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Chapter 273 The Sound Wave Controller "Melody"

The woman in the white dress took another step forward. Her singing voice was like a fine needle, piercing directly into Su Wanqing's temple.

The sound didn't ring in my ears, it rang in my brain, each note carrying a dull ache.

"The Time Watchers foresaw your arrival long ago; what a futile resistance."

When the woman spoke, her lips were stretched wide, but her dark eyes were devoid of any light.

Su Wanqing's fingers had just touched the earphone cord when the woman gently shook her head: "It's useless. My voice doesn't need to go through your ears; it directly affects your brains."

Lin Che suddenly let out a muffled roar. His scales had climbed up to his chin, and his Adam's apple bobbed beneath them: "You are not the Weaver."

“Of course not.” The woman laughed. “The Time Observer and the Weaver are only temporary partners; we each have our own goals.”

She turned to Lin Che, her white dress brushing against the metal railing by the pool. "Especially you, you've already begun to transform, yet you're still resisting. What a fascinating specimen—a fusion of the Weaver's abilities and the preservation of human consciousness."

Lin Che's nails dug deeply into his palms, blood seeping from the gaps in the blue scales: "What...do you...want to...activate?"

“It’s not opening, it’s closing.” The woman tilted her head. “Some possibilities that shouldn’t exist.”

Cold sweat beaded on Xiao Ran's forehead. His right hand rested on the switch of the stun glove, his fingers trembling as if they were cramping.

This was the third time he had tried to press the switch—the first two times the singing had overwhelmed him so much that he couldn't lift his arm.

“An impressive willpower, but that’s all.” The woman glanced at him, and her singing suddenly rose in pitch.

Xiao Ran felt as if a millstone was pressing down on his head, causing his knees to bend straight down.

He gritted his teeth, tasting the blood and rust. His soldier's instincts screamed in his mind: He couldn't fall, he couldn't let his teammates be exposed.

Su Wanqing reached for the earplugs in her tactical bag. She quietly pushed the earplugs to Xiao Ran, and when her fingertips brushed against the back of his hand, she felt a fine layer of cold sweat.

Xiao Ran's finger finally touched the switch, and with a soft "click," a pale blue electric arc rose on the surface of the glove.

"Lu Zhao, Xiao Ling, where are you?" Su Wanqing asked softly into her earpiece.

“Twenty meters to go.” Lu Zhao’s voice was panting. “We’ve brought jammers. She’s using ultrasound to directly stimulate the temporal lobe of the brain.”

Xiaoling's voice chimed in: "Brother Lu, my blood is useful for the Weaver's technique, so maybe it will be useful for her too."

The door to the processing center was kicked open. Lu Zhao rushed in carrying a silver jammer, with Xiao Ling following behind him, clutching a blood collection needle.

"Frequency 21700 Hz!" Lu Zhao shouted, pressing the jammer switch.

The sharp buzzing sound mingled with the woman's singing, like two strings twisted together.

Su Wanqing's temples suddenly felt a little better, and she quickly distributed the earplugs to Xiao Ran and Lin Che.

“Interesting equipment.” The woman’s dark eyes narrowed. Her singing suddenly changed pitch, like fingernails scraping a blackboard, and the jammer’s buzzing subsided.

"She's adapting to the frequency!" Sweat beaded on Lu Zhao's forehead. "The parameters are changing, quick—"

Xiaoling pricked her fingertip with the lancet. As soon as the blood bead appeared, she pressed it against the amplifier port of the jammer.

Silver liquid seeped from her wound, creeping along the metal grooves into the machine.

The jammer buzzed, and the sound waves it emitted turned silvery-white, like a thin blade of light slashing straight at the woman.

"Impossible!" The woman covered her ears and staggered back, the hem of her white dress sweeping over the equipment next to her.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lin Che lunged towards the pool and plunged his hands into the blue liquid.

Blue ripples spread from his palm. The water in the pool began to clear, as if its color had been drained away.

Lin Che's scales crawled wildly up his neck, and the veins on his forehead bulged like earthworms.

"The source of pollution has been neutralized." Lin Che stood up unsteadily, but collapsed to the ground before he could finish speaking.

