The high-pitched whine from the automated drone escalated, a prelude to an all-out alarm. Its single red eye, previously passive, now pulsed with menace, locked onto Li Tian. He had pushed the Data Siphon too hard, too long. Detection was imminent.
He ripped the Data Siphon from the terminal. No time to secure more data. The drone surged forward, its mechanical whirring suddenly louder, faster, aiming its sensors directly at him.
[HOST DETECTED. COMBAT PROTOCOLS ENGAGED.]
[DRONE INITIATING DIRECT CONFRONTATION.]
"Li Tian, evade immediately! Its primary weapon is a high-frequency sonic disruptor, capable of debilitating spiritual energy," Prometheus warned, its voice sharp with urgency.
Li Tian lunged, rolling behind a server rack as the drone unleashed a piercing shriek. The sound vibrated through the metal, through his bones, a jarring assault that threatened to unravel his spiritual energy. He grimaced, pressing his hand to his Dantian, feeling the waves of nausea.
The Stealth Field Emitter flickered, struggling against the direct, concentrated attack. He had to disable it, fast. He couldn't risk a prolonged fight in the data archives. He pulled the Multi-Purpose Disassembler from its pouch, switching its mode from molecular disintegration to focused kinetic impact.
The drone circled, its sonic disruptor recharging. Its red eye tracked his every move. He burst from cover, sprinting towards it. The drone swiveled, preparing to fire again.
"Target its central power conduit, underside, Li Tian!" Prometheus directed, a clear schematic flashing in his mind.
He timed his leap, his cultivation allowing him to move faster than the drone's targeting system could fully acquire. As he sailed through the air, the drone unleashed another sonic blast, catching the edge of his Stealth Field Emitter. The field buckled, and his spiritual energy rippled uncomfortably, but he held his focus.
He landed on the drone's sleek casing, his boots magnetizing slightly for purchase. The drone bucked and spun, attempting to dislodge him. He ignored the jarring movements, plunging the Multi-Purpose Disassembler into the marked power conduit. With a guttural cry of effort, he channeled a surge of spiritual energy, forcing the Disassembler to sever the connection.
A blinding flash of blue energy erupted from the drone. Its whirring ceased. The red eye went dark. It sputtered, then crashed heavily to the polished floor, sparking violently.
[DRONE NEUTRALIZED. THREAT LEVEL: LOCALIZED.]
But the silence was brief. The sound of heavy footsteps echoed from the corridor outside. Alarms, more insistent now, began to blare throughout the entire facility. Red emergency lights pulsed, bathing the data archives in a blood-red glow.
"Li Tian, multiple armed Covenant patrols converging on your location. Approximately 10 seconds to chamber entry. Extracting further data is no longer feasible," Prometheus stated, its voice calm even amidst the chaos.
His heart pounded, but his mind remained clear. He had been detected. The mission had changed from stealth to extraction. He had to get out. He glanced at the terminal he had just siphoned from.
[DATA ACQUISITION PROGRESS: 25%.]
Only 25%. Not ideal, but better than nothing. He'd risked too much for it.
"Li Tian, retrieve the damaged drone's core. Its integrated spiritual-tech components may hold valuable insights for Kael," Prometheus urged.
He didn't hesitate. He knelt beside the sparking drone, his Multi-Purpose Disassembler humming, and quickly pried open a panel, extracting a fist-sized, glowing blue core. It pulsed with a faint, contained energy, radiating a strange, sterile cold.
[DRONE CORE ACQUIRED. POTENTIAL RESEARCH MATERIAL.]
Heavy boots thudded outside the chamber. The sound of weapons powering up. "Li Tian, they are breaching the door!"
He looked around. No clear escape route. He spotted a maintenance access hatch high on the wall, leading into another ventilation shaft. It was a long shot, but his only one.
"Jax, Xiaoli, Lira!" Li Tian mentally broadcasted, his voice tight with urgency. "I've been compromised. Engaging escape protocols. I need a major distraction, now! North-west sector, their main power relays!"
"Understood, Li Tian Ge! Initiating full-scale diversion!" Jax roared back, his voice crackling with raw, untamed energy.
"Executing," Lira's calm voice followed, a promise of chaos.
"Get ready for a show!" Xiaoli added, a hint of wild excitement in her tone.
The heavy data archive door hissed, then exploded inwards as a squad of armored Covenant soldiers, their rifles raised, stormed into the chamber. Their helmets glowed with multi-spectrum sensors. Li Tian was already in motion, leaping towards the maintenance hatch.
He scaled the wall with impossible speed, fueled by his cultivation, his hands finding purchase on unseen grooves. Plasma bolts hissed past him, burning streaks through the air. He felt the heat, the searing spiritual suppression radiating from their weapons, designed to incapacitate cultivators.
