88: Task

After Lu Jianchuan reverted from his transformation, the familiar weakness and hunger washed over him again. He took the high-calorie food handed to him by the Researcher and sat down on a chair in the rest area, wolfing it down.

Golden Bone also removed that imposing mechanical exoskeleton, revealing his true appearance—a man who looked to be in his forties, with resolute features, steady eyes, short hair streaked with gray, and a weathered look between his brows that spoke of long experience on the battlefield.

He skillfully maintained the removed components, his demeanor calm and peaceful, a stark contrast to the cold killing machine he had been during the previous battle.

"Hah..." Lu Jianchuan swallowed the food in his mouth, watching Golden Bone wipe down the parts, and sighed sincerely, "That's really impressive. In battle, you don't seem to make any mistakes at all. All your reactions are so precise, it's almost inhuman."

Hearing this, Golden Bone looked up at him, a faint, almost helpless smile appearing on his face. His real voice was low and slightly hoarse, completely different from the cold electronic tone.

"It's not entirely my doing," he said, pointing to the complex sensors on the helmet beside him.

"This helmet provides a lot of assistance. The built-in tactical AI can analyze your muscle exertion, center of gravity movement, and energy fluctuations in real-time. Combined with a vast combat database, it can predict your next most likely action with a high probability. Those seemingly 'prescient' dodges and interruptions you saw—often, it was the AI alerting me."

This explanation made things clear to Lu Jianchuan, but then Golden Bone's next words surprised him even more.

"Moreover, at my core, I'm an evolver, just like you."

Lu Jianchuan stopped chewing and looked at him in astonishment.

Golden Bone continued calmly, "It's just that my evolutionary direction... isn't physical enhancement or elemental manipulation. It leans more toward overclocking neural reactions and brain information processing capabilities. Theoretically, this gives me combat intuition and learning abilities beyond those of ordinary people."

He paused, a deep shadow flickering in his eyes, but his tone remained steady: "But at a critical moment in the evolution process, an accident occurred, and it was interrupted. This left my evolution incomplete, even... a failure. This mechanical exoskeleton."

He gently patted the cold armor beside him, "It serves as both my weapon and armor, compensating for my lack of physical strength. At the same time, it's a sophisticated life-support System that helps stabilize the... physiological disorders caused by the failed evolution. Without it, I wouldn't have survived to this day."

This information was overwhelming, leaving Lu Jianchuan momentarily at a loss for words. After digesting it, he said with a tone of regret, "...What a shame. It's hard to imagine how powerful you would have been if you had successfully completed your evolution." He paused, then couldn't help but ask, "Why... was it interrupted?"

Golden Bone's movements as he wiped the parts halted slightly. He fell silent for a few seconds, his gaze seeming to pierce through the wall into the distant past. His voice remained steady but carried an indescribable complexity.

"The reason for the interruption... the main issue lay with me at the time," he said slowly, his tone devoid of much emotion, as if stating a fact unrelated to himself.

"It was my subconscious, my instincts... unwilling to accept that power, or rather, unwilling to accept the 'price' of changing myself that evolution demanded."

He looked up at Lu Jianchuan, his eyes calm and unruffled: "A strong psychological rejection and resistance internally halted the process at the most critical node of evolution. Although I can now accept all this calmly... the evo factor, having entered a dormant period, won't give me a second chance."

This truth felt even more powerless than an external accident.

It wasn't because the enemy was too strong or because preparations were insufficient, but because of a deep-seated resistance within himself, blocking his own path forward.

This kind of regret stemming from oneself is far heavier and more frustrating than failure caused by external factors.

The silence between the two didn't last long. Golden Bone finished wiping the last part, reassembled it into the portable case, and stood up.

"I have some matters to attend to and need to leave first," he said to Lu Jianchuan, his tone returning to the efficiency of work. "But before you start your mission, there's some information you must know."

He pulled up a virtual screen displaying two brief profiles.

"The two you fought earlier belong to the 'Stinger' team under 'Prometheus.' The one with Mutated Arms, codename 'Heartbinder' (P-FIELD-07)." Golden Bone emphasized the codename. "His ability is to synthesize and inject a special Biopeptide Toxin that can precisely trigger strong, rigid contractions of the heart muscle, causing cardiac arrest in the target within an extremely short time. The cause of death closely resembles Acute Myocardial Infarction, making it highly covert. He's an extremely dangerous Executioner."

"The other, codename 'Bone Chime' (P-FIELD-011), has the ability to rapidly construct a Biological Sonic Cannon with powerful area-of-effect destructive force. The weakness lies in the brief construction process and high energy consumption."

After introducing the known enemies, Golden Bone switched the screen, his expression growing more serious.

"But now, there's a more urgent threat. We've detected that 'Prometheus' is secretly selling an untested drug through underground channels in this city and surrounding areas."

The virtual screen showed an image of a syringe filled with a turbid liquid.

"They claim this drug can 'activate potential' and 'awaken dormant power.'"

"But based on our analysis of intercepted samples, it's essentially an extremely unstable evo factor Forced Activator. It brutally increases the concentration and activity of the factor in the user's body, ignoring individual differences and potential risks."

Golden Bone's gaze sharpened: "This is no blessing; it's large-scale human experimentation.

"Users either die on the spot from energy depletion or organ failure, or their bodily structures collapse during uncontrollable evolution, or their consciousness is consumed by The raging instinct, turning them into monsters that only know destruction. Their goal is to use the lives and chaos of countless innocent people to test and filter the 'data' they need."

"Your next mission is to cooperate with the designated Field Team to locate their distribution network, intercept the drug, and apprehend the key personnel as much as possible. I have to handle another higher-priority task and can't participate directly in this operation."

He looked at Lu Jianchuan and sent an encrypted mission summary to his personal terminal.

"This matter is now in your and the team's hands. If the situation exceeds expectations, or if you encounter 'Stinger' again..." Golden Bone's voice lowered, "call for backup immediately. I'll do my best to get there."

With that, he picked up his equipment case, nodded to Lu Jianchuan, turned, and strode away, the heavy sound of his footsteps gradually fading down the corridor.