The lights in the medical laboratory were soft and quiet, and the "beeping" of the instruments, like a regular beat, accompanied by the gentle hum of the Connection Core, formed a temporarily stable melody. Liam leaned against the head of the bed, his fingertips gently caressing the black chip. The chip's surface was smooth and cold, yet it seemed to contain a restless energy, occasionally resonating faintly with the blue light at his temples, sending out slight tremors.
After a day of rest, coupled with the continuous effect of the primary neural self-healing ability and the repair potion prepared by Elena, his body had improved a lot—the severe tearing pain in his back was gone, leaving only a faint dull pain, the stabbing pain in his skull had completely disappeared, his brain activation was stable at 16.8%, his neural symbiosis stability had also risen to 75%, and even the previously disordered neural pathways had become smoother under the repair of the Connection Core.
Elena sat on a chair by the bed, with a portable terminal in front of her, her fingertips tapping quickly on the screen, where dense code and energy fluctuation graphs jumped—she was fully assisting the AI in cracking the encrypted data of the black chip. Sunlight streamed through the shutters of the laboratory, falling on her side face, outlining a soft contour. The tiredness in her eyes had not yet dissipated, but they still shone with a focused light.
"How's it going? Any progress?" Liam asked softly, with a hint of expectation and an imperceptible unease in his tone. This chip was the key to unlocking the conspiracy of the alien forces and the only clue they had to confront the "Reapers". He was eager to know what secrets were hidden in the chip.
Elena stopped her movements, rubbed her sore eyes, and a look of helplessness, yet also a hint of breakthrough joy, appeared on her face: "It's harder to crack than expected. The chip's encryption algorithm is extremely complex, not belonging to any known encryption method, and even incorporates a certain unknown biological code, as if... it was specially designed to prevent human cracking. However, fortunately, with the AI's assistance, we have cracked a small part of the shallow data."
As she spoke, she turned the terminal to Liam, and a piece of broken text and several blurred graphs appeared on the screen: "Look, this is what we just cracked. Most of it is still incomplete, but we can vaguely see some key information—the 'Reaper Project' is indeed a conspiracy of alien forces. They come from the 'Caron Galaxy', thousands of light-years away from Earth. The civilization there survives by plundering resources and civilization potential from other planets, and human brains, especially awakened neural symbionts, are the core targets they want to 'reap'."
Liam's gaze was firmly locked on the screen, his fingertips tightened slightly, and his heart couldn't help but sink. In the broken text, words like "reap", "sacrifice", and "symbiont container" were particularly dazzling. Every word carried a cold cruelty that made him shudder. He finally understood that Marcus was just a pawn placed on Earth by the alien forces. Their goal was never just the Connection Core, but the entire human civilization.
[Host, the shallow data of the chip has been synchronized and cracked, supplementing key information: The Caron Galaxy civilization, also known as the "Reaper Civilization", possesses highly developed biotechnology and interstellar navigation technology. They have invaded other planets many times, plundered the potential of planetary civilizations, and transformed local intelligent creatures into "symbiont containers" to provide them with energy and labor. This invasion of Earth aims to use neural symbiosis technology to mass-transform humans, build a powerful symbiont army, and at the same time reap the awakening potential of human brains to enhance the strength of their own civilization.] The AI's voice sounded in his mind, with a rare sense of solemnity. [In addition, it is detected that there is a positioning signal hidden in the chip. Every 24 hours, it sends a coordinate to the Caron Galaxy, which accurately points to the Advanced Neurotechnology Division of the Pentagon—that is to say, the alien forces already know the location of the Connection Core and your existence.]
Positioning signal?
Liam's face suddenly turned pale. He never thought that this chip was not only a carrier of encrypted data, but also a locator. While they were cracking the chip, they were also exposing their whereabouts and the location of the Connection Core to the alien forces. In other words, danger could come at any time, and they didn't have much time to prepare.
"What's even more terrifying," Elena's voice lowered, her fingertips pointing to the blurred graph on the screen, "Look at this graph. This is a schematic diagram of the Reaper Civilization's 'symbiont transformation device'. It can forcibly strip the consciousness of intelligent creatures, implant Caron Galaxy biochips into their brains, and turn them into puppets who lose their self-awareness and only obey the Reapers' commands. And the transformation device on the graph has an extremely high similarity to some of the equipment in Marcus's abandoned laboratory—I suspect that Marcus has long been secretly developing transformation devices according to the requirements of the alien forces."
