With the aid of that yellowish-green luminous pearl, the "Old Task Force's" decapitation operation proceeded exceptionally smoothly. They encountered almost no obstacles, speeding all the way to Di Marco's door and completing two rounds of suppressing fire.
Amidst the rampaging "Flame Storm," the environment inside the room became extremely chaotic. Jiang Baimian couldn't sense any faint electrical signals for the time being.
Although, after such a round of attacks, common sense would dictate the outcome—as long as the person inside wasn't a double for Di Marco, then the master of the "Underground Ark" would undoubtedly be doomed. However, Jiang Baimian remained uneasy. After all, she had envisioned Di Marco as a "Mind Corridor" level powerhouse. Even if he couldn't compare to that "Higher Mindless" from Tarnan, he shouldn't have died so silently and without a trace.
This made her, instead of relaxing due to their success, raise her level of vigilance once more.
Once the explosions subsided, she immediately flipped to her feet and headed straight for Di Marco's room.
Clatter, clatter, clatter!
A figure in gray-blue camouflage uniform rushed past her, taking the lead through the devastated and partially collapsed doorway.
Shang Jianyao!
He was still leading the charge.
Just then, two grenades suddenly flew from the end of Corridor C.
Having sensed this early on, Jiang Baimian abandoned her attempts to detect electrical signals inside the room. She directly lunged forward, rolling inside to avoid the attack.
Genava and Long Yuehong, also utilizing the "Comprehensive Early Warning System," detected the approaching enemy in advance. One leaped up, grabbed onto the four-to-five-meter-high ceiling, and promptly tucked his legs in. The other pushed Bai Chen ahead, allowing her to follow Jiang Baimian into Di Marco's room, while he followed closely behind—Long Yuehong was a little nervous, but not flustered.
Rumble, rumble!
The two grenades landed where Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian had been standing, the explosions merging into one.
For the intelligent robot Genava, as long as he wasn't directly hit, the mere shockwaves were unlikely to cause him any harm. At most, he would exchange some resources and get a new coat of paint.
Therefore, hanging from the ceiling, he only swayed a few times with the "waves."
At this moment, he clearly saw the attacker's appearance:
It was an iron-black robot, with red lights flashing in its eyes.
The "Underground Ark" had dominated the Redstone Collection smuggling node for many years, accumulating a considerable fortune. Its hidden defenses were indeed astonishing.
In an instant, based on a comparison of various characteristics, Genava determined that the attacker was a relatively ancient "Intelligent" robot.
--This was an "Intelligent" robot according to the Old World classification method, not an "Intelligent Being" produced by "Mechanical Paradise."
In Genava's eyes, this kind of thing without humanization modules was purely a tool, and had no fundamental difference from Tarnan's repair robots that could turn into cars or combat-type non-intelligent robots.
He wouldn't admit that this was an intelligent robot.
"Leave the outside to me!" he said, simulating the appropriate tone based on the information in his database.
His body then swung like a pendulum, and he flung himself out, covering a considerable distance and landing to the side and slightly ahead of the iron-black robot.
At this time, the iron-black robot was dutifully charging toward Di Marco's room.
Genava slightly turned and collided with the iron-black robot.
During this process, he adjusted the orientation of his palms.
Clang!
A crisp sound echoed through the sixth underground level. The iron-black robot's rear chest suddenly melted, shooting out a beautiful and dangerous red laser.
Almost simultaneously, its back expanded and cracked open, and a metal pellet wrapped in electricity pierced through many of its key components, flying into the distance.
Genava seized the opportunity and used his laser and electromagnetic weapons!
Moreover, he had downloaded structural diagrams of various robots and done some research, so he knew very well where the opponent's "fatal parts" were.
In a series of popping explosions, the iron-black robot lost all power and crashed to the ground with a clang.
Genava didn't delay and turned to rush toward Di Marco's door.
In this "decapitation operation," he, without human consciousness, would be the main force in the second half of the battle.
