Chapter 584: Vigorous Mind Body
Chapter 584: Vigorous Mind Body
At the entrance to the underground passage of the skyscraper, Guan Shangjing was assessing the exact number of casualties.
Before the battle, Deputy Manager Song Zicheng had led a team to capture the Split Body, but he never returned, presumably having perished outside.
This loss deprived Guan Shangjing of a capable assistant.
Initially, he had twelve captains under his command, but now, only five remained, and the total number of members under them didn't exceed fifty.
The elite guard surrounding him numbered only around twenty, and they were the last line of defense for the company building.
Although there might still be many armed personnel inside the building capable of counterattacking, they were almost powerless against the attacks of the biological combat weapons.
The voices coming through the intercom indicated continuous casualties, and the markers on the intercom representing various departments of the company dimmed every few moments, signifying that those areas had fallen. This trend was spreading rapidly, suggesting that the remaining defenders wouldn't last much longer.
The only intact defense team, consisting of thirty people, was stationed at the Board of Directors, and they were quite capable. However, they were responsible for protecting the directors and couldn't be mobilized.
As Guan Shangjing was contemplating tactics to prolong the battle, the voice of Director Eagle Tail echoed through the intercom: "Guan Shangjing, how much longer can you hold out?"
Guan Shangjing replied honestly, "Director Eagle Tail, even if we retreat from the choke points, my forces can, at most, hold out for half an hour. If those people join the fight... I'm not sure how long we can last, maybe just a few minutes."
"Understood. Guan Shangjing, the Board of Directors demands that you keep the enemy at bay at all costs. Skywheel Company will not fall today."
Guan Shangjing's heart stirred as he realized what the company intended to do, and a glimmer of hope emerged. He responded solemnly, "Understood, Director."
At that moment, deep within the underground passage of the Skywheel Company, a massive creature resided. Most of its body was concealed by a curtain adorned with High Heaven Sect patterns, revealing only its limbs, which exhibited a bronze hue and a subtle glow that flickered with its breath.
Its body featured orderly arrays of interfaces connected to lifelines extending from the walls of the passage and other locations.
As one observed, a fog-like substance was being sprayed, and a greenish-yellow liquid was being infused into its body through the lifelines—the high-energy nutrient reserve of the Skywheel Company was being injected into the creature.
With the continuous infusion, the withered tentacles that had been lying limp on the ground began to swell, and the green glow on its body intensified. After about ten minutes, the tentacles suddenly lashed out, wrapping around the clinging poles above the passage, and then, with a slow, deliberate motion, the creature began to ascend.
Inside the skyscraper, the combat organisms from the Third Department had already seized control of most of the Skywheel Building and had located the underground entrance. They were now launching a fierce assault on that position, which Guan Shangjing and his team were desperately defending.
Xu Chan stood in the hall, observing the situation through the information field. If it weren't for the narrow terrain and the possibility of hidden explosives, he wouldn't have allowed the enemy to hold out for so long.
However, if they could use explosives, so could he. After sending waves of combat organisms equipped with self-destruct explosives, the enemy's casualties gradually increased, forcing them to retreat and resist in the curved terrain. It seemed they wouldn't last much longer.
The modified creatures were easy to cultivate, lacked intelligence, and only required the instruction to carry explosives. Unlike personnel, their deaths didn't evoke sadness.
After monitoring the battle for about twenty minutes, Xu Chan noticed that the enemy had retreated into an underground hall, indicating they had reached a critical position.
Just as he was about to take a breather and launch a final assault, he suddenly felt the ground shake violently, followed by another tremor.
His instincts kicked in, and he issued a warning through the intercom: "Alert! Anomaly detected! Everyone, fall back!"
This message served as a reminder to his teammates and a command to the rear forces.
The response team was prepared and quickly retreated.
Despite their swift action, it seemed they were still a bit too late. At the base of the skyscraper, a powerful psychic force erupted.
This force, like a tangible entity, spread rapidly, brushing past their bodies and surging towards the distance.
The five people present were prepared, but even so, all but Xu Chan's body shook, and they experienced a momentary dizziness, staggering backward several steps before regaining their balance.
The closest forces to the Skywheel Building were located two kilometers away, yet even at that distance, a large number of people lost consciousness in an instant, like a row of toppling dominoes.
