bioinnovel Chapter 331, Number 2!
Chapter 331, Number 2!
Zhang Yan returned to the guesthouse at 1:40 a.m.
He didn't turn on the light, sat by the window, and retracted the Thousand Machine Arm into standby mode. The temperature of the Heavenly Craftsman's Heart hadn't completely dropped, and it was still a little warm where it was pressed against his chest.
The system panel is lit up.
Ito's location is still in the base; he hasn't moved.
The remaining two non-human subordinates, one on the west side of the base and the other in the north-central part of the base, showed no signs of moving.
The subordinate in the warehouse has been eliminated, but Ito won't know about it for the time being.
The method of communication between this non-human and Ito is unclear; it could be periodic reporting, energy sensing, or it could simply be one-way communication.
If it's a scheduled report, then there's a window period.
If it's energy sensing—Ito would react very quickly if he sensed that one of his subordinates' energy had disappeared.
He took out his phone and sent a message to Qin Xiao: "Is there any unusual reaction from Ito?"
Qin Xiao replied quickly, probably because he hadn't slept either.
"Nothing at the moment. The internal communication frequency of the base has not changed, and Ito's thermal signal is stable, indicating that he has not entered the command area."
They are more likely to report regularly.
Zhang Yan glanced at the time.
If the subordinate reports regularly, such as every six hours, then Ito will only notice something is wrong when the next report is missed.
Starting from now, it will take a maximum of six hours.
At the very least—if the reporting cycle is even shorter—it might only take two or three hours.
He had to take care of the second one before Ito could react.
On the system map, the signal on the west side of the base is closest to the outer perimeter, about 200 meters from the base wall, separated by a parking lot and a low auxiliary building.
If it comes out, there will be a chance.
The problem is how to get it out.
Zhang Yan thought for a moment and then activated the system's energy simulation function.
He had done it once before in the port warehouse—using a simulated signal to lure out the ray-shaped kin.
That signal mimics the disturbance wave of "the pollution source disappearing," which is effective for lower-level relatives, but may not be enough for higher-level relatives.
He glanced at the signal strength assessment on the west side of the base.
B+.
It's half a level higher than the one in the port area just now.
Simple energy disturbance signals may not be able to affect it.
Zhang Yan thought for a moment, then took out the Heart of Heavenly Craftsmanship, adjusted a very low-power purification pulse, and released it towards the window for only a fraction of a second.
This is not an attack, it is a signal.
For the remnants of the Ruins, the purifying pulse of the Heart of Heaven's Craftsmanship is like a torch suddenly lit in the dark night—they will sense it.
And they will get angry.
He withdrew his Heavenly Craftsmanship and stared at the system map.
Ten seconds. Twenty seconds.
The signal on the west side of the base has activated.
They weren't moving fast, but their direction was clear—towards the outside of the wall.
Zhang Yan stood up, pulled up his coat, and went downstairs.
My phone vibrated. It was a message from Nie Qingcheng.
"You're still awake?"
"I'm dealing with something."
"What time is it over there?"
"It's almost two o'clock."
Nie Qingcheng was silent for a few seconds, then sent a voice message.
He didn't play it out; he put it in his pocket and left.
After leaving the guesthouse, he walked east, avoiding the main street and taking the narrow alley behind the port area.
The signal on the system map had already crossed the base perimeter and was at the edge of the parking lot, its speed increasing.
It sensed the fluctuations of the Heart of Heaven and was heading in that direction.
Zhang Yan stopped at the corner of a dead end, leaned against the wall, extended the Thousand Machine Arm to its maximum coverage, and put the summoning command for the Black Scorpion in standby mode.
The system displays the following distances: 400 meters, 350 meters, and 300 meters.
It's faster than the one in the port area.
The movement is not like walking, but more like gliding along the ground, without the thermal interval of footsteps.
Two hundred meters.
Zhang Yan took out the Heart of Heavenly Craftsmanship and held it in his left hand, without activating it.
150 meters.
Then it stopped.
Zhang Yan's breathing remained unchanged, but his attention was heightened to the maximum.
It stopped at a distance of 150 meters, not moving any closer, as if it was hesitating or making a judgment.
Family members of those in B+ category possess a certain level of intelligence.
Unlike Class C insects that are purely energy-seeking, it can determine the threat level.
The standoff lasted for about forty seconds.
Then the signal suddenly split—not really split, but it released an energy clone that came around from the left, while the main body flanked it from the right.
Approaching from two directions simultaneously.
Zhang Yan didn't move.
He waited until the signal on the right was fifty meters away and the clone on the left was thirty meters away, then he summoned the Black Scorpion directly.
