Chapter 6 Crimson Dawn

**(1) Predator in the Rearview**

The APC jolted along the charred highway. In the rearview mirror, Su Ting's vertical pupils locked onto Lin Mo. Those eyes were no longer human – crimson slits like molten fissures reflected the APC's dim interior light, their depths flickering with cold, ravenous hunger.

"She… she's not moving?" Emily's voice trembled as she huddled beside the unconscious Zhang Tie.

"Calculating her attack angle," Lin Mo yanked the steering wheel, the APC crushing debris under its tires. "Her scales are hardening."

Before the words faded, Su Ting struck.

No warning. No roar. She became a blur of grey-green motion lunging at the driver's seat, her scaled claws tearing the air with a metallic shriek! Lin Mo's neural acceleration kicked in. The world slowed. He saw the trajectory – aimed straight for his jugular!

***CLANG—!***

Nanites coalesced into silver armor plating over Lin Mo's neck, intercepting the claws! Sparks erupted as Lin Mo countered, driving a steel-hardened fist, its density mimicking the APC's armor plating, towards Su Ting's face.

Su Ting didn't dodge! Her vertical pupils flashed with mockery, the scales on her forehead thickening instantly.

***THUD!***

His fist struck the scales, but the impact dissipated like hitting mud. The Blood Crystal embedded in Su Ting's forehead flared crimson, her scales rippling to disperse the force. Simultaneously, her right claw lashed out like a viper towards Lin Mo's ribs—

***SHRIIIEK!*** Nanite armor tore open, three bloody gashes welling up!

"Her scales absorb kinetic energy!" Lin Mo's mind reeled. The Blood Crystal didn't just grant perception; it gave her **adaptive defense**.

**(2) Cage of Burning Blood**

Emily suddenly jammed a syringe into Zhang Tie's arm. "Adrenaline! Hold on!" As the drug entered his bloodstream, Zhang Tie's eyes snapped open, his unfocused gaze clearing on the two combatants.

"Vehicle… rear compartment…" he rasped, coughing blood. "Thermite… lance!"

Lin Mo understood instantly. Neural acceleration surged! He feinted another punch, while the nanite swarm flowed unseen towards the rear toolbox—

***BANG!*** Silver tendrils smashed the toolbox open, engulfing a welding torch-like device. Nanites devoured its metal casing, reshaping it into a searing white beam emitter!

"DOWN!" Lin Mo roared, sweeping the beam across the compartment!

Su Ting's pupils contracted. Primal instinct made her flip backward. The white-hot beam grazed her left shoulder. Scales instantly blackened, charred to carbon!

***ROAR—!*** Her first cry of pain! She slammed against the rear door, blue blood oozing from cracks in her scales.

Lin Mo panted, leveling the glowing lance. Its muzzle shone like a miniature sun. "The next shot pierces your heart."

Su Ting crouched in the corner, her vertical pupils showing wariness for the first time. She licked her charred wound; the scales visibly regenerated, but slower. **The Blood Crystal's energy wasn't infinite.**

**(3) Sanctuary: Haven or Slaughterhouse?**

The outline of Shelter A3 emerged on the horizon – not a fortress, but an old military base transformed into a colossal laboratory. Its dome bristled with satellite dishes; its walls mounted pulse cannons of non-military design.

"Scan cleared. Identity: Candidate Genotype." A mechanical voice echoed from the gate. The APC was waved through, the cannons tracking them relentlessly.

Underground, Level 3 Medical Sector. Harsh fluorescent lights caused dizziness. Before being wheeled into surgery, Zhang Tie grabbed Lin Mo's wrist: "Don't trust the serum… They drew my blood… to refine 'Pacification Agents'…"

Emily's hands shook as she accessed medical files. The screen displayed an encrypted document:

> **\[Project Ark - Pacification Protocol\]**

> **Objective**: Suppress uncontrolled mutations in Candidates (e.g., K-7 Scale Manifestation, Nanite Symbiosis Instability)

> **Methods**:

> - Serum contains K-Class Neural Inhibitory Peptides (Side Effect: Emotional Blunting)

> - Pontine Implant (Remote Command Receiver)

> - **Termination List**: Subject 97 (Nanite Symbiosis Rejects Suppression)

"They're turning people into docile livestock!" Emily whispered, horrified.

