Chapter 27: I Need a Psion

"Where are you… you bastard…"

"Emperor bless… Commander bless…"

Duncan, in his desperation, began to pray to Qin Mo, hoping for his creations to unleash their potent abilities, perhaps by expanding the range of the biological scan. However, this function was not originally designed for locating individuals; its conceptual foundation was intended for infantry to eliminate any surviving enemies in the aftermath of a battle.

As Duncan monitored the HUD within his visor, he sprinted with the amplified speed of his powered armor. Finally, as he headed due north, the biological scanning interface revealed a red dot.

Human: 1.

Upon receiving the result, the HUD directly marked the location of the red dot, allowing the wearer of the powered armor to visualize the target more intuitively. 

Duncan exhaled a sigh of relief, cautiously advancing toward the location of the red dot while striving to remain concealed amid his rapid movements. 

After tracking for two minutes, Duncan concealed himself on a metallic slope, observing the scene before him. 

Albert was wandering alone, his eyes emanating a purple glow in the dim environment, moving as if he were a mere automaton. 

Instinctively, Duncan felt compelled to rush over and pull Albert back, his mind racing with possibilities, convinced that such an action was feasible. If Albert's aimless wandering was indeed induced by psionic influence, the psionic suppression device integrated within his powered armor could diminish that effect.

However, just as Duncan prepared to charge forward, he spotted a group of rebel soldiers speeding toward Albert on motorcycles. 

As they neared him, one bald woman leapt from her bike, her eyes gleaming with excitement as she assessed Albert, her lips moving animatedly in conversation. 

The distance was too great for Duncan to hear her words, yet the HUD magnified her mouth's movements and analyzed her lip patterns. 

A string of text materialized in his vision: We've finally caught an enemy! Take him back; I want to extract the location of that human freak from him.

After Albert mounted the motorcycle and was whisked away, Duncan chose not to immediately pursue but instead maintained a discreet distance, following them silently.

It wasn't until two hours of tracking later, as Albert was led into an abandoned metal mining shaft, that Duncan finally halted. 

Gazing into the deep, shadowy opening of the mine, Duncan squatted on the ground in a mixture of rage and anxiety, cradling his head as he pondered the wisest course of action.

Ultimately, he decided to return and report his findings.

…

At the fortress of the 47th Regiment.

Qin Mo was constructing a machine in an underground chamber, intended to trace the location of the Gene Thief clan leader, when he received a report relayed from Duncan through Klein.

Qin Mo instantly grasped the entirety of the situation; it was quite easy to deduce. 

Clearly, Albert had ventured out for some fresh air and had fallen into the clutches of a psion from the rebel forces, who had seized the opportunity to control him, leading to his abduction.

While such an incident would evoke anger and surprise within the Imperial Star Corps, it came as no shock to the Planetary Defense Forces.

Qin Mo understood that the combat efficacy and training of the Planetary Defense Forces paled in comparison to the militias in Kato.

"To be frank, I have long warned against harboring excessive expectations for our Planetary Defense Forces," Klein said with resignation before habitually inquiring, "What should we do next?"

"Psion…" Qin Mo remarked, his gaze fixed on the machine he was fabricating, "I need a psion from the rebels—desperately so."

Klein was uncertain as to why Qin Mo required a psion, but he understood that Qin Mo's needs were always grounded in reason.

"Send Gray and Grot to clear out that mining shaft," Qin Mo instructed, looking up at Klein. "I have but one request: bring back the psion, or, at the very least, their head, as long as the brain tissue remains viable."

"Understood." Klein turned and exited the chamber.

Qin Mo resumed his engrossing task of creation.

…

Two minutes later.

An unmanned transport drone hovered above the mining shaft.

Gray and Grot promptly leapt from the drone and entered the shaft, keeping a two-meter distance between them to avoid any collisions caused by their gravity shields.

"I'll take point; you cover the rear," Gray declared.

"Leave it to me, brother," Grot replied, turning his back to Gray. His visor's HUD immediately displayed a view of his rear, allowing him to navigate backward effortlessly.

Delving deeper underground, Gray activated thermal imaging and initiated life detection scans.

As the life detection waves swept through the mine, Gray suddenly heard rustling sounds, followed by the appearance of several creeping creatures ahead.

These creatures, significantly different from humans, were collectively referred to as xenomorphs within the human Empire.

The xenomorphs scurried along the walls of the mining shaft with alarming speed.

Gray raised his hands, deploying his right hand to emit a shotgun-like laser that obstructed the advance of the xenomorphs. Meanwhile, the prosthetic left hand—crafted by Qin Mo himself—unleashed its core function.

As the fingers of his left hand clenched, all xenomorphs directly ahead detonated, their biological matter splattering across the corridor.

At that moment, the biological scan concluded.

"We've disturbed a nest of xenomorphs," Gray remarked, studying the scanning results displayed on his HUD.

The scan revealed a dense cluster of red dots nearby; their precise locations were marked in his field of vision, necessitating the dimming of those red markers to prevent overwhelming Gray with a flood of indicators.

"I can't even see the way out," Grot observed calmly, gazing at the exit now blocked by numerous xenomorphs advancing toward them.

As the first xenomorph approached and was crushed beneath the gravity shield, Grot charged forward, trampling several more before halting in front of a larger xenomorph, swinging his gravity hammer.

Once the xenomorph was smashed into a 2D silhouette, Grot activated the gravity shield again, crushing the xenomorphs that were about to pounce on him.

The xenomorph assault was temporarily thwarted, and Gray switched off the gravity shield, approaching the scattered bodies to inspect them.

These xenomorphs differed from most of the rebels; only a few subtle anatomical features bore resemblance to human structure.

Gray took photographs of the creatures' corpses and retrieved a biological tissue extraction device from his jetpack. 

This device, distributed to all wearers of top-tier powered armor, resembled a pistol and could automatically extract biological tissue when inserted into a corpse. 

This was a contingency left by Qin Mo for his grand plan; if he failed to eliminate the clan leader, he at least needed to obtain the leader's blood and biological samples.

Gray deemed it essential to extract tissue from these new xenomorphs.

"Let's keep moving, brother," Gray said, reactivating the gravity shield, raising the shoulder cannon of his powered armor to aim forward. "We don't have time to dally with these creatures; let's complete the mission swiftly."

As soon as he finished speaking, the shoulder cannon, adjusted to cannon mode, released a torrent of beams that melted the metallic walls of the corridor ahead, carving a straight passage. 

What was originally a downward shaft had now become a vertical tunnel, thanks to Gray's well-intentioned intervention.