The attention of the two and Yae Sakura, who instinctively looked over, was instantly attracted.
According to the plan, Arahato should enter radio silence after breaking away and transmit status non-real-time via preset relay points.
But at this moment, Kallen initiated the highest priority communication directly, which meant only one thing: a sudden, extreme, unplanned major accident!
Joachim connected immediately, not even having time to avoid others. He switched the communication to speaker, and Kallen's voice came through instantly, losing its usual brightness and calm, filled with haste, panting, and... a trace of irrepressible panic.
A Kaslana's panic!
"Joachim! Can you hear me? We've been intercepted! Not official personnel! It's—!"
Her voice stopped abruptly, replaced by a sharp, piercing noise as if metal was extremely twisted and forcibly torn apart, mixed with the explosion of intense energy confrontation and the intermittent screaming of Arahato's system alarm.
Let time rewind about half a minute, in the low altitude of Sapphire City, among the shadows of intricate buildings.
Arahato sped close to the cold glass curtain walls of skyscrapers. The azure particle tail flame dragged a fading light trail behind it, and the engine maintained a high-efficiency low-noise mode.
Inside the cockpit, Kallen breathed a sigh of relief slightly, her tense nerves relaxing a bit.
The rapid breathing of Yae Rin came from her arms—the violent intrusion and high-speed maneuvers just now indeed scared the child... but it could also be that the child in her arms couldn't suppress her excited heartbeat.
At least, they successfully broke through the official containment and flew towards the first hidden transfer point according to the scheduled route.
"It's okay, Rin. Bear with it a little longer. We'll be at a safe place soon." Kallen tried to make her voice sound softer through the internal communication, although Arahato's low mechanical synthesis sound effect discounted this softness.
She adjusted the posture of her arm to make the wheelchair and the girl on it, protected between the chest armor and the mechanical arm, more stable.
Their plan had already succeeded in two steps. Next, just—
—Danger!
Without warning, the combat intuition inherited in the Kaslana family bloodline, like a steel needle soaked in ice water, suddenly pierced into Kallen's spine!
That was not a threat from the pursuit behind, nor an ambush possibly existing in the streets below, but... straight ahead!
She almost instinctively raised all of Arahato's propulsion power to the emergency evasion gear instantly. At the same time, the body made an almost barbaric right-angle turn, trying to deviate from the original flight trajectory.
However, it was too late.
Right at the exit of the narrow "Thread of Sky" passage formed by two high-rise buildings ahead, a figure stood quietly there, blocking the way.
That was an extremely ordinary-looking figure.
A slightly old white coat, tall but slightly hunched figure, neatly combed gray hair, wearing glasses.
Vakh Cioara!
Or rather—the Herrscher of Evolution!
He stood there casually, his hands even leisurely inserted in the pockets of the white coat.
There were no dazzling light effects, nor terrifying energy fluctuations. Just standing there ordinarily, like an ordinary person waiting quietly for a friend in a corner.
But in Kallen's perception, the terrifying oppressive feeling brought by this seemingly unremarkable, even somewhat bookish "doctor" far exceeded the encirclement of all muzzles, lasers, and agents in the venue before!
That feeling... was like seeing a cream cake decorated with strawberries on an exquisite porcelain plate.
But when you approached, you were horrified to find that the "cream" was slowly flowing dark red molten lava chocolate emitting scalding heat.
Harmless on the outside, but inside contained devastating high heat that made one unable to start eating! And this extreme contrast brought a deeper chill.
"Rin, hold on tight!" Kallen only had time to roar in the communication. Arahato's arms instinctively protected Yae Rin in the core area of the body, and all unnecessary armor plates unfolded with a "click-click" sound under hydraulic drive, entering a state of standby at any time.
She herself stared fixedly at "Vakh" standing in front of her. Arahato's weapon system had entered the highest alert state...
But... what kind of weapon could be effective against such an existence?
The Herrscher of Evolution's gaze fell on the waiting Arahato through the lenses.
There was no solemnity of facing a strong enemy in his eyes, only a kind of... calmness like a researcher observing an experimental subject, and a trace of almost imperceptible, hidden impatience.
He was indeed a bit annoyed.
Just a few minutes ago, because of the "love" and "indulgence" for Natasha in his memory, he let go of his sister who was obviously concealing something.
He didn't know if that was a weakness towards family affection, but at this moment, looking at this steel giant obviously related to Natasha's abnormal actions, that annoyance surged up again.
Once again...
Because of his damn "emotions," he might have missed the opportunity to obtain key information and intervene in the core of "anomaly" in advance once again.
Past memories and emotions were like stubborn vines, wrapping around his thinking and actions, making him unable to execute judgments efficiently and coldly like pure "evolutionary" will.
Every "softheartedness" or "hesitation" was consuming his patience for the residual obsession of the original owner of this body, and also made him feel increasingly disgusted with his "impure" state.
Perhaps, completely severing these useless concerns was the first step to truly moving towards a higher form and clarifying the "errors" of this world?
"Stop." The Herrscher of Evolution spoke. His voice, through some means, clearly penetrated Arahato's external armor and the sound insulation layer of the cockpit, entering Kallen's ears.
No roar, no threat, just a plain statement, but carrying unquestionable mandatoriness. "Tell me, who are you?
"What is the relationship between you and Natasha, and this constantly 'erring' world?"
His gaze was like a cold scalpel, as if to dissect Arahato's armor and look directly at the internal secrets.
Kallen's silence was like substance, condensing in the narrow air passage.
She didn't answer, and couldn't answer.
Arahato's sensors operated at full power, trying to analyze the energy readings, threat level, and any possible weaknesses of this "Vakh" in front of her, but the feedback data was chaotic, or rather, some "unknown" beyond the scope of conventional detection.
This result was completely expected. Kallen didn't even have any waves in her heart.
She had long understood what kind of—
Monster!!—stood opposite her.
This wasn't their teasing about Shu's supermodel strength, but the other party was indeed a monster!
She could only rely on the most primitive intuition and warrior's instinct to adjust the body to the best defensive posture. The energy shield generator emitted a high-frequency hum, forming a layer of pale blue light film on the surface of the armor.