The human-drone swarm tried for a long time, but still couldn’t break open this solid door. In the end, they gave up and stopped attacking, but they didn’t fly away either.
They returned to the air above the building, constantly changing formations—at one moment forming a massive Rubik’s Cube, spinning madly, and the next forming a rotating sphere, enjoying themselves immensely, busy as could be.
Pei Ran was puzzled: “Where did so many drones come from?”
And they even combined with humans, turning into fusion entities.
W, being an encyclopedia who knows everything, said: “Small aircraft are Yercha’s pillar industry. There’s a company here that is the most famous and the largest drone manufacturer in the Federation. Their production line is built in the northern suburbs of the city. Most of Yercha’s residents work for this company. The kind you’re seeing now is their mainstream product—the R9 model aircraft.”
No wonder.
With them blocking the outside, it was completely impossible to get out. If they tried to force their way out, within less than a minute, they’d probably be up in the sky, flying in formation too.
No one wanted to fly off, so everyone stayed hidden inside, full of anxiety.
W didn’t have enough firepower, so Pei Ran suddenly had a thought: “W, can you use the energy blocks that come with these R9 aircraft?”
W said with a wry smile: “No. I’m a robot specially customized by the Ministry of Defense. Not just any energy block will work for me.” Then he suddenly added, “But Pei Ran, I actually did find a solution.”
Pei Ran: “Speak.”
He said: “There’s a store that specializes in selling energy blocks for small aircraft, about one intersection away from here. I estimate that in times like this, no one would bother to loot that kind of store, so there should still be stock inside. That kind of store might sell a very expensive model of energy block. Although it’s not completely compatible with my processor, it should be usable for a short time.”
To think—
There was such a good thing. Pei Ran asked, “If we get them, we can take down all these aircraft?”
W corrected him: “If we can find two blocks. Though they might not actually be there, we can still go take a look.”
Pei Ran glanced outside. “But how are we supposed to get beyond one intersection?”
In the sky, the human-drone units were currently busy forming a gigantic birthday cake, with the “flames” on the candles swaying vividly. Trying to sneak out right under their noses was as difficult as ascending to the heavens.
W said solemnly: “I’ve come up with a plan. Take a look.”
His wristband buzzed—he sent over a map.
The map clearly marked the nearby streets and buildings. Who knows where he’d dug it up from. A winding route was marked with green lines.
W explained: “We don’t have to go outside. We can use a more concealed route—first head to the building next door, then go upstairs…”
Pei Ran pointed at the green line connecting this building to the one next door: “So if we’re not going outside, how do we get through here?”
W said calmly: “I found the maintenance diagram for the electrical and pipeline system of these two buildings. The two towers are called the Twin Buildings, and they were originally constructed together. Part of their B1 underground floor is connected. As long as you crawl in and follow the route I’ve marked, then remove a thin panel wall at the end, you’ll reach the neighboring building.”
Alright then.
Pei Ran pointed at another green line between two other buildings. “What about here? This is so far, and there’s no path below—how are we getting across?”
W’s calm tone did not change: “You jump across.”
Pei Ran: “……”
There was no path, and he could still forcefully draw one. If he were an intelligent navigation AI, he’d definitely guide someone smoothly into a ditch.
Wild-style navigation AI W continued: “After you jump over, you need to walk along a narrow ledge on the outer wall of the building for a bit, then flip over a rain canopy to get inside. After that, there are two doors, which you’ll probably need to break open by force. Then cross a skybridge, and you’ll reach the building that has the parts store.”
When encountering mountains, he’d carve a path; when encountering water, he’d build a bridge—this intelligent navigation AI had great confidence in her ability to blaze new trails.
Pei Ran asked, “Using this route you’ve come up with, how far can we go at most?”
W sounded a little helpless. “It’s not an easy path. You can do it, but the others definitely can’t. Don’t count on bringing everyone around those aircraft.”
So he did know what she was thinking.
She could sneak away on her own, but the others couldn’t. She had promised back on the train to bring everyone to the shelter, and she had to fulfill that promise.
The door here was tightly blocked, so there shouldn’t be any immediate danger. Pei Ran patted Ai Xia, used sign language to briefly explain the situation, then “spoke” to Tang Dao as well, asking them to hold this position for now.
She left her backpack behind, slung only the metal orb across her body, and set off alone.
Pei Ran followed the emergency passage downward, arriving at the B1 underground floor.
B1 was a hover car garage. There weren’t many vehicles, but there was a lot of shattered wreckage. The central consoles of the vehicles that still had intact exteriors had all caught fire—burnt pitch black.
