January 16, 2071 at 10:25 a.m. (January 15, 2071 at 10:25 p.m. New York time) ——— United States of America, Australia Presidency USA———Manhattan, New York City———

The mushroom cloud from the nuclear bomb explosion still stands on the island of Manhattan, and the nuclear magnetic storm swept through the city, and the lighting and communications that had been restored were paralyzed again, and people were running out of the city, but one person chose to go backwards.

"Puff ———"

Without a jetpack, Mark was unable to correct his position after jumping off the Exocet and ended up falling headlong into the water. For the "Silver Scale Dragon", this is nothing, but Mark's head is dizzy at this time, and this time he enters the water, and his eyes are directly golden.

"Mark, Mark! Hurry up and paddle, it's going to sink to the bottom! ”

Xiao Nian's anxious voice echoed in his ears, but Mark, he didn't have the strength to respond, he was too tired. Since he killed the first biochemical nano warrior, he has been overdrawing his energy, and it is completely desperate to survive until now.

"I'm so tired......... eyelids are like lead, Mark can't stop it from closing slowly despite all his might, Xiao Nian is right in front of her, she seems to be saying something, but Mark, can't hear a word clearly.

Exhaustion dragged Mark down, so he didn't do any thrust reversal movements, and the silver scale dragon sank to the bottom of the river, leaving only Hawkeye with a faint blue light.

"What should I do!?"

The current situation almost makes Xiao Nian crazy, she has been warning Mark since she boarded the "Flying Fish", but Mark, who is almost paranoid, does not listen to her advice at all, and insists on continuing to use brainwave interference, and the result is ......

"Ahh Phew, you just sleep here, I'll help you get things done. "It took a little time for Xiao Nian to get used to the underwater environment after emerging from the foreign object discharge hole in the armor of the silverscale dragon, and then she broke off her armor and swam to the surface in the form of a fish.

Less than a minute after Xiao Nian left, the Hudson River, which had been surging undercurrents before, suddenly calmed down, and a mysterious reverse fluctuation restricted the flow. The silence lasted for a short while, and then, the energy crystal on the lightsaber on Mark's waist began to glow with a little blue light, that kind of light, very similar to Gruvo's final spiritual outburst. Soon, countless blue dots of light enveloped the riverbed, like a large group of glow-in-the-dark plankton roaming here.

It was in this dense point of light that a figure about three meters tall slowly emerged, and as soon as he appeared, he looked at Mark's position and shook his head.

"Friend Mark, you seem to need help."

The voice of the figure was far away, as if it came from the other side of the galaxy, out of reach. However, there is a hint of truth in the distance, like a whisper in the ear, although it is slight, but it is close at hand.........

At the same time, above the water———

The dock that had been hit by the proton collider was now in ruins, and the expensive loaders, the yachts and ferries that had been used by people were all wrecked. Many of the USA soldiers who were not eliminated by the DLT fighters died in the bombing, and the bodies that could be found were all soldiers on the periphery, and those who were slightly closer to the center of the explosion had become ashes, or were they ...... Molecule.

Many of the combustible goods on the docks were still burning, and the stench of corpses filled the air, and the bombed docks looked more like purgatory. However, in this terrifying place, there is a beautiful elf running around, as if looking for something. But what could she find in this purgatory?

Flapping her wings, Xiao Nian bypassed a pile of burning cargo and returned to the water's edge, absorbing some of the water to cool down, and then she flew into the dock again. After coming out of the water, Xiao Nian transformed herself into a "little elf" again, but in order to conceal herself, she did not turn on the green "night light", but kept her whole body pitch black, which caused her to absorb heat very well and had to take water to cool down.

"Joon, Joon, Joon, where are you!? Ah———h ”

Landing on a sniper rifle with the tip of the gun stuck in the ground and charred black throughout, Xiao Nian looked around for a while with an "infrared eye" that could feel the heat source, but there was still no result. The damage caused by the proton collider also produced a large amount of heat residue, which seriously affected Xiao Nian's thermal imaging discrimination, otherwise, she would have found Joon, or his body.

"Hmm——— think of a way, think of a way, think of a ......... This is......... Sniper rifles? Wow, Joon is a sniper, just look for a sniper rifle, he must be nearby. Woo na, Xiao Nian is the smartest. ”

Inspired by the sniper rifle at his feet, Xiao Nian shouted excitedly, and then transformed himself into a "Shariz Mole", and Chuachua's dug out of the scorched earth. About 20 seconds later, the little mole came out again, but judging from her very unhappy brain waves, it is estimated that Joon was not found.

