The abandoned factory in the Industrial Triangle was a fortress of concrete and automated defense. Its primary function was a maintenance yard for Nexus Corp's fusion arrays, but the lower levels had been hastily converted into a secure recovery chamber for the injured Operator Zero-Seven.
Kai and Anya stood concealed behind a stack of derelict storage containers. The night was cold, and the air was thick with the smell of industrial waste, but the scent of raw spiritual energy also permeated the area—the unmistakable sign of a powerful Qi Stabilization Array at work.
Anya, having consumed her first Essence Stamina Pill, was radiating intense focus. Her eyes, normally cold, now glowed with analytical clarity.
[HAREM MEMBER #1 (ANYA) – MENTAL ACUITY: 30% BOOST. E-PT FORGING CONFIRMED SUCCESSFUL.]
"The Qi flow is centered in Sub-Level B, exactly where Zero-Seven is stabilizing," Anya whispered through the comms. "The perimeter is guarded by five Tier-3 surveillance drones—no Cultivators. They are relying entirely on automated security and digital locks."
"Perfect," Kai confirmed, adjusting the Veil Shield on his arm. "Stealth is our primary weapon. We follow the maintenance tunnel schematic I generated. You handle the Tier-4 digital locks; I handle the physical disruptions and the drones."
[QUEST ALERT: TACTICAL RESOURCE INTERCEPTION]
Title: The Industrial Triangle Snatch.
Objective: Steal the Qi Stabilization Array's Core Crystal (Tier-4 artifact).
Kai moved first, flowing into the shadows. His Mid-Stage Foundation mastery and the Veil Shield were a perfect counter to the Nexus security. As he slipped past the main gate, a Tier-3 surveillance drone hovered into his path, its optical sensors aggressively pinging the area.
[VEIL SHIELD (TIER 5) – FULL POWER]
The drone's sensor array immediately overloaded with static. It spun in confusion, unable to lock onto Kai's suppressed Qi signature. Kai didn't destroy it; he simply tapped the Veil Shield against the drone's exposed maintenance port.
> EXECUTE ACTION: VEIL SHIELD – DATA INJECTION (LOW-LEVEL MALWARE).
The drone's targeting system went dark, and it silently drifted away, now running Kai's customized malware loop, feeding false security data back to the central hub.
"Drone neutralized," Anya's voice confirmed. "Clean job. The Veil Shield is everything you promised, Kai."
They followed the narrow, dark maintenance tunnel. Anya, energized by the Essence Stamina Pill, moved with silent speed, her analytical mind already calculating the next moves.
They reached the first digital lock—a reinforced titanium door sealed with a Tier-4 biometric and digital passcode array.
"My turn," Anya murmured, slipping a thin data-spike into the panel.
Kai watched, fascinated, as she worked. The Essence Stamina Pill had boosted her mental speed to an incredible degree. She wasn't guessing; she was seeing the code structure and bypassing it with fluid confidence.
"The pill makes me faster, Kai. I can process their encryption in seconds. Nexus Corp relies too heavily on code purity," Anya explained, without looking up.
Click. The titanium door slid open silently.
[HAREM MEMBER #1 (ANYA) – DIGITAL EXPERTISE CONFIRMED. ALLIANCE VALUE INCREASED.]
They moved deeper into the factory, reaching the entrance to Sub-Level B. They could feel the oppressive weight of the Qi Stabilization Array—a massive, rhythmic pulse of spiritual energy that was slowing and stabilizing Operator Zero-Seven's damaged Dantian.
The final defense was a cluster of three Tier-4 combat drones guarding the vault door. These were equipped with low-grade sonic weapons and advanced heat-seeking sensors.
Kai knew the Veil Shield could confuse their sensors, but engaging them physically would alert the entire sector. He needed a calculated, non-violent stun.
He had one new resource: the Tier 2 Forge and the remaining 85 E-PTs.
"Anya, I need a diversion now. A physical, loud distraction at the far end of this corridor—Tier 2, nothing that draws major attention," Kai commanded.
"Understood. Deploying sonic disruptor in five seconds."
