A three-way gambit

The abandoned hall on the second basement level had become a meat grinder.

Countless intersecting lines of gunfire, energy beams, and exploding flames tore the darkness apart.

Unfortunately, this was no evenly matched battle, but a one-sided, utterly horrific slaughter.

"Fire! Open fire! Kill that bastard and his cheap tricks!"

Rattlesnake Rick hid behind the wreckage of an overturned heavy construction vehicle, roaring hysterically. His once-imposing suit of decommissioned D.O.D.C. exoskeleton armor was now covered in alarmingly deep gouges. Even the hydraulic lines in its left arm had been severed and were leaking fluid.

His four or five surviving men raised automatic rifles and shotguns, firing wildly at the ghostlike red figure in the darkness.

But it was useless.

Their bullets caught nothing but fading afterimages in the air.

Squelch!

The faint sound of flesh being sliced sounded piercing amid the gunfire. A mercenary changing magazines suddenly went rigid, an extremely thin red line appearing across his neck. The next second, blood gushed out, drenching the face of the man beside him.

The figure dressed in crimson-Kestrel-stood behind the slowly collapsing corpse.

His functional mask, painted with a red bird of prey, looked cold and mocking in the flickering firelight. Not even a drop of blood stained the strange short blade in his hand.

"A monster... he's a monster!" Another mercenary broke down completely, throwing away his gun and trying to run for the exit.

Kestrel never even glanced at him. Lowering his body slightly, he pushed off, becoming a red meteor skimming the ground. In an instant, he crossed more than ten meters and appeared beside the fleeing man. His short blade traced an elegant, lethal blue arc through the air, slipping through a gap in the side of the mercenary's bulletproof vest and piercing his heart with precision.

He withdrew the blade and turned, blood blossoming in midair.

There was not a single wasted movement. Elegant, efficient, cruel-on this stage built from ruins and corpses, his waltz was hitting its stride.

Hidden in the shadows of a collapsed heap of rubble, Zhao Fan stared fixedly at the scene, feeling a chill shoot from his tailbone straight to the crown of his head.

This was Kestrel.

Before, he had seen only the bloody aftermath of Kestrel's massacre of the Steel Monsters' elite squad. Now, with light to see by, Zhao Fan finally saw how Kestrel carried out his slaughter.

Too fast. It was not merely the speed of explosive physical power, but absolute mastery over combat rhythm, human anatomy, and the battlefield itself.

"Zhao... let's get out of here..." Old Dog lay beside Zhao Fan, trembling all over. The modified nail gun in his hands offered him no sense of security whatsoever. "That guy isn't human. He's death. Those idiots of Rick's won't last ten seconds."

"We can't get out." Zhao Fan clenched his teeth, fine beads of cold sweat covering his forehead. "Drones overhead, a special operations team at the exit, and Kestrel in here. The moment we show ourselves, we're targets."

Zhao Fan looked across the chaotic battlefield, his gaze fixed on the massive platform in the center of the hall, enclosed within a translucent blue energy shield.

The gray-white Leviathan specimen lay there quietly. Through the cracks in its armor, he could clearly see a biological energy core deep inside, the size of a crystal ball and radiating a profound purple glow.

It was pulsing.

Like a living heart, each shift between light and dark released a fluctuation that made Zhao Fan shudder.

"Warning! Unauthorized intruder approaching the core containment area!"

Just then, the synthesized mechanical voice of the D.O.D.C. automated defense system rang out overhead.

Two hovering heavy combat drones locked onto Kestrel as he darted across the battlefield. Their belly-mounted machine guns opened fire instantly, sending two metallic storms of large-caliber armor-piercing rounds sweeping mercilessly toward the ground.

"Move!" Impatience finally flashed in Kestrel's eyes beneath his mask. Abandoning his pursuit of Rick, he doubled back through several changes of direction amid the barrage. Like a swift flying through a downpour, he actually slipped through the gaps in the metal storm.

Boom! Boom!

The drones' rounds missed Kestrel, instead raining densely onto the blue energy shield protecting the specimen in the center of the hall.

Already unstable from dwindling power, the energy shield rippled violently under the bombardment of armor-piercing rounds.

Then came a sharp crack.

The blue curtain of light flickered several times, gave an overburdened whine, and finally dissolved into countless motes of light-it had collapsed completely.

The specimen was exposed!

At that instant, every living person in the hall focused on the gray-white carapace and the core radiating its alluring purple glow.

"That's mine! Nobody's taking it!"