"Now, the search direction must be right, and you will find it if you look for it again."

The crawling speed of the Sharez mole was still very fast, and Xiao Nian simply did not return to the elf, and crawled directly to the several locations where the sniper rifle was in her memory, and if she was at maximum speed, she would only need two minutes to find these places.

Hard work pays off (elf?) After two more swoops, Xiao Nian finally found Jun's sniper rifle next to a speedboat in the encirclement of the KAO Army. Signals from biogens that had not been detected before also appeared in the vicinity, and in more than one place. After Xiao Nian discerned, he went straight to "turn into a fish" and jumped into the waterway where the speedboat was parked. The signal there, she was most familiar with, was 99 percent Joon.

"Poof—"

Diving into the water, Xiao Nian swam violently for a while, and finally found Jun who was lying at the bottom of the water. His outer armor was badly damaged, but fortunately the inner isolation layer had not been damaged, otherwise he would have drowned.

Returning to the state of goo, Xiao Nian got through the exit of the foreign body with broken combat armor. The system of the "Hidden Stinger" (A1-level sniper armor) has been disabled in the proton strike just now, and only the core function is still functional, and in the face of Xiao Nian's "invasion", the "Hidden Stinger" can only sound the alarm.

Entering Jun's body, Xiao Nian didn't treat him immediately, but first observed his brain, "Well, Jun......... It's also a sensor, but the ability seems to be super perceptive, not like Mark's brainwave interference and control, hehe, or my Mark dad is more powerful. Ah, I don't think I should think about this now, Joon, let me see how I can treat you, na-na-na-na-......"

Scattered into Joon's body, Xiao Nian uses his reconstitution and repair abilities to begin cleaning up bruises and blood clots for him. Because he is not familiar with Jun's body, Xiao Nian's treatment steps are more stable, these things are the easiest to clean, and it is more convenient to deal with other injuries after unblocking blood vessels. Moreover, it is easy first and then difficult, but Mark taught it.

At the same time as Xiao Nian was saving Jun, Mark also encountered something unusual, the illusory figure that was in the point of light before, with the passage of time, actually became solidified.

After walking around Mark, the figure began to inhale the light points into his body, and as the light points were inhaled, he became more and more condensed, and soon, he could see the general appearance.

"This is ...... Earth? The water is so filthy that it's hard to imagine how you survive. ”

As soon as he could emit obvious brain waves, the "person" complained about the environment, but as the light points were absorbed, his size began to slowly shrink, and soon, he became about the height of a five-year-old child. After the body shape was fixed, the "human" released crystal blue eyes gradually became condensed, and then floated above Mark's head as if it was not resisted by water, and used some magical method to levitate Mark.

"May Kara's light give us guidance...... "Putting his palm on Mark's forehead, the light of the "person" suddenly burst out, and then all concentrated on the palm of the hand, and poured into Mark's head.........

Time: Unknown ———

Location: Unknown ———

The DLT network retrieval fails, and the system keeps the latest update and runs independently———

"Here...... Where is it? ”

Slowly regaining consciousness, Mark looked at his empty hands a little dazed, the palm prints were so clear, and the feeling was the same, it was indeed his hand. However, the hand seemed so unfamiliar that he had the illusion of being uncontrollable. Perhaps, because the armor had been worn for so long, he had almost forgotten what his body looked like.

When Mark turned around from his confusion, he suddenly found that he was now naked, and he was still standing on a white earth. This made him panic instantly, and subconsciously called out to Xiao Nian and used his mind to remotely mobilize the "Silver Scale Dragon". However, neither Xiao Nian nor the "Silver Scale Dragon" responded.

"It can't be caught by USA, right!?" Recalling the all-white chamber he had spent interrogating Charles in Singapore, Mark suddenly became frightened. He has been stripped of his armor, Xiao Nian has also been taken away, and he is no different from ordinary people now, and any Mi army can clean him up.

Just when Mark was terrified of the unknown environment and unable to make a correct judgment, a slightly unfamiliar and cold voice floated from a distance.

"Human, are you afraid?"

Hearing someone ask, Mark calmed down and sat on the ground, he looked at his slightly pale arm and nodded, "To be honest, I'm scared." ”

The mystic who made the voice was slightly surprised by this answer, and after a moment of silence, it continued to ask, "Well, what are you afraid of?" ”

"I, I'm scared a lot, I'm afraid of losing my companions, I'm afraid of dying in vain, I'm afraid of killing innocent people, I'm afraid that the Zerg will come to Earth, I'm afraid of ...... There are too many, so many fears that I can't finish talking about them for a while. As if he had found someone to confide in, Mark's answer had already blurted out before the mystic's words fell, as if he was afraid that no one would listen if he was half a minute slower.

