They were like parasites wriggling through the intestines of some colossal beast, racing along the long underground Root Network and soon leaving the Aberration Fortress far behind.
"Be careful."
When they were nearly two thousand meters from that location, the paralyzed Black String Moon warned them with her eyes closed:
"Any farther and we'll leave the Energy Burst's interference range."
She said nothing more.
But her meaning was clear.
From this point onward, there was a very high chance they would encounter another Nanite Storm attack.
And because Nanomachines were almost impossible to detect, they could easily find themselves surrounded by a Nanite Storm without even realizing it.
More importantly...
He had most likely already entered the Mechanical Church's surveillance range.
Lynn turned toward the commander and asked warily:
"How far are we from the nearest exit?"
The commander immediately extended a tentacle to touch the surrounding fleshy wall. His flesh merged with it, and he closed his eyes to sense their surroundings.
"Almost five kilometers. It leads to the South District. If the Mechanical Church hasn't launched a large-scale assault on the surface, it should still be relatively safe there."
Lynn nodded, his gaze shifting slightly.
"Good! Keep pushing, everyone. Whether we survive comes down to these last few kilometers."
Their hearts were heavy, and they immediately quickened their pace.
What they did not know was that almost the instant they left the Energy Burst's interference range, their movements had been marked on the Hive's surveillance network.
Lynn and the others had no idea that the moment they successfully halted the Mechanical Nanostorm's attack, they had been placed near the top of the highest-priority kill list.
The detection method was simple.
All it took was high-frequency monitoring at each node along the boundary of the Energy Burst's interference range