In Liam's mind, he instantly thought of the weird instruments in Marcus's abandoned laboratory and the imprisoned, unconscious experimental subjects—so those experimental subjects were not Marcus's own research objects, but the first batch of test subjects for the alien forces' "Reaper Project". In pursuit of power and strength, Marcus actually betrayed humanity, became a lackey of the alien forces, and exchanged the lives of his compatriots for his own ambition.
"It's too cruel..." Liam whispered, a hint of anger and sadness flashing in his eyes, "They actually treat humans as tools, as objects to be reaped. That madman Marcus, in order to satisfy his own ambition, actually sacrificed so many lives."
Elena gently held his hand, and the temperature of her fingertips came over, with a hint of comfort and firmness: "Liam, don't be sad or angry. Now that we know their conspiracy and their goals, that's better than anything. As long as we speed up, crack all the data in the chip, master the weaknesses of the Reaper Civilization, and improve your brain activation and neural symbiosis stability, we will have a chance to stop them and protect the future of humanity."
Liam raised his head, looked at Elena's firm eyes, and the anger and sadness in his heart were gradually replaced by firmness and determination. He nodded, held her hand tightly, and also held the black chip in his hand: "You're right, we can't back down. Now, we still have three days. In these three days, we must crack all the data in the chip as soon as possible. At the same time, I must also get used to the primary neural self-healing ability and try to improve my brain activation to prepare for returning to the laboratory."
[Host, it is detected that your emotional fluctuation is relatively large, and the neural symbiosis stability has a slight fluctuation, currently 73%. It is recommended to calm down, conduct neural adaptation training, familiarize yourself with the primary neural self-healing ability, and at the same time, try to conduct mild energy guidance training to lay the foundation for improving brain activation. The primary neural self-healing ability can not only repair physical damage, but also assist in repairing disordered neural pathways, improve energy conduction efficiency, and is very helpful for improving brain activation.] The AI's voice sounded timely, and at the same time, a neural adaptation training plan was clearly presented in his mind.
"Okay, I'll start training now." Liam took a deep breath, calmed his emotions, slowly closed his eyes, and began to guide the blue energy in his body to conduct neural adaptation training according to the training plan provided by the AI.
The blue energy flowed slowly in his body, like a gentle stream, spreading along the neural pathways. Everywhere it passed, the originally stiff muscles gradually relaxed, and the dull pain in his back also eased a lot. The hum of the Connection Core became more gentle, and the blue light at his temples flickered steadily, forming a perfect resonance with the energy fluctuation in his body. He could clearly feel that his neural pathways were becoming smoother and smoother, the efficiency of energy conduction was gradually improving, and in his brain, Ethan's memory fragments were becoming more and more closely intertwined with his own, and the integration of AI expertise and neuroscientific talent was also accelerating quietly.
Elena sat aside, quietly watching him, not disturbing. She knew that Liam was burdened with too many responsibilities and pressures. He not only had to confront the oppression of the alien forces and Director Hale, but also endure the pain of dual soul fusion and the neural backlash brought by the improvement of brain activation. But she also believed that Liam would definitely persist, because in his heart, there were concerns, hopes, and the determination to protect the future of humanity.
Time passed little by little, and unconsciously, a day had passed. Liam slowly opened his eyes, and a bright light flashed in his eyes—after a day of neural adaptation training, he had fully familiarized himself with the primary neural self-healing ability, his neural symbiosis stability had increased to 78%, his energy conduction efficiency had also increased by 10%, and even, he could faintly feel that his brain activation had a slight improvement, only one step away from 17%.
"How is it? Do you feel okay?" Elena quickly asked, with a hint of concern in her eyes.
Liam smiled, moved his body, the dull pain in his back had basically disappeared, and his whole body was filled with a faint sense of strength: "Very good, even better than expected. I have familiarized myself with the primary neural self-healing ability, my neural symbiosis stability has also improved, my energy conduction efficiency is much higher, and even my brain activation has a slight improvement."
