In the darkness.
Cold nitrogen gas permeated the narrow space.
There was no foreplay.
Nor was there any need for such things.
In this iron box of only three square meters, in this desperate situation where just outside lay a hell of several thousand degrees Celsius.
Hormones were the best catalyst.
Adrenaline was the only lubricant.
"Boss."
The voice was so seductive it could melt one's bones.
"I think two of my ribs might be broken."
Qin Yu sneered coldly.
"Even if they're broken, endure it."
"This is the overtime pay you asked for."
"Mmm..."
In this iron box that could become a coffin at any moment.
At this moment.
There was only pure desire.
...
It was impossible to tell how much time had passed.
Maybe ten minutes.
Maybe an hour.
In this darkness where time had no meaning.
Everything felt exceptionally prolonged.
Finally.
With a low growl.
That suffocating restlessness finally subsided.
Qin Yu leaned against the cold wall.
Gasping for breath.
In his arms, he held Elena, who was equally limp and exhausted.
Sweat slid down their bodies.
Dripping onto the floor.
Instantly freezing into beads of ice.
"Cold?"
Qin Yu reached out and touched Elena's smooth back.
It felt icy cold to the touch.
After the passion of moments ago faded.
The low temperature of the cooling chamber began to show its power.
"Manageable."
Elena responded lazily.
Like a cat that had eaten its fill.
She didn't shy away either.
Burying her head in Qin Yu's chest.
Listening to his strong heartbeat.
"Boss."
"Hmm?"
"Not bad technique."
Elena looked up.
Even in the darkness, Qin Yu could sense the teasing in her azure blue eyes.
"Lasted longer than I imagined."
"I thought you Eastern men only had a three-minute attention span."
"Smack!"
The sound was crisp.
The feel was excellent.
"Less chatter."
"If it weren't so damn cold in here, I could have kept going until you begged for mercy."
"Alright."
Qin Yu pushed her away slightly.
Starting to rummage through the pile of tattered clothes.
"Get dressed."
"Time to get down to business."
That lingering, intimate atmosphere instantly dissipated.
Replaced by.
The Qin Yu who had fought his way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
Cold.
Rational.
Elena also put away her playful demeanor.
Enduring the soreness in her body and the tearing pain of her wounds.
She quickly pulled on the tattered tactical suit.
Though it didn't cover much of her exposed skin.
At least it provided some warmth.
"So?"
Elena asked while tying her shoelaces.
"Can we get out?"
Qin Yu didn't answer.
He walked over to the heavy circular hatch door.
Reached out.
Wanting to touch the red wheel.
"Don't touch!"
Elena suddenly shouted to stop him.
But it was too late.
Just as Qin Yu's fingertip brushed the edge of the wheel.
"Sizzle—!!"
A faint sizzling sound, like meat on a grill, rang out.
"Fuck!"
Qin Yu retracted his hand like lightning.
Even with S-Class physical conditioning.
A large blister instantly formed on his fingertip.
"This door conducts heat?"
Qin Yu stared at his finger, frowning deeply.
"Not conduction."
Elena walked over.
Her expression grave.
"It's the temperature outside."
"It's so high that even this aerospace-grade insulating material is almost failing."
She drew a dagger from her waist.
Carefully pressing the knife tip against the hatch door.
As expected.
The moment the knife tip touched the hatch, it immediately turned red-hot.
"Several thousand degrees."
Elena made the judgment.
"The environment outside right now is no different from the surface of the sun."
"As soon as we open this door."
"One second."
"We'll both turn into two piles of ash."
Qin Yu fell silent.
He looked up at the ceiling of the cooling chamber.
Although it was temporarily safe here.
It wasn't a long-term solution.
"Oxygen."
Qin Yu suddenly spoke up.
"How much longer can it last?"
Elena glanced at the pressure gauge on the wall.
Although the needle had long been broken.
Based on experience, she could still estimate roughly.
"This cooling chamber is completely sealed."
"It was originally designed only for maintenance personnel to take shelter from temporary leaks."
"At the current consumption rate."
Elena looked at Qin Yu.
"Including that intense activity we just had."
"At most twenty minutes."
"After twenty minutes, the carbon dioxide concentration will exceed safe levels, and we'll suffocate."
"If we wait until the nitrogen leaks, we'll freeze into ice sticks."
In front, a hell of scorching heat.
Behind, the suffocating Abyss.
Now this is what you call being caught between a rock and a hard place.
"Twenty minutes..."
Qin Yu murmured to himself.
His brain was racing.
"System!"
He called out silently in his mind.
No response.
That usually chatty prompt was now deathly silent.