Mark's answer was so urgent that it was a little rude, but the Mystic didn't care, and instead asked in an amiable tone, "Heh, what are you most afraid of?" ”

"I'm most afraid of ...... The question of the most afraid ........." made Mark ponder, trying to find the one he was most afraid of among so many things to fear, which was really a difficult problem for Mark, who suffered from choice disorder.

As if to see Mark's entanglement, the Mystic continued in an amiable tone, "Don't rush to answer this question for the time being, let's talk about something else. Humans, your class...... In your words, it should be said that it is a profession, what is it? ”

Mark raised his hand and grabbed his hair fiercely, and replied with some uncertainty: "Volunteer soldier of voluntary service, Marine warrant officer, super soldier Wind Knight No. 6...... Several, and I'm not sure what I'm now. ”

The Mystic seemed to have guessed Mark's thoughts, and a voice came from above the space, "Then it looks like you've been forced to choose all along. ”

Sitting up from the ground, Mark was not afraid of being naked, and stretched his slightly sore body with a big grin, "I think I've lived for more than ten years." ”

"Then you, do you want to change it or not—change it by your own will."

Staring into the distance with no end and outline, Mark nodded, "I, I think." ”

Just as Mark replied in the affirmative, the voice of the mysterious man suddenly came behind him from a distance, "Then, human, look into my eyes and be washed by the light of Sarnagar." ”

Mark subconsciously turned to look behind him, trying to see the mysterious man's appearance, but the light behind him was too strong for his eyes to stand at all, so he had to raise his hand to block it. But even so, he couldn't open his eyes at all, the light seemed to be able to penetrate his body, it was useless to close his eyes, and the brightness instantly occupied Mark's vision.

In this dazzling light, a humanoid figure about three meters tall slowly walked out, looking at Mark with his arms in front of him, it shook its head helplessly. The humanoid's hand was wrapped around a slender tentacle, and Kao slowly lifted up as he approached Mark. I don't know if it was its original intention or the will of the tentacles, the extremely pale hand gently touched Mark's hand, and in the moment of Mark's surprise, a huge energy surged towards Mark from the place where his palms met.

"Ah———h

This energy was so powerful that even after being strengthened by two genetic mutations, Mark's body was still unable to withstand it, and in an instant, he was pressed to his knees by the energy shock.

"Hey, what is this?!"

Ignoring Mark's question, the humanoid's palm continued to press down, and Mark's arm soon couldn't support it, and the pressure gradually approached his head. Feeling the huge energy contained in the palm of his hand so closely, Mark was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat, if this thing really slapped his head, his head would definitely explode.

With his life threatened, Mark's arms were forced out of their potential, and he pushed his pale palm back and stopped where it had just made contact.

"Hey, who's that, what the hell is this!? Is that your light of Sarnagar?! Someone is going to die! ”

Mark desperately resisted the white palm pressure while not forgetting to call out to the mystic, he still didn't know what the mystic's light was about Sarnagar. At the moment when he was slightly distracted to speak, the power of the white-handed humanoid suddenly skyrocketed, and before Mark could react otherwise, the palm had already slapped Mark's head, and a huge amount of energy rushed in, and his head was instantly blown to pieces.

Looking at the headless Mark who fell to the ground, the white-handed humanoid shook his head, "Is this also one of the tests?" ”

The Mystic, who had never appeared, revealed at the end of the white light, retracted the tentacles wrapped around the white-handed humanoid, and writhed its fat ball-like body to "walk". Stretching out a tentacle to put it around the headless Mark's neck, blue dots of light began to glow around the Mystic's body, and when the dots of light accumulated to an extremely large number, they began to flow down the Mystery's tentacles into Mark's body.

"I guess so......... Firstborn Son of God, if you can, I want you to be His guide and help him through the darkest days. ”

"Even if you don't say I will, but ...... you do it now"

The point of light flowed quickly towards Mark's body, and the life force of the mysterious person also passed quickly, but it showed a rare joy. Six pairs of eyes looked at the white-handed humanoid in unison, and the Mystic smiled and said, "This is very important, his body is strong enough for his kind, but the spirit is not enough, and a great tonic is needed........."

After saying this, the mystic's six pairs of eyes began to close one by one, and its body began to dissipate into bursts of crystal blue flying dust, which were swept up by the wind from nowhere, and scattered in the vast white light.

