MASG chapter 146

 

“Take down this artificial intelligence!”

“Take down this artificial intelligence!”

“Take down this artificial intelligence!”

Yan Xia’s voice burst out of the communicator. The words didn’t just fall into Xia Yu’s ears—they turned into real blades and stabbed straight into his mind. He stared motionlessly at the communicator. He couldn’t hear much anymore. It sounded like Yan Xia’s side had already entered combat. The signal kept getting jammed, crackling like a short circuit—distorted and unclear.

But Yan Xia had already sent them an encrypted signal!

The ship charged straight onto the cargo dock. Sand and metal plating were no obstacle to it and were forced aside. Talos’s ship officially declared landfall. Above the hull, a new wave of drones began to deploy, forming an overwhelmingly dense net of firepower.

This time, Talos didn’t fire—but victory was already in hand.

The sound of gunfire erupted. The little mechanical white cats sprinted across the deck like tiny robots unleashed to sweep the battlefield. Incendiary rounds lost their flame the moment they entered the air above the ship. No flames could scorch this vessel. Bullets and shells fell into the sea instead. Talos’s hand turned to stone as he gripped the helm tightly. He silently prayed that Meng Qingqing and Xi Ban, who had disembarked earlier, were safe.

“Xia Yu! Get ashore now! My car will pick you up!”

As long as the ship touched land, Talos was confident that he could withstand human firepower. The real danger, however, came from within. Yan Xia had already identified the problem: their information had been exposed. Meng Qingqing and Xi Ban had already returned to the sea. Who else was left?

Nuwa knew that this ship was an inorganic monster species. That was why it had seized the loophole. It couldn’t attack the organic life on board, so it attacked the ship itself.

Thankfully, Yan Xia had bought them some time. However, she wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer.

Port A was in total chaos. Robots were attacking one another. Flames erupted from the ground, leaving only a sea of red fire. Xia Yu led his companions out of the cabin. He couldn’t tell if what fell on his face was dust or seawater. At the edge of the deck, structures resembling legs extended outward and were plunging deep into the sand.

“Go quickly!” Talos urged.

“What about you?” Xia Yu shouted back.

“I’m going to guard the lighthouse! The lighthouse!” Talos pointed southeast. The blue light at the top of the lighthouse burned like a blue sun.

Dawn had already broken, but the sun had yet to rise.

A thick fog spread across the sea. Xia Yu had to move fast. He shouted at Talos one last time, “Be careful! See you soon!”

“See you soon! Be careful!” Talos lifted his head and looked toward the top of the sails.

Port A had never seen a day this chaotic. Yet, once Xia Yu and the others left the ship, the drones’ attack range bypassed them completely, remaining locked onto Talos’s ship. Qingyao City was entirely under Nuwa’s control. No aircraft came to pick them up—only Talos’s driverless car arrived.

It looked exactly the same as the first time Xia Yu had seen it.

“Get in!” Xia Yu pointed.

Mo An pulled Mi Dou and Xiang Xing along. They dodged the robots’ attack zone and rushed into the rear compartment of the car. The moment they shut the door, the robots had broken through Yan Xia’s command. Just as the fighting showed signs of dying down, the flames of war reignited once more.

All the firepower fell on Talos’s ship again.

Xia Yu’s heart trembled with each bombardment. Could Talos hold on? Could the ship and the lighthouse hold on? Because of an old contract, the gargoyle would defend this place to the death. So, what terrifying secret lay inside Power Plant No. 3?

The towering flames forced them to leave immediately. Xia Yu’s face was likely soaked with tears, and his watercolor eyes shone unnaturally bright. Without hesitation, he slammed the car door shut. By this point, they were all in—not just him, but every single one of them.

The car lifted into the air, following its preset route toward the familiar yet unfamiliar power plant.

But the drones behind them caught up.

“This car is probably a monster species, too,” Xia Yu said quietly.

