A faint buzzing sound of an aircraft suddenly came from behind, very similar to the sound of a reconnaissance drone.
Pei Ran was now conditioned to react to this kind of sound and immediately turned her head.
W said, “It’s okay, it’s a support drone coming over.”
Two fully armed military drones equipped with weapons, lights on, flew along the tunnel one in front and one behind, and stopped beside Pei Ran. One of them even had an NG_y8 hanging from the mechanical claw under its chassis.
They had passed through the maze-like underground tunnels and finally found this place to support her.
However, it was useless. Even if ten more came, they still wouldn’t be able to get past the light vortex.
W said, “I’ll try controlling the drone to see if it’s possible to get through between the two rotating arms.”
One of the drones hovering in mid-air suddenly moved.
It steadily flew to the ever-spinning light vortex, seized the moment, and darted through the gap between the two green light arms.
However, calling it a gap was only because the green light dots were relatively sparse compared to the arms.
Within the spinning light vortex, countless green light dots still silently pierced through the drone’s body.
The drone’s lights instantly went out. It dropped straight down like a dead bird, crashing onto the red earth of the tunnel, kicking up a large cloud of dust.
It truly didn’t work. Looks like they would still have to wait for the new drone to deliver the simple mechanical device.
But then a sudden vibration came from the nearby wall.
When Pei Ran tilted her head to listen, the vibration had already grown stronger, and even the ground began to tremble. Bits of soil crumbled from the walls and ceiling of the tunnel, falling onto Pei Ran’s head and shoulders.
Pei Ran: “Is it another collapse?”
But it wasn’t a collapse.
Behind the green light vortex, next to the Thinker, dirt and debris were falling rapidly, rocks flying—several rows of fast-spinning white fangs emerged from the tunnel wall.
It was the disc-shaped head of the tunnel boring machine fusion form, tunneling wildly through the earth. It was still randomly digging tunnels, turning here and there, and had now tunneled its way here again.
The Thinker truly lived up to its name—it wasn’t stupid at all. It had been stuck by this tunnel boring machine at the tail and dragged around everywhere. Who knew how long it had been dragged for? It seemed quite afraid of it.
The moment it saw the huge face of the tunnel boring machine appear from the wall, it immediately shrank into a corner and didn’t dare move at all.
The cylindrical head of the tunnel boring machine finally drilled out from the tunnel wall. It ignored the Thinker, dragged its long body, and continued advancing slowly, ramming straight into the opposite tunnel wall.
It was completely unreserved, shoving its face into the wall. Rows of teeth on its disc-shaped head spun rapidly and immediately began drilling.
The drilling speed wasn’t slow. In the blink of an eye, its front half had already disappeared into the wall again.
Pei Ran grew tense.
Once the tunnel boring machine, from head to tail, fully drilled into the wall, it was foreseeable that a new tunnel would appear behind it.
And that tunnel would connect to the maze-like paths it had previously dug.
If the Thinker escaped through that tunnel, it would be impossible to find it again. And with the light vortex blocking the front, there would be no way to continue chasing it.
The drone transporting equipment was still en route, and the tunnel boring machine’s body was inching forward—the tunnel behind it was about to be revealed.
Something had to be done.
Green Light No.1 was awake and still constantly crying out that it was hungry. Pei Ran had originally planned to save it for emergencies to protect her life, but now it seemed she had no choice but to use it.
She immediately tried to activate Green Light No.1.
Strangely, although Green Light No.1 was clearly awake, it didn’t appear in her brain’s visual field.
Pei Ran: ?
It had already exploded a recon drone once on the overpass today, eaten quite a few sunflower seeds, then exploded again in the mining area—now it had thrown in the towel.
Hungry. It seemed to be expressing its stance. Can’t work. Hungry.
Pei Ran: “……”
Across from the light vortex, the tunnel boring machine continued moving forward, and the Thinker looked eager to try escaping.
Pei Ran stared in that direction and asked W, “What’s the situation on the northern battlefield?”
When she asked that, W fell silent.
He knew very well that the situation on the northern battlefield was extremely bad.
The Thinker was still continuously gathering battlefield data, formulating strategies, and transmitting commands to countless advancing Type-13 combat robot fusion forms—they were intensifying their advance.
The front lines were steadily retreating and were on the verge of collapse.
W not answering was, in essence, the same as answering.
The green light inside her body was still restlessly surging. Pei Ran removed the strap slung across her shoulder.
“You said earlier that fusion entities might not be affected by the light vortex. Ordinary people who touch the light vortex turn into monsters, but we fusion entities might not.”
W: “Pei Ran! Don’t!”
He adjusted his tone. “Pei Ran, don’t take the risk. If the Thinker escapes, we’ll just find another way to track it down. There will definitely be a way.”
But the Thinker was still there—right ahead.
And Pei Ran had a feeling—she believed in the judgment of the green lights inside her body.
The tail of the tunnel boring machine was nearly out of the hole in the wall, about to clear the opening. The intelligent combat center turned its head, cautiously testing the direction as it moved toward that side.
