Joining Forces in Extremis

Lin Xiao's mind completed three calculations the instant Blood Axe counted "one." Fighting head-on meant certain death; negotiation required leverage, and that leverage was in the pocket of his tactical vest—the three blue reagent vials that would self-destruct if kept above 25 degrees Celsius for forty-eight hours. He slowly raised his left hand, signaling Su Ying not to move, then took half a step forward, exposing himself to the light at the corridor entrance. His eyes behind the gas mask stared directly at Blood Axe twenty meters away, his voice passing through the mask, frighteningly calm. "Captain Petrov, do you know the probability of these things self-destructing if they're stored above 25 degrees Celsius for more than forty-eight hours?"

The warehouse suddenly fell silent.

Blood Axe's finger froze on the trigger. The muzzles of the seven men behind him lowered by half an inch—that was humanity's instinctive reaction to unexpected information.

"What did you say?" Blood Axe's voice carried suspicion, but Lin Xiao heard that trace of hesitation.

"A.I.M.'s assessment report." Lin Xiao slowly pulled open his tactical vest with his left hand, moving as though he were disarming a bomb. "Red Snow Project derivative sample RS-7, a bio-energy carrier. Since the laboratory's climate-control system failed, these samples have been exposed to room temperature for over twelve hours. According to the documents, if the ambient temperature exceeds 25 degrees, the probability of self-destruction within forty-eight hours is... eighty-seven percent."

He drew out the three blue reagent vials and held them in his left palm. The emergency lights shone through their translucent bodies, illuminating the thick, faintly glowing liquid inside. Tiny bubbles slowly rose to the surface, as if some living creature were breathing within.

Blood Axe's gas mask turned toward the vials.

Lin Xiao could imagine the expression behind that mask—greed, suspicion, anger, and fear of an unknown danger. Blood Axe was a soldier, not a scientist. He understood bullets and explosives, not bio-energy carriers.

"You're stalling for time," Blood Axe said, but he did not raise his gun again.

"I'm saving your life." Lin Xiao's voice remained calm. "If you forcefully take these things away, they'll explode on the road. Blast radius: fifteen meters. The temperature will instantly reach three thousand degrees Celsius. You, your men, and half this warehouse will become charcoal. Then how will Fletcher write his report? 'The Blood Axe Squad's reckless actions resulted in the destruction of critical materials and the death of the entire unit.'"

He paused, letting every word sink into the other man's ears.

"If you die, Fletcher will have one less problem. Hydra will lose a squad, but will the higher-ups care? They'll only say Captain Petrov was an idiot."

Blood Axe's breathing came through the mask's speaker, growing heavier.

Su Ying's body remained tense, but Lin Xiao saw the fingers around her dagger loosen by half an inch—a signal that she understood his tactical intent. She shifted slightly, scanning the shadows on both sides of the warehouse from the corner of her eye, searching for possible cover and firing angles.

Wolf huddled deep in the corridor, his trembling hands supporting Anna Koch. The female researcher leaned against him, pale as paper, but her eyes were fixed on the reagent vials in Lin Xiao's hand. Her lips moved, silently repeating something. Lin Xiao read her lips: temperature... pressure... don't shake them...

"Put them down." Blood Axe finally spoke, and something had entered his voice—not pure threat anymore, but the beginning of a transaction. "Put them down, and I'll let you go."

Lin Xiao laughed. It was quiet, yet clearly audible in the silent warehouse.

"Captain, do you take me for an idiot?" He slowly shook his head. "I put them down, and you shoot. Then you leave with these 'explosive problems' and gamble on that thirteen percent chance they won't go off. If you win, you get credit. If you lose... you and your men die. What does that have to do with me?"

He took another half-step forward.

The movement made the men behind Blood Axe raise their guns at once.

"Don't move!" Blood Axe roared.

"I'm helping you." Lin Xiao stopped, his Right Hand still hanging at his side while his left held the reagent vials before his chest. "These things are a curse. Why did A.I.M. leave them here? Because they couldn't take them away. Why couldn't they take them away? Because they're too dangerous. Their assessment report is seventeen pages long. I only read three pages before I understood—this isn't loot. It's a coffin."

He tilted his head slightly and glanced toward Wolf from the corner of his eye.

The scrawny man was crouched behind Anna Koch, quietly slipping his Right Hand inside his clothes. A small Communicator was there, preloaded with three emergency signal codes. Wolf's fingers felt for the button on its side—once, twice, three times. Hold it for five seconds to send the signal: "Exchange of fire in warehouse. Target items dangerous."

