Ling Cage: Enhanced Nanosteel Suit at the Start

Page 131

[Warning, warning, highest priority alert: Abnormal energy activation detected in the underground nuclear arsenal. 15 tactical nuclear warheads, approximately 50 kilotons of TNT equivalent, have been deactivated. Detonation command confirmed. Mechanical City Lord's life signal terminated. Countdown: 10 seconds.]

The urgent alarm from the Loongson chip sent Chen Yuan and his companion into a chilling abyss, as if they had been hit by hail.

"what?"

Charles's maniacal laughter froze on his face, transforming into extreme horror. He could feel the biosensors inside the Abyss Armor screaming wildly—the most primal tremor that only arises when facing extreme danger.

"Loongson, download all core data at the fastest speed, with the highest priority, mark the specific coordinates of all nuclear warheads, and calculate the best evacuation route."

His voice remained calm, but his speech was extremely fast. He began to float, flying up and using lasers to break open the collapsed passage.

[Data download accelerated, overload computation 87%... 92%... 99%, download complete... Coordinates marked, route planned, optimal path vertically upwards, breaking through the mountaintop structure, estimated complete escape from the explosion's epicenter in approximately 7 seconds, countdown to explosion: 7...]

"The passage has been blasted open, let's go!"

Chen Yuan roared, and the six mechanical wings on his back instantly went into full power, bursting out an unprecedented stream of dark blue particles. He shot towards the metal dome above his head like a rocket.

Charles remained silent. The crimson energy conduits on the back of the Abyss Armor burned brightly, and jets from the soles of his feet and back spewed out streams of particles interwoven with dark blue and blood red, closely following Chen Yuan.

"A madman, a fucking madman!"

As he desperately accelerated, he couldn't help but curse the mechanical city lord who had been reduced to fragments.

"Boom! Boom!"

Without holding back, the two smashed through layers of reinforced metal ceilings and rock structures, frantically pushing upwards along the weakest and most direct route calculated by Longxin.

Rock fragments and metal shards rained down on them, but were deflected by powerful energy shields.

The alarm sounded like a death knell:

【4】

【3】

"Quick, faster!"

Like two shooting stars shooting in reverse, the two finally burst out of Iron Anvil Mountain, but they did not stop at all and continued to fly at their limit in a direction away from Iron Anvil Mountain.

They increased their speed to an astonishing level, but Charles, the Abyss Walker, was already lagging behind; it was visibly impossible for him to keep up with Chen Yuan's mech.

【2】

【1】

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

Immediately afterwards, an indescribably intense beam of light burst forth from inside the Iron Anvil Mountain.

Suddenly, the sky brightened, as if a second sun had been born from the earth, instantly engulfing everything around it.

After the intense light came the deafening roar of destruction.

It wasn't just one sound, but more than a dozen sounds stacked together, instantly forming a deafening roar that shook the heavens and the earth.

The exceptionally solid rock of Iron Anvil Mountain shattered from within, and a gigantic mushroom cloud, billowing with flames and thick smoke, slowly rose and expanded, resembling a pillar of death connecting heaven and earth.

The shockwave spread wildly in all directions at supersonic speed, tearing up the ground layer by layer and instantly vaporizing trees and rocks.

Even though Charles had already flown quite a distance, he was still caught up by the terrifying shockwave.

"boom!"

Charles was propelled forward like a leaf in a storm, then glided to the ground.

High in the sky, Chen Yuan barely managed to steady himself and looked back.

There was no more Iron Anvil Mountain there, no more Mechanical City.

All that remained was a colossal, bottomless, charred sinkhole, and a mushroom cloud and dust cloud that continued to rise and obscure the sky.

In the core area of ​​the explosion, everything was reduced to plasma and the most basic dust.

Intense electromagnetic pulses and radiation storms swept across the entire area and lingered for a long time.

"madman!"

Charles, standing on the edge of the abyss, looked at the scene of destruction and muttered to himself. This time, he truly felt a lingering fear.

He had no doubt that if it were a few seconds later, they would have already vanished completely, just like the Mechanical City.

Chen Yuan silently watched the spreading mushroom cloud. Loongson was reporting the data damage and radiation level, but he didn't seem to care much.

Fortunately, some data from the core of the Mechanical City had already been downloaded, so at least we didn't end up with nothing.

“Return to the lighthouse.”

Chen Yuan withdrew his gaze, turned and flew towards the lighthouse, no longer glancing at the scene of destruction behind him.

Charles took one last look at the enormous sinkhole and urged the battered and bruised Abyss Walker to follow.

In the sky, only two trails gradually receded into the distance, and behind them, a huge mushroom cloud that seemed to devour everything, became the final tombstone of this tragic battle.

……

Back to the lighthouse.

Chen Yuan immediately had Loongson display the downloaded data.

"Large amount of encrypted data discovered... Cracking in progress... Text log file discovered..."

Soon, some fragmented text, images, and data were sorted out by Loongson and projected onto Chen Yuan's mask display screen.

Looking at these dusty records, Chen Yuan's expression became somewhat complicated.

Records show that the core members and technological roots of the Mechanical City can be traced back to the old world era, to that grand lunar colonization project.

At that time, due to technological limitations, resource scarcity, and the sudden acceleration of the disaster, transportation capacity became extremely precious and it was impossible to take everyone with us.

Thus, cold selection criteria were established.

Those deemed less valuable, insufficiently contributing, too old, or too young, along with a group of die-hards who resolutely refused to leave their homeland, were ultimately abandoned on Earth.

These people were the original seeds of the Mechanical City.

These abandoned people harbored resentment towards the lunar settlers and despair for their fate.