Rick had already sunk into despair, but when he saw the shield disappear, a surge of crazed greed welled up from somewhere within him. Relying on his exoskeleton, which could still provide tremendous strength, he shoved aside the corpses of his men blocking his path and charged toward the platform like a rabid rhinoceros.

Greed, fear, desire.

These three emotions intertwined to their utmost in the ruins.

Yet just as Rick's mechanical hand was about to touch the gray-white carapace, something suddenly changed.

Thump-thump-thump!

A violent vibration suddenly came from within the exposed core, as though it could make hearts resonate with it.

It had been frightened. Or rather, without the energy shield suppressing it, its savage biological instincts as an interstellar predator had been fully activated.

The Leviathan was dead, but its cells were still alive. Its defense mechanisms were still alive.

As the core throbbed violently, visible purple-black mist gushed out. The withered purple mutant moss on the surrounding floor touched the mist and, as though injected with growth hormones, swelled and spread furiously, transforming into countless revolting, slimy tentacles that burst from underground!

Not only that, but the scattered wreckage and scrap metal belonging to Chitauri guards and mechanical hounds began shakily piecing themselves together under the pull of some bizarre magnetic field.

"You've got to be kidding..." Zhao Fan's scalp prickled at the absurd, horrifying scene before him, straight out of the Cthulhu Mythos. "'Specimen activity'... means this thing can summon an undead army?!"

"Roar!"

A roar blending electronic noise with a beast's howl reverberated throughout the underground hall.

Three incomplete Chitauri mechanical guards, forcibly pieced together, stood up. Scarlet light flared in their hollow electronic eyes, and the energy rifles in their hands began charging.

"Aah!!!"

Rick, who had charged ahead fastest, took the brunt of it. A purple tentacle instantly coiled around his exoskeleton's mechanical leg. Then a mechanical guard with only half a body lunged at him. Its terrifying mechanical arms unleashed astonishing strength, lifting Rick, exoskeleton and all, and hurling him like a rag doll into a distant load-bearing wall.

Boom! Rick slammed into the wall, his exoskeleton wrecked completely. He spat out a mouthful of blood, his fate unknown.

The situation had spiraled completely out of control.

Drones attacked mechanical guards, mechanical guards fired energy weapons at everything that moved, and the wildly growing tentacles tried to entangle and devour every living thing.

"Hell... this is hell!" Old Dog scrambled deeper into the shadows in terror. "Zhao, let's retreat! This isn't a game we can get involved in!"

But Zhao Fan did not retreat.

His gaze remained fixed on the energy core shining dazzling purple at the center of the chaos. His body trembled slightly, not from fear, but from an exhilaration that cast life and death aside.

A faint light flashed in his eyes. [Weak Energy Perception] activated!

In Zhao Fan's vision, the chaotic battlefield of flying flesh and crisscrossing lasers changed. It was no longer a disorderly hell, but a complex three-dimensional chessboard filled with flowing energy.

To the left, the energy compartment beneath a drone glowed brightly as it charged, about to launch a micromissile-the safe zone was three meters to the right!

Ahead on the right, the core temperature of a mechanical guard's energy rifle reached critical levels, a precursor to firing-he had to slide through cover!

"Jose, stay here! Don't move, and don't come out!"

With those words, Zhao Fan shot out of the shadows.

He wore no exoskeleton and carried no heavy firepower. All he had was the predictive ability the system granted him and a body no different from any human's.

He danced on a knife's edge.

A micromissile exploded behind him, the scorching blast instantly charring the back of his hoodie. But he used its force to dive forward, narrowly avoiding a deadly red laser beam.

He drew closer and closer to the platform.

Fifty meters.

Thirty meters.

Ten meters.

Just as Zhao Fan was about to rush onto the platform, a scarlet afterimage dove from a beam at an incredible angle, accompanied by a shrill whistle that tore through the air.

Kestrel had arrived too!

They reached the platform holding the core almost simultaneously.

Their eyes met.

A rare flash of astonishment crossed Kestrel's eyes behind his mask. He clearly had not expected this bottom-rung, garbage-picking "Scavenger," who did not even qualify as prey in his eyes, to survive this hellish barrage until now, much less... dare extend his claws and compete for food with a true predator like him!

"You have a death wish."

Processed through a voice changer, Kestrel's voice had a hoarse, metallic quality. Without a wasted movement, without even slowing down, he swept his short blade straight toward Zhao Fan's throat in a flash of cold light.

He held nothing back with this slash. It was so fast that only a silver afterimage remained on Zhao Fan's retinas.

But Zhao Fan was prepared! He knew he absolutely could not dodge this strike.

