158: Chapter 158 Rescue Successful

Facing the fully armed heavy guard and Flynn at Tier 5 Mid-stage, Sheila did not retreat a single step; instead, her cold eyes ignited with high fighting spirit.

"Attack!" Flynn roared, his vibrating giant axe emitting a harsh hum.

The moment the heavy guard raised their guns, Sheila moved.

She swept her hands across her waist, throwing several special high-concentration anesthetic smoke grenades into the crowd like a spray of flowers.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Thick white mist instantly exploded in the narrow corridor, depriving everyone of their vision.

Following this, Sheila pushed her battle armor's kinetic engine to the limit, turning into a flickering white lightning bolt as she plunged into the mist.

"Argh!"

"Bang—"

Muffled sounds of flesh colliding and heavy armor hitting the ground came from the mist. Sheila's long spear, like a poisonous dragon emerging from its cave, struck accurately at the weak points of the guards' armor each time. Combined with the invasion of the high-concentration anesthetic gas, over a hundred heavy guards fell like wheat being harvested in mere seconds.

When the ventilation system forced most of the mist away, only Flynn remained in the corridor, leaning on his giant axe.

Flynn glanced at his subordinates unconscious on the ground. Instead of panic, a hint of violent excitement rose in his eyes.

"Got some skills."

Flynn stared tightly at Sheila before him, feeling the psionic fluctuations emanating from her, and suddenly sneered.

"I was wondering where this powerful outsider came from, but your own physical strength is only at Tier 4. However... this suit of armor you're wearing, and that spear in your hand, they're actually good stuff!"

As a Tier 5 Mid-stage powerhouse, Flynn had a sharp eye and saw through Sheila's bottom line at a glance.

"Too much talk."

Sheila didn't waste words. She stomped her foot, creating a dent in the heavy metal floor, and used the recoil to blast forward! Her long spear shook, forming a silver-white spear flower, stabbing straight at Flynn's heart.

"Courting death!"

Flynn roared, his Tier 5 Mid-stage terrifying power exploding without reservation. He gripped his giant axe with both hands, neither dodging nor parrying, and met her head-on with a mountain-splitting force!

"Clang—!!!"

The spear tip collided with the axe blade, erupting with a deafening metallic explosion and blinding sparks. The violent air wave blew away the surrounding unconscious guards.

Relying on the attribute bonuses of her Tier 5 battle armor, Sheila actually managed to hold off Flynn's heavy axe. She flipped her wrist, and the spear shaft slid along the axe handle like a viper, the tip aiming straight for Flynn's throat.

Flynn was shocked, quickly releasing one hand and punching the spear shaft. The two instantly entangled in a fight, spear strikes like a dragon, axe falls like thunder. In the narrow corridor, sparks from metal collisions bloomed like fireworks. Sheila, at Tier 4, relied on the crushing-level bonuses of her top-tier equipment to actually fight Flynn, a Tier 5 Mid-stage, to a draw, with every move being lethal!

Meanwhile, in the pure white laboratory, Zhou An had no time to pay attention to the commotion outside.

He looked at Grace in the nutrient tank, whose vitality was extremely weak and might stop breathing at any moment. He flipped his wrist, and a syringe flowing with moonlight as pure as substance appeared in his palm.

This was Shen Xingyue's proudest masterpiece.

The entire Cloud Top Fortress only had a few precious Moon-Glitter Grade medicinal plants. The maximum monthly output of this level of injection was a mere three. Except for giving one to each core team member for life-saving purposes, the rest were all in Zhou An's hands.

"Step back." Zhou An said in a low voice to Ivy.

He knew very well that once this life-support system, which forcibly extracted psionic energy, was disconnected, the injured person could very likely die completely within seconds. His movements had to be extremely fast!

Zhou An drew the star-extinguishing blade.

"Snap—Bang!"

The huge explosion-proof glass tank was shattered by a single slash, and the pale green nutrient solution poured down like a waterfall.