The moment the Black Scorpion sprang out of its storage space, all eight of its limbs unfolded simultaneously, and it fired a particle cannon at the clone on the left.
The clone exploded, leaving no physical form but a dark red mist that was dispersed by the energy of the particle cannon.
However, this shot revealed Zhang Yan's exact location.
From the right, the main body lunged forward.
It was humanoid, but larger than the one in the warehouse. Its shoulders were nearly two meters wide, its limbs were disproportionate, its arms were too long, and its fingertips had black, hard carapaces.
The eye sockets also had a dark red glow, but they were brighter and more intense.
Extremely fast.
It took it less than a second to cover a distance of thirty meters.
Zhang Yan did not back down.
The Thousand-Arm Spreads Out, precisely locking the forearm joint as it lunges at you, while simultaneously dodging the frontal impact.
But this one is much better than the one in the port area.
Its force pushed him back two steps, his feet scraping sparks off the ground.
The hydraulic system of the Thousand-Machine Arm had reached its limit pressure, and a red overload warning flashed briefly at the edge of the field of vision.
Zhang Yan didn't try to outmuscle it. He released his grip, took three steps back, and let the black scorpion slash past from the side.
The black scorpion's pincers clamped down on its waist, the combined force of the hydraulic clamps exceeding ten tons, enough to crush an ordinary person in two.
It didn't break.
The armor on the waist blocked the hydraulic shears, only denting it in. Black fragments flew out, but it didn't cut through.
It slapped the black scorpion's pincers with its backhand, the force so great that it pushed the scorpion away a distance, its limbs leaving scratches on the ground.
Zhang Yan watched from three meters away and quickly made a judgment.
The hard shell defense is several levels higher than the one in the port area, making it difficult for melee fighters to apply pressure.
He gave the black scorpion an instruction: Entangle it, do not kill it, but restrain its movement.
The black scorpion adjusted its posture, spreading all eight of its limbs to attack from four directions simultaneously.
This time, instead of clamping it tightly, we used the segments to wrap around it, fixing each of its four limbs in place.
That thing went berserk.
The dark red light in his eye sockets suddenly brightened, and his entire body released a wave of energy.
The black scorpion was shaken so that all its limbs loosened slightly, but it was not completely thrown back.
In that split second, Zhang Yan rushed forward and placed the Heart of Heavenly Craftsmanship in his left hand directly on the back of its neck.
Purification pulse.
Full power.
It screamed.
The sound didn't sound like a human; it was more like the harsh sound of metal being forcibly twisted, echoing through the alley.
Zhang Yan held on tightly to the Heart of the Heavenly Craftsmanship, refusing to let go.
The purification pulse encountered extremely strong resistance, and the edge of the Heavenly Craftsman's Heart disc flickered violently, with the absorption rate at least twice as slow as that time in the port area.
It struggled frantically, and the black scorpion's limbs tightened again, pressing it to the ground with hydraulic clamps. One clamp arm held down its head, while the other locked its legs.
Three seconds. Five seconds. Eight seconds.
It's still struggling.
Zhang Yan increased the output of the purification pulse.
The surface temperature of the Heavenly Craftsman's Heart rose sharply, and he could feel the burning sensation on the skin of his palms.
Twelve seconds.
Its struggles suddenly weakened, and the dark red light in its eye sockets began to fade away bit by bit, like water stains being evaporated by the sun.
The body is shrinking, and the shell is peeling off piece by piece, revealing the grayish-white tissue underneath.
Fifteen seconds.
It's quiet now.
A system notification popped up: The absorption of the Heavenly Craftsman's Heart's energy is complete, with a completeness of +0.6%, currently at 96.4%.
Zhang Yan released his hand, his palm was red, the lingering warmth of the Heavenly Craftsman's Heart still present.
The black scorpion loosened its limbs, leaving only a clump of grayish-white residue on the ground, which slowly weathered away in the night wind.
He straightened up and exhaled.
B+ level is indeed much more difficult to deal with than B level.
After putting the Black Scorpion back into his storage space, Zhang Yan brought up the system map again.
Ito's position—
His pupils contracted slightly.
Itoh's thermal signal is no longer in the command area.
It is moving.
The direction is towards the base gate.
And at the same time, the signal from the last non-human subordinate also began to move.
Two signals, one after the other, indicate that the base is being moved away.
Qin Xiao's message popped up almost simultaneously: "Ito has left the base. His last subordinate is with him. Fully armed, leading a convoy. Direction—your area."
Zhang Yan looked at the two approaching points of light and put his phone away.
No need to quote anymore.
He came by himself.