In the underground tunnel.
"Rumble—!"
With a deafening crash, the tunnel doors ahead, which had been open moments ago, slammed shut, making the ground tremble.
The driverless truck let out a shriek of brakes and stopped just short of the doors.
"Damn it! This way's blocked too!"
Aurora spoke, rarely cursing.
"Can't you open it yourself again?" Logan asked.
"No! Nathaniel has personally stepped in! He and Miles are fighting for the system's highest authority. Every network space here is their battlefield now. I can't interfere!"
"How far are we from the core laboratory?" Logan asked again.
"Less than a kilometer in a straight line!" Aurora said. "But that isn't enough. The Super Leech Prototype still isn't within optimal range! We need another route!"
The truck abruptly spun around, its tires scraping against the floor as it charged toward another fork.
"Rumble..."
After turning a corner, another massive door mercilessly shut in front of them.
The entire Essex base had become a shifting maze controlled jointly by Mr. Sinister and Miles!
The driverless truck darted left and right through it, yet it could never get close to the core. Instead, it was forced to keep circling the outer perimeter.
Worse still, more and more Chimera Mutants were swarming in from every direction!
"Thud!!"
A Chimera called Collision slammed into the side of the truck like a battering ram, the tremendous impact shoving the entire vehicle half a meter sideways!
"Damn it!" Aurora growled, immediately directing the Flying Dragon S drones to swing their guns around.
"Bang!"
With a muffled shot, Collision's head snapped backward, and his massive body crashed to the ground.
"This can't go on, Logan!" Aurora said gravely. "There are too many enemies. At this rate, they'll wear us down and kill us here!"
"Then how about I