Thank you so much to @Cici’s Donuts for donating! (˶˃ᴗ˂˶)♡ Here are the 2 extra chapters as promised~!
Pei Ran walked a bit further, leaving Inaya’s line of sight, and finally found an empty seat.
The carriage had been flooded, and the seat covers were still dripping wet. Pei Ran pulled off the seat cover and placed it beside her, then sat down. She took off the metal sphere and placed it on the small table in front of her.
“Did your core processor get wet?” Pei Ran asked W.
Earlier, the carriage had been like a giant fountain spraying water everywhere. Although the metal sphere had been wrapped in her coat, it might not have escaped unscathed.
But all evening, she had been running around, busy without a moment to spare, and hadn’t had time to check on him.
W said gently, “You should rest for a while. There’s no rush.”
“I’m in a hurry,” Pei Ran said. “I’m afraid you’ll short-circuit from the moisture.”
Pei Ran pried open his outer shell and looked inside. As she had suspected, there were visible traces of water droplets in some areas.
W said, “I’m running a diagnostic. Some components do seem to have issues. Can you help me dry them off?”
His folding arms were functioning normally, but since he couldn’t see, he still needed her help.
Pei Ran pulled a few tissues from her backpack, reached into his metal shell, and carefully wiped away the moisture bit by bit.
W was quiet for a while, then spoke up: “Pei Ran, it seems like one of my components has a problem. Can you press down firmly on that small dark orange cylindrical thing for me?”
He was talking about that mysterious storage device again, the component he always prioritized above all else.
Pei Ran pressed it lightly with her finger without showing any expression.
She asked, “Is it broken?”
“Probably not,” W replied. “I can still access it, but the connection is intermittent. I think the interface might be the issue. Can you unplug it, wipe it clean, and plug it back in for me?”
Pei Ran pulled out the small cylinder, wiped both ends of the interface clean, and plugged it back in. She asked, “Is it better now?”
“Seems worse. I can’t access it at all now.”
W fell silent for a moment, then said, “Based on the symptoms, it should just be an interface issue. Never mind, it’s fine as it is. Could you also wipe my core processor for me?”
The core processor’s priority always came after the storage device.
Pei Ran carefully wiped away the water stains on the glowing blue core processor.
Pei Ran pondered, “I should find a plastic bag to wrap you up. That way, you won’t have to worry about water.”
She imagined how the sphere would look wrapped in a plastic bag and thought it might actually look quite nice.
W probably imagined it too and seemed a bit reluctant. “No need. As we head further northwest, we’ll enter the rift zone, where there’s hardly any water. No need to worry about moisture.”
He said, “Based on the train’s current speed, if everything goes smoothly, we should arrive at the terminal station of Yehai No. 7 by 8 a.m. tomorrow.”
The terminal station of Yehai No. 7 is Yercha City.
“At noon today, a retreating team from the south passed through Yercha and reported that the city seemed normal, with no signs of fire,” he said. “Yercha is about twenty kilometers from the southern entrance of Black Well. The entire area is rift terrain, impassable by vehicles. We’ll have to walk the distance. Black Well will send a small armed squad to wait for us at the northern suburban station of Yercha City.”
Black Well was actually sending people to pick them up? That was great news.
Pei Ran remembered something.
She asked, “Earlier, on the dam, you sent a text-containing image to Yulianka from Black Well. Could that be dangerous for Black Well?”
That omnipresent monitoring entity might suddenly notice that someone had safely sent text without triggering an explosion.
“No, it won’t. I didn’t send the information from Black Well,” W replied calmly.
“Black Well’s production line has been modified to create some simple devices. Since this evening, we’ve been placing them outside the shielding layer for experiments, sending various signals to monitor the state of the Silence in real time. For example, which types of signals might trigger explosions, or whether previously safe behaviors have become unsafe. I sent the information to Yulianka through one of these devices. It won’t have any impact on Black Well.”
It sounded like everything was falling into place.
W’s sphere was here, yet it not only knew everything happening at Black Well but could also casually control Black Well’s devices.
Pei Ran thought to herself: Sphere, oh sphere, you’re definitely not just a simple sphere.
As Hai Po had mentioned, this spherical inspection robot was merely a tool controlled by the security agent W. The fact that this sphere insisted on going to Black Well, and that Black Well was sending a team to meet them at the terminal station, Pei Ran guessed, was all for the sake of that small storage device.
She glanced at the small dark orange cylinder again.
