After obtaining the intelligence, Fan Cheng and his partner crawled out through the ventilation ducts of the underground core control room. The Scholar did not immediately have them return to Kyshtym Town, instead keeping them outside to continue reconnaissance.
"Keep the terminals on you and verify whether the intelligence is accurate, in case we received false information."
"Understood."
Fan Cheng and his partner had no experience as intelligence officers, but the Thousand-Man Law-Rulers could share their experiences with one another. Wisdom, however, could not be shared. That was the Thousand-Man Law-Rulers' only weakness.
Since they were scouting the open ground around Kyshtym Town, his partner no longer needed to "cool down" Fan Cheng. Their movements became much faster, and before long, they had largely confirmed the intelligence's accuracy.
Fan Cheng reported what he saw through the mental link to the Scholar. "Yes, we spotted approximately 237 units in total. The other 163 may be hidden somewhere beyond our sight, or perhaps they were not marked on the map."
"Mm..." After several seconds of silent consideration, the Scholar said, "We will begin contracting the defensive line according to the second plan. Scout as much intelligence as you can. If circumstances turn unfavorable, you are authorized to withdraw on your own."
"Received."
Fan Cheng had just lowered his hand from his temple when his companion shook his shoulder and pointed at the pitch-black sky. "There's something in the air."
They stood quietly where they were, completely still. Layer by layer, they filtered the sounds entering their ears, searching for anything unnatural. The deep-night temperature had dropped to around three or four degrees. The surroundings were deathly quiet, without insects chirping or wild beasts roaring. Only the cold wind occasionally scraped against the sparse leaves, producing soft hissing sounds.
"Is that... an airplane?" His companion looked at him with a puzzled expression. Beneath the distant clouds, an extremely old-looking four-engine propeller bomber was flying toward Kyshtym Town.
Fan Cheng and his partner simply watched the bomber. A single bomber would have a difficult time killing even one Law-Ruler, and they could not make sense of it.
"Th-this is?!" Sudden terror made his body tremble uncontrollably. His companion beside him widened his eyes as well, staring blankly ahead.
"Run, everyone!" Fan Cheng shouted through the mental link, hoping his warning might save one or two of his comrades. He could now clearly see what was about to fall—a streamlined bomb containing boundless energy within its half-ton weight.
As Fan Cheng and his partner stood stunned, watching the nuclear bomb descend, the bark of a tree behind his partner quietly shrank into a humanoid form with a flickering silver sheen. T-1000's right hand transformed into a spike. His partner instantly sensed something behind him and instinctively tried to dodge, but T-1000 reacted far faster than any living creature. The silver spike pierced straight through his partner's head, splattering blood and brains across Fan Cheng.
Without looking back, Fan Cheng pumped his legs and ran. His body blended into the colors of the environment as he fled with every ounce of strength. The mental link between him and his partner suddenly severed. There was no possibility other than his partner being dead.
He darted into the dense woods like a startled rabbit, with T-1000 relentlessly pursuing him. While fleeing, he pulled a lighter from his pocket. With his back to T-1000, he stopped for one second and tossed the lighter into a pile of dry fallen leaves. Flames sprouted from the leaf pile like red-and-yellow mushrooms, then rapidly turned into a forest fire. T-1000's thermal imaging temporarily lost sight of him.
Good thing I never quit smoking, Fan Cheng thought thankfully.
He ran madly, constantly searching his mind for a way to survive. By now, he had severed his mental link with the Law-Rulers in Kyshtym Town. Things in there were probably already utter chaos.
When he finally escaped T-1000's pursuit, Fan Cheng suddenly realized that at the area they had previously scouted, the robots showed no fear at all toward the approaching nuclear bomb. The intense electromagnetic pulse would absolutely fry their circuits into mush, yet this AI had not chosen to cut its losses in time.
Fan Cheng stopped running, intending to see what these robots that had not yet retreated were doing before the bomb fell. Once the nuclear bomb detonated, the T-1000 chasing him would also be destroyed.
The T-800s were positioned around a cylindrical machine. Some were transporting supplies while the others stood guard. It seemed they had been doing this for more than ten minutes already.
Fan Cheng narrowed his eyes and looked carefully. At that moment, the dark clouds conveniently opened a narrow gap for the moon, and moonlight poured through it onto a T-800. Its black body seemed to become slightly transparent. These were holographic projections! The night concealed the projections, and the flaw would not be noticed without close inspection.
Back when film special effects were still immature, grand scenes in many science fiction and fantasy movies were often set at night. The darkness concealed the artificiality of the effects and made the images appear more realistic.
But fighting had truly broken out in Kyshtym Town. The Scholar had told him that at least forty robots had taken part in the battle.
Fan Cheng understood now. The so-called attack had merely been a tactic combining illusion and reality. The Law-Rulers had lost. As long as they calmed down and thought it through, their defeat had been inevitable.
If Andre had not been distracted by his choice to help Fan Cheng and his partner, and had continued locating the artificial intelligence instead, then even if they had died to the nuclear bomb, they would at least have contributed to the main force. But now, they had failed even to achieve their original objective and had instead needlessly lost more than twenty comrades.
Fan Cheng had never imagined that this artificial intelligence could be so insane. Were they not afraid of Fire Moth?
But one thing was now certain: this AI only wanted the Law-Ruler Cores. Martha's group escaping Oak Street did not matter at all. Repelling the attack did not matter at all. What mattered was killing Martha, drawing the Scholar and reinforcements here, then taking their Law-Ruler Cores.
The upheaval caused by the nuclear explosion would certainly infuriate Fire Moth. How would they deal with attacks from Fusion Warriors? Could they possibly be stronger than Fire Moth? Fan Cheng did not know.
Misjudgment... We should not have measured an AI whose thinking differs from ordinary people by our own standards. As long as it believes there is profit to be made, it will do it, no matter how shocking it may seem... Fan Cheng thought bitterly. It was too late for anything now. All he could do was save himself and persuade the First Speaker to abandon the sunk cost.
The Law-Rulers of Kyshtym Town stared straight at the bomb as it descended over the town. Many raised their hands to shield their eyes, yet they could not stop their eyes from being scorched by a radiance like the sun. Within moments, their bodies were directly vaporized by the intense light radiation. The only traces they left behind in the world were shadows stuck to the ground like black petroleum, along with their Law-Ruler Cores.
The shockwave hurled away nearby buildings. Trees were uprooted or snapped in half. Fires ignited by the light radiation spread into the nearby forest. The electromagnetic pulse from the nuclear blast severely disrupted electronic equipment in nearby cities, while the subsequent nuclear radiation would continuously contaminate this land.
Tap, tap—
A T-800 turned over the rubble. The corner of something gleaming came faintly into view. It gently brushed away the radioactive dust and scorched concrete covering the core. A dark-red gemstone lay quietly upon the charred earth. The T-800 clenched the gemstone in its hand and placed it into its portable storage case.
Finding Law-Ruler Cores was not difficult. The T-800s could easily locate them through the Honkai energy emitted by the gemstones. In a raging forest fire at night like this, they were impossibly conspicuous.
The head of the Environmental Department held several reports, cold sweat trickling down his face as he said gravely, "Doctor, our headquarters in Ukraine has noticed a low-level earthquake near Syktyvkar City. There were no aftershocks, so we can rule out natural activity."
"Also..." The head of the Environmental Department nervously flipped out several more reports. "At the same time, there was intense electromagnetic interference, along with a sudden surge in local radiation."
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