Could the thief be another one of W’s spherical relatives—that indestructible CT122?
If it hadn’t died last time, it must have been severely injured and in need of parts for repairs.
However, its shell was navy blue, not silver—unless it had modified itself again. That really was hard to say.
Pei Ran’s Green Light No. 1 had just finished writing and was now in its routine work break, so it couldn’t be used again.
Fortunately, she wasn’t the only one here with special abilities.
Pei Ran raised her hand high and waved at Team Leader Li.
Team Leader Li noticed and immediately walked over, giving Pei Ran a questioning look: What’s the matter?
Pei Ran pointed toward the rift valley, then made a gesture of something darting past, and finally pointed at the now-empty spot on the ground.
Team Leader Li worked at a leisurely, unhurried pace, but she was sharp—after just a glance, she immediately understood.
She set down her large backpack, pulled out a gun, and strode over quickly.
In her ear, W’s voice came through: “Pei Ran, you haven’t spoken since leaving Black Well. How’s everything on your end?”
Pei Ran followed behind Team Leader Li. “I think I just saw something.”
W, currently without camera access, asked at once: “What was it?”
“It was silver, flashed by in an instant—maybe a robot. Could it be that CT122? Or maybe some kind of human-robot hybrid, like the ones you mentioned last time—those intelligent combat robots that attacked the Phase II Barrier Project. What were they called again? Striker Type-13? After your last battlefield cleanup, could there still be stragglers?”
W immediately grew alert. “Pei Ran, you’re unarmed—don’t move for now. I’ll send soldiers from the Black Well entrance to check it out.”
Pei Ran quickened her pace, grabbing Team Leader Li’s arm to signal her to wait.
Team Leader Li shook her head at Pei Ran, then pointed at the empty spot on the ground. She mimed lifting something with both arms before suddenly flinging it upward.
She was saying: It flew away.
Team Leader Li didn’t just “fly” it once—she swung her arms upward over and over.
Pei Ran suddenly understood what she meant.
It seemed like she was saying that the equipment placed here had gone missing more than once. She acted like it was a regular occurrence.
Pei Ran immediately asked W: “Team Leader Li seems to be saying that the equipment placed in this area often disappears. Did you know about this?”
“Let me check the records.”
W finished checking instantly and continued, “I see that ever since the first batch of equipment was placed, recovery personnel have been reporting ‘disappearances’ in the damage logs—’disappearances,’ not ‘destruction.’ Because the number of missing units fell within an acceptable range, no one looked deeper into it.”
Pei Ran immediately realized that the first batch of equipment must have been placed very early—back when the train was still at the Tanggu Dam, these instruments were already set up, and W was still accessing them normally.
At that time, they were still on the road and hadn’t reached Black Well yet. CT122 probably hadn’t arrived at Black Well either.
Pei Ran concluded, “So it wasn’t CT122 stealing them. The equipment started vanishing before CT122 even got here.”
“That’s what I think too. According to the records, one or two units go missing every day.”
This thief wasn’t greedy, at least.
W said, “This is the wilderness—there could be wild animals.”
Pei Ran was silent for a moment. “What kind of wild animal would steal something like this? It’s not meat.”
W replied, “Could be a fusion entity. Even though the military is clearing them out, there are still quite a few in this area. Might even be a Striker Type-13 fusion entity. Either way, both of you be careful. The soldiers will be there soon.”
Team Leader Li, gun in hand, kept moving forward and soon reached the spot where the equipment had vanished. She bent down to inspect the ground.
Pei Ran followed. The ground was completely flat, with no traces left behind.
But as she circled the area, she suddenly noticed something strange—near the edge of the rift valley, the loose red soil bore several unusual marks.
Definitely not human footprints.
The imprints looked like they were left by some kind of clawed appendage, somewhat resembling a bird’s talons, but the base was broader, with three long, distinct toes at the front.
The size of the prints was comparable to a human’s. If this was a bird, it would have to be a massive one.
The tracks led straight down into the rift valley.
Pei Ran tugged Team Leader Li’s sleeve and pointed at the footprints.
Team Leader Li glanced at them, then gestured to Pei Ran before quietly following the tracks, tiptoeing down the slope of the rift valley.
Pei Ran observed that this woman, who usually carried a thermos and moved at a leisurely pace, had nerves of steel.
As the leader of the FBSMD department, she must be a fusion entity herself—meaning she had to have some kind of special ability. Pei Ran wondered what it was. Probably something fierce.
Pei Ran caught up to her and pointed toward the Black Well entrance, then mimed walking with two fingers to indicate that reinforcements were coming.
Team Leader Li didn’t seem to understand. She tilted her head slightly, waved a hand—maybe signaling “don’t worry”—and kept descending.
Pei Ran couldn’t let her go down alone, so she followed.
Mentally, she told W, “We found some footprints. They look like bird claws.”
W sounded puzzled: “Bird claws?”
“Yeah,” Pei Ran said. “Bird claws the size of a human foot.”
W replied, “Send me a photo—same number as before.”
