Trouble I'm In
After a massive explosion that shook the ground, the A-Train finally managed to find the place where the hostages were being held, though it was still panting heavily.
An abandoned laboratory.
The air here is thick with a musty, musty smell and the strange odor of medicine.
Several rows of long lamps covered in thick dust hung from the ceiling, casting a depressing, pale white light.
In the very center of the site stands a square heavy-duty fence welded together from cold-drawn tungsten steel pipes, each ten centimeters thick.
Inside the enclosure, a group of hostages with metal collars were squatting on the ground.
He glanced at them and saw Mallory, Hughie's father, and his brother Nathan... a total of 17.
The ceramic surface within a radius of over forty meters around the perimeter of the fence was covered with a layer of unidentified, semi-transparent gel-like material.
A tall, unfamiliar figure stood gracefully at the edge of the gelatinous substance and bowed slightly to him.
The man was wearing a pure black double-breasted tailcoat with a dark red silk bow tie at the collar.
He leaned on his slender ebony cane, a very friendly smile playing on his lips.
"Welcome..."
"I originally thought that the rescuers would be other wanted criminals, but I never expected..."
"It's you, esteemed Mr. A-Train."
"However, to prevent any unforeseen circumstances, I have also prepared a customized contingency plan for you."
He slightly raised his cane and pointed it towards the center.
"Solid tungsten steel, if you intend to break it open with a high-speed impact, it might just smash your skull open like this..."
"It shattered with a loud thud."
As he spoke, the man planted his cane on the ground and used both hands to make a gripping motion inwards.
Then, the tip of the cane fell onto the transparent substance covering it.
"As for these... they are modified structural adhesives tailored to your specifications, with amazing viscosity."
It can clamp any material to the ground the instant it makes contact.
Immediately afterwards, the man withdrew his cane, clasped his hands together, and then shifted his gaze to the A-Train's legs:
"I know what you're thinking... You think that as long as you're fast enough, you can step over it before it solidifies."
But as soon as this layer of glue gets on the soles of your shoes, the ground will instantly nail your ankles to the ground.
At this point, the Supersonic momentum in your upper body is still present... your knees will separate like cutting a cake.
"Oh, right, they all have special collars on them."
He lowered his eyelids somewhat flippantly, glanced at his watch, and when he looked up again, a hint of mockery flashed in his eyes.
Don't insult my work with those poorly made time bombs or remote-controlled fuses available on the market.
As Mesmer, I've always believed... that human emotions are the most beautiful Da Vinci Code.
He pointed to the iron cage.
"I named it ' Heart Rate ' because the probe was attached directly to their vagus nerve and carotid sinus."
They are now experiencing fear, despair, rapid heartbeat, and their cortisol and adrenaline levels are at maximum.
This kind of extreme pain and pressure.
It's the safety threshold I set for the collar; it will remain in standby mode, but...
The Reader paused, the corners of his mouth curving upwards even more.
"Once someone feels 'saved' and relaxes, dopamine is released, and their heart rate drops sharply to the normal range."
At this moment, the built-in piezoelectric ceramic will be instantly ignited.
The tungsten carbide blade will pop out from the inside, severing the carotid artery and trachea together.
"By the way, unstable emotions can have the same effect!"
"Fear is the key to life, while complacency is the deadly poppy."
As he spoke, the Reader took out a white handkerchief from the inside pocket of his tuxedo and wiped the handle of his cane.
He then bowed again.
"I've prepared this grand spectacle for you... See you later~"
After speaking, the Reader gracefully smoothed out the wrinkles on his clothes.
Turning around, his figure slowly disappeared into the passageway.
Watching the Reader's disappearing figure, the A-Train hesitated.
Based on what the Reader just said, this was a special arrangement made entirely for him.
The forty-square-meter rubberized layer meant that he couldn't touch the ground with his feet, and therefore couldn't run.
Moreover, if the hostages try to come out, they will also get covered in this glue, and the result will be the same.
As for his awakened ability to perform irregular molecular vibrations?
It's not that he doesn't want to use it, but it's unstable.
This ability is extremely demanding on physical strength and cardiovascular endurance, so it's essential to carry high-calorie foods with you for regular replenishment.
If an additional adult is brought along for the resonance exercise, the physical exertion will increase exponentially.
Keep in mind that there were seventeen people locked in the cage.
Seventeen people meant he would have to make more than thirty round trips in a very short period of time.
" A-Train! What are you still standing there for?!"
