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Chapter 263: Moving Forward Together
The moment the elevator doors opened, a barrage of bullets rained down like a downpour, covering the entire car!

Sparks flew everywhere, and the clanging and clashing sounds were incessant. The elevator, which was intact just a second ago, was riddled with holes in the blink of an eye.

The ones firing were a group of lifelike robots.

They completely blocked the elevator shaft, showing no intention of avoiding enemy attacks whatsoever.

For mature industrial products, the loss of a few items is just a matter of money.

The smoke cleared, and the sedan chair was empty.

"The target has disappeared."

"Conduct further search."

Silent communication is transmitted between robots.

Chen Xuan and Liu Li hadn't disappeared; they had simply cut through the elevator ceiling and climbed onto the top of the car. The moment the bullets stopped, Chen Xuan used his two Thousand Thoughts Swords to sever the suspension cables and the locking mechanism connecting the car to the rails. The elevator immediately began to plummet, revealing the already damaged elevator doors.

With a simple upside-down motion, Liuli swung out of the doorway.

The robot reacted quickly; the moment her head and body emerged from the hole, all the gun barrels were raised and aimed at her. But as the robot fired, the other four Thousand Thoughts Swords formed a transparent shield, standing between her and the enemy. It takes about 0.2 seconds for Liuli to draw her sword, and Chen Xuan bought her that time.

Long sword drawn—

The blade flashed, cleaving through the entire Thousand Thoughts Sword, sweeping outwards like a tidal wave. Not only the robots blocking the doorway, but also the corridor walls and the armed robots queuing behind them were all shredded to pieces!
Liuli sheathed her sword, leaving only a writhing pile of wreckage before her.

"Well done." Chen Xuan jumped down as well, looking approvingly at the elevator lobby covered in sharp sword marks. He knew Liu Li was strong, but he hadn't expected her abilities to be so suitable for clearing out mobs. Her sword swing was actually divided into two parts: the appearance of thin lines and the thin lines appearing in reality, cutting everything. There was a very small gap between the two; by the time the long sword had completely fallen and the thin lines had already appeared on her body, any attempt to dodge was futile, somewhat like tearing through space itself.

In other words, if you can't see that thin, spider-like white line, you don't even have the right to stand in front of Liuli.

No matter how many people come below this dividing line, it's just a matter of one cut.

If Chen Xuan were to deal with so many robots on his own, winning wouldn't be difficult, but it would probably take several times longer.

Narrowing the search area down to the same level, he was able to pinpoint the demon's location without Ji Yun's prompting; it was less than a hundred meters away, separated by about five or six layers of walls.

At that moment, a second wave of enemies rushed over—Chen Xuan sensed them even before they showed themselves. Their lights were dim, unlike the concentrated lights of humans, which matched the characteristics of demons, and their intensity was similar to the puppets he had seen in the Five Rings Machinery Factory.

“Someone is on their way here,” Liuli said, pulling her hood down.

"Okay, I'll take care of this one," Chen Xuan replied in a deep voice.

Just as he had predicted, the first enemy to rush into view from the corridor was indeed a monster dressed in a business suit, looking quite respectable, but with a head resembling a praying mantis and hands clasped together like scythes. They were all victims whose souls had been stolen, now reduced to the minions of demons, no longer possessing their own will.

The good thing is that they are all henchmen.

If demons can be considered specific enemies by the Seeds of Flesh, then their minions naturally fall into the same category.

Having already changed his abilities, Chen Xuan reached out his hand directly to the mutated monster—

Pyrolysis and remelting!

……

Lin Qing took the elevator to the second basement level and located the core computer room based on the direction of data flow.

This isn't the first time she's done something like this.

The core computer room typically manages the security equipment and electronic systems of the entire building. The higher the level of informatization, the stronger the security measures here. In a sense, the places where senior leaders often stay upstairs are just lavishly decorated; the most dangerous place is actually the computer room area.

