Laser

Chapter 18: Laser

"Enough. Our mission is to capture this test subject alive. Any questions?" Han Nian cut off everyone's grumbling.

"No problem. Captain, make the arrangements."

"Good. Although everyone is confident in their own strength, it's always better to be careful. So, I'll make some general arrangements." Han Nian nodded, preparing to lay out the plan for the coming operation.

"Captain, let me go first and test that guy. From what that old man said just now, he seems to be a First Generation." The young man, around eighteen to twenty years old, wore an unconcealed look of arrogance as he spoke.

Han Nian was somewhat displeased at being interrupted, his face darkening. But when he saw who it was, he suppressed the anger in his heart.

Newcomers these days are truly arrogant. Still, it might be good to test that 'First Generation.' Although Han Nian nodded in agreement, he was thoroughly displeased with the guy. But after spending so long in society, he would not so easily show his thoughts on his face.

This guy was named Zhu Yao. Originally, he had merely been an ordinary person. But by a stroke of luck, he had been splashed with the blood of both the Flame King Guo Mingjing and the Blood Crow Bird during their battle, and had awakened supernatural abilities.

Normally, ordinary people could not withstand untreated original blood. Other than their bodies collapsing, there was no other outcome. Yet no one knew what changes had occurred when the Flame King's blood mixed with the Blood Crow Bird's blood. Zhu Yao had miraculously survived, and even awakened supernatural abilities—especially unusual ones.

Later~after---(prohibited word) long-term experiments, there was no second success. Zhu Yao became a special case.

Because he was a special case, and because his supernatural ability was indeed rather unique, Zhu Yao was quite arrogant at heart. It was not the ostentatious arrogance of an idiot, but a pride that radiated from deep within him.

After leaving the room containing the incubation tanks, Hong Mo opened another large door and entered a straight corridor. The corridor was spacious and brightly lit, its silvery-white walls gleaming with a metallic sheen beneath the harsh white lights.

There was a turn in the distance, and beyond that, nothing could be seen. Hong Mo glanced back at the room with the incubation tanks, then turned and left that disgusting place.

Hong Mo stepped into the corridor. After taking a few steps, his right foot, which was about to come down, hesitated. This should be some kind of experimental facility. No matter what, this was definitely a highly classified place. Could this path really be so easy to traverse?

After hesitating for a moment, Hong Mo returned to the room. After carefully looking around, he shoved the nearest incubation tank. Inside was half the corpse of some unknown creature, its dark red muscles and organs already treated.

It did not budge. The incubation tank was connected to both the floor and ceiling of the room. Hong Mo frowned and punched the glass with his right hand. With a ripping sound, a large hole appeared in the tank, and pale green ** spilled all over the floor.

Hong Mo did not dodge. He had no idea how long he had soaked in this ** anyway. Suppressing the nausea in his heart, Hong Mo lifted the creature's corpse and walked outside.

At the entrance to the corridor, Hong Mo tested his strength and hurled the corpse in his hand forward with all his might.

A pale red fine mesh appeared in the middle of the corridor, but it seemed to have no effect. The corpse continued along its momentum and smashed into the distance. However, Hong Mo discovered in horror that when it landed, the corpse had already become dozens of fragments of varying sizes.

This was... laser. Though he had never seen it in person, Hong Mo had long heard of this weapon from all sorts of movies.

Cursing inwardly, Hong Mo stood silently where he was. What should he do? His hand unconsciously tapped against the silvery-white wall.

Wait, what controlled these lasers? Hong Mo had only spent one year in university, and his knowledge of many things was half-baked. He had long heard of lasers, but knew absolutely nothing about how they worked. Still, this should be controlled by electric current, right? If so...

Delight rose in Hong Mo's heart as he carefully examined the wall beside him. The silvery-white wall was made of a building material Hong Mo did not recognize. He tapped it with his hand. It was very hard, as expected of a classified research facility. But this level of hardness could not stump Hong Mo, though it would be troublesome.

A cluster of dazzling electricity gathered above his right hand, vibrating at high speed and emitting a humming sound. Hong Mo swept his right hand across the wall. A succession of piercing scraping noises rang out as fragments continually fell from the wall.

This wall really was hard enough, Hong Mo thought, his hand never stopping as he slowly cut through it. There it was. Hong Mo stared at the cable wrapped in rubber inside the wall. After cutting open the insulation, he gripped the cable. The instant he touched it, his body shuddered.

It was actually high-voltage electricity... Hong Mo's mouth twisted unnaturally. It was probably around 1,000 volts. This level of voltage had not yet exceeded what he could endure. Hong Mo steadied himself and began feeding in his own current.

