13: The thunder of the Himalayas and the burning lifespan

[Deduction Epoch: M2 Imperial Palace Underground Laboratory]

The wind and snow howled.

The snow here was pure white, without the nauseating stench of radiation from the wasteland, yet it carried an absolute chill capable of freezing the soul.

This was the Imperial Dungeon.

A heavy thud broke the dead silence.

Thud. Drag. Thud.

Arik Taranis dragged his unconscious right leg down the Adamantium corridor. His Mk I power armor was now scrap metal. The ceramite plate on his chest had melted from high temperatures, clinging to charred muscle like cooled candle wax.

With every step, the servo-motors shrieked in their death throes, and his lungs wheezed like broken bellows.

He was at his limit.

A tide of genetic collapse flooded his sanity. His vision was filled with red noise as his retinal nerves dissolved. His skin burned, and his bones screamed.

But he had to return.

His left hand was deathly tight against the shattered sealed compartment of his chest plate. Inside was a blood-stained, oil-dripping data storage device.

[Ancient Eugenics Database Fragment: Genetic Sequence Lock].

This was the "hope" he had exchanged for the lives of half a company.

"Hiss—"

The airtight door slid open, venting cold air. The scents of incense, ozone, and high-energy nutrient solution rushed toward him.

It was a massive underground hall.

Countless ten-meter-high transparent gene-cultivation tanks stood in rows. Turbid amniotic fluid swirled inside the tanks, where deformed embryos drifted. Servo-skulls flew about, making clicking calculation sounds.

Arik's knees buckled, and he knelt on the metal floor, creating a dent.

Trembling, he pried out the data disk and held it high above his head.

"My Lord."

His voice was raspy, laden with bloody froth.

"Mission... complete."

There was no response.

In the center of the hall, a tall figure in a golden lab robe stood with his back to him at a holographic console, busily tuning double-helix gene strands.

That suffocating pressure, that absolute rationality and coldness.

He did not look back.

He simply lifted a finger slightly.

A mechanical arm lowered, its servo-claw precisely taking the data disk and inserting it into a terminal.

The red warnings on the screen froze, and data began refreshing frantically.

[Protocol Analysis: High-Intensity Muscle Fiber Restructuring / Forced Metabolic Inhibition Algorithm.]

[Matching Degree: 94%.]

The golden figure paused for a moment.

An assessment, perhaps even a faint sigh.

The cultivation tanks roared.

"Hiss— Hiss—"

Dozens of thick infusion tubes slithered like vipers, piercing the ruined power armor and stabbing into his spine, heart, and arteries.

Icy liquid was injected.

"Arghhhhh—!!!"

Arik threw his head back and screamed, drowning out the roar of the machines.

This was not a treatment.

This was a "shackle."

Thunder Warriors were flawed engines destined to explode. This technology was not to fix the flaw, but to install a "forced cooling system."

By injecting cryogenic chemicals, it forcibly froze the collapsing genes, locking them in their chaotic state.

Pain.

It was more painful than having limbs severed. It was like molten iron pouring into his veins, followed by a flash-freeze with liquid nitrogen.

His body was dismantled and reassembled. Dissolved muscle fibers tangled anew under the stimulation of the drugs, becoming thicker, harder, and more inhuman. Bones creaked and groaned, piercing through skin to form a skeletal shell... [Era League · Room of the 103rd Judging Panel]

The camera zoomed in.

Arik's skin was as ashen as a corpse's, with black veins spreading and pulsing like a spiderweb.

"What is he doing?"

Tactical analyst Karen watched the skyrocketing physiological values, his scalp tingling. "Super serum?"

"No."

Isabelle stared intently at the [Vital Signs].

The red line stopped falling, but it didn't rise; instead, it turned into a violently fluctuating sawtooth line.

"This isn't a cure. It's a curse."

Isabelle's voice trembled. "He didn't repair the genetic defect. He locked the collapse process in place."

She pointed at Arik's crimson, frenzied eyes on the screen.

"It's like putting a casing on a bomb that's about to explode. The fuse is burning, pressure is building, and the casing is forcibly holding it down."

"The price is eternal agony."

"As long as he lives, intense pain will accompany every breath. This is to squeeze every last bit of value out of a tool."

The bullet-chat went dead silent.

There was no happy ending. Only a bitter price that had to be paid for survival... The surgery ended.

The infusion tubes were pulled out, bringing with them beads of black blood.

Arik stood up. His frame was even more massive, his muscles bulging like rocks, making his power armor creak under the tension.

He clenched his fist. Pop. The air was crushed.

Power.

An unprecedented, frenzied power. And along with it, a bone-deep agony that followed him like a shadow.

But he didn't care.

The pain kept him awake.

Looking at the golden figure with his back turned, his eyes held only fanatical loyalty.

"Thank you, My Lord, for granting me... new life."

The golden figure remained busy. But deep within Arik's mind, a majestic and cold voice rang out.

"Go."

"Unification is not yet complete."

"There are more enemies that need to be purified."

Arik struck his chest plate, performing the Aquila Salute.

"As you wish."

He turned and walked into the darkness with heavy, destructive strides. Behind him, hundreds of Thunder Warriors who had finished their maintenance stepped out of their cultivation tanks.

In silence, enduring the intense pain, they grabbed their Bolters.

Burning kindling. As long as the fire does not go out, they will fight until death... [Holographic Pod Perspective: Li Cang]

The [Thunder Warrior Legion] icon lit up again.

The "Endangered" red light disappeared, replaced by a deep purple "Enhanced" marker.

[Technology Unlocked: Gene Stabilization Technology (Pseudo).]

[New Traits Added: [Pain Conversion], [Hardened Skeleton], [Genetic Curse].]

[Side Effect: Maintenance costs increased by 50%.]

"That's enough."

Problems that could be solved with money were not problems at all.

He looked at the ladder points panel.

[Current Rank Points: 90 / 100]

[Status: Promotion Match Point]

10 points short. Win one more, and he would break through the Iron IV quagmire.

But the system wouldn't let him off easily. At the 90-point mark, the matchmaking mechanism would arrange a "gatekeeper"—an old hand with a high win rate and an overtiered deck.

"Since I'm going through a tribulation..."

Li Cang tapped his fingers on the table, a gambler's madness flashing in his eyes.

"Give me a heavyweight opponent."

He clicked the [PVP Arena] matchmaking button.

[Match Success!]

[Opponent ID: Hive Mind]

[Civilization Type: Biological Mutation · Zerg Swarm]

[Energy Level Assessment: T2 (Extremely Dangerous)]

Li Cang's pupils constricted slightly.

Zerg.

A novice's nightmare, synonymous with quantity and violence.

"Very well."

Li Cang whispered, his finger sliding across the modified [Thunder Warrior] card.

"Let's see if you have more bugs, or if my bolts are harder."