The air in the Parliament District was nothing like the foul miasma of the Lower Districts, thick with coal ash and despair.
It was cold and pure, with an inorganic quality as if filtered through metal. Breathing it in seemed to lower the temperature of one's very blood.
The strike team led by Blaze moved like five shadows melting into the dark, gliding swiftly along the frigid outer wall of the massive circular structure. The expensive light-absorbing coating Wrench had provided was now proving vital, blending them seamlessly into the deep night. Even patrol sensors mere feet away struggled to detect their presence.
Jin Wanchao's voice echoed clearly inside everyone's head through custom bone-conduction earpieces.
"Thirty meters left and forward. A squad of mechanical patrols will pass in three seconds. Press into the shadow of the pipeline."
"Ahead, the thermal scan cycles every five seconds. There's a gap between the third and fourth second—move through at full speed."
"Halt. Beneath you lies pressure-sensitive flooring. Follow the path I mark."
Every order was precise to the extreme, as if Jin Wanchao himself hovered overhead, overlooking the entire Energy Center. The team members felt a profound awe. This omniscient guidance went far beyond mere intelligence; it was true divine revelation.
Blaze, at the front, had eyes that blazed fiercely in the dark. His mind held no stray thoughts, only a single goal. Jin Wanchao's commands were his path, and at the end of that path lay a fire to ignite the Upper Districts.
The Energy Center was the beating heart of the entire Upper Districts. Its defenses were not merely heavy-handed, but steeped in cold, arrogant rationality. A complex network of automated defenses had replaced most human guards, forming the first—and only—line of defense. Valerius, and indeed the entire Blacksteel Parliament, had never imagined anyone could breach this impenetrable web.
"We're here."
Jin Wanchao's voice carried a faint gravity.
Before them stood an impossibly thick alloy gate, its surface smooth as a mirror, with no visible keyhole or control panel. This was the entrance to the Energy Core Chamber.
"Crack it," Blaze muttered to a slender team member behind him.
The codenamed Rat nodded, pulled a complex device from his back, and pressed it against the door. Streams of pale blue data flickered rapidly across the device's screen.
Seconds ticked by, and sweat beaded more heavily on Rat's forehead.
"It's no use… The logic lock on this door is independent. It's nothing like any system I've ever seen before…"
Just then, Jin Wanchao's voice sounded again.
"Fall back."
Without hesitation, Blaze immediately pulled the team back.
He stared at the gate, and suddenly understood.
The true meaning of the Chosen was not merely combat.
Blaze took a deep breath and stepped forward slowly, pressing his palm against the cold alloy. He closed his eyes, and the flame within him resonated at a strange frequency under Jin Wanchao's remote guidance.
He seemed to see the countless fine, neural-like energy circuits behind the door. Complex and precise, yet not without flaw.
A low hum resonated. The wall-thick alloy gate slid silently open to either side.
A biting cold gust rushed out from within.
Inside the core chamber, the scene was not what they had imagined—filled with control consoles and blinking instruments.
The vast space held only a black, obelisk-shaped reactor standing quietly at its center. Pale blue energy streams flowed across its surface, emitting a menacing low hum.
And before the reactor stood three figures.
They wore sleek, form-fitting black armor, its surface not metal but a matte, keratin-like organic material. Their faces were covered in masks of the same substance, revealing only eyes that glowed with inhuman cold light.
No warning. No dialogue.
The moment the door opened, the battle erupted.
The leftmost figure vanished from the spot like a ghost.
One strike team member fired instinctively. Gauss rifle pellets streaked through the air in brilliant trails, yet only struck the afterimage the figure had left behind.
"Watch out!"
Blaze's roar had barely left his throat.
A black gauntlet had already pierced through the team member's chest. Blood dripped from the gaps in the armor with a soft patter.
The dark figure slowly withdrew its hand, letting the soldier's body crumple to the ground. The whole act was so fast it was barely perceptible, as if it had done something utterly trivial.
