297: A miracle occurred

Red light enveloped the wuling vehicle. Cracks appeared on the windshield, but it did not shatter. It was very quiet inside the vehicle; all systems had stopped. Chen Wang was still gripping the steering wheel, his hands tight. He could hear his own breathing.

Star Pupil moved slightly. Her fingers twitched, and the mechanical parrot raised its head and let out a cry. She slowly opened her eyes, her gaze vacant, as if she were looking at something others could not see.

She sat up from the medical pod, her movements stiff. No one stopped her. She walked to the front of the cockpit and stopped in front of the wuling emblem. She raised her hand and pressed her palm against the emblem.

"Frequency docking," she said, her voice soft but clear.

The holographic interface suddenly flashed with golden light. The kindling system restarted, and a new line of text popped up: [Primitive kindling gene detected, initiating Inheritor protocol — wuling resonance mode activated].

Lin Wei looked up. The screen lit up, and data scrolled rapidly. She grabbed the keyboard and typed code to try to find the source of the signal. But these codes were not typed by her; they were popping up on their own. A countdown appeared on the screen, not for a meltdown, but for a charging progress.

"It... it's absorbing energy?" her voice trembled. "The North Sea Giant Demon's energy is being drawn back!"

Su Ling stood next to the sniper position, gun still in hand, but she didn't fire. She looked out the window; the Giant Demon's tentacles had already wrapped around the vehicle body, its originally red skin turning grey, as if it had lost its strength. The massive body hung in the air, motionless.

"It has stopped," she said.

Chen Wang's chest suddenly felt hot. He looked down and saw the birthmark under his collar glowing, blue lines crawling along his skin. He reached out and also pressed his palm against the other side of the wuling emblem.

[DNA match rate 99.8%... Inheritor confirmed, permissions unlocked]

[wuling resonance: initiating final evolution program]

The wuling emblem burst with golden light, illuminating the entire ice sea. The light was not blinding, but it made people feel as if something had awakened. The vehicle's metal body began to flow, the cracks closing one by one, the thruster casing restored, and the energy core turned from dark to bright, finally becoming white.

Lin Wei stared at the screen as the survival points numbers kept rising.

+1000

+2000

+5000

"survival points are back!" she shouted. "And it's not just coming back, it's doubling!"

Su Wan walked out of the prayer room, holding an electronic candle in her hand. She didn't speak, walked to the main control console, and placed the candle next to the panel. The light was weak, but it looked real amidst the golden light.

Amy crouched on the floor, picking up the chips from the ground. She arranged them on the control console, piecing them together into a complete wuling shape. She touched one of the copper pieces and whispered, "I bet on the right one."

Star Pupil's body swayed. Chen Wang immediately steadied her. She leaned on his shoulder, her eyes open, but her gaze was empty.

"It is speaking," she said. "Not with sound, but with frequency... I can hear it."

"Who is speaking?" Chen Wang asked.

"wuling." Her mouth twitched, "It says... we are not survivors, we are guides."

Lin Wei stood up and rushed to the terminal. She pulled up the vehicle structure diagram and discovered that the chassis had an extra module that hadn't been there before. This module was replicating rapidly, connecting into various systems. She ran an analysis program, and the result popped up with three words: Cannot be identified.

"This wasn't done by us." She turned to look at Chen Wang. "It grew out by itself."

Su Ling put down her gun and placed it into the rack. She walked to the window and watched the Giant Demon outside disintegrate bit by bit. Its body turned into light dust, flowing into the vehicle body along with the golden light. The whole process was very quiet; there was no explosion, nor any struggle.

"We didn't win," she said. "It's that we were chosen."

Chen Wang didn't speak. He could feel the wuling emblem pulsing, like a heartbeat. His birthmark was still hot, but it didn't hurt anymore; instead, it felt somewhat familiar, like when his father used to put his hand on his shoulder when he was little.

Lin Wei's voice sounded again: "energy core operation restored, life support system restarted, Shield module self-test passed. All damage repairs completed, remaining survival points: 12740."

Amy walked to the main control console and pressed the last chip in. She looked at Chen Wang: "Where to next?"

Before Chen Wang could answer, Star Pupil suddenly spoke: "There are still many people waiting for us."

After saying this, she closed her eyes, and her body went limp. Chen Wang held her and gently placed her back into the medical pod. The mechanical parrot jumped onto her chest, curled into a ball, and covered her face with its wings.

Lin Wei looked at the restored data, her lips trembling slightly. "This is not an upgrade," she said. "It is evolution. It is no longer within the scope of our technology."

She looked at Chen Wang: "But we created it."

Su Wan walked over and picked up the scalpel her husband had left behind. She made a shallow mark on the side of the main control panel, very lightly, but it left a mark. She put away the knife and turned off the lights in the prayer room.

Amy put the chips back into the bag and placed it in the passenger seat. She glanced outside; the golden light had not yet dissipated, covering the entire ice sea. The wuling vehicle was floating in the air, its thrusters vibrating gently, ready to leave at any moment.

Su Ling unbuckled her shoulder strap, took off her coat, and revealed the frostbite scar on her left shoulder. She touched it, then sat down and fastened her seatbelt.

Lin Wei sat in front of the control console, the scorched blueprints still on her lap. She picked up a pen and wrote on the blank space: Flight module feasibility plan — Phase one initiated.

Chen Wang let go of the steering wheel, his hands leaving it for a moment. He looked at his hands, then looked ahead. Beyond the golden light, it was still an endless ice sea. He gripped the steering wheel tightly again.

The thrusters began to accelerate.

The vehicle body gave a slight jolt.

Lin Wei looked up, and a prompt popped up on the screen: [Deep signal source detected, distance: 372 km, direction: due north]

Su Ling touched the gun rack and said softly: "Don't crash through the door this time."

Amy placed the bag on her lap and counted the remaining chips.

Su Wan closed her eyes and leaned back against the seat.

Chen Wang stepped on the accelerator.

The wuling vehicle glided forward, the golden light following it like a moving trail of light.