Yercha really hadn’t cut the water supply. The sprinkler system probably had an independent power source. After sensing fire, it must have sprayed water—everything was damp and soggy.
W used the black eye on the metal orb to scan the area. “Look over there. There’s a rectangular mark on the wall. It’s a small maintenance door. It can be opened.”
On the wall, just below waist height, there was indeed a patch of slightly different color, with an inconspicuous fingerprint lock on it.
Pei Ran walked over, crouched down, and punched a hole in the door with one strike.
She quickly tore off the remaining part. Facing the narrow, pitch-black hole, she asked, “Crawl in?”
Navigator W replied with certainty: “Yes.”
What kind of dog hole was this?
Pei Ran lowered her head and crawled in.
W lit up the high beam, illuminating the cramped space inside. It was a passage just wide enough for a person to crawl through on hands and knees. Alongside it ran pipes of various colors and thicknesses.
Pei Ran crawled forward along the passage, thinking: Even if this is a dog hole, the one tethered to the leash is the little dog.
It was this little dog who insisted on crawling into the dog hole. As the kind owner, she had no choice but to follow.
The “little dog” was slung diagonally across her body, knocking against the floor with her movements. When it hit just right, the light flickered on and off—on and off.
At first, W was still very persistent—turning the light back on the moment it went out—but later he simply gave up and let it flicker freely between light and dark.
In the flickering light, Pei Ran crawled forward on all fours and finally reached the end.
The exit was also a small door. Pei Ran saw where the lock was installed, directly snapped it off, pushed open the door, and crawled out.
This side was also the B1 underground level.
Pei Ran looked around, dragged over a nearby box, and used it to block the small open door before heading upstairs through the emergency passage.
The ground floor lobby of this building was quiet. The door was closed, there were no people, and no sign of the human-drone units. Pei Ran followed the navigation map and ran straight up to the third floor.
The third floor had originally been a whole level of shops, all of which had caught fire. Everything was charred black.
W’s navigation map was highly imaginative—full of twists and turns. Pei Ran followed it until she felt dizzy and finally found the window W had marked in a corner.
W said, “According to the building’s structural diagram, this window should be able to open halfway.”
Sure enough, the window wasn’t locked. It opened easily when lifted. Pei Ran climbed onto the windowsill and cautiously leaned out.
It was very quiet outside.
W had chosen the route well—this side faced away from the human-drone swarm, and there wasn’t a single one visible in the sky.
Pei Ran crawled out of the window, stepped onto the outer windowsill, grabbed the window frame, looked at the opposite building, and kicked off hard with both legs—her body soared through the air.
Before W could react, she had already landed on the narrow ledge of the opposite building, grabbing onto a protruding pattern on the outer wall.
W abruptly jumped over with her, caught off guard: “I wasn’t mentally prepared yet.”
Pei Ran: “You don’t even have to jump. What are you preparing for?”
As she spoke, she edged along the building’s ledge, found the next window W had marked, smoothly pushed it open, and climbed inside.
It was a bathroom. After leaving the bathroom, there was a large open-plan office. It had also been burned—the desks were covered in black scorch marks. Paper catches fire in an instant, and by the time the sprinkler system sprayed water, nothing would have been left.
W continued navigating: “Next, cross one more skybridge, and we’ll reach the target building.”
Pei Ran followed W’s map, circled around the office area, manually broke through two doors, and finally found the skybridge he mentioned.
The bridge was long—she would have to run across. Pei Ran poked her head out to look and felt a bit worried.
From this angle, the human-drone swarm was already visible.
They were still hovering in the nearby sky, this time forming a massive umbrella-shaped mushroom.
Looking closely, every “person” in the formation wore a serious expression, dutifully serving as a tiny part of the big mushroom.
If she could see them, it meant they could also see her.
The door leading to the skybridge was a brown, semi-transparent one. The door on the opposite side of the bridge appeared to be made of the same material. Pei Ran touched it.
W noticed her movement and said, “This is the same as the building’s main entrance—Ninggu VI-type reinforced composite material.”
It was the especially sturdy kind. There was a bolt lock on this side—hopefully, the other side had one too.
The skybridge connected the two buildings. It was fully enclosed, with a concrete structure for the bridge body, but the sides and ceiling were made of transparent glass.
Pei Ran asked, “What about the skybridge glass? Is that kind of glass sturdy enough?”
