Chapter 179.1 – Key (22)

◎ 500 years of imprisonment. ◎

Xie Ping’s fingers trembled as he pressed down on the face mask, taking a deep breath.

The exhaled hot breath blurred the sight, and Song Ke’s figure alternated between clarity and fuzziness. In both appearance and temperament, she didn’t seem like a powerful S7 level. Song Ke had slender shoulders, a small face, and large, round eyes with a standard almond shape. Her smooth chin was tucked into the collar, and her jet-black shoulder-length hair was casually scattered, with a few mischievous strands sticking up.

She looked like an innocent girl who was unfamiliar with the ways of the world, rather than a ruthless killer who could snap an enemy’s neck with a single move.

However, she was indeed the biggest obstacle, standing in front of Zhuang Qingyan. The fingertips that had just thrown a deadly knife still emitted a chilling murderous intent.

Xie Ping took a deep breath, his tone somewhat nostalgic: “You and your father both know how to cozy up to powerful figures.”

Zhuang Qingyan’s graceful thin lips curved slightly, as if he couldn’t hear the sarcasm: “Thanks for the compliment, Uncle has a discerning eye.”

He never felt ashamed of clinging to Song Ke’s thighs; instead, he considered it an honor.

Xie Ping slowly shook his head, his sickly eyes staring at the familiar face in front of him: “It’s a pity that even if you cozy up to powerful figures, the result is still the same. Your father, until death… no, even after death, can’t find peace.”

Zhuang Qingyan stopped smiling, and his cold eyes were as calm as a deep pool.

“What time is it?” Xie Ping didn’t look at him again, turning his head to ask softly.

“17:58, it’s almost dark,” the attendant answered considerately.

Xie Ping breathed heavily, lifting his eyelids to glance at the sky. Nightfall was imminent, and the radiation concentration continued to increase. Accustomed to the fresh air of Utopia, the pollution and dust in Fenak were too heavy for him.

“I waited here to persuade you in advance, but now… it seems unnecessary.”

Xie Ping let out a sigh and turned back to the starship: “Take action.”

Dozens of agile figures rushed towards V587 like tigers descending a mountain, their sharp eyebrows lowered. They pulled out tri-edge military daggers from their back waist and charged forward with Song Ke.

In the melee, Song Ke noticed that the giant central hub was still in place, unable to be retracted into the rear compartment in time. She stared at it directly, contemplating for a moment.

The goal of this group of people seemed to be getting Zhuang Qingyan to use his authority to open the central hub. Even at the cost of a significant price, they brought this massive machine from afar. If they didn’t want them to succeed, there was actually a simple solution, like… what if the central hub accidentally got damaged?

Song Ke tightened her waist and abdomen, her back muscles taut. Suddenly, she stepped on the head of a pursuer, leaped high, and the long knife in her palm was about to slash down towards the central hub.

Xie Yinqi, who had long since hidden in the starship and was the user of “Blood-Red Building Blocks,” made eye contact with Song Ke through the porthole, his mouth quirking strangely.

Song Ke’s eyelids twitched slightly, and she abruptly turned around.

She had rushed too fast and had distanced herself from Zhuang Qingyan and the others, but turning back would only take three or four seconds.

However, at this moment, there was a drastic upheaval in the surrounding scene, like disassembled scattered building blocks swiftly moving and reassembling. In the next second, the central hub disappeared, Xie Ping and the others disappeared, Zhuang Qingyan… also disappeared.

It was as if different layers of a Rubik’s Cube were turning, and everyone was moved to the front, leaving her alone at the back.

Xie Ping’s final words, “Take action,” were not meant to kill Zhuang Qingyan at all. It was an order to the “Blood-Red Building Blocks.” No wonder the awakeners who blocked the knife just now was willing to sacrifice himself to protect Xie Yinqi.

In the vast desolate crater, only Song Ke remained, holding her knife and looking around with a bewildered heart.

“Xiao Xing? Old Fang? Youyou! Su Cha!” She called out the names of her teammates one by one, but the surroundings were empty, and there was no response.

“Zhuang Qingyan…”

Song Ke looked to the left, where a tilted skyscraper hung in mid-air with dust falling. Looking to the right, a half-cut ship rushed up a rugged mountain top, and rocks rolled down. The scenes were surreal and disjointed.

Song Ke took out the small bee terminal, opened the group chat for V587, but there was no signal. Communication in C26 Fenak, and even B25 Lozan, the entire Loak region, was cut off.

She closed her eyes, forcing herself to calm down. Suddenly, she thought of something and without hesitation, pulled down the zipper, dragging the jacket along with the shirt to her shoulders. On the inner side of her left arm, a lifelike mechanical ladybug embedded in the skin tissue, its protruding compound eyes turning slightly.

It works, Song Ke sighed in relief. She then reached for the black collar around her neck and found the microphone, pressing it down. “Lu Xiaoyu!”

Rustle, rustle—

After a chaotic wave of sound, a familiar voice came through, “Captain?”

“Where are you guys?” Song Ke asked urgently.

Lu Xiaoyu’s response was intermittent, and his tone was not as casual as usual, instead filled with seriousness. “I’ve located your position, 30 kilometers away from us. Zhuang Qingyan speculates that the cooling time for the Blood-Red Building Blocks is around ten minutes. The longer it takes, the farther you might be teleported. Listen to my directions, try to meet up with us as soon as possible.”

“Alright, you guys hold on, I’ll be there soon!”

Song Ke was anxious, running in a certain direction. In just two seconds, in the midst of Lu Xiaoyu’s series of “reversed, reversed,” she swiftly turned around.

