"Only the crazy live long."
Qin Yu spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and sat up.
The duct was full of accumulated dust, making anyone cough with the slightest movement.
But it was still better than that microwave oven outside.
"Stop playing dead."
Qin Yu patted Elena's thigh—the only part of her body that wasn't badly burned.
"Hurry up and see where we've been blown to."
Elena groaned, propping herself up.
Her once dazzling blonde hair now resembled dry straw, and her face was as black as if she'd just crawled out of a coal mine.
"Boss."
Elena opened the tactical Terminal on her wrist; the screen was cracked in one corner but still stubbornly flickering with a green light.
"Bad news."
"The structural map here has no signal; it's offline."
"What's the good news?" Qin Yu asked.
"The good news is, the air in this duct is cool."
Elena pointed toward the pitch-black passage ahead.
"That means this end connects to the central air conditioning's main room, or..."
"The command center."
Qin Yu's eyes lit up.
In places like an Armory, the higher the security level, the better the air conditioning.
That was common sense.
"Let's go."
Qin Yu pulled out a bottle of iodine and two rolls of bandages from his system space, tossing them to Elena.
"Wrap it up as we go."
"Don't get an Infection."
The two of them crawled forward like giant rats through the narrow ventilation duct.
Their knees ached from the friction.
With every crawl, a few of the blisters from their burns burst, sticking to their clothes with a piercing pain.
But neither of them made a sound.
If you're alive, you endure it.
After crawling for about five minutes.
A faint light appeared ahead.
Light filtering through a grate.
Qin Yu crawled over and peered down through the gaps in the grate.
Below was a massive hall.
Unlike the grease-covered workshop from earlier.
This place had white floor tiles; though covered in dust, their original quality was still evident.
Several silver-white cryo pods were neatly arranged.
Surrounded by incomprehensible instruments.
"It's a laboratory."
Elena leaned closer, her voice very low.
"And a high-level one."
"Look at that door."
Following the direction of her finger.
Qin Yu saw a massive glass door.
Printed on it in bright red letters:
[S-01 Core R&D Zone (No Entry)]
"There's treasure here."
Qin Yu's intuition instantly kicked in.
That Tyrannosaurus Mecha earlier was fierce, but it was mass-produced.
Since this was the "Core R&D Zone."
There had to be something good here.
"Let's go down."
Qin Yu didn't hesitate at all.
He reached out and grabbed the grate.
With a sudden burst of strength.
"Snap!"
The rusted screws snapped directly.
The grate fell off.
Qin Yu slipped out like a nimble cat, his hands gripping the edge of the duct, his body hanging in mid-air.
He let go.
Landed.
Silently.
Elena followed closely behind.
The two stood in the empty laboratory, back to back, raising their guns.
Alert.
Deadly silence.
Only the occasional "beep" of self-checks from the cryo pods broke the quiet.
"Clear."
Elena scanned the area, confirming there were no active defense systems.
"Boss, look at this."
She walked over to a lab table.
On it lay several scattered blueprints and a metal plate glowing with blue light.
Qin Yu approached.
The system prompt sounded at just the right moment.
[Ding!]
[Blueprint fragment detected!]
[Item Name: Exoskeleton Armor · Windrunner (Leg Component · Left)]
[Rating: S-Class]
[Description: The pinnacle of single-soldier combat equipment from the previous era, emphasizing high mobility. When equipped, movement speed increases by 300%, jump height increases by 200%, and includes the "Phase Slide" skill.]
"Just one leg?"
Qin Yu curled his lip.
This system was getting stingier by the day.
"And this."
Elena picked up the metal plate.
"This is an ID card."
"Highest authority."
She waved the plate over the tactical terminal in her hand.
"With this, that big door earlier..."
"Can we open it?" Qin Yu asked.
"No."
Elena shook her head, her expression grim.
"Quite the opposite."
"With this, I just checked the entire armory's status."
She turned the terminal screen toward Qin Yu.
On it was a red three-dimensional building model.
The entire model was locked by a massive red padlock.
