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Chapter 212 Acquiring the Core

Su Wanqing raised her hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead. As soon as the jade bracelet was connected to the backup interface of the life support system, her wrist was burned and twitched.

The system issued a warning: "Non-standard energy access, insufficient compatibility, estimated duration: 17 minutes."

The blue light swayed along the patterns on the jade bracelet, and her arm went numb. She could feel the energy being drained away like a flood, restless every second.

Lu Zhao opened the portable repair box on the main control panel and bent down to plug in the temporary connectors.

He glanced at the jade bracelet on Su Wanqing's hand, pressed his shoulder, and took a couple of breaths before squeezing out a few words: "Hang in there, this needs to be manually repaired several times, and it could break at any time."

With the timer switched to the main screen, Su Wanqing made up her mind and pushed the jade bracelet's interface deeper. After a burst of electronic noise, the blue light became intermittent, as if it were about to disconnect at any moment.

The chip was getting hot, and a faint, iron-blue light was emanating from the edge of the bracelet.

The door outside was creaking loudly as the "lurkers" were ramming against the iron gate, trying to break in again and again.

Su Wanqing didn't move, and whispered, "Hurry, or we won't be able to hold on."

Lu Zhao rested his arm on the edge of the table, pried open the main power lock, and rapidly tapped on the terminal. "The cabin is starting to cool down, and the glass cabin is about to be unsealed."

He muttered to himself, "The second step of the planning process, trial and error, negative error correction—it'll be here soon."

The transparent bulletproof glass chamber made a slight clicking sound, and condensation droplets remained on it.

The core extraction device slowly rose, and symbols could be seen flowing within the purple energy field.

Lu Zhao's palms were bleeding, but he still gritted his teeth and forced himself to correct the system's judgments several times. The data fluctuated unstablely, and he had to manually confirm the reset information each time.

A long dent appeared on the outer iron gate, and the metal became increasingly deformed.

The timer showed that the military was expected to arrive in 12 minutes, and the oppressive atmosphere made Su Wanqing almost unable to breathe.

She freed her left hand to fasten the portable life support box, her mind focused only on the operating instructions, "Hurry up on your end." Her voice was low and dry.

"Immediately, this damn system is acting up." Lu Zhao pressed a broken circuit, and the screen flickered.

He glanced at the instruments inside the cabin. "Can be disassembled—wait a minute—another set of alarms has appeared that needs to be screened."

Su Wanqing gripped the jade bracelet tightly, her fingertips sweating. The blue light flickered in waves, with faint wisps of smoke rising from its edges.

Suddenly the energy field began to shrink, and the purple core swayed slightly at the bottom of the reflective chamber.

All the lights suddenly went out, plunging the surroundings into darkness.

The glass cover popped open with a click, the emergency system activated, several red emergency lights lit up, and a piercing buzzing sound echoed in the room.

The jade bracelet between Su Wanqing's fingers emitted a dazzling blue light, which spread out a meter, enveloping her and Lu Zhao in a barrier.

The sounds of the "lurking" outside scratching at the door were slightly suppressed. The monitoring system warned: "Temporary power supply is insufficient, and the life signals of the carriers inside the cabin are continuing to decline."

Warning: Irreversible damage will occur if a stable energy source is not replenished within 10 minutes.

The body isolated inside the cabin was heaving rapidly, its chest and abdomen heaving, and several gauges were approaching the red line.

Su Wanqing's jaw tightened; she ignored the curves on the stage and stared intently at Lu Zhao's movements.

Lu Zhao pulled out the main extraction device and embedded the purple rhombus-shaped energy core into the portable protective case.

He held his breath. "Done. We can take it. The life support capsule has less than ten minutes left."

The entire process had just ended when the outer blast door collapsed with a crash, and three "lurkers" rushed into the laboratory.

Shards of metal flew out from the doorway, making a huge commotion. Lu Zhao took out a pre-hidden explosive grenade from his sleeve, kicked it at the monster's feet, and then grabbed Su Wanqing's clothes.

Blood seeped from his shoulder, but his movements didn't falter at all.

"Get out of here!" he said. The explosive grenade was detonated immediately, and the huge shockwave shattered the tables, chairs, and the first "lurker" that rushed in. The remaining two, with one having its leg caught in the blast, lay on the ground, still struggling.

Sparks flew wildly at the entrance, and shouts of battle and the roars of monsters mingled in the smoke.

Su Wanqing said in a deep voice, "Can you leave?"

"If you can hold on for a while, hurry up."

She supported Lu Zhao, and could feel the pulse of his core in the portable life support box under her arm.

They crouched low and squeezed through the back door of the laboratory. As soon as they turned around, a "lurker" lunged at them with its severed arm. Lu Zhao grabbed a piece of the laboratory wreckage and held it back, while Su Wanqing slammed the life support box down on it, causing the monster's head to dent before it released its grip.

The explosions behind me grew louder and louder, accompanied by the roar of alarms and screeching sounds in my ears.

The two squeezed through a row of lab benches to the maintenance passageway, where Lu Zhao opened the door with one hand.

He dragged his feet, blood was gushing from his right shoulder, and his breathing was heavy and labored.

The jade bracelet on Su Wanqing's wrist was still hot, and the blue light was getting dimmer.

As soon as she stepped into the narrow, dark passage, several "lurkers" followed her, accompanied by a strong stench and irregular thuds.

The corridor was already extremely narrow, barely wide enough for the two to walk side by side. Su Wanqing simply held the core box against her chest and used her free hand to help Lu Zhao.

In some places along the passageway, there are broken cables and scattered small metal parts, and you can easily trip over something if you're not careful while walking.

Lu Zhao gritted his teeth and didn't stop, occasionally clutching his shoulder. The indicator lights ahead flickered, and the distant echoes of explosions and monster screams followed behind.

As she rounded the corner, Su Wanqing suddenly felt a sharp pain in her forehead, as if her head had been twisted in a painful gag.

She broke out in a cold sweat and instinctively kicked herself to stop, afraid of fainting.

A few fragmented images flashed through her mind—under the white light, another woman who looked exactly like her lay on her back on the operating table, surrounded by people in white coats, all with solemn expressions.

The most conspicuous figure was Nicholas Wayne, who stood beside the woman and whispered, "The final test of Project S begins. The memory transfer procedure is initiated."

The images flickered on and off, completely out of my control.

Su Wanqing's arm was numb, and she felt as if the jade bracelet was about to explode from the heat. When her arm was straightened, the noise in her head drowned out all the warnings.

Sweat poured down her forehead. The process lasted only four or five seconds.

She steadied herself and continued to pull Lu Zhao forward.

A cold sentence kept echoing in her mind: "You are not the first, and you will not be the last."

She pursed her lips, unable to tell whether it was a hallucination or a real memory.

But the unusual heat on my wrist was so real it made me panic.

The two squeezed out of the narrow end of the maintenance passage, with explosions and monster howls still ringing in their ears.

Su Wanqing ignored her own condition and silently dragged Lu Zhao forward.

The sounds behind us faded into the distance, leaving only the noises of explosions and collapses.

Su Wanqing took out the purple core from the sealed box, locked it tightly, and carefully put it into her bosom.

Lu Zhao tried to regulate his breathing and switched hands to support himself against the wall. Both of them were covered in dust, and their hands were stained with blood.

At the end of the passage stood a dilapidated metal door, and through the crack in the door, one could vaguely hear new sounds. Su Wanqing didn't have time to think much, and pushed Lu Zhao forward again, her head still throbbing.

She didn't look back, and limped along, leading the people into the new passage. The door swayed slightly from the aftershocks of the explosion, almost failing to close.