The signal would be transmitted through a relay Wolf had secretly set up outside the warehouse. Five-hundred-meter range, encrypted channel, receiver... Fletcher's command vehicle.

Lin Xiao had calculated the timing. From the moment the signal was sent to Fletcher's response, it would take at least two minutes. That was assuming Fletcher was still alive, still controlled the command vehicle, and still cared about the "important materials" in the warehouse.

Two minutes.

He needed to stall for two minutes.

"What do you want?" Blood Axe asked. The question itself was already a concession.

"A safe exit," Lin Xiao said. "You and your men retreat to the warehouse entrance and give us five minutes. We'll leave through the emergency passage on the other side. These samples..." He shook his left hand. "I'll leave them in the laboratory's climate-control chamber. It can keep working for another twelve hours, enough time for you to call in a professional disposal team."

"Impossible." Blood Axe's voice went cold. "Put them down now, or die."

"Then we die together." Lin Xiao's voice went cold as well. "I let go, and these vials hit the ground. They shatter, mix, and explode three seconds later. Take a guess—which is faster, you pulling the trigger or the explosion?"

He made as if to loosen his fingers.

"Wait!" Blood Axe practically shouted.

The seven men's gun muzzles all wavered. Some took half a step back, while others instinctively looked for cover. Fear was contagious, especially when facing unknown, explosive, glowing blue liquid.

Lin Xiao's fingers tightened around the vials again.

Sweat streamed down his temple and slipped beneath the edge of his gas mask, bringing an itchy sting. His clothes beneath the tactical vest were already soaked through, clinging to his skin. The air in the warehouse still carried the lingering traces of green gas—that cloying, nauseating scent mingled with blood and gunpowder, creating a distinct stench that belonged only to the battlefield.

His ears were listening for sounds.

There was still sporadic gunfire in the distance, but it was far away now. The remaining battle between Fletcher and the Blood Axe Squad might have shifted to the warehouse perimeter, or... it might already be over. If it was the latter, Fletcher's men could storm in at any moment.

Time.

He needed more time.

"Captain, let's make a deal." Lin Xiao changed his tone, sounding more like he was negotiating. "Let us go, and I'll tell you a secret. About this base, about what A.I.M. is really researching..."

He deliberately paused.

Blood Axe's gas mask tilted forward slightly.

"What?"

"Not biological weapons." Lin Xiao lowered his voice, making it sound more conspiratorial. "Energy. Clean, limitless energy. These samples are just byproducts. The real core is on the third underground level of the base. There's a reactor there, a miniaturized tokamak device A.I.M. dug out of Soviet Union remnants."

It was a lie.

But it was a lie woven from real fragments. In his previous life, Lin Xiao had indeed known that A.I.M. researched energy technology in certain secret bases, and the Soviet Union had indeed once planned miniaturized fusion reactors. Only by mixing truth and falsehood could he fool an old fox.

Blood Axe fell silent.

Lin Xiao could see his eyes flickering behind the mask—the light of thought, the light of greed being ignited. Energy. Limitless energy. Blood Axe knew perfectly well what controlling such technology would mean within Hydra.

"How do you know?" Blood Axe asked, and something else had entered his voice.

"Documents." Lin Xiao pointed toward the depths of the corridor with his empty Right Hand. "There's a complete set of files in the laboratory. I read them and memorized the coordinates, passwords, and security protocols. Kill me, and those files stay there forever. If Fletcher's men storm in, they'll be the first to find them."

He took another small step forward.

He was now only fifteen meters from Blood Axe.

At this range, the AK-74U's hit rate would increase dramatically. But likewise, if the reagent vials exploded, Blood Axe would never escape the blast radius.

"Back off," Blood Axe said, but his tone was no longer as firm.

"Give me a guarantee," Lin Xiao said. "You and your men retreat to the warehouse entrance and turn your backs to us. I count to one hundred, then we put the samples back in the climate-control chamber and leave through the emergency passage. You get the coordinates and passwords; we get a chance to live. A win-win."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"You can send one man with me to the lab to check the documents." Lin Xiao answered quickly. "But only one, and unarmed. Su Ying stays here as a hostage. If I'm lying, you kill her."

"Lin Xiao!" Su Ying growled.

"Shut up." Lin Xiao did not turn around. "Listen to me."

