EBE Chapter 1443 Returning with great victory
Chapter 1443 Returning with great victory
Around the crystal pillar, countless thick energy conduits pulsate like blood vessels, transporting energy to all parts of the base!
It is also linked to a self-destruct program.
A circular control console is suspended at the bottom of the crystal pillar.
Xiao Ce immediately spotted the conspicuous red palm print reader on the control panel, protected by multiple layers of transparent energy shields, and a huge physical rotary switch—a self-destruct activation device!
Next to it is a smaller blue palm print reader and a physical switch to deactivate the program.
"StarNet, access the console! Grant permissions! Remove the program!"
Xiao Ce piloted the damaged Sharp Edge mech and rushed toward the control panel at top speed.
Using the computing power of the StarNet hub, they attempted to infiltrate the control console system.
Everything is going very smoothly; now all that's needed is time...
However, Xiao Ce cannot leave while the problem is being solved...
Xiao Ce had been searching for the machine that transmitted signals to outside the domain, but after a long time, he found absolutely nothing...
However, there's no better way right now...
When they saw the gate representing the "Heart of the Ruins" being forcibly blasted open and Xiao Ce's red dot rushing in, the last trace of color drained from the faces of Xiao Dingshan, Caesar, Raymond, and Evelyn.
“It’s over…” Raymond slumped into his chair, his face ashen. The Titan Guard hadn’t been able to stop him; the Heart of the Ruins had already been invaded!
"No! It's not over yet!" Xiao Dingshan suddenly stood up, his eyes flashing with final madness and ruthlessness. "Activate the Heart of Return to Nothingness! Activate it now! Let the entire base be buried with Xiao Ce!" He lunged at the control panel, about to press the red button that represented final destruction.
"Speaker! Wait!" Caesar's electronic voice was more urgent than ever before. "Activating self-destruct requires simultaneous confirmation from the palm prints of the top four members of the council! And it requires at least thirty seconds of charging countdown! Xiao Ce is inside. He has the Star Network Hub. Thirty seconds is enough for him to try to interrupt or even reverse that energy! We...we might not have time to perish together with him, and instead, he might find an opportunity first!"
Xiao Dingshan's hand froze in mid-air. Caesar's analysis was like a bucket of ice water poured over his head. Indeed, initiating self-destruction takes time, and Xiao Ce, possessing the Star Network Hub, could do a great deal in thirty seconds within the core area!
"Bang! Boom!" A violent explosion and intense gunfire erupted outside the heavy alloy doors of the command center! The Federation forces had already reached the outer perimeter of the core area where the command center was located!
"They've broken in!" Evelyn's face turned ashen.
The tide had turned! Despair completely enveloped the four of them.
"Go!" Xiao Dingshan made a decisive decision, his eyes showing no hesitation, only the ruthlessness of a desperate man. "Take the 'beacons' and split up! Go to the 'Ark'! As long as we can leave and send out the signal, once the interstellar hyena fleet arrives, Xiao Ce and his broken planet will be doomed!" He suddenly pulled open the hidden compartment under the command console, revealing four metal briefcases gleaming with a ghostly light—interstellar communication beacon transmitters.
"Caesar, take underwater tunnel number 3 to the backup submarine base deep in the Arctic Ocean!"
"Raymond, go through vertical elevator shaft number 7 to the top glacier airport and use the high-speed shuttle!"
"Evelyn, take the main emergency ventilation route and use your simulated body to sneak out!"
"I'll take the No. 1 Glacier Secret Passage!"
Xiao Dingshan quickly assigned escape routes and beacons, then handed the boxes to the three men.
"Remember! Get out of here alive! Activate the beacon! As long as we survive until our reinforcements arrive, we've won..."
"Let's go first..."
After glancing at it a few times, their expressions were all very complicated...
But they didn't even glance at it...
This crushing defeat made them feel humiliated...
But there was nothing they could do; fortunately, they had each found a way out...
Or rather, he'd already planned his escape route, and his mother simply left...
Not long after they left...
The explosions and screams of energy weapons outside the command room suddenly reached their peak, only to be drowned out by the deafening shouts of the Federation troops charging forward.
"boom...!"
The heavy alloy door of the command center, a symbol of the supreme authority of the Creation Council, suddenly burst open amidst the acrid white smoke from the melting internal locking mechanism!