Hong Mo had never accurately calculated the amount of electricity in his body. Even he himself did not know exactly how much there was. But he had tested it roughly. The maximum voltage he could control could reach 8,000 to 9,000 volts. Logically speaking, with such high voltage in his body, he should have been completely immune to the research facility's high-voltage electricity, not to mention ordinary household electricity.

But in reality, that was not the case. When Hong Mo controlled the voltage in his body up to 9,000 volts, it did not harm him. Yet in the research facility, a voltage of 1,000 volts could affect his body.

After Hong Mo and Mu Siyu discussed the matter, they got no answer. One was a first-year student and the other a second-year student. Expecting them to understand much high technology was simply unrealistic. In fact, even Mu Siyu's ice energy could not be explained by conventional physics.

After all, in physics, water froze because it lost thermal energy. Yet when Mu Siyu controlled water to freeze, it was clearly because the ice energy in her body entered the water. That was certainly unreasonable. Unable to figure it out, the two did not spend too much thought on the matter, instead putting more effort into becoming familiar with their respective supernatural abilities.

The circuitry of the laser grid appeared in Hong Mo's mind. With only the knowledge of a first-year university student, Hong Mo definitely could not understand such an advanced circuit. But that did not matter. Whatever kind of circuit it was, he only needed to destroy it.

A violent current surged through it. The previously intact circuit immediately erupted in sparks, then short-circuited.

Good!

Hong Mo's eyes lit up, and he withdrew his right hand. To see whether the lasers had truly been destroyed, Hong Mo grabbed another creature's corpse from an incubation tank and used it for a test.

The corridor was neither long nor short. More than twenty minutes later, Hong Mo reached its end. Just as he had expected, there were many traps along the way. Unfortunately, most modern traps were controlled by electric current. Traps powered purely by mechanical means were almost nonexistent. Such traps naturally could not do much against Hong Mo.

But what Hong Mo did not know was that it was not that such traps did not exist; rather, Director Luo had deliberately shut them down. As a research facility studying supernatural abilities, how could it fail to consider such a possibility? However, he needed a living research specimen, not a corpse.

After traversing a corridor over a thousand meters long, Hong Mo finally reached the end. A silvery-white metal door was tightly shut before him. Hong Mo stopped in front of it.

Half an hour had already passed since Hong Mo left that secret chamber. If this truly was an intact base or research facility of some sort, then there would definitely be people waiting for him outside.

Rather than rashly charging out, Hong Mo surveyed his surroundings and considered his options.

Suddenly, Hong Mo looked up at the ceiling.

Maybe this could work!

Electromagnetic force surged within Hong Mo's body. With a leap, his limbs firmly adhered to the ceiling, leaving him hanging upside down. Current flowed through the metal door, which slowly slid apart to either side. Hong Mo hung there silently and motionlessly.

When the metal door began to move, Han Nian and the other five waiting in the hall all tensed up and watched alertly. According to the information provided by the research facility's director, Luo Bingyi, the other party was a First Generation who had originally been declared dead, only to inexplicably awaken again.

Ability: electromagnetic control; new abilities: unknown; level of strength: unknown. Perhaps after so much time, the other party had already become extremely weak. But no one was willing to gamble with their life.

The metal door slowly opened, finally stopping with a click.

"No one?" Han Nian looked at the empty corridor.

"Director Luo, do you know where the other party is?" Han Nian used something like an earpiece to contact Luo Bingyi, who was monitoring remotely.

"I don't know. That test subject is extremely cunning. Not long ago, he released a powerful surge of electricity. Nearly all the equipment in the corridor has been disabled, so it can no longer be monitored. You can only rely on yourselves now. Good luck." Luo Bingyi stared at the pitch-black screen, his expression equally unpleasant.

Hearing Luo Bingyi's answer, Han Nian's face turned grim.

"Captain, he's only a test subject. As I suggested before, I'll go first." Seemingly extremely confident in his own strength, the young man named Zhu Yao showed a disdainful expression and made the suggestion.

Damn it, this kid's cocky. With that attitude, he probably won't live much longer, Han Nian grumbled inwardly, but he did not say it aloud.

"Fine. Zhu Yao, you take the lead. Everyone else, follow." Since Zhu Yao had volunteered on his own, Han Nian was more than happy to let him stand at the front.

Hearing Han Nian's instruction, the young man named Zhu Yao stretched lazily and strode toward the passage. Though he acted arrogant, Zhu Yao was not as ignorant as others imagined. No superpowered person who had survived until now was a fool.

Pale blue flames emerged from the surface of his body one after another, burning silently. In the blink of an eye, they covered his entire body.

Flames, huh!