Chapter 57 - Doom (3)

Zhang Xun watched Adam's figure move away quickly in the blue sky and had just released his held breath when suddenly his collar was grabbed.

He came to his senses and found himself surrounded by an angry crowd. The man holding him was yelling something, but the voice was too loud for Zhang Xun to hear. Looking at his mouth, he seemed to be saying: You're going to kill us all! You're going to kill my child!

Countless hands stretched out and scratched at his hair, clothes and arms, fists landed on his face and body and when he was about to fall, he was shoved by another force, as if he would be torn to shreds. He felt like he was surrounded by ferocious beasts and his terrified desire to survive made him struggle constantly, but like a worm entangled in a spider web, he couldn't move at all.

He had bleeding scratches on his cheeks and he was kicked a few times on his stomach but he couldn't even tell who had done it. He almost thought he might be beaten to death.

At this moment, countless anaesthesia needles suddenly shot at the mob like a torrential rain. The irrational mass of people began to fall one by one. It turned out that Pan had activated the No. 3 expulsion system without authorization. Zhang Xun felt himself freed from the countless hands, but he was then confronted with a cold gun muzzle.

It was Zhang Shuo, looking down at him coldly.

Zhang Shuo grabbed Zhang Xun's arms with his strong hands and forcibly lifted him up from kneeling on the floor in a sorry state, but there was no anger in his solemn eyes, only suppressed worry, "Mechanic Zhang Xun, where is Adam?!"

The blood from his forehead flowed down to the corner of his eye, but Zhang Xun sneered in a hoarse voice, "I don't know either."

"There's no way you don't know! Your report said you had a tracking device on him!"

Zhang Xun remained silent, staring stubbornly at his father.

Zhang Shuo stepped closer to Zhang Xun and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "Don't you want to live anymore?! Hurry up and hand over Adam! Don't get involved in this!"

Zhang Xun vaguely realised that Zhang Shuo might be trying to protect him, wanting to pull him out of the vortex involving AIs, but it was too late. From the moment he became a mechanic, he was destined to reach this point.

"I. Don't. Know!" Zhang Xun said loudly.

Zhang Shuo looked at him in disappointment, as if he was looking at an ignorant child. That was a look that Zhang Xun was familiar with and the look he hated the most.

"It's an AI, I don't care what delusions you have, it won't care about your life or death!" Zhang Shuo growled, his deep pupils seemed to burn through the confusion in Zhang Xun's mind, "If it cares about you, how could it leave you behind alone?! You fool!"

Zhang Xun was unmoved, "Because I made him go. He only listens to me."

Looking at Zhang Xun's eyes full of obsession, Zhang Shuo knew that his son had been completely brainwashed and controlled by that Adam. He pushed Zhang Xun away suddenly in frustration and ordered, "Cuff him and bring him back to the Headquarters!"

At this time, there were only two hours left before the time limit given by Eden.

The nine Chiefs, several key members of parliament and high-ranking officers were gathered in the war room below the Headquarters. Zhang Xun's hands were handcuffed in front of him and he was led into a depressing and dimly lit room. He noticed that the Sixth Chief was now sitting at the very centre of the row of seats that the Fifth Chief would have usually occupied.

He was forced to sit in a chair with two gun barrels pointed at his head. The cold atmosphere pervaded through the oppressive light, through the flickering displays and the dense plumbing that stretches across the walls and ceiling. He could feel that his life was like a thin thread that could snap at the slightest movement.

Suppressed, smouldering hatred overflowed from the many unfamiliar eyes.

"Zhang Xun, give me the controllers of all the devices on Adam's body." The Sixth Chief said calmly, "From today onwards, you are no longer Adam's mechanic."

Zhang Xun stared at him, his blood staining his vision, but he sneered, "You've been looking forward to this day."

"You are a traitor to Lost Paradise! The Fifth Chief treated you well, you shame your father!" The third chief banged the table and scolded, "Hand over Adam's controls right now!"

"We don't have much time left." Although the First Chief's voice was gentle it carried a hint of persuasion, "Zhang Xun, at critical moments, we will take extreme measures. You may care too much about your work, but if you don't cooperate now, you will bring trouble to yourself."

"Zhang Xun, hand over the controls and perhaps at the time of trial, a discretionary pardon will be given to you." The Sixth Chief raised his chin slightly, his tone was gentle, but his eyes flashed with arrogance and pride. , "Otherwise, I'm afraid even your father will be held responsible for your poor supervision."

After the death of the Fifth Chief, the balance of power in the Round Table was broken. Now the Sixth Chief seemed to occupy some kind of leadership position. It wasn't surprising that there were many Generals in the Guard who had close ties to the Sixth Chief's father. Because of this, Zhang Shuo's position in the army was seriously shaken. Without the Fifth Chief sitting in the Round Table, Zhang Shuo would be at risk of being overthrown.

The Round Table's decisions would be largely influenced by this shift in the balance of power and there would be little chance of convincing them.

But Zhang Xun still tried in vain, "Don't you understand?! Handing over Adam is digging our own grave! Adam is the only weapon that can compete with Eden!"

"It's not your turn to ask questions." The Sixth Chief's eyes became colder and he seemed to lose his patience, "If necessary, we can even turn your entire lab inside out until we find him."

Zhang Xun sneered disdainfully, "You can try."