Alarms suddenly blared through the corridor! A distorted broadcast screamed:

**"High-threat Aberrant detected! Location: Med Sector, Bay 7! Cleansing Squad deploy!"**

On the monitor screen – inside the operating room, Zhang Tie had broken free! His remaining right arm had erupted into a massive bone blade! He shattered two medical robots, his single eye burning blood-red.

"No… the adrenaline… it was mixed with Blood Crystal dust!" Emily collapsed. "I killed him!"

**(4) Bridge of the Dead**

Lin Mo charged towards the operating room, blocked by alloy security doors. A red scan-light flashed:

**[Access Denied. Target: Reaping Sequence 97]**

"Then we break through!" The nanite swarm surged towards the door lock, only to trigger high-voltage arcs! Nanites writhed and dissolved in the electricity – the lock was modified with K-Class tech!

At the corridor's end, the black-clad "Cleansing Squad" appeared. Their leader raised his weapon, its charging whine like a serpent's hiss, aimed at Lin Mo.

At that fatal moment, Zhang Tie's roar tore through the alloy door:

"LIN MO—! CATCH!"

A ventilation grate exploded! A metal tube, smeared with blood, shot out. Lin Mo snatched it mid-air – the thermite lance!

"GO!!!" Zhang Tie's final bellow mingled with the sounds of bone blades clashing and energy weapons firing.

Lin Mo's eyes burned crimson. Nanites flooded the lance. Its white-hot beam tripled in size! He swung it not at the Cleansing Squad, but at the heavy alloy pipes lining the corridor wall—

***KABOOM!!!***

Superheated steam erupted like a white dragon! The scalding blast engulfed the corridor, hurling the Cleansing Squad members back with screams!

"This way!" Lin Mo hauled Emily into the billowing steam.

**(5) Whisper of Stardust**

They fled into the base's deepest level: the "Meteorite Sample Vault." Transparent columns held bizarrely shaped space rocks.

Emily pointed to a central pillar. "That stone… it's glowing!"

Inside the column, a deep-blue meteorite pulsed like a heart, its surface traced with silver veins identical to Lin Mo's nanites. As Lin Mo approached, the meteorite's light intensified. A hauntingly mechanical voice resonated in his mind:

**"Sower Unit detected… Status: Critically damaged…"**

**"Warning: Ark Protocol violates… Ascension Accord… Reapers impersonate Guides…"**

**"Downloading stellar coordinates… Proceed to… Silent Cradle… Repair…"**

A torrent of information flooded Lin Mo's consciousness:

- The nanites were the "Sower" alien civilization's legacy.

- The "K-Class" were "Reapers," hijacking Project Ark to turn selection into livestock farming.

- The blue meteorite was a fragment of the nanite hive-mind, containing coordinates for a resistance.

***WHOOM!*** The vault door melted inward under pulse cannon fire! The Cleansing Squad Commander stepped through, weapon leveled at Lin Mo's head: "Hand over the meteorite, Subject 97."

Lin Mo pressed his hand against the sample column. Nanites and meteorite resonated violently!

"You want this?" He whirled around, "TAKE IT!"

Nanites channeling the meteorite's energy unleashed a howling **cobalt pulse** straight at the enemy—

**(Chapter Cliffhanger)**

As the pulse engulfed the corridor, Lin Mo dragged Emily into a ventilation shaft.

Falling through darkness, Emily's wrist-com suddenly projected an encrypted message:

> **Sender: [LOCKED]**

> **Message: DON'T TRUST THE METEOR! THE SOWERS CAUSED THE EXTINCTION! THE BOMB IN ZHANG TIE'S ARM WAS THEIR WORK!**

The sound of rushing water echoed from below. Lin Mo looked down. A black subterranean river flowed beneath them, carrying several bodies—

Embedded in the nape of every corpse was a silvery-grey metal implant, identical to the device in Zhang Tie's severed arm.

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