What exploded were not only the human-drone machines that had burrowed into the overpass, but also their counterparts that were clinging to the glass canopy outside, watching the commotion.
The sky was filled with exploding parts of aircraft, which ricocheted like bullets onto the glass overpass, causing the glass to crackle and pop. Shreds of torn human skin fluttered down like snow.
The glass of the overpass couldn’t withstand such intense and continuous explosions and shattered, scattering shards of glass everywhere.
Pei Ran observed that the impact range of this explosion was about forty to fifty meters, significantly larger than the previous one in the dark alley of Hank Street.
This was likely the result of the green light continuously “feeding” and upgrading along the way.
However, it was still far from enough to deal with the thousands of human-drone machines flying in the sky.
Along with the human skin, green light also fell.
Although these green lights were bright, they were tiny, scattered into thousands of specks, as if a large mass of green light had dispersed into countless points.
These human-drone machines moved in such unified steps, almost like a single entity, making this possibility quite real.
Some green specks plummeted straight down to the streets below, while others landed on the overpass.
But now was not the time to collect the green light.
The commotion caused by the explosion was too great, and the main force of human-drone machines was already rushing toward this location.
Pei Ran turned and ran, darting into the building across the way and quickly closing the door behind her.
The door on the overpass side was also made of sturdy synthetic material and had a lock. Pei Ran swiftly locked it.
A new wave of human-drone machines had already arrived.
The glass roof of the overpass had been blown open by the explosion, and countless human-drone machines swarmed in, frantically crashing against the transparent door.
The door didn’t budge. Pei Ran ignored them and continued following W’s navigation map.
Pei Ran rushed all the way down to the ground floor. The entire ground floor was filled with various shops, winding and twisting like a large maze.
W didn’t need her to check the map and directly navigated: “Go straight, turn right, go straight, turn left…”
Pei Ran suggested: “How about a bubble voice? Don’t navigation systems usually have special voice services?”
He had been too serious lately, and she hadn’t heard his bubble voice in a long time.
W paused for two seconds, his voice lowering considerably, “…Uh… next, turn left.”
He actually switched.
So obedient.
Under the guidance of his hesitant, bubbly voice, they finally arrived at the location of the shop he mentioned.
Like the other shops nearby, this one had also been burned. Not only burned, but it had also been drenched by the building’s fire suppression system.
Everything in the shop with printed text was gone. The shelves were blackened, streaked with soot washed into lines by water, and there were charred, unrecognizable lumps of something.
The metal sphere’s eye scanned the entire shop and continued navigating: “Walk straight ahead, the tallest shelf opposite. I’ve already spotted it.”
On the highest metal shelf opposite, there was a pile of burnt remains, likely what used to be a box.
Half-buried in the charred, unrecognizable black paper fragments was a small black block. Fortunately, it had been shielded by the shelf’s top panel and hadn’t been soaked much by the water.
Pei Ran quickly walked over and picked it out from the ashes.
It seemed to have had a label on it, but now only a black stain remained, with one side stuck to a melted plastic base.
Pei Ran was curious: “It’s burned like this, but it didn’t explode?”
W replied, “This model of energy block is already the most expensive type used in civilian aircraft. It has fireproof and waterproof properties. Although not as good as mine, it’s still decent.”
Pei Ran checked the connector on the energy block. It was indeed the same as the one in the metal sphere, making it easy to replace—just a matter of seconds.
“How many shots can you fire with one of these?”
“Over a thousand, maybe up to fifteen hundred,” W answered.
There were over three thousand human-drone machines outside. Even if Pei Ran’s explosion took out a hundred or two, to be safe, they would still need at least two of these energy blocks.
So, they needed to find one more.
Pei Ran stuffed the energy block into her pocket and set the metal sphere down. “Let’s split up and search. One of us takes each side.”
Dividing the work would make the search faster.
The metal sphere only had two folding arms, which it used as legs to walk, though it looked quite odd.
Growing tired of wobbling around, it simply grabbed onto the shelves and swung back and forth, moving up and down with surprising agility.
The shop was filled with all sorts of strange parts. The two of them searched their respective sides, sifting through the ashes for more of those small black blocks.
However, as Pei Ran worked her way down the rows of shelves, almost reaching the end, she still hadn’t found a second one.
W wasn’t having much luck either.
“Nothing on my side either,” it said, nimbly hopping down from the last shelf.
Pei Ran said, “It’s fine. We’ll figure something out.”
There’s always a way. They had already traveled over two thousand kilometers. The last twenty kilometers were nothing—they would find a way to get through, no matter what.
The metal sphere clutched the shelf with its claw, glanced at it, and then looked up at Pei Ran.
She was deep in thought, her brows furrowed, likely strategizing what to do next.