Just as the A-Train was dazed, a scream abruptly broke the silence.
At the edge of the iron cage, Starlight's mother, Donna, gripped the cold steel pipe tightly with both hands, her face pale and her hair disheveled.
She was pressed against the railing, snot and tears streaming down her face, and she was screaming at the A-Train in despair:
"Are you just going to watch us get locked up here and wait to die?! My daughter is Starlight!"
The more Donna shouted, the more out of control she became.
Two hands with red nail polish were frantically shaking the railing, making an unpleasant thud.
At this moment, the several women around her, who were already in shock, burst into tears after being pulled along by her.
The entire cage was in complete chaos.
As the chaos intensified, several people began to hear faint buzzing sounds from the metal collars around their necks.
The indicator light on the side was flashing wildly between yellow and red.
"Shut your mouth!"
The A-Train's forehead veins bulged as it strode forward half a meter.
Just as his toes were about to touch the edge of the gel, he abruptly stopped.
"Don't fucking move! Don't breathe heavily! Do you hear me?! If anyone loses their composure, the collar will explode!"
"Stop pointing fingers at me! You coward! You ran so fast... why the hell did you jump over here?! Let me out of here first!"
Donna wouldn't listen at all; instead, she stomped her feet even more hysterically, spitting all over the steel pipe.
"Whoosh--"
And it was at this moment.
A calloused hand roughly grabbed Donna by the back of her collar and yanked her backward.
"Ah! You—"
Mallory held her down tightly, his withered hands gripping her throat like vises, pinning her to the ground.
"If you fucking yell a few more times, I don't mind strangling you to death before the collar pierces your neck."
"Waaah--"
Donna was being choked until she couldn't Shang-Chi and her face turned pale.
She shuddered at the sight of Mallory's cold, aged face.
Her lower body suddenly relaxed, and a stream of scalding liquid soaked through her designer trousers.
Large patches of dark water quickly spread, flowing down the trouser legs onto the cold cement floor, emitting a pungent, foul odor.
"Disgusting bitch..."
Mallory released his grip and glanced at the water stains on the ground with disgust.
He then wiped his hands on his trouser leg, stood up, and walked straight to the front of the iron cage.
She looked up at the A-Train standing around the glue, and slowly raised her right hand.
" A-Train, don't listen to that crazy woman."
Mallory spoke softly.
"I'll lead the charge."
"No, that trigger mechanism targets emotions and nerves; the moment you move..."
"I'm over sixty years old, and half of my lungs are rotten. Even if I get out of here alive today, I might suddenly die on the toilet any day now."
Mallory interrupted him, her tone remarkably calm.
"I just need to go outside, step into the glue, or trigger the collar directly."
As long as I die, the collar's trigger delay time, the glue's specific reaction...
You can see it clearly, one for sixteen, I think this is a very good deal."
But there's no point in you doing this.
"It's more meaningful than everyone just sitting here waiting to die."
Mallory reached out and grabbed the crossbar of the iron railing, raising his right foot to kick it up.
"Ms. Mallory, let me do it."
Suddenly, a broad, strong hand reached out from the side and grabbed Mallory's wrist.
Then, Nathan pushed through the crowd and went to the very front.
" Nathan?!"
When the A-Train saw Nathan appear, its voice suddenly became panicked.
" Nathan, step back! Don't touch that railing! Step back to the very back!"
But Nathan ignored his brother's screams. He first turned his head and looked at Mallory, whose face had turned pale.
"Ms. Mallory, you are too old for this... and you just said yesterday that you have family to take care of."
Nathan's voice had a magnetic quality.
"Besides, Reggie is my brother... I've been the one cleaning up all the messes he's made since we were kids."
When it comes to teamwork, I'm the one who comes out on top.
" Nathan! Can't you understand human language?!"
The A-Train started to get a little anxious.
"That nerve collar is no joke! You're just an ordinary person; you'll die if you touch it!"
" Reggie! Look at me!"
Nathan suddenly raised his head and roared.
The Reader has left; now it's just us here.
Nathan pointed to a spot more than ten meters above his head.
"Do you see the heavy-duty crane rails on the ceiling? There are several hoisting cables hanging from them for emergency maintenance."
The A-Train immediately looked up.
really.
Several steel cables and pulley systems, which were not powered, were suspended vertically above.
"I climbed up the iron cage using footholds and used tools to smash open the safety window at the top of the cage."
As Nathan spoke, he deftly took off his hoodie, revealing his muscular arms.