The combat organisms within the range were almost entirely wiped out, and the flying insects in the sky rained down, quickly forming a thick layer on the ground.
Xu Chan's expression turned solemn as he felt the continuous tremors beneath his feet. Something seemed to be approaching at an incredible speed, prompting him to repeat, "Everyone, get ready."
Moments after his warning, cracks appeared in the middle of the hall, right where the Ferris wheel emblem was depicted. With a resounding boom, chunks of stone exploded outward.
An octagonal deep well emerged, revealing a pitch-black hole that led to an unknown destination.
A greenish-blue tentacle-like limb, resembling a long vine, whipped about before landing with a loud clatter. Its hard, grasping foot firmly latched onto the sturdy ground.
From the seemingly bottomless well-like passage, a rustling scraping sound and a deep, low groan echoed upwards.
The source of the sound drew closer, and after half a bell, a massive creature emerged and fully climbed onto the ground.
It resembled a standing armored insect, approximately ten meters tall, with a streamlined body and a slightly pointed tail.
Its head and shoulders were covered by a white exoskeleton resembling an ancient samurai helmet. From the top of its head, a pair of several-meter-long tentacles extended, flexible and retractable, with flower-like ends.
The head was slightly flattened, with sharp edges around its periphery, giving the impression of being able to rotate freely. From its face down to its chest, rows of compound eyes, reminiscent of insects, glowed with a dark green light.
Its broad shoulders extended outwards, and its two long, whip-like limbs reached down to the ground, which it had used to climb up.
Its waist was slightly narrow, connecting to a pair of robust legs in front and behind. On the sides were auxiliary tentacles for balance and sensory perception. Each leg had multiple joints, ending in thick footpads with claws and attachment structures, supported by delicate exoskeletons, clearly adaptable to various terrains.
This was the active consciousness entity, Vigorous Mind Body, of the Skywheel Company.
Xu Chan gazed up at the creature, while the four behind him instinctively took a few steps back, their faces filled with vigilance. It was a natural defensive reaction, and they couldn't ignore the imposing presence of this massive entity.
Xu Chan, however, stood firmly in place, and a faint light began to flicker on his clenched fist.
Despite his diminutive size compared to the entity, he could clearly sense that while the active consciousness entity might be powerful, it did not surpass their current level.
This was because the active consciousness entity was young, having been cultivated for only a decade, perhaps longer, but definitely not more than fifteen years.
Additionally, active consciousness entities required vast amounts of energy and special substances for sustenance. The Skywheel Company lacked the resources and channels to provide these, but if they were to join the Union, these issues would be resolved.
Given time, the company could truly propel the active consciousness entity to higher levels. While it might be challenging to deal with now, it was not impossible, and this might be the best time to confront it.
For the third time, Xu Chan repeated his words, "Everyone, get ready!"
In the Defense Department's combat command center, after enduring the initial impact, the holographic screen dimmed for a while before recovering, allowing them to view the scenes outside and inside the Ferris Wheel Tower.
Even so, the images were intermittent, seemingly subjected to strong interference.
Liang Specialist first glanced at the large number of fallen troops around the tower before turning his attention to the ferocious-looking Vigorous Mind Body, his expression turning somber.
The massive size of the entity naturally implied a formidable psychic power. Field information was typically controlled by active consciousness, and its transmission could cover a range of several tens of kilometers, making such psychic power not an exaggeration.
However, aside from entities like Red Sweeper, who were combat-oriented, other active consciousness entities needed their physical bodies to demonstrate their combat capabilities.
This entity was the real challenge they needed to overcome to completely destroy the Skywheel Company.
The liaison and staff members, who had previously only heard about active consciousness entities and frequently interacted with them, were now witnessing their true form for the first time. They were momentarily speechless, their hearts stirred by the entity's bizarre shape and immense size.
At that moment, the tower spoke up, "Specialist, there's an external encrypted channel seeking contact."
Liang Specialist was taken aback but quickly responded, "Connect it."
Once the channel was established, he spoke in a stern voice, "This is Liang Guanghai."
After listening for a while, his expression turned serious, and he asked, "Can you confirm that?"
After a moment, he replied, "Thank you for your department's assistance. I understand. I'll review your proposed plan sheet later. Our goals are aligned."
...
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(End of Chapter)
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