The area lockdown was still in effect.
This was the power of the rules.
Within the rules of this Armory.
No cheats could be activated.
"Don't count on that."
Qin Yu smiled self-deprecatingly.
"Looks like we really have to rely on our brains this time."
He pressed his ear against the wall.
Trying to listen for any movement outside.
Apart from that dull, rumbling sound that seemed to come from deep underground.
He could hear nothing.
"Wait."
Qin Yu suddenly frowned.
"Listen."
"What?" Elena also leaned closer.
"That rumbling sound."
Qin Yu raised a finger.
"It's not continuous."
"It has a rhythm."
Elena held her breath.
Listening carefully.
Indeed.
That "rumbling" sound wasn't unchanging.
It was like a massive breath.
Approximately every three minutes.
The sound would grow louder, the vibrations stronger.
Lasting about thirty seconds.
Then gradually weakening.
Becoming steady again.
After another three minutes.
Growing stronger once more.
Repeating in a cycle.
"It's the thermal circulation system!"
Elena's eyes lit up.
As a former special forces ace, she was no stranger to the structure of such large facilities.
"This kind of ultra-high-temperature sterilization requires an incredibly terrifying amount of energy."
"Even a nuclear fusion Reactor couldn't maintain maximum power output continuously."
"It needs to recharge."
"And it needs to dissipate heat!"
Qin Yu slapped his thigh.
"That's it!"
"Just like human breathing."
"When inhaling, energy gathers, and the temperature is highest."
"When exhaling, energy is released, and there's a brief cooling period!"
Elena quickly calculated the frequency.
"The strong vibration period is when the High-Energy Microwave is being emitted."
"That's when the temperature outside can instantly melt steel."
"The weak vibration period is when the system is dissipating heat and recharging."
"That's when..."
"That's when the temperature drops to a relatively 'safe' range!" Qin Yu finished her sentence.
The so-called "safe."
Probably still several hundred degrees.
But for enhanced individuals with their monstrous physical constitutions...
A few hundred degrees.
Grit their teeth.
They could endure it!
"When is it?"
Qin Yu stared intently at Elena.
"That gap."
"Only lasts thirty seconds."
Elena's face paled slightly.
"At the transition node of each 'breathing' cycle."
"There's roughly only thirty seconds when the microwave generator forcibly shuts down for cooling."
"During that time, the air temperature drops to around two hundred degrees."
Thirty seconds.
Two hundred degrees.
It still sounded like a suicide mission.
"Enough."
A flash of ruthless determination crossed Qin Yu's eyes.
"Two hundred degrees won't kill you."
"At worst, you'll lose a layer of skin."
"Better than suffocating here."
He pulled two bottles of mineral water from his system space (thankfully the storage space still worked).
Without any hesitation.
He poured one directly over his own head.
Then handed the other to Elena.
"Soak yourself."
"Get all your clothes wet."
"This can buy us a few seconds."
Elena wasted no words.
Taking the water, she drenched herself completely.
The tactical suit clung tightly to her body, outlining breathtaking curves.
But no one had the mind to appreciate that now.
"On my command."
Qin Yu placed his hand on the scorching-hot wheel.
The flesh of his palm made a sizzling sound.
But he didn't even frown.
"It's the strong vibration period now."
"Ends in one minute."
Both their heartbeats began to accelerate.
"Thump."
"Thump."
"Thump."
That was the sound of death knocking outside.
The vibration transmitted through the walls.
The entire cooling room was trembling.
"Thirty seconds left!"
Qin Yu gripped the wheel with both hands.
Muscles tensed.
"Ten seconds left!"
Elena rushed over and grabbed the other side of the wheel.
Their eyes met in the darkness.
That was the understanding between desperadoes.
"Five."
"Four."
"Three."
The vibration began to weaken.
That terrifying roar was fading away.
"Two."
"One."
"Open the door!!"
Qin Yu roared.
His arms suddenly exerted force.
"Screech—!!"
Accompanied by a teeth-grating metal friction sound.
That heavy hatch door.
Was twisted open by the combined strength of the two.
"Boom—!!"
The moment the door opened.
A wave of heat, like a solid hammer, smashed in.
Even during the so-called "cooling period."
The scorching air was still suffocating.
The water on their bodies instantly evaporated, billowing out large clouds of white mist.
"Go!!"
Qin Yu didn't care about any of that.
Grabbing Elena's hand.
Like two wild beasts unleashed from a cage.
They charged into that white, steamy world.
Hot.
So hot.
Every breath felt like their lungs were on fire.
Exposed skin instantly reddened and blistered.
But Qin Yu didn't even dare to blink.
