Hale's voice pierced the silence of the warehouse, cold with madness. The dark energy lingering around him became more and more intense, intertwining with the energy of the two Reapers behind him, forming an oppressive aura. Liam tensed up suddenly, the blue-black halo at his fingertips condensing instantly. Stimulated by the crisis, his brain activation level rose from 16.9% to 17.1%—the moment he broke through the safety threshold, a slight tearing sensation came from his muscle fibers, and his neural symbiosis stability temporarily dropped to 75%. However, his advanced energy control allowed him to quickly suppress the pain, and his energy intensity soared to 40 units. The core energy converter in his backpack felt slightly hot, as if also sensing the danger ahead.
"Hale, you actually managed to break free from Captain Kane's containment. It seems the Reapers' dark energy has nourished you quite a bit." Liam's tone was cold, his gaze fixed firmly on Hale. At the same time, he quietly moved his feet to shield the backpack with the core components behind him. He could clearly sense that although Hale's energy intensity was only 15 units, his dark energy carried corrosive properties. The two Reapers each had a stable energy intensity of 25 units. Although not as strong as his, they were extremely coordinated. With Hale's command, it would undoubtedly be a tough fight. More importantly, the 17.1% brain activation level greatly enhanced his reaction speed and tactical prediction ability, but it also pushed his physical load to the limit, making it impossible to maintain this state for a long time.
A strange smile curled up at the corner of Hale's mouth. He raised his hand to touch the unhealed wound on his body, his eyes filled with madness and resentment: "Nourished? No, this is a gift! A power bestowed upon me by the Reapers, enough to destroy everything you hold dear, enough to let me control this abandoned world! Liam, hand over the core energy converter, and I can give you a quick death. Otherwise, I will let you be eroded by the symbiont, turn you into my puppet, and make you watch humanity perish with your own eyes!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Hale raised his hand sharply, giving an order to the two Reapers behind him, his cold voice carrying unquestionable authority: "Kill him and retrieve the core components!"
The two Reapers roared, their figures leaping out instantly. The red light on their forehead biochips surged, and the dark energy around them condensed into two dark red corrosive beams, shooting straight at Liam. Wherever the beams passed, a pungent burnt smell filled the air, and the ground was corroded into two black gullies, moving so fast that it was hard to dodge.
"Be careful!" Liam shouted loudly. The super dynamic vision brought by his 17.1% brain activation allowed him to accurately capture the trajectory of the beams. He rolled nimbly to the side to avoid the two corrosive beams. At the same time, he channeled the energy in his body, and the blue-black halo at his fingertips condensed into a sharp light blade, which he swung fiercely—he knew very well that the Reaper's weakness was the biochip on its forehead, but the symbiont connection at the neck was the weakest. Wounding one first would break the deadlock, while avoiding irreversible physical damage from prolonged high-intensity combat.
The Reaper was caught off guard, hit in the neck by the energy arc, and let out a shrill howl. The dark energy around it instantly became chaotic, its energy intensity plummeting to 10 units, and the red light on its forehead biochip dimmed. It stumbled back a few steps, the symbiont at its neck writhing continuously, oozing black mucus, clearly seriously injured. [Host, one Reaper has been seriously injured, its energy core damaged, losing most of its combat effectiveness! Current brain activation level: 17.0%, neural symbiosis stability: 76%. The tearing sensation of the body is intensifying. It is recommended to end the battle as soon as possible or lower the activation level to the safety threshold!] The AI's prompt sounded timely, guiding Liam's battle direction.
Seeing this, Hale's eyes turned even colder, and he shouted sharply: "Fool! You can't even handle one person!" As soon as he finished speaking, he also moved. The dark energy around him condensed into a black energy dagger, and with a flash of his figure, he rushed straight at Liam—even though his energy had not fully recovered, Hale's combat skills were still sharp, and with the blessing of corrosive dark energy, his speed was not inferior to Liam's at all.
