Ling Ling was moving quickly through the ventilation ducts of the factory.
She had used a skill she had copied earlier, 「Aura Concealment」, which could hide her own energy fluctuations and vital signs to a certain extent. Although it couldn’t compare to true invisibility, it was sufficient in the chaotic battlefield.
She had deliberately revealed herself on the rooftop earlier, letting the Countermeasures Section see “Bai Ye” just to let them know Bai Ye had arrived, thus diverting some of their attention to guard against her.
But her real target—
was the 「Divine Relic」 underground.
At the end of the ventilation duct was a rusty iron grille. Ling Ling kicked it open with force, then jumped out of the duct and landed in a dim corridor.
The walls of the corridor were painted with the Cradle emblem—a Möbius snake biting its own tail. The floor was gray concrete. Half of the lights above were broken, and the remaining half flickered like lights in a horror movie.
Underground Level 1.
According to the Countermeasures Section’s intelligence, this level was mainly living quarters and supply warehouses, with relatively weak defenses.
Ling Ling moved quickly along the wall, passing by an empty room. The door was open, revealing a mess of documents and equipment. It seemed that when Cradle abandoned this level, they left in a great hurry.
But it was too quiet—quiet enough to be eerie.
Ling Ling stopped. From the time she entered Underground Level 1, nearly ten minutes had passed, and she hadn’t encountered a single enemy.
This was too abnormal. Even if Cradle had deployed most of their forces to the surface, they wouldn’t leave the underground facilities completely unguarded.
“Sister.”
Lin Jiu’s voice came through the micro-communicator. She and her sister were now using an independent encrypted channel that couldn’t be monitored by the Countermeasures Section or Cradle.
“I’m here.”
“I’ve reached Underground Level 2. There’s no one here either.”
“…What about Underground Level 3?”
“On my way.”
Ling Ling’s brows furrowed slightly.
No guards on Levels 1 and 2?
Based on her understanding of Cradle’s modus operandi, this organization, which stopped at nothing to achieve its goals, would never do something so stupid.
Why?
There were only two possibilities. First, the 「Divine Relic」 wasn’t here at all; Cradle had already moved it, leaving an empty shell. Second…
“Sister!!!”
Lin Jiu’s voice suddenly became urgent.
“There’s something on Underground Level 3, moving toward me at high speed.”
The communication was cut off by a sharp burst of noise.
Ling Ling’s heart tightened. At that moment, she was very worried about her sister’s safety.
Without any hesitation, she rushed toward Underground Level 3 at top speed.
Underground Level 1.
Underground Level 2.
She jumped down the stairs, the sound of each landing echoing in the concrete space.
Underground Level 3.
Ling Ling burst out of the stairwell, and then—
She stopped.
The space of Underground Level 3 was much larger than the two levels above. It was originally a huge laboratory with a ceiling height of ten meters, and the walls were covered with various pipe and cable interfaces.
But now, there was nothing here.
All the experimental equipment had been moved out. The entire space was empty, leaving only rows of lights overhead that cast pale light evenly onto the gray floor.
And in the center of this vast emptiness—
Stood a person.
Long red hair, amber eyes, a dark red long coat, and in her hand, a longsword forged from flames.
Was it 「Surtr」?
Ling Ling’s pupils contracted slightly.
But she quickly noticed something was wrong.
No, this “Surtr”‘s height was wrong. The real Surtr was about 1.7 meters tall, while the one before her was only about 1.6 meters. Their features were similar, but this one looked younger.
Also, those amber eyes lacked any trace of vitality that a living person should have.
Instead, there was a hollow coldness like that of an inanimate object.
“Sister.” Lin Jiu’s voice came from the entrance on the other side.
Ling Ling turned her head and saw her sister’s figure appear at the opposite stairwell entrance. Her mask was still on, and her combat suit showed no sign of damage. She seemed unharmed.
“Xiao Jiu, are you okay?”
“I’m fine. But…”
Lin Jiu looked at the “Surtr” in the center of the room.
“…What is that?”
Ling Ling did not answer.
