Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

```

Bai E looked utterly bewildered.

"You're asking me?"

Fortunately, the other party didn't intend to wait for his reply, but simply continued on his own, "This is also a part of the entire Root Server. The entire base, except for the outermost copper walls, is made up of the Root Server."

As the head of the city's information department, he had access to many secrets that didn't need to be shared with everyone.

"They can amplify the network signals generated by the server and encrypt them with almost no loss before broadcasting them globally. The encryption process also protects the integrity of the information. The signal towers that are built everywhere act as both receivers and decryptors. It's an inseparable whole..."

Likok's gaze followed the source of the glowing signal tubes towards their end, as if he could see all the way to the central Root Server. His eyes were heavy with reverence, "It's said to be made of extremely rare special materials, even in that era it was a miracle of creation that couldn't be replicated.

The caution in combat that everyone talks about is, in fact, out of fear of these components being destroyed. Of course, perhaps it is such miracles that give rise to incomprehensible entities like electronic demons..."

[You are learning about the background information related to the target relic. Current exploration progress: 31%]

Bai E simply promised to fulfill his duty, "I will be careful..."

Minister Likok shook his head, "While caution is necessary, should you really find yourself in danger, don't hesitate to do what needs to be done."

Decisions he couldn't make himself were left to fate...

His passionate words from before were merely to provide some faint direction to the bewildered soldiers at that time. Find your next adventure on empire

In fact, even if it turned out that the electronic demon had awakened and he had to order the complete destruction of this great crystallization of human technology... until that ultimate moment, he wouldn't dare to say what decision he'd make.

If it was accidentally destroyed in combat... then the pressure of giving the order would be a little less.

Bai E simply nodded in response, "Yes."

He didn't understand the dangers and abilities of the electronic demons, so all he could consider was following his superior's orders and completing his mission.

"Reporting to the officer!" A voice of a soldier suddenly came from behind the two men who were slowly pacing forward.

Bai E turned around to see the other man covered in blood, "Finished with the autopsy?"

"Autopsy complete! But... we still found nothing."

Bai E furrowed his brows and waved his hand, "You go rest first."

Then turned to look at Minister Likok, "Minister, does the data include detailed information about those bio-warriors who were subverted?"

"No... The records I have obtained mention the subverted bio-warriors in this base only in passing. Our understanding of the abilities of the bio-warriors is based on other records from the same era."

"..." Bai E pursed his lips.

Strange indeed... how were they subverted without chips?

Is the record incorrect? Or was their autopsy too rough to discover it?

And along the way, we haven't seen any corpses... neither allies nor enemies.

Did the comrades who came in before us never encounter an enemy? Or did they clean up the scene impeccably after the battle? Or perhaps... they're not on the same path as us?

Maybe due to the necessary construction requirements for installing the glowing signal tubes to amplify the signals, the pathways within this base are extensive and interconnected. Since their arrival at the initial three-way junction, they have already faced the choice of three or four branching paths. It wouldn't seem out of the ordinary if they took a wrong turn somewhere.

Never mind...

"Let's move on!"

Forward!

No matter what the truth is, moving forward will always yield answers.

...

"It's no good... there are more and more of them. These old immortals just keep coming, even after so many years they refuse to lie down quietly!"

"Do they know we've broken through? We haven't left a single survivor all the way, and we even hid the bodies..."

"You still have time to chat? I'm about to be killed fighting three at once!"

"Oh oh~ here I come!"

Gregory knit his brows tightly, hiding behind the others.

The warriors in front of him were truly the elite of the elite, the aces among the aces selected through a rigorous process from the military barracks.

```

Even when confronted by twice the number of biochemical soldiers, they sought to prevail... in part, to survive.

The battle raged fiercely, the air alive with the clamor of conflict.

Yet their operation had been covert, aimed at avoiding just this scenario. Only a small squad originally guarded the passage, and they had intended to make it a quick fight.

But unexpectedly, as soon as they engaged, another team burst from the passage as if they had been waiting there all along.

Facing eight against four, it became difficult for them to achieve any kills once the enemy coordinated their efforts.

Moreover, in such circumstances, they fought with their hands tied, lacking the initiative they had when they could strike from the shadows, targeting enemies one by one. Forcing a fight against greater numbers was not a rational military strategy.

Where had things gone wrong?

Failure was not to be feared, unless one did not understand the reason behind the failure.

Gregory tried to pierce the current fog of confusion with reason—

Due to the structural features of this base, other than the defensive outer layer of copper walls and iron bastions, the slightly more interior areas were critical facilities needing manned defense. The vast base required guarding in many places, so it stood to reason that the biochemical troops should have been scattered about, patrolling everywhere.

After all, those pipelines embedded in the walls were not made of steel fortifications.

They knew their own mission, but the enemy should not have known it.

The biochemical soldiers were ordered to guard the entire Root Server. If their group came with destructive intent, the enemy's position in front of the checkpoint leading to the main server room would be useless; everything that needed to be destroyed would have already been smashed.

The reality now was that the enemy's large force appeared right here, the only explanation being... not only had they discovered their arrival, but they also knew their intent!

"Is there surveillance?"

"There's no surveillance!" Pansen, the Spiritual Energy wielder, declared confidently, as if reading his thoughts.

Being highly sensitive to information flow, once Pansen activated his Spiritual Energy, all information streams appeared to him like subtitles with clear beginnings and ends. He knew at a glance whether there was any data transfer.

"Then our voices have been intercepted?"

After they had split up at the fork in the road, there was a period when they discovered that their radio communication with the other two squads had fallen silent.

The Spiritual Energy wielder had said it was cut off by some force, likely a jamming device targeting low power signals.

But considering the current situation, it could only mean that the Spiritual Energy wielder's judgment was wrong.

Voices, intercepted by the enemy.

Therefore, their plans were as clear as day to the opposition.

"It shouldn't be." The Spiritual Energy wielder was obviously very confident in his judgment, "Perhaps it is just that their primary forces are stationed here. Being close to the critical core, it's reasonable to have a heavier defensive presence."

"That may be possible…" As the commander, Gregory had to consider all the worst possibilities thoroughly, and he remained furrow-browed, not entirely reassured.

"Huff~ Huff~"

Heavy breathing came from the far end of the curved passage. A soldier with keen ears took a moment from the fierce battle to report loudly to his superior, "Sir, another squad is approaching!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than heavy, rapid footsteps sounded from the other end of the curved passage.

"Sir, another squad is coming."

Gregory's complexion turned as dark as coal, "I heard."

The terrain where they were resembled a pitchfork, with a branch coming from the direction of the invading squad. Both sides in front of them were sections of the curved passages.

The base's overall structure was more like concentric circles, and they were now at the entrance to the innermost circle, blockaded by these biochemical soldiers.

The enemy kept reinforcing their numbers, while his own side had only four combatants, plus him making five, and adding the Spiritual Energy wielder... added none at all.

Not all Spiritual Energy wielders were inclined towards combat.

Retreat?

This thought circled through Gregory's mind.

But he was unaware of the other two squads' progress; if they could hold their ground, they might create an opportunity for the others.