Fangs in the Shadows!

Click... click... click...

Orderly footsteps drew closer, echoing through the metal corridor with a rhythm as precise as a machine.

Lin Xuan's figure flickered, and he silently slipped into the shadow cast by a nearby hibernation pod.

Then, with a hiss, the circular alloy door slid open, and a squad of figures marched inside in perfect formation.

There were five of them in total.

Calling them humans was not entirely accurate.

Most of their bodies were made of gleaming silver alloy, with hydraulic lines exposed at their joints. Faint mechanical noises accompanied every step.

They had no facial features, only a huge single-eye camera glowing red where their heads should have been.

A striking Red Ribbon insignia was branded onto each of their cold metal breastplates.

Cyborgs.

The cyborg at the front was noticeably bulkier than the others, with two red eyes set side by side on its head as it scanned the entire cargo hold.

It raised a metal arm, and a synthesized voice sounded over the internal channel.

"Begin routine inspection. Scan the life-support data for units three, seventeen, and thirty-five. Confirm that the cargo is in stable condition."

"Received."

One cyborg stepped forward in response and approached a hibernation pod.

Armor slid open at its wrist, extending a scanning probe. A red beam swept across the pale sleeping face of the child inside the pod.

Data refreshed across the control console.

Watching from the shadows, Lin Xuan had already figured out the basics of these things.

The panel showed that their combat power was low, only around ten in total.

Yet the evil aura of the Red Ribbon Army clinging to them was exceptionally pure—far stronger than that of the soldiers at the Light base.

That meant they were a more central, more fanatical group.

Lin Xuan had no intention of waiting any longer.

Just as the cyborg finished its scan and prepared to turn toward the next hibernation pod—

A figure appeared in the middle of the five-man squad without warning.

There were no footsteps, no sound of air being torn apart. He simply stood there, abruptly appearing out of nowhere.

The five cyborgs reacted quickly.

The instant Lin Xuan appeared, their scarlet electronic eyes locked onto the uninvited intruder, and alarms shrieked within their systems.

Their alloy arms rose simultaneously as light began gathering at their energy-gun muzzles.

However, they were too slow.

Before Lin Xuan's spiritual combat power of seven hundred and fifty, their movements were agonizingly sluggish.

Lin Xuan's figure flashed, already moving too fast for the naked eye to follow.

He did not use his spiritual power. Relying solely on his physical speed, he effortlessly passed through the five cyborgs.

His fingertip lightly tapped the energy port at the back of the first cyborg's neck.

His palm lightly pressed against the spinal core of the second cyborg.

Then he lowered his body to evade a beam, driving his elbow into the power cores of the third and fourth cyborgs in the same motion.

Finally, he returned to stand before the leading two-eyed cyborg, extending one finger and touching the center of its forehead.

The entire process was unbelievably fast.

One second later.

Lin Xuan stood still, as though he had never moved at all.

But the five cyborgs had completely frozen, locked in their attacking poses and transformed into five metal statues.

Their red electronic eyes flashed wildly as the data streams inside their systems collapsed.

[Alert! Unknown life-form intrusion!]

[Physical contact detected... Analysis failed!]

[Power system offline... Neural transmission interrupted... Weapon system locked...]

[Diagnosis: Unknown attack pattern encountered... Total functional paralysis...]

[Requesting support! Reques... sup... port... Error! Communications module offline!]

The leading cyborg captain was the only one whose thought module could still barely function.

Lin Xuan's calm face was reflected in its two electronic eyes as its processor was nearly overwhelmed by a flood of data.

What was this?

A ghost?

How did he get in?

What had he just done?

Why had this alloy body, capable of withstanding rocket fire, turned into scrap metal after being touched by a single finger?

Countless questions surfaced in its program-based consciousness, but there were no answers.

Lin Xuan paid no attention to what these tin cans were thinking.

The finger pressed against the cyborg captain's forehead did not withdraw. A surge of soul power shattered the opponent's firewall and invaded its data core.

Mental Probe!

An immense stream of data flooded into Lin Xuan's mind, and a clearer picture slowly unfolded.

It was a Red Ribbon Army scientist codenamed Doctor.

This Doctor was the Red Ribbon Army's most deranged scientist, obsessed with human modification.

His subordinates specialized in kidnapping children for use in modification research.

The children on the ship were all high-quality materials they had abducted from various places.

Those with potential would be transported to a secret base and transformed into killing weapons, just like the cyborgs before him.

The useless ones were treated as merchandise and sold to wealthy people on Earth with unusual proclivities.

Lin Xuan's soul power continued deeper, and the ship's route and destination coordinates appeared clearly in his mind.

It was a secret island far out at sea, shrouded by storms year-round.

At the island's center stood an active volcano, with the research base built inside it.

At the same time, he obtained the ship's structural blueprint and the location of its control center.

The bridge was on the ship's top deck.

Lin Xuan withdrew his finger and ended the Mental Probe.

He had learned everything he wanted to know.

After that brutal soul search, the cyborg captain's electronic eyes went completely dark. Its final thought modules had been burned out, leaving nothing but an empty shell.

Lin Xuan did not spare this scrap metal another glance.

He had the intelligence, and he had settled on a plan.

The reconnaissance ended here.

His gaze pierced through the deck toward the highest point of the ship.

Since he had come, he had no intention of leaving empty-handed.

This sinful ship, the children aboard it, and the merit about to fall into his hands—he wanted all of it.

Lin Xuan stopped hiding himself and turned toward the passage leading to the upper deck.

He planned to seize control of the ship first.