The metal tubes connected to Grace were precisely cut at the root by the blade light.

Losing buoyancy, Grace fell downwards. Zhou An discarded the long blade, took a step forward, and gently yet steadily caught the broken body.

Without any hesitation, the Moon-Glitter Grade syringe in Zhou An's hand precisely pierced into the artery near Grace's heart, instantly pushing the moonlight-shimmering medicinal liquid in!

"Hum—"

The moment the drug's effect erupted, a scene that could be called a miracle appeared.

This thing's dominance was countless times stronger than the legendary grade injection Ivy had injected earlier.

Grace's pale skin instantly flushed with a layer of soft moonlight, and those rotting, everted wounds began to heal, scab, and fall off at a terrifying speed visible to the naked eye.

The hematopoietic stem cells in her body, which were originally exhausted, seemed to have been injected with nuclear power and began to frantically produce fresh blood.

Although the severed limbs and wings could not grow back instantly, a large amount of fresh granulation tissue had already grown at the stumps, completely sealing off the loss of vitality.

Grace's weak breathing finally gradually stabilized.

Zhou An breathed a sigh of relief, pulled a large, thick black military coat from his storage space, and tightly wrapped Grace's broken body.

He picked up Grace with one hand and pressed his tactical headset with the other: "Sheila, report your position. The person has been found, prepare to retreat."

...

"Swish!"

Sheila's long spear turned into a pale stream of light, cunningly bypassing the axe's defense and stabbing straight at Flynn's head!

This strike was extremely swift. Flynn had nowhere to dodge and could only roar, desperately tilting his head.

The spear tip grazed his helmet, bringing up a string of sparks, plowing a deep trench on his armor, and nearly slicing off half his ear.

Flynn broke out in a cold sweat. Just as he was about to counterattack, Zhou An's voice came through Sheila's headset.

"Received, rendezvous immediately."

A cold light flashed in Sheila's eyes, and her offensive stance instantly retracted. She didn't continue to linger in the fight but swept her hands across her waist again.

"Beep—"

Several high-explosive smoke grenades mixed with flashbangs rolled to Flynn's feet at the same time.

"Not good!" Flynn's pupils shrank.

"Boom!!"

Blinding white light accompanied by a deafening roar exploded in the corridor. Flynn only felt a vast whiteness before his eyes, his ears buzzing, and he lost all perception for a short time.

Taking advantage of the flashbangs, the thrusters on the back of Sheila's armor roared, spraying azure tail flames.

She pushed her speed to the limit, turning into an afterimage, leaping directly over the stunned Flynn, and speeding towards the bottom core area where Zhou An and Ivy were located!

"Swish—"

With a slight sound of breaking wind, Sheila's figure, like a white ghost, swept in from the end of the corridor and stopped steadily at the door of the pure white laboratory with a clean slide.

"Boss, Captain!"

Sheila glanced at the person in Zhou An's arms tightly wrapped in the black military coat. Although she couldn't see the face, the weak but familiar source aura made her heart tremble.

"The person has been rescued. This place will be completely surrounded soon, prepare to withdraw." Zhou An said without any nonsense, his tone decisive.

"Hold on to me!"

Ivy and Sheila didn't hesitate, grabbing Zhou An's arms and shoulders tightly from left and right.

Zhou An took a deep breath. The Void Star Arm on his right arm instantly erupted with unprecedented brilliant starlight, and his powerful mental strength instantly locked onto the distant spatial coordinates outside the warship.

"Jump!"

"Hum—"

With a violent collapse and distortion of space, the figures of the three turned into scattered starlight on the spot and disappeared without a trace in an instant.

Almost the next second after they disappeared.

"Bang!"

The heavy airtight door outside the laboratory was forcibly blasted open by violent force.

Flynn, covered in dust, carrying his giant axe, rushed in like a mad dog with a large group of heavy guards.

