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Chapter 224 Split up
He paused for a moment, then added, "It's agreed that whichever side finds the core first must contact the other teams immediately through the public channel. As for the final ownership of the core, we'll discuss that after this crisis is over."

This plan takes into account the urgent needs of all parties, and Lieutenant Cui has no reason to refuse it.

He nodded: "Okay. I will grant you access to some military vehicles."

After saying that, he stopped talking and immediately turned to give new instructions to the remaining soldiers, preparing to lead the team to retreat.

In the brief moment of the military personnel's hurried mobilization, the "monk" walked to Su Wanqing's side, squatted down, and checked on Lin Che's condition.

He took out a thumb-sized bottle made of some kind of amber from his large monk's robe, unscrewed the cap, and carefully poured out a few drops of golden liquid, which he then applied to the charred wound on Lin Che's chest.

The liquid was quickly absorbed into the skin upon contact, like water droplets falling onto a hot iron plate.

Lin Che's chest, which had almost stopped moving, began to rise and fall almost imperceptibly. Although his breathing was still weak, it had finally become a little more steady.

“This is the essence of life that has been steeped in time,” the monk said in a low voice. “It can temporarily delay his organ failure, but it can only last for two hours at most.”

He stood up, and before meeting up with Xiao Ran, he said to Su Wanqing alone, "Xiao Ran and I are going to chase 'Night' because among us, only he truly understands that person's real purpose. Remember, no matter what you see or hear after you find the core, don't completely believe it. This is the third cycle, and the rules may have changed."

Su Wanqing pondered the deeper meaning of those words, but Lin Che's deteriorating condition left her no time to think about it further.

On the square below the signal tower, a military-modified off-road vehicle has already started moving.

Lu Zhao carefully settled Lin Che into the back seat, and Su Wanqing followed closely behind, taking Lin Che's cold hand in hers.

Lu Zhao got into the driver's seat, and the vehicle roared as it sped away from the eye of the storm.

The cityscape outside the car window felt unfamiliar to Su Wanqing. Visible, fine purple particles floated in the air, shimmering eerily under the streetlights.

On the metal exterior walls of some buildings, it looks as if someone has splashed strong acid on them, covering them with layers of irregular crystals.

There were hardly any pedestrians on the streets, and the few who were there were walking quickly with their mouths and noses covered and their heads down.

Along the way, they passed several temporary checkpoints set up by the military and cordoned-off areas.

"After the energy burst at the top of the signal tower, the military issued a special martial law order."

As Lu Zhao drove, he explained, "Most of the citizens were evacuated to old-fashioned underground air-raid shelters. But after the three cores were scattered, the radiation spread faster than anyone expected, and the mutations accelerated as a result."

He pointed to the purple particles floating outside the window. "Scientists call this 'time dust.' Inhaling too much can cause abnormalities in the body's local time flow."

In milder cases, the skin on the arms or face may age rapidly; in severe cases, the person may completely disappear from the flow of time, as if they had never existed.

Just then, a series of noisy electrical sounds came from the portable communicator that Lu Zhao had placed aside; it was Xiao Ran's intermittent report.

"Industrial zone...the mutants here...their behavior patterns have completely changed...they seem to be...building some kind of structure...'Night' seems to be able to control them...we...we are forced to temporarily retreat to observe..." Violent explosions could be clearly heard in the background of the communication, mixed with the deep chanting of "monks," making the situation sound very critical.

Immediately afterwards, the channel switched, and Lieutenant Cui's brief voice came in: "The subway system has been flooded, the core is at the deepest point, and we are preparing to dive in."

Xiaoling is in an abnormal state; she can directly contact the core energy without any harm… Repeat, that girl can directly contact the core without harm. This information is crucial.

Lu Zhao frowned slightly and turned off the communication. "The three messages can be linked together."

"Night" controls the mutants to build things in the industrial area, Little Bell can safely access the core inside the subway, and the one we're about to find has caused the surrounding plants to mutate."

Before he could finish speaking, the navigation system screen of the SUV flickered a few times and then went completely black.

The sky ahead resembled a tattered curtain, with the clouds exhibiting an unnatural distortion.

