"Heh heh, it's time for the delightful dismemberment scene again!"
Brother Bin's face was full of malicious amusement. "But then again, this captain's pretty impressive. His expression never changed from beginning to end."
"He's black as a lump of coal. How could his complexion change?"
Xiaomi, the only woman on the team, muttered to herself, feeling that Brother Bin was truly awful.
The man was already in such a miserable situation, yet Brother Bin still had to throw stones at him while he was down.
But then again, he really was black!
"Should we save them? Especially that medic! Her professional knowledge could save the day at a critical moment!"
Xiaomi lowered her head and asked in a quiet voice.
"Useless! Forget a mere medic-even if Hua Tuo came, it would be useless! Listen carefully: we absolutely cannot change the plot, or I won't mind killing you first!"
Brother Bin's face was full of menace, and his ferocious expression made Xiaomi shiver.
Their team had once had four members, but one of them had warned the mercenary captain, Matthew Addison, to watch out for the laser corridor. Later, Brother Bin had found an opportunity to kill that person.
The three of them spoke very quietly, and in a dialect at that, so the mercenaries couldn't understand what they were saying at all.
Xu Long, however, was an exception. Besides English, Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, and Russian, he was also fluent in numerous dialects and local varieties of speech, including the Fujian dialect.
"Boss, I've cracked it!"
Kaplan hammered away at the keyboard, then gave the captain an "OK" sign.
"JD, you two come with me."
Matthew Addison nodded, then spoke to Xu Long and the medic.
"This is bad!"
Xu Long frowned when he heard the captain.
This was the situation he least wanted to see.
The film had shown just how terrifying the lasers were: anyone they touched died. Even a dagger made of a special alloy was sliced apart in an instant, let alone a body of flesh and blood.
Although Xu Long knew the plot well, he wasn't impervious to weapons.
Once a laser touched him, no amount of knowledge in his head would be any use.
"Wait, are you sure you've cracked it?" Xu Long asked, glaring at Kaplan.
"You can question my character, but you can't question my skills. We've been on so many missions together. When have I ever messed up?"
Kaplan was extremely displeased. Anywhere else, he would have had to trade a few blows with Xu Long.
"..."
Hearing Kaplan's words, Xu Long knew he had no choice but to brave the laser corridor.
If it had been anyone else, they would have had a slim chance of surviving this situation.
But Xu Long wasn't panicking at all, because he knew every change the lasers would make and could dodge in advance.
According to the plot, there'll be three lasers in total. The first one is at neck height; I can dodge it by crouching. The second appears at calf height, but moves up to neck height halfway through. The third laser is at waist height, then turns into a grid. I can dodge that one as long as I retreat to the door.
Xu Long recalled the order of the three lasers and carefully walked into the corridor.
The lights came on and the metal doors closed, everything just as it had happened in the film.
"What's going on? I know I shut it down!"
Kaplan stared at the laser that had suddenly appeared, completely dumbfounded.
"Cut the crap and crack it!"
Rain, who was beside him, had a fiery temper and kicked Kaplan in the backside.
Hiss!
The laser was terrifying. It seemed as though they could smell the pungent stench of scorching even through the metal door.
Kaplan's hands flew wildly, moving so fast that they became a blur.
"Get down!"
Seeing the first laser approach, Xu Long shouted to Matthew and the medic and dropped flat on the floor.
The laser swept over his head without touching a hair on him.
Good! The first laser's gone past. I can't jump over the second one; I have to stay down!
Xu Long stared fixedly ahead, his concentration at its peak.
The second laser soon sped toward them, below thigh level, between the knees and calves.
Hiss!
A grating sound came with the burnt smell of scorching, moving so fast it was hard to react.
But the laser's trajectory hadn't changed. When it was less than a meter from him, it shot upward to neck height.
Thud!
There was no time to shout. Lying on the floor, Xu Long yanked the medic's leg, pulling her down and helping her escape disaster once again.
Next is the last one!
With no time to speak, Xu Long dragged the medic backward as fast as he could.
A searing laser appeared in the middle and reached them in the blink of an eye.
Matthew jumped, intending to dodge, only to see the original line instantly turn into a grid.
"Shit!"
Matthew spat out a curse. The laser grid was coming too fast; there was no time left to dodge.
But Xu Long had been prepared. As he retreated frantically, he didn't forget to give Matthew a hard yank.
Hiss!
The laser vanished less than a centimeter from Matthew Addison. The searing heat singed the hair on his face and even raised a layer of blisters on his skin.
[Hidden mission: 3, save Matthew Addison! Complete! 500 points awarded!] [Hidden mission: 4, save the medic! Complete! 300 points awarded!]
"Thanks, brother! Drinks are on me when we get back!"
Matthew patted Xu Long on the shoulder, his black face full of fear.
Although the medic said nothing, she also gave Xu Long a grateful look.
"How is that possible? Why did they survive?"
Looking at the three unscathed people, Brother Bin could hardly believe it.
He had experienced the same plot three times. There had been no difference between the first two: Matthew, JD, and the medic had all died.
But what had happened this time? Why hadn't a single person died?
"Wait! That JD..."
Brother Bin's thoughts raced. He suddenly remembered that Xu Long had reacted differently from the previous two times even before entering the laser corridor.
Brother Bin puzzled over it for a long time but still couldn't figure out exactly what had gone wrong, so he stopped thinking about it.
"Have you really cracked it?"
Matthew came up to Kaplan and asked, his face dark.
"I swear, there's absolutely no problem this time!"
Cold sweat poured down Kaplan's face. Knowing that nothing he said would help, he simply shouldered his backpack and walked into the laser corridor alone.
He made it through without a hitch. It really had been shut down this time.
"Move!"
At Matthew's command, everyone followed close behind.
The group turned several corners in succession and finally reached the Hive's central control room, where they began installing the electric pulse device.
Just then, a nearby camera turned, and a holographic projection appeared before them.
It was the image of a little Western girl, with long golden hair and fair skin. She looked very cute.
"Stop! Please don't do that!"
Hearing it speak, Kaplan didn't stop what he was doing.
"Don't believe anything it says. This is the Hive's central control computer. It'll deceive us and try everything it can to stop us from shutting it down," Kaplan said, continuing to install the electric pulse device.
"If you shut me down, all the defense systems in the Hive will fail. The freezers will thaw, and the sealed gates will open. When that happens..."
At that point, the Red Queen's projection twisted violently, as though affected by interference, and her voice turned into a piercing buzz of static.
Once the electric pulse device was installed, it was activated immediately, forcing the Red Queen's mainframe to reboot under the surge of current.
Click!
The lights around them went out, then came back on in an instant. The Hive had automatically switched to emergency power.
The power switch took only the blink of an eye, as though the darkness had never happened.