The next day.
Early morning.
After getting dressed, Hawk arrived at the motel front desk and pulled thirty dollars from his pocket, handing it over.
"Extend for one day."
"Room key."
"Here."
Hawk handed over the room key.
The motel clerk took the key, checked the room number, made the entry, then handed the key back to Hawk.
Hawk took back the key, thanked the clerk, and turned to leave the motel.
Before long.
He arrived at Quantico Base...
On the mountain road beside it.
Hawk was not worried that his morning run would draw the attention of the soldiers at the base.
Because besides him, other residents of Quantico Town were also jogging along this mountain road.
Wearing a baseball cap, Hawk followed behind the runners at an unhurried pace, drawing no attention at all.
Very soon.
When he reached a bend in the road, Hawk saw that the people ahead had not noticed this area, while the people behind had yet to catch up. Without hesitation, he instantly accelerated. With a whoosh, by the time the runners behind caught up, Hawk had already vanished.
Only the leaves in the forest beside the mountain road rustled.
By the time Hawk appeared again and returned to the motel, it was already afternoon.
After returning to his room, Hawk sat by the bed and took a folded sheet of paper from his pocket.
He unfolded it.
Before his eyes.
A simple map of Quantico Military Base's interior had been drawn.
Barracks.
Office buildings.
Tank depot.
Airfield.
And...
The abandoned laboratory. Hawk had spent the morning roughly identifying his destination, then spent the afternoon swiftly moving through the forest around the base to find three escape routes for himself.
However, he had not yet decided which escape route to take.
But that was unimportant.
As long as he had escape routes, he could adapt to the situation after the job was done.
Thinking this, Hawk glanced once more at the map marked with symbols only he could understand. He then tore the paper into scraps. Only after ensuring that even the most skilled professionals could not restore it did he toss it into the room's trash can.
Very soon.
The sun set.
At that time, Hawk returned to the motel front desk, handed back his room key, completed the checkout procedures, and walked out of the motel.
This was a motel.
The front desk had seen people check in with female companions and check out less than ten minutes later.
So the clerk was not surprised by Hawk's early checkout.
After leaving the motel, Hawk found a nearby pizza place, ordered a pizza, and sat by the window to eat.
With a big fight coming up, he couldn't go in on an empty stomach.
If he ran out of strength from hunger halfway through the fight, or got caught because he was too hungry to run when it was time to escape, that would be downright tragic.
Night completely fell.
Full and satisfied, Hawk moved through the dense forest under cover of darkness. With his current speed, running at full force could even create sonic booms, and he moved like a ghost. Before long, he arrived before the high-voltage security fence surrounding the military base.
Hawk did not rush in. Instead, he looked up at the towering sentry tower within the military base.
On the sentry tower, the searchlight activated at night slowly swept its designated area automatically.
The moment the searchlight swept his way, Hawk lowered his head beneath his hood and hid behind a tree.
He had already worn the baseball cap during his morning run, so it was not suitable to use it again just in case.
But this black hooded jumpsuit would do.
He had found it in the trunk before driving the taxi into the river.
Hawk had changed into it after leaving the pizza place.
Very soon.
The searchlight moved away from the tree behind which Hawk was hiding.
The next second.
Without hesitation, Hawk stepped out from behind the tree. His right knee bent slightly, and the instant the dirt beneath his foot sank in, his whole body silently launched into the air like a great roc. He flew over the security fence, something an ordinary person could never cross, and landed inside the base.
Once he was inside the base, the rest would be easy.
All he had to do was find the abandoned laboratory, start digging, and then run.
Hawk had already worked out the plan.
So after landing inside the base, Hawk followed the plan, swiftly moving through the dark edges of the base toward the abandoned laboratory he had already scouted.
One minute later.
The abandoned laboratory, surrounded by corrugated metal sheets and guarded by soldiers at its only entrance and exit, came into view.
Hawk stood quietly about a kilometer from his destination, using a shipping container casually placed on the base lawn as cover while watching the two soldiers in his sights.
"Whew!"
"Time to move."
With his eyes closed, Hawk slowly exhaled a breath of stale air. Then he slowly opened his eyes and looked at his destination.
The next second.
Boom!
The instant grass and dirt exploded beneath Hawk's feet, a thunderous blast like a sonic boom rang out, and Hawk shot forward like a cannonball.
The two men assigned to guard the abandoned laboratory were chatting and laughing.
They had both thought today would be another ordinary day.
Until...
Something seemed to flash through the corners of their eyes, followed by a sonic boom exploding beside their ears.
Thud!
Thud!
Before the two soldiers could even cry out, their eyes rolled back, and they collapsed to the ground.
Hawk still had not gone for the kill. After instantly knocking out the two soldiers, he darted into the abandoned laboratory.
The next second.
"Shit!"
"Who's there?"
"..."
After slipping through the metal sheets, Hawk saw two soldiers in front of a rundown building whose exterior walls looked as though they had once been subjected to explosive shock tests. His brows rose.
Seriously.
Was that necessary?
There were clearly soldiers outside, yet they had stationed two more inside?
Was that really necessary?
Hawk felt somewhat speechless.
When he had surveyed the terrain during the day, he could only see outside the metal sheets and had no way of seeing within them.
The two soldiers looked at Hawk, who wore a hood and a medical mask over his face. After their initial shock, they reacted.
The next second.
The two soldiers immediately pulled their triggers.
"Enemy attack!"
"Sound the alarm!"
"Beep! Beep! Beep!"
In an instant, the piercing alarm tore through the night's silence and echoed across Quantico Military Base.
The moment the two soldiers pulled their triggers, Hawk's figure vanished from the spot.
When he appeared again the next second, he was already standing before the two soldiers who had attacked him.
The two soldiers outside had not pulled their triggers.
They could live.
But these two...
Expressionless, Hawk drove his right fist directly at the two soldiers before him, their faces filled with shock!
Before you continue