The woman's figure began to fade. Leaning against the wall, she sneered, "You think this can stop evolution? Naïve! The seeds of the Weaver have been sown, and the future seen by the Time Observer—extinction and rebirth are the only paths."

The light and shadow flickered, and she disappeared.

"Xiao Ling!" Xiao Ran suddenly shouted.

A beam of light shot out from where the woman had disappeared, aiming straight for Xiaoling's heart.

A red light flashed in Xiao Ran's pupils. He pounced like an enraged leopard, shoving Xiao Ling into the pile of instruments next to him.

The blade grazed his back, tearing the fabric and causing blood to seep out immediately.

"Are you alright?" Xiaoling asked, her voice trembling as she crawled out from among the instruments.

Xiao Ran leaned against the wall and stood up, blood still seeping from the wound on his back: "I'm fine."

His voice was terribly hoarse.

Lu Zhao took out a medical kit: "Let me see." He lifted Xiao Ran's tactical uniform, and the edges of the wound glowed with a faint red light, healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

“You never mentioned you had this ability before.” Lu Zhao paused, his hand holding the cotton swab.

Xiao Ran looked down at his wound and remained silent for a while: "During the military's experiments, they injected something into my body. It happens occasionally, especially... especially when I'm nervous."

Su Wanqing knelt down to check Lin Che's pulse. His scales were still there, but his breathing had become more stable.

She looked up at Xiao Ran: "The system may have chosen us not just because of our combat strength."

Xiao Ran didn't speak, staring at the back of his bleeding hand. Blood beads fell to the ground, gleaming faintly red under the light.

When the water plant's alarm blared, Su Wanqing's earplugs were still hanging on her earlobes.

She unzipped the tactical bag and stuffed the last two tubes of samples into Lu Zhao's arms: "Let's go."

Xiao Ran had already bent down and carried Lin Che on his back. Lin Che's blue scales brushed against the shoulder straps of his tactical uniform, making a soft scraping sound.

Su Wanqing glanced at the ventilation opening in the corner of the wall—the route they had taken, now brightly illuminated by the searchlight.

“The helicopter has circled the perimeter three times,” Xiaoling whispered, her fingertips pressing against her earpiece. “Lu Zhao checked; the military sealed off the water plant’s perimeter half an hour ago.”

"Go back to the parking spot the same way you came." Su Wanqing switched the stun glove to the always-on position. "Quickly."

The five people crouched low as they made their way through the maintenance passage. The metal stairs rattled under their feet. Su Wanqing counted her steps, and just as she stepped firmly on the seventh step, Xiao Ran suddenly stopped.

"The tires," his voice muffled in Lin Che's hair, "are all slashed."

The four tires of the SUV lay flat on the ground, the rubber cuts as neat as if they had been laser-cut.

Su Wanqing pulled up the city map and tapped the marker for the abandoned subway station in the South District with her thumb: "Let's walk instead, take the underground passage."

Xiao Ran adjusted Lin Che's posture; Lin Che's forehead was burning hot.

"Body temperature 39.7," he said. "The scales have reached the collarbone."

Lu Zhao took out the vital signs monitor. The brain waves on the screen looked like lines tangled in the wind: "The mutation is accelerating, but the peak value of the consciousness wave has not decreased."

He stuffed the equipment back into his bag. "Let's go."

As they exited the water plant's perimeter wall, the white light of the searchlight swept across the back of Xiaoling's neck.

Su Wanqing counted her breaths, and only lowered her voice after the beam of light had turned away: "Stay close."

The streets of the residential area resembled a ransacked warehouse. Abandoned suitcases lay open, and children's backpacks rolled under streetlights, half-empty fairy tale books spilling out.

Light flickered through the second-floor windows, and someone shouted, "Put the bankbook at the bottom of the box!" The loudspeaker in the square yelled, "Uninfected individuals, board the bus in order; those who refuse testing will be transferred to the observation area!"

Su Wanqing crouched behind the trash can, while soldiers through binoculars scanned the wrists of the queuing crowd with a scanner.