His profile picture was that metal sphere with a gaping crack. Pei Ran snapped a picture of the footprints and sent it to him.
W responded immediately: “These aren’t from a Striker Type-13 combat robot. Let me show you what they look like.”
Her wristband vibrated—a set of images came through.
The pictures showed humanoid robots standing beside a soldier, towering at least half a head taller. Their arms were equipped with firearms.
The images displayed the robots from various angles. Their leg joints could bend freely in all directions, and both their faces and the backs of their heads had round, black camera lenses, giving them a monstrous appearance.
Most importantly, their feet were shaped like human feet—nothing like bird claws.
Pei Ran speculated: “Maybe when the Striker Type-13 robots became fusion entities, they didn’t just merge with humans—maybe they also fused with a bird?”
W: “It’s possible.”
Pei Ran updated him: “We followed the footprints down into the rift valley.”
W paused, then said simply: “Alright. Be careful.”
The strange footprints continued downward, spaced similarly to a human’s stride. Pei Ran and Li Yin followed them all the way to the bottom of the valley.
But the tracks took a sudden, cunning turn—veering toward a massive boulder half-buried in the ground.
Then they vanished.
The exposed part of the boulder stretched long and narrow, like the spine of a dragon, extending forward. The two followed it, scanning carefully for any reappearance of the footprints.
A glint of metal flashed ahead.
They immediately gave chase.
Up close, they realized the reflection came from nothing more than a broken silver can shell placed on the rock, swaying slightly in the cold wind blowing through the valley.
It was too much of a coincidence—a reflective object just happened to be placed here, moving with the wind to catch their attention.
Suspicious, Pei Ran tugged Team Leader Li’s sleeve and turned back.
She meticulously retraced their steps and finally found a narrow fissure—about 40 to 50 centimeters wide—hidden beneath an overhanging section of the cliff wall.
The crack was obscured by protruding rocks, making it easy to miss when walking past.
Pei Ran bent down and peered inside. It was pitch black, impossible to make out anything.
Team Leader Li came over and crouched beside Pei Ran, then suddenly pointed at the ground.
The ground was still rocky, but scattered with small pebbles. Among them, the faint imprint of half a claw could be seen.
Judging by the direction of the claw marks, something had slipped into the fissure.
Team Leader Li was fearless—she immediately turned on her wristband’s flashlight.
The beam pierced into the crack, revealing what seemed to be a cave with ample space inside.
Without hesitation, Team Leader Li turned sideways and squeezed right in.
Pei Ran: “…”
Pei Ran thought: Team Leader Li, you shouldn’t be called Li Yin—you should change your name to Li Yong (Brave Li).
She mentally updated W: “We’re at the bottom of the valley, about thirty meters west. There’s a 40-50 cm wide fissure hidden under a protruding rock on the left. Team Leader Li just crawled inside.”
W was silent for a moment—probably stunned by such boldness.
He said, “Got it. The soldiers have reached the equipment collection point and will head down soon. I’ll mark your location and send them a map.”
Pei Ran turned sideways and slipped into the fissure as well.
With the faint light filtering in, she could see that the space inside was unexpectedly vast.
Team Leader Li had already moved ahead, sweeping her wristband’s light around.
This wasn’t a natural cave. The structure was orderly, with complex supports—clearly man-made and reinforced. It was sturdier and more complete than the tunnel haphazardly dug by the shield machine fusion entity last time.
Pei Ran frowned. “What is this place? Why is there a man-made tunnel here?”
W said, “I checked the map. You seem to have entered the original mining area. The mining zone is huge—this is part of it. What you’re seeing is probably an old mining tunnel.”
He had mentioned before that Black Well was originally a massive mining site, later repurposed by the military into an underground base.
W added, “Keep track of your position at all times. If this really is a fugitive Striker Type-13, they’re armed and extremely combat-capable. Don’t engage head-on. Reinforcements are almost there.”
Pei Ran: “I won’t fight recklessly. If there’s danger, I’ll run like hell.”
After all the effort to finally get into Black Well, with daily ration vouchers and a stable life—she wasn’t ready to give that up yet.
W seemed to chuckle. “Good.”
They were at the end of a mining tunnel—a dead end, with only one way forward.
Team Leader Li, gripping her gun, advanced cautiously while scanning the surroundings.
Once they moved away from the fissure’s light, the tunnel grew pitch black. The passage seemed to devour illumination—the wristband’s beam barely reached far.
Pei Ran also turned on her wristband’s light and inspected the ground. The surface had been hardened, leaving no footprints.
The further they went, the more complex the tunnel structure became—scattered with mining debris, construction materials, and branching paths.
While updating W on each fork she passed, Pei Ran carefully scanned her surroundings. Soon, a small gap opened between her and Team Leader Li.
Up ahead, Team Leader Li turned a corner and disappeared from view.
But it didn’t matter—Green Light No. 4’s tracking marker was still on her.
Pei Ran activated Green Light No. 4 to locate the signal and immediately sensed Team Leader Li just a short distance ahead.