Liam's eyes narrowed, not daring to relax for a moment. He dodged the attack of the other Reaper while grappling with Hale. The energy dagger collided with the light blade, making a harsh metal clanging sound. Blue-black and black energy intertwined and erupted, and the shockwave swept across the entire warehouse. Abandoned weapon parts were shaken flying everywhere, dust filled the air, and the line of sight instantly became blurred. He deliberately controlled his energy output, stabilizing his brain activation level at 16.8%, retaining most of his combat advantages while relieving his physical load, and his neural symbiosis stability rose back to 77%.
"Liam, do you think you can win?" Hale laughed frantically while attacking, "Kane's soldiers have been contained by my men and will be completely annihilated soon. That woman Elena will also become a puppet of the Reapers. Everything you do is in vain!"
"You'll never get the chance!" Liam shouted angrily, suddenly exerting force. The blue-black energy on the light blade surged, forcibly knocking Hale's energy dagger away, and at the same time lifting his foot to kick Hale in the chest. Hale was caught off guard, kicked in the chest, stumbled back a few steps, and a trace of black blood spilled from the corner of his mouth—the nourishment of dark energy had allowed him to recover his mobility, but it had also aggravated his internal injuries. This kick was undoubtedly adding insult to injury. For Liam, this burst of force caused his brain activation level to briefly rise back to 17.0%, and the muscle tearing sensation came again, with his neural symbiosis stability dropping to 76%.
At that moment, the uninjured Reaper suddenly launched a sneak attack, with a dark red corrosive beam shooting straight at Liam's back. Meanwhile, Hale took the opportunity to stabilize his figure, condensed the energy dagger again, and rushed at Liam. Liam was trapped in a pincer attack, feeling the scorching heat of the corrosive beam on his back, with no way to dodge.
In the critical moment, Liam suddenly turned around, held the light blade in front of him, and activated the primary energy absorption ability at the same time to absorb the weak energy remaining in the air. His brain activation level temporarily increased to 17.2%, his energy intensity reached 42 units, and his neural symbiosis stability slightly dropped to 75%. "Bang!" The corrosive beam hit the light blade, causing violent fluctuations in the blue-black energy. Liam was shaken back a few steps by the shockwave, his arm went numb, and the halo on the light blade dimmed a little. But with the help of energy absorption, his physical damage did not further deteriorate.
Hale took the opportunity to rush in front of Liam, stabbing the energy dagger straight at Liam's chest, his eyes full of killing intent: "Die!"
At this life-or-death moment, the warehouse door was suddenly smashed open again, and several familiar figures rushed in. The sound of pulse gunfire rang out instantly, and several blue pulse beams shot straight at Hale and the Reapers. "Liam, we're here to support you!" A familiar voice sounded—it was Captain Kane, who had actually led a few soldiers to break free from the containment of Hale's remaining forces and rushed over!
Seeing this, Hale's face changed drastically. He had to give up attacking Liam, turned around to dodge the pulse beams, and shouted sharply: "How is this possible? How could you break free from the containment?"
Captain Kane held a pulse gun, his eyes sharp. While commanding the soldiers to attack the Reapers, he shouted to Liam: "Liam, are you okay? We defeated Hale's remaining forces, learned you were in danger, and rushed over immediately!" The few soldiers beside him, though all covered in scars, were still fighting spirit high. The firepower of the pulse guns continuously suppressed Hale and the Reapers, relieving the pressure on Liam.
Liam breathed a sigh of relief, quickly lowering his brain activation level to the safe threshold of 16.7%. The muscle tearing sensation disappeared instantly, and his neural symbiosis stability rose back to 78%. He shook his head, clenched the light blade in his hand, and condensed energy again: "I'm okay, thank you for coming in time! Let's take care of the Reapers first, then capture Hale. We must not let him take the core components!"
The situation reversed instantly. Hale and the two Reapers were trapped in the encirclement of Liam and Kane's soldiers. The seriously injured Reaper, under the fire suppression of the pulse guns, soon couldn't hold on. It was hit in the forehead biochip by a pulse beam, let out a shrill howl, the dark energy around it dissipated instantly, and its huge body fell heavily to the ground, completely lifeless. [Host, one Reaper has been successfully killed, absorbing its bioenergy, brain activation level stabilized at 16.8%, energy intensity increased to 43 units, neural symbiosis stability restored to 79%, physical tearing damage repaired by 2%!]
