Green Zone.
The small truck sped along the quiet and deserted Fourth Avenue, heading straight for the southern exit.
In the rearview mirror, a green light suddenly lit up.
“Pei Ran,” W said, “a light vortex suddenly emerged from underground behind us.”
The cab of the small truck had a glass window facing the rear bed, and Ren was also frantically banging on the glass—thud thud thud.
“Master! Master!!” it shouted, “There’s a big thing chasing us!!”
Pei Ran saw it.
A massive light vortex rose up from underground, quickly emerging fully above the surface. Its spiraling arms swept across building after building, following the empty street, rapidly closing in on the small truck.
Its movement speed was simply too fast.
Pei Ran floored the accelerator, quickly making a judgment in her mind.
At its speed, the small truck was no match at all.
It absolutely could not be allowed to catch up.
W, Ren, and Xingkong on the truck all had core processors—if they were swept over by the light vortex, they would be done for.
There was no way to outrun the vortex. It was moving straight along the main road and didn’t seem like it intended to turn.
There weren’t many side roads in Black Well. The entire stretch ahead was filled with buildings and factories, with no side roads a small truck could turn onto. There was no way to make a turn.
The massive light vortex was still spinning, chasing behind them, drawing closer and closer. The view in the rearview mirror was already completely filled with the enormous green light vortex.
Its spiraling arm swept past the dormitory buildings beside the road—if anyone was still inside, they were definitely out of luck now.
The vortex was too big. Even abandoning the truck and running sideways might not get them out of its range in time.
Pei Ran brought up Green Light No. 1 in her mind.
Green Light No. 1 could be used—it was ready. Pei Ran quickly wrote:
[The light vortex was annihilated.]
[The light vortex disappeared.]
[The light vortex was blasted away, off its original path.]
[The light vortex split in two and flew off to both sides.]
…
She tried a whole string of commands in one go—none of them worked.
Green Light No. 1 was just a single point of light. It seemed it couldn’t deal with the massive light vortex composed of countless light points.
There was no time left. In the rearview mirror, the green light flared brilliantly—the vortex was about to catch up. One edge of a spiral arm nearly brushed the tail of the small truck.
Pei Ran yanked the steering wheel hard, making a sharp turn and charging onto a nearby construction site that wasn’t yet completed.
A violent jolt.
Ren and Xingkong in the truck bed were almost thrown into the air. Fortunately, both were obedient to W and held tightly onto the truck bed’s guardrails with their mechanical hands.
W himself was even more prepared—steadily strapped in with a seatbelt, as if that wasn’t enough, gripping the overhead handrail on one side with one hand.
Even his mechanical spider only exposed its eyes, clinging tightly with its small clawed feet to the fabric of Pei Ran’s coat pocket.
Just how distrustful was he?
Magically, when she turned, the light vortex only slowed briefly before also turning, its path now slanting in this direction.
There was no road ahead.
Pei Ran cursed silently in her mind and accelerated through the construction site.
Ahead was a large area of half-built factory buildings—completely blocked. While Pei Ran’s eyes were scanning for a new way out, W suddenly said, “Turn left. You’ll see a parking ramp. Go up it.”
His voice was as calm as ever.
He was navigating again.
Pei Ran didn’t hesitate at all. She immediately turned left—and sure enough, saw a ramp leading into a not-yet-completed parking structure.
She drove up it at full speed, rushing up the sloped driveway to the second floor.
Once up, it was an empty parking area—only the structural framework of the building was in place.
W continued calmly: “Keep going forward. Accelerate and charge through.”
This was the unfinished second floor of the parking lot. There were no guardrails at the edge—the front was open air.
If W said they could charge through, then they definitely could. Without thinking, Pei Ran floored the gas and shot straight ahead.
The small truck left the building and flew into the air.
From the truck bed came Ren’s trembling cry: “Ah—ah—ah—ah—!!”
Pei Ran was silent for a moment: Ren, if you scream like that during Silence Mode, you’ll explode.
The small truck flying through the air traced an arc, soared over a large pile of construction materials, and landed steadily on the ground.
Behind the parking lot, there was actually a main road.
Pei Ran immediately drifted the rear end, changed direction, and sped straight south along the road.