Pei Ran placed the metal sphere on the ground beside her and charged toward the light vortex.
W: “Pei Ran!”
Inside the Black Well.
In the command center, people also realized the same problem: the Thinker had originally been cornered in a dead end, but now another passage was about to open on that side.
It was about to slip away again.
Just as they were on the verge of destroying the last mobile combat center and reversing the situation on the northern battlefield—hope was shattered once more.
Marshal Vina asked, “Have the other aircraft arrived?”
W’s voice came through: “All aircraft loaded with NG_y8 have assembled. The soldiers are currently carrying the NG_y8s into the underground tunnels. The farthest tunnel entrance detected by recon drones is twenty kilometers away.”
The tunnel boring machine had dug wildly underground, carving out a vast underground labyrinth.
W continued, “This stretch of underground tunnels covers too large an area, and the Thinker moves very quickly. We have no idea where it might go. The frontline situation is tense, but we still need to allocate more personnel to conduct a thorough sweep of this area.”
Marshal Vina nodded. “Alright, then we can only—”
Before she finished speaking, someone suddenly pointed at the screen. “Look!”
On the screen, the metal sphere had been placed on the ground.
Pei Ran appeared in the footage.
The command center couldn’t hear her and W’s internal conversation—only saw her walking toward the light vortex.
She ran toward the lower right corner of the vortex, where the green light was thinnest. She halted a step away, waited for the vortex to rotate slightly, and when a gap appeared between the two spinning arms, she darted through it.
The vortex suddenly trembled.
Everyone saw countless green light dots between the rotating arms surge into her body with a whoosh.
At the moment the green light entered her, Pei Ran clearly staggered two steps—but she didn’t pause. Her feet didn’t stop, and she went straight through the vortex, continuing forward.
The command center was silent. Everyone involuntarily recalled the scene they had seen on the big screen the night before.
It was at the northern frontline—the surveillance footage from the medical station had been broadcast. That major, who had come close to the light vortex, transformed into a fusion entity on camera.
At that time, his entire body swelled like it had been inflated, getting larger and larger until he completely lost all human form.
He was like a massive magnet, seeming to exert a strange attraction toward everything around him.
The makeshift hospital bed flew toward him and melted into his abdomen like it had liquefied. Then the two medical machines nearby followed. Next came a nurse—after just a bit of struggling, she became part of his body, with only her head and two hands sticking out from his back. After that, a doctor plunged headfirst into his chest, with his feet still kicking desperately in the air.
If one were to become such a terrifying thing, it would be better to just die directly on the battlefield.
Marshal Vina stared at Pei Ran’s hazy figure, now shrouded by green light, and asked, “How long after the major was infected by the vortex did he turn into that… thing?”
Song Wan replied, “Roughly a few hours. The mutation happened after he was brought back to the medical station.”
Everyone fell silent.
This girl, though still alive now, was already doomed to die—and to die in a horrific way.
In the hall of the command center, someone murmured, “This kind of courage… really deserves a Federation First-Class Medal.”
“She didn’t do it for a medal.”
“Besides, she already has one.”
Through the spinning light vortex, one could see that the tail of the tunnel boring machine had begun to leave the wall, revealing the opening.
But Pei Ran had already arrived.
While running, she quickly unwrapped the scarf holding the NG_y8 on her back, and charged straight toward the Thinker.
Compared to Pei Ran, the Thinker was undoubtedly a massive creature—at least two or three times her height. Its single eye swiveled, and this time, it finally noticed Pei Ran.
It twisted its direction, the treads rolling toward her.
Pei Ran dodged it, pushed off with one hand, and nimbly leapt onto the shield above its treads. In a swift motion, she securely tied the scarf wrapped around the NG_y8 to its leg and fastened it with a dead knot.
By strapping the bomb tightly to its body, no matter how wildly it ran, it wouldn’t be able to escape the blast.
Pei Ran jumped down from the shield and sprinted back, using the same method to pass through the spinning arms of the light vortex.
As she passed through, another surge of green light flooded into her.
Pei Ran staggered, stumbling through the vortex, and charged straight back, grabbing the metal sphere from the ground.
Behind her, the Thinker didn’t bother with the small creature that had just climbed all over its treads—it had spotted the open tunnel. It swiftly turned around and drove into the opening, vanishing from sight.
Pei Ran pressed the button.
A thunderous explosion roared.
In the tunnel, sand and gravel crashed down like torrential rain.
Just as W had predicted, the NG_y8 packed a powerful punch—the explosion triggered a severe cave-in. Dust and smoke surged into the air, swallowing the camera feed until nothing could be seen.
The command center fell into silence.
“Did it blow up?” someone asked tentatively.
A moment later—
“Frontline reports received! The fusion entity-form robots have suddenly stopped attacking!”
“They’re spinning in place, as if they’ve lost their target!”
“Their formation is scattering!”
W’s cold voice came through: “The Attacker Type-13 has lost command. Based on estimates, they will soon revert to autonomous combat mode according to their default protocols. A new counterattack and containment strategy has already been approved and sent to the Northern Battle Command—it will be relayed to all combat units immediately.”
