Planetary Reincarnation

"Run!"

"The elevator's on the fifteenth floor. It'll take twenty seconds to get down!"

"We don't have time! If they surround us, we're dead!"

Skullhead grabbed Lin Xu by the arm and sprinted out of the office. Lin Xu tried to break free, only to discover that the other's grip was as powerful as steel claws.

Fuck.

Run if you want, but don't drag me with you!

You're afraid of getting shot by the counterterrorism rapid response unit. I'm not!

If I jump downstairs, this round is over!

Lin Xu desperately tried to shake free, but Skullhead interpreted his movements as "being scared and trying to run around," so his grip only tightened.

Lin Xu could only helplessly keep pace with him. By the time they rushed to the elevator, its doors had opened.

Just as Skullhead had predicted, after twenty seconds, the elevator reached the first floor.

"Hold them off! Buy us thirty seconds!"

"We're almost at the extraction point!"

Meanwhile, at the outskirts of the compound, the mercenaries who had received Skullhead's orders had already begun exchanging fire with the rapid response unit.

Skullhead sped up again, with Lin Xu close behind.

Gunfire erupted. For the first time, Lin Xu experienced what it felt like to fight a "regular army" twenty years in the future.

What?

A firefight?!

Who said anything about a firefight?

The instant the first shot rang out, electromagnetic jamming had already been activated.

Electronic warfare equipment far more advanced than the jammers carried by the mercenaries had powered on from hundreds of meters away. Under the powerful directional interference, the mercenaries quickly lost the radio signals they relied on for communication.

Static filled their headsets. Skullhead cursed.

"Fuck, we've lost signal!"

"Doesn't matter. We're almost there!"

By then, the two had left the exhibition hall and were frantically fleeing toward the outskirts of Skyvault Technology's compound.

Gunfire rang out from above. Lin Xu looked up in astonishment and immediately spotted two drones hovering high overhead, pouring fire down onto the ground in a steady rhythm.

Large-caliber bullets punched through the mercenaries' body armor, and the smell of blood instantly spread through the air.

Skullhead's eyes were wide with fury, while Lin Xu stood dumbfounded.

What the hell?!

Was all this really necessary?

What law of heaven did I break for you to send a force like this to kill me?

Nothing like this had ever happened in his previous dozens of runs. Even when he had actively attacked Skyvault Technology and stolen rockets, the highest-level armed force Lin Xu had encountered before launching—and before being shot down by anti-aircraft missiles—had only been the local armed police.

By every measure, they were nowhere near as formidable as this rapid response unit.

So what the hell was going on?

—Wait a second.

Could Jiang Xingye's name be some kind of taboo?

Or was she herself the leader of some criminal organization?

She didn't look like it!

Lin Xu's mind was full of question marks. By then, the rapid response unit had nearly completed its encirclement of Skullhead's mercenary squad.

"We can't get out!"

"Fuck! Who the hell are you?!"

Skullhead shoved Lin Xu behind a narrow piece of cover, fury practically blazing from his eyes.

"You're not that simple! Even the rapid response unit is after you!"

"No wonder you came to us... There's something wrong with you!"

"No, man, don't you think you're the ones with a problem?"

Lin Xu helplessly pushed Skullhead away, his expression instead becoming calmer.

"You brought guns into the country. Maybe you're the reason the rapid response unit showed up?"

"I'll say it again: we're not mercenaries. We're PMC! Legal PMC!"

Skullhead gritted his teeth.

"It's too late to say anything now. We're surrendering."

"You're on your own."

With that, he raised his hands and walked out from behind cover. But the next second, a bullet came down from above.

"Bang!"

Skullhead's knee was shattered, and he pitched hard onto the ground.

They're still shooting?!

Lin Xu's eyes widened.

He already surrendered!

Don't tell me this rapid response unit was ordered to wipe everyone out?

"Don't resist! Stop resisting!"

Skullhead struggled and shouted.

"We surrender! We surrender!"

As his words fell, the gunfire around them finally stopped.

Then, more and more drones hovered overhead, locking down every corner inside and outside Skyvault Technology's compound.

Soldiers wearing mechanical exoskeletons emerged from armored personnel carriers, spreading out in textbook tactical formations and completing the final lockdown.

Lin Xu hid behind cover without daring to make a sound. He glanced at his watch. There were thirty-six minutes left.

What now?

Find a gun and restart, or keep watching?

Better restart.

No need to waste these thirty-odd minutes.

As he thought that, three rapid response soldiers approached in a triangular formation, taking turns covering one another.

He took a deep breath, rose from behind cover, and ran off, prepared to be shot.

—But to his surprise, they did not fire.

"Get down!"

"Put your hands behind your back!"

"Stop!"

The three shouted warnings at Lin Xu, but never opened fire.

Fuck?

Do I get special treatment?

Fine.

If you won't shoot me, I'll shoot myself!

Not far away, beside a mercenary's corpse, a rifle lying on the ground gleamed faintly. Lin Xu rushed toward it in a few strides. He only needed five more meters to reach it.

But right then—

A massive force struck him from behind.

"Bang!"

Something sent him flying before he slammed brutally into the ground.

Excruciating pain, dizziness, difficulty breathing...

He felt as if his heart were about to stop beating.

Lin Xu struggled to get up, but his body had already been pinned down.

Only then did he notice the net wrapped around him, still tightening continuously.

Damn it!

You have this thing too?

Aren't you a counterterrorism unit?

Counterterrorism units carry nets now?

Lin Xu had already lost the ability to resist. But the good news was that, the moment he had been caught in the net, he had instinctively reached forward.

At that moment, his hand was only a few dozen centimeters from the mercenary's corpse.

A grenade still hung from the corpse's belt.

Twist over!

Wriggle!

Pull the grenade and blow myself up. This round will be over!

Restart!

Lin Xu desperately twisted his body, completely ignoring the three soldiers running toward him from behind.

Just twenty centimeters more!

Move, you dead legs!

Lin Xu stared fixedly at the grenade before him. Just as his fingers were about to touch it—

"Bang!"

A leg lashed out, kicking both the corpse and the grenade nearly two meters away.

"Made it in time."

The man seemed to let out a long breath.

Then he reported over the radio.

"This is Monsoon. I've arrived."

"The target attempted to use a grenade from an armed assailant's body to commit suicide. I stopped him."

"Mission complete. The target has been successfully apprehended."

"Yes, there were some complications."

"We were only here to apprehend someone, but we were attacked by illegal PMC personnel."

"They've all been dealt with. We'll bring them back shortly."

"Identity confirmed."

"Lin Xu. That's right, his name is Lin Xu."

"It's strange."

"He previously had no connection whatsoever to the Planetary Reincarnation organization. I don't know why he triggered the alert."

"Let's take him back first. He hired so many illegal mercenaries, so he definitely isn't innocent..."

Lin Xu had still been persistently trying to reach for the grenade in the distance.

But once the man finished speaking, he no longer wanted to move.

Planetary Reincarnation?

What the hell was that?

So Jiang Xingye was a member of this organization?

I was arrested because I mentioned her name and got mistaken for someone connected to this organization?

No.

Was this Planetary Reincarnation some terrifying cult?