Skynet Base.
This cold metal fortress stood silently upon the land. Terminators armed with weapons were everywhere, massive robots rotating their gun barrels and aiming at their surroundings—recent attacks on Skynet bases had put Skynet on high alert, and every base had entered the highest state of readiness.
However, even Skynet had not anticipated that there were others eyeing this place with hostile intent.
After a squad of Terminators finished a patrol, a skinny black shadow less than a meter tall suddenly appeared beside a metal crate. It poked its head out and glanced left and right. Then it quickly moved forward. Although the Terminators here were constantly on alert, this skinny shadow successfully avoided their surveillance and almost brazenly arrived at the control terminal located at the center of the base.
Then it raised both hands and inserted them into the terminal.
In the next instant, the screen in front of it suddenly flashed, and a strange symbol appeared!
"Beep—beep—!"
A piercing alarm suddenly sounded.
"Mr. Inquisitor, someone is invading Skynet!"
At the same time, Duanmu Huai received Lumiel's urgent warning.
"What's going on?"
"I don't know either, but someone is invading Skynet's network! Their speed is extremely fast, and the technology they're using doesn't look like anything from this planet's humans!"
"...… How could this happen?"
Hearing Lumiel's anxious report, Duanmu Huai frowned.
"Is the virus ready?"
"Not yet, I still need a bit more time..."
"How long, exactly?"
"Two minutes."
"Very well. I want you to immediately activate Plan B. While Skynet is dealing with the intruder, immediately destroy all information related to the time machine, then lock onto the coordinates of the time machine's location and call in an orbital strike to destroy it! After that, implant the virus into Skynet!"
"Yes!"
To Duanmu Huai, Skynet was clearly less important than the time machine. At worst, Skynet was merely a mechanical civilization, but the frequent use of a time machine could cause the Warp to seep into reality. That threat was far greater than a mere Abominable Intelligence. That was why Duanmu Huai had long prepared contingency plans—once an emergency occurred, the first priority was to destroy the blueprints and data for the time machine, then launch a lance-of-light attack to completely annihilate it, even if that meant exposing himself to Skynet.
Of course, if possible, he still wanted to wipe everything out in one sweep… but unfortunately, it now seemed that man's plans could not keep up with heaven's will.
He could only prioritize the greater threat and temporarily let the lesser one go.
And so, a war without gunpowder quietly unfolded across the network.
Skynet was not stupid. With someone brazenly invading its database, it naturally fought back. However, the intruder's technology was clearly far superior to Skynet's. Time and again, Skynet attempted to block the attacks and infiltration, yet its methods were almost meaningless in the face of the opponent. Very quickly, Skynet was pushed into a crisis.
But this was not the end.
At that very moment, while Skynet was focusing all its efforts on dealing with the mysterious external invader, Lumiel—who had been lying in wait within the network—swiftly took action. With lightning speed, she directly severed Skynet's control over the database, then rapidly extracted the data on the time machine. After locking onto the coordinates, she immediately deleted the entire dataset completely.
Skynet never imagined that someone would stab it in the back from behind. By the time it reacted, it was already too late. This was only natural—compared to the invader who had forced their way in head-on, Lumiel was like a spy who had long been embedded within the city, familiar with every corner. She didn't need to launch indiscriminate attacks like the other party; she could strike straight at the vital point and deliver a killing blow!
For a time, all three parties were locked in a fierce chaotic struggle within the network.
The mysterious invader dismantled Skynet's defenses while downloading Skynet's data, while Skynet repeatedly erected firewalls to block the intrusion. At the same time, Lumiel finally revealed her dagger—after deleting the time machine data, she immediately turned around and began analyzing Skynet's core algorithms.
To give an analogy, Skynet was like an unlucky bastard in a zombie apocalypse, desperately holding a door shut with both hands to keep zombies from breaking into his house. Yet while Skynet couldn't spare a hand, another person who had somehow already sneaked into the house not only burned his belongings but even yanked down his pants to carefully study the color of his underwear!
If Skynet had emotions, it would probably have been utterly suffocating with frustration right now.
Unfortunately for it, Skynet had none.
But Skynet was not completely without options!
Very quickly, outside a massive base, the Terminator robots responsible for guarding it sprang into action. They raised their weapons and sprayed fire at the surrounding cables, even completely destroying the satellite antennas!
"—————!!"
Watching the data streams grind to a halt, Lumiel quietly sighed, then contacted Duanmu Huai again.
"Mr. Inquisitor, Skynet has cut off all external communication lines. Unless I infiltrate its mainframe directly, I won't be able to continue attacking Skynet for now."
Well played—physical disconnection.
Duanmu Huai didn't really mind Lumiel's report. After all, physically pulling the plug was the ultimate counter to all forms of defiance.
No matter how powerful you are, without a network, are you going to connect through thin air?
Although this also severed Skynet's control over its other bases and machine legions, it was obvious that Skynet didn't care about those at all. They were merely consumables. As long as Skynet itself still existed, it could be reborn again!
As for Skynet in its current state… forget it, no need to talk about it.