“Then what do we do now?” As Mo An finished speaking, plants shot up into the sky one after another, bursting from the ground. Like vines nurtured by Nuwa, they launched a relentless pursuit—determined to wipe them out. Talos’s car nimbly wove around the dark green branches, cutting laterally and vertically toward open ground. But they weren’t just being chased by plant-type strange species—there were aircraft as well.

“Everyone, hold on tight!” Xia Yu shouted sharply. “Prepare for impact!”

A shell curved through the air, chasing them down with a massive, tearing roar. Xia Yu could hear the vibration growing closer. In the next instant, the booming sound turned into a shockwave that violently rocked the car. Orange firelight streaked past like a meteor in their speeding field of vision.

“Who is it?” Mo An looked toward the rear of the car.

At some point, a combat aircraft had caught up with them. It had extreme speed and the most advanced tracking cannons. In the blink of an eye, it shot down five or six drones.

“Mom!” Mi Dou screamed. He recognized his mother’s aircraft.

Mi Lian pressed the auto-tracking button. The only thing left in her view was the holographic data of the cockpit. She sat alone at the main control console. Despite the turbulence, her speed didn’t drop—instead, it increased.

Yan Xia had told her a few things in advance. Even without that, though, Mi Lian had sensed that something was going to happen to her son.

Qingyao City’s airspace was under a no-fly order.

But a mother’s love would still make an aircraft rise.

Under the control of the weather system, the entire city dimmed. Drones chased Talos’s flying car like crazed insects while plant vines forced their way up through the asphalt, turning the road into rolling waves. Mi Lian deftly operated her aircraft like an expert insect catcher and plant killer. The wind clung to the aircraft’s streamlined glass; it seemed ready to lift her hair at the temples as she rapidly scanned the large display screen.

Bang!

Her aircraft became a target of the drones’ attack, and a crack spread across the glass.

[Crash warning! Crash warning!]

The alarm inside the aircraft rang nonstop. Mi Lian gripped the control console tightly and continued to shoot down drones in the little time she had left.

“Mom…” Mi Dou saw that the aircraft behind them had already caught fire. “How much longer until we arrive?!”

Ling Shi: [13 minutes remaining. There are currently 549 drones around you.]

Jingwei: [Xia Yu, I can sense that Nuwa has entered my virtual space again.]

“Damn it.” Xia Yu pressed one hand on Mi Dou’s wrist. He knew it was futile, but he still wanted to comfort Dou Dou. “Jingwei, how long can you hold out?”

Jingwei: [I will continue hiding in the safe chamber. It won’t kill me because your contract protects me. But its momentum is fierce—it’s likely devouring my data space.]

“Hold on, Jingwei. You must hold on,” said Xia Yu steadily, controlling his breathing. “This time, we will definitely help you fly.”

Jingwei: [A good projection. However, according to my calculations, I have no chance of winning this battle if you cannot successfully find the reason for my upgrade. I have calculated 320 possible outcomes, 319 of them end in compromise. Xia Yu, if there truly is no way back, please hand me over to Nuwa.]

“We refuse,” Mo An answered in Xia Yu’s place.

Jingwei: [It won’t kill me.]

“Let’s not discuss this yet. We’ll give it everything we’ve got.”
Xia Yu understood Jingwei’s concern. “Hold on, Jingwei—for Professor Wang Ling and Professor Wang Qin, whom you never met, for Haishiruola whom you never met, and for that great woman whose name we still do not know. They exhausted themselves designing all of this. I believe that every step we take is also within their plan.”

Jingwei: [I will do my best.]

Another burst of fire flared outside the window. It was impossible to tell whether an aircraft or a drone had been shot down.

Those 13 minutes felt like 13 centuries to Mi Dou. His mother’s aircraft eventually turned into a ball of fire, yet she did not abandon it and eject. Silver Fang remained in contact with Yan Xia. On her end, there was blood and the sound of robots breaking down doors.

