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Deus Ex Machina: Chapter 53
Chapter 53
“Zhan Feng!”
Luan Chen shouted in alarm, watching as Zhan Feng narrowly evaded the barrage of gunfire. Yet, due to his extreme maneuvers under such pressure, Zhan Feng lost the best opportunity to close in on Derek and could only defend himself amidst the relentless onslaught. Luan Chen also drew his weapon, engaging the machines in fierce combat.
“You’re wasting your efforts,” Derek sneered. “Ignorant and useless humans—you can’t stop anything!” Without hesitation, he pressed the confirmation button, and a progress bar immediately appeared on the screen.
The long-dormant gravitational wave radio transmitter began to activate, the progress bar steadily advancing.
“You madman!” Zhan Feng cursed under his breath. Despite his skill and strength, he was unable to fend off so many robots at once. On the other side, Luan Chen wasn’t faring much better. Were they really going to waste precious time fighting while the progress bar quickly approached completion? It had already reached the halfway point in mere moments.
Derek’s sunken cheeks appeared even more ghastly in the backlight. His frail body stood resolutely before the control panel, entirely unafraid of the chaos around him or the risk of stray bullets. His goal was clear: when the progress bar reached its end, his mission would be accomplished.
“I don’t want to kill you. Everyone deserves to see the sun rise tomorrow,” Derek said. “But for others to have a tomorrow, you must be sacrificed.”
He issued a kill order, and the robots switched to extermination mode, their combat capabilities escalating significantly. The air grew heavy with the stench of blood.
Zhan Feng knew this situation was untenable. He had to break through the encirclement quickly. This wasn’t just about stopping the gravitational wave radio transmitter—it was about their survival. Both he and Luan Chen could very well perish here.
He had already died once. He wasn’t about to accept dying a second time.
Summoning all his strength, Zhan Feng fought relentlessly, his eyes bloodshot. The metallic opponents seemed as fragile as paper under his ferocious attacks. But their sheer numbers were overwhelming—each one he destroyed was immediately replaced by two more. He wasn’t made of steel; his body bore numerous wounds, and his breath came in ragged gasps.
Inside him, his blood surged like a roaring tide, boiling and restless. The sensation of impending chaos gnawed at him, an unbearable itch demanding an outlet.
“Zhan Feng! Watch out!” Luan Chen shouted. A robot, its metallic frame partially destroyed by Zhan Feng, lunged at his exposed back with a jagged limb. Surrounded on all sides, Zhan Feng had no room to defend himself.
Hearing the warning, Zhan Feng turned sharply, but it was too late.
Suddenly, a sharp sound pierced the air. The attacking robot was instantly obliterated. All eyes turned toward the source of the sound, and in the brief pause, several more robots fell.
“Yang Jin!” Luan Chen was the first to react, shouting, “Shut down the radio transmitter! Stop Derek!”
Yang Jin ignored Luan Chen and instead spoke into his communicator. “Shi Yixi, are you in position?”
Shi Yixi’s voice came through. “I’m at the radio transmitter. I’ll try to disable it.”
“You’ve got this.” Yang Jin fired a grappling hook from his wrist, launching himself to the ceiling. As he swung through the air, the spot where he had been standing was obliterated by gunfire, leaving a crater behind. Mid-flight, Yang Jin fired a precise shot, taking out an attacking robot with a resounding explosion.
Meanwhile, Shi Yixi navigated the darkness, reaching the gravitational wave radio transmitter. Though only moments had passed since they were teleported to this location, it felt like an eternity.
The proximity to the control room had allowed them to act swiftly. Upon assessing the situation, Yang Jin sent Shi Yixi to the radio transmitter while he stayed behind to handle the battlefield.
Shi Yixi looked up at the radio transmitter. Its antenna, tangled with vines, pointed straight toward the sky. He climbed the platform and struck the massive antenna with all his strength. But it didn’t budge. Confused, he descended to the base, searching for a control signal connection. The base, however, was equally immovable.
Perplexed, Shi Yixi walked to a nearby tree and punched it, toppling it effortlessly.
It wasn’t a matter of strength—his gloves enhanced his power effectively. But why was the radio transmitter completely impervious?
As he pondered, Yang Jin’s voice came through the communicator. “Yixi, hurry!” His tone was urgent, the signal crackling with interference. Shi Yixi had no time to think further. He returned to the platform, gazing at the thinner, more complex structure near the radio transmitter’s top. Without hesitation, he gripped the antenna and began climbing.