She had led dozens of men, women, and children—completely defenseless against the frenzied fusion entities—this far, with one worry after another weighing on her.
W watched her for a moment before calmly speaking up, “Pei Ran, my folding arm suddenly got stuck. I can’t move it.”
Pei Ran: ?
Stuck?
She quickly walked over and found one of his folding arms awkwardly wedged between the gaps in the shelf.
She had personally repaired that folding arm. Could the wiring have come loose again?
Pei Ran reached out to pull on his folding arm, but her eyes suddenly caught something nearby.
W noticed her brows instantly relax, her eyes lighting up.
She completely forgot about his folding arm and pulled a small black cube out from the gap between the shelves.
No matter how you looked at it, it was exactly what they had been searching for.
Pei Ran clutched the energy block, and the next second, it dawned on her: “You already saw it, didn’t you? You deliberately called me over so I could find it myself, right?”
W silently retracted the folding arm that had been stuck in the gap and said indifferently, “No. My folding arm really was stuck just now. It was probably a bad connection.”
Bullshit.
Now that they had enough energy blocks, they could go deal with the swarm of human-drone machines.
W suggested, “Pei Ran, help me install this energy block first. After we use up theirs, we can switch back to my original one.”
Pei Ran agreed, placing the metal sphere on the shelf and starting the “surgery.”
Pei Ran wasn’t entirely sure: “How do I replace it? Do I just pull out the energy block? Should I disconnect the wiring between the core processor and the energy block too?”
“It’s fine, just go ahead and pull it out,” W said.
Pei Ran disconnected the other wires, paused for a moment, and finally pulled out the wire connecting the core processor to the energy block.
The blue light inside the metal sphere instantly went out.
“W?” Pei Ran called out.
Silence filled her ears.
Pei Ran connected the new energy block and reattached all the wires.
The blue light smoothly lit up again.
Pei Ran asked him, “Is it working now?”
W’s voice came through, mechanical and cold, devoid of any emotion, just like when she had first met him a few days ago.
“System rebooting.”
“Memory backup failed to save.”
“I am W, a federal security agent. May I ask who you are?”
Even though she knew he was joking, Pei Ran felt an inexplicable pang of panic.
Without hesitation, she slapped the top of his head to help him quickly “restore” his memory.
Even though she hadn’t hit the right spot, W cooperated perfectly, instantly lighting up his floodlight.
Pei Ran couldn’t help but smile.
She finally laughed. W silently watched her.
The Black Well was just ahead. The journey of a few short days was about to end. For some reason, he suddenly wished the Black Well could be another two thousand kilometers away—or even ten thousand, twenty thousand kilometers—so that this path could continue.
W suddenly thought of Yulianka.
Yulianka refused to switch the tracks, hoping that the Yehai No. 7 would keep running on its endless circular route. Was this the same feeling?
Persistent, selfish, completely irrational, even absurd.
Perhaps it was because, during the early stages of the Black Well’s construction, there were endless judgments and decisions to make, an infinite to-do list. The process here with Pei Ran was like a ray of light breaking through a heavy pile of tasks, a breath of fresh air seeping through a crack in a stuffy room—something worth holding onto.
Pei Ran had no idea what he was thinking. She carefully closed his outer shell, picked up the rope, and slung the metal sphere over her shoulder.
She said, “Let’s go. We’re going to kill some birds.”
Twenty kilometers away.
Underground, Black Well Base.
Seventy hours into the Silence.
In the small meeting room on the top floor of the central tower, all members of the provisional decision-making committee were present, holding a routine meeting.
The main agenda was to report on the battle situation near the second phase of the northern shield layer project.
The Attacker Type-13s lived up to their reputation as the Federation’s strongest combat robots. The Thinker Combat Command Center behind them also performed exceptionally well. After being pushed back once, they immediately regrouped and launched another wave of attacks, relentlessly tenacious.
On top of that, their fusion with humans had turned them into frenzied fusion entities. Sometimes, even after critical components were blown off and they should have lost combat capability, they continued to move in an eerie, unnatural way, making the situation endlessly frustrating.
The number of human soldiers on the battlefield was severely insufficient, and their weapons were inadequate. Casualties were heavy, and they were fighting purely on sheer willpower.
All the military personnel present, including Marshal Vina, had not slept a wink all night.
In contrast, Chief Executive Officer Basserway looked much better. Not only were there no dark circles under his eyes, but his suit was also neat and crisp, without a single wrinkle.
He sat very upright, slightly frowning as he listened to the report, then summarized, “So, in short, we’re still in a stalemate? Is the Black Well in danger?”
“That’s a possibility, and not a small one,” Marshal Vina replied.