"That's great!" A look of joy appeared on Elena's face, "This is really good news. By the way, there has also been new progress in cracking the chip. We have cracked more shallow data and found a key piece of information—the biochips of the Reaper Civilization have a fatal weakness: they are afraid of high-frequency blue energy pulses, and your energy is exactly high-frequency blue energy. That is to say, you are their biggest nemesis."
A hint of surprise flashed in Liam's eyes. He never thought that his energy would be the nemesis of the Reaper biochips. This was undoubtedly a huge turning point, an important bargaining chip that allowed them to confront the alien forces.
[Host, supplementary explanation: High-frequency blue energy pulses can not only destroy the operation of the Reaper biochips, but also purify the alien energy in the transformed symbionts and awaken their original consciousness. However, the premise is that your brain activation needs to be increased to more than 20% and your energy intensity to more than 30 units to form a sufficiently powerful high-frequency blue energy pulse that can act on large-scale symbiont transformation devices and transformed symbionts.] The AI's voice supplemented.
"20% brain activation, 30 units of energy intensity..." Liam whispered, a hint of firmness flashing in his eyes, "I will definitely do it. There are still two days left. I will continue training and strive to increase my brain activation to 17% and my energy intensity to 28 units before returning to the laboratory to lay the foundation for subsequent breakthroughs."
At that moment, the terminal in the laboratory suddenly issued a sharp alarm. The code on the screen became chaotic in an instant, and the originally jumping energy fluctuation graph suddenly had violent fluctuations, showing an extremely weird frequency.
"What's wrong?" Liam's heart tightened, he sat up straight subconsciously, and his gaze was firmly locked on the terminal screen.
Elena quickly rushed to the terminal, her fingertips tapping quickly, and her face gradually became solemn: "No, it's the positioning signal! The positioning signal of the chip has suddenly become extremely strong, and I have detected that an unfamiliar energy fluctuation is rapidly approaching the Pentagon. The frequency of the energy fluctuation is completely consistent with the energy fluctuation of the Reaper Civilization detected in the chip—they are here!"
Liam's face suddenly turned pale, the black chip in his hand trembled more violently, the blue light at his temples also became manic, and his neural symbiosis stability dropped to 70% in an instant. He never thought that the alien forces would come so soon, much earlier than they expected.
[Warning! Detection of Reaper Civilization reconnaissance aircraft, 10 kilometers away from the Pentagon, expected to arrive in 5 minutes! The aircraft's energy intensity is unknown, suspected to carry detection equipment and small attack weapons, and the target is suspected to be the Connection Core and the host! It is recommended to evacuate the medical laboratory immediately and go to the underground safe area, otherwise, there will be a risk of life!] The AI's warning sounded urgently, with an unprecedented sense of solemnity.
"5 minutes..." Liam took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and a hint of determination flashed in his eyes, "We can't evacuate! If we evacuate, the secret of the Connection Core and the cracked data of the chip may be taken by them. Moreover, there are many neural repair potions and research data in the medical laboratory. These are important resources for us to confront them. We can't give up like this."
"But their reconnaissance aircraft will arrive soon. With our current strength, we are no match for them at all!" Elena's eyes were filled with anxiety, "Your body hasn't fully recovered, and your brain activation hasn't been raised to a sufficient level. We can't resist their attacks at all."
"I know," Liam nodded, his tone firm, "but we can't wait for death either. Elena, you continue to crack the chip's data, save all the key information as soon as possible, and transfer it to the portable terminal. I'll delay time, use high-frequency blue energy pulses to interfere with their detection equipment, and prevent them from approaching the medical laboratory."
"No, it's too dangerous!" Elena quickly grabbed his hand, her eyes filled with worry, "Your body hasn't fully recovered, and you have no idea how powerful their reconnaissance aircraft is. If something happens to you, we will have no hope at all."
Liam gently patted her hand, a gentle yet firm smile appeared on his face: "Don't worry, I won't be okay. I have familiarized myself with the primary neural self-healing ability, and my energy is the nemesis of their biochips. Even if I can't beat them, I can protect myself and delay enough time for you to complete the data transfer. Trust me, and trust yourself."
