Ninth Division Happenings

The sudden tremor deep within his right leg, like a viper awakening, instantly drained the last trace of color from Lin Xiao's already pale face! Cold sweat soaked through the bandages on his back with a swish. He bit down hard on his tongue, the sharp pain mixed with the taste of blood forcing down the groan that threatened to escape his lips.

[WARNING! Abnormal high-activity alien energy intrusion detected! Unknown resonance with "Viper's Kiss" toxin core marker! Source Energy Core impacted! Stability decreased by 0.01%!]

In his mind, the azure light screen flickered violently. The black cracks at its edges seemed to have spread a sliver further, and the core's pulsation had become erratic and rapid!

Qin Bing's cold, sharp gaze, like the most precise radar, instantly captured the drastic change in Lin Xiao's expression and the momentary contraction of his pupils! The fingertips resting on her tablet paused slightly, a faint trace of surprise flitting across her ice-sealed face. This reaction... far exceeded the fear of "paralysis"! It was more like... a deeper, core-secret-touching stress response!

"You..." Qin Bing began, attempting to press further.

A piercing! Sharp! Alarm, like fingernails scraping across a metal plate, blared through the entire safe house without warning!

"Wooo—Wooo—Wooo—!"

Red lights flashed frantically! The previously pale and cold room was instantly dyed with an ominous blood-red hue!

The specially made communicator on Qin Bing's wrist simultaneously erupted with a blinding red light and a rapid beeping! A cold, synthesized voice spoke urgently:

[Level One Alert! High-intensity energy burst detected outside D-7 Sector! Energy Signature: World-Erosion Contamination! Threat Level: A! Target Count: 2! Rapidly approaching! All nearby combat units are to intercept immediately! Repeat...]

Qin Bing's expression instantly turned ashen! She glared at Lin Xiao, her gaze sharp enough to pierce through him! World-Erosion Contamination? The targets were heading for the vicinity of the safe house? Was it a coincidence? Or... was it aimed at this enigmatic student?

"Stay here! Don't move! And don't even think about moving!" Qin Bing's voice was like shattered ice, carrying an unquestionable command and a hint of cold anger at the interruption of her interrogation. She didn't even have time to check Lin Xiao's abnormality. Her body, like an agile leopard, instantly turned and rushed towards the alloy door!

The heavy alloy door slid open silently, then slammed shut the moment Qin Bing darted out! It shut out the piercing alarm and flashing red lights completely!

The room was instantly plunged back into silence, with only the monotonous, oppressive hum from the ventilation shaft and the alarm's red light still slowly rotating and flashing overhead.

Lin Xiao collapsed onto the cold alloy bed as if drained of all strength, breathing heavily, the cold sweat on his back soaking the thin blanket. The tremor from that instant and the impact of the alarm had almost suffocated him. He turned his head with difficulty, looking at the closed alloy door, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

Had the crisis been temporarily resolved? Or... had it merely shifted?

He tried to sense the azure light screen in his mind again. The words [Source Energy Points: -0.159] still stubbornly flickered. The core's pulsation seemed weaker after the recent impact, but the erratic rhythm caused by the "Viper's Kiss" toxin's forced "resonance" seemed to have somewhat subsided.

Just as his mind began to settle, deep within his right leg, the dark green toxin core, frozen by the inhibitor, sent out another extremely faint, yet incredibly clear... pulsation!

This time, it wasn't a tremor, but more like a... hungry call?

Buzz!

The core of the azure light screen in his mind produced a faint, almost imperceptible... tug! It was as if the highly toxic Viper's Kiss core was some kind of... incomplete, corrupted energy source?

[Faint异种 energy detected (High Contamination/High Activity)... Core instinctual pull... Attempting to parse... WARNING! Contamination level 99.7%! Risk of core disintegration and deep contamination from forceful contact!]

The cold prompt carried a strong warning!

Lin Xiao's heart leaped! Source Energy Points! This damned toxic core could actually be instinctively recognized by the modifier as a form of "energy"? Although the contamination level was as high as 99.7%, almost equivalent to poison, that sliver of activity... that 0.3% possibility was like a flickering candle in the darkness!

He subconsciously looked at the wound on his right leg, wrapped in bandages, his eyes flashing intensely. Devouring potent poison to replenish Source Energy? This was simply drinking poison to quench thirst! But... if his Source Energy Points ran out and the core disintegrated, he would also be doomed!

As these life-or-death thoughts tore through him, a seemingly smooth alloy wall in the room suddenly lit up silently!

It wasn't a screen, but the entire wall, as if activated, instantly turned into transparent "glass"! It revealed the scene of a massive, futuristic command and dispatch center outside the safe house, completely unreservedly presented before Lin Xiao!

Lin Xiao's pupils constricted! Qin Bing's so-called "temporary safe house" was actually just one wall away from the core area of the Ninth Division! This was simply the most direct observation window!

The scene before him sent a shock through his heart, instantly dispelling the desperate thoughts of the toxin.

It was a vast underground space, with a towering ceiling filled with thick alloy pipes and cable trays flashing with indicator lights. Below, a brightly lit command platform operated with hive-like efficiency.