Click.
A faint sound came from the side.
So quiet it was almost imperceptible—like someone accidentally brushing against construction materials.
Then, distantly, the muffled tread of footsteps echoed from the fissure entrance. Multiple people.
W spoke up: “Pei Ran, the soldiers have entered the mining tunnel and are searching for you. You don’t need to go further.”
The soldiers’ voices were loud, but Pei Ran knew that soft click hadn’t come from them.
She lightened her steps, moving toward the source.
Against the tunnel wall lay a pile of construction materials—rebar, planks, pipes—all jumbled together.
Pei Ran tensed, flexing her mechanical hand.
Bracing for an attack, she gently lifted a rusted, mottled metal panel.
Crouched in the space beneath was—
A flash of silver reflected her wristband’s light.
Not a person, but something humanoid. Its entire body was metal, sleek and orderly—nothing like the grotesque, chaotic fusion entities.
Huddled there was a genuine, pint-sized robot. But not a Striker Type-13.
Pei Ran stared. …Ren?
Of course, it wasn’t Ren. Just strikingly similar—almost identical in shape, with a face screen displaying cartoonish features.
But where Ren’s shell was pure white, this one gleamed silver.
Their feet were different too.
Ren was a household bot, gliding on a disc-shaped vacuum base. Even detached, its feet resembled human ones. This little robot had no vacuum—just two legs ending in distinctive three-toed metal feet. A perfect match for the strange prints outside.
On its left chest was a clear scratch, and its arm bore similar marks—as if someone had carefully scraped off printed text with a blade. Pei Ran guessed there had once been identifying markings there, shrewdly erased. She wondered how it had managed to remove any internal labeling.
Regardless, the little robot appeared fully intact—not deactivated, silently surviving all this time.
Clutched tightly in its arms was a small black signal-testing module, its indicator lights dark, likely powered off.
Pei Ran’s gaze swept over its frame before returning to its face.
And there, she saw genuine fear.
Hugging the module, its cartoon eyes were wide, fixed on her in utter despair.
That expression suddenly reminded Pei Ran of the bunker world.
Of children huddled in hidden corners, trembling as they prayed the silver mechanical monsters wouldn’t discover them.
Now the roles were reversed—the one hiding in terror was a small robot.
Behind her, the soldiers’ footsteps grew louder, echoing off the tunnel walls. They’d round the corner any second.
Ahead, Team Leader Li’s footsteps also approached; she must have heard the commotion and was doubling back.
Then the little robot did something unexpected.
It stretched out a perfectly human-shaped metal hand, palm upturned, offering her—
A small golden ore fragment, glinting under her wristband’s light.
It was trying to bribe her.
Its digital eyebrows sloped downward, its pixelated eyes brimming with panic, fear, and a silent plea.
Not long ago, “silver metal” and “AI robot” would’ve meant one thing to Pei Ran: enemy.
The kind that killed without hesitation, whose core processors’ blue light would snuff out if crushed.
But now, faced with this cartoonish face, all she could think was—
It looks so much like Ren.
This was exactly how Ren would look if scared.
Pei Ran didn’t take the ore. Instead, she gently lowered the metal panel back into place and stepped away.
Perfect timing—blinding white light flooded the tunnel as armed soldiers rounded the bend, rifles raised.
They stopped before her, eyes questioning.
Without a flicker of expression, Pei Ran shrugged at them—Nothing here.
Team Leader Li reappeared, blinking at the soldiers in apparent confusion. She pointed ahead, as if to ask why they’d come all this way.
The soldiers immediately followed Team Leader Li forward.
Pei Ran lingered a few steps behind, silently directing Green Light No. 4’s marker. The wisp of white light drifted up from Team Leader Li’s shoulder and settled behind the pile of construction materials.
W’s voice sounded in her ear: “Have the soldiers reached you?”
Pei Ran replied, “Yes, we’re with them now.”
She hesitated—then chose not to mention the little hidden robot.
W was a federal security agent, and the robot had clearly been terrified of Black Well personnel. Until she understood the situation better, silence was safer.
The tunnel curved ahead, branching into multiple forks. Any further and they’d risk getting lost.
W spoke again: “Pei Ran, the old mining tunnels are too complex. These soldiers were dispatched hastily—their equipment isn’t sufficient for serious threats.”
“If Striker Type-13 fusion entities are hiding down here, they could reach the refugee zones through these passages. I’ll send a specialized team to investigate. All of you should turn back now.”
The soldiers nodded in agreement, gesturing toward the exit.
Team Leader Li looked faintly disappointed—no stolen equipment recovered, no thief caught—but complied.
As they retraced their path, they passed the hiding spot again.
This time, Pei Ran noticed it—the small golden ore fragment, placed neatly in the corner before the rusted panel.
She slowed, stooped, and picked it up.
Her wristband’s light angled into the gap. The space behind the panel was empty.
A quick activation of Green Light No. 4 confirmed it—the marker was already deep in the tunnels, moving away.