To make matters worse, the once wide road was completely blocked by a large number of mutated plants.

The vines were as thick as giant pythons, coiling around the road. The flowers on the vines were as big as human heads, and in the very center of each flower was a structure resembling an eyeball, which slowly rotated as their vehicles approached.

"There's no time to take a detour." Lu Zhao abruptly turned the steering wheel and pulled the car over to the side of the road.

"The core should be in the central area of ​​the shopping mall in front, but these plants... they seem to be protecting something."

He turned off the engine, opened the back door, and carried Lin Che on his back.

Su Wanqing also got out of the car, watching the wriggling plants warily.

"let's go!"

Just as they were about to walk forward, a huge vine that was closest to them suddenly snapped straight and lashed out with a whooshing sound.

Su Wanqing subconsciously raised her arm to block, and the jade bracelet on her wrist emitted a faint light in response.

An unexpected scene unfolded. The moment the fierce vines came into contact with the light, they recoiled violently as if they had touched a red-hot iron, even causing the surrounding plants to back away, clearing a narrow path just wide enough for two people to pass through.

[Core resonance response detected.]
[Approximately 350 meters from the target.]
[Warning: Anchor point core energy reserves are insufficient; defensive capabilities cannot be maintained for long.]
The radiance of the jade bracelet created a path for them through the writhing plant wall.

Lu Zhao carried Lin Che on his back and followed closely behind Su Wanqing, stepping into the wide-open doors of the shopping mall.

The interior was not the ruins I had expected. It had been transformed into a giant biological cave.

The ceiling and walls were covered with moss that emitted a ghostly green light, giving the entire space an eerie feel.

The ground was covered with tangled vines, which felt soft yet resilient underfoot.

The boutiques that once displayed luxury goods have now become giant “greenhouses”, with translucent sacs hanging from the ceiling, filled with an unknown viscous liquid that sways slightly as people enter.

Visible spores floated in the air, carrying a sweet and rotten smell.

Whenever they approached, the surrounding plants would all vibrate slightly, like some kind of silent alarm being transmitted through the network.

What made Su Wanqing's throat tighten even more was that some of the thick vines were covered with flowers that looked like human faces, with distorted features and slightly parted lips, as if they were breathing silently, or as if they were whispering some incomprehensible curse.

“These things… are strange.” Lu Zhao’s voice was deep. He took out a handheld detector from his backpack, and complex bioelectric waveforms were displayed on the screen.

“These plants have been completely transformed by the core radiation. They are no longer independent individuals, but have formed a vast collective intelligent network through their roots and airborne spores. They are purposefully reconstructing the building.”

He gestured with his chin to the ceiling, where dense vines intertwined, their arrangement indeed somewhat resembling a complex integrated circuit diagram. "They're turning this place into a... biocomputing structure."

Su Wanqing did not respond; she simply raised her wrist and glanced at it.

Although the jade bracelet's radiance could repel plants, it seemed to dim a little more with every few meters it moved forward.

[Warning: Energy reserves have dropped to 8%. Core reconnection recommended as soon as possible.]
The system notification rang in her mind at just the right moment, making her already heavy heart sink even further.

They cautiously made their way up to the food section on the second floor. The scene there was even more horrifying.

A huge, semi-transparent vesicle, more than five meters in diameter, was suspended in mid-air, containing the remains of more than a dozen humans.

Countless tiny, fluorescent vines extended from the bladder wall, connecting to the skin, joints, and even the skulls of the remains, as if slowly decomposing and absorbing them.

Lu Zhao stopped and moved closer to examine the area closely, his expression turning grim.

"They're not just breaking down corpses, they're more like reading information."

You see, these vines mainly connect the nervous system and the skeleton.

These plants... are analyzing human DNA structure, studying our anatomy.

He pointed to another row of smaller vesicles next to him, "Look at how they're arranged there. They've extracted enough information and are probably trying to 'copy' or 'imitate' some kind of biological characteristic of us humans."

Su Wanqing's stomach churned. She stared intently at one of the remains; the person was still wearing a security guard uniform.

Just then, a face-shaped flower next to the vesicle suddenly turned around, its "eyes" made of petals staring straight at her.