Behind her, the light vortex also passed through the parking lot, but this time it continued westward along its original path, gradually flying farther away.
Having shaken off the vortex, Pei Ran let out a breath of relief, though her speed did not slow. She asked W, “Is this Seventh Avenue?”
She was also using her real voice to talk to him.
While the shielding layer hadn’t failed yet, every word spoken was a bonus—later, she wouldn’t be able to speak at all.
W was probably thinking the same thing, and replied in his real voice: “That’s right. Keep going forward, and you’ll reach the southern exit.”
Just as there was a gap between warning broadcasts, with the window wide open, Pei Ran vaguely heard Ren speaking to Xingkong in the truck bed behind: “God sent me a message…”
Pei Ran: Your god can send you messages now, huh.
Ren: “…He told me to try not to speak, especially to be very careful—once we’re out of Black Well or the shielding layer fails, absolutely no talking.”
It sounded very disgruntled: “Of course I know. I’m not an idiot.”
Xingkong’s voice was softer, intermittent: “Then… why are those two… still talking?”
They continued forward, leaving behind the clustered factories. More dormitory buildings appeared, but the number of people on the road didn’t increase. Instead, the ground was littered with corpses and unrecognizable body parts of various shapes.
There were still living things on the street.
Some things were moving near the dormitory buildings, acting in strange, eerie ways—it was obvious they were no longer human.
Pei Ran and W remained silent.
Pei Ran had originally thought that there were still plenty of supplies left in Black Well. Maybe after this evacuation, they could regroup someday and possibly fight their way back in.
Now, that seemed like a bit of a delusion.
There were too many frenzied fusion forms created by the light vortices—far more than what she’d seen in the average city she’d passed through. Black Well had turned into one of those cities from post-apocalyptic novels, completely overrun by hordes of zombie-like creatures.
Not to mention, several light vortices were still wandering within Black Well. No one knew when—or if—they would leave.
Under these circumstances, it was impossible to estimate how much manpower and resources it would take to reclaim Black Well.
This time, once they left, they might really never come back.
Pei Ran drove the small truck, skimming past the frenzied fusion forms wandering all over the street as fast as she could, leaving them far behind before they could even react.
Driving a bit farther along Seventh Avenue, the road ahead suddenly became cluttered with all kinds of objects.
Pei Ran slammed the brakes and brought the truck to a stop.
Several broken-down vehicles were parked there, all with their doors wide open, and the people inside had vanished in strange, inexplicable ways.
Farther ahead, in the middle of the road, something extremely tall was standing.
It was a tower crane.
The kind used on construction sites to lift and move heavy materials—orange-yellow, T-shaped structure, easily over a hundred meters tall.
Only now, it had become a frenzied fusion form.
It stood tall on the avenue, excitedly waving its lifting arm.
Its base had already split, forming two legs. Twisting, blood-red muscular patterns coiled around its hollow steel frame, anchoring it firmly to the ground.
Even as it wildly swung its lifting arm high in the air, it showed no sign of losing balance or toppling over.
Its lifting arm no longer looked the same as it did in its normal state.
No longer a straight, rigid steel frame that could only move within a limited range, it had fused with flesh and turned into a long, arm-like appendage.
Near the top, the operator’s cabin had clearly fused with a human head—now sporting a pair of large black eyeballs that rolled around energetically, gazing down from above and scanning the streets below.
From a distance, Pei Ran saw the crane’s lifting arm suddenly drop, curve downward, and extend like a human arm with agile precision.
Its target was an antique car on the ground.
The unfortunate little vehicle had just come out from a side road nearby.
It was trying to turn onto Seventh Avenue heading toward the southern exit. With its view blocked by the buildings at the intersection, it wasn’t prepared at all—and drove right into the range of the crane’s lifting arm.
With one scoop from the crane fusion form, the hook at the end of the arm swung over, smashed the car’s windshield, and lifted the entire vehicle up.
W suddenly spoke: “Basserway is in that car.”
He could see clearly using the road and dome surveillance cameras.
He continued, “The one driving is Basserway’s assistant. Looks like someone let them out of the quarantine room.”