As Anya's distraction unit fired—a sharp, high-pitched CRACK that echoed down the far corridor—the three combat drones spun violently toward the noise.
In that fraction of a second, Kai focused 10 E-PTs into his hand and unleashed a silent, concentrated wave of Mid-Stage Foundation Qi.
> EXECUTE ACTION: FOUNDATION QI—EMERGENCY STUN WAVE.
The Qi wave wasn't a physical attack; it was a targeted, electromagnetic pulse that slammed into the drones' internal circuits.
Fzzzzzt. The three drones went instantly dark, dropping silently to the floor.
[ACTION SUCCESSFUL. NON-VIOLENT TAKEDOWN ACHIEVED.]
"Clear," Kai confirmed. "Anya, the final lock."
The vault door was a solid bank vault, protected by a specialized Qi-sensing lock.
Anya approached the lock, but she paused, shaking her head slightly. "This is a Tier-5 Qi-lock. I can bypass the code, but my presence here will trip a security measure that scans for Qi fluctuation. Zero-Seven is right behind this door. We can't afford any spiritual noise."
She looked at Kai, her blue eyes intense. "You have the purest Qi signature, thanks to the Forge. You touch the lock. Only your Essence is clean enough to fool it."
Kai nodded. This was a physical test of his cultivation purity—proof that the Forge truly was a superior method.
He placed his hand flat against the cold metal door. He released the smallest, most controlled pulse of his Foundation Qi, letting the clean Essence flow gently into the lock's sensor array.
The lock read his Qi not as a threat, but as a stabilizing, neutral energy—it read him as the system's maintenance frequency.
Hiss. The massive vault door clicked and silently retracted into the wall.
Inside, the chamber was clean and sterile. Operator Zero-Seven lay on a sterile mat, unconscious, his body connected to a massive, pyramid-shaped crystal array that pulsed with intense, stabilizing Qi energy. The Qi Stabilization Array's Core Crystal rested in the center of the pyramid—a fist-sized, shimmering green artifact.
[TIER-4 ARTIFACT DETECTED: QI STABILIZATION ARRAY'S CORE CRYSTAL.]
Kai approached the array. The energy pulse was mesmerizing, powerful, and utterly wasted on stabilizing one man.
"This is it," Kai whispered, reaching out for the Crystal.
As his hand closed around the Core Crystal, the entire factory went silent. The rhythmic pulsing stopped. Zero-Seven's body twitched violently as the stabilization was yanked away.
[TIER-4 DATA SHARD EQUIVALENT ACQUIRED!]
[OPERATOR ZERO-SEVEN'S RECOVERY DEFERRED INDEFINITELY. NEMESIS STATUS CONFIRMED.]
"We have to go! Now, Kai!" Anya shouted.
But before they could move, the unconscious Cultivator's single, remaining biological eye snapped open. It was wide, unfocused, and filled with white-hot, vengeful rage.
"THIEF!" Zero-Seven screamed, the sound echoing through the sterile chamber, driven by raw, uncultivated agony.
He wasn't conscious, but his body's core defense mechanism had been triggered. A final, desperate blast of chaotic Qi erupted from his Dantian, a self-destructive, explosive surge aimed at the source of his pain: Kai.
[WARNING! HOST UNDER ATTACK! UNSTABLE QI SURGE DETECTED!]
[HOST HEALTH DROPPING RAPIDLY! ACTIVATE EMERGENCY HEALING!]
The chaotic Qi was far more dangerous than the focused blast from the bridge. Kai was slammed against the wall, the force stealing his breath.
[PASSIVE SKILL: EMERGENCY HEALING (TIER 1) AUTOMATICALLY CONSUMING 1 E-PT TO STABILIZE HEALTH.]
Kai fought the pain, clutching the Core Crystal. He had to forge the pill now, before the pain overwhelmed him.
"Anya!" Kai screamed, desperation in his voice.
Anya didn't hesitate. She threw herself at the unconscious Cultivator, hitting him with a non-lethal, high-energy stun from her data-rifle, delaying his self-destructive burst just long enough.
Kai focused his mind, activating the Forge while fighting the violent spasms of his injured body. He had the Component. He had to survive.