As Genava lunged at the iron-black robot, Jiang Baimian had finished rolling, turned on her flashlight, and shined it toward the human location she had sensed before the rocket attack.
There, she saw a tattered bed, still smoldering, and beside it lay a man in silk pajamas.
The man wore a torn black mask with white patterns and had multiple bloody wounds on his body.
In Shang Jianyao's perception, he no longer had human consciousness.
This meant he was already dead.
Judging by the mask and the flaxen hair, the deceased was Di Marco.
To Jiang Baimian's surprise and dismay, judging from Di Marco's lying position, he shouldn't have escaped the first round of rocket attacks.
And the power of the "Grim Reaper" wouldn't allow its target to keep a complete corpse!
This is the power of a "Mind Corridor" level expert? If our weapons were a little weaker, he would have held out? Jiang Baimian, holding a rocket launcher in one hand and a flashlight in the other, quickly rushed to Di Marco's body and uncovered his mask, seeking confirmation.
In the yellowish light, a middle-aged man's face came into view:
Beneath a head of flaxen short hair were a high, straight nose and light blue eyes that stared unseeingly. There was a blue birthmark on his temple.
Jiang Baimian was taken aback, feeling that the face was unusually familiar.
Soon, she remembered where she had seen this face before:
It belonged to Lehman's lover, Lars, the relic hunter who had disappeared and was later confirmed to have entered the "Underground Ark!"
The location of the blue birthmark was exactly the same as in the photo Lehman had given her!
The dead man is Lars? Di Marco has been using Lars as a body double, and doesn't even sleep in this room? But who is he guarding against? Given his authority and potential strength, he shouldn't need to do this... He sensed our approach, left here in advance, and only left Lars behind? But why leave Lars behind? In that instant, countless questions flooded Jiang Baimian's mind.
Just then, she felt the entire room was enveloped in a weak but unusual electrical field.
A whooshing sound rang out, and the flashlights of Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, Bai Chen, and Shang Jianyao simultaneously became extremely dim.
The surrounding environment seemed to be injected with "darkness," appearing deep and chilling.
In an instant, a voice, coming from nowhere but clearly suppressing some kind of emotion, echoed in everyone's ears:
"Did you think you could kill me like this?
"If it were any other Awakened who stepped into the 'Mind Corridor,' they might have died so frustratingly. Unfortunately, you've encountered me..."
Hearing this, Shang Jianyao seemed to finally grasp the source of the voice, abruptly turning his head to look in a certain direction.
In the dim, yellowish light, Long Yuehong slowly turned his head, looking back at Shang Jianyao.
The corners of his mouth slowly curved upward, and his eyes, covered by goggles, became extremely deep.
Then, his voice floating, he asked:
"Are you looking for me?"
Shang Jianyao, wearing a monkey mask, twitched his brow.
At this time, Bai Chen also looked at Shang Jianyao.
She had taken off her mask at some point, and the flashlight in her hand cast an uncertain light on her face.
With an indescribable smile, she asked in a similarly floating, gender-neutral voice:
"Are you looking for me?"
Shang Jianyao suddenly raised his left hand, revealing the yellowish-green luminous pearl.
At the same time, Jiang Baimian also stood up from beside the corpse and looked over, no longer wearing her mask either.
She slightly raised her chin, and light and shadow intertwined on her face, creating a strange feeling.
"Are you looking for me?" she asked with a soft chuckle.
Clatter, clatter, clatter, Genava rushed into Di Marco's room.
He immediately saw that Shang Jianyao's eyes had become unusually deep, tinged with a hint of dark green.
…………
"Sea of Origins," on the island with bright sunshine, mountains, and water.
A figure wearing an old-fashioned black cassock and a soft old hat stood out.
He appeared to be in his forties, close to 1.8 meters tall, with flaxen short hair, light blue eyes, and a prominent aquiline nose. There was no blue birthmark on his temple.
The figure's gaze swept over Shang Jianyao, who had also emerged and was no longer wearing the monkey mask. The corners of his mouth curved slightly, and he asked with a leisurely smile:
"This is your Mind Island?"