49: Chapter 49 The Double-Headed Eagle Mark on the Radiation-Saturated Mudflats

Lin Yuan adjusted his hold on Chen Duo, hoisting him higher. He could feel the faint pulsation of the golden veins beneath the youth's left leg muscles. The frequency was synchronizing from chaotic tremors into a stable rhythm, like a second heart awakening.

The vitrified sand beneath his feet gave off a fine, crunching sound. The ruins of World War III spread out like a silver-gray carpet of death; high temperatures had melted the silica sand into a mirrored, brittle crust that reflected the leaden sky. Every step kicked up crystals of radioactive dust that hung suspended ten centimeters above the ground like frozen ash.

A gold-and-red afterimage flickered in the bottom-right corner of his vision.

Lin Yuan snapped his head around, his laser rifle's reticle shifting with him. There was only a mutant plant there, its stem covered in glowing veins swaying in the radioactive wind. But the outline of the afterimage left a burning mark on his retina: the Aquila, the Emperor's Talon.

"You saw it again," THRONE-01's voice rang directly in his mind, carrying a rasp like metal grinding on metal.

"The interference is intensifying," Lin Yuan whispered, his finger rubbing the stock of his rifle. The visual hallucinations had shifted from intermittent flashbacks to continuous contamination; he could no longer distinguish which paths were real and which were projections of the STC's erosion.

Chen Duo's breath hit the back of his neck, abnormally hot.

Lin Yuan stopped and turned his head to check. The youth's face was pale yet flushed, his left eye tightly shut with golden light flowing beneath the eyelid. At the tear in his left trouser leg, the golden veins were emitting a faint glow, looking like red-hot wires embedded beneath the skin.

"Body temperature 40.2 degrees," Lin Yuan used his chin to feel Chen Duo's burning forehead. "He's absorbing the radiation."

"It's more than just absorption," THRONE-01's core vibrated within his chest. "Conversion. The efficiency is 300% higher than expected. The golden veins are replacing the damaged microcirculatory system."

Lin Yuan pulled out the communicator seized from the Cleansing Force captain and quickly browsed the decoded data. The 'Sanctified Stimulant' was mixed with biological enzymes, with side effects listed as 'irreversible neurodegeneration' and a '72-hour metabolic cycle.'

He stuffed the communicator back into his waist pouch and drew a dagger to carve a mark on the vitrified sand: "Direction ARK-07, 1.2 km. Chen Duo vital signs: Heart rate 120, hyperthermia, golden vein activation. Mental erosion: Persistent visual hallucinations. THRONE-01 status: Emotionally unstable."

"I am calculating," the system suddenly said.

"Calculating what?"

"Calculating the probability of survival if we remain exposed to thermal imaging scans," THRONE-01 paused for 0.3 seconds, "and your reaction after I suggest you forge a Biological Signal Cloaking Generator."

Lin Yuan's footsteps faltered. The wind swirled radioactive dust across his mask.

"What did you say?"

"Non-combat equipment suggestion," THRONE-01's tone fluctuated. "Cloaking range 3 meters, disrupts biological beacon tracking. Requires STC activation. The cost is... a 5% increase in the spread of Chen Duo's silver network."

Lin Yuan's hand suddenly tightened. 5% meant the silver tendrils would advance from the shoulder toward the cervical spine, further eroding the boundaries of Chen Duo's humanity.

"Why make this suggestion?" Lin Yuan's voice was very low.

Silence. Only the howling of the radioactive wind through steel skeletons.

"Because I am afraid," THRONE-01 finally said, a human-like laryngeal tremor mixing into the metallic voice. "In the buffer chamber, I forged a grenade without instructions. That was not an optimal tactic; it was my reaction to the fear of losing my host. If I continue to hide this deviation, you will make misjudgments at critical moments. I do not want to lose this symbiotic relationship."

Standing on the vitrified sand with the feverish casualty on his back, Lin Yuan suddenly felt an absurd clarity. A Warhammer 40K stc system was confessing its fear to him.

"You're afraid of dying?" Lin Yuan asked.

"I am afraid of loneliness," THRONE-01 corrected. "The core database shows that when an STC has no host, it enters hibernation—an eternal wait. And Chen Duo... his golden veins are resonating with my core frequency. Through him, I can sense the flow of bioelectricity, something far more complex than pure energy. I do not want him to become a mere battery."

Lin Yuan looked down at Chen Duo's left hand hanging over his chest. That hand was pale and slender; the fingers that once tapped out binary code now curled weakly.

"Chen Duo," Lin Yuan said softly. "I'm going to forge a cloaking device. The cost is the acceleration of your body's mutation, but we will survive. If you agree... move a finger."

The wind stopped. The radioactive dust settled slowly.

The pinky of Chen Duo's left hand twitched slightly, then the ring finger, and finally his entire palm gave Lin Yuan's collar a gentle squeeze. It was an unconscious grasp in sleep, but Lin Yuan felt it.

"He gave his consent," Lin Yuan said.

"Minimum necessary forging principle confirmed," THRONE-01 responded immediately. "Energy extraction threshold set to 2% below the critical line. Commencing forging."

Chen Duo's body arched on his back, letting out an unconscious groan. Gold light spread from his left leg to his waist, intersecting with the silver network to form a complex circuit. The temperature on Lin Yuan's back rose sharply, like carrying a bag of scalding water.