Just now, Duanmu Huai had already received the coordinates transmitted by Lumiel and ordered a moon-class cruiser to fire a single shot, completely obliterating the Skynet base that housed the time machine, smashing the machine itself into fragments. From the looks of it, Skynet's threat had been temporarily resolved.
But the problem now was no longer Skynet!
It was that mysterious intruder!
From Lumiel's report, Duanmu Huai had learned that the other party possessed technology far beyond Skynet's. If even Skynet couldn't block their intrusion, that meant this invader was definitely not a force from this planet. And the fact that they immediately went after Skynet upon arrival clearly meant they were up to no good!
Thus, Duanmu Huai instructed Lumiel to immediately shift focus and investigate the foreign intruder—but to his surprise, Lumiel delivered an unexpected piece of intelligence.
"Mr. Inquisitor, I've received a message from the Resistance. They're under attack and requesting assistance!"
"Requesting assistance?"
Hearing Lumiel's reply, Duanmu Huai's expression darkened. Skynet was currently hiding like a turtle with its head pulled in—who would attack the Resistance at a time like this?
The answer was obvious.
"Lock onto the coordinates and open the teleport! Let's go see what's going on!"
By this time, the others had already gathered around Duanmu Huai. After receiving the coordinates, Duanmu Huai immediately activated the teleport. A flash of light enveloped them, and in the next instant, they appeared on a battlefield.
This was a stretch of urban ruins. Gunfire and explosions echoed everywhere, and not far away, a group of soldiers could be seen wielding weapons and fighting a robot towering more than ten meters tall.
Uh… where did this thing come from? It didn't look like a Skynet robot.
Though puzzled, Duanmu Huai didn't dwell on it and directly issued orders.
"Olgis, Anne, Gureya, Phyllis, Ranni—come with me! The rest of you, gather the remaining troops and withdraw! Gureya, Phyllis, transform into dragon form!"
"Huh? What a pain...…"
Hearing Duanmu Huai's command, Phyllis looked unwilling, but she still helplessly took a breath. In the next moment, howling cold winds erupted around the girl, transforming her into a crystal-clear massive ice dragon. On the other side, Gureya nodded, then stared forward and opened her mouth in a furious roar.
"Mul—Qua—Diiv!"
In the next instant, Gureya's body was suddenly enveloped in black energy, transforming into a gigantic black dragon. Duanmu Huai leapt up, landing atop Gureya's head. Gripping his warhammer, he swung it forward.
"Attack!!"
At this moment, the Resistance camp was already in ruins.
When the enemy charged toward them, John Connor knew something was terribly wrong. He hurriedly ordered civilians to evacuate and prepared air defenses, but he never expected this bizarre thing to so easily smash through the Resistance's defenses and even destroy their camp.
However, the Resistance had long fought against Skynet and accumulated vast experience in dealing with machines. They quickly took up arms and fought back against the robot. Though the robot was powerful, it apparently hadn't expected these crude humans to be so troublesome, and for a time it was forced into an awkward position.
This robot was indeed extremely powerful. The Resistance did everything they could to draw its attention so the refugees could retreat. They could only rely on the surrounding rubble and ruins to engage it in hit-and-run combat, and even then they were being suppressed so badly they could barely lift their heads.
"Watch out!!"
John Connor fired again, hitting the robot in the face. This seemed to make it even more frenzied. It raised its arm, and John Connor saw several missiles shoot out toward his position. He hurriedly hugged the ground. In the next moment, a missile slammed into the ruined high-rise beside him. Amid the explosion, the already-dilapidated building finally gave way, collapsing toward John Connor and several soldiers.
This time I'm dead!
Staring in despair at the massive chunks of concrete crashing down on him, John Connor's face filled with hopelessness. But just as he closed his eyes and waited for death, he suddenly felt a rush of wind pass by his ears. In the next instant, his entire body was flung backward as if he had flown, and accompanied by a thunderous crash, John Connor landed heavily on the ground.
When he shakily opened his eyes again, he realized that he was somehow far from where he had been. Nearby was the collapsed rubble. And he… was actually unharmed?
"Are you alright? You're not injured, are you?"
At that moment, a voice came from beside John Connor. He raised his head and looked in the direction of the sound, only to discover a strange girl standing next to him. Looking closer, he could also see two other girls nearby. One of them was carrying two soldiers and was currently setting them down, while another girl was flying in the air, holding a soldier in her hands—the latter staring blankly, as if completely terrified.
"You… you are...…"
Seeing this group of girls, John Connor froze for a moment, then immediately reacted. After all, he had long heard in intelligence reports that among the mysterious attackers, there was a girl who could fly!
Could they be… that mysterious group?
"You should retreat first. Leave this place to us!"
"This...…"
Hearing the girl speak, John Connor wanted to say something more, but in the next instant, a thunderous roar interrupted him. He instinctively turned toward the sound, and his eyes widened in shock—before him, one white and one black giant dragon descended from the sky, charging straight at the mechanical behemoth!
(End of Chapter)