"But..." The Sixth Chief paused and his tone became darker, "I think with your degree of caution, wouldn't the controller be implanted into your own body? In that case, the search range will be narrower. If we peel the skin off your body inch by inch, we will find it."

Zhang Xun's eyes widened in disbelief. Spouting such brutal threats in front of so many Chiefs and councillors, how could everyone ignore it?

Zhang Shuo couldn't listen anymore, "Sixth Chief! Even if Zhang Xun is guilty, we have to wait until the trial. Lynching is not appropriate!"

The Sixth Chief raised an elegant and polite smile and looked at Zhang Shuo, "Commander, I understand you are eager to protect your son, but this matter is related to the survival of the entire Lost Paradise and extraordinary measures must be used. You don't want to be a sinner through the ages, do you?"

As soon as his voice fell, the Sixth Chief raised his hand and a soldier next to him immediately grabbed Zhang Xun's right wrist, rudely lifted his sleeve and carefully searched his arm for any signs of protrusion or injury. At the same time, the other hand actually took out a military knife and when a button was pressed the sharp blade that shone with cold light sprung out and it fell coolly on his skin.

Zhang Xun's heart was beating wildly and he began to struggle hard, but the soldiers next to him immediately held him down, making him unable to move.

Zhang Shuo was startled and was about to move forward but was stopped by a General who whispered, "Commander Zhang, please reconsider. Your son has already committed treason, do you want to go to jail with him?"

Zhang Shuo's eyes were filled with suppressed anger, his hands clenched into fists and a decisive look began to condense. He was about to draw his gun when another officer quickly and quietly held his hand and said softly, "If you go in too, no one can save Zhang Xun."

At this time, sensing that his father was about to do something impulsive for him, Zhang Xun shouted suddenly, "I won't give it to you! Adam is mine! I created him!" He stared fiercely at the Sixth Chief and said in a venomous voice, "You greedy low lives, don't even think about it!"

The anger in the Sixth Chief's eyes finally couldn't be suppressed and pure hatred filled his eyes. He stood up suddenly and ordered fiercely, "Cut into his arm and search carefully!"

Just when the blade was pressing into his flesh and the first stream of blood flowed down Zhang Xun's wrist, a soldier suddenly rushed in and loudly reported, "Report! We found Adam, he is rushing towards the breach in the protective shield that was bombed by Eden in the Fifth District!"

The Sixth Chief hurriedly ordered, "Turn on the monitoring screen!"

Zhang Xun's mind buzzed. Didn't he tell Adam to stay away from the Fifth District? What was he doing there?!

The big screen behind Zhang Xun was turned on, he also turned around and stared with wide eyes at the blue bird that appeared on the screen.

Adam fluttered his silver wings and rolled his icy blue flames, like a goshawk rushing towards the huge disc above his head. Eden had obviously seen him and almost immediately, several nearby aircraft began to emit ominous red light, followed by countless high-energy rays pouring down one after another like sky fire, interwoven into a chaotic web of death. Adam was like a light and flexible feather in the firelight, drawing a faint blue arc to brush past the god of death again and again, facing the blasts and rushing towards the aircraft closest to him.

What was he doing?

Zhang Xun opened his eyes wide, his mind went blank.

Was he trying to commit suicide, or run away?

Were all of Eden's threats fake, to create this opportunity for Adam to escape?

Was it true that he was brainwashed and controlled by Adam, as his father had said, for him to make such a mistake?

Or was Adam trying to take back control, trying to save the whole of Lost Paradise? And save him too?

He didn't know, he didn't know anything. Anything was possible, but everything was out of his control.

No, he had control, he could put Adam on standby right now, the distance between them was still within his controllable distance. But he could also choose to continue to trust, to believe blindly.

"What is he doing?!" someone asked out loud, but no one could answer him.

The moment Adam landed on the nearest aircraft, a door on the fuselage opened and countless small aerial robots flew out and started firing in Adam's direction. However, Adam extended one wing wider to protect his body and the other wing quickly deformed into some kind of sharp blade, cutting the hull of the aircraft, then he drilled through the gap.

What followed was three minutes of silence.

Those three minutes were too long and everyone held their breath, unsure if they would survive the next second. They also weren't sure if this counted as "handing over Adam" and whether it would bring peace.

And Zhang Xun was just praying, praying that Adam wouldn't die.

Praying it wasn't suicide.

He didn't even know which possibility he preferred between self-sacrifice and ruthless betrayal. Which one would be less painful.

After three minutes, they noticed that all the aircraft began to turn slowly and the hulls tilted strangely. Just when everyone wondered what had happened, all the aircraft suddenly fired at the same time.

It's just that they were firing on each other.

Under the most powerful, high-energy death rays, the aircraft exploded one by one. The entire sky outside the shield became a sea of ​​burning fire. The transpiring flames rolled the heat waves and spread in all directions along the arc of the shield and there was an extremely gorgeous beauty to it.

What happened? Did Eden lose control of those flying machines?

When the crowd gradually changed from shock to ecstasy and excitement after the catastrophe, Zhang Xun was the only one still staring at the sky on the screen with wide eyes. In the sky which had been swallowed by black smoke and demonic fire he tried to find a trace of blue light, but the smoke was so thick that he couldn't see anything.

Tears began to gather in his eyes and he felt like he was falling into an ice cave.

"Adam...no..."