Su Ying's breathing quickened, but she said nothing more. Lin Xiao knew what she was thinking—this plan was too risky, betting her life on Blood Axe's honesty. But Lin Xiao knew even more clearly that Blood Axe would not kill her. At least, not immediately. Because if the coordinates and passwords were real, Su Ying was the insurance ensuring Lin Xiao did not play tricks.

And if the coordinates and passwords were fake...

Lin Xiao had never intended to let Blood Axe's man enter the laboratory.

"Wolf." Lin Xiao tilted his head slightly. "Take the doctor back to the lab and bring out the black folder on the top shelf of the third row of filing cabinets. Move."

Wolf froze for a moment, then understood. Supporting Anna Koch, he staggered back into the depths of the corridor. The researcher glanced back at Lin Xiao, her gaze complicated—gratitude, worry, and something Lin Xiao could not understand.

Time passed second by second.

Lin Xiao counted silently: forty-seven seconds, forty-eight seconds...

Blood Axe was still hesitating. His gun muzzle shifted between Lin Xiao and the reagent vials, his finger lightly rubbing the trigger. It was a dangerous habit—an unconscious gesture when nervous that could cause an accidental discharge.

"Captain." Lin Xiao spoke again, slowing his voice further. "Think about your future. What will you gain by returning to headquarters with energy technology? Promotion? Resources? Or... real power? More power than Fletcher?"

Blood Axe's breathing grew heavier by another degree.

Fifty-three seconds, fifty-four seconds...

Footsteps came from deep within the corridor. Wolf returned, holding a black folder. He walked to Lin Xiao's side and handed it over. Lin Xiao accepted it with his Right Hand and opened the first page—it was blank, with only the words "Red Snow Project: Final Report" written in Russian on the cover.

"Look." Lin Xiao turned the folder toward Blood Axe and flipped through the blank pages. "The complete files. The coordinates are here..." He pointed at a blank spot. "The password is here... The security protocol requires Level Three authorization, but you have a way around that, don't you?"

Blood Axe's gas mask moved closer.

At that very instant—

A roar came from outside the warehouse.

Not one roar, but many. Dense footsteps surged in like a tide, accompanied by the metallic clatter of weapons, combat boots grinding over gravel, and Fletcher's unmistakable hoarse bellow:

"Secure every exit! Don't let a single one get away!"

Blood Axe spun around.

The seven men behind him also turned their guns at once, aiming toward the warehouse entrance.

But it was already too late.

Fletcher's men charged in from three directions.

Six from the left, five from the right, eight from the front—a total of nineteen soldiers, fully armed, gas masks intact, every gun aimed at the Blood Axe Squad. They spread out swiftly, taking cargo crates, pillars, and abandoned equipment as cover, forming a perfect crossfire net.

Fletcher came in last.

He had removed his gas mask, revealing a face covered in blood and sweat. A fresh cut ran across his left cheek, blood dripping from his chin onto his combat uniform. But his eyes were bright, gleaming like a starving wolf spotting prey.

His gaze swept across the warehouse.

He saw the Blood Axe Squad, Lin Xiao, Su Ying, Wolf and Anna Koch, before finally settling on the blue reagent vials in Lin Xiao's left hand.

His gaze froze for half a second.

Then Fletcher smiled.

It was an ugly smile—the pull of his lips tugged at the wound on his face, making him twitch with pain, but the smile remained.

"Captain Petrov." Fletcher's voice echoed through the warehouse. "Looks like you found something precious."

Blood Axe slowly turned around, his gun shifting between Fletcher and Lin Xiao. His seven men stood back-to-back in a circle, their guns aimed outward, but it was obvious to everyone—they were surrounded.

"Fletcher." Blood Axe forced the name through clenched teeth. "These things are mine."

"Yours?" Fletcher walked several steps forward and stopped behind a cargo crate ten meters from Blood Axe. "As I recall, the cleanup mission for this base was assigned to me. You and your men... acted without authorization, didn't you?"

"Headquarters will understand," Blood Axe said. "I found important materials."

"And planned to pocket them?" Fletcher raised an eyebrow. "Captain, have you forgotten Hydra's rules? All spoils must be reported and distributed centrally. Concealing them privately... is a capital offense."

The soldiers behind him all worked their bolts.

Click. Click. Click.

The metallic impacts echoed through the warehouse like the footsteps of death.

Lin Xiao slowly retreated until he stood beside Su Ying. She used her body to shield half of him, gripping her dagger in a reverse hold before her chest, her eyes fixed on Fletcher and Blood Axe.

Wolf curled in tighter, nearly trying to shove himself into a crack in the wall. Anna Koch leaned against him, breathing faintly, but her eyes remained open as she watched the confrontation before them.

