The night before the promotion

Chapter 83: Blacksmithing

Zhou Si narrowed his eyes, his smile stained with blood looked like that of a demon. The tiger covered the wound on his neck, his eyes full of fear and panic.

Just as Zhou Si said, the tiger may have been an extremely brave soldier, but he had been hiding behind the body for too long, so long that he got used to the stability of everything and had long forgotten the real life-and-death struggle.

Zhou Si clenched his fist and tried to smash the mountain tiger's nose, but at this time, believers in Taoist robes rushed over. Some of them pinned Zhou Si to the ground, while others directly waved electric batons and hit Zhou Si's body.

The strong electric current caused Zhou Si's muscles to spasm uncontrollably. He felt like a loach sprinkled with salt. He suppressed the pain, struggled for a few times, and then exhausted all his strength.

The tiger stared at the light above his head with a dull look. After a few seconds, he came to his senses and stood up, covering his wound. Slight traces of blood dripped through his fingers.

"Haha... Shanjun, you are nothing more than that."

Zhou Si knelt on the ground, and the believers pulled his hair and forced him to raise his head.

"You think you are a pragmatic realist?" Zhou Si laughed wantonly, "But your reality makes you timid and become a complete coward."

The tiger's face was also covered in blood and looked hideous. He glared at Zhou Si, but in the next second, he suddenly revealed a twisted and terrifying smile.

"You have succeeded in irritating me, Dr. Zhou."

Shan Jun took a long breath, looked at Madam Cui who had been watching, and asked, "Can we start the operation?"

"Hold on."

Madam Cui remained silent and communicated with the big client behind her. After a few seconds, her voice sounded again.

"can."

The believers forced Zhou Si back into the wheelchair. What awaited him next was a cruel live operation. His brain would be completely removed and placed in a life-sustaining incubator. In the next few years, which would be unknown whether long or short, he would serve as the wetware of the metamorphosis technology until his death.

Zhou Si tried to struggle, but what awaited him was an even stronger electric shock.

Sweat soaked his back as he sat in the wheelchair exhausted. The continuous intense exercise caused his wounds to bleed, and even the burn scars became bloody due to friction.

Zhou Si couldn't help but think in his heart that this might be his end.

To be honest, after escaping death from the Xianyun accident, Zhou Si seldom thought about death. As a result, when this moment was really about to come, all he had was confusion... He didn't even feel fear.

Zhou Si had died once before, and what was walking in the human world now was just a ghost that refused to return to the underworld.

His eyes swept across the faces with different expressions: numbness, hatred, fanaticism, joy...all kinds of life were displayed here.

Finally, Zhou Si's gaze rested on Huo Daochuan's face. Zhou Si looked at him, admiring the extremely complex emotions on his face. At the same time, Huo Daochuan also noticed Zhou Si's gaze. After hesitating for a long time, he looked away.

"You are not a brave man."

Zhou Si suddenly spoke, and no one knew whether he was talking to Shan Jun or Huo Daochuan.

"You just found an outlet for your cowardice and indulged in it, believing it as the truth of life in order to seek inner peace."

Zhou Si's voice rose, as if he was shouting, "All of you! You are all like this! Like ostriches, you bury yourselves in the soil, unwilling to face the real reality, the real contradictions!"

The believers covered Zhou Si's mouth with their hands, and no matter how he roared, he could only make vague whimpering sounds.

The tiger's face turned pale due to blood loss, but he still waved mockingly.

"Goodbye, Dr. Zhou."

The believers pushed Zhou Si's wheelchair and took him out of the Taoist temple. Just as they were about to disappear in the mist of rising incense, a shrill alarm suddenly sounded, and countless eye-catching red lights flashed in every corner of the cabin, like burning fire and dripping blood.

Everyone hesitated for a moment, their eyes dull, as if the sound had pierced their hazy dreams. After the numbness, fear and uneasiness gradually emerged.

Shan Jun and Huo Daochuan had similar reactions. They knew very well what the alarm meant and all turned their eyes to Zhou Si.

Zhou Si ignored them and stared straight into the darkness of the cabin. A faint flapping sound was heard from there, and a tiny figure slowly emerged from the mist and landed lightly on a railing.

Bt-24 looked around like a night owl hiding in the darkness.

"Asshole! What have you done!"

Shan Jun slapped Zhou Si in the face with such force that his nose was filled with blood.

