He Is Alive

"Test log, twenty-seventh attempt to separate the power core from Xingtian. This experiment used the Crimson Hurricane's Tai'a thermal-energy combination sword to cut the target."

Beneath the cold night sky, Xuanse Cangqiong remained brightly lit.

Although the monster's corpse had been recovered, the contamination its blood had caused in the seawater still required cleanup crews to work around the clock just to keep it within safe limits.

Within the high walls, busy transport teams continued to weave among the broken walls and rubble, salvaging anything usable.

Fortunately, the medical building had escaped serious damage. The wounded soldiers had packed it to capacity; some of those with lighter injuries could only lie along the corridors, leaving more room for the severely wounded who had nearly lost their lives in battle.

Blinding lights illuminated every corner of the hangar as if it were broad daylight. Xingtian, now reduced to a torso, had been hoisted high by chains, like a prisoner who had endured torture, awaiting the control room's next judgment.

Vrrrm!

A restless rumble came from the Crimson Hurricane's hands. The eighty-five-meter-tall giant stood before Xingtian's remains, holding a thermal cutting sword that had just been ignited.

"Crimson Hurricane, you may begin cutting."

Vaporous air enveloped the sword as its agitated blade slowly pressed toward the black power core in Xingtian's chest.

There was no sound, no spark. The golden blade simply rested against the black power core's casing.

"Requesting increased power," Meng Changkong said to the control room.

"Approved."

The Crimson Hurricane switched to a two-handed grip on the sword. Its arm armor began to shift, revealing electric-boost energy nozzles hidden in its elbow joints.

Bang!

All eight nozzles across its two arms blasted brilliant white light at once!

The golden Tai'a sword suddenly turned a deep orange. Its blade was now hot enough to rival a mecha's power core at full overload!

"No, stop!"

In the control room, Dr. Chris took off his glasses and irritably rubbed his forehead.

Even though the Crimson Hurricane had raised its power to the maximum safe level, Tai'a's sharp edge still couldn't pierce the black casing by even a fraction!

"This is a waste of time." Beside Chris, a blue-eyed blonde woman sighed as well.

The Crimson Hurricane immediately moved Tai'a away from the power core's casing.

"How can it be this hard?" Meng Changqing panted heavily. If he had kept pushing, not only might Tai'a have shattered, but his arms could have broken too.

Meng Changkong was panting as well, but his attention was fixed on Xingtian.

"Control room, the Crimson Hurricane requests permission to make a thermal cut in Xingtian's armor."

"You'd better check with General Chen. If you're willing to lose this mecha, then go ahead." Dr. Chris had already thought of this approach, but it required approval from Xuanse Cangqiong Base.

"No, we're not planning to destroy Xingtian. We just want to find out how far this material has spread through its body."

Meng Changkong stared at the holographic display in front of him, which showed the scanner's analysis of Xingtian's remains.

The results showed a marked decrease in the artificial alloy content of Xingtian's remains, meaning the black power core had already fused deeply with that part of its body!

"Approved."

The Crimson Hurricane raised Tai'a with both hands again, but this time aimed slightly above the power core—at the heart, from a human perspective.

Szzzt!

This time, the scorching blade pierced the armor!

Meng Changqing immediately smiled, but just as he was about to say something, the smile froze on his face.

Tai'a had only managed to pierce a mere fifty centimeters!

The brothers quickly pulled out Tai'a and tried stabbing Xingtian's shoulder and waist armor instead, but the results weren't much better: eighty centimeters and eighty-five centimeters, respectively!

"Looks like we acted too late." Meng Changkong gave a bitter smile. "If we'd started earlier, we might have finished cutting it apart while the fusion was still incomplete."

"If that little lunatic hadn't insisted on taking a busted support pillar and picking a fight with the cube, none of this would've happened!" Meng Changqing's head ached just thinking about it.

"Doctor, should we try any other cutting methods?" Nina asked cautiously from beside Chris.

"What methods haven't we tried?" Chris shot Nina an annoyed glare. "Contact General Chen. We're carrying out Plan B. Ignite the power core—we'll study it here!"

"Do we really not need to take it back..." The woman's voice was faint; it sounded less like a question and more like a plea.

"Take it back along with a destroyed mecha? Use your head!" Chris's voice rose sharply. "This isn't something from Earth. It's a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity! Are you going to give the chance to make history to those high-and-mighty people at headquarters?"

"But..."

"No buts! We're staying here until we figure out what this thing is made of!" Chris cut the woman off. "Contact General Chen. Now!"

Ten minutes later, General Chen and his people arrived in the control room. He needed to be present for something this important, in case anything unexpected happened.

"Xingtian is a custom-built mecha from an older model. The design wasn't mature back then, and the mecha system had to be connected manually. The nuclear power core was started with an electric ignition." General Chen explained it to Chris and Nina.

"I wouldn't have guessed you knew so much about mechas, General." Chris stood alongside General Chen, wearing a courteous smile. "Nina and I may be staying at Xuanse Cangqiong for a while. Sorry for the trouble."

"Of course," General Chen replied with a smile. "We haven't had visitors at Xuanse Cangqiong in a long time. Please forgive us if we fail to make your stay comfortable."

Beyond the glass, dozens of cables had been connected to Xingtian's remains. Lao Yu stood by the lift, continually adjusting the power supply.

"General, everything's ready."

General Chen's gaze remained fixed on Xingtian. No one could tell what he was thinking at that moment.

"Begin."

At General Chen's command, Lao Yu pulled down the lever that started the ignition sequence.

The cables, dim and lifeless until now, immediately glowed white, sending surging currents into Xingtian's remains.

The sound of machinery turning gradually rose, like a steam train approaching the crowd from the distant horizon.

The black power core began to heat up. Its pale-yellow glow grew brighter and brighter, and the turbine in Xingtian's chest slowly began to turn!

"Ignition successful. Power core output increasing."

In the control room, the power readout on the screen began to climb rapidly!

"Unknown program intrusion detected! Emergency shutdown initiated!"

Just as everyone thought everything was going smoothly, the system suddenly sounded an alert!

"Disconnect Xingtian immediately!" Dr. Chris quickly spotted the problem.

The technicians hurriedly opened the control panel, but at that moment, every display in the control room turned to static!

"Warning, shutdown sequence terminated. Security protocol being overwritten..."

Outside the window, the power core's output continued to climb. The spinning turbine was like a whirlpool at sea, greedily devouring the energy from the cables!

At this critical moment, Lao Yu saw a faint white light flicker in Xingtian's chest. It was Xingtian's backup visual module!

Images of Xingtian moving on its own immediately surfaced in his mind.

"Could it be... Xingtian is alive!"