However, all that greeted him were scattered medical instruments and pale green nutrient solution flowing all over the floor.

As for Grace, who looked like a human stick, she had long since vanished without a trace.

...

"Swish! Swish! Swish!"

In the night sky, a void rift flickered repeatedly. After continuously performing several long-distance spatial jumps that overtaxed his physical strength, Zhou An led the three of them to forcibly tear through the White Feather Guild's radar blockade and appeared in a safe airspace more than 130 kilometers away from the wind chaser.

The cold wind at high altitude scraped like a knife. Zhou An hovered in mid-air holding Grace, his face slightly pale, and fine beads of sweat covered his forehead.

He pressed his tactical headset with one hand and connected to Luo Ning's communication: "Luo Ning, I've sent you the coordinates. We have successfully escaped, come and pick us up."

"Received! Boss is mighty! We'll be there soon!" Luo Ning's excited cheers came from the communicator.

More than ten minutes later, a huge steel beast tore through the thick clouds—the Cloud Top Fortress, like an immovable mobile fortress, steadily sailed into this airspace.

Seeing the fortress approaching, Zhou An squeezed out the last bit of physical strength in his body and launched the final short-distance teleportation.

"Swish."

With a flash of light, the four figures crossed the fortress's energy shield and landed steadily on the soft carpet of the central hall.

"Boss!"

"Are you all okay?"

Li Muzi and Shen Xingyue, who had been waiting anxiously, immediately greeted them, checking the status of the few.

"I'm fine, just a bit exhausted."

Zhou An held Grace, who was wrapped in the military coat, a little tighter, turned to look at Shen Xingyue, and his tone became serious.

"Xingyue, come with me to the medical room. I have a critically ill patient for you."

Everyone immediately made way. Zhou An strode into the highest-level sterile medical room holding Grace, and carefully laid her flat in the legendary healing pod.

"The situation is very bad, the disability is very severe." Zhou An looked at Shen Xingyue and said in a low voice, "However, I have already injected her with a 'Moon-Glitter Grade injection'. Her life is saved, and the most core functions are slowly self-repairing. Next, it's up to you."

"Leave it to me, Boss, go get some rest."

Zhou An nodded, didn't stay long in the medical room, turned around and retreated, leaving the space to the Chief Medical Officer of the Cloud Top Fortress.

After Zhou An left, Shen Xingyue gently lifted the black military coat stained with blood.

Even though she had prepared herself mentally, when she truly saw Grace's broken body, a flicker of shock could not help but flash across those eyes that were usually calm and unruffled.

Her right leg was severed at the root, her left hand was missing, and the pair of wings on her back, symbols of the Winged Race's honor, had been brutally torn off, leaving behind two shocking, bloody holes.

Shen Xingyue took a deep breath and instantly suppressed all her emotions.

Fortunately, with the domineering medicinal effect of the Moon-Glitter Grade injection, which could be called "bringing the dead back to life and regrowing flesh and bone," Grace's breathing, which had been extremely weak, was gradually becoming stronger.

"Activate the legendary healing pod and connect the 'Star Origin Medical Fluid'."

Shen Xingyue's ten fingers danced rapidly across the holographic panel. Countless slender mechanical arms extended from within the healing pod, precisely piercing into Grace's acupuncture points.

"Step one: remove the residual inferior nutrient solution in her body to prevent high-dimensional infection."

Under Shen Xingyue's control, the dialysis machine began to operate, slowly extracting and replacing the toxic life-support fluid that Cormac had forcibly injected.

"Step two: excise the necrotic tissue at the stumps."

The ultrasonic scalpel precisely cut at the severed arm, severed leg, and the bloody holes on her back, excising all the rotten flesh that had turned white and necrotic from the nutrient solution, revealing fresh, bloody tissue.

At the wrist of Grace's severed left hand, crystal-clear granulation tissue began to coil and grow wildly like intricate vines. White bones were reshaped, meridians extended, and muscle fibers were woven together like silk threads.