Cheers erupted in the command center hall, and everyone sprang into action.
Chief Executive Basserway cautiously asked, “So the Black Well is safe now? And the Phase II defense layer is secure?”
Marshal Vina finally relaxed completely. He grunted in affirmation, leaned back into his chair, and let out a long, deep breath.
In the underground tunnel—
The swirling red dust nearly swallowed the light emitted by the metal sphere. Pei Ran couldn’t see the path ahead and could only rely on instinct, gripping the metal sphere tightly as she ran desperately forward.
W’s voice kept echoing in her ear.
“Pei Ran, how much green light got into your body? Can you handle it? Are you feeling unwell?”
“Pei Ran, what can I do to help you?”
“Pei Ran??”
“If you keep nagging, I really will die—nagged to death by you.”
Pei Ran said, “Besides, if you insist on nagging, can you at least use bubble voice? That’d make it a little more entertaining.”
W seemed to let out a sigh.
But Pei Ran was truly feeling awful.
Not just because the dust billowing through the tunnel stung her eyes and made it hard to breathe, but because of those green light particles that had crazily surged into her body.
When she passed through the light vortex just now, she had carefully avoided the brightest spinning arms of green light. But even though she crossed through the sparser area between two arms, countless green light particles had still surged in like a tidal wave, rushing into her body.
They darted back and forth among her internal organs—perhaps dozens, maybe even hundreds of them—dizzying and too fast to even see clearly.
These frenzied-state green lights were treating her body like an amusement park.
Her vision blurred in waves; she couldn’t see anything clearly. Her head felt foggy, as if she were drunk, dazed and heavy.
She was already quite experienced at dealing with frenzied fusion-form green lights now—she just had to let the orderly-state green lights in her body devour them.
Once eaten, not only would they not harm her body, they would even upgrade the abilities of the green lights.
Green Light No.1 and No.2, as well as Yulianka’s Green Light No.3, had already been leaping up and down shouting they were hungry—now their takeout had really arrived.
And it hadn’t just arrived—it was pouring in like a storm, as if the sky had rained takeout.
This time, Pei Ran didn’t restrict any of them. She let the three green lights eat freely—as much as they wanted.
The trio joyfully scattered, chasing down their prey, gulping it down in big bites.
The problem was, it didn’t last long before they were too full to keep eating.
There were still many frenzied-state light particles wreaking havoc inside her, and under Pei Ran’s constant urging, the orderly-state green lights could only force themselves to keep eating.
Pei Ran could practically feel what they were thinking: either starving to death or stuffing themselves sick—this life was unbearable.
Hurry up and eat, she urged silently. Hurry up and eat.
She felt absolutely terrible.
She was in so much discomfort it was killing her. Her steps were stumbling and unsteady, swaying from side to side. She had no idea where the road even was—she was simply charging forward on instinct.
W noticed it immediately.
“I’ll guide you,” he said. “Pei Ran, turn right ahead.”
Behind her came the rumbling boom of the cave-in. The drone was flying not far ahead—W was probably using it to scout the way.
Pei Ran kept running through the dust-choked tunnel, her mind foggy as she thought: He’s navigating again. Wonder if he’ll steer someone into a doghole this time too.
She stumbled to the right and entered a new tunnel.
The collapse continued behind her. The tunnel she had just passed through disappeared, the noise sounding like a string of landmines rolling down behind her.
White light filled Pei Ran’s vision. Her soul seemed to float weakly upward, while her legs felt heavy as if filled with lead. She thought: Forget it. Maybe I should just stop running.
Let the cave-in catch up and bury her beneath it—then W would start frantically digging through the dirt, pulling her out like a seed being unearthed.
Kinda funny, actually.
Pei Ran tugged the corner of her mouth into a faint smile.
But being buried alive felt absolutely awful.
Pei Ran had once imagined all kinds of ways she might die—like being blasted into bits by those mechanical beasts with their extreme-explosive guns, being trapped inside a bunker and burned to death by incendiary bombs they threw in, or simply having her head blown off with one clean shot. None of those sounded particularly pleasant.
Now that she was experiencing one firsthand, she realized—being buried alive was definitely the worst. It was especially unbearable.
Her legs still moved on their own, trying hard to push forward.
W’s voice came through in her ear: “Pei Ran, hang in there. Just a bit further, then turn left.”
When he got anxious, his voice would turn especially cold—completely devoid of emotion.
Pei Ran perked up and said, “Bubble voice.”
W seemed to pause for a second, and in the next moment, his voice changed.
There weren’t really any bubbles in it, but it was gentle, low, and intimate—a voice that should have belonged in a bedroom, not in a pitch-black tunnel like this.
“Pei Ran… keep going forward. You’ve already entered the area I mapped out using patrol robots and drones. I know the way clearly. Just hold on a little longer, and we’ll reach an exit soon. That exit isn’t far from where we came in.”
The cave-in chased behind her, nearly crashing into the backs of her heels.
It was like a hell that was collapsing nonstop.