The moment the gate burst open, scorching metal fragments and blue-white arcs of electricity, radiating energy, swept in like a storm.
Frank's imposing figure was the first to break through the smoke and dust, his entire "Barrier" heavy exoskeleton armor covered in scorch marks from energy weapons and deep grooves from ice crystals scraping against it...
The energy-powered rotary cannon in his hand, capable of tearing through light armor, continued to spin, emitting a lingering, intense red glow.
Behind him, the soldiers moved like nimble female leopards, rushing in close to the steel barrier formed by Frank!
The Swift Shadow Mech's distinctive low-slung, streamlined silhouette made her almost impossible to spot in the chaos, while the high-frequency vibrations of her energy blades on her wrists slicing through the air filled with smoke and ozone.
Immediately afterwards, a flood of more elite Federation soldiers equipped with exoskeletons poured in, and the charging indicator lights of the energy rifles instantly lit up a deadly sea of stars in the dimly lit command room, locking down every corner.
In the center of the command room, Xiao Ce's Sharp Edge mech, formerly known as Longxiang Sharp Edge!
At this moment, it looks more like a pile of twisted scrap metal that barely maintains a human shape.
His left arm was torn open at the shoulder, and the tubing at the cut dangled like a dying blood vessel, constantly spewing out tiny sparks of electricity.
The breastplate was deeply dented and covered with spiderweb-like cracks from being struck by some enormous force;
The hydraulic joint of his right leg emitted a sharp, strained metallic screech as it strained under the weight.
Behind the broken sights on the mech's head, Xiao Ce's face was a mixture of deathly paleness from blood loss and ashen exhaustion from excessive mental exertion. Sweat mixed with congealed blood beads slid down his forehead!
A wet line appeared on his taut jaw. The eerie blue light screen projected by the Star Network Hub flickered wildly in front of him, and countless streams of code cascaded down like a waterfall, forming the last fortress of the self-destruct system at the core of this massive base.
"Unlock the program...!"
Xiao Ce's voice came through the mecha's damaged loudspeaker, carrying a hoarse metallic sound and an undeniable decisiveness.
His remaining right arm suddenly shot forward, and the three remaining metal fingers of the Sharp Edge mech pressed precisely and steadily onto the dark blue palm print recognition device on the control panel.
hum...
A deep, resonant energy echoed throughout the core space, as if the entire creation base were letting out a heavy yet relieved sigh.
The frantically flashing crimson alarm runes on the control panel suddenly went out, and the energy conduits around the crystal pillar, which had been as dazzling as flowing lava, instantly dimmed. The powerful energy fluctuations subsided rapidly, like a receding tide...
Only the crystal pillar itself continues to emit a gentle and constant glow.
The Heart of the Ruins, a terrifying core capable of completely vaporizing the entire base along with glaciers within a radius of tens of kilometers, was finally forced into silent hibernation.
"Success!"
One of the guards shouted hoarsely, his voice filled with the trembling of someone who had just survived a disaster.
Frank arrived at this moment, striding forward, his heavy footsteps leaving dents in the alloy floor.
"Your Highness! The outer perimeter has been cleared, and the stubborn henchmen of the council have been eliminated!" His voice was loud and clear, dispelling the last trace of tension in the command room.
"Xiao Dingshan, Caesar, Raymond, Evelyn... the four targets have disappeared."
Xiao Ce remained silent.
The shattered head of the Sharp Edge mech slowly turned, its remaining electronic eyes flashing a ghostly red light as they swept across the four positions in front of the control panel!
There wasn't even a trace of a hasty evacuation left there.
A chilling premonition, like a frigid current from the Arctic Ocean, instantly gripped his weary body.
He abruptly looked up, his sharp gaze piercing the hidden alloy door at the rear of the command room, which had already slid open silently, leading to a deeper passage. The profound darkness behind the door was like the silent mockery of the four giants of the Creation Council.
"Chase!"
The command, like an ice blade drawn from its sheath, cleaved through the brief atmosphere of victory...
Frank arranged for several Swift Shadow mech warriors to instantly transform into blurry afterimages and disappear into the dark passage behind the hidden door.
Frank immediately turned around and roared into the communicator: "Block all known exits! Activate the highest level of biosignal scanning! Dig three feet into the ground and dig those four old foxes out!"
The next few days...
The Arctic's midnight sun is pale and cold, but it cannot illuminate the gloom hanging over the Federation forces.