The instant Kestrel attacked, Zhao Fan made a crazy move. Rather than retreating, he threw himself backward until his body was almost parallel to the ground, using his sliding momentum to escape death beneath the blade. At the same time, his right hand swept across his waist.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Three throwing knives flew in a triangular formation, locked onto Kestrel's face, throat, and heart by [Basic Precision Throwing]!

It was an explosive counterattack at close range. Even Kestrel had to forcibly twist his wrist in midair.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

A dazzling burst of sparks erupted from his blade in midair, and all three knives were instantly knocked away.

But that was enough! That brief pause was all Zhao Fan wanted!

While Kestrel brought his blade back to block, Zhao Fan planted one hand on the ground and kipped up onto the platform. Without hesitation, he reached past the disgusting purple slime and grabbed the biological energy core radiating heat and radiation!

Hiss-

The instant the corrosive slime on the core touched his protective glove, white smoke rose from the corrosion. Intense, stabbing pain traveled along his nerves to his brain, but he gritted his teeth and held on tightly with all five fingers.

The moment he touched the core, that cold mechanical voice thundered through his mind:

[Warning! High-energy residue detected (A- rank: Leviathan mutated biological core)...]

[This item is extremely unstable and contains violent biological energy.]

[System analysis procedure initiated!]

[Warning: Host must maintain continuous contact with the item for 10.0 seconds.]

[If contact is interrupted, analysis progress will reset completely.]

Ten seconds?!

Zhao Fan roared inwardly, cold sweat instantly soaking his entire body.

Normally, ten seconds was only a few breaths. But in this killing field, with Kestrel standing in front of him and gunfire all around, he had to stay put holding this hot potato for ten seconds? How was that any different from a death sentence?

"You've got guts. But they'll cost you your life."

Being forced back half a step by an ant had enraged Kestrel. An almost tangible killing intent erupted in his eyes, and his figure vanished again.

The countdown began.

[9.8 seconds...]

Zhao Fan could not see Kestrel's movements clearly at all. He could only desperately predict them using the rapidly moving high-energy signature within [Weak Energy Perception].

His left hand yanked the remaining throwing knife from his waist, and he hurled it blindly into the air to his right.

Clink!

Sparks flew. Kestrel's blade was knocked half an inch off course, but his left leg had already lashed into Zhao Fan's abdomen like a whip.

"Urgh!"

Zhao Fan felt as though his intestines were about to snap, and he spat blood straight onto the inside of his protective mask. The tremendous force kicked his entire body off the ground.

But he did not let go! His right hand clamped onto the scorching core, forcibly ripping it out of the armor along with a large chunk of rotting flesh attached beneath it!

Zhao Fan forcibly twisted in midair and crashed into a pile of rubble behind the platform.

[7.5 seconds...]

"Still alive?" Kestrel snorted coldly and followed him like a shadow. This time, he gave Zhao Fan no chance at all.

Kestrel leaped high, gripping the short blade in both hands with its point down, and plunged toward Zhao Fan's chest with the crushing force of a mountain.

There was nowhere to retreat.

Lying in the rubble, Zhao Fan snatched up a broken piece of rebar with his left hand and held it across his chest.

Clang-!

The alloy blade sliced through the rebar like tofu. Though checked for an instant, it continued with undiminished force, piercing Zhao Fan's left collarbone and pinning him firmly to the ground!

"Aagh!" Zhao Fan howled in agony as blood poured down the blade's groove.

[4.2 seconds...]

"It's over, rat." Kestrel looked down at him with utterly indifferent eyes. He was about to pull out the blade, slit Zhao Fan's throat, and take the core.

At that critical instant.

BOOM-!!!

The vaulted ceiling above the hall suddenly collapsed completely in an earth-shattering explosion!

Countless massive chunks of concrete mixed with rebar rained down like meteors. Several heavy hovering armored units bearing Stark Industries logos smashed straight through the ceiling and landed in the center of the battlefield.

"This is the D.O.D.C. highest-clearance special operations team! Everyone, drop your weapons and cease resistance immediately!"

Dr. Evelyn Reed's cold, commanding voice rang through the entire underground space over a loudspeaker.

"Damn cops!"

Kestrel's expression changed. He sensed the high-energy fire-control radars of the heavy hovering armored units above locking onto him. He was an assassin, not a madman who enjoyed taking on regular troops head-on.

He sharply twisted his wrist, intending to cut off Zhao Fan's arm along with the core in his hand.

But the instant he exerted force.

[1.0 seconds...]

[0.0 seconds.]

[Analysis complete.]