She continued tinkering inside the sphere, wiping every part as thoroughly as possible before sealing the metal shell back up.
After taking care of him, Pei Ran moved the metal sphere aside, leaned on the small table, and closed her eyes.
She wasn’t sleeping; she was observing the green light inside her body.
There were now four points of green light inside her—Green Light No. 1, which could write; Green Light No. 2, which could draw; Yulianka’s Green Light No. 3; and the light cluster from the Tanggu Dam. It was quite lively, like a meeting.
No. 1 had just devoured the green light from the gate fusion as a snack earlier tonight and still seemed unsatisfied. It kept circling around the large cluster of green light from the dam fusion, eyeing it greedily.
However, with Pei Ran keeping it in check, it hadn’t made a move yet.
Upgrading Green Light No. 1, which could write, was the top priority, and completing JTN34 as soon as possible was the most urgent task. Pei Ran relaxed her restrictions on it.
Green Light No. 1 immediately pounced on the large cluster of light from the Tanggu Dam, nibbling at it like cotton candy. In just a few bites, it had consumed the light, appearing noticeably brighter afterward.
Green Light No. 2, which could draw, also seemed envious but, under Pei Ran’s suppression, didn’t dare to approach. Yulianka’s green light, much like its former owner, remained huddled in a corner, motionless.
Pei Ran began to see a pattern.
Using the “order” attribute green light to consume the chaotic fusion’s green light seemed very easy. However, “order” green lights weren’t as quick to devour each other. She wasn’t sure what additional conditions were needed—perhaps they just weren’t strong enough yet.
After finishing its midnight snack, Green Light No. 1 hadn’t yet gone to sleep when Pei Ran immediately directed it with her thoughts.
It finally appeared in her mental field of vision.
Pei Ran wrote the letter “J,” followed by the letter “T.”
After a pause, she continued to guide the green light with her thoughts. Surprisingly, the green light leaped nimbly to the right, positioning itself at the start of the next character.
It wrote: 【N】
After writing, it trembled slightly, as if yearning for more.
Pei Ran tried to guide it further, and it indeed made another leap to the upper right, preparing to write the next character.
Pei Ran immediately used it to write: 【3】
Unfortunately, after writing this, it fell silent, as if quietly waiting for Pei Ran to draw a period.
Tonight, it had made significant progress, managing to write two additional characters.
This development was exhilarating. Just one more character, and it could complete the drug name JTN34.
Now that it could write four characters, it could describe things more clearly. Perhaps she could try “anti-rejection medication.” Since its abilities had improved, the generated medicine box should also be larger.
Pei Ran hesitated for a moment.
But since they were on their way to Black Well, where danger could arise at any moment, it was better not to test it now. She decided to save the opportunity to use it for emergencies.
Pei Ran erased the letters, let the green light rest, and finally began to sleep herself.
- ••
Northwest, Black Well Base.
Sixty-four hours into the Silence.
Command center. Marshal Vina, her brow tightly furrowed, hurried in, still buttoning her coat as she entered.
She had only just gone back to sleep for a short while before being called back by Agent W.
W had not only woken her up but also summoned the other members of the temporary decision-making committee.
On the large virtual screen in the center of the command center, an unfinished construction site was displayed. A massive deep pit housed a spire-shaped launch device, surrounded by large amounts of black material. Protective structures were being built around it, but they were only halfway completed and had not yet been sealed.
This was the ongoing construction of the secondary shielding layer, which was being expedited.
The main body of the footage appeared to be from a monitoring device fixed at a high position, overlooking the site below.
W was rapidly zooming in on the image.
One by one, corpses came into view, their deaths gruesome. They were all workers who had been part of the construction project. Each had a gunshot wound penetrating their skulls, as if they had been sniped.
CEO Basserway had just entered the room, his eyes squinting and still half-asleep. He was startled by the corpses on the screen and asked, “Was the second-phase project attacked?”
This was a redundant question, and no one answered.
Marshal Vina had already been briefed by Agent W on the current situation on her way here. She said to him, “Agent W, show me the battlefield.”
The camera immediately tilted upward, expanding the field of view.
On the outskirts of the protective construction, the already completed belt of automated defensive fortifications was fully operational, with weapons firing continuously. Flashes of light illuminated the night sky.
In the distance, an overwhelming number of surging entities were flooding forward like a tidal wave, their numbers terrifying.
Everyone fell silent.
W randomly selected one of the entities and zoomed in, enlarging it until the details became clear.