“Pony, can you stop that damned progress bar?” Yang Jin ducked and dodged, shouting at Pony in the midst of the chaos.
Pony replied, “It’s a manual device. It can’t be stopped through programming.”
Yang Jin wanted to roll his eyes. What kind of nonsense was this? So even the most advanced technology could be defeated by a simple “manual override”? He didn’t have time to rant, though—neither he, Luan Chen, nor Zhan Feng could afford delays. The priority was reaching that console.
But the swarm of robots coming at them was worse than locusts.
“Foolish,” Derek murmured.
The sounds of the battle filled Shi Yixi’s ears. He could hear the chaos in Yang Jin’s environment and could even sense Yang Jin’s emotions at that moment.
Frantic. Tense. But not afraid—Yang Jin had an unnervingly strong heart.
“Ninety-five percent,” Shi Yixi muttered to himself as he climbed upward with all his strength. “Almost there. Just a little more.”
“Yixi! No! Stop!” Yang Jin suddenly shouted into the communicator. “Forget the radio transmitter! The progress bar is full! Get down now! It’s too dangerous!”
“No, there’s still time,” Shi Yixi gritted his teeth, determined. “I can remove the metal head at the top. Trust me!”
“Absolutely not!” Yang Jin roared. “I’m ordering you to come down!”
“I’ve got it,” Shi Yixi said, his hands finally gripping the metal component. But just as he was about to tear it off, a cold arc of electricity burst forth from the top. Startled, he yanked at the metal with all his might, and in the moment of his success, an invisible wave passed through his body and was emitted outward.
The previously clear and tranquil night sky changed in an instant, as though flipping a switch. Dark clouds gathered rapidly, pressing heavily above them. Beyond the clouds, lightning streaked across, resembling a vicious, merciless dragon.
Yang Jin heard the dull rumble of thunder, but Shi Yixi made no sound, and Yang Jin’s heart grew restless.
Zhan Feng had carved a bloody path straight to the console. Derek stood in his way. Zhan Feng raised his gun and fired. However, a pursuing robot knocked him slightly off balance, and the shot missed its mark, veering away from the console’s control panel.
Sparks erupted from the console as it short-circuited, but strangely, the progress bar didn’t stop!
“Pointless,” Derek said with a smug look.
Enraged, Zhan Feng fired another shot. This time, it struck Derek in the chest. As Derek collapsed to the ground, he reached out and pressed the final confirmation button with a bloodied hand, staining the console red.
The progress bar filled completely. The gravitational wave radio transmitter had been activated.
“Stop struggling. It’s meaningless now,” Derek said, his blood giving him an eerie hue as he smiled, both satisfied and twisted. “Even if you kill me now, nothing will change.”
Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out a small controller and pressed it forcefully. Smiling grimly, he added, “My will shall live on, and I’ll leave nothing behind for you.”
A muffled explosion came from somewhere, and the ground began to tremble. The sound of the explosions grew closer and closer. Luan Chen reacted, “This is bad! He’s going to destroy this place!”
“Ah—!” Zhan Feng cried out as a robot attacked him from behind, leaving a deep gash. He collapsed into a pool of blood, utterly drained. Luan Chen leaped forward, killing the robot and scooping Zhan Feng up in his arms. Things were beyond salvageable; there was no point in wasting any more time here.
“I’ll take you with me,” he said to Zhan Feng.
Yang Jin was furious, itching to curse out loud. He couldn’t fathom why Zhan Feng had fired at the console under such dangerous circumstances or where this lunatic Luan Chen had come from. If given the chance, he’d love to wipe out both sides entirely.
But reality didn’t permit such luxuries.
“Leave? Leave where?” Yang Jin shouted. “There’s a reservoir here! It’s already started leaking, and with explosions of this magnitude, the dam will collapse entirely! When that happens, the entire Chunming City will be submerged!”
“What does that have to do with me?” Luan Chen said. “You always think a group of people is more important than an individual. But to me, that’s not the case.”
The explosion arrived. The console turned to dust in the roar of the blast, and Derek’s laughter was swallowed by the sea of fire.
The earth shook violently, and the place was no longer safe. The three of them retreated, knowing the reservoir wouldn’t hold much longer. Running as fast as he could, Yang Jin yelled, “Pony! Get me the emergency system for the reservoir! There has to be one!”
“It’s above the reservoir,” Pony replied. “There’s a manual lever.”
Yang Jin cursed out loud, “What the hell were these people thinking? Why isn’t there an automated emergency system?”
