radicalducati Page 160
Page 160
Bai Yuekui stood beside Chen Yuan, his brows furrowed tightly, a look of aversion and vigilance stemming from his very life instincts.
She instinctively took a step forward, her silver-white hair swaying slightly due to the fluctuations in the energy field. Her sharp gaze tried to pierce through the crimson, wanting to see the truth behind it.
What's on the other side of the passage?
"I'll go and investigate first."
Bai Yuekui's clear, cold voice carried a hint of determination. The newly awakened power of time within her body fluctuated slightly, preparing to deal with any unexpected situations that might arise.
"No."
Chen Yuan stepped in to stop her, blocking her way, his gaze fixed on the churning red mist before him, his expression grave.
"We have no idea what lies on the other side of the passage. The energy field of this space teleporter is extremely precise, and it can only stably support one person to pass through at a time. Adding one more person could cause the spatial structure to collapse or bring unpredictable dangers."
He turned to look at Bai Yuekui: "You are key to understanding the Mana ecosystem. You cannot take risks before you are certain of the situation on the other side."
“I’m different. I’m confident I can come back alive, and my mind can’t understand much. Even if something happens to me, you can continue…”
Chen Yuan didn't finish his sentence, but he conveyed his meaning.
Bai Yuekui met his gaze and could see the worry and determination in Chen Yuan's eyes.
She understood that this was not about protection, but the most rational choice.
So, Boss Bai slowly withdrew his foot and said, "Be careful. The concentration of scarlet over there is beyond imagination. If you die, no one will collect your body."
Upon hearing this, Chen Yuan nodded, took a deep breath, as if to suppress all the unease in his heart.
He made a final check on the condition of the Loongson 9 suit, then walked toward the entrance of the passage that exuded an ominous aura. What exactly was the scene at the edge of the passage?
"wait for my good news."
Chen Yuan didn't leave behind any grand pronouncements; he simply said to Bai Yuekui.
"Once inside, if the passage becomes unstable, or if I don't return within the allotted time, immediately shut down the device. Don't hesitate; I have my own way of escaping."
After saying that, he resolutely turned around and stepped into the crimson passage that resembled the mouth of a giant beast.
His figure was instantly swallowed up by the thick, dark red mist and disappeared.
Only the space teleporter continued to operate stably, emitting a constant hum of energy.
Bai Yuekui stood still, completely motionless, as if transformed into a beautiful sculpture.
Her gaze was fixed on the entrance to the passage, her eyes filled with expectation, worry, and a hint of barely perceptible tension.
The truth of this world, the ultimate secret of the mana ecosystem, may lie behind this door.
Time seemed to stretch out endlessly at this moment, each second feeling like torture.
……
With one step, the world changes.
Chen Yuan felt as if he were passing through a layer of viscous, cold liquid, and then his feet landed on the ground with a strange texture.
He immediately steadied himself. On the faceplate display screen of the Loongson 9 suit, data was being refreshed rapidly, and the warning indicator light instantly turned dark red, representing extreme danger.
Chen Yuan looked around, his heart sinking.
This is a completely unfamiliar and despairing world.
The sky was a somber, dark red, as if covered by congealed blood, with no sun, moon, or stars, only a chaotic red glow.
The earth was charred black, but it was not soil; instead, it was covered with countless thick, pulsating, and shimmering with a dark phosphorescent light, active vines that moved slowly like living things, covering every inch of the land.
In the distance, mountain ranges were slowly moving. These were not real mountains, but rather massive Devouring Beasts, each far exceeding the size of a King-level beast and as large as an island. They were all of Emperor-level.
Their shapes were bizarre and fantastical. Some resembled multi-legged beetles magnified millions of times, while others looked like twisted giants made of flesh and rock. The energy fluctuations they emitted made Chen Yuan feel suffocated.
The mountains and fields are covered with huge and enchanting Mana flowers, which greedily absorb the energy of the Star Vortex Passage.
The air was filled with an extremely concentrated amount of scarlet pigment, forming a persistent blood-red mist that not only obstructed vision but also carried a strong sense of mental pollution and corrosiveness.
The Loongson 9 suit's environmental filtration system issued an overload warning and could only maintain clean internal air for a short time.
"Could this be... the lair of the Devouring Beasts?"
Chen Yuan was horrified; the danger here far exceeded his imagination.
Just then, a system notification sounded in my mind:
[An unusual life-source environment detected... Energy level too high... The system is attempting analysis and has detected leaking energy...]
This prompt made Chen Yuan even more vigilant. He immediately activated the stealth module and cautiously moved towards the vicinity of the teleportation point, intending to gather some basic information.
However, just as Chen Yuan was concentrating on exploring the area ahead.
A cold, emotionless voice suddenly rang in his ear:
"Huh? You managed to break in here, human... how did you do that?"
Chapter 222 Is Chen Yuan dead?
Upon hearing this voice, Chen Yuan's hair stood on end. Without thinking, he activated his spatial teleportation ability instantly, blurring his figure as he moved to the side and back to create distance.
Chen Yuan reacted quickly, but his opponent was even faster!
A figure shrouded in a thick, blood-red mist appeared before Chen Yuan almost at the same moment he teleported to his destination, blocking his path.