Her right leg and the wings on her back were also undergoing crazy cell-level division and reorganization within the rich medical fluid at a terrifying speed visible to the naked eye!

Shen Xingyue stared intently at the data on the monitoring screen. Only when the heart rate, blood pressure, and spiritual energy fluctuations all tended toward a stable and robust green curve did she let out a long sigh of relief and press the closed sleep button on the healing pod.

"Phew..."

Half an hour later, Shen Xingyue took off her white coat, pushed open the medical room's hatch, and walked back to the central hall.

Ivy and Hila, who had been waiting anxiously outside the door, immediately came up to greet her, their eyes full of trepidation and hope.

"Dr. Shen... how is our guild leader?"

Ivy's voice trembled slightly.

"Her life has been saved, and she is undergoing comprehensive reconstruction."

"Thanks to the boss's Moon-Glitter Grade injection, her foundation was well preserved. I just cleaned up the necrotic tissue for her, and I expect her missing limbs and wings will be fully restored within three hours."

Hearing this, everyone in the hall let out a sigh of relief.

"However, because she was forcibly drained of too much source spiritual energy earlier, her brain and nervous system have undergone a significant self-protective shutdown."

Shen Xingyue paused and continued, "As for when she will wake up... I don't really know."

"Thump."

Hearing this result, the two sisters, Ivy and Hila, were trembling with excitement and actually knelt down on one knee directly in front of Shen Xingyue.

"We will never forget Dr. Shen's great kindness!" Hila's eyes were red, and her voice choked with sobs.

"Don't thank me; thank the boss."

Shen Xingyue's expression remained cold, but a hint of imperceptible gentleness flashed in the depths of her eyes. She reached out and helped the two sisters up, "Now, we just need to wait patiently for your guild leader to wake up from her slumber."

Seeing Shen Xingyue walk out of the medical room and bring good news, the tense atmosphere in the hall finally eased.

Zhou An leaned back on the sofa, took the hot tea handed to him by Li Muzi, took a light sip, and scanned everyone present with his deep gaze, starting to finalize the upcoming tactical arrangements.

"Since the person has been saved, our primary task now is—hiding."

Zhou An set down his teacup.

"Cormac has lost both his son and the guild's biggest trump card; he must be in a state of complete madness right now. Those fifty LV5 warships and one LV6 flagship outside are definitely biting everywhere like mad dogs, and there's no need for us to provoke them at this time."

Luo Ning patted her chest and said confidently, "Don't worry, Boss. I have already activated the Cloud Top Fortress's stealth system at full power. As long as we don't fire and expose our spiritual energy fluctuations, they won't be able to scan us even if they burn out their radar!"

"Very good."

Zhou An nodded, his fingers tapping lightly on the table.

"We will lie low on the edge of the airspace for a while and wait until Grace wakes up before doing anything else. Since she is the owner of the LV6 flagship, once she wakes up, I happen to need to ask her about the acquisition channels for LV6 core components. If the Cloud Top Fortress wants to continue upgrading, this is an unavoidable hard requirement."

Everyone nodded, then dispersed, and the fortress entered the highest level of silent stealth mode.

...

Time was like the flowing wind in a sea of clouds; in the blink of an eye, five days passed.

During these five days, the Cangyun Airspace outside was almost turned upside down. Elder Cormac's rage turned into substantial military action; the White Feather Guild's patrol fleets and reconnaissance planes were frantically sweeping every corner within thousands of kilometers in a carpet-like manner.

They even spent a fortune buying intelligence from information brokers on the dark web, attempting to find the spaceship carrying the Sky Engine tax-evading merchant group.

However, Cormac's full-blown rage could only ultimately turn into futile, impotent fury.

Zhou An and his group were just too clean in their work.

