pjbooks Chapter 504 The Queen's Ribs!
Chapter 504 The Queen's Ribs!
It's the size of a basketball, with a semi-transparent shell. The material is the same as that of the elite breed, but the density is much lower.
Inside, a core the size of a bean is flickering at a low frequency.
It hovered next to a piece of ice, almost touching the surface of the fragment, using the infrared radiation of the natural ice to shield its own heat signal.
Smart, but not smart enough.
One thousand kilometers, five hundred kilometers, one hundred kilometers.
Zhang Yan saw it clearly.
It is spherical with a semi-transparent shell and gray flowing patterns inside.
He has two tasks: first, to destroy it before it triggers emergency mechanisms; second, to ensure that the destruction process does not generate remotely detectable energy.
High-energy weapons, purification pulses, and the Vermilion Bird thermal field cannot be used.
The only remaining option is physical means.
Chaos extended its right arm, and the Thousand Machine Arm sprang from its wrist, its six mechanical fingers unfolding into a pincer shape.
Ten kilometers, five kilometers, one kilometer.
Zhang Yan tightened the edge of the spatial folding field to within fifty meters of the target, and then released it.
The moment Chaos appeared, the gray patterns on the outer shell of the seed-level reconnaissance body lit up briefly.
Too slow, the Thousand-Machine Arm has already arrived.
Six mechanical fingers came together, completely enveloping the basketball-sized reconnaissance object.
Upon contact, Zhang Yan felt a slight vibration; the reconnaissance unit was attempting an emergency data transmission.
However, its transmission power is roughly equivalent to that of a flashlight, and the metal knuckles of the machine arm form a complete shielding cage, trapping the signal inside.
Zhang Yan tightened his fingers, increasing the pressure evenly.
The translucent outer shell first cracked, then shattered silently, and the bean-sized core inside was crushed into powder.
There was no explosion, no energy release, only the pulverization of matter.
The debris floated in the palm of the Thousand Machine Arm. Zhang Yan released a low-power purification pulse, with an intensity close to body temperature, to only erase the community energy imprints in the debris.
From appearance to completion, it took eleven seconds.
Guan Xing breathed a sigh of relief and checked the electromagnetic environment within a 20,000-kilometer radius: "No signal leakage, and no second reconnaissance object within the detection range."
Zhang Yan retracted the Thousand Machine Arm, and the debris was thrown into space, quickly mixing with the surrounding ice fragments.
"Walk."
Chaos shifts direction, thrusters ignite at full power, target Earth.
The sailing time is approximately four hours.
Zhang Yan switched the mecha back to normal flight mode, the spatial folding field retracted, and the Four Spirits Core entered low-power standby mode.
Observing the stars and organizing the tactical notes: "The seed-level itself does not pose a threat, but its location indicates that the intelligence network of the swarm is shrinking. Three Kuiper Belt members were driven away from the outer perimeter, and it changed its route to send in new ones."
Zhang Yan continued, "After we get back, we need to reassess the blind spots with Nie Qingcheng."
Chaos accelerates in space, and the sun's spot of light gradually brightens directly in front of it.
Three hours and fifty minutes, three hours, two hours.
Earth-based communication is becoming increasingly closer.
A connection establishment prompt appears on the system panel.
A faint electrical noise came from the cockpit speakers, followed by her voice.
"Zhang Yan, respond when you hear me."
It's not text, it's real-time voice.
Zhang Yan found that his hands had left the control panel. He didn't do anything, but suddenly he had nowhere to put them.
"I heard you."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the call. Zhang Yan heard very faint background noises, the sound of keyboards clicking. She was still in front of the computer.
"When will you arrive?"
"Within two hours."
"Where is the landing site?"
"Jinghai, the usual place."
There was another second of silence; the keyboard clicks stopped.
"The space is cleared out," she said. "You wanted a large one, so I cleared out 120 square meters for you."
Zhang Yan couldn't help but exclaim, "One hundred and twenty square meters, and you're going to put one hundred and eight three-meter-tall mechs in there?"
"You didn't say 108 units, you only said you wanted big ones."
"Let me add something."