Three factions.

Fletcher had nineteen men. Blood Axe had eight. Lin Xiao's side had four—if they counted the severely wounded Anna Koch.

But Lin Xiao held leverage.

Those glowing blue vials.

"Captain Fletcher." Lin Xiao spoke, not loudly, but loudly enough for everyone to hear. "These samples are extremely unstable. If the temperature exceeds 25 degrees, there is an eighty-seven percent chance they will self-destruct within forty-eight hours. I suggest... everyone step back and let professionals handle them."

Fletcher's gaze shifted to Lin Xiao.

Something flickered in those eyes—scrutiny, assessment, and a hint of... appreciation?

"You're Lin Xiao," Fletcher said. "The rookie from the perimeter reconnaissance team. The report said you disappeared during the gas attack."

"I found the laboratory," Lin Xiao replied calmly. "I rescued a researcher and protected important samples and documents. According to protocol, I should report to you."

He emphasized the words "according to protocol."

Fletcher understood.

It was a declaration—I follow the rules. I recognize your authority. I am not a traitor like Blood Axe.

"Very good." Fletcher nodded. "Then now, hand over the samples and documents to me. I'll record your contribution."

Blood Axe suddenly raised his gun.

It was not aimed at Fletcher, but at Lin Xiao.

"You dare?" he roared. "Give me the things! Otherwise, I'll kill all of you!"

"Try it." Fletcher's voice was as cold as Siberia's ice. "You fire, and my men will turn you into a sieve in 0.3 seconds. Then these 'explosive treasures'... bang." He made an exploding gesture. "We all die together. Captain, do you want to gamble?"

Blood Axe's finger trembled on the trigger.

Sweat ran down his neck and into his collar. Behind the gas mask's lenses, his eyes were bloodshot, struggling between madness and reason.

Time seemed to freeze.

Only breathing remained in the warehouse—heavy, hurried, suppressed breathing. Nineteen guns were aimed at eight people, eight guns at four people, and four people held blue liquid that might kill everyone.

Lin Xiao could hear his own heartbeat.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Slow, powerful, like war drums.

His left hand was steady, the reagent vials faintly warm in his palm—it was an illusion, he knew, a heightened sensitivity of the skin brought on by adrenaline. But that warmth felt real, like he was holding a piece of slowly burning charcoal.

His Right Hand hung at his side, his fingers curling slightly.

It was a signal to Su Ying: prepare to break through, toward the emergency passage on the right, when...

"Captain." Fletcher spoke again, breaking the silence. "Put down your weapon. In my capacity as mission commander, I order you to put down your weapon and lead your men to the east side of the warehouse. This is your final warning."

A low growl came from Blood Axe's throat.

Like the roar of a trapped beast.

Then he made a move—

Slowly, agonizingly slowly, he lowered the AK-74U's muzzle until it pointed at the ground.

The seven men behind him exchanged looks, but ultimately followed suit. Their gun muzzles lowered, their fingers left the triggers, yet their hands remained on the grips—it was the posture of surrender, but also the posture of men ready to strike back at any moment.

Fletcher smiled.

A genuine smile, this time unwarped by his wound.

"Wise choice," he said, then looked at Lin Xiao. "Now, hand over the—"

Before he could finish.

An explosion suddenly erupted outside the warehouse.

Not gunfire, but a real explosion—a deep, heavy boom accompanied by violent tremors beneath their feet. Dust and gravel rained down from the ceiling, emergency lights swayed wildly, and beams of light swept madly across the warehouse.

Everyone froze.

Fletcher whipped his head toward the warehouse entrance. "What's happening?!"

One of his men pressed a hand to his earpiece. After listening for two seconds, his face changed drastically. "Captain! Heavy equipment! Three BTR-80 armored personnel carriers are breaking through the outer line! They... they're using autocannons to bombard the warehouse doors!"

"Whose men are they?!" Fletcher roared.

"Don't know! But they're painted with... headquarters' insignia!"

Headquarters.

The word was like a bucket of ice water dumped over everyone's heads.

Blood Axe suddenly laughed. The laughter came through his gas mask, distorted and crazed.

"Fletcher," he said. "Did you think you were the only one waiting for reinforcements?"

He raised his left hand and pressed it against his earpiece.

"Operation codename 'Red Snow,' target location confirmed. Requesting fire support, coordinates..."

"No!" Fletcher roared. "Stop him!"

Gunfire exploded.