Xia Lun had not spoken loudly, but the noisy room gradually fell silent. People turned toward him.
Behind the fishbowl-like visor of his spacesuit, Xia Lun calmly met their curious and doubtful stares.
His strategy for this scenario was to keep as low a profile as possible. But this was clearly the beginning of a crisis. If he wanted to stay out of trouble, he could not let himself become someone who could be sacrificed at any moment. He needed to show his value and make himself indispensable.
If the crisis worsened, the pressure would likely turn people against one another. Once that happened, someone on the fringes could easily become a scapegoat. Waiting until then to resist would draw attention and probably do little good.
To keep a low profile, then, he needed to carve out a place somewhere in the middle. That would give him the best chance of avoiding conflict.
And as an expert in explosives, Xia Lun naturally knew how to repair a circuit. Detonating explosives through electrical wiring was a common technique.
Crackle, crackle...
Black smoke poured from the cylindrical machine, and violet-blue arcs flashed from the opening now and then. The crowd, which had begun to quiet down, grew restless again.
"Who is he? I don't think I've seen him before," the man in round glasses asked in a low voice. "I thought Manhunter was the only electrical engineer in the facility."
Roman did not answer. She gave Xia Lun a curious look, then silently raised her camera toward him and the cylindrical Gas Circulation System.
"If he's a lunatic, we're in trouble." A blonde woman in a white crop top took an anxious drag on her cigarette. "Who wears a spacesuit inside the facility? If he goes crazy and breaks that thing, the