"You run at high speed outside, using the wall's rebound, and then throw the steel cable into the skylight."
"I'll be responsible for securing the people to the steel cable. You'll haul them out from the air and slam them onto the dry ground on the other side."
"What about the collar?!"
The A-Train still didn't understand.
"Once they're dragged out, their emotions will exceed a safe threshold."
So I need you to do something.
Nathan stared intently into the eyes of the A-Train.
"Could you pull the probe behind the collar out of the flesh the instant the steel cable swings the person off the top of the cage?"
The A-Train frowned.
For someone who has always pursued speed, he had never tried anything as meticulous as this.
Moreover, he has difficulty controlling his exertion.
If you're too slow, the collar might be activated.
If you go too fast and can't control your strength, the immense force could snap a person's spine.
" Reggie, look at me!"
Seeing the A-Train's bewildered expression, Nathan lowered his voice.
"For so many years, you've been running away from yourself, willing to clean up the messes of those bastards for the sake of so-called money and reputation."
But today is different. Everything here needs you. We need you to use what you do best to save us.
The A-Train gritted its teeth, looked into Nathan's resolute eyes, and slowly lowered its head.
He was looking at his hands.
If... simply transferring the irregular vibrations of molecules to both hands, this plan is indeed feasible.
"... good."
The operation began in an extremely tense and oppressive atmosphere.
Nathan, a former track and field athlete with exceptional climbing skills, used his hands and feet to climb up the tungsten steel beams, moving like a gecko to quickly reach the top of the cage.
"Rustling sound--"
Rust and dust continued to fall as Nathan pulled a rusty solid angle iron from the corner.
He aimed at the rusted safety sunroof hinge and smashed it down hard!
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
It was slammed down more than a dozen times.
The area between his thumb and forefinger was shattered, and blood flowed down his wrist.
But Nathan gritted his teeth, veins bulging in his arms, then found a fulcrum and pried open with a sudden force—
"Snap!"
Soon, a gap was forcibly pried open in the iron plate at the top of the cage.
" Reggie! Come here!"
Nathan roared, panting heavily.
The A-Train put on its goggles and started moving.
"Thump--"
With the help of the vertical concrete load-bearing walls on both sides, the A-Train transforms into a blue shadow.
Under extreme acceleration, ignoring gravity, it began to zigzag along the wall.
"Whoosh--"
Soon, several heavy hoisting cables were precisely thrown into the cage by the A-Train.
At that moment, Nathan positioned himself near the skylight, grabbed the steel cable, and quickly looped it over the first hostage.
"Walk!"
The steel cable snapped taut instantly, and the hostage was violently pulled out of the iron cage by a tremendous force, flying into the air!
Just as the hostages were released from the cage, the A-Train's silhouette hovered eerily in mid-air.
Immediately afterwards, his fingers began to vibrate irregularly, passing directly through the collar as if they were invisible, and then solidifying on the surface of the skin.
Then, the black neural probe was torn off by the roots!
"Click!"
Before the hostages could even utter a cry of alarm, the A-Train threw them onto the safe, dry ground to the side.
They were still shaken.
Safety.
Immediately afterwards.
The first, the second, the fifth, the tenth...
It's worth mentioning that Donna was the second to last one to be pulled out.
After she came out, she rolled twice on the ground in a disheveled state.
His face was covered in ash, and he was trembling, clutching his neck. He didn't even dare to look at Mallory.
In the end, only Nathan was left.
"Call--"
Nathan wiped the blood and sweat from his face, his chest heaving violently.
He glanced at the empty iron cage, then at the A-Train standing not far away, drenched in sweat, leaning on its knees and panting heavily.
"How was it, Reggie? Not bad, right?"
"Okay... but let me rest first."
The A-Train was supporting itself on its knees; its legs were already feeling weak.
He had performed that kind of delicate "surgery" no less than thirty times, and his temples were throbbing with pain.
Nathan watched the A-Train struggling to move.
At that moment, a feeling of relief, and a heartfelt pride and joy for his younger brother welled up from his heart.
He let out a long sigh of relief.
" Reggie..."
Nathan smiled.
Warm tears welled up in his eyes, and he completely relaxed. Then he stepped forward and wrapped the steel cable around himself.
"We did it, I knew you would..."
Nathan suddenly stopped talking.
He seemed to realize something.
Similarly, the others, still panting, had faces filled with astonishment and mouths agape.
