Chapter 227: 227, Then I don't care!

When the wolf's howl rang out, Captain Zhou and the others each felt a weight in their hearts. During the pursuit, none of them had regarded the wolf pack as a threat.

In their minds, the wolves should have been far away. Over there, more troops had gathered to encircle and annihilate the pack. Yet now, to their horror, they realized the wolves' territory was actually on their side!

Why was this so? The outpost attacked by the wolves had been far from here. If this was the wolves' true domain, why had Ren Xiaosu's outpost remained unharmed?

Captain Zhou paused for two seconds before speaking coldly: "Perhaps the neighboring outpost's operation was too large, startling them here. We underestimated these wolves' danger-sense."

"Maybe," Lin Qi replied fearfully: "What do we do now?"

"What else can we do? Retreat swiftly!" Captain Zhou lowered his voice to a roar: "If you don't want to die, hurry! Go through the outpost's direction—perhaps the wolves will be drawn there. That's your only chance to survive!"

As he spoke, Captain Zhou had already reactivated his nanomachines, his body moving with machine-like speed and power. The others, seeing this, abandoned all else and followed suit!

Yet not everyone in the squad possessed nanomachines. The warrior who had previously controlled the nanobot serpent shouted from behind: "Take me with you!"

Without nanomachines, he was merely an ordinary man, unable to escape the wolves' pursuit. Someone had to help him.

But those brothers-in-arms who had once called each other "brother" heard his cry, yet none turned back to glance at him.

This was the consequence of lacking formal military training—before danger, they were no different from refugees!

Watching their comrades' figures fade into the distance, the lone nanowarrior grew more desperate, even hearing the wolves weaving through the forest behind him!

For some reason, he regretted becoming a nanowarrior. Though without nanomachines he would be a refugee, perhaps he could have lived longer.

Yet at that moment, he froze as he turned, for what he saw was not just the wolves, but the youth among them!

The youth walked alongside the wolves, the wolf king at his side, while the rest trailed behind, as if the youth held a high status.

But wasn't this youth the very Ren Xiaosu they had scorned at the outpost?

Hearing Ren Xiaosu speak: "No need to fear them fleeing—I've calculated their speed. With shadows leading them into the mountains, they're now fleeing for their lives. In ten minutes, when the nanomachines run out of power, they'll be nothing but ordinary men."

As Ren Xiaosu had predicted, the nanomachines' fatal weakness now lay in their energy. Biological charging was too slow to keep up with consumption.

Thus, nanowarriors were best suited for lightning warfare, not conventional battles.

Of course, Ren Xiaosu wasn't certain whether Li's forces had found a solution to this problem.

The wolf king and Ren Xiaosu approached the warrior, communicating through guesswork. Yet the nanowarrior suddenly felt forgotten—how could they treat others so carelessly?

Moreover, how could this youth coexist peacefully with the wolves? It was too inexplicable!

Wait—could the neighboring outpost's attack also be connected to this youth?

Suddenly, the wolf king glanced at the nanowarrior, then lifted its paw to demand something from Ren Xiaosu.

Ren Xiaosu's expression shifted: "He no longer has nanomachines. I won't trade with you—and I had to extract those nanomachines from him myself!"

The nanowarrior stared blankly as Ren Xiaosu spoke, realizing the shadow earlier had been the youth's doing. So this youth was a supernatural being!

Yet at that moment, the wolf king shook its head: "Then I don't care!"

Ren Xiaosu, with a grim face, produced a vial of black elixir and handed it over: "Forget it, I won't stoop to your level."

The wolf king cheered at the sight of the elixir. Ren Xiaosu said: "Enough. I'll go ahead and pursue. Deal with him, then catch up."

As he spoke, Ren Xiaosu prepared to leave, leaving the nanowarrior in horror: "Don't go! We're the same kind—how can you let the wolves devour me?"

Ren Xiaosu turned and smiled: "Better to dance with wolves than keep your company."

With that, he vanished into the forest. The nanowarrior watched the youth's back, lonely yet resolute.

In an instant, the nanowarrior grasped many truths: The claim at the outpost that their staple was meat had not been a lie.

The wolves had not attacked this side's outpost—only because Ren Xiaosu was there.

Moreover, he noticed this Ren Xiaosu clearly understood nanomachines.

They had wondered why the shadow stole the nanomachines—if you took them, you couldn't use them anyway.

But now, he was no longer so certain!

Ren Xiaosu walked onward, hearing a scream behind him, yet his expression remained unchanged.

Five silver serpents had already encased his wrist in armor; assembling a full exoskeleton remained a daunting task.

…

Lin Qi and the others fled desperately through the forest, ignoring the scratches on their faces and bodies from the undergrowth.

Their nanomachines were insufficient to sustain their entire bodies, so their skin remained no different from ordinary people.

As they ran, Captain Zhou slowed slightly: "The wolves don't seem to be pursuing us?"

"Yes," Lin Qi replied in shock: "Could they not have noticed us?"

"Impossible," Captain Zhou retorted coldly: "There must be a reason."

A thought crossed his mind—could the wolves know their nanomachines' endurance was flawed, waiting to strike when their power ran out?

Yet he dismissed it. How could wolves know such things? Even within Li's army, few understood this, save the nanowarriors themselves.

By then, Lin Qi and the others had discarded some supplies. They weren't foolish enough to lose their weapons, only tossing their individual rations.

But Lin Qi suddenly noticed something: From start to finish, Captain Zhou had never opened his pack. Meanwhile, the silver veins visible through others' blood had begun to dim, yet Captain Zhou's remained unchanged.

Lin Qi asked: "Captain, does your pack contain a charging device?"

Captain Zhou glanced at him: "It's none of your concern. Don't ask."