Looking at his firm eyes, Elena knew that she couldn't stop him at all. She nodded, and the worry in her eyes was gradually replaced by determination: "Okay, I promise you. I will complete the data transfer as soon as possible. You must be careful and never have an accident. If the situation is not right, you must evacuate immediately. I will wait for you in the underground safe area."
"Okay." Liam nodded, held her hand tightly, then turned around and walked towards the door of the laboratory.
When he reached the door, he stopped, looked back at Elena, a hint of firmness and reluctance flashed in his eyes, then slowly raised his hand, pressed it against his temple, the blue energy in his body instantly converged, the blue light at his temples surged, and a powerful energy fluctuation emanated from his body—he was ready to face the first challenge from the Reaper Civilization and a new life-or-death duel.
[Host, energy guidance completed, high-frequency blue energy pulse ready. The reconnaissance aircraft is 5 kilometers away from the defense platform, expected to arrive in 3 minutes. It is recommended to go to the defense platform on the top floor of the Pentagon, use the terrain advantage to interfere with its detection equipment, and avoid affecting the medical laboratory and Dr. Elena.] The AI's voice sounded in his mind.
"Received." Liam responded in a low voice, then took steps and ran quickly towards the defense platform on the top floor of the Pentagon.
In the corridor, there was chaos. Soldiers ran in a hurry, holding weapons in their hands. Obviously, they had also detected the unfamiliar energy fluctuation and were urgently deploying defenses. But Liam knew that these ordinary soldiers and ordinary weapons could not resist the reconnaissance aircraft from the Reaper Civilization. Their only hope was himself, the black chip that had not yet been fully cracked, and the high-frequency blue energy that could restrain the Reaper biochips.
Soon, Liam ran to the defense platform on the top floor. On the platform, the wind howled. In the distant sky, a faint light spot was approaching rapidly. The speed of the light spot was extremely fast, and in the blink of an eye, its outline could be seen—it was a small aircraft, all black, with an weird shape, shining with a cold metallic luster. At the front of the aircraft, there were two red detection ports, which were constantly scanning the Pentagon below, emitting weird red light.
[Warning! The reconnaissance aircraft is 1 kilometer away from the defense platform, and is starting the detection mode. It has locked the location of the medical laboratory, and is suspected of detecting the energy fluctuation of the Connection Core!] The AI's warning sounded urgently, [It is recommended to release high-frequency blue energy pulses immediately to interfere with its detection equipment, otherwise, the location of the medical laboratory and the secret of the Connection Core will be completely locked by them.]
Liam took a deep breath, slowly closed his eyes, and gave an order in his mind: [Initiate full-power high-frequency blue energy pulses, aim at the detection ports of the reconnaissance aircraft, interfere with its detection equipment, and prevent it from locking the location of the medical laboratory!]
[Command received, full-power high-frequency blue energy pulses being released!]
Almost at the same time, the blue light at Liam's temples suddenly surged, and a powerful high-frequency blue energy pulse shot out from his fingertips, like a blue lightning bolt, accurately aiming at the detection port of the reconnaissance aircraft and shooting quickly.
"Zila——"
The moment the high-frequency blue energy pulse hit the detection port of the reconnaissance aircraft, a harsh current sound rang out. The aircraft's movements suddenly stiffened, the red detection port at the front went out instantly, and its originally fast flight speed slowed down instantly, starting to shake in the air. Obviously, its detection equipment had been interfered by the high-frequency blue energy pulse and fell into paralysis.
[Interference successful! The reconnaissance aircraft's detection equipment is paralyzed, unable to lock the target location, and is trying to restart the detection equipment. Estimated restart time: 1 minute! It is recommended to take this opportunity to release a stronger energy pulse to destroy its detection equipment and completely prevent it from restarting!] The AI's voice sounded with a hint of joy, quickly reminding.
A hint of determination flashed in Liam's eyes. Without the slightest hesitation, he gathered the blue energy in his body again. The blue light at his temples became even more dazzling, and another high-frequency blue energy pulse, stronger than before, shot out from his fingertips, accurately hitting the detection port of the reconnaissance aircraft.