Its lips moved, uttering a chilling, complete sentence composed of friction and airflow:

"Anchor...point...arrived..."

The sound was not loud, but it was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake.

Instantly, the plants throughout the shopping mall experienced a violent chain reaction. The fluorescent moss on the walls suddenly became brighter, the density of spores in the air increased dramatically, and a burst of intense purple light even flashed from the direction of the central plaza in the distance.

The entire plant network was activated, entering a state of high alert.

"Damn it, they recognize you!" Lu Zhao roared immediately. "We have to act right away, or we might not even have a chance to get close to the core!"

They disregarded everything else and quickened their pace, rushing towards the circular corridor on the third floor.

From there, you can overlook the central plaza of the entire shopping mall.

As they looked down from the railing, they finally saw their destination.

A fist-sized crystalline core, emitting a stable purple light, is suspended five meters above the plaza, slowly rotating.

Directly below the core, the scene is even more indescribable. Countless thickest vines extend from all directions, coiling and weaving beneath the core to form an exceptionally complex "throne" filled with precise geometric beauty.

The throne rose and fell slowly as if it were alive, but there was no one on it.

The entire structure resembles a giant transformation device awaiting the arrival of a monarch. Every few minutes, some of the vines that make up the throne will adjust their positions and change their angles on their own, as if they are adjusting unseen parameters.

Just as Su Wanqing and Lu Zhao were pondering how to get through the fully activated plants below and approach the core, she felt the temperature of Lin Che's hand, which she was holding, dropping rapidly.

She looked down sharply and saw that Lin Che's skin had turned a lifeless, deathly gray. She quickly placed her fingers on his carotid artery, where the pulse was so weak that she could hardly feel it.

[Warning: Host's health has dropped to 7%. Estimated survival time is less than 15 minutes.]
The system's notification sound was as cold as a needle, piercing Su Wanqing's brain.

“We don’t have time.” Lu Zhao had clearly noticed Lin Che’s change, and his voice was decisive and urgent. “They have laid a trap, and it will be too slow to break through.”

He carefully handed Lin Che, who was on his back, to Su Wanqing, and then took out several palm-sized flat metal devices from his backpack.

“I’ll distract the main attention of this plant network. You must take this opportunity to lead Lin Che directly to the core.”

He activated each of the devices, and blue indicator lights lit up on them.

“Based on my analysis, these plants are reacting to you in a special way, most likely because of your identity as a ‘human anchor.’ It’s a risky move, but we have to take the gamble, or Lin Che will surely die.”

He shoved one of the devices into Su Wanqing's hand.

"These are military electromagnetic pulse bombs, which should be able to temporarily interfere with their bioelectric signals and create chaos."

"Make your move!" As soon as Lu Zhao finished speaking, several muffled explosions came from his location.

A blinding blue light flashed across several corners of the second-floor corridor, and then the entire shopping center's vast network of plants seemed to be thrown into boiling water, instantly convulsing violently.

The originally rhythmic flashing of bioelectric light became chaotic, countless vines twitched erratically, and the face-shaped flowers emitted a piercing friction sound.

Lu Zhao successfully drew away their main force.

Without further hesitation, Su Wanqing held Lin Che, whose heartbeat was almost imperceptible, and pushed the last glimmer of light from the jade bracelet on her wrist to its limit.

A soft yet firm light barrier opened up in front of her, pushing aside the wildly writhing plant wall to create a narrow passage just wide enough for one person to pass through.

She rushed down the railing and headed straight for the central square.

The vines beneath their feet twisted and writhed under the pressure of the light curtain, hissing in protest.

The translucent vesicles hanging on both sides began to boil violently, and some blurry human-shaped outlines struggled and shaped in the mucus, as if this vast biological network was trying to urgently create "substitutes" to intercept her.

[WARNING: Energy reserves are critical; the jade bracelet's protection will completely fail in 30 seconds.]
A cold system notification flashed through her mind. Su Wanqing gritted her teeth, hugged Lin Che in her arms even tighter, and quickened her pace.

Twenty meters, ten meters, five meters... the suspended core emitting a stable purple light was right in front of us.

Just as her fingertips were about to touch the cold surface of the core, a cold voice came from directly above.