Pony said calmly, “Yang Jin, this isn’t some advanced city. Not everything here is that sophisticated. You know that.”
Yang Jin understood the logic. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t find it a big deal. But in this life-and-death situation, the stark reality of how outdated the system was infuriated him, even if he accepted it intellectually.
A plane’s engine roared overhead, creating a massive gust of wind as it descended vertically. A ladder dropped from the aircraft’s cargo hatch, and Luan Chen climbed aboard with Zhan Feng.
“You!” Yang Jin exclaimed in shock.
The plane ascended rapidly. Zhan Feng had already fallen unconscious from blood loss, while Luan Chen waved at Yang Jin and said, “We have more important things to attend to. Hero, this is all yours.”
The two disappeared into the cabin, and the plane quickly retreated. Yang Jin had no time to curse them; he turned and scrambled toward the top of the reservoir. Lightning flashed across the sky, thunder rumbled, and the wind howled in his ears. He asked, “Yixi, how are you?”
“I’ve dismantled the thing,” Shi Yixi replied, his voice tinged with disappointment. “But it seems… it’s too late. It’s thundering. Is it going to rain? The ground’s shaking—an earthquake?”
“Don’t worry about that. You’ve done great,” Yang Jin said. “The reservoir can’t hold much longer. I’m going to pull the manual lever. Pony, connect to Chunming City’s network and send an emergency evacuation alert! Then sync with our aircraft’s control system and bring it over to pick up Yixi. Yixi, get back to Chunming City and oversee the evacuation! Hurry!”
Yang Jin’s voice over the communicator was rapid and urgent, but his commands remained clear and orderly. Shi Yixi responded and leapt down from the top of the antenna. When he landed, a sudden pang shot through his chest, sharp like a needle prick.
He paused only for a moment before the torrential rain poured down. Their aircraft approached swiftly. Shi Yixi climbed aboard, greeted by ZZ in the cockpit.
“It’s you,” Shi Yixi said. “I thought…”
“Pony’s clearance level is higher than mine,” ZZ replied. “I follow her orders.”
“Alright,” Shi Yixi said. “Let’s go home and save everyone.”
Yang Jin quickly found the place where the manual lever was located, but the sight of it made him want to die.
“How long has it been since anyone did maintenance here?” Yang Jin inspected the lever in a hurry, coming to a grim conclusion. “What kind of metal rusts like this? Were they using their feet to build this reservoir?”
Pony replied, “Yang Jin, there are many inexplicable things in this world. People have reduced labor costs significantly with automation and artificial intelligence. Yet, in the most critical moments, they don’t trust the technology they’ve created and instead pin their hopes on manual devices. Accidents are rare, and over time, people forget these things exist.”
“Which is why disasters catch them so completely unprepared,” Yang Jin said, gripping the lever tightly. He took a deep breath. “That lunatic wasn’t wrong about one thing: people are…”
“Beyond saving,” Pony finished.
Yang Jin pulled hard on the lever. The rusted metal creaked, but just as the lever began to move, it snapped with a sharp “crack.” His heart sank, and he immediately contacted Shi Yixi. “Have you arrived?”
“I have,” Shi Yixi replied, “but no one is responding. It’s past three in the morning—everyone’s dead asleep.”
“I had Pony send out the emergency alert!”
“…” Shi Yixi didn’t know how to respond.
Pony explained, “Few people are awake, and those who are won’t take it seriously.”
To save time, Yang Jin began manually dismantling the mechanism around the gate while continuing the conversation. “Then find a way to make noise—bang drums if you have to! What about the Intercontinental Alliance? Are they ignoring this too?”
Pony asked, “Should we reveal our location?”
Yang Jin shot back, “Or would you rather the entire city die alongside those lunatics?”
“Fine.” Pony sent messages to both the Intercontinental Alliance and Chunming City’s government. She also issued a mandatory activation command to every citizen’s terminal.
In this torrential downpour of a night, every household in Chunming City felt like it was haunted. Electronic devices and terminals lit up one after another, emitting a cacophony of sounds.
When the citizens were finally woken up, the ground was already trembling.
Yang Jin dug into the ground around the gate, exposing its interior. The sudden downpour had rapidly raised the reservoir’s water level, shortening the collapse timeline by a significant margin. The tremors grew increasingly violent. Just as Yang Jin’s hand touched the mechanism, a massive crack appeared in the room’s floor.
Before he could react, the floodwaters burst through, destroying everything in their path and surging uncontrollably toward Chunming City.
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