I Am Your Little Cutie

Seizing control of the helicopter, Li Wei piloted it to a high altitude, ignoring the calls on the public channel. He leaned his head out to survey the chaos below, hoping perhaps to catch a glimpse of Alex Mercer.

However, amidst the rumbling of artillery and the roar of autocannons all around, he found no sign of Alex, and there were no distress signals on the radio; it seemed Alex was not in this area.

But it was also possible he was here. Li Wei didn't particularly want to consume those officers whose minds were filled with strange thoughts, but assimilation and absorption were indeed the most convenient and efficient ways to find someone.

Infected creatures had no memory to speak of, so assimilating them would not result in any unwanted memories.

After briefly considering that bizarre, unsettling sensation, Li Wei gave up on the option of assimilating the officers, opting instead to turn the helicopter around and fly toward the GENTEC laboratory.

With the city currently undergoing evacuation, he still hadn't met Raymond, the man who had turned him into a prototype.

Li Wei had originally planned to kill him before leaving, but now that the entire city was being evacuated, Raymond McMullen, as the chairman of GENTEC, might have already made his escape.

The maverick helicopter flew over the skies of Manhattan and soon located the GENTEC laboratory.

Blackwatch seemed to have no intention of retreating from here; large numbers of armed troops were still guarding the facility. Li Wei landed the helicopter on the gleaming helipad atop one of the buildings.

There were a few Blackwatch soldiers on the roof. Seeing the helicopter land, they didn't seem particularly vigilant, and the squad leader sent a communication request to the aircraft.

"I have not received any landing information. Please state your business."

"I am here to pick up Chairman Raymond McMullen for departure." Li Wei sat in the helicopter, slowly shutting down the rotors, and stated his purpose upon hearing the squad leader's inquiry.

He was indeed here to send Raymond out of this world; that description was technically correct.

The Blackwatch squad leader replied with a "Stand by," and then seemed to contact the internal network of the Blackwatch base.

Li Wei had already stepped off the aircraft. Still maintaining the appearance of the military pilot, his arm transformed into a spinning, twisted tentacle, which he whipped directly into the face of the Blackwatch squad leader, instantly creating a headless corpse.

Those Blackwatch soldiers who had been indifferent were shocked by this sudden turn of events, but they quickly raised their muzzles toward Li Wei and pulled the triggers, sending a hail of bullets his way.

Li Wei stomped on the ground, his body shooting forward like a sharp arrow. He opened his right hand to grip a Blackwatch soldier's neck while his left hand morphed into a blade, piercing through the man's body.

He let the bullets strike his body, but aside from a stinging sensation, they left nothing behind.

After dropping the corpse, Li Wei moved with several more rapid strides, his blades piercing the remaining Blackwatch soldiers. As he reached the last one, countless black-red fleshy tentacles surged into the soldier's body, and in just a single second, Li Wei merged with him.

"Ugh... he's actually a homosexual!" Li Wei retched on the spot, feeling a chill run down his spine. Every time he absorbed and assimilated someone whose brain was intact, he gained the person's recent memories.

While this ability brought by the virus was powerful and a sharp tool for interrogation, its drawback was truly massive!

Not to mention the headaches and fevers, simply witnessing someone else's strange habits was like being struck in the head by an eldritch horror; it was absolutely nauseating!

"If I ever do this again, call me a brain-dead idiot!" After processing the psychological discomfort, Li Wei picked up the rifle from the ground, swapped the magazine, and strolled slowly down the building.

From the memory of that Blackwatch soldier, he had already learned that Raymond had not yet left, though he would be soon.

The interior of the building was empty. He took the elevator down and, after turning a corner, could see the GENTEC laboratory.

Relying on this skin, Li Wei bypassed many checkpoints and eventually followed a grunt into the laboratory.

The structural damage caused by Li Wei and the Hunter a few days ago hadn't been severe. By releasing blood toxins, the laboratory had quickly lured the Hunter back into its cage, and since some high-precision equipment was difficult to move, the base hadn't changed its location.

Raymond McMullen had just taken off his white lab coat when he received a notification that the helicopter coming to pick him up had apparently arrived.

He didn't delay, grabbing his briefcase stuffed with documents and preparing to walk out of his office.

But at that moment, the office door was rudely pushed open from the outside, and a researcher in a white lab coat walked in, expressionless.

Seeing who it was, Raymond relaxed his tension and continued walking toward the door: "Jeni, tell your supervisor about whatever it is; I've handed things over to him now."

Manhattan could face a viral explosion at any moment, and even the super-soldiers that Blackwatch had deployed on a large scale could die at any time.

As a scholar, he naturally couldn't stay here and wait for death!

However, just as he was about to brush past Jeni, his neck was gripped by a hand like an iron clamp. His body involuntarily recoiled, and he was lifted entirely off the ground by Jeni.

A scarlet wave rippled across Jeni's body, his features shifted, and a man in a black leather jacket with a hood and a familiar face appeared before Raymond.

"Mer... cer..." Raymond's neck turned red, and upon seeing Alex Mercer, his eyes bulged; he clearly hadn't expected to see Alex here.

Alex had no intention of wasting words with Raymond. His left hand twisted and shifted, transforming into a pair of terrifying, hideous claws.

"Chairman! I'm here to take you away..."

Just as Alex was about to kill and assimilate Raymond, the office door behind him was pushed open once more, and a Blackwatch soldier in uniform walked into the room, gun in hand.

The Blackwatch soldier was clearly caught off guard by the scene in the office, but after a moment of hesitation, he decisively raised his gun, pointed it at Alex, and roared: "Release Chairman Raymond! Get away from here!"

A glimmer of hope gradually appeared in Raymond's unfocused eyes, and his trembling hand reached toward his pocket.

But the next moment, his neck felt loose; the massive hand that had prevented him from breathing let go.

Once released, Raymond collapsed powerlessly to the floor. The pistol in his coat fell out, and through his blurred vision, he saw the Blackwatch soldier being knocked away by Mercer, who then fled.

Safe!

Seeing this, Raymond was filled with relief. Then, a pair of large hands helped him up, and he heard some muffled words in his ears.

"Chairman Raymond... get up, I'll take you to a safe place..."

Raymond had been left dizzy and disoriented by Alex's grip; saliva was uncontrollably flowing from his mouth, and without resisting, he rested his hand on the shoulder of this "good soldier" and stumbled forward.

The muffled shouting in his ears grew more frequent. Raymond felt himself being brought into a room, and as he looked around, it seemed somewhat familiar.

"Chairman Raymond, come, have a seat!"

The soldier's voice came again.

What a fine soldier~ He decided that after this, he would transfer the soldier who had saved his life to his side to serve as his personal bodyguard!

Such a loyal and reliable soldier was rare indeed; only with soldiers like this could one accomplish great things!

"Good!"

Raymond sat down in the chair, his face, which had been flushed red, returning to normal. He looked around and couldn't help but say, "Hey, this place looks a bit familiar."

"Of course it does, this is your Laboratory 2, Chairman!" The soldier shoved Raymond onto the newly repaired hospital bed, his hands moving with lightning speed to secure Raymond to the bed in no time.

By the time Raymond snapped out of it, his body was already strapped to the hospital bed, with only his upper body still capable of slight movement.

He looked at the Blackwatch soldier who had saved him from Mercer with an expression of disbelief, his throat stuttering, "You, you... who are you!"

Dark red waves rippled across the Blackwatch soldier's body just like they did with Alex. Li Wei transformed back into his original appearance, a smile of extreme malice spreading across his face, "I'm your little darling, Chairman~!"