W replied, “I found the original design plans for this skybridge. They installed the AQ53W reinforced glass from Kangtai Corporation. This type of glass has passed the Federation’s 1545.2 tempered glass standard…”
Pei Ran: “Speak human.”
W rephrased: “It can withstand a certain level of impact, but it’s far less durable than the composite material used in these transparent doors.”
The doors were made sturdy for anti-theft purposes, but the glass of the skybridge didn’t need to be, so the ceiling’s structural integrity was questionable.
The human-drone swarm’s giant mushroom was still hanging there, moving in perfect unison. Suddenly, it spun half a circle all at once.
Now all their faces were turned in the opposite direction.
This was the moment. Pei Ran made a snap decision and took off running.
She’d never realized a skybridge could feel this long.
The skybridge spanned a wide street. As Pei Ran sprinted across, she saw that the giant mushroom in the sky had started to change again.
It suddenly contracted and then—pop—“exploded.”
It wasn’t a real explosion. Each human-drone making up the mushroom formation shot outward in evenly spaced arcs, all in formation. Even in “exploding,” it was highly organized.
Pei Ran knew this was bad and pushed herself to run even harder.
With a loud slap, a face as flat as a pancake smacked against the glass ceiling of the skybridge.
It was one of the “exploded” human-drones, and its flight path had landed it right on top of the transparent skybridge.
And it was someone familiar—he was the guy in the denim jacket who had just turned into a human-drone.
His black eyeballs spun wildly. He immediately spotted Pei Ran running inside the skybridge.
Seeing a person excited him. He instinctively squirmed forward, pressing his thin body even more tightly against the glass. His brain, probably squashed too flat to think properly, took two seconds before it seemed to realize there was a transparent barrier in his way.
He quickly backed off.
After retreating over ten meters, he suddenly dove and accelerated, aiming straight at the glass ceiling of the skybridge.
Earlier at the bakery, other human-drones had used this exact tactic to smash through the pile of debris he and his girlfriend had stacked up, giving him a deadly hug. Now that he had inherited the same behavior, he began ramming the glass like a maniac, trying to get inside and catch Pei Ran.
This world really was a cycle.
With a deafening bang, followed by a series of sharp cracking sounds, this Kang-something AQ-something model reinforced glass proved indeed not sturdy enough. A spiderweb of cracks instantly spread outward from the impact.
Pei Ran ignored him. Her feet didn’t stop as she kept running at full speed.
Behind her came repeated crash after crash.
W’s metal orb rotated halfway, constantly monitoring the situation behind them. His voice remained calm:
“Other aircraft have also noticed the disturbance here. They’re flying over in formation.”
“They’re continuously ramming the glass.”
“The glass has shattered—there’s a hole now.”
Behind her came a crashing sound, the clatter of falling glass. It felt like she could hear the buzzing of the aircraft.
“More aircraft are hitting the glass.”
“The hole is getting bigger.”
“Pei Ran, the hole is big enough—they’ve come inside.”
“They’re almost right behind you.”
Pei Ran: Thank you for the live broadcast, really appreciate it.
She was already nearly at the end of the glass skybridge. She stopped running and turned around.
The moment she turned, she was startled.
Countless human-drone units were densely packed on top of the transparent glass ceiling of the skybridge. Pairs of spinning black eyeballs were all staring at her. Several had already slipped through the broken opening and come inside.
As soon as they entered the bridge, they spread their large, thin wings wide, like they were about to pounce and give her a deadly hug.
W asked, “Should I fire?”
Pei Ran: “Save your firepower.”
At this point, all the nearby human-drones had been drawn over, clustering tightly together. Using her area-effect power was clearly more cost-effective now.
Maybe she could blast them apart with green light. The only issue was—they were too close.
From her past few uses of the ability, Pei Ran had already discovered that she could target a specific object, and the power would activate in an area centered around that target. For instance, on Yehai No. 7, when she targeted the excavator beast and the concrete wall ahead, the ability only affected the area around the target.
But now, at such close range—even if she targeted the human-drone furthest away on the bridge—based on the usual effective radius, the spot she stood on would still definitely be within range.
She herself would be fine, but she wasn’t sure if W’s metal orb would survive the blast. Last time in the alley, he hadn’t been able to dodge her energy burst.
She had to make the description more precise—thankfully, now she could write four characters.
Pei Ran’s green light was already standing by in her mind, quickly writhing and swirling before forming characters:
【R9 Explode】
Period.
Boom boom boom boom boom—
A dense string of explosions rang out like firecrackers. In front of Pei Ran, a grand bloom of fireworks erupted.