"Which way?!"
Qin Yu shouted.
His voice terrifyingly hoarse.
This place was full of ruins, full of red light everywhere.
Impossible to tell direction.
"I don't know!"
Elena shouted back.
"Look for vents!!"
"Run towards where there's wind!!"
"That's where the exhaust fans are!!"
Wind.
In this sealed steamer.
Wind was the only way out.
Qin Yu endured the intense pain.
Squinting, he frantically scanned the workshop filled with red light.
There!
At the top of the workshop.
Right above the destroyed Tyrannosaurus Mecha.
There was a huge ventilation opening.
Right now.
Because the system's cooling procedure had activated.
The ventilation fan blades were slowly rotating.
Though slow.
It was the only exit to the outside.
"Above!!"
Qin Yu pointed upward.
"Climb up!"
The distance to that ventilation shaft.
Was at least thirty meters high.
Under normal circumstances, this would be nothing to them.
But now.
Every second was agony.
Moreover.
"Zzz—"
Right at that moment.
The red lights on the surrounding walls.
Suddenly flickered once.
That dull, rumbling sound.
Echoed again.
"Not good!"
Elena's expression changed drastically.
"Only thirty seconds!"
"The next wave of microwave pulses is coming!!"
"Only thirty seconds?!"
Qin Yu glanced at the height.
Then looked at the surrounding scaffolding, glowing red-hot from the heat.
"There's no time to climb!"
That height.
Just finding footholds would take forever.
By the time they climbed up.
They'd be cooked through.
"What do we do then?!"
Elena gripped her dagger, her face filled with despair.
"Just wait to die?!"
"Die my ass!"
Qin Yu's eyes turned wild.
He suddenly turned his head.
Looking at the wrecked Tyrannosaurus Mecha still standing in the center of the workshop.
Though it was already dead.
Though its outer shell was charred black.
But.
Its massive Warship-Cleaving Blade.
Was still embedded in the ground.
And the position of the hilt.
Was directly facing that ventilation shaft!
A crazy idea.
Exploded in Qin Yu's mind.
"I'm not climbing!"
Qin Yu grabbed Elena around the waist.
"We're flying up!!"
"What?!"
Before Elena could react.
Qin Yu was already dragging her.
Rushing to the foot of that Tyrannosaurus Mecha.
"System!!"
Qin Yu roared inwardly.
"Exchange for me!"
"S-Class Gravitational Catapult Device (One-time Use)!"
This was something he'd seen earlier in the Plunder Store.
Originally used for vehicle escape.
Extremely expensive.
And it consumed Plunder Value.
But there was no time to worry about that now!
[Ding! Exchange successful! 5000 points of Plunder Value deducted!]
A silver-white metal disc appeared in Qin Yu's hand.
"Hold on tight!!"
Qin Yu threw the disc onto the ground.
Wrapped his arms tightly around Elena.
Bent his knees slightly.
And stood on the disc.
"We're going up!!"
"Hum—!!"
The next second.
A terrifying anti-gravity wave.
Erupted from beneath their feet.
"Boom!!"
The two of them shot upward like cannonballs fired from a massive gun.
Instantly soaring into the air.
So fast that not even a blur could be seen.
Straight toward that thirty-meter-high ventilation shaft.
"Ahhh!!"
The intense sensation of hypergravity made Elena scream uncontrollably.
But amidst the screams.
They soared past the burning scaffolding.
Past the lifeless mecha.
At the critical moment, just as the deadly white light began to glow again.
"Whoosh—"
The two of them, with perfect precision.
Slipped into the ventilation shaft that was slowly closing.
"Clang—!!"
Behind them.
The ventilation fan blades slammed shut.
Immediately after.
"Zzz—Boom!!"
Below.
The terrifying high-temperature microwave pulse instantly erupted.
Even through the thick fan blades.
They could feel that world-destroying wave of heat.
"Thud!"
The two of them crashed heavily into the ventilation duct.
Tumbling several times before coming to a stop.
It was still hot here.
But at least there was no deadly radiation.
"Alive… we're alive…"
Qin Yu lay on his back in the dust-covered duct.
Staring at the dark metal plates above.
Feeling as if every bone in his body had fallen apart.
His skin burned with a searing pain.
It felt as if a layer had been stripped away.
"Madman..."
Elena lay beside him.
A section of her hair had been singed.
She gasped for breath.
Her eyes fixed on Qin Yu.
That look in her eyes.
Was as if she were staring at a complete monster.
"You're nothing but a madman."
Qin Yu grinned.
The motion tugged at the blisters on his face.
Making him grimace in pain.
"Thanks for the compliment."
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