Zhou Si tilted his head, said nothing, and just laughed hoarsely.

The laughter was still there, shrill and loud.

The tiger's eyes were red, and he was about to swing his fist again to hit Zhou Si's body, but at this moment, a rumbling sound rang out above everyone's head.

Soon, the roar became clearer, like a thunder that pierced the sky and the earth, striding towards this place, vowing to cover everything with lightning.

Then, a dazzling red color bloomed on the ceiling of the cabin.

The burning red spot expanded rapidly, and the entire metal ceiling began to melt. Under the restraint of gravity, a huge arc protruded downwards.

Dropping molten iron.

Rumbling--

It was as if a sharp needle pierced through the molten metal, and clear thunder resounded above everyone's heads.

The night was cloudy and the fire was blazing.

In an instant, molten metal poured into the cabin, sparks flew everywhere, like thousands of tiny rubies, bursting with brilliant light, each of them with scorching temperature, drawing a short and dazzling track.

Zhou Si stared at this shocking scene, where brilliance and destruction coexisted together.

In this situation, Zhou Si did not feel panic, but instead felt a strange sense of nostalgia. He remembered the iron flowers he had seen when he was traveling with Ruan Linrui in the past.

The half-molten metal, under the continuous hammering of the craftsmen, was sometimes stretched and sometimes folded, and finally turned into "iron flowers" of various shapes. They slowly spread out in the air, and then quickly cooled and solidified, leaving behind a series of glittering marks.

Ruan Linrui shouted happily, hiding behind herself with a smile, avoiding the flying sparks...

The sweeping heat wave interrupted Zhou Si's thoughts.

The sparks in the sky evaporated the hazy mist and fell on the dilapidated Taoist temple, mercilessly igniting the weathered rotten wood. The flames quickly rose until the fire completely burned the Taoist temple, turning it into a huge roiling bonfire.

The high temperature distorted the air, and even the statues in the fire seemed to come alive. They looked majestic, and stared at the blind people with angry eyes.

The half-melted metal fragments swept across the ground evenly like a rain of fire. Many believers had no time to dodge and were either pierced through the body by the hard fragments or drenched by the molten iron, turning into a running fireball.

It was like the end of the world, with screams, wails and wails intertwined.

drip-

A shrill alarm sounded. This sound did not come from the Cloud City, but from the vast sky outside the layers of cabins. "Give up resistance!"

A warning sounded from the sky above the wind and rain, like a rebuke from the gods.

The rain general set off a huge storm. Several heavy transport planes circled over the Anyan Port. The searchlights were like swords of light, splitting the turbid wind and rain and illuminating the large ships anchored in the Anyan Port.

"The Supervisory Bureau?"

Madam Cui looked up and saw hideous figures emerging from behind the melted ceiling. Amidst sharp tearing sounds, the interlaced chainsaw weapons ruthlessly destroyed the metal completely until a passage was opened up to continue downwards.

Several iron soldier incarnations descended from the sky and landed heavily in front of the burning Taoist temple. The cold bodies of the incarnations looked like messengers of death.

Some crazy believers pulled out their guns and fired back, but what was waiting for them was a well-aimed hot shotgun shell. A stream of blazing fire flashed by, leaving only a piece of burning charcoal on the spot.

There were also believers who roared and rushed towards the Iron Soldier incarnation, but before they could lower their raised swords, the swinging gun barrels easily blew their heads into a ball of bloody mist.

In the past, the Iron Soldier incarnations would not have acted so violently, but this time they were not here to carry out a suppression operation, but a counter-terrorism operation.

Fighting terrorism only requires firing.

"Give up resistance!"

The cold, AI-like voice rang out again.

Madam Cui shifted her gaze and looked at Zhou Si who was sitting in a wheelchair. His hideous smiling face was clearly reflected in her camera.

"The Trojan Horse... Is this also part of your plan, Dr. Zhou?"

Zhou Si spat out a mouthful of blood foam and shook his head. "It's just a backup plan. We have to deal with all possibilities, right?"

Madam Cui stared at Zhou Si for a moment, and without saying anything more, she turned and walked towards the burning Taoist temple, stepped into the raging flames, and let the flames invade her incarnation's body until it turned into a charred wreckage in the fire.

"Fuck you!"