The remaining Reaper, seeing its companion killed, roared and launched a frantic attack, but was tightly contained by Kane's soldiers. Pulse gun beams continuously hit its body, its energy intensity dropped rapidly, and it was soon on the verge of collapse. Hale looked at the situation in front of him, his eyes full of unwillingness and madness. He knew that it was impossible to retrieve the core components today. If he continued to stalemate, he would also become a prisoner.
"Liam, Kane, just you wait!" Hale roared through gritted teeth, suddenly condensing all the dark energy around him, releasing a powerful energy shockwave that knocked back the surrounding soldiers. At the same time, he turned around and rushed towards the back door of the warehouse, "I will definitely come back! I will bring the Reapers' main force, eliminate all of you, retrieve the core components, and destroy everything you have!"
"Don't let him run!" Liam and Kane shouted at the same time, trying to chase after him, but were blocked by the aftershock of the energy shockwave. When they stabilized their figures, Hale's figure had already disappeared into the ruins at the back door of the warehouse, with no trace left. The remaining Reaper, seeing Hale escape, also tried to flee, but was shot in the biochip by one of Kane's soldiers and fell to the ground completely motionless.
The battle was finally over. The warehouse was in a mess. Abandoned weapon parts, black mucus, and soldiers' blood were intertwined. The air was filled with the smell of gunpowder and burnt. Kane's soldiers were all tired, and many were injured, but they still had smiles of victory on their faces—they not only supported Liam, but also repelled Hale, protected the core energy converter, and gained a valuable chance for humanity's counterattack.
Kane walked to Liam's side, patted him on the shoulder, and said with relief: "Liam, thank you. It's a good thing you held on until we arrived. If the core components had been taken by Hale, we would have been completely doomed. Your brain activation level broke through 17% just now, right? Although your combat effectiveness has improved significantly, you look like you're under a lot of physical strain and need to repair as soon as possible."
Liam smiled, wiped the dust and sweat off his face, opened his backpack, and breathed a sigh of relief only after confirming that the core energy converter was intact: "You're welcome. This is our common responsibility. Although Hale escaped, he was seriously injured and won't come after us for a short time. My body is indeed a bit overwhelmed. Activation above 17% is still too forced, but now it has stabilized back to the safety threshold. I just need to repair it with the medical equipment at the stronghold when I get back. Our top priority now is to return to the stronghold as soon as possible, hand over the core components to Elena, and speed up the manufacturing of counter-weapons. At the same time, I can use the equipment to try to convert the 17% activation level into a safe and controllable stable state."
"That's right." Kane nodded, his tone solemn, "Hale will definitely not let this go. He will definitely go to the Reapers' main force. We must manufacture the counter-weapons as soon as possible and prepare for his counterattack. Your symbiotic ability plus the counter-weapons will be the key to fighting the Reapers." He turned to the soldiers beside him, "Brothers, gather up. We return to the stronghold immediately, no delay! Medics will prioritize treating the seriously wounded soldiers, and the others will stay alert to prevent sneak attacks from Hale's remaining forces!"
"Yes!" The soldiers replied in unison, gathered their equipment one after another, supported their injured companions, and followed Liam and Kane towards the warehouse entrance. Liam walked at the front of the team, holding the black chip tightly in his hand. The core energy converter in his backpack was slightly hot, his brain activation level stabilized at 16.8%, and his neural symbiosis stability was 80%—although the battle just now caused some minor physical injuries, it also made him more proficient in controlling the 17% activation level, accumulating key data for the subsequent stable breakthrough with the help of medical equipment.
In the distance, the sound of gunfire and roars in the ruins gradually subsided. The afterglow of the setting sun poured down through the gaps in the ruins, shining on them, reflecting their firm figures. They stepped through the mess, moving towards the temporary stronghold. Every step was full of strength; every step was closer to hope. Elena was still waiting for them at the stronghold. The manufacturing of counter-weapons was about to begin, and humanity's counterattack against the Reapers was about to officially start. And Liam knew clearly that as long as he could complete physical repair and activation level stabilization at the stronghold, he would truly break through the 17% bottleneck and have stronger power to guard this hard-won hope.