Except for Li Muzi's LV5 logistics cruiser which had been briefly captured by the flagship's peripheral surveillance, they had left almost no substantial clues. And at this moment, this only clue of a spaceship was quietly docked in the hidden third-floor internal hangar of the Cloud Top Fortress.

The Cloud Top Fortress was like a drop of water merging into the ocean, perfectly hidden in this frantic manhunt.

Inside the fortress, life remained orderly, but the atmosphere in the medical room was tinged with a hint of solemnity.

Inside the healing pod, Grace lay quietly in the pure medical fluid.

After five days of reconstruction, her originally broken body had completely recovered—slender and powerful limbs, flawless skin, and the pair of pure white wings that had regrown on her back, emitting a faint glow.

From a physiological perspective, she was already a perfect Tier 5 Peak body.

Shen Xingyue, wearing a white coat, stood in front of the monitoring screen and pushed up the rimless glasses on the bridge of her nose.

The heart rate, blood pressure, and spiritual energy fluctuation indicators on the screen were all a sea of green representing health, so stable it was almost excessive.

"All physiological indicators are perfect, and cellular activity has reached its peak..."

Shen Xingyue looked at Grace, who showed no signs of waking up, and her cold brows furrowed slightly.

"But it has been five days. Her consciousness is still in a state of deep closure, which is not logical."

On the experimental bench next to the healing pod, Luo Ning was wearing goggles, holding several test tubes filled with various fluorescent liquids, shaking them while performing various chemical formulations.

Hearing Shen Xingyue's whisper, Luo Ning stopped her work, took off her goggles, and leaned over: "Xingyue, I think it's not just that her body is injured; it's more like her brain has 'locked' her consciousness to protect itself. How about... we use some unconventional methods?"

Shen Xingyue turned to look at her: "What new things have you researched in the lab recently?"

"Hehe, I actually do!"

Luo Ning's eyes lit up, and she took out a test tube glowing with a faint blue light from her space backpack like she was presenting a treasure.

"This is a gene agent I just developed recently, specially formulated for the Winged Race's genetic sequence. I call it [Neuron Transition Fluid]!"

"What is its effect?"

Luo Ning pointed to the reagent and explained: "The original design intention was to stimulate the cell activity of the Winged Race's cerebral cortex, allowing their neuron transmission speed to increase exponentially, thereby gaining extreme reaction speed in battle. This thing stimulates the brain, and I think if used on Grace, it might act like a defibrillator and forcibly 'shock' her 'locked' consciousness awake!"

A flash of concern crossed Shen Xingyue's eyes.

"It's theoretically feasible, but it is, after all, just an experimental product."

Shen Xingyue shook her head, "Grace's brain nerves are currently in a fragile self-protective period. If we rashly use a highly stimulating drug that hasn't undergone clinical trials, and it causes irreversible nerve damage or leads to brain death, all our previous efforts will be in vain. I suggest we wait a bit longer and let the healing pod continue to nourish her gently."

"But if we keep waiting, the consumption of supplies and the variables regarding the White Feather Guild will be too great."

Luo Ning rolled her eyes and made a bold suggestion.

"Since we're afraid of side effects, why don't we find a living subject to test it on first? As long as we confirm that this reagent is not destructive to the Winged Race's brain, we can use it on her!"

Shen Xingyue was taken aback: "Living subject test? Where would you find... you mean Ivy and Hila?"

"Yes! They are both Winged Race, and their genetic sequences are highly similar!"

Luo Ning clapped her hands excitedly.

As the Chief Medical Officer of the Cloud Top Fortress, Shen Xingyue also had a rigorous and even cold side when it came to scientific research.

After a brief period of thought, she had to admit that this was the fastest and most effective way to break the deadlock.

"It's worth a try."

"But this is an experimental drug with risks after all. I will carefully evaluate the dosage, and... we must first seek their own opinions; we absolutely cannot force them."

"Leave it to me; I'll go talk to them!"

Luo Ning excitedly took the reagent and turned to run towards the hall.