Chapter 266: Interception
TL: xDh20, LifeisaJourney
"Bi-polar Love" - Brett Butler
Feel free to listen as you read!
Liu Gan pulled Zhang ShengLi out from underneath the bed, and then looked back at the already dead Qiao Feng. It was quite redundant, now that Liu Gan thought about it. First, the armored warriors caught them alive, but then they wanted to transform them into variant zombies? However, the act of killing Qiao Feng meant that something had gone wrong, and that they didn't want to continue experimenting.
This wasn't the time or place to be thinking of such things. It was for the best if both of them escaped from their location before worrying about other useless distractions. The armored warriors were simply too powerful for even Liu Gan. There was no way to directly face off against them. It would be better if they could escape from this location, and come back at another time when it was less guarded.
"These armored warriors are all reliant on photon power for energy. Inside of their bodies are circulating aggregates of photon nanomites. Photon energy is more efficient than electrical energy output. Just a single nanomite stores more than ten times the amount of energy that an electrical plasma nanobot provides. If we could kill one of the warriors, we could extract the photon nanomites and exchange them with my electrical plasma nanobots. That would supply me with energy for a long time." Yin He told Liu Gan.
"Have you found a way to kill them yet?" Liu Gan asked.
"Not yet. As of right now, my strength isn't enough to kill these androids yet. Also, inside their microchips they have safeguards in place to prevent their secret technology from being revealed. The moment that they die, all of the nanobots will cease to function. It would be difficult for me to to take advantage of the nanobots if that happens. Unless I can do the exchange while they are alive, but I can't do that now." Yin He explained to Liu Gan.
"That does sound difficult. Don't do anything rash. Even if there's an advantage to doing something, you need to survive to enjoy the benefits." Liu Gan explained to Yin He. He was afraid that she wouldn't listen to his commands, and do something risky.
Perhaps it had to do with the intimacy level rising between them, but lately Yin He had become more human-like. It was too early to tell if that was a good or bad thing.
"I won't. You will have to time it well, there is another armored warrior closing in on your location." Yin He replied to Liu Gan.
While chatting with Yin He, Liu Gan took a look outside of the room to make sure it was safe. Then, he would go back to the room and drag Zhang ShengLi with him. Zhang ShengLi had regained some of his strength, so he barely managed to stand up. With Liu Gan by his side, his feet still dragged on the floor.
"Elder Liu, I won't make it far like this. Just leave me here. I don't want to be a burden for you." Zhang ShengLi feebly mumbled.
"Don't say such things. I had a hard time getting you to level 6. If I leave you here, they will just kill you. That would mean throwing away my investment. How can I do that after investing so much in you?" Liu Gan shook his head.
"Elder Liu..." Zhang ShengLi couldn't find anything else to say.
With Liu Gan holding Zhang ShengLi by the arm, they reached a hallway which led to a staircase. The stairs were at the far end of the hallway. Suddenly, they heard a series of footsteps from behind. The cadence of the footsteps matched that of the warriors. Yin He's warning through the earpiece confirmed their fears.
Liu Gan didn't abandon Zhang ShengLi and run off to the stairs by himself. Instead, he carried Zhang ShengLi on his back, and started walking faster. It was a foot race. Hopefully, they would reach the stairs before the armored warriors could reach them.
Liu Gan didn't dare to walk too quickly, since loud footsteps would attract unnecessary attention. The balance between increasing speed and minimizing sound was difficult to achieve. Liu Gan really wanted to rush to the staircase. By the time the armored warrior turned the corner and saw Liu Gan, they still hadn't reached the end of the hallway.
The armored warrior rushed up and loudly called out to Liu Gan and Zhang ShengLi. Since they both were wearing lab coats, the armored warrior had mistaken them for the doctors and didn't attack them. The armored warrior kept shouting at Liu Gan and Zhang ShengLi as if they had understood the meaning. Naturally, the armored warrior wanted them to stop and accept the interrogation.
Liu Gan didn't stop. In fact, he sped up instead, and rushed towards the stairs. Now that they had been discovered, they couldn't worry about whether there were people already in the staircase. The plan was to push open the fire escape door, and then lock the door behind them as they ran.
Liu Gan had just locked the fire escape door from his side, but then he heard footsteps running down. It was a familiar face, the player called Yan Su. It seemed like his condition was a lot better than Zhang ShengLi.
Yan Su had the ability [Treatment], so the moment he realized that he was paralyzed he was able to treat the paralysis. Yan Su pretended to be unconscious, while treating himself the whole time. The armored warrior carried the supposedly unconscious Yan Su to a bedroom, but Yan Su escaped before he was bound by the leather restraints. Since then, Yan Su had been sneaking around until he managed to reach the staircase. When he saw Liu Gan and Zhang ShengLi, Yan Su hurried to rush down the stairs to join them.
When they first entered the laboratory, there were nine players. Now there were only four players left. Liu Gan's group, and the solo player, Yan Su. Wang Chao's faction had been completely wiped out. Wang Chao's original goal was to hire cannon fodder, but his own faction ended up becoming the cannon fodder. What a sad life.
"How is the condition on your floor? Is it safe?" Yan Su asked Liu Gan.
"Run down! They are chasing us!" Liu Gan quickly told Yan Su. Liu Gan was still carrying Zhang ShengLi as he did his best to run down the stairs with Yan Su following behind him.
The locked fire escape door didn't hold for long as the sound of banging echoed throughout the stairwell. After the armored warrior saw that Liu Gan and Zhang ShengLi didn't listen to his command, he chased after to capture them.
As the three of them rushed down the stairs Yin He warned Liu Gan via the earpiece to stop... The reason being that there was an armored warrior standing guard on floor below them.
The fire escape door produced a loud 'bang' as the sound of it breaking echoed throughout the stairwell. The armored warrior stationed on the floor below, started advancing upwards.
"Does this floor have any armored warriors?" Liu Gan asked Yin He quickly, as they were about to get flanked. One descended from the floors above, while another ascended from the floors below.
"That floor has at least five to six armored warriors patrolling. I don't know if there are any near that the fire escape door." Yin He explained.
With the urgency of getting surrounded on both sides, Liu Gan had to take the chance of opening the fire escape door on their current floor. As he advanced while still carrying Zhang ShengLi on his back, he had Yan Su tail behind him.