…

Taking a lesson from Ye Zheng’s assassination, which couldn’t be reported in time, Lu Xiaoyu had taken precautions and improved their communication devices. Each person had a modified tracking and positioning ladybug implanted in their bodies. This new device he tinkered with used an independent communication frequency, unaffected by terminals, ensuring that V587 could contact each other even in the absence of signals.

The scene changed, and Zhuang Qingyan’s group of six was teleported elsewhere.

At the same time, a deep spatial crack was torn open in the surrounding “building blocks”, and hundreds of black starships teleported in.

“What’s that?” Lin Youyou’s eyelids twitched incessantly, and the addressing system was temporarily confused, “You, you, Xie Zhuang… What kind of trouble did you cause?”

“What, are you scared?” Zhuang Qingyan chuckled.

Lin Youyou choked in her throat, “Not really, it’s not like I haven’t seen the world.”

Zhuang Qingyan’s expression was surprisingly calm, “I told you that you could run anytime, but it’s not safe now. Hold on until the captain arrives.”

The standard starships of the Alliance were uniformly silver-white, while the black starships were reassigned after the retrieval by Yiyu, the exclusive symbol of S-level city like Utopia.

“Why do you always say such pessimistic words? Are you deliberately trying to provoke me!” Lin Youyou stomped her foot in annoyance.

“Not pessimistic words,” Zhuang Qingyan’s eyes gradually darkened. “Be mentally prepared for the worst. The opponent won’t come empty-handed.”

As soon as he finished speaking, nearly a hundred awakeners jumped down from the sky.

“Prepare for battle,” Zhuang Qingyan said coldly.

…

Due to the randomness of the blocks, Xu Xing happened to be standing at the edge, facing a young man in a white sportswear with hands in his pockets.

Xu Xing didn’t dare to be careless. His awakened energy formed into a blizzard, blocking the opponent’s way.

A cold-blooded assassin would naturally not show mercy to a child.

“Oh? Ice element?” The young man glanced at Xu Xing with interest and then swiftly made his move.

Rocks shattered, hail the size of cannonballs poured like a torrential rain. Xu Xing condensed an ice shield to withstand the damage, maneuvering and dodging amidst the loud cracking sounds.

This young man turned out to be an ice-element awakener too, and an S-level one at that.

Xu Xing treated him as a formidable enemy, his lips turning pale from the pressure.

…

Su Cha was blocked by a group of all A-level awakeners. Their faces were unfamiliar, but their aura was very familiar – the cruelty of mercenaries.

The leading middle-aged woman glanced at the black snake tattoo on Su Cha’s neck and snorted coldly, “Are you a deserter? The Rainforest is ashamed of you.”

“I’m not,” Su Cha said, his spine straight, each word enunciated.

“People who legally leave the Rainforest will have their tattoos erased. Do you have the face to say you’re not?” Another person looked at him disdainfully.

“Doesn’t matter. Consider it cleaning up a traitor. Our mission this time is to kill you.”

Veins bulged on Su Cha’s hand as he swiftly swung his knife.

…

“Nice to see you again.”

A familiar young man surrounded by the ability “Prism” greeted them. Lu Xiaoyu’s gaze fell on his special operations uniform, and after a moment of thought, he suddenly realized, “I don’t remember. Who are you?”

Roy, who had clashed with V587 in Mu City before, fell into silence. Then, he spoke in a deep voice, “I’ve checked you, Lu Xiaoyu. The genius rarely seen in a century, from the Erjia’s Lu family, the first successful modification of the initial genetic selection plan. The last test record was six years ago when you were S5 level. What about now?”

“Been in prison for too long, forgot, why don’t you take a guess?” Lu Xiaoyu replied nonchalantly.

His jet-black hair receded like a tide, revealing a defiant silver glow. His tea-colored eyes turned into inorganic ice blue pupils, as if a dormant withered tree had awakened. Behind Lu Xiaoyu, a towering network of data branches, with a code flood of 101010, emerged.

Roy, a mere S3 level awakener, was utterly powerless to resist. The prism shattered with a thunderous noise, and he fell to the ground, spitting out blood.

…

“Corta,” Zhuang Qingyan looked at the approaching awakener and calmly spoke.

V587 members moved their palms simultaneously, showing a well-coordinated action. Each of them pulled out a large-sized loudspeaker that resembled a sound system, standing apart from each other.

The six of them acted in unison, first quickly inserting something into their own ears, then pressing the play button.

The mysterious Corta wave was triggered. The six loudspeakers played simultaneously, making it difficult even for an S-level awakener to resist. Their consciousness gradually dispersed into nothingness, and their steps became stiff, resembling the walking dead. The one in the front clutched their head in pain and stumbled down in an instant.

The six surrounded individuals finally had a moment to catch their breath.

Squeak—Clang!!

The ear-piercing noise abruptly stopped. Smoke rose from the six loudspeakers, and the playback program was completely destroyed.

A person walked slowly from the distant landing starship, or rather, it shouldn’t be called a “person” because he was just a clear holographic projection.

A man with silver hair, ice blue eyes, wearing frameless glasses, appearing to be around forty years old. He exuded an elegant temperament, but at this moment, his brow was furrowed, and his face was filled with anger. “You evildoer, why don’t you come back with me and confess your sins!”

Lu Xiaoyu’s movements halted, and he sneered mockingly, lifting the corner of his mouth, “Hey, Mr. Patriarch.”

The person who arrived was none other than the magistrate of District B8 Erjia, Lu Qiusuo.

Lu Qiusuo no longer had a physical body. He could manifest as a solid projection here, and there was only one possibility. Lu Xiaoyu thought of this and looked up at the starship he came out of. There was a chilling gaze through Lu Qiusuo’s eyes, accurately locking onto him.

“I see you.”

A sigh seemed to resonate from the depths of the soul.

Clearly gentle, yet it made Lu Xiaoyu’s hair stand on end.