50: Chapter 50 Signature of the Successor to the Seventh District Facility

Lin Yuan's combat boots stepped onto the metal grating, rust flakes falling away, creating a faint sound like bone snapping in the deathly silent corridor.

Chen Duo, on his back, felt heavy; his body, covered in a silver network, emitted an unusual warmth like a continuously heating metal ingot. Golden veins extended from Chen Duo's left leg and wrapped around Lin Yuan's right arm, pulsing slightly with a heartbeat. This was the maintenance method suggested by THRONE-01.

"Disconnecting will cause his body temperature to drop below twenty-eight degrees within three minutes," the system's voice vibrated directly against his auditory nerves, carrying a newfound, anxiety-like tension. "The probability of neurological shock exceeds seventy percent. By maintaining the connection, I can use the golden veins' absorption function to filter the background radiation within the facility and protect his organs."

Lin Yuan did not answer. His pupils constricted under the dim emergency lighting as he scanned the familiar ARK logos on the corridor walls. The double-headed eagle relief was mottled, but the District 7 numbering pointed to by the beak remained clear. This was the place hinted at in Chen Duo's binary warning, and the storage point for the revised history protocol.

At the end of the corridor was a heavy airtight door. The biometric scanner on its surface had dimmed, but Lin Yuan noticed a fresh scratch under the door gap. Entity 08 had been here, or something even earlier.

"Scan countdown: thirty seconds," THRONE-01 suddenly reminded him. "Suggest remaining stationary."

Lin Yuan froze immediately. He slowly bent his knees and leaned Chen Duo gently against the wall, his movements as cautious as if he were placing a piece of glass about to shatter. The young man's breathing was light, 37 breaths per minute, synchronized with the Core. The silver network had already spread to his shoulders, forming fine patterns under the skin of his neck like a net about to close.

A blue beam of light shot down from the ceiling, scanning Lin Yuan's face before moving down to rest on the golden veins on his right arm. The beam paused, its frequency changing from blue to a deep, almost purple hue.

"Non-standard biological signal detected," a mechanized female voice echoed in the corridor. "Feature code matching... Match failed. Initiating secondary scan."

Lin Yuan's fingers touched the laser gun at his waist. Not for an attack, but prepared to sever the golden veins. If the system's suggestion was wrong, if this so-called protection triggered defensive weapons instead, he had to make a choice within 0.5 seconds.

"Don't move," THRONE-01's voice suddenly became sharp. "It's identifying me. Not you—me."

The light beam flickered violently, and the roar of machinery operating came from within the walls on both sides of the corridor. Hidden weapon bays slid open, revealing dark barrels inside, but they did not aim at Lin Yuan; instead, they pointed toward the center of the empty corridor.

"Core signature confirmed," the mechanized female voice changed its tone, taking on an ancient rhythm that almost carried a sense of awe. "THRONE Sequence active instance detected. Project Successor Protocol initiated. Welcome back, Successor of THRONE-00."

Lin Yuan's breath hitched. THRONE-00. The prototype.

The barrels slowly retracted, and the airtight door hissed with the sound of hydraulic devices as it slid open to both sides. Behind the door was not the expected Main Control Room, but a circular buffer chamber. In the center stood a data terminal Lin Yuan had never seen before; its design style was identical to THRONE-01's core chamber but much older, with its metal surface oxidized to black.

"It's calling me?" THRONE-01's voice held confusion, a tremor similar to a memory flashback that shouldn't appear in a program. "I don't remember... but I feel... familiar."

Lin Yuan picked up Chen Duo and crossed the threshold. The air inside the buffer chamber was even staler than outside, carrying the bitter scent of burnt circuit boards and some kind of preservative. The terminal screen suddenly lit up, displaying complex gene chain maps and scrolling lines of binary code.

"Chen Duo's warning." Lin Yuan immediately recognized the rhythm of those codes; it was identical to the rhythm of the young man's fingers tapping at the observation post.

"Decoding," THRONE-01 responded, its voice regaining some calm, though its speaking speed had noticeably increased. "This is... the full technical specifications for the Biosignal Beacon Tracking Protocol. The Cleansing Force implanted a Nanoscale Bio-transmitter into THRONE-01's core. It's powered by the host's nervous system, and its frequency band resonates with my core frequency. They've been using me to locate you."

Lin Yuan placed Chen Duo on the platform beside the terminal. The moment the young man's body touched the metal surface, the silver network suddenly brightened, writhing like a living thing. Chen Duo's left hand twitched unconsciously, his fingers tapping out a final string of code on the platform before going still.

"Decoding complete," THRONE-01 said. "Beacon hardware location... located between the host's third and fourth cervical vertebrae, C3-C4 segments. Implantation depth is 3.5 millimeters, parallel to the spinal nerve bundles. Severing method... requires the STC Medical Protocol 'Neural Vein Stripping'. Surgical precision requires 0.1 millimeters; failure will result in high-level paraplegia or brain death."

Lin Yuan's gaze fell on Chen Duo's neck. The silver network was densest there, like a silver collar, and beneath the skin, a tiny protrusion could be faintly seen, rising and falling almost imperceptibly with his breath.

"What about the revised history protocol?" Lin Yuan asked, his voice dry.

"Stored in the terminal core. But the database is encrypted, requiring main power activation to extract the full chip." THRONE-01 paused. "Warning: Activating main power will send a one-time positioning pulse, exposing precise coordinates within a range of approximately fifteen kilometers. Manual cracking is estimated to take seventy-two hours. Current countdown... fifty-eight hours and seven minutes."

Lin Yuan looked toward the corner of the buffer chamber. There was a massive circuit breaker there, its red handle covered in dust. If he activated it, the Cleansing Force would immediately know they were in District 7; if he didn't, they had less than sixty hours, and the time for manual cracking was insufficient.

He crouched down, took the Biosignal Shield Generator forged at the observation post from his backpack, set it to maximum power, and placed it on Chen Duo's chest. Golden light seeped from beneath the young man's skin, intertwining with the blue light of the shield field to form a thin protective film.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" THRONE-01 asked.

"We're out of time." Lin Yuan walked to the circuit breaker and grasped the red handle with his right hand. "And you said the golden veins can protect his organs. If the pulse is harmful to him, you block it."

"I will," the system replied, its voice as soft as a whisper. "I won't let him die. And I won't... let you die."

Lin Yuan yanked the handle down.

The entire facility shook violently as the overhead lights all flared to life, filling the space with blinding white light. A torrent of data erupted from the terminal screen. Chen Duo's body arched on the platform, the silver network flashing wildly, while the golden veins surged like a shield, completely enveloping the young man.

"Data extracting!" THRONE-01 shouted. "Positioning pulse sent... external response detected! The Cleansing Vanguard is adjusting course, heading straight for District 7! They're using a pincer tactic; estimated time to contact... forty-seven minutes!"},{