He reached the hatch, tearing at it with the Multi-Purpose Disassembler. It was thicker, more heavily secured than the previous ones. The soldiers below opened fire, their coordinated assault saturating the area Li Tian had just occupied.
Then, the world outside the base erupted. A colossal BOOM echoed through the entire facility, so powerful it shook the very foundations of the Weng faction's headquarters. Emergency lights flickered wildly, and the ground trembled. Another explosion, closer this time, followed by the distant wail of sirens, and the sound of crashing metal.
"Distraction successful, Li Tian," Prometheus stated, a hint of satisfaction in its tone. "Jax has engaged their external defense perimeter. Xiaoli has targeted their main power conduit. The north-west sector is in chaos. Multiple Covenant units are being diverted. This is your window. Escape now!"
The soldiers in the data archives hesitated, their attention drawn by the sheer magnitude of the external assault. Li Tian used the precious seconds. He channeled every ounce of spiritual energy into the Multi-Purpose Disassembler, forcing it to chew through the reinforced hatch. The metal shrieked under the assault, protesting violently.
Finally, with a loud CRACK, the hatch gave way. He pulled himself through, the sounds of battle from outside now a deafening roar, mingling with the internal alarms. He looked down at the frustrated Covenant soldiers below, their weapons still aimed at the empty space where he had been. He gave them a fleeting, grim smile.
He crawled through the ventilation shaft, the sounds of the base's internal defenses scrambling filling the air. He was out of the data archives, but still deep within the enemy's lair. The mission wasn't over until he was truly free.
The journey back through the vents was a desperate race against time. Alarms blared everywhere. He heard footsteps, the whirring of patrolling drones, the shouts of Covenant soldiers below him. The element of surprise was gone. Now, it was pure evasion. His Stealth Field Emitter was doing its best, but its effectiveness was waning under the constant, high-frequency scans.
He found a lower ventilation shaft, leading towards a less guarded outer perimeter. The air became cooler, fresher, hinting at the outside. But as he approached the final exit vent, he heard it: a heavy, mechanical thudding. A Covenant mech patrol. Too close.
"Li Tian, a Level 3 Scout Mech, equipped with advanced spiritual sensors, is directly below your exit point," Prometheus warned. "Engaging it directly is ill-advised. Its armor is too thick, and its sensor array will bypass your emitter at this range. It is scanning the perimeter for any spiritual anomalies resulting from the external chaos."
Li Tian pressed himself against the top of the shaft, looking down through the grate. Below, a sleek, multi-limbed mech, its optical sensors glowing green, slowly patrolled the alley. Its sensors swept the area methodically, looking for anything out of place. He felt its powerful spiritual scanner probe the area, a needle-like sensation that pierced even his Stealth Field Emitter.
He was trapped. He couldn't go back. He couldn't go forward.
A cold sweat broke out on his brow. He had come so far.
Then, a flicker of an idea. The Spiritual Energy Converter.
He pulled the small orb from his belt buckle. This was designed to subtly drain power, or overload minor systems. What if he could create a larger, more distracting anomaly away from himself?
He looked through the vent, his eyes scanning the alley below. A large, unshielded power conduit ran along the building opposite the mech's path.
"Prometheus, can the Spiritual Energy Converter be used to create a momentary, localized overload on that external power conduit?" Li Tian asked, a desperate plan forming. "A flash, a surge, something that would draw the mech's attention?"
"Li Tian, a direct, high-energy spiritual pulse from the Spiritual Energy Converter at that range is possible," Prometheus confirmed, its analysis swift. "However, it would require a significant expenditure of your spiritual energy. It could leave you vulnerable, and might draw attention to the location of the power conduit itself. Risk assessment: High."
"Do it," Li Tian commanded, his resolve firm. He had to take the risk. His life depended on it.
He channeled almost half of his remaining spiritual energy into the Spiritual Energy Converter, focusing it, compressing it, and then, with a silent mental command, he unleashed it.
[SPIRITUAL ENERGY CONVERTER ENGAGED. HIGH-ENERGY PULSE MODE.]
A searing, invisible wave of spiritual energy shot from the converter, impacting the conduit. For a split second, nothing happened. Then, the conduit sparked violently. Electrical crackles tore through the night. The large streetlights nearby flickered, died, then exploded in a shower of sparks and shattered glass. A loud, sharp POP echoed through the alley.
The Level 3 Scout Mech below instantly swiveled, its glowing sensors snapping towards the spectacular display of electrical chaos. It abandoned its patrol, lumbering rapidly towards the damaged conduit, its primary programming overriding its spiritual scan for the more immediate threat.
"Go, Li Tian! Your window!" Prometheus urged.
Li Tian didn't need telling. He pushed open the last vent, its cover scraping against the metal frame, and dropped silently into the darkened alley below, avoiding the path of the distracted mech. He was outside. He was out of the base. But his spiritual energy felt severely drained, and the city's alarms still screamed around him. The true escape had just begun.