75: Chapter 75 Biological Keys and Radiation Corridors

The walls of the Radiation Corridor were bleeding—a milky-white, viscous semi-fluid was slowly seeping from the rusted metal seams, pooling on the ground with the scent of ozone. Lin Yuan knew it was an illusion; neural mirror pollution was projecting the memories of the White House onto the physical structure of reality, causing a violent chemical reaction in his visual cortex between the cruelty of the wasteland and fragments of past warmth. He blinked hard, and his vision split into two layers: the bottom layer was the gray-green wasteland corridor, filled with the metallic scent of ionizing radiation and decay; the top layer was the living room of that White House, where sunlight cast mottled shadows on the floor through the curtains, and the indentation on the sofa hadn't yet sprung back, as if someone had just stood up and left.

"Brother?" his younger brother's voice came from the carrier, carrying high-frequency jittery noise. The patterns on the boy's neck were pulsing at a rate of ninety times per minute, and blue light cast ever-changing grid shadows on the walls through his coarse cloth clothing, each flicker accompanied by a faint crackle of electricity. Beacon mode was fully activated. The "surprise" μ-13 spoke of was approaching at three hundred meters per second, and the air deep in the corridor emitted a low-frequency howl from the compression of high-speed moving objects.

The Silver-wire Network on Lin Yuan's right wrist had spread to his elbow, flashing in sync with his brother's pulse like a glowing vine parasitic on his blood vessels. The STC Interface refreshed with a piercing red warning on his retina: [Biological Key Signal Confirmed: THRr-7 Agricultural Mainframe. Distance: 1.2 km. ETA: Four minutes. Threat Level: Extinction Class.]

"Fork in the road to the left front, fifteen-degree downward slope," Camilla's voice came from behind, as calm as if she were evaluating an inventory report. "The map shows an abandoned pump station there with 43% structural integrity; it can be used as a choke point. However, calculations show that by the time we arrive, the Reapers' vanguard unit will have arrived ninety seconds ahead of us."

Lin Yuan stared at the survival probability calculation: passive escape mortality rate 87%. This number overlapped with the afterimage of the White House, forming a bizarre superposition in his cognition. He saw a glass of water on the coffee table in the illusion, its surface vibrating with ripples spreading out; in reality, the entire corridor was trembling, dust rustling down from the ceiling to form a floating cloud of particles in the beacon's blue light.

The Reapers had arrived.

The metal grilles of the ventilation ducts were violently torn apart, and the sharp sound of metal fatigue echoed through the corridor. Three dark shadows plummeted into the corridor in a manner that defied physical inertia, their carbonized bone plates slamming into the concrete floor with a dull boom. Lin Yuan's visual cortex completed feature recognition through the pain of neural burning: bio-mechanical hybrids, swarm nodes directly under the Farm Mastermind, with shells covered in multiple layers of carbonized bone plates. The exposed tendons at their joints were an unnatural purple-red, and six compound eyes emitted dark red scanning beams, leaving scorching trails in the air.

[Target Locked: THR-09-Ω. Protocol Priority: Recovery prioritized over destruction. Valuation Code: Highest priority in original variable r-7 asset list.]

The encrypted communication codes intercepted by the STC scrolled across Lin Yuan's vision, the cold binary data stream forming a sharp contrast with the warm tones of the White House. The Reapers' target lock-box always prioritized his brother's position over the gun-wielding Lin Yuan. Original Variable-09-Omega. The truth μ-13 had hidden was exposed at this moment: his brother was not a bait, not a byproduct, but the prey—some kind of experimental core more ancient and critical than the STC templates.

"THRONE-01, stand up," Lin Yuan ordered hoarsely, his voice producing a slight echo in the Radiation Corridor.

The wreckage did not respond. The heavy mecha, which once stood 2.4 meters tall, now leaned crookedly against the wall, its energy core in a state of deep sleep. The hydraulic systems in its legs had been completely destroyed in previous battles, with black lubricant seeping from broken lines. Camilla's voice cut into the communication: [Asset impairment 94%, repair probability below 12%, suggest abandonment to increase movement speed.] But Lin Yuan could not leave it; the machine spirit contained 50% of the Sector-7 map data given by μ-13, the only key to analyzing the deep structures and finding the path to the control core.

The first Reaper opened its jaws, revealing high-speed rotating silicon carbide teeth inside. Reaching eight thousand revolutions per minute, they were enough to tear through standard power armor. The STC Interface flashed attack codes: [EMP Pulse Preparation. Frequency Matching: THR-09-Ω Beacon Band. Interference Intensity: Sufficient to cause irreversible neural pattern damage to the Biological Key carrier.]