"The one in the plaid shirt," Xiaoling pointed, "his wife is wiping away tears."

The man in the plaid shirt was dragged out of the ranks by soldiers; he had a black spot the size of a coin on his left arm.

His wife lunged at the soldier's holster, but was pushed by another soldier and crashed into the guardrail.

The two children clung to her legs and cried, their voices drowning out the loudspeaker.

“The observation area is to the north,” Xiao Ran said in a low voice. “I went there on patrol last week. There’s a wasteland behind the iron gate.”

Su Wanqing put the binoculars back into her bag: "Go around to the back alley."

Piles of stinking garbage bags lay against the wall of the alley. Xiao Ran's tactical boots kicked an empty wine bottle with a clang.

Everyone stopped and waited until they were sure no footsteps were following before continuing forward.

Lin Che suddenly convulsed. Xiao Ran almost couldn't catch him. Lin Che's blue scales brushed against the back of his hand, leaving a red mark.

"There's something here." Lin Che's eyes lit up with blue. "Infected person. Nearby."

Before the words were finished, three dark figures crawled out from behind the garbage heap. Their skin was covered with black lines, their fingernails were as long as eagle claws, and they made a sound like rusty gears coming from their throats.

"Don't confront them head-on." Su Wanqing grabbed Xiaoling and ran towards the alley entrance, "Let's go around to the next street!"

As I turned the corner, three military vehicles were parked in the middle of the road. Three soldiers were escorting an infected person who was handcuffed; the infected person's black markings had spread to his face, and black blood was dripping from the corner of his mouth.

"Hide." Lu Zhao pointed to the abandoned restaurant by the roadside.

There was a loose plank on the kitchen floor. Lu Zhao squatted down and lifted it, revealing a musty-smelling drain: "It leads to the subway."

The water in the pipes was ankle-deep, mixed with rotten vegetable leaves and broken glass.

Xiao Ran walked at the front with his back hunched over, Lin Che's head drooping on his shoulder, occasionally raising his arm and pointing his fingertips in a certain direction.

"Turn left," Xiao Ran said. "Lin Che's hand is pointing to the left."

Xiaoling leaned closer to look, and sure enough, Lin Che's arm was slightly raised, like an unconscious pointer.

“He’s leading the way,” she said, her voice hitting the damp pipe wall.

After walking for nearly an hour, a rusty iron ladder appeared at the end of the pipe.

Xiao Ran climbed up first and reached out to help Lin Che up. Large chunks of plaster had peeled off the walls of the maintenance passage, exposing the steel bars underneath.

Lu Zhao put down the sample pack and took out a medical kit. Lin Che's scales had already covered his neck, and were a dark blue.

“The DNA recombination rate is 47%,” he said, “but the consciousness waves still follow the human pattern.”

Xiaoling sat down next to Lin Che. Suddenly, the silver liquid on her wrist began to flow, creeping up her veins to her fingertips.

She tentatively pressed her hand on Lin Che's forehead, and the silver liquid seemed to come alive as it seeped into his skin.

Lin Che's brows relaxed. The readings on the monitor began to drop, and the blue light from the scales became less glaring.

“Your blood is neutralizing the mutant factors.” Lu Zhao stared at the screen. “It’s the same situation as the water plant before.”

Xiao Ling didn't speak, staring at her wrist. Lin Che suddenly opened his eyes and grabbed Su Wanqing's hand: "The Weavers. The Time Observers. They're going to open a time portal."

Before he could finish speaking, he fainted again. Su Wanqing's jade bracelet was burning hot on her wrist, and the alarm sounded as faint as a mosquito's buzz.

"The fortress is still two hours away." Lu Zhao helped Lin Che up. "The subway tunnel is relatively safe, but..."

"Let's go." Su Wanqing interrupted him, took out a tactical flashlight and shone it into the depths of the tunnel. "We must get back before the Jade Bracelet alarm ends."

The subway station's iron stairs were badly rusted, and as Xiao Ran carried Lin Che up, metal scraps fell down in a flurry.

Su Wanqing walked at the back, her flashlight beam sweeping across Lin Che's nape—blue scales had spread to the roots of his hair, gleaming coldly in the darkness.