“Are you almost there?” Yan Xia clutched her wound.

She had one last gun at her side. The magazine was loaded and full. The left half of her white shirt was completely red with blood. Her left arm had lost function, so she could only hold the communicator against her chest, lean against the wall, and grip the gun with her right hand.

“One minute left.” Silver Fang had already spotted a building—the headquarters of the Rijianmei Plastic Surgery Hospital.

“Good. That’s great.” Yan Xia was clearly weak. “You dog bastard, hahaha! Do you still think we women need protection? Aren’t you dumbfounded? Look—who’s protecting who now?”

“Stop talking. Save your strength.” The building grew closer and closer in Silver Fang’s view. The flying car weaved around the building to evade attacks, then suddenly plunged into the third floor. Glass shattered like a waterfall, clattering endlessly. Xiang Xing used fungal threads once again to steady everyone. They heard Silver Fang shout, “Now, jump!”

All four doors of the flying car opened at once. Inside the building, Xia Yu led everyone out of the car.

Once they left the vehicle, the aircraft could no longer target them—but that didn’t mean they would escape uninjured. Shockwaves and aftereffects could still hurt them. This was also Xia Yu’s first time inside Rijianmei. The company building was completely empty, as if the battlefield had already been cleared for today’s final battle. Xia Yu jumped down from the second-floor window first and saw the all-important manhole cover.

“Everyone, get down here!”

Before he could finish speaking, an aircraft rushed to the left side of the road, kicking up dust. Mi Dou, who was about to move, immediately changed direction. “Mom!”

The aircraft looked as though it was on its last legs. Its glass was completely shattered, and the tracking cannon’s barrel was burned red from firing all its ammunition. A hand reached out from the broken windshield. Mi Dou and Xiang Xing ran over together and worked as one to drag the severely injured Mi Lian out of the wreckage. There was no time to speak—they ran forward at once.

The aircraft exploded into the sky behind them!

“Careful!” Xiang Xing managed to shout only these two words before pressing down on their shoulders and throwing them to the ground. Scalding smoke rolled over them in layers. Xiang Xing used fungal threads to withstand the intense heat. In that instant, he felt pain.

Though not very sensitive to pain, he knew he had been burned somewhere.

When the thick smoke finally dispersed, he found his hand tightly grasped. Xia Yu rushed over and led them forward at a mad dash, with no time to check Xiang Xing’s injuries. Silver Fang had already forced open the sealed manhole cover. He immediately sent Lao Gui and Xia Xiaoxiao down first. When he came back up to fetch the others, he saw Xiang Xing’s face and paused.

Xiang Xing, who loved beauty so much—half his face was already ruined, his right side burned black.

“Move! Get down there!” There was no time for questions. Silver Fang grabbed Xiang Xing and tossed him down. Lao Gui caught him below but hesitated for a moment. Next down were Mi Dou and Mi Lian. No one knew where Mi Lian was injured, but blood continued to spill from the corner of her mouth.

Xia Yu and Mo An slid down the ladder as well, with Silver Fang going last. He shut the manhole cover, temporarily sealing out the ear-splitting explosions on the road. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he crouched down and told Xia Xiaoxiao behind him, “Quick! I’ll carry you!”

Xia Xiaoxiao didn’t hesitate. She nimbly climbed onto Silver Fang’s metal back. She moved slowly—she could not afford to drag anyone down.

Back inside the power plant, memories of childhood came vividly to mind. Xia Yu had just steadied himself when Mo An beside him failed to do so. Without Xia Yu’s support, Mo An would have fallen flat.

“How are you? We’re here already—hold on a bit longer!” Xia Yu gripped him tightly.

“I’m fine. I can still hold on!” But Mo An’s condition was far from good. The excess electricity had forced blood tears from his eyes. They slid from the corners of his eyes and fell to the ground, turning into blood-red diamonds.