Alien Rune

"Let's try it. If it doesn't work, we'll drop the bracelet and retreat."

Since we're already here, there's no reason to give up just because we've encountered difficulties. After a quick discussion, they decided to try shutting off the electromagnetic field.

A shot blew up the controller, and the electromagnetic field began to fail. In that instant, the bracelet suddenly erupted with a burst of blue light.

"Xiao Zhen!"

"Coming, Nightmare!"

Xiao Zhen abruptly withdrew all her power, condensing a massive phantom with all her might. It lunged at the bracelet, attempting to devour it and suppress it within her body.

To everyone's surprise, the blue light from the bracelet actually dissolved the Mystic's energy, forcefully breaking through Xiao Zhen's blockade and making a dash for the door.

Fortunately, the bracelet's flight path led directly to Ying Xiaoxiao's position.

Without a word, the violent female team leader raised her spear for a decisive blow.

"Where do you think you're going!"

Bang!

Ying Xiaoxiao swung her spear, smashing it down with great force onto the bracelet, pinning it to the ground.

The immense impact caused the floor to crack like a spiderweb, but the bracelet remained completely intact. Its blue light flickered continuously as it struggled valiantly, enraging Ying Xiaoxiao.

"Just stay put, you hear me!!" She raised her spear and brought it down again, striking the bracelet as if punishing a disobedient child.

"Team Leader, try your Wild Lightning power." The experienced Sha Tu immediately grasped the key to the problem.

The Black Tiger Gang had considerable influence, yet they still maintained the electromagnetic field suppression. It seemed this thing was likely countered by electrical energy.

Hearing this, Ying Xiaoxiao's eyes flashed with purple light. Powerful currents surged from her spear with a crackling sound, extinguishing more than half of the blue light emanating from the bracelet.

"We did it! Team Leader, you've suppressed it!" Baozi cheered, jumping for joy.

But before he could continue his chatter, Sha Tu yanked him back. "What are you standing around for! Block the entrance! Prepare to retreat!"

Ying Xiaoxiao's attempt to suppress the bracelet was just the beginning of their troubles.

With the commotion, the entire base's alarm was triggered. Red lights flashed frantically, and outside the research lab, gang members armed with submachine guns were already closing in.

"Who are you people! Drop your weapons and surr—"

Sha Tu flung a grappling hook, instantly ending the shouting man's life. He used the hook's pull to zip through the battlefield, his sharp boot tips reaping several lives in quick succession.

Baozi quickly entered combat mode, a burst of airflow erupting around him. His body levitated slightly, his golden hair floating upwards, looking like...

A Super Saiyan?

Baozi stood guard at the entrance, facing the bullets without flinching. He pushed his hands forward, conjuring a wall of energy in front of him. The bullets struck the energy wall as if hitting steel plates, making ding ding dang dang sounds as they were all blocked.

He turned his head and said to the others, "Team Leader, I'll hold them here. You hurry up and deal with that bracelet."

Everyone knew that the biggest problem was the bracelet's inability to be suppressed.

Within Team 17, Ying Xiaoxiao had the strongest combat power. If she couldn't free herself to fight, the remaining few wouldn't be able to break through.

Seeing the enemies increasing in number, with two experts even engaging Sha Tu, and heavy firepower like grenades and firebombs already in position, they would likely be trapped if they didn't leave soon.

Gritting her teeth, Ying Xiaoxiao decided to give up.

"Prepare to retreat. We don't want this bracelet anymore!" Money could be earned again, but not a single team member could be lost.

After speaking, Ying Xiaoxiao changed her stance from suppression to holding the gun by the barrel, the tip pointed at the bracelet, her eyes blazing fiercely.

Xu Jiang, standing nearby, quickly stopped her. "Team Leader, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to destroy it. Neither the Public Security Bureau nor the Black Tiger Gang are good people. No one else should have this thing."

Women sure hold a grudge!

