Interstellar Survival: Invasion

Chapter 289: A Harvested Soul

The giant drill-robot collapsed, forming a barricade at the room's entrance. With concentrated firepower, we once again pushed the smart robots out of the room. However, it did not take them long to drag the damaged drill-robot out under the cover of an energy shield. Once again, a large opening into our room was available.

The smart robots had been waiting for the opening, and they flooded into the room immediately. We opened fire, creating a rain of tracking bullets and laser beams at the entrance. However, the smart robots had come prepared. The ones running in front were larger than the others.

With shields in hands, they blocked our attacks. Fortunately, some of our tracking bullets were able to travel around the shields and strike the robots. But after the first robot was felled, the robot behind it immediately picked up the shield and continued to advance. Before long, they were already right in front of us.

"This is bad. These robots seem to be trying to engage us in melee combat," said Anxashe.

With the powerful laser shield, the robots were almost in melee range.

"Everyone, be careful. Draw your blades and prepare for melee combat," said Baron Sisse.

"Canyue, don't forget your nuclear explosion," reminded Old Du. He did not want to have his mind harvested and infused into a robot.

The first robot reached us with a shield in hand. Anxashe pried the shield from the robot before his other hand swung out, cleaving his sharp blade into the robot's head. But this time, the robot's hard skin blocked the strike. It drew a ray gun and fired at Anxashe, blasting Anxashe into the wall.

"Anxashe!" Old Du shouted anxiously.

Dodo immediately went over to check on him. "Morph-capable shield. Energy gun. Not fatal."

We were slightly relieved after hearing those words, but at that time, the enemy started pushing us toward the corner of the room with their shields. They were surrounding us, and it was very clear what they wanted. They were not going to kill us but capture us alive.

Dodo reported the cruel truth that we still had 15 minutes before the brain switched ownership. We were at a critical moment and had arrived at an impasse. Suddenly, the loud sounds of an explosion rang out. Surprisingly, the explosion came from behind the robots attacking us. The intense explosion worked even better due to the limited space, instantly felling a large number of smart robots.

"What is this? Did the enemies self-detonate?" asked Zhang Bao'er, pleasantly surprised.

"Maybe Bluevoid is back to save us, or maybe the brain changed ownership early," said Dodo.

Whoever the helper was, the sudden attack had sewn chaos among the smart robots. They seemed at a loss as to what to do. Before long, a second explosion occurred, followed by a third. Finally, the robots sank into complete chaos as the surviving robots madly rushed out of the room. Before us, numerous damaged robots were still struggling on the floor. Oddly, one of the undamaged ones had not withdrawn. Rather, it stood in the middle of the room and gazed at us attentively. Zhang Bao'er raised his laser gun, perhaps due to the uncomfortable sensation of being watched.

"Hold fire for now," a weak voice rang out. I looked back and saw that Anxashe had awakened.

"Anxashe, you're finally awake! Did you notice something about this robot?" asked Dodo, who had been keeping watch over Anxashe.

"This robot has a bow on it. I saw that bow before. It belongs to Ada," said Anxashe softly.

"What? Are you saying that this robot is Ada?" asked Zhang Bao'er with shock.

"This is Ada after his mind was infused into a robot," said Temo from behind his cover.

I found to my astonishment that the robot before us was trembling intensely. Its hands constantly repeated the action of lifting before letting go of its weapon, looking like it was in an intense inner conflict.

"Temo, is this how one would act after one's soul is infused into a robot?" I asked.

"Yes. The mind, or soul, of the person will be under the control of the commands inserted into the robot. But as you know, minds have independent thoughts, and the mind still remembers its previous life. The mind has control over its new body, but when what it wants to do goes against the body's orders, it will encounter resistance," said Temo.

"It's him! This must be him! I have a feeling that Ada helped us!" said Anxashe.

"Dodo, how long do we have before the brain switches ownership?" I asked.

"We still have 10 more minutes," said Dodo. I finally saw hope.

At that moment, I could see that Ada seemed to have gained even more control over his body as his trembling weakened. He seemed to have gained the advantage in his struggle against the commands in his body. He walked toward us while waving his arm. He was also speaking, but none of us could understand him.

"Temo, do you understand robot talk? What is Ada saying?" asked Old Du.

"We got very, very lucky. This fellow really is Ada. He helped us earlier with explosives. He's asking if he can return to our team," Temo translated.

"Of course you can. Come, Ada!" said Zhang Bao'er.

Abruptly, the robots outside resumed their assault. Even more terrifyingly, the things leading the attack were what we feared most: air defense drones. Countless red beams shot into the room. Zhang Bao'er and I hurriedly released our shields, blocking the red beams while our energy supply dropped rapidly.

Dozens of drones spilled into the room, attacking us violently and suppressing us to the corner of the room with their concentrated firepower. Before long, the alarms of our suits blazed, warning us of low energy levels. Baron Sisse and Old Du then joined us, using their shields to defend against the red beams.

"This is bad. We can't keep this up for long. In less than three minutes, these red beams will fully exhaust our energy supply," said Baron Sisse.

"Canyue, seven minutes until the brain switches ownership," reported Dodo, who was under the protection of Anxashe's morph-capable shield.

"We won't be so unlucky, right? Are we going to fall dead when we're minutes away from success?" said Zhang Bao'er.

Under the drones' intense assault, our energy supply continued to drop. The various warning alarms on our suits blazed one after another. We only had one minute before our energy was exhausted.

Suddenly, we saw Ada turn around and run to a position below the drones. Then, he waved his hand and said something to us that we couldn't understand. After speaking, without even waiting for Temo's translation, he pried open his own chest.

A blinding beam shot out of his chest and created an odd effect. Unlike an explosion, some sort of barrier appeared between us and the drones. At the same time, the wall behind us opened, revealing a tunnel. Waiting on the other end of the tunnel was Markus, a sight for our sore eyes.

"The exit is open! Pull back, everyone!" shouted Baron Sisse in excitement.

The few of us who once fought alongside Ada were stricken with grief upon seeing him sacrificing himself to save all of us. We remained at the same spot, unwilling to move. Cracks started appearing in the barrier, and they continued growing. The drones seemed to be on the verge of breaking through the barrier.

"Start retreating. A robot can only release so much energy after sacrificing itself. The barrier won't hold the drones for long," said Temo.

For the sake of an even more important mission, we could only let go of our sorrow for now and start moving. With Dodo carrying Bulu, we ran through the tunnel. After entering our ship, the ship took off and exited the superweapon from a small opening in its toe. We were still in deep sorrow, but after escaping danger, we wasted no time in returning to the league fleet under the guidance of the guide that was still waiting for us.

"Temo, what did Ada tell you at the very end?" asked Anxashe after slowly getting his grief under control.

"Your comrade is a true warrior. He told you to bring his story back to Rumble if there is a chance and tell his family to move on and not grieve for him too much," said Temo.

"I understand. I finally understand," I suddenly said in realization.

"What did you understand? Tell us," urged Zhang Bao'er.

"I understand. All of this was deliberately arranged by the worm colony brain. Perhaps it had intended to have us fulfill Ada's last wish. After all, the pulp worms have access to the thoughts of all the smart robots. The only reason they had turned our meeting into such a complicated affair was so we could meet Ada," I said.

Zhang Bao'er was about to ask more questions when the system indicated that we had returned to the league's base.