"It's too late." Nie Qingcheng said lazily. "The ribs have already started stewing. Before you come back, figure out the lab stuff yourself."
Zhang Yan leaned back in his chair.
The pork ribs are stewing, but there's not enough space in the lab, so there's nowhere to put the 108 Mo Bing units for the time being.
All these problems combined didn't bother him as much as the self-righteousness in her voice.
"Okay," he said. "I'll talk about it when I get back."
"Um."
The call was not disconnected, and neither side spoke again.
Guanxing kept his presence to a minimum in the secondary position, keeping his eyes fixed on the navigation log.
About ten seconds later, Nie Qingcheng's voice rang out again, but her speech was a beat slower.
"Was the journey smooth?"
"smoothly."
"Stargazing?"
"Play dead on the side."
The stargazing pen almost flew out of my hand.
A very soft, breathy sound came from the other end of the communication line, so faint it was even fainter than a laugh.
"Two hours," she said. "I'll go check on the stove."
Communication was lost, and the low-frequency hum of the thrusters resumed in the cockpit.
Guan Xing picked up the pen and said in a low voice, "Is the phrase 'playing dead' directed at me?"
"You were breathing very softly just now."
"I'm afraid of disturbing you."
"What are you afraid of?"
Guanxing didn't answer. She put away the data tablet and began performing pre-landing system checks.
Zhang Yan looked straight ahead, and the blue light spot gradually grew larger.
Two hours later, I arrived home.
Chaos entered the Earth's gravitational field.
Zhang Yan manually adjusted the reentry angle.
The armor's stealth coating will produce a brief period of visible light due to atmospheric friction, and the landing route will be chosen in the nighttime region of the Northern Hemisphere.
Jinghai, 4:12 AM.
Chaos landed on the helipad behind the villa. The alloy landing gear touched the ground, and the vibration came from the soles of the feet, very slight.
The hatch opened, and the April night wind blew in, carrying the dry coolness of the northern city.
A faint aroma of meat wafted from the direction of the villa.
Zhang Yan stepped out of the cabin and landed on the tarmac.
Guan Xing stepped out of his seat and stretched: "I'll go to the lab first. I'll figure out how to store the ink-soldier. You go inside first."
Zhang Yan glanced at her: "You're a nice person today."
"I'm hungry." Guan Xing waved his hand, "but I don't want to eat dog food, let's go."
Zhang Yan didn't say anything more and turned to walk towards the back door of the villa.
The kitchen light was on.
As you push open the door, a wave of heat hits you. A clay pot is bubbling on the stove, the dark red broth is boiling, and the aroma of pork ribs fills the enclosed space.
Nie Qingcheng was standing next to the kitchen counter, chopping scallions.
The champagne-colored haute couture silk nightgown clung smoothly to her alluring curves, revealing a dazzling glimpse of her long, fair legs beneath the hem.
This ruthless and decisive chaebol queen, known as "Bamboo Leaf Green," had her hair casually tied up, with a few strands falling gently to her neck.
She didn't look up: "Wash your hands before you come over."
Zhang Yan stood at the kitchen doorway for three seconds.
Seventeen days.
From Jinghai to Guixu, from Guixu to the edge of the solar system.
One hundred and eight Ink Soldiers, the final outer frame of the Celestial Craftsmanship, the weakness map of the Matrix, the twelve years of solitude of the first generation of maintainers, the rating change of the Eye of the Abyss, and the reconnaissance body outside Neptune.
The whole thing was covered by this pot of pork ribs.
He went to wash his hands.
When she returned, Nie Qingcheng had already placed the casserole on the table, set out white porcelain bowls, served rice, and placed chopsticks across the rim of the bowls.
She sat opposite me, her chin resting on the back of her clasped hands, the beauty mark at the corner of her eye particularly vivid under the light.
"You've lost weight."
"no."
"Your chin is more pointed now."
Zhang Yan looked down at himself. During those five days in Guixu, he hadn't really eaten properly.
"Eat first," she said. "I'll report back after I've eaten."
Zhang Yan sat down and took his first bite of pork ribs.
He confirmed something.
Seventeen days was worth it.