After stocking up at the maximum level, all the handsome men in the apocalypse are looking for suppo

Chapter 240 Choice
Behind them, the last section of the passage collapsed completely amidst the violent tremors, the roaring sound being muffled by the thick rock layers.

Bunker B7, along with the figures of Lieutenant Cui and his soldiers, will forever remain in that darkness.

Choking dust seeped in through every crack. Xiao Ran used his elbow to push aside a rickety precast concrete slab, and the group finally crawled out of a pile of collapsed construction debris, seeing the light of day again.

But the scene outside was even more suffocating than the apocalypse inside the bunker.

The sky was shrouded in an eerie, morbid orange-red light, with a giant light clock projection hanging overhead, its second hand ticking several times faster than before.

Two-thirds of the once familiar city streets have completely disappeared, turning into smooth, empty blank spaces. At the edges are forcibly torn building sections and twisted roads, like a painting that has been mostly erased.

Lin Che took off his trench coat and wrapped it tightly around Xiao Ling, who was coughing incessantly and covered in dust, holding her in his arms.

Su Wanqing carried the heavy backpack on her back, which contained two cores and the unfinished amplifier. With each step, she felt as if the weight of the entire world was pressing down on her back.

Lu Zhao and Xiao Ran stood on either side, weapons in hand, vigilantly scanning every shadow that might be hiding danger.

They took refuge in the ruins of an office building that had been cut in half, where they could temporarily avoid the direct view of the high-altitude detectors.

“We have to go there.” Su Wanqing looked up at the Weaver mothership that was looming in the sky like a dark cloud.

Lu Zhao looked down at the terminal on his wrist, where complex calculation data was flashing on the screen.

"Based on the new data corrections brought by the monk core, I have found their patterns. The next 'blind spot' will appear in 42 minutes and last for a full 3 minutes."

We must approach the mothership within that time window.

The team proceeded along an underground utility tunnel formed after a collapse. This area, originally the city's sewage system, had now become their only safe passage.

The low-frequency hum of the silver detectors patrolling overhead came from time to time, causing everyone to stop and hold their breath each time.

Xiao Ran walked at the front, using the stealth skills he learned in the military to quietly clear away the steel bars and rubble blocking the way for those behind him.

Lin Che walked at the back of the group, occasionally looking back at the darkness they had come from, his brows slightly furrowed.

The semi-transparent figure disappeared after the bunker collapsed.

"Where do you think 'Night' went?" Su Wanqing asked in a low voice as she walked to Lin Che's side.

Lin Che shook his head warily, his gaze still scanning behind him.

"It's hard to say. He might have turned to his true master, the Weaver."

It's also possible... he's just looking for the perfect opportunity to re-approach us. We'd better be wary of him showing up at any moment.

Lu Zhao looked up and glanced at the silent mothership in the sky through the gap in the top of the utility tunnel.

"We must get in, no matter what. The third core is in the center of the mothership."

Half an hour later, they emerged from underground to find a partially collapsed commercial district.

Abandoned billboards hang askew on the building's exterior, making a screeching sound when the wind blows through them.

In this desolate ruin, several civilians wandered around, their eyes vacant and their movements slow, like lost ghosts, unresponsive to everything around them.

Xiaoling peeked out from Lin Che's arms and looked at one of the little girls who was sitting blankly on the rubble, hugging a teddy bear. She couldn't help but want to speak.

Xiao Ran reached out and pulled her back, gently shaking his head. "We can't take any risks. Any unnecessary contact could attract the detectors."

Xiaoling's eyes reddened, and she nodded with tears in her eyes, burying her head back in Lin Che's arms.

Suddenly, a slight movement came from a pile of rubble ahead.

Everyone instantly raised their weapons and went on high alert.

Surprisingly, what emerged from the shadows was "Night." Its form was no longer a semi-transparent phantom, but a fully materialized entity.

Beneath his skin, clearly visible blue energy lines spread across his entire body like electrical circuits, outlining his slender figure.

He stood in front of the crowd and spoke calmly, his voice devoid of any emotion: "The path ahead is the shortest route to the mothership, but it is also the area with the highest density of detectors. With your current capabilities and equipment, there is at least an 80% chance that you will be detected and eliminated before you arrive."

His words were like a bucket of ice water poured on everyone's hearts.

“The final core is indeed on the mothership,” he continued, his gaze sweeping over everyone and landing directly on Su Wanqing’s face, “but only I know the safe path to it, and the exact location of the core.”

He extended a hand covered in blue energy patterns, inviting Su Wanqing to join him.

"I can guarantee that I will bring one person safely to the core location and return safely."

His tone was completely flat, as if he were stating a given fact.

"Choose me, or choose them. I can guarantee a perfect ending... but I can only take one person with me."

Lin Che immediately stepped forward, shielding Su Wanqing behind him, and pointed his weapon at "Night".

"This trick again? What makes you think we'll still trust you?"

Su Wanqing remained silent for a moment, the image of the Guardian AI showing her the failed reincarnation in the last time flashed through her mind.

She raised her head, a cold smile playing on her lips.

"I believed you last time, and what happened?" Her voice was soft, but unusually firm.

“In my previous life, I must have faced a similar choice... and I made the wrong one. This time, I will not repeat the same mistake.”

She took a step back and stood side by side with Lin Che, Lu Zhao, and Xiao Ran; this action itself was the clearest answer.

“We’ll act together,” Su Wanqing said. “It’s either coexistence or mutual destruction.”

Faced with such a rejection, a complex expression appeared on "Night's" face for the first time, a mixture of disappointment and barely perceptible admiration.

He withdrew his hand and took a few steps back.

Then, he suddenly squatted down and drew a simple map on the dusty ground with his finger.

"There is a maintenance passage on the northwest side of the mothership. It is opened for 30 seconds every 15 minutes to discharge the residual energy waves."

He pointed to a marked point on the map, "When the time is right, you can use that energy fluctuation to conceal your life signals and blend in."

Then, he moved his finger to a point in the center of the map. "The core is directly below the control room, protected by a separate time-space. It cannot be accessed by conventional methods."

Lu Zhao and the others exchanged suspicious glances, unsure if this was another trap.

After finishing drawing the map, "Night" stood up. He suddenly reached around his neck and took out a small, shimmering silver device, about the size of a fingernail, and tossed it to Lu Zhao.

"This is a jammer that can provide 45 seconds of 'invisibility' when you get close to the core."

After doing all this, he looked at Su Wanqing one last time, his tone softening for the first time, no longer displaying absolute rationality.

"Perhaps you're right this time. Choose the team, not the individual."

This is exactly the mistake you made last time—relying too much on a single solution.

As he finished speaking, his body began to blur. Before disappearing completely into the shadows of the ruins, he left behind his last words.

"I will be waiting for you on the mothership. As for whether I will be a guardian or an opponent, that will soon be revealed."