Chapter 197 – Want to Kill It
When the genetic monsters launched their sonic attacks, it would cause humans to experience hallucinations. Similarly, their sonic waves would also reveal their location. So far, the Federation’s equipment couldn’t block these sonic attacks, but they could detect the source of the waves.
At that moment, within Tu Ran’s goggles, seven or eight green glowing dots appeared. These glowing dots indicated the locations of the sonic wave sources detected by Zero.
Tu Ran carefully stepped toward the nearest green glowing dot. This dot was behind a completed heavy mecha. The mecha stood there, almost reaching the factory’s ceiling. Standing in front of it, Tu Ran barely reached the height of its foot.
The green glowing dot was located on the mecha’s left foot. A genetic monster was hiding there, ready to ambush passing humans.
Taking it by surprise, Tu Ran slipped between the mecha’s legs, raised her gun, and fired at the half-crouched genetic monster on the mecha’s foot. The monster hadn’t even realized what had happened when it was hit by two bullets—one shot severed its throat, cutting off the sonic attack, and the other struck its forehead, stopping its moss attack.
The dark green moss had barely spread a foot from its body when it was forcibly halted. Its body instantly stiffened, flipped off the mecha, and crashed heavily to the ground, its eight legs sticking up in the air like sticks, resembling the death posture of a beetle.
Tu Ran glanced at it indifferently and moved on to her next target.
Again, two shots—one to the throat, one to the head.
According to the research institute’s investigation, the final scream of these creatures before death could produce a sonic attack five times more harmful than usual. Although Tu Ran wasn’t afraid of their sonic attacks, her teammates couldn’t withstand them.
The fewer screams, the better.
Tu Ran moved with calm and unhurried precision, systematically eliminating the green dots on her goggles. These genetic monsters posed no threat to her; they only had the advantage of numbers.
Occasionally, she encountered a clever one, like the genetic monster hiding behind the assembly platform. It hadn’t launched a sonic attack, so Zero couldn’t detect its location, and there was no green dot representing it on her goggles.
Tu Ran passed by the assembly platform naturally. The genetic monster, noticing her back turned towards it, suddenly brightened its eyes. In a rush, it lunged out, opening its mouth wide to bite Tu Ran’s neck.
Just as it was within arm’s reach, a sword appeared out of nowhere, its blade flashing as it pierced through the creature’s mouth and neck in an instant. The genetic monster’s eyes widened in disbelief as it stared at the human who slowly turned around and smiled at it.
It couldn’t believe… she had drawn the sword with a backhand. Did this human have eyes on her back? That was the last thought it had before losing consciousness.
According to the research institute’s later investigation, among the genetic monsters that appeared at the Sankar Arsenal, only the queen had independent consciousness, while the offspring had only a one in ten thousand chance of evolving self-awareness. The vast majority were on par with lower animals.
And that one in ten thousand chance had just been swiftly dealt with by Tu Ran in a single clean strike.
Tu Ran merely sighed, remarking that this genetic monster was smarter than the others, before moving on to the next one.
She wanted to find the first genetic monster that appeared, the queen that had spawned all these creatures. The offspring were just small fry, easily dispatched. The real challenge was the queen.
“You have now entered the eastern zone, which is outside your designated area. Please return immediately,” Zero’s cold mechanical voice prompted.
Tu Ran chose to ignore the command. She had already circled the southern zone without finding the queen. She suspected that the queen was in the eastern zone.
Maybe Xie Hong chose to oversee the eastern zone not because of his [Ice Freeze] ability, but because the genetic monster queen was there.
When she didn’t respond, Zero’s voice chimed in again, its tone cold and rigid. Despite the mechanical nature of the voice, Tu Ran could somehow sense its irritation.
“Pioneer Tu Ran, you have now entered the eastern zone, which is outside your designated area. Please return immediately.”
Tu Ran’s face tightened with frustration as she reluctantly turned around and retraced her steps.
She began contemplating the feasibility of eliminating Zero. This super AI was really becoming a nuisance.
It had too many eyes. If she could bring it under her control, it would be an incredible asset. But if that wasn’t possible, it would be an enemy that she had to eliminate.
Returning to the southern zone, Tu Ran continued to shoot genetic monsters with an expressionless face while pondering where Zero’s mainframe might be located.
It was rumored to be in a secret Xie family estate, but which one? Tu Ran didn’t know.
She couldn’t find this kind of information online. Even a simple search could trigger the surveillance department, leading them straight to her and landing her in prison on charges of conspiracy.
Her only option was to extract the information by reading the memories of relevant individuals.
Tu Ran thought of Xie Xu. He certainly knew, but he was probably very guarded against her now. He knew about her abilities but wasn’t sure which ones she possessed, so he would likely be on high alert if she suddenly touched him.
However, she could use [Illusion Realm].
She could directly ask him and then erase his memory afterward.
But doing so seemed somewhat unethical. They were about to form an alliance, and using [Illusory Realm] on him would be underhanded.
Sighing, Tu Ran acknowledged that honesty and integrity were among the few virtues she still prided herself on, and she didn’t want to lose those as well.
She decided to go find Xie Hong instead.
Coincidentally, the origin of the inner core he possessed also intrigued her.
But to head to the eastern zone, she needed to first deal with the genetic monsters in the southern zone. Otherwise, even a super AI alone would be enough to drive her crazy.
With a clear objective in mind, Tu Ran was filled with determination.
“Bang! Bang! Bang, bang, bang…”
Gunshots echoed continuously.
While others were caught in a haze, sometimes clear, sometimes confused, feeling dizzy and disoriented, their memories muddled as if they were in a living nightmare, Tu Ran had already cleared out half of the southern zone.
“How does she still have so much energy?”
Le Qin leaned weakly against the steps beside the conveyor belt, watching Tu Ran darting around with a machine gun, unable to help but speak out.
This was her sixth time entering the factory, and she was nearly exhausted.
The infrasonic waves from the genetic monsters permeated the entire Sankar Arsenal, affecting not just the southern zone but the eastern, western, and northern zones as well.
Her head was filled with a constant buzzing.
In the beginning, she could recover somewhat after a few minutes of rest, but now she felt her stamina rapidly depleting. She was dizzy, her vision was blurred, and random images that didn’t exist kept flashing in her mind.
Looking around, she noticed that the number of guards and pioneers who had been advancing in her direction had been reduced by half.
Most of them had stayed outside the factory, with many already unconscious, delirious, and speaking nonsense.
Meanwhile, Tu Ran still seemed full of energy, which was incredibly unfair.
“No idea,” Shen Yunhe replied after taking down two more genetic monsters. He leaned against a small patrol vehicle, using his gun for support.
He rubbed his forehead, trying to keep himself awake.