Looking at the mystic that slowly dissipated, the white-handed humanoid leaned down and knelt on one knee, offering its highest respect to its god, "Sasica, may the interstellar winds carry your dreams back to Urna." ”

When the mystic's body completely dissolved into scattered crystal dust, Mark's already exploding head suddenly regrouped and regenerated and rested firmly on his neck. The white-handed humanoid stood up and walked over to Mark, raised its other hand that shone white, and slapped it on Mark's chest.

"Ahhhh————hh

"Boom-"

Jumping up from the ground with a miserable howl, the top of Mark's head directly collided with the forehead of the white-handed humanoid for a high-speed collision test, and the head that had just been reassembled was hit like this, and it almost shattered again. Ahem, just kidding, the impact wasn't that big yet.

Rubbing his aching forehead, the white-handed humanoid pretended to be angry: "You just regained consciousness and hit someone, have you inherited the gene of the giant fist crab?!" ”

Rubbing the top of his swollen head with one hand and sitting up straight with the other, Mark explained with some embarrassment: "Ahem, I'm sorry, I was startled when I dreamed like my head exploded......... Are you ——— little saint!? No, Gruvo? ”

The white light that filled this space had quietly dissipated, and the appearance of the white-handed humanoid was completely displayed in Mark's field of vision, looking at Mark who was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth, Gruvo smiled and stretched out his right hand, "Long time no see, Mark." It wasn't a dream, but I broke your head. ”

When he heard the second half of the sentence, Mark had just grasped Gruvo's right hand, and looked at the remaining bits of blue light on his hand, and Mark trembled violently.

"Ge...... Gruvo ...... You're not kidding, are you? ”

Pulling Mark up from the ground, Gruvo retorted with a serious face, "Do you think I'm joking?" ”

Touching his still-intact head, Mark felt that his mind was a little unturned, "Then I ......"

Looking at the boundary where the white space cultivation emerged, Gruvo didn't explain to Mark again, "Anyway, you're not dead yet, and you've been gifted by a Sarnagar, just know this, and I'll tell you the rest later." Now we have to ......... Drink—"

With a burst of applause, Gruvo grabbed Mark and jumped to his feet, crashing headlong into a white light that pierced through the air.........

10:40 a.m———

"Wow———"

Sitting up with a scream, Mark stared at the scattered bubbles around him, and the bursting bubbles showed that he was still in the water. Touching the "Silver Scale Dragon" that was still wearing it, and using GPS to calibrate the current position, Mark found that nothing had changed, and it seemed that everything that happened just now was a dream.

"Hey, Mark, can you give me a place to hide?" The sudden brainwave from behind made Mark tremble violently, and reflexively grabbed the Altimax machine gun on his side, and then pointed at the source of the brainwave behind him.

"Scared ——— Ge...... Gruvo? ”

There was a lot of resistance in the water, and Mark's action on land that could be completed in just one second took more than three seconds, and Gruvo, who witnessed all this, couldn't help but complain: "The action is really slow, if I want to kill you, you will die ten times." What's the matter, it feels like a dream? ”

"Really." Putting the gun away, Mark smiled stupidly, he just loaded the gun with regular bullets, and whether it sounded in the water was a problem. With a cough to ease the embarrassment, Mark looked at Gruvo, who was only a child tall in front of him, and grinned, "Wait, Gruvo, how did you become so small?" ”

"I'm in pure energy form now, I don't have a host, why have I become so big?"

"Well, I don't understand your star spirits."

With a silent snap of his fingers, Gruvo explained, "Let's put it this way, after we star spirits are generally promoted to mid-level warriors, the tissues that make up the body will undergo a qualitative change, and the mind will be transformed into pure energy, and it can be separated from the physical body. If we die physically in battle, our minds can be retained for a while, and if the Recycler finds us in time to protect us and send us back to Valhalla, we can basically be reborn. ”

Thumbs up, Mark sincerely admired: "Wow, that's really amazing, your star spirit's technology is really advanced." Wait a minute...... I remember when I was in Leviathan, you were just a star spirit, where did you get a reclaimer? ”

Questioned by Mark, Gruvo habitually touched his forehead, "This...... Actually, I did deserve to die there, but......... An aging Sarnaga saved me. It's the one that chats with you. On the disintegrating Leviathan, he poured his psionic energy into my dying body, and my mind was preserved, and then he carried me into the energy-accelerating channel that came to Earth. On the way we caught up with one of your warships, and then hitched a ride, and Sarnagar freed up his hand to do a spiritual solidification for me, and then we ran after you. ”

Smacking the small energy lollipop that could fit inside the helmet, Mark kept nodding his head like listening to a commentary, "Woo ——— ha, that's so sweet." Well, that's wonderful, and then what? ”

Because it was a pure energy form, Gruvo's expression Mark couldn't see it, but the mental fluctuations were really a bit ......