"Ok?"
Chen Yuan then saw clearly that it was a dark shadow roughly human-shaped, but its head did not have human facial features. Instead, it was a tightly closed structure like a strange flower bud, with dozens of eye tumors that kept opening and closing and glowing red on the surface of the bud.
Danger, extremely dangerous!
Alarm bells rang in Chen Yuan's mind, and the high-frequency nano laser sword on his back instantly popped out. He swung his hands, transforming it into two sharp streaks of light that slashed towards his opponent.
"Humph!"
The flower-bud-headed humanoid monster simply raised one hand; its slender, pale fingers contained terrifying power.
The opponent managed to catch the rapidly vibrating laser sword blade using only two fingers.
"Crack!"
With a crisp sound, the nanolaser sword, powerful enough to cut through high-strength alloys, was easily broken like glass, its fragments dissipating into pure energy.
"What?"
Chen Yuan's pupils shrank sharply. Just what kind of monster was the other party?
Peak of level six?
No, seventh rank?
It might even be the eighth order?
Unable to perceive the other party's specific energy level at all, Loongson's assessment is: three question marks?
The electromagnetic mirror shield of the Loongson 9 suit was automatically activated, but the opponent casually unleashed several blood-red energy slashes, shattering Chen Yuan's shield like paper, and deep dents and cracks instantly appeared on the suit's chest plate.
Then, Chen Yuan was slammed to the ground by a tremendous force. Before he could get up, a cold, large hand had already gripped his throat and lifted him off the ground.
The immense power caused the neck components of the nanosuit to rattle, and the pulsed energy beam activated on the back was easily dodged by the opponent, as if the attack could be predicted.
"Uh…"
Chen Yuan struggled fiercely, and his eyes instantly emitted quantum pulse rays, two high-energy beams shooting directly at the opponent's face.
"Still resorting to these petty tricks?"
The bud-headed monster neither dodged nor evaded. A flash of light appeared on the tumor on its face, and a thin layer of blood-red barrier appeared. The quantum pulse ray struck the barrier, only causing a ripple and leaving an almost invisible scorch mark on its pale skin.
"You're too noisy..."
The cold voice rang out again, and the flower-bud-headed monster said indifferently, "Sigh, forget it. Killing you and reading my memories is the same..."
After saying that, the force gripping his throat suddenly increased, and Chen Yuan felt suffocated. At the same time, the other hand, carrying an aura of destruction, pierced through his chest.
All of this happened too fast; even the protective gear on the suit couldn't stop it.
"Pfft!"
An indescribable pain surged through his brain in an instant. Chen Yuan looked down, staring incredulously at the massive hand that pierced through the Loongson 9 suit and his chest.
He could feel his heart shattered by a terrifying force in that instant, and his life force rapidly drained away like a floodgate being opened.
The pain began to fade, a strong drowsiness swept over me, and my vision began to blur and darken...
"Is this what death feels like?"
Chen Yuan's mind was hazy. "What a pity, I haven't had a chance to enjoy it properly..."
The flower-bud-headed monster seemed to confirm his death, releasing its grip on his throat and instead reaching for his head, releasing a surge of energy to invade and read Chen Yuan's memories.
Just as consciousness was about to completely fade away, in that tiny fraction of a second when the other party relaxed slightly upon confirming "death," Chen Yuan's last remaining shred of will issued his final command:
"Loongson...hosting...escape!!"
"Command confirmed. Loongson takes over all control. Life support system operating at maximum capacity!"
The cold, electronic sound of the Loongson chip was like a final stimulant.
Chen Yuan, who had been limp, suddenly unleashed his last bit of strength, his body twisting at an eerie angle. The spatial teleportation was activated again, not as an attack, but as a desperate attempt to break free from the hand that pierced his chest, and he rushed madly toward the direction he had come from, toward the teleportation coordinates that he could still vaguely sense.
At this moment, the flower-bud-headed monster let out a soft exclamation, seemingly somewhat surprised that the corpse could still move.
"All weapon systems unlocked, overloaded, regardless of cost, block the target!"
Longxin controlled the mech, unleashing a barrage of pulse particle cannons, freezing rays, shoulder pulse cannons... all the weapons that were still operational, at the bud-headed monster behind him, just to buy a few precious seconds.
It only takes three seconds for Chen Yuan to rush into the portal.
But that monster was too fast!
In the first second, the enemy had already broken through the dense barrage of fire and instantly closed the distance by more than half.
"Determined unable to escape, execute separation protocol..."
Longxin made a decisive choice. The six mechanical wings on its back instantly detached from the main body. Two of the wings suddenly wrapped around Chen Yuan's seriously injured body. The engine overloaded and burst out with the last bit of propulsion, dragging him like a meteor towards the portal.
Meanwhile, the main body of the Loongson 9 mech turned around and resolutely faced the terrifying existence, using its self-destruction to buy Chen Yuan the last bit of time.
However, the bud-headed monster simply waved its hand, and an invisible force field instantly imprisoned the main body of the mecha. The defense mechanism was instantly destroyed, and the limbs of the Dragon Core mecha were forcibly torn apart and disintegrated by the invisible force. Before the self-destruct program could even be activated, it turned into a pile of broken parts and scattered from the sky.