"We've arrived." Xiao Ran gently placed Lin Che on the soft cushion in the medical pod, his tactical uniform soaked with sweat on the back.

Wearing rubber gloves, Dr. Zhang moved the scanner across Lin Che's body, the numbers on the screen jumping rapidly.

“The physiological structure has changed by 52%.” Dr. Zhang said in a low voice, “but the brainwaves are still in human mode. This…” He paused, “I’ve been doing virus research for ten years, and this is the first time I’ve seen this.”

Lu Zhao rushed into the medical area carrying the sample box he brought back from the water plant, the metal buckle hitting the door frame with a dull thud.

He pulled out a test tube containing blue liquid and looked at it under the overhead light: "A nanoscale biomechanical hybrid, designed specifically for rewriting DNA."

He opened the tablet, and a microscopic image was projected onto the wall: "It can survive in water for 72 hours, enter the human body through drinking water, and slowly change the cell structure."

Su Wanqing stared at Lin Che in the monitoring pod. His eyelashes fluttered occasionally, like blades of grass swaying in the wind.

“What about systems analysis?” she asked.

Lu Zhao swiped the tablet and brought up the city's heat map: "1.7% of the population has been exposed to pollutants, approximately 17."

His Adam's apple bobbed. "Even if we cut off the water supply now, these people..."

“We need to find a complete solution.” Su Wanqing interrupted him, her fingertips pressed against her temples. “Simply relieving the symptoms won’t work.”

Dr. Zhang removed his gloves and tapped the monitoring pod with his knuckles: "Using Lin Che's mutation to study defense mechanisms? His body is actively preserving consciousness; this is a live sample." Lu Zhao inserted the test tube back into the ice box: "It will take time."

In the command center at dusk, the monitor screens flashed red. To the east, at the vegetable market, someone had lifted the barriers, and soldiers in camouflage were pushing them in with shields; to the south, at the supermarket entrance, half-burnt cardboard boxes were piled up, and several children huddled in a corner eating cold steamed buns.

“The military is moving quickly.” Lu Zhao pulled up the new data. “They may have discovered the water plant issue. I estimate the timeline for the scorched earth policy will be brought forward.”

The system suddenly beeped. Su Wanqing pressed the control panel, and the energy reading popped up—a red bar graph, sharp as needles, that stung the eyes.

“This is no ordinary event,” she swiped the screen. “It’s like a large device charging up.”

Lu Zhao leaned closer to examine the curve: "At this rate, it will reach the critical point in 36 hours."

Su Wanqing pulled up the underground structure map and pointed the laser pointer at the old industrial area below: "The energy source is here, 300 meters deep."

Abandoned mines and old air-raid shelters are perfect for hiding things. She thought of the woman in the white dress at the waterworks talking about "sowing seeds," and her throat tightened.

At two in the morning, the alarm in the medical area blared shrilly. When Su Wanqing rushed into the ward, Lin Che was trembling, clutching the bed sheet. The edges of his blue scales were turning purple, as if they were about to burst into flames.

“Weaver. Time Observer.” Lin Che’s voice was like sandpaper grinding metal. “There’s an agreement.”

His eyes rolled upwards, blue spots floating in the whites. "The Weavers modify organisms, the Time Observers control time nodes—they're operating underground."

"What are you opening?" Su Wanqing grabbed his wrist; the jade bracelet was burning hot.

"The door!" Lin Che's fingers suddenly tightened around her hand, with astonishing force. "The path to the future. The path to the past. Water pollution is the first step. Next... time."

Before he could finish speaking, he slumped back onto the pillow. The brainwave lines on the monitor were tangled into a mess.

Lu Zhao pushed the equipment in and rushed in, attaching electrode pads to Lin Che's temples: "His brain is receiving information, like it's connected to a big network."

Xiaoling squatted by the bed, the silver liquid on her fingertips climbing up her veins.

She placed her palm on Lin Che's forehead, and the silver liquid seeped into his skin, causing the blue scales' light to slowly dim.

“I can receive regular blood transfusions,” she said softly. “We tried it at the water plant before, and it stabilized his condition.”