It was a grotesque thing—resembling a human but not entirely human. It had a human-like shape, but its head, torso, and limbs were chaotically fused with metal skin and circuitry.
At a glance, it was clearly a fusion entity in a madness state.
General Song Wan glanced at it and asked, “Is this fusion entity a product of a human merging with the Striker Type-13 intelligent combat robot?”
W’s voice responded, “Correct. Near Alaku City in the northern part of Black Well, there is the largest federal military factory, which mass-produces and stores the Striker Type-13 fully automated intelligent combat robots. It’s possible that they have fused with the citizens of Alaku City, resulting in an alarming number of these entities.”
The Striker Type-13 fully automated intelligent combat robot was the latest and most advanced combat robot in the federation.
Their debut performance, during the suppression of rebel forces in the Mancha Mountains, had demonstrated astonishing combat capabilities.
These robots were highly agile, extremely powerful, and absolutely obedient to commands. They feared no sacrifice and were fully expected to replace humans as the primary combat force of the federal military.
Someone asked, “But we’re in the Silence now. Don’t their components contain text? How come they weren’t burned?”
W replied, “They do. If you observe closely, some parts of them have been melted by the burns. However, after merging with humans and becoming mad fusion entity, these burned parts did not cause critical damage.”
They should have malfunctioned, yet they were still able to move.
Song Wan asked curiously, “Why are they actively attacking the second-phase protective layer project?”
W replied, “Judging by their behavior, they seem to have switched to the highest-level ‘eradication’ mode.”
Most of the people in the command center were military personnel, and everyone understood what the “eradication” mode of intelligent combat robots meant—
Destroy everything, erase everything, level all suspicious structures, kill all living beings, and leave no survivors.
Marshal Vina furrowed her brow, staring at the screen. “Is their attack organized?”
There were charges, cover fire, and coordination—it didn’t look like a disorganized mob.
“Correct,” Agent W replied. “It’s likely that a ‘Thinker’ fully automated mobile combat center is commanding them from behind.”
The Thinker fully automated mobile combat center was an AI product designed to work in tandem with the Striker Type-13 fully automated intelligent combat robots. It acted like a brain on the battlefield, automatically devising tactics based on the situation and directing the Striker Type-13s in combat.
“The military factory that produces the Striker Type-13s also houses Thinker fully automated mobile combat centers. It’s unclear whether they have also become fusion entities.”
A group of organized intelligent combat robot fusion entities was like an ultra-powerful combat unit. This was a major problem.
Marshal Vina immediately asked, “The Thinker commands the Striker Type-13s by sending signals…”
W interjected, “Just like in real combat, they use encrypted military signals, which are currently unaffected by the Silence. Moreover, the Thinker has automatically assessed the situation and upgraded the encryption level of the signals. We haven’t been able to crack them yet, but I’ve been trying.”
General Delsa chimed in, “What if we try to block the signals…”
W cut him off, “Of course, I considered blocking the Thinker’s signals as soon as possible, but Black Well’s available equipment is extremely limited at the moment. We can’t do it yet.”
Marshal Vina asked, “Can we locate the Thinker?”
If they could find and destroy the Thinker fully automated mobile combat center, the Striker Type-13s would be left to fight independently, significantly weakening their offensive.
W said, “We currently don’t know how many Thinkers are commanding them. I’ve already deployed all the drones that can still operate under the Silence to bypass the fusion entity swarm and scout for the Thinker’s location.”
The Thinker could move on its own and hide, like a cunning commander. This feature was particularly troublesome now.
W continued, “Marshal Vina, the launch device in the second-phase protective layer project is extremely valuable. If it’s destroyed, Black Well currently lacks the production capacity to build a new one. Relying solely on automated defensive fortifications, we won’t be able to hold them off for long.”
Marshal Vina nodded. “Let’s see if artillery fire can take them out.”
If this were a large group of humans, it might work. But what was surging forward like a tidal wave were the intelligent and sturdy Striker Type-13 robots, now fused into bizarre entities. The outcome was far from certain.
Someone voiced their concern, “Our armed forces at Black Well might not be enough to fight them.”
The federation had enjoyed peace for so many years that the number of active military personnel had been repeatedly reduced. The military had increasingly relied on automated weapons and intelligent robots, with human soldiers gradually transitioning from combat roles to operating and maintaining these systems.
Unfortunately, these weapons had suffered the most damage during the Silence.
Many automated weapons, due to their display systems or internal components bearing various text labels, were completely unusable. Once they left the coverage of the shielding layer, they would immediately explode or burn up.