"We're trapped."
Elena pointed to the top of the model.
"The high-temperature sterilization program earlier triggered the highest-level 'Dead Hand System.'"
"Not only are the lower gates welded shut."
"Even the elevator shafts, ventilation shafts, and even sewage outlets leading to the surface."
"All locked down."
"Three layers of physical sealing."
"Not just people."
"Not even a fly could get out."
Qin Yu stared at the red model.
His brow twitched.
"So."
"We just crawled out of the oven."
"And fell into an iron coffin?"
"You could put it that way."
Elena tossed the ID card onto the table with a sharp clang.
"And."
"Although the oxygen circulation system here is still running."
"The energy core..."
She glanced at Qin Yu.
Her expression was complicated.
"That stone you just snatched."
"It's gone."
"The backup power can only last 24 hours at most."
"After 24 hours."
"The entire facility loses power."
"We'll either starve or suffocate."
Qin Yu didn't speak.
He walked to the window.
This was the second underground level.
Through the reinforced bulletproof glass, he could look down at the massive production workshop below.
Now.
The red light below had faded.
Leaving only darkness and silence.
The ventilation shaft was still slowly turning.
That was their only way back.
But that path only led in, not out.
"24 hours..."
Qin Yu stroked the stubble on his chin.
Not only was he not panicked.
He actually smiled.
"Enough."
"Since we can't get out."
"Then we'll empty this place."
Qin Yu turned around.
His eyes gleamed with a bandit's greed.
"The system is locked down."
"That means no one's in charge here anymore."
"Isn't this just an all-you-can-eat buffet?"
Elena was stunned.
Was this guy's thought process different from normal people's?
"Boss."
"Did you not understand?"
"Even if you empty this place."
"If we can't get out, we'll just be buried with the people from the previous era."
"Who says we can't get out?"
Qin Yu walked over to an instrument covered with a dust cloth.
He yanked it off.
Dust flew everywhere.
Below was an exaggeratedly designed heavy-duty workbench.
"Physical lockdown, huh?"
"Dead Hand System, huh?"
Qin Yu patted the cold surface of the table.
"As long as it's man-made."
"There's no wall that can't be blown open."
"If there is."
"Then there just isn't enough explosives."
He turned to look at Elena.
"You're the demolition expert."
"There must be an explosives depot in this armory, right?"
Elena's eyes flickered.
"There is."
"It's in Zone B-3."
"That's where the depleted uranium armor-piercing shells and high-energy explosives for the Tyrannosaurus Mecha are stored."
"But..."
"There are guards there."
Elena pulled up a surveillance screenshot.
In the blurry image.
Several silvery-white shadows could be seen wandering the corridor.
Unlike those bulky Tyrannosaurus Mecha.
These shadows.
Were slender.
Agile.
Holding dual blades in their hands.
"Hunter Model."
Elena's voice tightened slightly.
"Specially designed to deal with invading special forces."
"Extremely fast, equipped with optical camouflage."
"Invincible in close combat."
Qin Yu glanced at it.
The corner of his mouth curled even wider.
"Close combat?"
He drew the already chipped Alloy Combat Blade from his back.
The bloodstains on the blade had dried, turning dark brown.
"What a coincidence."
"That's exactly what I love most."
"Going blade-to-blade with someone."
...
Ten minutes later.
Zone B-3.
Ammunition Depot Corridor.
The lighting here was dim.
Only the emergency lights in the corners emitted a sickly green glow.
The air was filled with the smell of machine oil.
"Zzz... zzz..."
An extremely faint electric current sound.
Qin Yu pressed against the wall, holding his breath.
His ears twitched.
S-Class auditory perception fully activated.
Left side.
Ten meters.
There was an extremely subtle disturbance in the air.
That was the refraction phenomenon when optical camouflage activated.
"Can you see it?"
Qin Yu pressed his earpiece, his voice extremely low.
Elena was lying on a crate twenty meters behind him, aiming an electromagnetic rifle she had just taken from the laboratory.