They took refuge in the underground shelters (the predecessor of Iron Anvil Mountain) that had been prepared in advance to deal with the worst-case scenario, and with the remaining industrial base and their tenacious will to survive, they struggled to continue their civilization.

Chapter 181 The Gaze in the Shadows

As time went on, the living environment deteriorated, coupled with the desire for power and the frustration of their own disabilities, resulting in a group of people being disabled.

Perhaps due to their abandoned and biased perceptions, they embarked on an extreme path of development: to abandon the fragile flesh and blood and embrace the eternal machine.

The low-level artificial intelligence was developed during that period and was responsible for managing the base's operations and defense. However, its intelligence level could never break through a certain bottleneck, making it appear rigid and stubborn, only able to operate according to the program.

Some people hate the lucky ones who escaped to the moon, and they also despise all non-mechanical life forms on Earth.

So they confined themselves within steel fortresses, constantly "evolving" into becoming extreme, ruthless, and xenophobic, ultimately forming the mechanical city we know today.

This is why the forces on the ground call the people of Machine City madmen.

"Tsk tsk tsk, so they were just a bunch of pathetic wretches who were abandoned, and ended up turning into madmen and monsters..."

When the information was made public, Charles laughed heartily, but his tone carried a subtle, complex emotion.

He himself was, in a sense, a fanatic.

Chen Yuan looked at the records and remained silent for a long time.

This buried history explains the origins of the Mechanical City's technology and the roots of its madness.

This is not only the tragedy of the enemy, but also a trace left by the tragedy of an era, a corner of history.

……

Underground, in a large base, in a highly technologically advanced, concealed monitoring room.

Shortly after Chen Yuan and Charles destroyed the Mechanical City, the holographic screen in this monitoring room displayed massive amounts of data, satellite images, energy readings, and clear monitoring footage.

The technological level here is clearly far superior to that of the Lighthouse, and even several levels higher than that of the Mechanical City.

Several figures dressed in gray-white uniforms stood in front of the main screen. Their faces were blurred, as if they were wearing some kind of optical jamming device, but the energy fluctuations emanating from their bodies were calm and profound, far exceeding those of ordinary awakened beings.

This is one of the monitoring nodes of the Gray forces.

On the main screen, an enhanced video was playing repeatedly: a dark blue figure moved through a hail of bullets at incredible speed, easily destroying the mechanical city's defenses.

The other armor, in red and black, displayed ferocious destructive power.

At last……

It is the terrifying scene of Tiezhen Mountain being reduced to nothing in a devastating nuclear explosion.

An audio clip was amplified and played, revealing Chen Yuan's cold voice, processed by the Dragon Core: "...You sound more like a Devouring Beast."

There was silence for a moment.

A high-ranking official stated: "Iron Anvil Mountain has been confirmed destroyed. Energy release level: Late Monarch level. The target individual, Chen Yuan, and his subordinate combat force, the Abyss Walkers, demonstrated extremely high overall combat power in this operation. Threat level upgraded to: Monarch level hazard."

Another, slightly aged but dignified voice slowly spoke: "The Lighthouse... that aerial prison that clings to life with its outdated code and pitiful anti-gravity core? I remember there weren't even any decent Awakened beings there, just a bunch of lambs waiting for death under the constraints of the rules. When... did such a change occur?"

Upon hearing this, the data analyst pulled up an old database about the lighthouse, which showed a dilapidated dome, old-fashioned firearms, and regulations distinguishing between the common people and the upper class.

"Data shows that this happened several months ago. A power shift occurred in the Lighthouse before that. The former city lord Morgan is suspected to be dead, the former city defense commander Victor was killed by the Sea-Land Alliance, and Charles was defeated and submitted. The center of all the changes points to this suddenly appearing Chen Yuan."

"Have you found out his background?" the old man asked in a deep voice.

"I've tried it."

The data analyst's voice carried a hint of frustration, "We used the Deep Web system to trace back, but it was all blank. It's like he... appeared out of thin air, with no past records, no matching biometrics, and no known background. He's like a ghost that crawled out of a time rift. I even suspect he might be related to the Moon Shield legacy, but there's no evidence to prove it."

The screen switched to a close-up of Chen Yuan's Dragon Core 9 suit, taken from a distance and somewhat blurry. "Its equipment technology system is unclassifiable. It is not the style of Mechanical City, nor is it the biotechnology of the Sea-Land Alliance, nor is it any school of thought known to us. Its energy source is unknown, as are its materials science. Its artificial intelligence-assisted system, which he calls Dragon Core, has extremely strong computing power and intrusion capabilities. Mechanical City's low-level AI is powerless against it."

Another voice joined in, its tone brimming with interest: "It's worth noting his behavior pattern: madness, decisiveness, ruthlessness, and immense power without mindless destruction. He initially integrated the Beacon, eliminated internal threats, and launched external counterattacks... He even had the ability to destroy a tough nut like the Mechanical City. This doesn't seem like a lucky guy who suddenly gained power; it's more like a... ruler."

The elderly man's fingers tapped unconsciously on the control panel: "An entity of unknown origin, possessing unknown advanced technology and monarch-level combat power, and rapidly integrating the legacy of the old era's beacon, is no longer harmless dust. It will affect our plans."

The data analyst added, "The value of the lighthouse needs to be reassessed. It is no longer an isolated prison, but has become a potential strategic pivot and a nest of uncertainty."

"Chen Yuan's next move is crucial. Will he be content to hold onto the beacon or... continue to expand?"

The focus on the holographic screen was locked on Chen Yuan's blurry figure.

"Keep a close eye on his every move, and inform the family so that the highest levels can make a decision!"