Hawk's Speedrun (Part 3)

"Beep!"

"Beep!"

"Beep!"

The moment the piercing alarm echoed over Quantico Military Base, soldiers on duty, those resting in their barracks, and even those who had already made it to town for a break all wore expressions of shock and disbelief.

The next second.

They snapped to attention.

"Holy shit!"

"Battle stations."

"Enemy attack."

"Jesus Christ, what's going on?"

"Did those islanders sneak attack us again? No, this is Quantico, not Pearl Harbor."

The soldiers were momentarily stunned, but once they reacted, they quickly entered combat mode.

After all, this was Quantico.

It was a Marine Corps base, not to mention the FBI Academy and Langley's headquarters were nearby.

Barely three seconds after the battle alarm sounded, the first soldier appeared, followed by a second, a third...

"Clang!"

"Where?"

"Gamma Lab."

"Fuck."

A Vice Captain, upon hearing that the old Gamma Lab was under invasion, cursed angrily. He threw on his clothes, ran towards the door, and pulled out his phone to make a call.

The call was quickly connected.

"Hello!"

A deep voice came from the other end of the line.

"General, Gamma Lab has been invaded."

"..."

On the other end, General Thaddeus Ross, who had just left the Pentagon and gotten into his car, was stunned by the news.

Good heavens.

What did he just hear?

Gamma Lab was invaded?

How could that be?

Gamma Lab was located within the Quantico Marine Corps base. How could anyone possibly invade it?

Because he found the news hard to believe, General Thaddeus Ross paused for a moment before asking.

"Say that again, where was invaded?"

"Gamma Lab."

"Shit!"

General Thaddeus Ross's heart sank completely.

"What's going on?"

"The emergency response team has already been dispatched, and I'm on my way."

"..."

General Thaddeus Ross took a deep breath, loosened his tie, and patted the driver's seat. "Quantico, step on it!"

The driver nodded, slammed the accelerator, and began a high-speed chase right under the noses of two Capitol police officers.

The two Capitol police officers exchanged bewildered glances.

Meanwhile.

The base's emergency response team had already arrived at the Gamma Lab, which was surrounded by a sheet metal fence.

Loud crashing sounds echoed from within the Gamma Lab. At the same time, secret researchers who had been inside the Gamma Lab were fleeing in a panic, their faces etched with terror.

The moment they ran out, the arriving soldiers pounced on them, grabbing them like chicks.

"What's the situation inside? How many intruders are there? What do they want?"

"I don't know, I don't know anything."

"One, he was after the Gamma Stone."

"..."

The emergency captain fell silent, staring at the lab technician who had provided the information.

Several other soldiers looked at the technician with disbelief.

"You just said... one?"

"Yes, just one."

The lab technician's face was still etched with terror. "But he wasn't human. He shattered the wall with a single punch, and bullets couldn't even hit him. The soldiers who fired at him are all dead."

Everyone exchanged glances.

At that moment, a soldier who had been helped out by the technicians, appearing injured but alive, spoke up in support. "Everything he said is true. The intruder was alone."

The emergency captain's gaze immediately fell on the soldier being supported.

"Soldier, report."

"Just like he said, the intruder was alone. He seemed to be here for the Gamma Stone. Our bullets couldn't hit him, and he killed every soldier who fired at him almost instantly."

"And you?"

"Didn't you hear what I said?"

The injured soldier, seemingly on the verge of a breakdown, roared at the emergency captain. "He killed all the soldiers who shot at him."

In reality, he had also fired his weapon.

But...

His gun had jammed the moment he pulled the trigger, and no bullets were fired.

It was precisely because of this that Hawk had, at the last moment, not taken his life but instead shattered one of his legs, rendering him combat-incapable.

The other soldiers who had fired, and the lab technicians armed inside, were not so lucky.

Just as Hawk had said earlier.

Once the valve of slaughter was opened, killing would no longer be a choice, but merely a matter of quantity.

However, Hawk was still restraining himself.

At this moment, Hawk had already descended into the Gamma Lab's basement.

The first thing he saw was the excavated opening in the basement floor.

With a thud.

Hawk, wearing a hooded jacket and a medical mask, jumped directly into the opening.

Immediately after.

He saw a newly dug tunnel. The ground of the not-so-wide passage still had tools like pickaxes lying around.

Good heavens, how primitive.

No.

It must be intentional. After all, not everyone in the military is on the same page.

Hawk thought to himself, his gaze then falling on the stone walls on either side of the tunnel.

That's right.

This was the same type of stone he had seen in Dr. Connors' lab.

Just then.

Within Hawk's Cosmo, accompanied by a phoenix cry, a message was transmitted to him.

"Devour."

"Leave the refining to me."

"That's simple."

Hawk processed the message.

He had initially thought he would have to play the part of a laborer, mining these stones that, for some unknown reason, had absorbed Gamma Rays after the Gamma Lab explosion.

Instead...

He just needed to place his hand on them and burn his Cosmo, allowing the Phoenix within his Cosmo to absorb the Gamaneons stored in the stones.

This...

Was fantastic.

Hawk's face lit up with joy, and he prepared to absorb them.

But just as he was about to reach out, his gaze suddenly snapped to the entrance he had just jumped through.

Hawk directly unleashed a punch towards the opening.

RUMBLE!

The entrance to the basement collapsed under his punch. The force of the blow sent dust and shockwaves instantly sweeping through the excavated, but not very deep, tunnel.

But the dust did not affect Hawk in the slightest.

He did this mainly to prevent the higher-ups from disturbing his upcoming work.

Now, he could absorb it in peace.

Hawk thought to himself, and without hesitation, placed his hands on the stone walls on either side.

The next second!

Cosmo erupted!

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!