Shadow Guards.
Valerius's most elite protectors, another product of the Chimera Project. They were killing machines forged from peak assassin techniques and bio-augmentation.
"Open fire!"
Blaze's eyes bloodshot, his heavy blast spewer unleashed a storm of fire.
The other two Shadow Guards moved. Faster than imagination, they weaved through the hail of bullets like fish in water. Their high-frequency blades drew deadly silver arcs through the air, deflecting incoming rounds with every swing.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Sparks from metal impacts exploded across the cramped space.
The strike team was pinned down instantly. Their prized steam exoskeletons felt clumsy and slow against these foes. These enemies were monsters born solely for slaughter.
"Rat! Plant the explosives!" Blaze roared, charging one of the Shadow Guards.
His fighting style was wild and unrestrained, brimming with brutal power. Every blast from the heavy weapon left deep craters in the floor.
Yet the Shadow Guard moved like a shadow at his heels, slippery and unburdened. It dodged Blaze's direct strikes at the very last moment, its blade striking like a viper's fangs, hunting for weak joints in Blaze's exoskeleton.
Meanwhile, the remaining two team members were locked in a desperate fight. Back to back, they barely fended off the relentless assault of another Shadow Guard, their exoskeletons already scored with vicious gashes.
They could not go on like this.
Blaze's mind flashed to his sister's numb face, and an indescribable rage erupted from his chest.
With a roar, he discarded his blast spewer. Ignoring the blade stabbing toward his chest, he threw himself forward in a near-suicidal tackle, wrapping his arms around the Shadow Guard.
Squelch —
The high-frequency blade pierced straight through the exoskeleton armor, sinking deep into Blaze's shoulder.
But Blaze felt no pain. His arms, like red-hot iron clamps, locked the Shadow Guard in a crushing grip.
"Now!"
The last remaining team member reacted instantly, spinning his rifle and unleashing a storm of fire at the trapped Shadow Guard.
Thud-thud-thud!
Countless pellets hammered into the figure, tearing its tough organic armor apart in bloody chunks.
The Shadow Guard let out an inhuman shriek and thrashed violently, but Blaze's grip only tightened, as if trying to snap it in two.
Boom!
At that moment, the other Shadow Guard broke through the last soldier's defenses, kicking him flying. Its blade lunged straight for Blaze's back.
But Rat was faster.
The slender figure, who had been hiding behind the reactor, now blazed with madness in his eyes. He had already secured the final high-explosive charge to the reactor's core energy conduit.
"Go to hell!"
Rat slammed the detonator.
No delay.
Yet the expected explosion never came.
A red light flared from the reactor's core, and a cold mechanical female voice echoed throughout the chamber.
"Unauthorized intrusion detected… Threat to core energy conduit detected…"
"Initiating emergency protocol… Core lock engaged. Self-destruct sequence commencing in ten seconds…"
"Ten. Nine. Eight…"
A shrill alarm drowned out all other sound.
The Shadow Guard struggling against Blaze froze mid-movement. The other, about to strike from behind, also halted. Their mission was to guard this place—but now it would be reduced to ash.
Seizing the opening, Blaze surged with strength, slamming the Shadow Guard in his grasp against the reactor. Gritting through the searing pain in his shoulder, he drew a sidearm from his thigh and fired repeatedly at the last standing Shadow Guard.
"Seven. Six…"
The icy countdown sounded like the Reaper's toll.
Blaze glanced at the red-flashing reactor, then at the writhing Shadow Guard on the ground. A look of grim resolve flashed in his eyes.
He ignored the unexploded charges, rushed to Rat's side, and slung him over his shoulder.
"Fall back!"
he roared at the last remaining team member, who was struggling to his feet.
The team had paid a heavy price—two dead—but they had eliminated all hostiles.
Yet their mission was unfinished. The Reaper's scythe hung over their heads.