Chapter 533: They Had Found Her Space

Commander Han looked at the sky and immediately gave his orders. "All available ranged ability users should gather near the western wall. Do not allow those machines to reach the evacuation grounds."

Nearly fifty ability users moved into position.

Fireballs, lightning, ice spears, and wind blades rose into the air when the guardian units entered their range.

Several machines were struck, but their metal bodies were protected by thin energy barriers. Most of the attacks only slowed them down.

The machines returned fire.

Thin red beams fell toward the base.

Leng Pan spread her mist across the western section and condensed it into a water barrier above the streets. The first beams struck the water, turning part of it into steam.

The barrier weakened but remained intact.

"Those attacks are heating the water too quickly," she said as she replaced the evaporated section. "I cannot block all of them if they continue firing together."

"Then they should not be allowed to fire together," Lu Zhen replied.

His flames rose into the sky before separating into hundreds of smaller streams. They wrapped around the guardian units’ wings and burned through the exposed joints.

The first machine lost control and crashed into an empty warehouse.

More followed.

The remaining machines changed their formation and surrounded Lu Zhen’s fire.

"They can adapt to abilities," Captain Wei warned. Although his body was weak, he continued watching the command network through the device attached to him. "The controller is calculating the frequency of his flames."

Leng Pan glanced toward her husband. "Change the temperature."

Lu Zhen understood immediately.

Instead of increasing the heat, he lowered it.

The bright flames darkened into a deep red before spreading through the spaces between the machines. The guardian units adjusted their barriers to resist the previous temperature, leaving them unprepared for the change.

Lu Zhen raised the heat again without warning.

The sudden difference caused several barriers to break.

Commander Han’s ability users attacked the exposed machines and brought them down one after another.

Lu Tao watched a burning guardian unit fall beyond the wall and sighed. "We should have tried to keep one intact."

Ouyang Jin looked at him. "Why?"

"We collect useful things."

"That machine was trying to kill us."

"So was the aircraft. We kept it."

Ouyang Jin wanted to respond, but he could not find anything wrong with Lu Tao’s reasoning.

A group of guardian units broke away from the battle and flew toward the controlled survivors. Instead of firing their weapons, they released a silver mist over the metal barriers.

The affected survivors became more violent.

Several barriers bent beneath the combined force of their abilities.

"They are strengthening the network!" Captain Wei shouted.

Shade howled again.

His voice weakened the signal for a moment, but it could no longer stop it completely.

One of the barriers broke.

Controlled survivors poured through the opening and rushed toward the western gate.

Ouyang Jin created another metal wall, but an affected ability user melted part of it before it could become solid.

Janna pushed the survivors back with wind while Silk caught them with her threads. Blaze and ZaiZai formed a line in front of the gate, knocking down anyone who passed through without causing fatal injuries.

Su Yan moved among the soldiers and treated those injured during the struggle.

Leng Pan continued protecting the base from the guardian units, but part of her attention remained inside her space.

The infant was lying near the spiritual spring.

His silver eyes remained open, and a faint metal light moved beneath the skin around his chest.

Several vines in the space had surrounded him without touching his body.

The beacon was still active. It could not communicate with the transport vessel, but it had begun drawing energy from the child.

Little Vine sensed Leng Pan’s concern and touched her wrist.

"You want to enter the space?" Leng Pan asked.

The plant nodded with its leaves.

Lu Zhen heard her and frowned. "Can it remove the device?"

"It consumed the control particles without being harmed. It might be able to absorb the beacon as well."

"Might is not enough."

"If we wait too long, the beacon could merge with the child completely."

Lu Zhen looked at Little Vine. "If it becomes dangerous, you will stop."

Little Vine slapped his hand with a leaf before disappearing into Leng Pan’s space.

Lu Zhen stared at the empty place where the plant had been. "It could have nodded."

"It learned that from you," Leng Pan replied.

"I do not slap people with leaves."

"You use other methods."

Before Lu Zhen could defend himself, the transport vessel released a deep sound that travelled across the sky.

A large metal structure appeared through the opening beneath it.

The gate anchor was shaped like a black ring surrounded by moving silver sections. Blue energy flashed within its centre as the vessel lowered it toward Qinghe Base.

Lu Tao looked at the alien communicator and frowned. "The ship no longer has the beacon’s signal, so why is it still deploying the anchor?"

Captain Wei’s face changed as he sensed the network. "It found another energy source."

Everyone followed his gaze.

The dead burrowing creature lay in the destroyed street near the command centre.

A blue light had appeared inside the wound Little Vine had created.

The alien prisoner’s voice came through Assistant Yao’s communicator. "Get away from the burrowing unit! It was carrying a secondary core."

The creature’s armored body began shaking.

Its flesh split apart as a blue crystal rose from inside its chest.

The transport vessel locked onto the new signal.

[SECONDARY BEACON CONFIRMED.]

[ANCHOR DEPLOYMENT CONTINUING.]

Leng Pan’s expression became cold.

The aliens had placed one beacon inside the infant and another inside the burrowing creature. They had expected at least one to reach the western gate.

Lu Zhen raised his hand, and fire gathered around the creature’s corpse. "We will destroy the second core."

The alien prisoner shouted through the communicator, "Do not attack it with energy! The core will absorb your ability and use it to strengthen the gate anchor."

Lu Zhen stopped the flames before they touched the crystal.

Commander Han stared at the descending anchor. "Then how are we supposed to destroy it?"

A new voice came from the communicator.

Assistant Yao sounded calmer than the situation deserved as he announced, "The prisoner has bypassed the weapon restriction."

The captured alien aircraft rose from behind the southern wall with several guardian units following it.

Its main weapon began gathering energy.

The alien prisoner’s anxious voice followed. "I only opened the firing system. Someone else will have to aim."

Assistant Yao turned the aircraft toward the transport vessel. "That should not be a problem."

The weapon fired.

A bright beam crossed the sky and struck the transport vessel’s lower section.

The massive ship shook, and the gate anchor swung beneath it.

However, the anchor did not fall.

Several guardian units abandoned Qinghe Base and turned toward Assistant Yao’s aircraft.

Lu Zhen looked at the Dominion Squad members around him. "Clear a path for the aircraft. Leng Pan and I will deal with the secondary beacon."

Commander Han studied the blue crystal. "You cannot attack it with an ability. How will you remove it?"

Leng Pan walked toward the dead burrowing creature as water gathered around her hands. "We will not give it more energy."

She looked up at the gate anchor hanging beneath the damaged vessel before continuing, "We will send its own beacon somewhere it cannot use."

The blue crystal disappeared into her space.

For a moment, the transport vessel lost its target again.

Then Leng Pan felt the two beacons inside her space respond to each other.

The infant opened his mouth and released a cry.

Little Vine’s roots had just reached the device near his heart when the secondary core appeared.

The two beacons released a powerful pulse.

Leng Pan’s face became pale as the energy struck the barrier between her space and the outside world.

The transport vessel’s signal disappeared from the communicator, but a new warning appeared within her mind.

[FOREIGN COORDINATES DETECTED.]

[SPACE CONNECTION IN PROGRESS.]

Leng Pan froze.

The gate anchor was no longer trying to connect to Qinghe Base.

It had found her space.