“It’s probably unlikely, but I think it’s a direction worth trying.”
Ning Yu circled the two combined clues, highlighting them.
“What if it fails…?”
Ning Yu looked seriously into Shen Yiyue’s eyes.
“I’m more worried about how many more times you can start over.”
“Every time you restart, the burden on you increases, doesn’t it?”
Shen Yiyue wanted to avoid Ning Yu’s gaze, but Ning Yu gently turned her head back.
“It’s fine… and I have that notebook.”
Realizing she couldn’t hide it from Ning Yu, Shen Yiyue reluctantly pulled out the diary again.
“It’s easy to see. Every time you restart, you carry more memories, and the pressure on your brain increases.”
“That’s probably why you’re experiencing memory lapses.”
Ning Yu placed her hand on Shen Yiyue’s hair, gently combing through it with her fingers.
Shen Yiyue closed her eyes in comfort, like a cat, before suddenly realizing she was being petted.
She murmured softly:
“Really… nothing escapes Xiao Yu, does it…?”
“But it’s okay, I can still handle it.”
“And… Xiao Yu is standing right beside me, isn’t she?”
She grabbed Ning Yu’s hand, which was about to continue petting her, signaling her to stop.
“While we’re waiting for Xiao Xuan’s news, let’s check out this lead.”
Ning Yu pointed to the information she had just circled about the underground facility.
“We might need to ask Meng Yao to take care of Qianqian for a few days.”
Ning Yu’s gaze shifted to Shen Qianqian, who was still oblivious.
“Mm.”
Shen Yiyue nodded silently.
……
The night wind howled past Ning Xuan’s cheeks. She had turned off her normal temperature sensors; otherwise, she would have felt the biting cold.
The city below was eerily silent. Behind her, blue mechanical wings spewed energy, propelling her forward as she traced an elegant arc through the sky.
By her estimate, she would reach the checkpoint with about 20% of her energy remaining. From there, she could replenish her energy and quickly head to headquarters.
In the wilderness, a cluster of buildings stood out, surrounded by barbed wire and barricades, with various zombies wandering nearby.
But upon closer inspection, the zombies seemed to move in a certain pattern, almost as if patrolling, with no intention of attacking the area within the wire.
Ning Xuan glanced at the place, quickly descending from the sky. She checked her energy level: 21%.
Just about right. She still had to make it from the checkpoint to headquarters.
Some of the soldiers patrolling the base were gathered in the watchtowers, playing cards in small groups.
Others looked into the distance, yawning into the cold night air.
A blue light streaked across the sky, rapidly descending, immediately catching the soldiers’ attention.
“What’s that?”
“What are you looking at? Hurry up and play your cards. Don’t try to cheat… Holy crap!”
The previously lazy soldiers all stood up, aiming their guns at the blue light approaching from the sky.
As the light drew closer, they saw that it was a silver-haired girl, her mechanical wings glowing blue as she descended from the sky.
As she neared the ground, she adjusted her posture, shifting from a dive to an upright position.
Her mechanical wings slowly retracted, and prosthetic devices extended from her limbs, emitting flames that cushioned her landing.
“Who are you?!”
The patrolling soldiers surrounded her, their guns aimed at her, clearly on guard.
A middle-aged man’s voice suddenly came over the base’s loudspeaker:
“Everyone, return to your posts.”
Ning Xuan paid no attention to the soldiers’ guns. It was normal for them not to recognize her in this form, as she rarely showed it in public.
She landed on the empty ground in front of the main building and waited quietly.
“Tap, tap, tap.”
The hurried sound of military boots soon echoed from inside.
“Miss Ning Xuan, why have you returned so suddenly? How’s the mission going?”
A tall, burly man with graying hair emerged from the building, clearly surprised by Ning Xuan’s sudden return.
The soldiers, seeing the man, immediately averted their gazes and returned to their posts.
“There’s an urgent situation. I need to use the energy replenishment node here.”
The middle-aged man noticed the deep wounds on Ning Xuan’s body, recalling her retracted mechanical wings and her serious expression.
He quickly began piecing things together in his mind.
“It seems you’ve encountered unexpected obstacles?”
He tried to get more information.
“Hurry, I don’t have time to waste. I need to replenish my energy and head to headquarters immediately.”
Ning Xuan had no intention of wasting words.
“But… the squad heading to City A after you will also need…”
Ning Xuan’s eyes turned icy, and her right hand began to transform. A metal blade emerged, glinting coldly in the air.
“I have critical information to report. If you dare to stop me, the consequences will be on you when the higher-ups find out.”
It was a dual threat of words and force.
The middle-aged man glanced at the blade on the girl’s prosthetic right hand, which had claimed countless lives, and then at her injuries. His Adam’s apple bobbed nervously.
“Well… alright, I understand. I’ll report this to headquarters immediately as well.”
Of course, he didn’t fully trust Ning Xuan’s words, as this deviated from the original plan, but he wasn’t willing to gamble on the accuracy of her claims.
“25%… 35%… 100%. Energy replenishment complete.”
Ning Xuan had entered the building, standing in the center where a massive blue crystal module emitted a strange glow, though it had now completely dimmed.
Pipes at the base of the module connected deep underground, seemingly transporting energy from below.
She wondered where this power came from and wished she could go down to investigate.
She glanced at the module’s energy gauge, which now read only 12%. Most of the energy had been absorbed by her, and she had even deliberately wasted some.
This would delay the squad coming to capture Ning Yu, as the awakened ones with prosthetic modifications among them would be affected.
Her mechanical wings unfolded, the blue light within them flickering, signaling their full energy.
She wasn’t far from headquarters now. For the final stretch, she planned to use a spatial jump to speed up.
Every second she could buy for her sister mattered.
Her eyes lit up with operational patterns as she gazed at the starry sky, imagining her sister under the same stars.
With a whoosh, the silver-haired girl shot into the night sky and disappeared.