thefictionvixens 045 Violent Demolition
045 Violent Demolition
In the depths of the pitch-black river, a blinding pure golden light spread out in the water, forming a geometric barrier of a regular hexahedron centered on Lu Mingfei, enveloping the three people and the brass jar in the middle.
Then, just as the bronze dome was about to close, it abruptly stopped when it touched the golden barrier!
The bronze dome was stuck by Lu Mingfei's force field, the surrounding water was squeezed into white mist by the shock wave, the bronze gear could not bite the groove on the opposite side and broke off from the bearing, large pieces of bronze fragments rolled in the water.
"What... what level of defense is this?!" Ye Sheng clutched the brass jar, his mind blank. He instinctively tried to curl up to brace himself for the impact, but nothing happened.
"I have twenty more minutes of oxygen than you do," Lu Mingfei said. "It came in handy."
Lu Mingfei opened the valve of his oxygen tank, and high-pressure oxygen gushed out from the tank opening, floated up along the inner wall of the force field, and gathered into a ball at the top of the polyhedron, squeezing the river water in that small space down by several tens of centimeters.
He took off his helmet, took a breath, and said, "Ye Sheng, use your spiritual power to find your way. Head upwards, whether it's a vent or a dead end."
"Directly above?" Ye Sheng was taken aback, then closed his eyes. Bio-currents surged from his body, spreading outwards along the bronze wall. "Forty-eight meters in a straight line! But above us are three layers of the main load-bearing bronze dome that are closing, each layer being over two meters thick!"
"As long as there's a road, hurry up!"
Lu Mingfei bent his legs slightly, and the AT force field beneath his feet began to accumulate.
Propelled by the force field, the polyhedron began to accelerate, pushing the river water above it upwards, the water swirling and churning along its golden edges. The first layer of Dragon-Slaying Stone blocked its path directly above, but Lu Mingfei not only didn't slow down, he crashed straight into it.
"boom!"
The two-meter-thick bronze plate began to crack from the center, with the cracks spreading radially outwards. The fragments fell into the water, but were bounced back the moment they approached the golden barrier.
The polyhedron continued to rise through the shattered gap, while bronze fragments slid past the surface of the sphere, scraping out a series of sharp whistling sounds.
A trickle of blood flowed from Lu Mingfei's nose, dissipating in the moisture within the force field and turning into a small cloud of red mist.
Next came the second layer of the dome. When the polyhedron collided with it, it sank downwards, and the light screen beneath Lu Mingfei's feet layered up again, slowly pushing upwards against the crack that had just been created. The dome was split in two, falling to either side like open pages of a book.
"Lu...Lu-kun?" Aki's voice trembled.
Standing behind Lu Mingfei, Aki saw the capillaries around his eyes rupturing. Crimson blood vessels instantly filled the whites of his eyes, and blood began to seep from both his ears, dripping down his chin into the water, floating like tiny blood flowers.
While the force field itself could isolate all physical damage, his mortal body could not withstand such an intense AT field. It was like forcibly connecting a civilian power line to a nuclear reactor; it was a miracle he hadn't been instantly reduced to ashes.
Does it hurt? Of course it hurts. Lu Mingfei felt like he was being stuffed into a blender, but compared to the pain of being dismembered and swallowed alive by Unit-01, this was nothing.
"Lu-kun! Stop! Your body will break down!" Aki cried desperately into the communication, looking at the boy who was bleeding from all seven orifices but remained expressionless.
But Lu Mingfei wasn't wearing a helmet, so he couldn't hear Aki's voice.
All Aki could do was support Lu Mingfei's back. Her palms were pressed against Lu Mingfei's back, and through the wetsuit, she could feel the muscles twitching in waves, like the chills of someone with a high fever.
"The third one," Lu Mingfei murmured to himself.
The force field pressed down on it, causing the bronze plate to arch upwards and bend slowly.
Ye Sheng and Ya Ji opened the oxygen cylinder to increase the buoyancy inside the polyhedron. Eventually, the polyhedron drilled a hole and, with no obstruction, rapidly rose to the surface.
The Moniach was rocking violently in the raging wind and waves. Professor Mans gripped the railing, staring at the bubbling surface of the river.
"Sonar shows a huge cavitation bubble rising rapidly from underwater!" Selma screamed. "They're surfacing!"
"Prepare to throw the lifeline! Quick!" Professor Mans roared, grabbing the communicator.
"BOOM!!"
A column of water burst from the river surface, carrying fragments of copper and silt into the night sky. A golden polyhedron emerged from the center of the water column, hovered for a moment in the downpour, and then fell back to the water's surface.
It no longer needs to be maintained.
Lu Mingfei closed his eyes, and the golden light screen instantly shattered like glass, turning into golden dust that dissipated into the cold rain.
Aki held him and pulled him onto the lifeline. The people on the ship worked together to pull the three of them onto the deck of the Moniach.
"They're back!"
Professor Mans and his crew rushed forward like madmen, but before they could even express their gratitude to the freshman who had shocked everyone, a petite figure passed through the crowd.
Ling ignored Ye Sheng and Ya Ji on the ground and walked straight to Lu Mingfei.
"Mission complete, come with me."
Lu Mingfei was pulled to his feet by her, and he followed her into the cabin, stumbling along. The people on the deck clapped and made way for them.
"Bang."
The waterproof steel door was slammed shut behind him, shutting out the wind and rain, the noise on the deck, and everyone's gaze.
Lu Mingfei slumped heavily onto the physiotherapy chair, his head tilted back, his chest heaving violently, and all he could see were black, snowy specks in front of his eyes.
Zero unfastened the buckle of his diving suit, unscrewed a bottle of saline solution, soaked gauze in it, and gently wiped away the blood that had seeped from the corners of his eyes and nose.
"Your vital signs are dropping rapidly, and your blood sugar is at the threshold of shock," Zero said calmly. "Hold out your hand."
Lu Mingfei didn't have the strength to lift his hand, so Ling simply picked up his wrist, turned it over, pressed two fingers on the radial artery for a few seconds, then took out an IV tube from the medical kit and inserted the needle into the vein. High concentrations of glucose and specially made repair fluid flowed slowly into Lu Mingfei's overloaded body through the IV tube.
After a while, Lu Mingfei's muddled mind managed to regain a sliver of clarity. He turned his head slightly and looked at the Russian girl sitting by the bed.
"Aren't you going to go check out what's outside?" Lu Mingfei asked weakly. "That's part of your boss's plan, isn't it?"
"That's their problem." Zero gently adjusted the IV valve. "My boss's orders to me are to keep an eye on you. If you ruin yourself, I'll be in big trouble."
Lu Mingfei closed his heavy eyes and slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.
"Okay, I know. You're so long-winded."