Previously, such missions involving attacks on the core area were handled by an entire squad of at least ten people, equipped with specialized hacking devices to counter the anti-intrusion system comprised of supercomputers. Clearly, Xiao Lü's computing power alone couldn't compete with a proper supercomputer. She traversed several corridors, arriving at the entrance to the restricted area, and immediately stopped. There wasn't even a single guard at the door. The reason was simple: taking another step inside would expose her to countless traps and defensive firepower; even if she died, the company wouldn't bear any legal responsibility.

"You do not have access. Please leave immediately, or you will be responsible for the consequences," a female synthesized voice above your head repeatedly warned.

Lin Qing removed the key panel from the side of the door and pulled out the data cable from her palm to connect it.

The information protection level here is clearly two levels higher than that of the elevator. After trying for a while, Xiao Lü gave the time to crack it: 351 days.

"That's normal," Lin Qing shrugged. The technology here isn't even as good as the Security Agency's... If she had hacked into one of the agency's main companies, she'd probably already been counterattacked by their garrisoned hackers. Following the cable further in, she could "see" that all the automatic turrets and laser devices behind the door were activated. Those turrets were all over 30mm in caliber, their firepower was on a completely different level from individual weapons; even with her military-grade submersible armor, she wouldn't dare to charge through the barrage.

"It's up to you now." Lin Qing took out the N959 from her bosom, the circuit board that Liuli had given her, and connected it to the key panel.

A strange feeling suddenly welled up in her heart.

It felt like something had crawled in.

Xiao Lü's voice changed as well, "Deploy?"

“Deploy it,” Lin Qing replied without hesitation. “Turn it into your repair shop.”

As soon as the words were spoken, a large burst of sparks erupted from the door panel!
The synthesized voice seemed to be interfered with, "Buzz... You do not... have access permission... Buzz... Unknown data stream detected... Buzz— The supporting equipment is not bad, it even has a speaker. Hmm... It feels so good to regain consciousness!"

Finally, the woman's voice transformed into that of a boy in his early teens.

Lin Qing knew that it was N959.

Now it has a "voice", "eyes", and "touch".

"However, there aren't many tools available for repairs, so it will take some time to modify them," it added.

"Do as you please. You saw those weapons, right? They can be used for modifications," Lin Qing said. "And could you also help me clear the road leading to the core server room?"

"Why should I help you?" N959 retorted. "Can't you see? I'm free now. No one can restrain me anymore!"

After saying that, the control panel suddenly closed, "swallowing" the circuit board inside.

"Were you trying to force me to submit by holding a gun to my head? Too late! This building is good; it will become my body, and you are nothing but an impurity within it!"

Lin Qing sighed and turned on her phone's recording function. A message from Liu Li came through: "You must listen to Miss Lin, understand? Otherwise, I'll personally come and tear you to pieces."

N959's momentum suddenly plummeted. "Impossible! You're lying to me! Why would N21 speak up for you?"

"You should be able to tell whether I'm lying or not." Lin Qing clicked on the second message without any reaction, which was still from Liuli: "By the way, N5 is here too. Even if I didn't come, he wouldn't let you off the hook."

The loudspeaker fell silent.

A moment later, the control panel reopened, and the N959 was ejected and returned to her. "I'm sorry, I was just joking earlier. I hope you don't mind. Would you like to go to the core server room? I'll open the door for you right away."

Then the automatic doors in the restricted area opened one by one, revealing a passageway with green lights all the way through.

"It's really effective," Lin Qing thought to herself. Liu Li was right after all. There is a hierarchy among Oddities, just like how she had to serve her mother, Lucy, before. Although this suppression effect is not absolute—for example, most Oddities will assess the situation like humans—the combined pressure from N21 and N5 makes the currently weak and vulnerable N959 utterly incapable of resisting.

"Thanks." Lin Qing waved and walked into the passage.

"You're welcome," N959 replied respectfully. "Have a safe journey."

(End of this chapter)