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Chapter 227 The End of the Dream
On the other side, Lin Qing ran all the way, and no access control could stop her.

Even the heavy-duty blast-proof doors that isolate the core reactor from the external area cannot withstand the cutting of molecular lines—after the dual-arm weapon system was repaired, her combat power has recovered to more than 80% of what it was in Sky City.

By the time the third current fluctuation occurred, she had successfully entered the reactor control room. Through the lead-lined glass, she could see the reactor below and the boron rod insertion mechanism suspended on the boom. Of course... there were also a few wandering white monsters.

After connecting to the operating system, Xiao Lü quickly gained the highest level of control in the control room.

Now, as long as she presses the emergency stop button, the reactor will shut down immediately.

However, Lin Qing withdrew her hand halfway through her outstretched hand.

A bold idea popped into her head.

Why not use the reactor overload to create a massive explosion? The Shadow Demon is currently lying on top of the nuclear power plant, absorbing energy. If it's just shut down, it might struggle for a long time, but if it explodes, it will definitely cause fatal damage to that thing!

"Little Green, can you melt the reactor core and create a reaction similar to an explosion?" she asked her AI assistant.

"Analysis in progress... Feasibility is over 90%, it will take 15 minutes." Xiao Lü quickly gave the conclusion, "Although this reactor has many passive safety measures, they can all be sabotaged by human intervention."

“Okay, let’s do it this way!” Lin Qing immediately made the decision.

"Understood. Now shut down the cooling water circulation pump and remove all neutron absorber rods..." Little Green began to carry out its master's orders step by step.

The alarm bells immediately blared throughout the lobby!

"Main circulating water pump stopped!"

"The power output of reactors 1, 2, and 3 is increasing too rapidly!"

At the same time, passive safety measures were not activated—because their parameter settings had all been rewritten by AI, effectively cutting off the perception of changes in the external environment.

As for the method of actively shutting down the machine, Lin Qing would never touch it.

Through the camera, she saw a brilliant blue light emanating from the heavy water tank containing the reaction rods, proof that the reaction was rapidly intensifying.

"Warning: Power consumption has exceeded the limit!"

"Warning: Reactor at risk of meltdown!"

A series of red warning messages filled the large screen in the control room.

"Estimated explosion time: eleven minutes," Xiao Lü calculated.

Lin Qing nodded in satisfaction. "Perfect, we should head out now."

"Don't move! What are you doing?!" A sharp shout suddenly came from behind, the voice filled with fear and anger.

Lin Qing was taken aback.

She slowly turned her head and found that the other person was actually a young man wearing a dark gray uniform and a name tag hanging on his chest.

Why would someone suddenly appear at this time?

Moreover, he was gripping a gun tightly in his hand, with the muzzle pointed directly at him.

"Who are you?" she asked with a grin.

“Of course I work here! And who are you? Why are you sabotaging the nuclear power plant!” the young man said as he approached. “Now take two steps to the right, away from the control panel, and don’t touch any of the switches on it!”

Lin Qing noticed that his gaze kept drifting towards the emergency brake button, probably trying to prevent the overload from happening.

She clearly wasn't going to let them have their way.

“You know nothing about what’s going on outside.” Instead of moving aside, she walked towards the employee. “Listen to me—” Bang!
The gunshot interrupted Lin Qing's explanation.

A wisp of smoke rose from her shoulder.

He actually fired. Lin Qing was somewhat surprised as she reached for her right shoulder and pulled the flattened bullet from the cracked skin—this small-caliber ammunition couldn't penetrate subcutaneous armor and cause her any harm. However, the decisiveness the other person displayed still impressed her. Judging from his attire, he wasn't a security personnel, yet he fired immediately after the warning failed; not everyone has that kind of resolve.

Lin Qing sighed helplessly; it seemed unlikely that she could persuade this person with reason. She flicked a folding knife from her wrist and smiled slightly at him, saying, "Don't worry, you won't feel any pain."

After saying that, she rushed towards the young man with lightning speed. He reacted quickly, pulling the trigger repeatedly, but Lin Qing skillfully dodged all the bullets. Then she clenched her fist and swung the long knife straight into his forehead, exiting from the back of his head, severing his central nervous system in the blink of an eye.

