Heaven Falls

Fan Cheng and the other person crawled out of the ventilation shaft of the underground core control room after receiving the intel. The Scholar didn't immediately have them return to Kyshtym Town, but instead continued to scout outside.

"Take the terminals with you and verify the intel's authenticity, in case we've received incorrect information."

"Understood."

Fan Cheng and his partner lacked the experience of an intelligence officer, but the Thousand-Man Law-Rulers could share their experiences with each other. However, their wisdom could not be shared, which was the sole drawback of the Thousand-Man Law-Rulers.

As they were scouting in the open area around Kyshtym Town, his partner no longer needed to "cool Fan Cheng down," so their speed increased considerably. In a short amount of time, they had basically completed verifying the accuracy of the intel.

Fan Cheng reported his findings to the Scholar via their mental link. "Yes, we saw about 237 units in total. The remaining 163 might be hidden in locations we can't see, or perhaps they aren't marked on the map."

"Hmm..." The Scholar pondered in silence for a few seconds before saying, "We will begin to contract our defensive line according to the second plan. Please scout for intel to the best of your ability, and you are permitted to withdraw if the situation becomes unfavorable."

"Received."

As soon as Fan Cheng lowered his hand from his temple, his partner shook his shoulder and pointed at the dark sky, saying, "There's something in the sky."

They stood still, not moving a muscle, their minds sifting through the sounds entering their ears, filtering out any they deemed unnatural. The temperature at this late hour was close to 3-4 degrees Celsius. The surroundings were extremely quiet, with no chirping insects or animal roars. Only the cold wind occasionally rustled the sparse leaves, producing faint hissing sounds.

"Is that... a plane?" his partner asked, looking at him with a puzzled expression. Below the distant clouds, an extremely old-looking four-engine propeller bomber was flying towards Kyshtym Town.

Fan Cheng and his partner stared at the bomber. It was incredibly difficult for a single bomber to kill even one Law-Ruler, and they were somewhat bewildered.

"This, this is?!" Sudden, amplified fear caused his body to tremble uncontrollably. His partner's eyes were equally wide, staring blankly.

"Compatriots, run!" Fan Cheng shouted desperately through their mental link, hoping his cry could save one or two of their comrades. Fan Cheng also clearly saw what was about to fall – a streamlined bomb, its half-ton weight containing infinite energy.

While Fan Cheng and his partner were stunned, staring at the falling nuclear bomb, the bark of a tree behind his partner slowly shrank into a shimmering, silver humanoid figure. The T-1000's right hand transformed into a sharp spike. His partner instantly felt something behind him. He instinctively dodged, but the T-1000's reaction was far faster than any biological organism. The silver spike pierced straight through his partner's head, splattering blood and brain matter onto Fan Cheng.

Without looking back, Fan Cheng kicked his legs, his body blending with the surrounding environment, and he ran with all his might. His mental link with his partner suddenly broke. There was no other possibility than his partner being dead.

He darted into the dense forest like a startled rabbit, the T-1000 in hot pursuit. While fleeing, he took a lighter from his pocket, turned his back to the T-1000, stopped for a second, and threw the lighter into a pile of dry leaves. Flames erupted from the leaf pile like red and yellow mushrooms, subsequently turning into a forest fire. The T-1000's thermal imaging was temporarily unable to detect him.

"Good thing I didn't quit smoking," Fan Cheng thought thankfully.

He ran frantically, his mind constantly searching for a way to escape. By then, he had already severed his mental link with the Law-Rulers in Kyshtym Town. He suspected chaos had erupted there.

Upon escaping the T-1000's pursuit, Fan Cheng suddenly noticed that the robots at the location they had previously scouted were completely unafraid of the impending nuclear bomb. The intense electromagnetic pulse would absolutely turn these robots' circuits into a mess. This AI hadn't chosen to cut its losses in time.

Fan Cheng stopped, intending to get a clearer look at the robots that hadn't retreated before the nuclear bomb fell. Once the bomb detonated, the T-1000 chasing him would also be incinerated.

T-800s were positioned around a cylindrical machine. Some were transporting supplies, while others were on guard duty. It seemed they had been doing this for the past ten minutes.

Fan Cheng squinted and looked closely. At that moment, the dark clouds perfectly parted to reveal a sliver of the moon. Moonlight streamed down, illuminating the T-800s. Their dark bodies seemed to become slightly transparent. These were virtual projections! The darkness provided cover for these projections; without careful observation, no flaws would appear.

When movie special effects were not yet mature, many sci-fi and fantasy films often featured grand scenes at night, as this could mask the artificiality of the effects and make the visuals more realistic.

However, a real battle was unfolding in Kyshtym Town. The Scholar had informed him that at least 40 robots were involved in the fighting.

Fan Cheng now understood. The so-called attack was merely a tactic of alternating substance and illusion. The Law-Rulers were the ones who failed. If they had stayed calm, defeat would have been inevitable.

If Andre hadn't been distracted by choosing to help Fan Cheng and his partner, but had instead continued to locate the artificial intelligence, then even if they died from the nuclear bomb, they would have at least contributed to the main force. As it was, they hadn't even achieved their intended objective and had instead lost over 20 compatriots for nothing.

Fan Cheng had never imagined this artificial intelligence would be so insane. Weren't they afraid of Fire Moth?

But what was certain now was that this AI only cared about the Law-Ruler Cores. Therefore, Martha and her group escaping Oak Street was completely unimportant. Repelling the attack was also completely unimportant. What was important was killing Martha, making the Scholar bring reinforcements, and then taking their Law-Ruler Cores.

The turmoil caused by the nuclear explosion would absolutely enrage Fire Moth. How would they deal with the attacks from Fusion Warriors? Were they stronger than Fire Moth? Fan Cheng didn't know at this point.

"A miscalculation... We shouldn't have tried to measure an AI with a different way of thinking by our own standards. As long as it sees a profit, it will do it, no matter how shocking it is to the world..." Fan Cheng thought bitterly. It was too late to say anything now. He could only save himself and persuade the First Speaker to abandon sunk costs.

The Law-Rulers in Kyshtym Town stared directly at the bomb as it descended over the town. Many covered their eyes with their hands, but they still couldn't prevent their eyes from being scorched by the sun-like radiance. In a brief moment, their bodies were directly vaporized by the intense light radiation. The only traces left in the world were shadows, as viscous as black oil, stuck to the ground, and their Law-Ruler Cores.

The shockwave blew away surrounding buildings, uprooted trees, or snapped them in half. The fires caused by the light radiation spread to the nearby forest. The electromagnetic pulse generated by the nuclear explosion caused strong interference with electronic equipment in nearby cities, and the subsequent nuclear radiation would continue to contaminate this land.

Pat, pat—

A T-800 flipped over the rubble. The corner of something shiny was faintly visible. It gently used its hand to brush away the radioactive dust and scorched concrete covering the core. A gem with a dark red hue lay quietly on the scorched earth. The T-800 grasped the gem in its palm and placed it into its accompanying storage box.

Finding Law-Ruler Cores wasn't difficult. T-800s could easily locate them based on the Honkai energy emitted by the gems. The forest fires raging in the night, like the one now, were incredibly conspicuous.

The head of the Environmental Department, holding several reports, sweat beading on his forehead, said grimly, "Doctor, our headquarters in Ukraine noticed a low-level earthquake near Syktyvkar City, with no aftershocks. We can rule out natural activity."

"Additionally..." The head of the Environmental Department nervously flipped to the next few reports. "At the same time, there was strong electromagnetic interference and a surge in local radiation."