"Not very clearly."
"Thermal imaging is being jammed."
"Can only make out the outline."
"That's enough."
Qin Yu tightened his grip on the hilt.
"I'll count to three."
"You take the one on the left."
"The one on the right is mine."
"One."
"Two."
"Three!"
"Bang!"
The electromagnetic rifle in Elena's hands fired first.
A blue electric arc instantly tore through the darkness.
"Clang!!"
Sparks flew.
In the previously empty air on the left, a silvery-white figure suddenly materialized.
It was a humanoid robot only two meters tall.
With a streamlined body, no facial features, only a single red eye.
The bullet struck its shoulder armor.
Leaving only a shallow white mark.
"Hardness S-Class!"
Elena shouted.
"Conventional weapons are ineffective!"
"Then we'll use brute force!"
Qin Yu had already charged out.
Fast as a bolt of lightning.
The air on the right suddenly distorted.
Another "Hunter" materialized.
It wasted no words.
The high-frequency vibration blades on its arms instantly extended.
Sweeping horizontally towards Qin Yu's neck.
Fast.
Accurate.
Ruthless.
If this strike landed, his head would definitely be severed.
"Get down!!"
Qin Yu didn't even dodge.
At the moment he was about to collide with the blade.
He suddenly performed a slide tackle.
"Screech—"
Sparks sprayed across his face.
The vibration blade swept past the tip of Qin Yu's nose.
Slicing off a few strands of his hair.
And the Alloy Combat Blade in Qin Yu's hand.
Using the momentum of the slide tackle,
He swung his blade fiercely toward the Hunter's ankle.
That was the joint.
The weak point!
Crack!!
Even with its special alloy construction,
under Qin Yu's S-Class brute strength,
it couldn't withstand such a brutal slash.
The Hunter's left ankle deformed and snapped instantly.
Losing its balance,
the massive body crashed heavily to the ground.
"Strike while the iron is hot!"
Qin Yu leaped up,
directly mounting the Hunter's body.
Gripping the blade with both hands,
tip pointed downward,
he aimed straight for that flickering red light—the single eye.
Thud!!
Like a toothpick piercing tofu,
the blade sank in to the hilt.
Zzzzt—!!
The Hunter convulsed wildly.
Short-circuited internal circuits burst into sparks.
Qin Yu pressed down hard,
letting the electric current travel up the hilt into his body.
Numbness.
Sharp pain.
But he acted as if he couldn't feel it.
With a fierce twist of both hands—
Crunch!
Core destroyed.
The red light in the Hunter's eye
faded out.
"Hah…"
Qin Yu pulled out the blade,
dragging out a stream of black machine oil.
He stood up and looked toward the other side.
Elena was locked in combat with another Hunter.
Though she lacked Qin Yu's raw strength,
she made up for it with agility.
Dodging left and right within the storm of the robot's dual blades,
she moved like dancing on the edge of a knife.
"Need any help?"
Qin Yu leaned against the wall, shaking the oil off his blade.
"Shut up!"
Elena rolled away from a lethal strike.
"Watch your own back!"
No sooner had she spoken
than a third red light ignited in the darkness behind Qin Yu.
A third one!
And right above him!
It clung to the ceiling like a giant spider,
four blades descending simultaneously,
sealing off all of Qin Yu's escape routes.
"Ambush?"
Qin Yu jerked his head up,
a fierce grin flashing in his eyes.
"I've been waiting for you!"
He didn't use his blade.
Instead, his left hand shot upward.
"Gravity Field! Activate!!"
[Netherworld: Death's Kiss] trait triggered!
Though the gun wasn't in his hand,
the rule-based power ingrained in his blood could still be partially unleashed.
Hum—!!
A terrifying Tenfold Gravity
instantly enveloped the descending Hunter.
Its once-light body
suddenly became heavy as a mountain.
Thud!!
It didn't just fall—
it was violently slammed down by gravity,
cratering the floor on impact.
Parts scattered everywhere.
Before it could even struggle to rise,
Qin Yu's boot was already planted on its chest.
