298: Mechanical Rebirth

Golden light flowed over the vehicle name, sliding down like water.

The shell of the vehicle name began to make a clicking sound, and pieces of blackened old armor fell off the vehicle, landing in the ice crevices.

Lin Wei stared at the screen, her hand hovering over the keyboard, not daring to press any keys.

New data popped up, and the interface had changed.

She didn't recognize those icons, and she couldn't find the original survival points bar.

The SP value was gone, replaced by a line that pulsed up and down.

"It's not broken," she whispered, "It's upgraded."

Su Ling stood by the window, the gun barrel still smoking.

She saw outside that the remaining light from the Giant Demon was being absorbed into a new component at the bottom of the vehicle.

What used to be a vent had now become a silver-gray ring with pulsing patterns.

"The vehicle is different now," she said.

Chen Wang sat in the driver's seat, his hands not letting go of the steering wheel.

He felt a tingling sensation in his palms, as if electricity was being transmitted into him.

The new vehicle logo was larger than before, engraved with patterns on the sides, with a speck of golden light in the center.

He tried turning the wheel.

It was smooth, not stuck at all, as natural as moving his own hands.

Lin Wei suddenly stood up: "I found the material—it's called Annihilation Alloy."

No one spoke.

No one had ever heard of this name.

"This kind of thing shouldn't exist," her voice trembled slightly, "It can consume the energy of an attack and use that energy to repair itself."

"Those wounds we repaired before... it was all for nothing."

She looked at the scratch next to the main control console, the one Su Wan had left with a knife.

But now, that mark was slowly disappearing, the metal becoming smooth.

Su Wan walked over from the medical area, holding an instrument in her hand.

She glanced at the oxygen generator, the screen reading an oxygen level of 32%.

Normal is 21%.

"The reactor has started," she said, "I didn't turn it on."

The biological pod in the corner lit up with blue light, and a layer of green algae grew on the inner walls of the tubes.

They swayed gently, flashing along with the light outside the vehicle.

The air had improved, and water could be reused more times.

Previously, water had to be added daily, but now it could be used more than seven times.

Amy crouched at the door of the supply compartment, holding a list in her hand.

She turned to the last page and frowned.

"The food is wrong," she said.

She went into the cabinet and took out every package of food to count.

Biscuits, protein bars, dried vegetables—it all added up to enough for three people for seven days.

If divided among six people, it wouldn't even last three days.

She put down the last bag of oatmeal and turned to walk toward the main control area.

"We need to hurry," she said, "Or eat less."

She suggested that those not on duty should enter the hibernation pods to reduce consumption.

This would save half the food.

Another way was to increase speed.

The vehicle name was very strong now; if the road was clear, they could reach the signal source in two days and perhaps find supplies.

Chen Wang didn't speak.

His hands were still on the steering wheel, and he felt as if the vehicle understood what he was thinking.

The vehicle vibrated slightly.

He closed his eyes, remembering what his father had said.

When he was ten, he watched his father change parts behind the repair shop.

"A vehicle isn't just a machine," his father said, wiping his hands, "It's a partner."

"If you treat it well, it will treat you well."

He opened his eyes, a decision made in his heart.

"Three days," he said, "We must find the genesis engine."

After he finished speaking, the vehicle was quiet for a few seconds.

Su Ling returned to the observation post to check the sniper rifle rack.

She wrapped her left shoulder tighter; there was still frostbite there, aching faintly.

She didn't turn on the heat, afraid of wasting electricity.

The gun rack clicked, and she sat down and fastened her seatbelt.

Amy placed the bag of copper plates in the passenger seat and arranged them.

She didn't count them anymore, just patted the bag twice, as if settling something.

Lin Wei opened her sketchbook.

The edges of the paper were scorched, and the back was still empty.

She picked up her pen and wrote the first line: "Flight Module Feasibility Plan - Phase One Initiation."

Then she connected to the energy port of the new armor, looking for a buoyancy signal.

The instrument reacted quickly, showing a weak fluctuation with a stable frequency.

"It can fly," she whispered, "It really can."

She didn't dare to try again, fearing problems.

But she recorded the data, preparing to simulate it later.

Su Wan returned to the medical area and turned off the lights in the prayer room.

She placed a new sticker next to the knife mark, recording the status of the reactor.

Star Pupil lay in the pod, her eyes half-open.

The mechanical parrot covered her face.

Her mouth moved, emitting intermittent sounds.

"It's still singing..."

The voice was very soft, but Chen Wang heard it.

He looked down at his hands.

There was still grease under his fingernails, and the burn scars hadn't faded.

But when he gripped the steering wheel again, that sense of unfamiliarity was gone.

The vehicle was no longer just a tool, nor a weapon, and certainly not just a vehicle.

It was responding to him.

Lin Wei saw the report that the spatial structure reorganization was complete.

The cramped lounge area had doubled in size, and there was now an energy compartment and two equipment ports.

The Shield activated automatically, enveloping the entire vehicle.

The weapons had also changed.

The machine gun had become an electromagnetic cannon, and the cooling could adjust itself.

It used to require manual reloading, but now there was a mechanical arm to do it.

Chen Wang turned on the navigation.

The signal source was still to the north, 372 kilometers away.

There were no obstacles ahead, and no weather warnings.

"We can go," he said.

No one objected.

Su Ling confirmed the observation system was normal, Amy closed the supply compartment door, and Lin Wei disconnected the old terminal.

All functions were on the new interface; the operation was different but very smooth.

Chen Wang pressed the accelerator.

The thrusters hummed, no longer shaking.

The vehicle slowly rose, hovering steadily thirty centimeters above the ice.

The ice field was boundless, and the sky was gray.

The golden light was still around the vehicle, like a membrane.

The vehicle name slid forward, its speed increasing.

Lin Wei looked at the flight module data and discovered a resonance between the buoyancy and the armor.

Each thrust provided a little more lift, meaning it could travel further.

She saved the data into an encrypted folder, naming it "Alternative Plan."

Amy took out her calculator to recalculate the food distribution.

She deleted the hibernation option and changed it to "Extreme Endurance," which could last at most four and a half days.

This number wasn't safe enough, but she didn't say anything.

Su Wan finished checking the life support system and walked to the main control console.

She placed her hand on it and felt a vibration.

It wasn't the kind from a machine; it felt more like a heartbeat.

Star Pupil suddenly coughed.

The mechanical parrot raised its head and squawked.

Her eyes opened a slit, her gaze blurry, and she said that sentence again:

"It's still singing..."

Chen Wang glanced at her, then looked ahead.

There was nothing at the end of the ice field.

But he knew the signal was real.

The vehicle continued forward, its altitude unchanged, its speed steady.

The bottom of the vehicle glided over the ice, leaving no trace.

Lin Wei wrote down the second plan: [Use Annihilation Alloy to absorb attacks for passive defense].

Just as she finished writing, a prompt suddenly popped up on the screen.

It wasn't text, but a waveform, with a very low frequency.

She zoomed in and discovered that the waveform was regular, like some kind of code.

Before she could analyze it, the audio played automatically.

There was a soft sound outside the vehicle.

It sounded like someone knocking on metal.