Seeing Madam Cui abandon her incarnation and leave, the tiger cursed, drew the folding knife from his waist, and stabbed towards Zhou Si's throat.

A deafening gunshot rang out, and a bullet accurately pierced the arm of the tiger wielding the knife. His arm bent strangely in mid-air, the folding knife fell to the ground, and warm blood splashed all over Zhou Si's face.

Following the direction of the gunshot, I saw several rappelling ropes falling from the gap chiseled by the Iron Soldier Incarnation. A fully armed specialist was rappelling by pulling the rope with one hand and firing an electromagnetic pistol with the other.

Being able to hit the target from such a long distance and at high speed, the opponent's identity is obvious.

Xiang Ji landed quickly, picked up the electromagnetic rifle hanging on his waist with both hands, and walked quickly forward while firing at the enemies around Zhou Si, trying to eliminate the dangerous targets as soon as possible.

After a few crisp gunshots, several believers closest to Zhou Si were shot in the head one after another. Their bodies fell powerlessly to the ground, leaving a large pool of blood.

Shan Jun covered his injured arm and wanted to do something to Zhou Si, but was stopped by Huo Daochuan.

"Come on!"

Huo Daochuan shouted at the tiger and at the same time took out his pistol and fired back at Xiang Ji, but the scattered gunshots seemed particularly lonely at this time.

The tiger woke up, looked at Zhou Si with a vicious look, and quickly moved away towards the blazing fire.

Huo Daochuan did not immediately follow Shan Jun's pace, but stood there and hesitated for a moment. He looked at the wounded Zhou Si with complicated eyes.

This was a good opportunity. Huo Daochuan had every chance to shoot Zhou Si in the head and kill the culprit.

The muzzle of the gun almost rose up, but finally fell to the ground.

Huo Daochuan said no more, turned around and followed Shan Jun.

Zhou Si watched their figures gradually disappear in the firelight, and he slowly exhaled the breath that had been squeezed in his throat.

Faint sounds of explosions could be heard from all directions. More specialists and armed avatars invaded Cloud City. Gunfire rang out one after another, and fierce battles took place in various cabins.

"Dr. Zhou!"

Xiang Ji came to Zhou Si's side and looked around vigilantly. He only focused his attention on Zhou Si again after the subsequent team members caught up.

"You look a bit awful."

Zhou Si laughed miserably and pointed at his head, "You will never believe what I have been through in this hellhole."

Even the strongest spirit would still have tiny cracks under repeated torture, not to mention that Zhou Si himself was a patient with the dementia disease.

Until now, every time Zhou Si looked at his abdomen, he could still feel a strange phantom pain, as if the red-hot iron rod had once again pierced his stomach and was stirring between his intestines and organs.

Xiang Ji gave the order, "Take him away first, and notify the medical staff to get ready."

"No, it's not time to leave yet."

Zhou Si took a deep breath, and with the help of the medicine remaining in his body, he ignored the pain and forced himself to stand up.

"Those bastards pissed me off. I want to watch them burn to ashes in the flames before my own eyes."

Xiang Ji hesitated for a moment and persuaded, "Doctor Zhou, your condition is very bad. The situation here will only become more dangerous. Your safety..."

"Danger? Don't you still have me to protect me?"

Zhou Si reached out and took off the electromagnetic pistol from Xiang Ji's waist, interrupting his words with his action.

After a long breath, Zhou Si clenched the handle of his gun and asked again, "Where is Team Leader Li? Is he still alive?"

"The team leader just woke up from a coma."

"No wonder you guys came so late."

Zhou Si muttered, completely ignoring the attempts of the people around him to stop him, and staggered towards the direction where Shan Jun and Huo Daochuan were fleeing.

Xiang Ji knew very well how stubborn and obstinate Dr. Zhou was. He could only follow Zhou Si's footsteps and observe his surroundings vigilantly to make sure that all potential dangers had been eliminated in advance.

Zhou Si stepped into the long and narrow corridor. Perhaps it was the onset of his Li Shi disease, or perhaps this was the original style of this place.

Countless talismans were pasted on both sides of the corridor. The surging heat waves blew and ignited them. Countless sparks burned and turned into a road of fire that burned everything.

Zhou Si could feel the hot air current and smell the scent of ashes in the surrounding air.

Without any hesitation, Zhou Si stepped into the flames of fantasy.

(End of this chapter)