"You call yourself a Hunter?"
Qin Yu looked down at the frantically flashing single eye.
With one swing of his blade—
Crack!
Head severed.
Clean and decisive.
By then,
Elena had also finished her fight.
She had jammed a high-voltage cable—torn from somewhere—straight into the Hunter's neck,
electrocuting it into a pile of scrap.
"Done."
Elena tossed the cable aside, breathing heavily.
Her clothes were torn in several new places,
revealing pale skin and fresh bloodstains beneath.
"That should be all the guards here."
She walked up to the heavy Explosion-Resistant Door
and entered the password obtained from the lab.
Beep—Verification passed.
The door slid slowly open to both sides.
A strong smell of gunpowder rushed out.
Lights flickered on,
illuminating the scene inside.
Both Qin Yu and Elena froze simultaneously.
Even accustomed to grand spectacles,
they were momentarily stunned by what lay before them.
This was no mere ammunition depot.
It was practically a war museum.
Rows upon rows of shelves stretched as far as the eye could see.
They were piled high with densely packed ammunition crates.
From the smallest 9mm pistol rounds.
To autocannon shells as thick as an arm.
To tactical missiles as tall as a person.
Everything was here.
And.
It was all brand new.
Despite the many years that had passed, preserved in a vacuum, they still gleamed with an alluring metallic sheen.
"We've hit the jackpot..."
Qin Yu murmured to himself.
He walked up to a shelf.
Picked up a pitch-black heavy sniper round.
[Item: Depleted Uranium Armor-Piercing Explosive Shell (S-Class)]
[Description: Specializes in dealing with all kinds of defiance. One shot, one soul, with a secondary explosive effect.]
"If I loaded this into my Kiss of Death..."
Qin Yu swallowed hard.
The mental image was too beautiful, he dared not dwell on it.
"Boss."
Elena's voice rang out from deeper inside.
Carrying a slight tremor.
"You'd better come see this."
She was standing before a separate display case at the very back.
That case was specially reinforced.
It didn't contain bullets.
Only one thing.
A black briefcase.
On the case.
Was printed a yellow and black nuclear radiation symbol.
"This is..."
Qin Yu's pupils contracted sharply.
"A Tactical Nuclear Warhead."
Elena's face was pale.
"Codename 'Peacemaker'."
"Yield: five kilotons."
"Although it's considered miniature."
"But this thing alone."
"Could blast Qi Chun's Floating Fortress up there into nothing but dust."
Qin Yu stared at the briefcase.
His heart pounded wildly.
This was the real deal.
In this Wasteland World.
This was the truth.
This was the power to speak.
"Can we take it?" Qin Yu asked.
"No."
Elena pointed at the base beneath the case.
"Gravity Sensor Lock."
"Once it's lifted, it detonates in five seconds."
"And this thing is highly unstable."
"A slight jolt, and we'll all be atoms."
"..."
Qin Yu cursed.
To see it but not be able to have it.
This was worse than killing him.
"However."
Elena suddenly changed her tone.
"Although we can't take it."
"We can use it."
"Use it?"
"That depleted uranium door sealing us in."
Elena turned her head.
A crazy glint flickered in her eyes.
"You mean..."
Qin Yu understood.
He looked at the nuclear briefcase.
Then at Elena.
A lunatic.
Birds of a feather indeed.
"Dismantle this thing."
Elena pulled out a tool clamp.
"Extract the core explosive charge."
"Add the high explosives here."
"Make a directional demolition device."
"As long as the calculations are precise."
"We can blow a hole in that damn door."
"Without collapsing the entire underground base."
"Are you sure you can do it?" Qin Yu asked.
"Fifty-fifty."
Elena smiled.
A somewhat tragic beauty.
"Either we get out."
"Or we go to heaven."
"Boss, dare to gamble?"
Qin Yu didn't hesitate.
He grabbed the handle of the briefcase.
"Let's gamble!"
"My luck in this life."
"Has always been pretty good!"
"Let's get to work!!"
.