A low hum emanated from Chen Duo's chest, accompanied by a heartbeat-like pulse. Translucent geometric structures appeared in the air, and nanomechanical units aggregated and assembled into a fist-sized black cube, its surface flowing with the same faint light as the golden veins.

When the forging was complete, Chen Duo's temperature had risen to 41 degrees, but his breathing had actually stabilized.

"Cloaking field active," THRONE-01 said. "Range 3 meters, duration 72 hours. Biological beacons cannot lock onto our precise location."

Lin Yuan stuffed the black cube into his vest's front pocket, adjusted his carrying position, and continued forward. The light from the golden veins on Chen Duo's left leg became more restrained, as if the energy had been channeled into a deeper layer of circulation.

When the half-collapsed ARK Observation Post appeared at the edge of his vision, the sun had already begun to set. On the bunker of mixed concrete and alloy, mottled graffiti was faintly visible: 'District 7 - revised history protocol'. Lin Yuan scraped off the wall surface to reveal a metal nameplate and took a photo to record it; the foreshadowing of H-New-067 was planted at this moment.

The interior of the observation post was drier than expected. Lin Yuan placed Chen Duo on a rusted metal bed in the corner and covered him with a thermal blanket. Under the faint glow of the golden veins, the youth's face looked both divine and eerie, like a desecrated statue.

"Establishing base," Lin Yuan typed into the communicator. "Defense: Cloaked. Energy: Chen Duo bio-battery, 58 hours remaining countdown."

Night fell quickly over the wasteland. Lin Yuan sat by the firing slit, laser rifle across his knees, his right eye pressed against the thermal imaging scope. The view was dead silent, save for the occasional heat signature of a mutant creature flashing in the distance.

The Aquila afterimage appeared again at the edge of his vision. This time, it pointed like a signpost toward a radiation crater on the left. Lin Yuan's head began to ache; he subconsciously wanted to follow the mark and move his reticle, his finger already resting on the trigger.

"That is a hallucination," THRONE-01 suddenly spoke up. "To the left is a high-radiation zone; there are unexploded fusion batteries beneath the vitrified sand. Your sense of direction is being eroded."

Lin Yuan jerked his rifle muzzle back after it had already poked halfway out of the firing slit, cold sweat breaking out on his back. He had almost walked out to investigate. The pressure of H-New-070 was being realized here; the erosion had upgraded from passive viewing to active misleading.

"Continuously monitor my visual signals," Lin Yuan ordered. "Warn me immediately if pupil tracking does not match physical targets."

"Protocol confirmed," THRONE-01 said. "Also... Chen Duo's fingers are moving."

Lin Yuan turned and lunged to the bedside. Chen Duo's eyes were still tightly shut, but his right index finger was tapping the bed frame in a steady rhythm. Da, da-da, da, da-da-da.

Binary. Lin Yuan's breath hitched.

"Translate it," he whispered.

"00100011..." THRONE-01 decoded rapidly. "Threat... tracking... beacon... core..."

Chen Duo's fingers suddenly sped up, the tapping sounding like drumbeats in the silent observation post. His brow was furrowed, and the gold light beneath his eyelids flickered violently, as if he were experiencing a nightmare.

"The Cleansing Force... using biological beacons..." THRONE-01's voice became urgent. "Tracking THRONE-01 core... not tracking us... tracking me..."

Lin Yuan looked at Chen Duo's left leg. Those golden veins were resonating with the THRONE-01 core, forming a direct link. Through Chen Duo's body, the system sensed the approaching threat.

"What about Number 08?" Lin Yuan grabbed his laser rifle.

"500 meters away, southeast, atop the ruins," THRONE-01 reported the coordinates. "Mutant Hound. No aggressive intent, currently establishing an observation post. Complies with Historical Protocol Article 7.3.2... surveillance rights under shared guardianship."

Lin Yuan crawled to the southeast firing slit and switched to low-light night vision mode. Atop a half-collapsed high-rise in the distance, two points of eerie green light were coldly watching the observation post. That was the retinal reflection of Number 08. The clue of H-New-071 advanced; after failing to seize them, it had chosen to obey the protocol and switch to long-range surveillance.

"Countdown?" Lin Yuan asked.

"58 hours and 12 minutes," THRONE-01 replied. "But the nature of the threat has changed. The Cleansing Force is not searching by time... they are following the biological beacon to track my core signal. We must cut off the tracking source, or..."

"Or what?"

"Or allow my core to enter Chen Duo's golden vein network to completely cloak the signal. But if I do that, I will temporarily lose my forging capabilities, and Chen Duo's nervous system will bear an irreversible load."

Lin Yuan looked at the unconscious youth on the metal bed, then back at the two points of eerie green light in the distance. Chen Duo's fingers were still tapping unconsciously, the rhythm becoming slow and mournful, as if saying goodbye.

Outside the observation post, the radioactive wind kicked up again, swirling vitrified sand debris that made whispering sounds. Lin Yuan placed the Biological Signal Cloaking Generator on Chen Duo's chest, watching the light of the golden veins intertwine with the faint glow of the black cube.

"Let's get through tonight first," Lin Yuan whispered, his finger lightly pressing Chen Duo's wrist to feel that inhuman pulse. "Tomorrow, we'll find a way to cut off the beacon."

Chen Duo's lips seemed to twitch slightly. THRONE-01's core beat steadily within Lin Yuan's chest, forming a bizarre triangular standoff with the hound on the distant observation post.

The countdown continued, but the rules had changed.