Dozens of staff in black uniforms or white lab coats worked rapidly at their respective curved consoles. Huge holographic screens floated in mid-air, divided into countless images: city overhead views, energy fluctuation heat maps, real-time surveillance feeds from various locations, rapidly moving positional light dots...

What shocked Lin Xiao the most was the terrifying combination of "technology and martial arts" displayed on the screens!

The steel torrent, with martial arts as its soul:

At the edges of the platform, teams of fully armed special operations members were rapidly assembling. They were equipped not with traditional firearms, but with strangely shaped "Pulse Restraint Batons"—their bodies flashing with azure energy patterns, their tips capable of emitting high-intensity electromagnetic pulse nets that could instantly paralyze a martial artist's protective True Qi! The team members moved with steady steps and condensed auras, clearly possessing considerable martial arts foundations, their movements forming a perfect complement to the high-tech equipment in their hands.

On the massive holographic screen, two light dots emitting ominous dark red energy waves (World-Erosion Contamination targets) were being tracked in real-time. The screen switched to show two figures in tattered black robes, their limbs twisted and deformed, exuding dense black energy! They leaped between abandoned buildings like beasts, their speed astonishingly fast! But whenever they attempted to charge in a certain direction, a pale blue energy grid would light up in the corresponding area of the screen—clearly some kind of pre-arranged "Psionic Interference Field" that forcibly distorted space to slow their movements!

A flat, giant metal bat-like "Low-Altitude Assault Craft" silently ascended from the hangar below the platform. Hanging beneath its hull were not missiles, but two multi-barreled "Cryo-Ray Generators" emitting a chilling aura! The targets were clearly those two contaminated beings, preparing for non-lethal ultra-low-temperature containment!

The Martial Artist Association? The Ninth Division is the true blade!

Lin Xiao's gaze swept over a huge emblem wall directly in front of the command center. Besides the Ninth Division's unique emblem, resembling a sharp sword piercing a gear, the Martial Artist Association's relatively gentler emblem, composed of boxing gloves and a Tai Chi diagram, was also hung beside it.

But the feeling they evoked was completely different. The Martial Artist Association's emblem carried a sense of public administration. The Ninth Division's emblem, however, exuded a cold aura of iron discipline, secrecy, and absolute control!

A cold electronic broadcast echoed through the command center:

"Target locked! Codename: Eroded Form A, B! Contamination Level: Moderate! Threat Assessment: High physical destructive capability, high energy erosion! Priority execution of 'Ice Seal' procedure! Restraint teams prepare! 'Soul Suppressor' team has arrived at D-7 Sector perimeter! Requesting Captain Qin Bing to take over on-site command!"

The screen instantly switched to a street scene resembling ruins. Qin Bing's sharp figure appeared prominently in the center of the screen! She was rapidly issuing commands into her communicator, her figure moving quickly and precisely amidst the rubble, no less agile than her tough subordinates. The black special handgun in her hand had been put away, replaced by a short sword flashing with high-frequency oscillation waves—clearly designed to counter the energy erosion characteristics of the contaminated beings!

The shadow of the "Shadow Alliance" was everywhere!

Lin Xiao's gaze was fixed on the two "Eroded Forms" on the holographic screen, their bodies twisted and emitting dark red light. In some corners of their tattered black robes, a very blurry, distorted mark resembling a shadow could be vaguely seen—an abstract eye outline, entwined with countless twisted lines!

Shadow Alliance!

The name coiled around Lin Xiao's heart like a cold viper! Fragments of the World-Erosion Seed, the pursuit by the Viper, the World-Erosion Contaminated beings... behind all of this, the shadow of this mysterious and terrifying dark organization loomed! What did they want to do? Create chaos? Or... was there a more terrifying scheme?

The power displayed by the Ninth Division startled Lin Xiao, but the insidious methods and infiltration capabilities of the Shadow Alliance made him feel a deep chill. He was like a pebble tossed into a massive whirlpool, caught between the official forces and the dark organizations, liable to be shattered at any moment!

Just as his emotions surged, deep within his right leg, the dark green toxin core pulsed clearly once again! This time, accompanying the pulsation, a faint, almost imperceptible "warm current," carrying a faintly sweet and rotten scent, somehow ignored the inhibitor's blockade and seeped out extremely slowly, attempting to merge with his flesh and blood!

Buzz!

The core of the azure light screen in his mind trembled violently! That instinctive pull instantly intensified several times! It was as if a starving beast had caught the scent of blood!

[Warning! High-pollution alien energy (Viper's Kiss core) is attempting to erode the host! Contamination spread risk: Extremely High!]

[Core instinctually resisting… detecting faint activity… attempting passive stripping… stripping efficiency: 0.000001%… Source Energy Points replenishment: +0.001]

[Source Energy Points: -0.159 + 0.001 = -0.158!]

A glaring crimson [+0.001] flashed and vanished next to [-0.158]!

Lin Xiao's body stiffened abruptly! A strange sensation, a mixture of intense pain, cold numbness, and a faint warm current, shot through his entire body from the wound on his right leg like an electric current!

Devouring potent poison… could actually… replenish Source Energy? Even if it was only a negligible 0.001 points?!!