She hadn’t slept all night and had barely drunk any water. Her throat was hoarse, and she had little patience left to explain. She called for backup:
“Agent W, please explain the current situation to the Chief Executive.”
W’s voice came through clearly.
“These Attacker Type-13 fused entities are currently operating in ‘eradication’ mode. Even if we retreat further and completely abandon the second phase of the shield layer project, they will continue to advance.”
“Further ahead lies the Black Well. Given the combat capabilities of these robots, there’s a high likelihood they could uncover the disguise of the Black Well’s entrance.”
Basserway was stunned for a moment, then immediately asked, “So they really might attack the Black Well?”
“Yes, and the probability is quite high. That’s why we aim to eliminate them outside the Black Well rather than bringing the battle inside.”
Basserway’s face paled.
W continued, “Even if we take a step further and ultimately abandon the Black Well, this Attacker Type-13 fused entity force will continue to sweep through the Black Well and push forward.”
“They are an organized force with formidable combat capabilities, further enhanced by their frenzied state. They could easily devastate every city and every home in their path. As long as their energy lasts, their ‘eradication’ mode will drive them to kill every living thing they encounter.”
The Minister of Finance interjected, “Is there really no way to stop them?”
“Of course there is. The top priority is to locate the Thinker fully autonomous mobile combat center that commands them. Once we destroy the combat center, their combat effectiveness will immediately drop significantly.”
Someone asked, “Have we found the combat center behind them, the ‘Thinker’?”
W replied, “Just two hours ago, a pilot on a reconnaissance mission located a Thinker in the north and completely destroyed it with an NG_y8 bomb. However, the Attacker Type-13s’ offensive rhythm wasn’t disrupted, so there must be other Thinkers commanding them.”
Marshal Vina asked, “How many Thinkers do you estimate there are?”
W: “I’ve reviewed the data from the Alaku City military factory. The conclusion is that at the time of the Silence outbreak, there should have been three Thinker combat centers in the factory’s reserve warehouse. Assuming all of them have become fused entities, we still need to locate the other two.”
At the very least, one of them has been eliminated. That’s progress.
Marshal Vina pushed the agenda forward. “This is the current situation on the northern battlefield. Today’s meeting has two additional items. Agent W.”
W’s cool voice came through: “We need to discuss the issue of the base accepting civilians. There are also several individuals who, due to their outstanding actions following the Silence, require the committee to decide whether to award them federal medals.”
Marshal Vina said, “Let’s handle the medals first.”
A row of portraits appeared on the screen above the conference table, with their corresponding deeds listed below.
Basserway asked, “Why are we prioritizing this kind of thing at a time like this?”
Marshal Vina glanced at him. “It’s precisely at times like this that we need to award medals promptly. On the northern front, federal soldiers are sacrificing their lives. We desperately need to boost morale. Not only will we award medals, but I also plan to broadcast their stories on the giant screens in Black Well’s central square, so every soldier in the base can see them.”
Basserway nodded. “Good. Of course, no problem. I vote in favor.”
After speaking, he glanced at the screen and noticed a young girl in civilian clothes among the row of soldiers. “Why is there a civilian in here?”
He took another look. “And she’s being awarded a Federal First-Class Medal?”
“Because she saved the Tanggu Dam,” Marshal Vina said. “Her deeds are written below. You can take a moment to read them. If no one here has any objections, we’ll move on to the next agenda item: the issue of accepting civilians. Agent W, please provide an overview.”
The screen changed, showing factories inside the Black Well. Only a few production lines were running; most were idle.
W’s calm voice continued: “On the issue of accepting civilians, the first thing to clarify is that not only do federal civilians need the Black Well, but the Black Well also desperately needs them.”
He explained, “The number of AI robots originally inside the Black Well was limited, and even fewer were brought in undamaged after the Silence. Labor shortages are severe.”
“Whether it’s the vertical farms and aquaculture farms producing agricultural products, the factories processing daily necessities, or the facilities modifying and repairing weapons, all are in dire need of labor.”
“Only with sufficient labor can the Black Well function properly. Humans are intelligent, flexible, energy-efficient, and highly adaptable. With minimal training, they can start working immediately. The federal military can even recruit fresh blood from among them to defend the Black Well.”
“Therefore, accepting refugees is an urgent priority for the Black Well.”
Even Basserway nodded this time. “So, is there a concrete plan?”
Agent W’s efficiency was always high. While the meeting in the small conference room was still ongoing, the towering virtual screen in Black Well’s central square began cycling through the profiles of the first batch of federal medal recipients following the Silence.
Among the row of soldiers was a girl in civilian clothes, carrying a large backpack, her clothes wrinkled, her expression cold, her mouth sealed with black tape. Her 3D full-body image slowly rotated on the massive screen.