"Dodge!"

Qianchengxue yanked Xin Yang forward, throwing them both to the ground.

Rumble!

A tremendous explosion erupted behind them, the deafening blast making Su Mo’s ears ring.

Despite the ringing, he scrambled to his feet and checked on Qianchengxue.

Thankfully, she seemed unharmed. Just then, a hail of bullets rained down.

Su Mo and Qianchengxue quickly rolled away, dodging the dense barrage that peppered the thick metal floor with holes.

Qianchengxue pulled a high-explosive grenade from her belt and hurled it.

Boom!

The grenade landed squarely on the head of a mechanical sentry, instantly disabling it.

Su Mo and the others jumped up and charged towards the paralyzed sentry.

As they turned to head towards the armory, they heard a booming sound ahead, indicating that more enemies were approaching.

They could only veer off to the right in a hurry.

"How many grenades do you have left?"

Su Mo asked as he ran.

"None. That was the last one,"

Qianchengxue replied, her nerves on edge.

"Xin Yang, is there any way to avoid their surveillance? This can't go on; we'll be cornered and killed eventually. Are there any other routes to the armory?"

"It's already detected us. There's no way to avoid it unless my data and processing power are stronger than its, which would allow me to interfere. But that's impossible. If I link to it, I'll be controlled in a second. And there's only one route to the armory."

"No other options?"

"Unless we cut off the base's power and paralyze its external devices."

Xin Yang replied pragmatically.

Su Mo felt a surge of frustration. This was proving to be hellishly difficult.

Just then, Qianchengxue, while running, stepped on a trigger, causing the solid floor to cave in beneath her.

Alarm surged through Qianchengxue. She noticed the abnormality immediately, but her body couldn't react in time.

The ceiling directly in front of them split open, revealing a pitch-black gun barrel that targeted Qianchengxue.

Zzzzt!

A beam of scarlet light shot towards Qianchengxue.

Su Mo reacted instantly, shoving Qianchengxue with all his might. The beam of scarlet light narrowly missed her.

However, after pushing Qianchengxue away, Su Mo instinctively stepped back, only to find his foot landing on another pressure plate on the floor behind him. A metal square sunk in.

Su Mo’s face fell. He'd triggered another trap.

The next second!

Clack!

The floor beneath him split open, and he plummeted down.

"Su Mo!"

Qianchengxue desperately reached out to grab Su Mo. Su Mo also strained to grasp Qianchengxue's hand. But in the end, they fell just short. Their fingers brushed for a moment before separating, and Su Mo plunged into the darkness.

The metal walls snapped shut, sealing the gap as if it had never existed.

The booming mechanical sounds grew closer.

"Let's go!"

Xin Yang urged Qianchengxue anxiously.

Qianchengxue glanced back at the corridor, gritted her teeth, and followed Xin Yang as they fled.

......

Meanwhile, Su Mo landed hard, sending up a cloud of grey dust.

The contents of his backpack scattered, including the crystal, which rolled away, emitting a continuous glow.

The intense pain prevented him from getting up immediately.

After a while, Su Mo struggled to his feet and surveyed his surroundings.

All he saw were decayed skeletons. He hadn't been killed by the fall thanks to his twice-enhanced physique and the cushioning provided by the rotting remains.

He also observed that the walls were solid metal, offering no exit.

This was likely a burial pit.

Su Mo swung Mo Xue, his sword, at the solid metal wall, leaving only a shallow scratch.

He shook his head. Forcing his way out with brute strength was unlikely.

But Su Mo didn't despair. He began to feel along the metal walls, searching for any clues that might lead him out.

Suddenly, Su Mo noticed a faint arrow etched into the metal wall, pointing towards the lower corner.

Su Mo paused, then quickly cleared away the bones in the corner. He found a peculiar triangular mark.

He tapped it, discovering that it was hollow.

Su Mo pushed hard, and a hidden passage opened up. He was overjoyed, assuming this was a guide left behind by someone who had once escaped.

As Su Mo was about to leave, he glanced back at the crystal on the ground.

He picked it up, a puzzled expression on his face. The light emanating from the stone seemed brighter than before.

After a moment's thought, he couldn't figure it out, so he picked up his backpack and hurried away.

Su Mo crawled through the narrow passage. When he pushed open a concealed door and emerged, he found himself in a metal corridor.

The corridor was dimly lit. Due to the lack of maintenance and cleaning, moss grew in the corners.

Sizzle, sizzle.

The overhead lights flickered intermittently, making Su Mo’s nerves fray.

He became even more cautious, taking each step carefully, fearing he might trigger a security device.

He also kept a close watch for hidden cameras, and sure enough, he found one.

Unfortunately, it was aimed directly at him, leaving him no way to avoid it.

"Damn it."

Su Mo cursed under his breath and abandoned his caution, breaking into a run.

Soon after Su Mo started running, a two-meter-tall slaughter robot, covered in blades, emerged from behind him.

The blades spun, and the robot gave chase, turning the hallway into a mobile meat grinder.

Su Mo glanced back and sprinted with everything he had.

Just then, the wall in front of him opened, revealing a row of black gun barrels.

Phew!

Beams of light streaked toward him.

Su Mo's pupils contracted. He gathered all his strength and sprinted forward, the beams of light narrowly missing him.

The gate ahead began to descend.

Su Mo refused to give up. His blood boiled as he ran with a speed that bordered on monstrous.

Just as the gate was about to close, Su Mo dove forward.

He slid across the floor, scraping under the separating door.

Bang!

The thick metal door slammed into the ground.

Having narrowly escaped, Su Mo immediately got up and ran. As soon as he was through, the door began to rise again.

Sizzle, sizzle.

The sound of the slaughter robot's high-speed spinning blades was crystal clear.

Su Mo felt like he was about to vomit blood. He was lucky that his physique had been further enhanced; otherwise, he would have been caught already.

Another thing was that most of the guards seemed to have been dispatched to the battlefield. Otherwise, a base of this level should have had more guards.

As he ran, the corridor split into several branches.

Su Mo looked left and right, unsure which way to go. Then he noticed the light from the crystal in his hand seemed to be spreading towards one of the corridors, as if guiding him forward.

Without hesitation, he followed the crystal's guidance and ran.

As he sprinted, the crystal grew brighter, its light enveloping him.

The slaughter robots chasing him seemed to lose their target and stopped pursuing him.

In the central control room, AI Quanshen received a constant stream of alerts.

"Warning: Target lost due to unknown interference!"

"Warning: Target lost due to unknown interference..."

"You stupid rat!"

AI Quanshen hissed in fury.

Just then, the entire underground central room began to shake. Another virtual image popped up.

The Fourth Generation Biomech Kwasi was pinning the IV-generation puppet biomech Mezzex to the ground, raining blow after blow on its head.

Blood and gore flew everywhere, and the earth trembled.

"Warning: IV-generation puppet biomech Mezzex's damage level is rising rapidly!"