"And then......... Then I punched you in the head! ”

Frightened by Gruvo, Mark couldn't control it, swallowed the lollipop in one gulp, and then ......

"Cough cough cough cough cough ———"

Slowly floating in front of Mark, Gruvo snapped his fingers again, "Well, Mark, be polite when listening to people, otherwise you will be disliked." Hurry up, find me a place to stay, even if it is solidified, my state will still consume energy. ”

Clearing his throat, Mark pulled out the lightsaber from his waist, "Ahem——— you...... Can you stay in your energy sword? ”

Gruvo shook his head and circled around Mark, "That's a weapon, it's not comfortable to stay inside." Well?! What's in that box on you? ”

Mark opened an armored storage box along Gruvo's point, and the metal box inside floated out, "Uh, box? Is this one? ”

Floating in front of the metal box, Gruvo opened his arms and felt, "Hmm......... There is a very gentle energy fluctuation in it, a gentleness that can encompass everything...... That's a good thing. ”

Opening the box, Mark picked up the glass bottle inside and looked at the instructions, "Well, this looks like it's glued H-21." Wait a minute......... Is 21 all made!? ”

"Don't talk nonsense, I'll stay in it for the time being, and I'll think about moving when I have a chance to go back to Valhalla."

Regardless of whether Mark Tong disagreed, Gruvo's pure body shrank and drilled in, and the originally pale black bonded H-21 was dyed with a hint of crystal blue.

Putting the glued H-21 back in the box and putting it away, Mark pouted, "Okay, you're big brother. ”

Checking the condition of the armor, Mark paddled the river with his hands and feet, and as he swam, he suddenly felt that something was wrong. It's been so long, and I don't seem to hear the little girl's squeak, what's wrong?

"Xiao Nian, are you there? Why don't you speak? Off? ”

The inner cry was not answered, and Mark felt that Xiao Nian might have left his body and gone somewhere, so he shouted with his brain waves.

"Xiao Nian, where did you go? Come back, let's go find Joon. Off? ”

Mark called Lao Lao for a long time with brain waves, but Xiao Nian still didn't respond, now, he can be sure that Xiao Nian is alone (?). Ran out and had an accident.

Opening the storage box under the breastplate, Mark shouted inside, "Gruvo, Gruvo, get out!" ”

After soaking in the bonded H-21 and enjoying the embrace of the gentle substance, Mark ran over and yelled, and Gruvo asked with some exasperation in a mental exchange, "What's wrong?!" ”

Feeling Gruvo's "anger", Mark said stupidly: "Gruvo, can you use mental detection to help me find someone, I'm in a hurry." ”

"Looking for whom?"

This question stumped Mark, and he thought about it for a long time. I would just say there, "Look for me...... I...... I ......"

Feeling Mark's entanglement, Gruvo was a little happy, and urged: "Say it in one breath, otherwise I will be asleep." ”

Mark was forced like this, and he also made up his mind and yelled loudly, "Look for my daughter!" ”

"Poof——— The adhesive H-21 that had just fused with the spirit body of the mouth was squirted out by Gruvo, pretending to cover his chest, and Gruvo asked very "painfully": "Ahem, cough, cough......... Did I hear me right? Your daughter? ”

Touching the back of his head, Mark was very embarrassed and affirmed, "Yes...... Yes. ”

"Okay, isn't it your own for the time being, I really don't understand why you took your daughter to the battlefield, selling cute (Xiao Nian: Ah Sneeze-)? Give me a record of your daughter's brain fluctuations, and I'll help you find it. ”

Concentrating, Mark recorded the frequency of brain wave fluctuations emitted when Xiao Nian transmitted messages to him, and then used the astral spirit fluctuations to transmit to Gruvo. At this moment, even Mark himself didn't realize that his spiritual transmission and copying ability had doubled Nfold.

After receiving the record from Mark, Gruvo began to search for Xiao Nian through the external spirit network, but as soon as his search range went beyond Mark's body, the sound of "poof" entering the water came from the direction of the riverbank.

Looking at the people and fish swimming towards him not far away, Mark lost his voice and shouted, "Jun, Xiao Nian?!" ”

"Ha, it seems so, I'll hide for a while."