A line of brilliant golden text flooded Zhao Fan's blood-blurred vision, illuminating all the despair and darkness.

[Congratulations, host. Analysis complete.]

[Concept-level ability acquired: Kinetic Repulsion (level one).]

[Ability description: You can instantly absorb physical kinetic energy about to act on your body and form a high-intensity unidirectional repulsion field around your palm, reflecting that kinetic energy with multiplied force.]

Lying in a pool of blood, Zhao Fan abruptly opened his eyes.

Deep within his pupils, which had lost focus from pain and blood loss, an eerie blue light erupted, brighter and more profound than even the core in his hand!

The pain seemed to be cut off completely at that moment. In its place came a sense of explosive power filling his entire body, as though it could burst his blood vessels.

He looked at Kestrel's blade, poised to sever his arm, and at the rubble falling around them. He could clearly sense the physical property they carried, called "kinetic energy."

"GET LOST!!!"

Zhao Fan let out a frenzied, beastlike roar.

Instead of retreating, he advanced, actually thrusting his blood-covered left hand toward the deadly blade!

A flicker of horror crossed Kestrel's eyes.

The next second, just before the blade's tip could completely sever Zhao Fan's wrist, a piercing hum suddenly filled the air-HUM!!!

A translucent blue barrier of rippling light appeared out of nowhere in front of Zhao Fan's palm.

Kestrel's Chitauri alloy short blade, capable of piercing anything, struck the thin barrier as though it had slammed into a wall of lamentation, unable to advance another fraction of an inch!

Not only that, Kestrel discovered to his horror that all the terrifying kinetic energy behind his strike had vanished the instant it made contact, like a clay ox sinking into the sea. No, it had not vanished-the barrier had compressed it tightly like a spring, storing it inside.

"Take it back!"

Zhao Fan gritted his teeth and thrust his left hand forward.

BOOM-!!!!!

The kinetic energy, compressed to its absolute limit, mixed with the repulsive force granted by the system and erupted from Zhao Fan's palm with overwhelming force!

A visible ring-shaped air shock wave instantly swept across the entire platform.

Kestrel did not even have time to defend himself. It was as though a car had hit him head-on, and the tactical body armor over his chest instantly caved in and shattered. He let out a muffled groan of pain and flew backward like a cannonball, tracing an arc more than ten meters long before crashing heavily into a distant heap of rubble, his fate unknown.

Dead silence fell over the scene.

The D.O.D.C. heavy armor poised to open fire, Rick's remaining men lying on the ground waiting to die, and even Dr. Evelyn, watching a holographic screen from the shadows, were all stunned at that moment.

A bottom-rung scavenger pinned beneath Kestrel's foot, seemingly about to be sliced to pieces, had unleashed such terrifying power in an instant and sent that legendary monster flying in a head-on clash?!

"A superhuman?! Or some kind of unknown cutting-edge weapon?!"

Inside the command vehicle, Evelyn sprang to her feet, staring fixedly at the blood-soaked young man whose eyes glowed an eerie blue. An unprecedented fervor blazed in her eyes. "Catch him! Take that man alive! Under no circumstances let him escape!"

Zhao Fan gasped for breath. He felt as though the muscles in his left arm were about to tear apart-a side effect of using [Kinetic Repulsion] beyond his level.

But he knew his gamble had paid off.

He did not linger to fight. He stuffed the scalding biological core in his hand, still emitting a purple glow, into his radiation-resistant backpack.

Then he pulled a cylinder from his waist. It was a military-grade, highly concentrated smoke grenade that Old Dog had bought on the black market at a steep price.

"Run!!!"

Zhao Fan roared and slammed the smoke grenade onto the ground.

Hiss-!

White smoke instantly billowed outward. Not only did it block visibility, but the special metal powder it contained also directly interfered with D.O.D.C.'s thermal imaging and radar locks.

Within the white haze, Zhao Fan moved like a true ghost. He grabbed Old Dog, who was hiding in the shadows, scared witless, and leaped into the endless darkness through a concealed breach in an underground sewage pipe that he had already scouted with [Weak Energy Perception].

Amid the ruins, Kestrel struggled out of the rubble, only to see Zhao Fan's back disappearing into the darkness and her dagger lying on the ground.

Half her mask had cracked open, revealing a pale, delicately shaped chin, with a trace of blood at the corner of her mouth.

She stared in the direction Zhao Fan had vanished, shock in her eyes.

"Superpowers? Unknown technology?"

Kestrel reached up to wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth. Though her voice was weak, it carried a chill.

"You're no ordinary scavenger. Who exactly are you?"