Because she had already guessed.
This was not the real Surtr.
This was the 「Divine Relic」.
More precisely, it was a combat bionic body equipped with the 「Divine Relic」.
Back when she was still in “Cradle,” she had already seen Cradle’s combat bionic bodies. They were pitiful combat weapons that transplanted a living person’s brain into a bionic robot, allowing the robot to use supernatural abilities.
And now, Cradle had installed the 「Divine Relic」 onto this thing and deliberately leaked information to lure the Countermeasures Section into attacking. What they wanted to see was not how the Countermeasures Section would seize the 「Divine Relic」, but how the 「Divine Relic」 would perform in actual combat.
“Sister.”
Lin Jiu’s voice was very low.
“It’s locking onto us.”
The combat bionic body carrying the 「Divine Relic」 had its amber eyes locked firmly on Ling Ling and Xiao Jiu, as if analyzing something.
Then, it spoke.
Its voice was exactly the same as Surtr’s, but its tone was completely lifeless, like a robot’s.
“Supernatural energy wave identification: Class A. Ability type—unable to determine. Number of abilities—unable to determine. Threat level—”
It paused.
A glint of light flashed in its amber eyes.
“—S-class.”
As soon as it finished speaking.
The carrier of the 「Divine Relic」 had already vanished from its spot.
Ling Ling’s pupils contracted sharply. She was acting almost entirely on the combat instincts forcibly instilled in her at the Cradle facility. Her body tilted to the right, left hand supporting on the ground, and she slid across the floor, while a flaming sword slash swept through the spot where she had been standing a moment ago.
If she hadn’t reacted quickly enough, that blow could have cut her body in half.
“Xiao Jiu!”
“Here!”
Lin Jiu pressed her hands on the ground and activated 「Matter Reconstruction」.
The concrete floor suddenly rippled like water. Countless sharp stone spikes shot out from the ground, heading toward the 「Divine Relic」 carrier. The spikes moved extremely fast, blocking the carrier’s path from tricky angles.
But the carrier just raised its right hand and swept the flaming sword forward.
In an instant, all the stone spikes were melted into lava by the high temperature.
“Threat level revision.” Its voice remained lifeless. “Target No. 2: A-class. Ability type—matter manipulation type. Overall threat level—A+.”
It turned toward Lin Jiu.
Ling Ling seized this opening and charged in from the side.
Her right fist gathered a ball of flames. This was exactly Flame. Only now she didn’t need to disguise this ability as C-class; she restored its original appearance. The output of Flame was raised to A-class, and the temperature of the flames wrapped around her fist was rapidly increasing.
She punched toward the carrier’s side waist.
Hit.
The fiery fist exploded the moment it touched the side waist, burning a large hole in the carrier’s long coat. The bionic skin originally covering the carrier was burned away, revealing a mechanical body made of special alloy.
And the minor damage caused by the fiery fist was being repaired by the properties of this special alloy. The metal crawled like a living thing, healing at a visible rate.
“Tch.”
Ling Ling clicked her tongue, a rare display of frustration. This was a special material she had never seen during her time in “Cradle.” Judging by its properties, it should be some kind of nanomachine.
“Physical damage: minor.” The carrier reported its status. “Repair time: 0.03 seconds. Threat level reassessment—”
It turned toward Ling Ling.
“—Target No. 1. Number of abilities: multiple. Confirmed as multiple ability holder. Threat level upgraded to S.”
Ling Ling stepped back, creating distance.
Her mind was quickly analyzing the situation.
This thing’s combat power was roughly equivalent to a quasi-S-class ability user. It possessed Surtr’s flame ability—though not as hot as the real Surtr—and also had high-speed self-repair.
And the most troublesome part was—
It kept learning and adjusting in battle. The AI installed inside it would analyze the opponent’s movements in real time to adjust its tactics.
Although it didn’t pose a real threat to her for now, it would be very troublesome to deal with.
“Sister.”
Lin Jiu walked over to her.
“This thing… it’s not easy to deal with.”
“…Yeah.”