The walls were riddled with cracks, and even sewage seeped out, pooling into small puddles, dripping incessantly, flowing along with the excess into hastily dug drainage channels.

They moved forward several hundred meters, covering each other.

The terrible road conditions improved.

A complete and solid corridor appeared before them, but it was bent at least twenty degrees, resembling a twisted drill bit with several fractures running through it vertically.

Whoosh, rumble——

The sound of water became clearer from above.

In theory, they had already walked beneath the water.

John and Alonna navigated around temporary supports, following the fresh wreckage inward— the internal paths branched out extensively, with some tunnels even connecting to other structures in Silver Port.

Bang, bang bang!

Alonna fired first.

Two Exiles who popped out of nowhere fell to the ground.

The shell casings clattered crisply to the ground, the echoes spreading down the corridor into deeper shadows.

John saw Alonna's back.

Her gray vest was full of black scorch marks, metal surfaces showing signs of high-temperature burns, and the adjacent synthetic leather was damaged, likely due to the high-frequency use of the Sianweistan.

[Mission Objective Updated]

[Find the server room. (Not Achieved)]

John held his gun up, shooting newly appeared targets, and then swapped positions with Alonna, speeding up to take on the bulk of the reconnaissance and clearing out Exile members.

Alonna took the opportunity to pull out a syringe and inject herself.

There were no extra doses left on the logistics belt around her waist, an indication of how intense tonight's battle had been.

Despite the complexity within the corridor, the route was clear.

Because there were few choices that could accommodate the Big Ghost Power Armor, comparing footprints and scrape marks, it took almost no effort.

Faint voices echoed from within the passage.

A gust of warm wind blew through.

John and Alonna exchanged glances, each reloading a fresh magazine and lowering their speed.

The tunnel became increasingly bright.

The buzz of the signaling room reverberated, with cable reels appearing more frequently, and even temporary energy storage devices— it seemed Exiles had restarted the original hydroelectric plants in Silver Port.

They were trying everything to provide power to this room.

All the maze's circuits converged here, like motionless blood vessels stretching inward.

John and Alonna warily surveyed their surroundings.

Various mainframes cast in red light stacked together; despite cooling equipment running at full power, irresistible heat waves hit them.

Red lights clustered like grass, breathing in the dark.

John had already activated night vision mode, sweeping his gun through a device under a green filter.

He froze for a moment, then shifted his gaze to observe again.

Exiles had rearranged the entire area, placing various labels on top.

"What's wrong, do you know hacking?"

Alonna inquired softly.

She couldn't understand the bizarre markings but intuitively felt it was some sort of secret language.

"Of course not, but... I've seen these things before."

John, frowning, scanned the metal nameplates one by one.

In addition to physical hacking, Black Light triggered other functions.

Through a "knowledge copying" method, it had transferred project files of Black Spider and Special Inhibitor into his brain.

It had even specially transmitted a language pack.

It contained this strange-looking text.

Various images flashed back in John's mind.

He suddenly remembered what a state police officer had said in the Harbor Company office:

The special model starting with T was related to the AI behind the black wall, corresponding to a program compiled with a certain language logic.

"What is this?"

Alonna asked.

John hesitated, then spoke after a brief silence.

"Some kind of text from cyberspace... heck, I'm not sure either, maybe it's related to the rogue AI."

He lowered his gaze, moving his boot aside, murmuring at the dense electrical wires. "Kunbu seems to be up to something big in its own den."

Rumble.

A mechanical roar came from deep within.

John tried to call for reinforcements through the voice channel, but the communication was severely disrupted.

Nando was heavily injured.

Oulos was disconnected.

The sudden emergence of clues within the facility made the atmosphere eerie.

John decided to retreat from the research institute with Alonna immediately.

To hell with the mission prompts, they could call for more help when the outside calmed down.

They turned to leave.

Rumble, bang!

A huge explosion sounded instantly within the facility.

Alonna and John no longer concealed their tracks, dashing into an even narrower passage.

Bam!

The wall collapsed in an instant.

The hard shell of the Big Ghost Mecha shattered one obstacle after another, the red light from its goggles flickering throughout the facility.

John and Alonna dodged and leapt aside, avoiding the falling boulders.

A stream of water gushed from a nearby gap, flooding the lines under their feet, with even the falling debris making splashing sounds.

The beast inside the Big Ghost Mecha was coming for them.

It charged with its only remaining arm, using its stumps, the pilot's frenzied screams echoing from the gaps in the Power Armor.

Rat-a-tat-tat.

Bullets widened the cracks on the armor's surface.

[Mission Objective Updated]

[Defeat the Big Ghost. (Not Achieved)]

"F*ck!"

John cursed.

He didn't believe that two rifles could take on the iron shell, and a very bad premonition arose in his heart; he immediately called Alonna to escape to a narrower place.

The passage gradually became flooded.

John and Alonna moved towards higher ground.

The Big Ghost burrowed through the tunnel like a tunnel shield, unable to move at the narrowest end, it could only lift its horned head and cast a venomous glare at them.

John looked back and saw that scene.

He seemed to hear a hair-raising scream—a kind of strong emotional sound belonging to flesh and blood.

[Device Name: DaiOni [Big Ghost]]

[Device Comprehensive Assessment: …Life-support device is nearly inexistent, severe mental pressure and physical damage to the pilot, not recommended for personnel below Alpha modification level…]

"We just need to hold on; the living person inside that monster is under constant strain, probably won't outlive us."

John suggested.

They climbed various structures and reached a new area.

The more John ran, the more familiar it felt; ever since surviving under the barrel earlier, he had felt like he was in a nightmare.

His heart rate was also terrifyingly high.

As they stepped into this area, a sensory power source activated, and countless dense spotlights and embedded tubes lit up simultaneously.

The building structure here was more intact, even the floor was quite clean, and countless precision instruments were embedded around, with countless wires and mechanical arms hanging from the ten-meter-high dome.

They operated in an orderly manner.

Numerous screens flickered, showing only a straight line, with countless surveillance cameras shining down from all sides, and then various text messages flashed continuously on the screens.

[You're doing well, Kunbu.]

[Does it hurt?]

[I know you're in pain, suffering, how I wish I could share the mental burden. ]

[Mr. Kunbu, did you have nightmares today?]

[Don't fall asleep.]

[I won't leave.]

[It's the gift I left for you.]

[Don't let it be taken away.]

...

Terrifying messages flashed through the walls.

John and Alonna were back-to-back.

He stared at those messages, feeling a tingling sensation on every inch of his skin, even the Black Light flaring instinctively.

"Ah, ah, ah—"

His head was wracked with intense pain.

The side effects of Black Light's surge peaked at that moment.

[Detected intrusions, emergency procedures were not executed, special variables incorporated into logical loop, parameter anomaly…]

John kneeled and vomited blood.

Alonna turned around, reflexively wanting to help him up.

A red light pierced through the entire room.

Rumble.

The Big Ghost Power Armor crashed into the wall.

It revealed its form, breaking free from debris, slowly crouching and turning, aiming its broken horn forward.

Blue lightning danced on the floor.

Blood dripped around.

Alonna activated the Sianweistan, rescuing John, but as a cost, two bone-deep blood traces were gouged out on her back.

She barely landed and widened her eyes.

The Big Ghost suddenly closed in front of them, with jets of air streaming from its huge knees.

The red light had already shattered.

Inside the Power Armor were a pair of venomous eyes.

She had seen that face.

Ironfoot Kelp.

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