They were targeting his brother, attempting to forcibly upload his neural pattern through frequency resonance.

The bolter fired. 12.7mm armor-piercing rounds exploded in dazzling sparks on the bone plates, but organic matter wriggled quickly to fill the craters; the bio-mechanical hybrid's self-repair capability far exceeded conventional understanding. The second Reaper immediately flanked them, its six compound eyes focusing on the muzzle, trying to calculate the ballistic trajectory. The third hovered at the end of the corridor, its compound eyes projecting a red grid to scan his brother's position. The moment the grid lines touched the blue light emitted from the boy's neck, the boy's body convulsed violently, as if countless invisible needles had pierced his spinal cord simultaneously.

"It hurts... brother... it hurts..." His brother's nails dug deep into Lin Yuan's shoulder; he could feel his skin tearing even through his clothes.

"It is synchronizing frequencies and establishing a neural bridge," Camilla's voice cut in with a rare urgency. "Lock-on will be completed within thirty seconds, and his neural pattern will be forcibly uploaded to the Farm Mastermind. At that time, your brother will become an empty shell. You need to make a choice, Lin Yuan. Now."

Lin Yuan knew that choice. The STC Interface flashed a piercing red: [Emergency Defense Protocol: Biological Key Power Mode. Activation Conditions: Continuous physical contact + high-purity Promethium reserves (Estimated consumption 89%). Side Effects: Neural damage to the key carrier may be irreversible, and the power provider's neural burn level will jump.]

Draw out his brother's bio-electricity and plug it into the STC's emergency interface like a battery to feed the auto-turrets. Survival rate would increase from 13% to 45%, at the cost of his brother's brain potentially burning out like a short-circuited wire, or worse, becoming a remote terminal for the Shadow Backup System.

The illusion of the White House was incredibly real. The living room door opened, and a blurry figure stood at the doorway, seemingly waiting for a decision. Lin Yuan felt the Silver-wire Network on his right hand trembling—it wasn't fear, but muscle spasms caused by level eight neural burning.

"Thirty seconds," Lin Yuan said hoarsely, each word squeezed out from between his teeth. "Set forced interrupt threshold. Limited authorization."

[Confirmed. Limited Authorization Mode activated. Countdown: 30 seconds. Interrupt protection: Neural fusion mechanism on standby.]

Lin Yuan pressed his right hand against the back of his brother's neck. The moment the Silver-wire Network touched the blue patterns, white light erupted, illuminating the entire Radiation Corridor. His brother let out a non-human shriek, like the death wail of a precision instrument overloading. The sound waves reflected between the metal walls, shaking off more rust. The STC template levitated, and the high-purity Promethium reserves evaporated frantically at a rate of 3% per second, the energy readings plummeting. Hidden firing ports cracked open in the corridor walls, and dusty auto-turrets rose hydraulically, the dust on the barrels shaking off to reveal the cold-gleaming alloy bodies beneath.

The first Reaper lunged at Lin Yuan, trying to break the connection, its bone-plated wings spreading to block the beacon's blue light. An electromagnetically accelerated projectile tore an ionized trail and hit its chest at three times the speed of sound. The carbonized bone plates shattered under the massive kinetic energy, and it was blown in half mid-air, biological tissue and mechanical parts splashing onto the walls with a sizzling corrosive sound. The second activated an EMP pulse, but fire covered its upper half, and all six compound eyes shattered instantly. It crashed blindly into the wall and was torn to shreds by the subsequent barrage.

The third suddenly accelerated toward the wreckage of THRONE-01, its abdomen splitting open to reveal a syringe filled with silver nano-fluid. It was trying to recover the data core, the highest command of the Shadow Backup System.

Lin Yuan couldn't move; the power connection could not be interrupted. Any displacement would cause frequency disharmony, and his brother's neural pattern would be instantly torn apart. The illusion of the White House overlapped with reality; the figure in the living room reached out as if to touch him. He felt his brother's body in his arms become scalding hot, like a piece of red-hot iron.

The wreckage of THRONE-01 suddenly moved.

The energy core emitted a dying hum—the machine spirit's final roar at the edge of energy depletion. A pale blue force field expanded for 0.5 seconds, barely blocking the syringe before collapsing, but it was enough for the turrets to pivot their fire and blast the third Reaper into a cloud of fragments. Metal debris struck the walls with a sound like a torrential rain.