Just at that very moment when Nathan's heart rate suddenly dropped back into a stable range—
A faint green light suddenly appeared inside the collar.
"Beep--"
The A-Train, which was wiping sweat from its brow, felt a chill run down its spine upon hearing the sound.
He suddenly looked up.
"No--"
The crimson column of blood shot up two and a half meters into the air like an out-of-control fountain.
Under the stark white light, it turned into a blinding cloud of blood mist.
" Nathan --!!!!"
" John --!!!!"
The camera and the scene subtly overlap at this moment.
On the White House lawn.
"Thump!!"
Cate's outward-reaching spiritual tentacles seemed to have caught something.
But before she could withdraw her senses...
A massive orange storm cloud, seemingly emanating from within, burst forth unexpectedly from the heart of the White House not far away!
The oncoming Heat Wave instantly turned the grass within a radius of tens of meters into charred black charcoal.
Large amounts of soil and gravel were thrown into the air, blooming like flowers scattered by a celestial maiden, and then splashed everywhere.
Immediately afterwards, a massive white shockwave swept across the ground, crashing down with devastating force.
"Buzz--"
Private Angel and Cate didn't even have time to react before they were thrown through the air like rag dolls.
Violent shaking and spinning.
Complete darkness.
The camera then zooms out rapidly, delivering a stunning panoramic close-up.
The enormous orange storm cloud that had burst open churned and rose wildly.
Enveloping tons of black mud, debris, and hot winds, it stretched out a giant black mushroom cloud in the azure sky.
Smoke and black fog billowed and spread in all directions.
The surviving marble columns collapsed in a deafening roar, turning the entire lawn into a complete wasteland.
At this moment, only the buzzing of tinnitus remained in the world.
After an unknown amount of time, a faint sound finally emerged from the charred ruins.
Cate struggled to open her eyes.
His vision was obscured by a hazy, gray blur, his mouth was filled with the metallic taste of sand and rust, and his breath was accompanied by sharp pain in his ribs.
"Hmm..."
She struggled to prop herself up with her hands, but for some reason, she suddenly felt a heavy pressure on her side.
She turned her head somewhat stiffly.
A tight-fitting high boot, stained with some mud, was firmly planted on her waist.
The soles of the shoes were covered in dust, but the heels teasingly circled her sensitive flesh before suddenly shoving her back into the ruins.
"Hmm...♪"
The hummed tune was lazy and frivolous, with a hint of alluring nasal tone at the end.
Those stepping on her were Private Angel.
The violent impact had indeed sent her flying, and her thighs and lower back were cut in several places by the rocks.
But for Superman like her with self-healing abilities, this is nothing at all.
This only excited her more.
The foot that was stepping on Cate's waist swung gently, and the flesh of her long, slender thighs tensed slightly with the movement.
She looked down at Cate, who was unable to move at her feet, and a smile appeared on her lips.
Then her waist went limp, and she slowly squatted down.
Her cheeks flushed an unnatural red, and she stuck out her moist, red tongue, slowly licking her slightly parted lips.
His breath, warm and mingled with the scent of sweat on her skin, sprayed all over Cate's ear.
"Phew... that really scared me!"
As she spoke, she subconsciously squeezed her legs together, pressing her heel against Cate's waist and pushing upwards suggestively.
"... Ugh, my bladder's a little sore, maybe... I should just take care of it here?"
She scanned Cate's face relentlessly, a perverse pleasure even surfacing in her eyes.
Ever since she tried it once at Starlight, she has become particularly fascinated by the feeling of conquest, even to the point of developing a taste for it.
Regardless of gender.
This is like what these modern people call... a queen?
"You damn bitch..."
Cate gritted her teeth, and just as she was about to struggle and resist, the Private Angel suddenly stopped moving.
The smile on his face became somewhat stiff.
At that moment, Cate was lying on the ground, also felt a sense of oppression that made her scalp tingle.
That is...
Their gazes simultaneously drifted past the ruins and landed on the swirling, black sphere of smoke in the far distance.
The center of the smoke ball seemed to be separated by an invisible force field.
The thick, inky black fog slowly spread and diluted along the low-lying areas.
Not long after.
As the thick smoke and dust spread, it gradually thinned out, and the originally impenetrable black curtain began to let in wisps of light.
Looking through the still hazy remnants of mist...
A tall, naked figure stood silently amidst the smoke and dust.
On the well-defined body, a pale golden light flowed along the muscle lines, like molten gold slowly flowing along the veins.
(The novel seems to have died.)