Being played, she decided to make sure no one benefited, a truly violent approach.

Just then, Qianji spoke.

"General, are you intending to destroy this item? If you do not require it, would you allow me to extract its computational system."

"Computational system? This bracelet has a computational system too?" Xu Jiang was surprised. This bracelet looked like a magical artifact, yet it had an intelligent system?

"Yes, General. This is an Alien Rune. It's different from human computer systems. They construct systems using runes, and its current self-protection is a manifestation of its self-computation."

Xu Jiang understood Qianji's meaning. It was likely that computational systems came in many varieties.

Humans viewed computer programming as a system, while aliens viewed rune construction as a system. The concepts were different, but the essence was the same.

"But won't there be any drawbacks if you extract this rune as a computational system?"

"Reporting to General, there will be none. Once I advance using the Spirit Seed, this will become my property."

"The differences between systems only manifest different characteristics after advancement. Even if you assigned me the XP system, I could still operate it."

"Huh? You can even use the XP system? What are its characteristics?"

"It's prone to blue screen errors."

"..."

After all, it was alien technology. Judging by the bracelet's demeanor, it shouldn't be weak.

As the bracelet was about to be destroyed, Xu Jiang reached out and stopped Ying Xiaoxiao.

"Team Leader, if you're sure you want to destroy it, then leave it to me. I'll eliminate it."

"You?" Ying Xiaoxiao looked at Xu Jiang with some doubt.

Even Xiao Zhen, a Level 40 Mystic, couldn't suppress this thing. Xu Jiang was only a Level 4 Mech Warrior, how could he deal with this bracelet?

"I can, it'll be quick," Xu Jiang said as he crouched down, slowly reaching his right hand towards the bracelet.

This move was dangerous. If he wasn't careful, Xu Jiang could have his right hand severed by the blue light.

However, Qianji's power was even more illogical than the bracelet's.

As soon as he got close, before the bracelet could unleash its power, Qianji had already used the power of rules to forcibly extract the system.

[Congratulations, a suppressed treasure has been detected, containing a usable rune system. Do you wish to extract it.]

"Yes!"

With a command, the rune system flowed into Qianji's body with a flash of blue light.

In contrast, the bracelet lay quietly on the ground, devoid of its previous ferocity. Ying Xiaoxiao poked it with the tip of her gun, and it showed no reaction at all.

Ying Xiaoxiao looked at Xu Jiang in amazement and asked, "How did you do it? You killed it instantly?"

"That's right, I did kill it."

Although the words sounded strange, the bracelet had indeed lost its consciousness. Even the patterns on its surface had lost their luster, leaving behind only a shell, its soul seemingly extracted.

"It's good that it's dead," Ying Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up. She picked up the bracelet and blew on the dust on its surface. "I can still claim the bounty with this corpse."

With the bracelet dealt with, the rest of the operation became much simpler.

Xu Jiang had always doubted Ying Xiaoxiao's capabilities, given her young age as team leader.

But the next second, he knew he was wrong. Ying Xiaoxiao's marksmanship was truly terrifying, not the finesse that comes with experience, but a brute force driven by talent.

"Wild Lightning!" Ying Xiaoxiao roared, raising her spear with her right hand as if throwing a javelin, and hurled it violently at the wall.

A violent purple lightning surged around the spear, like a super-strong electromagnetic cannon, shattering everything in its path with terrifying power.

Rumble!

The building shook violently. The sturdy walls of the research lab were blasted through three layers in one go, creating a 3-meter diameter hole that connected directly to the outside of the building.

Ying Xiaoxiao quickly called out to everyone to retreat, "Quick, I've found an exit, let's go!"

Are you sure you found this exit? Xu Jiang really wanted to retort, but there was no time.

The enemy's main force was already closing in, and retreating was essential for survival.

Even more troublesome, a prompt sounded in Xu Jiang's mind again.

[Congratulations, a deployable mechanical unit has been discovered.]