Lin Yuan knelt on the metal floor, holding his brother, who had stopped screaming. The boy's breathing was so faint it was almost imperceptible, the patterns on his neck faded to a deathly gray, and his skin was unnaturally pale. The thirty-second countdown hit zero, the STC forcibly cut the power supply, and the light of the Silver-wire Network instantly dimmed.

[Emergency Defense Protocol ended. Remaining Promethium reserves: 11%. Neural burn level: increased to level eight, approaching the level nine threshold. Side effects confirmed: temporary loss of consciousness for the key carrier, estimated neural dendrite damage rate 37%.]

Camilla knelt on one knee beside THRONE-01 to check it. "It autonomously activated the force field—free will under energy depletion. But the cost is that the repair window has gone from theoretically possible to nearly zero. The machine spirit core temperature has dropped to the danger line."

Lin Yuan looked at his right hand. The Silver-wire Network had spread to his shoulder, and the afterimage of the White House had not disappeared; instead, it had become clearer, turning into a persistent visual mask with about 10% transparency, like a filter that could never be wiped away. He blinked to try and disperse it, but the living room scene was still there—the water cup on the coffee table clearly visible, and the wall clock with its hands stopped at 3:15 ticking away.

"Emotional projection is meaningless," Camilla pulled a still-throbbing data core from the Reaper wreckage, biological tissue leaving corrosive marks on her gloves. "But your tactical judgment was correct. Losing THRONE-01 would mean losing the ability to analyze the deep maps of Sector-7, which is equivalent to giving up the means to counter the Shadow Backup System."

She looked at the unconscious brother, a calculating light flashing in her eyes. "I suggest immediate registration as a Level 1 Strategic Asset, non-renewable category. His bio-electric output efficiency is 3.7 times that of a standard energy core, and he possesses adaptive frequency matching, allowing him to maintain STC emergency protocols in extreme environments. This characteristic is equivalent to a strategic nuclear weapon in the wasteland economic system, and its uniqueness is high."

"He is my brother," Lin Yuan's voice was hoarse, his arms tightening around his brother.

"He used to be," Camilla's tone was flat, like stating a mathematical theorem. "Now he is a key, a battery, the Original Variable-09-Omega that both the Farm Mastermind and the Shadow Backup System want. You already made a choice just now—thirty seconds of limited authorization. That was a compromise and an admission. An admission that he is an asset first and family second. It is cruel, but it will keep both you and him alive."

New vibrations came from deep in the corridor, heavier and more regular. More Reapers were approaching, this time the main units.

Lin Yuan picked up his brother and walked toward the entrance half-buried in concrete, marked by the STC as [Abandoned Bunker]. A temporary shelter, a sealed exit. With every step he took, the illusion of the White House deepened; the rust on the walls overlapped with the texture of the living room wallpaper, and the pungent smell of radiation mixed with the remembered scent of bread.

"Register him," Lin Yuan said without looking back, his voice so soft it was almost inaudible, carrying a certain exhaustion of self-exile. "Level 1 Strategic Asset. Non-renewable."

Camilla entered the command into the data pad, and an electronic confirmation tone echoed in the corridor. The moment they entered the bunker, the STC Interface refreshed with decrypted data, showing the control link:

[Farm Mastermind Reaper Units → Sector-7 Agricultural Mainframe → Shadow Backup System Main Node → THR-01-μ (Quantum State).]

They were not independent forces. The Shadow Backup System was a branch of a much larger structure, and the Farm Mastermind was merely an external execution terminal. Lin Yuan had a splitting headache, and the White House illusion became clearer; the clock on the wall stopped at 3:15—exactly the time he had first found his brother.

The exit collapsed behind them, prefabricated concrete slabs crashing down as dust covered the corridor entrance, sealing out the red light of the Reapers. Before darkness fell, his brother's eyelids flickered, revealing a sliver of a gap where a silver stream of code flashed, like a machine booting up. The boy's cold hand grabbed Lin Yuan's sleeve, his grip weak but persistent.

"Brother..." the voice was like a mumble in a dream, carrying electronic distortion. "They are calling me... 09-Ω... don't... don't throw me away..."

Lin Yuan held him tight, feeling the Silver-wire Network stinging beneath his skin. Deep within the Abandoned Bunker, something older than the darkness was waiting. In Lin Yuan's vision, the door to that White House opened completely, and the light behind the door consumed half of his field of vision.