Rosh Xia's premonition had clearly been spot-on.
Skye had just been dragged out of a shipping container and taken with the others to a sealed room. Then, as if a fire had broken out and the sprinkler system had gone haywire, water that smelled of disinfectant sprayed down from the ceiling, soaking everyone through.
After half an hour of this humiliating wash, Skye was taken to a separate room that looked like a cell and locked inside. The only small comfort was that they'd at least given her a change of clothes, even if they looked a lot like prison garb.
Skye seemed calm. After all, she'd grown up in an orphanage and survived until now; she was more worldly and psychologically resilient than most girls her age. But staying calm wasn't going to improve her situation. The cell door had an electronic lock, so there was no chance of opening it with a piece of wire.
Aside from the door, the entire cell was made of reinforced concrete. There was no way out.
"How did things end up like this?" Once Skye realized there was no way to escape, panic began to rise in her.
This wasn't like the problems she'd faced before. Staying calm and trying hard wouldn't be enough to solve it.
For some reason, Skye suddenly thought of Rosh Xia, whom she'd met only once.
"If he were here..." Skye murmured.
But she soon shook her head, casting aside the unrealistic thought. There had to be a reason she'd been brought here. They couldn't simply leave her locked in a cell until she died.
What she needed to do now was get some rest, conserve her strength, and wait for a chance to escape—then seize it.
With that in mind, Skye lay down on the bed and closed her eyes. She'd barely been able to sleep while locked up in that warehouse for the past few days. Here, at least, she had a proper bed.
When Skye finally managed to fall asleep, she had no idea how long she'd been out before a burst of noise woke her. Before she could react, someone had already hauled her off the bed.
Once Skye could make out what was happening, she saw that two people in white coats and surgical masks, who looked like doctors, were carrying her along.
Behind her, two soldiers in camouflage uniforms and armed to the teeth escorted them. It seemed that the slightest sudden move from Skye would be enough to get her shot to pieces.
After walking two or three hundred meters and taking an elevator up several floors, Skye was brought to a laboratory. In the center stood something like a sleep pod, and five people just like Skye—human test subjects—were already waiting in front of it.
Just as Skye arrived, the pod opened, and a charred corpse was dragged out.
Right afterward, the second test subject was beaten unconscious as he struggled wildly, then thrown into the pod.
Looking at the corpse, which barely looked human, Skye felt her heart pounding so hard it might burst from her chest. She bit down hard on her lip, breaking the skin at the corner of her mouth before she managed to stifle her scream. Inside, she kept shouting, Someone, please save me! Anyone—just come save me!
Meanwhile, Rosh Xia had reached the outer perimeter of the military-restricted zone. His Tactical Goggles showed that he was 637 meters from the entrance.
Though Rosh Xia could see every detail clearly, at this distance he couldn't use his x-ray vision to locate Skye.
Not long ago, the plan Matt and Rosh Xia had put in motion had begun to pay off. The victims in the four shipping containers had been exposed to the journalists' cameras, while the police had reinvented themselves as heroes who'd broken up a gang operation after receiving a tip.
The journalists and the police had each gotten what they wanted. Even if someone tried to silence them with money or violence, it was impossible to shut everyone up overnight.
Of the hundreds of people involved in the incident, if even a dozen let something slip, there'd be no way to cover it up.
All the injured and sick victims had also been given proper care. Some others had gone home, while the rest had been taken to the police station to give statements.
There were over a thousand victims, scattered across different locations. It was impossible to kill them all. Rosh Xia figured that as long as the people at Global Consolidated Investment had even a little sense, they wouldn't do anything extreme while the topic was still hot. Instead, they'd do everything they could to pin the heinous crime of human trafficking on someone else.
And the best fall guys were probably the Russians they'd paid to do the dirty work. The question was, with the two sides at each other's throats, how much of the blame could they manage to shift?
It would be a bloody game of negotiation, but it had nothing to do with Rosh Xia anymore.
Rosh Xia left the rest of the matter to Matt and headed for the military-restricted zone to get his hands on the remaining evidence.
"Violet, can you hack into the system for this military-restricted zone? There must be surveillance footage inside. If we get the evidence, we won't have to risk sneaking in," Rosh Xia asked.
"Sorry, Commander. Most of my hacking capabilities come from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s resources. But S.H.I.E.L.D. has a noninterference agreement with the military. I can't use its resources to hack into the system here. If I did, S.H.I.E.L.D. would notice something was wrong right away, and I might even be exposed," Violet replied.
"In that case, Li Bai, you'll have to go in. You don't need to kill anyone this time. Just find the people being held inside and take photos and videos," Rosh Xia instructed.
"I will not fail you, Commander." Li Bai clasped his hands toward Rosh Xia, then changed his appearance and prepared to leave.
Violet called out to stop him, then snapped her left arm off at the elbow. "Take this with you. If you find a computer, plug it into the mainframe. Then I can try to use my own processing power to hack into the base remotely."
Li Bai hesitated for a moment, then said uncertainly, "To hold your hand... I'm afraid that wouldn't be appropriate."
Rosh Xia: "..."
Violet: "..."
The awkward silence lasted for a few seconds. Then Violet snapped her arm back into place and, in the same way, removed her left leg.
"Here. This isn't a hand, so there's no problem now, right?" Violet balanced on one leg and held out her left leg.
If the two of them hadn't looked like robots, this scene would definitely have needed a censor bar.
Li Bai took the leg, transformed into a wildcat, and ran toward the military-restricted zone.
Only after Li Bai had disappeared from sight did Violet offer her sincere suggestion. "Commander, please activate the other robots soon. I think Luo Fei and Li Bai have a serious generation gap with me."
"I'll... do my best," Rosh Xia replied helplessly.
But he couldn't help feeling a little worried. All three robots were weird in their own ways. Who knew whether the fourth one would be just as strange?