianchuan's futuristic silver armor, there was no surprise or fear; instead, it was as if she were seeing something expected.

The corners of her lips curled into an almost imperceptible arc. Her voice was soft, yet it carried a chill that penetrated the armor and reached his consciousness directly:

"Ah, it's you."

Inside the passage, the air seemed to freeze. The silver armor and the elegant woman stood in a silent standoff as an aura of danger spread wordlessly.

The woman looked at Lu Jianchuan's carapace-covered, expressionless helmet, her face still wearing that faint, all-knowing smile. She gently raised her hand and tidied her hair at the temples, though it wasn't messy, her movements calm and unhurried.

"How rude of me. I was so busy admiring your perfect evolutionary state that I forgot to introduce myself." Her voice remained soft but held an indisputable penetrative power. "My name is Su Yuejin. Yue as in moonlight, Jin as in the fine jade one holds."

She lowered her hand, her gaze meeting Lu Jianchuan's deep blue eyepieces, as if she could see through the armor to the true face beneath. "Let's skip the pointless testing and nonsense and get straight to the point. I, and the organization I represent, 'Prometheus', formally extend an invitation to you."

Her tone carried a near-fanatical appreciation: "Look at you, what a perfect life form! Evolution from the inside out, pure and powerful, with none of the distortions, loss of control, or pathetic energy deficiencies common in those lower evolutionary paths. This is what evolution should look like! This is the prototype of a god!"

She spread her arms slightly, as if embracing a grand vision: "Join us! The evo factor is the supreme gift bestowed upon all life by this planet; it is the key to a higher dimension!

The old human form is nothing but a stumbling block on the path of evolution, dregs destined to be eliminated! Only by embracing evolution, guiding evolution, and even... becoming evolution itself, is the only right path for the survival and ascension of human civilization! We need pioneers like you!"

Lu Jianchuan listened silently, his brow furrowing tightly beneath the helmet. The other party's philosophy was extreme and cold, treating life as a tool to be screened and discarded at will.

He shook his head slowly and firmly. His refusal was self-evident.

He waited no longer. Exerting force with his feet, his silver figure suddenly launched forward like a hunting leopard, charging straight at Su Yuejin! He had to restrain her before she could react!

However, facing his rapid assault, Su Yuejin showed no panic. She didn't even move her feet an inch, simply watching him approach with those excessively calm eyes.

Just a moment before Lu Jianchuan's hand could touch her, seven or eight controlled people suddenly surged from the corner of the passage behind him! Their eyes were hollow, but their movements were exceptionally swift as they lunged for Lu Jianchuan's back!

A pincer attack!

Lu Jianchuan's mind raced, and he made an instant decision—ignore the threat behind him and prioritize capturing the leader!

His speed exploded again. Before those Puppets could touch him, his left hand shot out like an iron vise, accurately and fiercely seizing Su Yuejin's slender neck, slamming her heavily against the cold wall with a "bang"!

At the same time, his right fist clenched tightly. Scorching bio-electric energy gathered rapidly at his knuckles, emitting a low hum as it hovered less than ten centimeters from her temple, full of threatening intent.

He had to make her release the control! This thought overrode everything. Lu Jianchuan steeled his heart, ignoring the risk of his voice being exposed, and prepared to bark an order.

However, when he actually spoke, he himself was stunned for a moment.

What emerged from his throat was not his familiar voice, but an extremely low, hoarse sound with a metallic friction and non-human resonance, like an echo from an abyss. it was worlds apart from his original voice and impossible to recognize.

This voice... was an effect of the armor?

A flash of realization and relief crossed his mind, but there was no time to dwell on it. He immediately used this strange, oppressive voice to growl at the Su Yuejin he was choking:

"Release your control over them!"

With her neck held in a death grip against the wall, Su Yuejin's breathing became visibly difficult, and her fair cheeks flushed from lack of oxygen. However, hearing this non-human voice, instead of fear, a deeper interest and a weird light of a successful scheme flashed in her eyes. She struggled to pull the corners of her mouth, letting out a broken but clear voice:

"Heh... cough... even the voice is so... unique... truly... a perfect creation..."

She stared directly into the blue-glowing eyepieces inches away: "But... release control? I refuse. Why... should I listen to you?"

Feeling the immense force at her neck and the scorching energy from his fist, she didn't beg for mercy but instead threw out an even more vicious bargaining chip: "What... want to kill me? You can try... but guess what happens to those poor worms I've 'woven' if I die?"

Her smile became cruel and gleeful: "They'll go... bang! Just like the first guy lying in there... brain death. With just a thought... they can die at any time. And now... if you kill me, they... will certainly be buried with me."

She looked at Lu Jianchuan, whose movements seemed to freeze for a moment, and her tone carried a playful provocation: "You see, you have two choices now. First, take a gamble, kill me, and then watch dozens or hundreds of people in this hospital... simultaneously turn into cold corpses."

"Second," she tilted her head slightly, her eyes full of mockery, "you can choose to... trust me. Let me go, let me leave. If I'm in a good mood, perhaps... I'll consider releasing the control. Of course, only a perhaps."

"But what is certain," she said each word clearly, spitting out the most malicious choice, "is that if you don't let me go, or if you kill me now, then they... will definitely die."

"So, respected 'Mr. armor'," Su Yuejin smiled, as if the one whose throat was being crushed and whose life hung by a thread wasn't herself, "how... will you choose?"