As an AI, he obviously hadn’t forgotten that Basserway and the others were still locked in the quarantine center, yet he hadn’t issued any orders to release them during the evacuation.
It seemed he had originally planned to just leave them sealed inside and be done with it.
Calm on the surface, but his methods were actually pretty ruthless.
Yet somehow, Basserway and his people not only escaped the quarantine room but also managed to find a working vehicle from who knows where.
Basserway, sitting in the passenger seat, reacted instantly—as soon as he sensed something wrong, he flung the door open and leapt out, running toward the roadside without looking back.
In the driver’s seat, his assistant wasn’t so lucky.
By the time the assistant fumbled to unbuckle the seatbelt and tried to open the door to jump out, it was already too late.
The small car was lifted into the air.
The crane fusion form dangled the car high above using its hook, raising it far into the sky.
Its two large black eyes shifted slightly, observing the car carefully for a moment, then suddenly shook the lifting arm.
Its movements were enormous—more terrifying than a pirate ship ride. The passenger-side door hadn’t been closed, and the assistant in the driver’s seat couldn’t hold on. He was flung straight out of the vehicle.
Like a sandbag thrown out, he arced through the air at over a hundred meters high, then crashed down onto the distant street.
After tossing the person, the crane lost interest. It didn’t care for the now-empty vehicle either and casually threw it aside. Its big eyes rolled about, scanning everywhere in search of the escaped Basserway.
Pei Ran, focused on escaping with everyone, had zero interest in Basserway’s fate. She quickly turned the small truck around.
There was no time to deal with the crane fusion form. It was blocking the road—better to turn back and find another route.
W spoke up: “Pei Ran, the light vortex is coming.”
He could see farther than she could. Pei Ran turned her head—and saw that on the road behind them, along Seventh Avenue, an enormous green light vortex was rapidly approaching.
W quickly calculated, “The vortex is moving too fast. The nearest intersection is too far—there’s no time to go back.”
No choice—only forward.
They had to charge past the crane fusion form blocking the road. They couldn’t let it catch them—otherwise, they’d end up like Basserway’s assistant: flung out and smashed like a pancake.
Pei Ran quickly calculated in her mind whether she should…
Just use Green Light No. 1 and blow it up.
But things were already a mess, and there was no telling what else lay ahead. The uses of Green Light No. 1 were extremely precious—if she could save one, she would.
In all martial arts, speed is the only unbreakable technique. It might not be impossible to break through—worth a try.
Behind her, the light vortex was surging down Seventh Avenue.
Pei Ran estimated the crane fusion form’s movement speed and stepped hard on the gas.
The small truck shot forward toward the crane.
The crane fusion form, still scanning everywhere for Basserway, immediately noticed the little thing darting madly across the street.
Its lifting arm swung around, flinging its massive hook in a wide horizontal arc toward them.
Its body was huge, and its movements were thunderous—but the trajectory wasn’t hard to predict.
Pei Ran estimated its angle and sharply turned the steering wheel on Seventh Avenue, veering diagonally to the side—just narrowly dodging its attack.
W thought: She’s swerved into the opposite lane again.
But it didn’t matter. Traffic rules were irrelevant.
Just as the small truck was about to rush past beneath the crane’s base, the crane fusion form’s leg suddenly moved.
It took a step forward, and its strange body of metal fused with flesh bent at an unnatural angle.
It bent down.
The crane’s lifting arm also drooped down like a real arm, more precisely aiming at the speeding small truck.
There was no longer any choice—she had to use Green Light No. 1.
Pei Ran immediately brought up Green Light No. 1 in her mind’s view and began writing as fast as possible.
She had just scribbled out the words “crane fusion form” in a flurry of strokes when the surroundings suddenly changed.
The streetlights along this stretch of road and the lights on the dome above abruptly went out. All illumination was cut off—the street plunged into darkness.
At the same time, only one spot lit up brightly.
It was on the adjacent construction site, beside a large pile of boards. All the nearby adjustable lights suddenly pivoted and focused there at once.
Like a stage where all lights were suddenly turned off, only a single spotlight was cast—brilliant and blinding.
In the center of that spotlight stood Basserway, completely frozen in terror.