The Mechanic [BL]

[113]

Chapter 113 – Sacrificial Lamb (4)

Zhang Xun's heart was beating rapidly and his hands were clutching Adam's clothes. He was hundreds of metres up in the air supported only by a pair of arms and the breath he hadn't felt in a long time was wrapped around him, making him feel like he was in a dream.

Was he already dead?

Was this a dream or a reality?

Had Adam really chosen him and betrayed Eden?

He was slightly confused by this unreal feeling. His whole body felt like that of an animal that had frozen in winter and then suddenly fallen into the spring sunshine.

Immediately, Eden's fleet began firing at Adam and the nanobots that had been entangled with him suddenly abandoned their engagement with Adam's Tidal Wave and came rushing towards the two of them. Adam held Zhang Xun close while dodging the storm like an agile bird. The tide converged around them under Adam's control, forming a barrier against the nanobot invasion, a fog that rose with the night and continued to gather and disperse as they moved.

The Lost Paradise fleet was slow to back up. No one expected Adam to turn against Eden and no one was mentally prepared to have to make a logical choice between the two AIs of the same origin.

Adam swooped down with Zhang Xun into the dense tropical forest below. Under the sky where the huge and ancient trees spread out, the night had come early and the layers of aerial roots and branches weaved into countless obstacles, but Adam still sprinted as fast as he could, anticipating all the trajectories and crossing all the gaps in a close but unbelievably swift manner. The larger craft couldn't chase them down, but a dozen smaller drones followed with that vast cloud of nanobots in their wake.

"We can't lose them like this." Zhang Xun said urgently in his ear, "Any minute now Eden will send more ships or fleets, or even more nanobots."

Adam didn't say anything. It really wasn't a wise decision to break with Eden at a time like this, but...... there was no way he could stand by and watch Zhang Xun be neutralised.

He had stopped trying to use any logic or reason to explain his motives. He was going to protect Zhang Xun and no one or no machine could stop him, not even Eden.

For the first time in his life, there was another thing that had become almost as important as his ultimate goal. This was perhaps the power of human instinct and emotion.

Adam whispered, "Hold me tight.", then, after feeling the grip of Zhang Xun's arm around his shoulder, he turned quickly, one arm rapidly morphing into some kind of gun with simple lines. He fired several shots at the unmanned combat drones that were in hot pursuit, using the recoil to send his body sprinting backwards a long way. A dozen silver "bullets" with intelligent tracking systems each flew in a delicate arc towards their targets.

Eden's drones quickly released hot, high-energy beams to vaporise the bullets, but as they exploded, several familiar clouds of smoke quickly dispersed and dissipated at breakneck speed. They were tens of millions of nanobots, which quickly burrowed into the cracks of the drones, hacking into the systems of the sophisticated smart weapons. In seconds, the drones chasing Adam and Zhang Xun began to malfunction and some even collided and exploded, lighting up the darkening forest with fire.

But more drones swarmed after them, still following them like ghosts.

It was then that a sudden burst of cannon fire sounded in the direction of Feathered Serpent City, a boom that echoed deep into the earth, shaking all the ancient trees and sending leaves falling down like a rainstorm.