"Crack——"
A clear cracking sound rang out. The detection port of the reconnaissance aircraft was instantly shattered, fragments splashed, the aircraft's body began to tremble violently, the thruster at the tail also broke down, emitting black smoke, lost control, and began to fall downward.
[Detection equipment completely destroyed! The reconnaissance aircraft is out of control, expected to crash in 10 seconds! Host, well done!] The AI's voice sounded with a hint of relief.
Liam looked at the out-of-control reconnaissance aircraft that was falling, and a faint smile appeared on his face. But he did not relax his vigilance, because he knew that this was only the beginning. This reconnaissance aircraft was just the vanguard of the Reaper Civilization's invasion of Earth, and more dangers were yet to come.
At that moment, a strange, cold voice suddenly sounded in his mind. This voice was not heard through his ears, but directly transmitted into his mind, with a strong sense of oppression and killing intent: "Lowly humans, how dare you destroy our reconnaissance mission, how dare you possess energy that can restrain us... You will die a terrible death. The Reaper Project will not stop because of a lowly human like you. Earth will eventually become our colony, and humans will eventually become our symbiont containers. We will come again soon."
This voice disappeared as quickly as it appeared. But this voice made Liam's body stiff instantly, and a strong sense of unease rose in his heart. He knew that this was a warning from the Reaper Civilization, a provocation to him, and a declaration of their invasion of Earth.
[Warning! Detection of unfamiliar mental fluctuation, consistent with the Reaper Civilization's energy fluctuation, suspected to be mental deterrence from the Reaper Civilization! The host's neural symbiosis stability has fluctuated, currently 68%! It is recommended to calm down immediately and conduct neural repair, otherwise, you may suffer mental backlash!] The AI's warning sounded urgently.
Liam took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, guided the blue energy in his body to repair the disordered neural pathways, and calm his emotions. Soon, the neural symbiosis stability rose to 72%, and the sense of oppression and killing intent in his mind gradually dissipated.
He knew that this game had officially begun. The threat of the Reaper Civilization was close at hand, the oppression of Director Hale still did not disappear, and he had a lot of things to do—crack all the data in the chip, improve his brain activation and energy intensity, familiarize himself with the primary neural self-healing ability, unite with Elena, confront Director Hale, stop the invasion of the Reaper Civilization, and protect the future of humanity.
The wind still howled on the defense platform. Liam stood on the edge of the platform, looking at the falling reconnaissance aircraft in the distance and the prosperous city below, his eyes filled with firmness and determination. His figure seemed extremely thin in the wind, yet extremely straight, like a beam of light in the dark, carrying the hope of human civilization.
In two days, he would return to the laboratory to continue advancing the research on physical modification and serum optimization, and continue to improve his strength. He would break through his limits step by step, endure higher neural backlash, unlock stronger abilities, crack all the secrets of the "Reaper" chip, uncover all the conspiracies of the alien forces, and complete the 100% brain awakening.
He didn't know if he would eventually succeed, if he could protect the future of humanity, or if he could return to his own universe and save his sister. But he knew that he would not flinch or give up. Even if the road ahead was full of thorns and dangers, even if he would pay the price of his life, he would move forward courageously, do his best to confront all enemies, protect all the people he cared about, and protect human civilization.
What he didn't know was that in a secret corner of the Pentagon, Director Hale was standing in front of a terminal, watching the screen showing Liam's confrontation with the reconnaissance aircraft, watching the high-frequency blue energy erupted from Liam, a hint of greed and calculation flashing in his eyes. He already knew the existence of the alien forces, knew that Liam's energy was the nemesis of the Reaper biochips, and also knew the great potential of the Connection Core—he wanted to take all of these for himself, wanted to use Liam's energy, the technology of the Connection Core, and the conspiracy of the alien forces to realize his own ambition and become the ruler of Earth.
On one side is the threat of the "Reapers" from outer space, on the other side is the calculation of the ambitious man from within, on the other side is the pain of dual soul fusion and the cost of neural backlash, and on the other side is the distant road home. Liam's road to awakening is destined to be full of hardships and dangers, destined to be a difficult game about life and death, about the survival of civilization.
But he is already ready.
To meet the next challenge, to meet the next life-or-death duel, to meet his true awakening.