Over the past two days, Black Well had been working around the clock to modify these weapons, but the number of modified units was still limited.
Black Well likely still had a stockpile of older-style weapons and ammunition that soldiers could use directly. Whether these would be sufficient to handle the current situation remained uncertain.
Marshal Vina was overwhelmed with frustration.
Not long after, alarms blared in many rooms across the base at midnight, accompanied by W’s calm and detached voice:
【Emergency assembly. All military units, please proceed to the emergency assembly points immediately and await further instructions.】
—
Xipu Plains.
Yehai No. 7.
Pei Ran was in the middle of a dream when she suddenly heard the clanging sound of metal.
She sat up abruptly.
W’s voice sounded in her ear, “It’s fine. We’ve reached Zalan City. Two people are getting off here.”
Throughout its journey, Yehai No. 7 had rushed past several stations without stopping. This was the first time it had slowed down and pulled into a station since leaving the small town near Yehai.
Outside the window, the sky was still dark. The high-rise buildings in Zalan City loomed black and lifeless, with no lights visible.
The city had also been engulfed in flames. Everything that could burn had long since turned to ash, with only a few windows still emitting faint trails of smoke.
Fortunately, all the buildings stood firmly in place, unmoving.
Yehai No. 7 entered the platform and came to a stop.
Pei Ran looked out the window and saw a couple from the neighboring carriage disembarking, carrying large bags.
Under the current circumstances, choosing to get off here instead of heading to a shelter to try their luck likely meant that there was someone in Zalan they absolutely could not abandon—someone they had to find.
Perhaps it was their parents or their child.
No one else got off the train. Everyone remained on board, silently watching the couple walk away.
The lights of Yehai No. 7 illuminated their figures, casting long shadows as they walked out of the station exit.
Just as they were about to turn the corner and disappear from sight, a massive, strange entity surged out from beyond the station exit.
It didn’t look like a living creature but more like a rolling wave, sweeping down the street. Under the light, it appeared dark red and sticky, engulfing the two who had just left the station in an instant.
Ai Xia and the others in the locomotive must have seen it too, because Yehai No. 7 started moving almost immediately, accelerating rapidly.
The train shot out of Zalan like an arrow, leaving the city far behind.
Only thirty-seven people remained on board.
Pei Ran lay back down on the small table.
Dangerous fusion entity were everywhere, and the shelters were the only hope.
She drifted off to sleep again and woke up to find the sky already bright.
The metal sphere sat quietly beside her. Seeing her stir, it immediately spoke up, “Awake? Nothing happened during the latter half of the night, so I didn’t wake you.”
Pei Ran glanced at the time on her wristband—it was already past seven in the morning.
The latter half of the night had passed surprisingly smoothly.
W continued, “Pei Ran, I have some good news and some bad news.”
Pei Ran: “Start with the bad news to wake me up.”
W: “The bad news is that last night, the second-phase shielding layer project in the northern part of Black Well was attacked. The fusion entity are a combination of humans and a type of combat robot, making them extremely difficult to deal with. Black Well had to concentrate all its forces to repel several waves of attacks, suffering heavy casualties. The battle is still ongoing.”
Black Well was overwhelmed and struggling to handle its own crisis.
Pei Ran asked calmly, “So no one can come to pick us up?”
W said, “A few people were still sent to meet us, and they’ve already set out. But about half an hour ago, they suddenly lost contact with Black Well.”
It was unclear what had happened to them on the way.
“Then we’ll go on our own,” Pei Ran said. “But you mentioned that fusion entities are attacking Black Well. Is it still safe near Black Well?”
“The attacks are concentrated in the northern part of Black Well. The southern direction toward Yercha is still safe for now. We’ll stick to the original plan and get off at Yercha, then head to the southern entrance of Black Well.”
“Alright,” Pei Ran agreed, then asked, “What’s the good news?”
W replied, “The good news is that Black Well’s temporary decision-making committee was originally planning to hold a routine meeting this morning to finalize the review criteria for the first batch of civilians entering Black Well. However, due to last night’s attack, the meeting has been postponed.”
Pei Ran paused: “This counts as ‘good news’??”
W explained, “The meeting was postponed, not canceled. Given Black Well’s current situation, the review process has actually been simplified. The temporary decision-making committee plans to hold a brief meeting this afternoon to quickly finalize the criteria. Once that’s done, they can start accepting civilians immediately.”
In other words, by this afternoon, Black Well would become accessible. That was indeed good news.