Frank's elite tracking team ventured deep into the glacier tunnels that Xiao Dingshan had set up, only to encounter a violent underwater explosion trap.
The collapsed millennia-old ice sheet completely buried the passageway.
In addition, the reconnaissance network and drone swarm struggled to operate in the interference field left by the permafrost fog. The signal source they captured was eventually proven to be a humanoid decoy left behind by the council. They self-destructed at the last moment when they exhausted their internal energy, turning into a few fleeting flames on the ice field.
Frank personally led a team to intercept several encrypted communication signals pointing in different directions. Each time they tried their best to break through the signal shield and track them, they only found abandoned, empty transport pods or signal transmitters.
Caesar's underwater tunnels, Raymond's vertical lift shafts, Evelyn's main ventilation shaft...
All the pre-planned escape routes seem to have never been used, or perhaps their true exits have long been concealed by deeper layers of ice and deception.
Time slipped away in the futile search, and hope slowly dwindled to freezing point, like the temperature in the polar regions.
On the core light screen of the command center, most of the 3D projection representing the base structure was marked in safe Federation blue, except for those four glaring red dots...
The life markers of Xiao Dingshan and others completely disappeared beyond the base's boundary, merging into the vast Arctic ice cap without leaving a ripple.
Xiao Ce stood in front of the light screen, his simple black combat suit replacing the completely destroyed Sharp Edge mech.
With his back to the crowd, he gazed silently at the blank area that represented the unknown and failure.
The fatigue from days and nights of non-stop command and the high level of mental tension was etched between his brows, but deep in his eyes burned a cold flame more piercing than the Arctic ice.
"Interplanetary Communication Beacon..."
He spoke slowly, his voice low and deep, yet it echoed clearly in the silent command center like ice cracking.
"They took the beacon."
"Taking down this steel tomb and seizing mountains of equipment, weapon blueprints, and experimental data... looks like a very fruitful haul?"
A cold, emotionless smile curved his lips, a smile that held a heavy self-mockery, but also an overwhelming rage and resentment.
"But if the beacon isn't shut down, isn't completely destroyed... everything we've done is merely lighting up a bright, conspicuous lighthouse for the impending arrival of the interstellar hyena fleet! This is a complete and utter failure!"
Every word felt like a heavy hailstone striking everyone's hearts. The air in the command center seemed to freeze, and the joy of victory over the past few days vanished, leaving only a heavy sense of suffocation.
Frank instinctively clenched his fists, his face filled with resentment...
Xiao Ce tried to activate the creation base again, but the warship was too badly damaged to start.
Furthermore, the materials needed for repair were also missing, so Xiao Ce abandoned his idea of taking the whole thing...
Since they couldn't take the entire creation base with them, they didn't shut down the beacon either.
But we can't let this trip go to waste...
"Since we can't take it all with us, let's empty this place out..."
His orders were not to be questioned: "All databases, core research data, manufacturing blueprints, weapon prototypes... especially 'The Heart of the Ruins,' along with all the equipment that sustains it, strip it completely! Leave nothing behind!"
A frenzy of evacuation and looting began within the ruined creation base...
The massive transport submarine, resembling a steel whale, was docked in a newly reopened, concealed dock beneath the base...
The Frost Giant engineering mech emitted a deafening roar...
They carved pathways through the ruins, using robust robotic arms and powerful traction beams to move priceless equipment, massive experimental chambers, and even entire unfinished android production lines...
Like disassembling a toy, it was forcibly pulled from its base and then slowly hoisted into the submarine's massive cargo hold.
The core operations of the entire base revolve around the Heart of the Ruins.
The enormous, dark blue crystal pillar was carefully peeled from its base, and countless thick conduits flowing with residual energy were severed by a precision welding torch.
Dozens of engineering mechs worked together, like ants carrying a giant egg, constructing layers of force field constraints on a specially designed anti-gravity suspension platform, before slowly moving and steadily placing this core containing terrifying energy into the special isolation compartment at the deepest part of the transport submarine.
The pale blue light shone through the observation window, illuminating the tense yet awe-inspiring faces of the engineers.
Xiao Ce personally oversaw the data plunder, directing his men to race against time to extract the most core technological legacy of the Creation Council. Massive amounts of data flowed continuously into the submarine's data core through thick, temporarily installed cables.
A few days later, as the engines of the last fully loaded transport submarine began their deep roar...