The young man fell to the ground like a stone.

“Strange situation.” Lin Qing turned him over, took off his name tag, and saw the words “Zheng Yuhang” written on it, along with his position: On-site Operator.

"The human brain is a chaotic system, so dreams will undergo inexplicable changes before collapsing," Xiao Lü calmly reminded. "The estimated time for the explosion is eight minutes."

Lin Qing shrugged, tossed down her employee badge, and said, "Okay, I'm leaving now."

Anyway, Liu Shuyue also said that no one can truly die in a dream. The shadow demon will only threaten the host, and everything else is just an illusion.

Returning to the lobby via the same route, Lin Qing found it teeming with monsters. Meanwhile, dense gunfire could be heard outside the building, interspersed with various screams from the crowd.

How come the world seems to have become much more lively in just a quarter of an hour?
Using her imperfect optical camouflage and mantis knife, she fought her way out of the monster encirclement, only to find a team of about a hundred people on the nuclear power plant's parking lot! Guarding the outermost perimeter of the team were well-trained soldiers who used a barrage of bullets to separate the monsters from the crowd.

Chen Xuan, Gu Zhaoning, and Su Xingwan were also among them!

It seems she wasn't the only one who encountered an unexpected situation.

Taking advantage of her optical camouflage and the cover of night, Lin Qing brazenly blended into the crowd from the front of the group. Even though her dress couldn't disappear along with it, the black fabric provided excellent concealment at night, and with the scene in such chaos, no one noticed that a set of clothes had simply floated over.

Once inside the crowd, she immediately deactivated her invisibility and squeezed her way to Chen Xuan's side as quickly as possible. "I'm back! What's going on here? Why is there suddenly such a large group of refugees?"

Chen Xuan was also startled when he saw Lin Qing. "It's a long story. After the main hall couldn't be defended, I went to the underground parking garage with them. But shortly after we arrived, an evacuation notice came over the loudspeaker, saying that the nuclear reactor was out of control. Didn't you shut down the power generation system?"

“I’ve changed my mind,” she explained her plan. “This might end the nightmare faster.”

"I thought so," Chen Xuan agreed after hearing the explanation. "How much longer until the explosion?"

"five……"

"five minutes?"

"Four, three, two..." Lin Qing turned her head and looked at the three square buildings not far away—those were the factory buildings housing the reactor. "They're here!"

As if in response to her countdown, a deafening explosion swept across the crowd from afar, instantly silencing all the noise!
Chen Xuan felt a buzzing sound in his ears, and then he couldn't hear anything anymore.

The factory roof was completely ripped open, and a large amount of white steam burst out from inside, along with the protective dome that could no longer withstand the high pressure! This was a man-made explosion, so it was faster and more violent than any leak accident. As fresh air rushed in, it immediately triggered a second explosion!
This time, bright little suns rose above all three factory buildings, illuminating the entire power plant as if it were daytime. These were fireballs formed by the ignition of a large amount of hydrogen produced from the reaction of high-temperature steam and zirconium alloy; their power was enough to destroy the entire factory. However, due to the structure of the protective shell, the surging energy was prioritized to be ejected upwards. This design was originally intended to protect the factory facilities, but at this moment, they became cannons firing at the Shadow Demon!

The scorching flames and shattered building jets shot straight into the demon's abdomen, with an effect no less than that of the Demon-Slaying Sword, instantly tearing three huge gashes open in the shadow demon's belly!

The latter finally let out a hissing scream.

It tried to move, but its slender eight legs were too weak—it had perhaps absorbed too much nutrition and become too large to easily escape from above the nuclear power plant. The spiderweb-like high-voltage power lines also pulled it tightly, making it unable to move.

As the nuclear power plant failed, high-voltage towers began to emit large amounts of electrical sparks, and the factory lights, streetlights, and distant skyscrapers went out one after another, plunging the city into darkness. The night made it impossible to see anything.

Above the power station, three eerie blue beams of light appeared, piercing through the demon's body and shooting straight into the dark sky, as if they were roads leading to the underworld.

(End of this chapter)