Chapter 226: 226, Grab some nanobots to play with!

Was it the wolf? No.

The team member's silver serpent carried additional imaging equipment and transmitted visuals through nanobot neural interface technology. Though the fleeting black shadow moved at incredible speed and the image was a blur, he could be certain: it was not the wolf.

Captain Zhou turned to him, puzzled: "If not the wolf, then what?"

"More like... a shadow," the soldier replied, but then cried out again: "No good, the silver serpent is breaking free from my control!"

He lunged forward, desperate to maintain control over the nanobot serpent, but his speed paled in comparison. Before he could take two steps, the silver serpent vanished completely from his neural connection!

Captain Zhou's face darkened. He had thought there would be no danger here, yet who could have imagined that within less than three hours of entering the mountains, they had already lost part of their nanobot force!

Worse still, they didn't even know who was responsible or what the purpose was!

If the opponent was human, why steal the nanobot serpent? Did they think they could simply take it and use it?

"Captain, what do we do now?" someone asked.

Captain Zhou's face remained cold as he asked, "Which direction did he go?"

"Southwest!" the soldier replied.

"Pursue him," Captain Zhou said. "It's just one person. Use the radio to contact the adjacent outpost—we've found a new target, perhaps more important than the wolf pack. Inform them we'll focus all efforts on capturing this target and temporarily withdraw from the wolf hunt."

In truth, this Zhou-named captain was the only one in the team who knew the true purpose of their mission. He understood clearly that the wolf hunt was not urgent; preventing nanobot losses was the greater priority.

...

At this moment, Ren Xiaosu had just taken the now-dormant nanobot serpent from the shadow's hands. He had been thinking that if they were going to seize the nanobots this time, there might be a fierce battle ahead, which would be a bit of a loss. He preferred lone nanowarriors...

But sometimes, luck seemed to strike when you were half-asleep—someone actually handed him the nanobot willingly...

In just two seconds, the palace completed a series of operations to restore factory settings and clear the online program. The tiny nanobot serpent reformed into silvery liquid, merging into Ren Xiaosu's own nanobot sequence.

This nanobot was like a free gift...

Yet Ren Xiaosu felt a pang of melancholy. The serpent's volume was too small—he had struggled to find one through the shadow, and searching one by one would take until the Year of the Monkey and Horse!

Wait! Ren Xiaosu's eyes suddenly lit up!

...

Lin Qi and the others pressed deeper into the forest, but they were not heading upward—they were descending along the mountain slope toward the valley below.

"Captain, maybe we shouldn't pursue," Lin Qi said nervously. "It's just one nanobot serpent lost. I'm worried going too far might bring unexpected dangers."

Captain Zhou shot him a glance and said, "What kind of soldier fears death? The wolf pack isn't in this direction. Keep moving!"

As they spoke, a team member suddenly lowered his voice and exclaimed, "Captain, look in the valley!"

Everyone turned toward the valley, where a black shadow seemed to flash by. The figure had appeared to be resting there, but never expected Captain Zhou's group to chase them all the way here!

"Don't let him escape our pursuit!" Captain Zhou said coldly.

In an instant, the remaining four nanobot serpents chased after the direction the shadow vanished, while the others sprinted wildly through the wilderness, silver glimmers racing through their blood vessels.

Countless nanobots surged within them, never ceasing. With a single thought, they could instantly form intricate auxiliary machinery inside their bodies, enhancing their limbs with monstrous strength.

Strictly speaking, these nanowarriors' strength and speed were no longer human—they were superhuman forged by technology!

The nanowarriors sprinted through the rocky terrain as if walking on flat ground. Some even leaped ten meters in a single bound!

Gunfire roared like a tide as they pursued and fired simultaneously, trying to blast the shadow into fragments with heavy fire.

Yet though their physical prowess was formidable, these recruits had no firearms training. In high-speed motion, they couldn't even manage basic aim.

"Stop wasting ammunition," Captain Zhou said coldly. "Catch up to him first."

But during the chase, only the soldier controlling the nanobot serpent felt doubt—this shadow's speed was slower than the one that had fled after the serpent was seized.

Yet he lacked combat experience and dared not make arbitrary judgments about the situation.

As their distance to the shadow closed, the serpent had nearly caught up from behind, when the shadow suddenly reached into his pocket, pulled out something unknown, and abruptly accelerated, vanishing in a flash!

This sudden burst of speed left Captain Zhou and the others stunned—this guy was still human?

But what the hell was he trying to do? If he could run so fast, why not just run away sooner?

Yet the next moment, the nanowarrior controlling the serpent, panting heavily, caught up: "It's bad!"

His nanobots had been used to form the reconnaissance serpent, so once the team gave full chase, his speed fell to the rear.

Captain Zhou frowned. "What's wrong?"

The nanowarrior's heart was dead as he said, "All the serpents were taken..."

Only then did everyone realize—the opponent's superhuman had orchestrated this entire maneuver just to lure all the serpents together, making it easier to capture them all at once.

The opponent had been targeting the nanobot serpents from the start!

What, dissatisfied with taking them one by one? Not getting enough thrill?

Captain Zhou stood atop a rock, his resolve wavering.

Now, they hadn't even seen the wolves yet, and a nanowarrior had been forcibly stripped of all his nanobots. Was that even possible?

Before, he had thought deploying nanobots as scouts was a brilliant idea—surely reconnaissance efficiency would skyrocket.

After this ordeal, Captain Zhou felt it necessary to report back to the operational command—they couldn't proceed like this. Someone was specifically stealing nanobots for sport...

"Retreat," Captain Zhou said coldly. "We can't pursue anymore."

After weighing the pros and cons, he concluded that continuing the chase might lead to heavier losses. They and the opponent were clearly not on the same level, so cutting losses promptly was essential.

But at that moment, a wolf howl erupted from the nearby hillside, and Captain Zhou's face instantly darkened!