An explosion was heard not far away. Hila's expression tightened, knowing that Han Xiao was starting to attract attention.
A large group of pursuers appeared ahead, running towards the direction of the explosion. Leading them was an executive officer who, upon seeing Hila, frowned and said, "You're going the wrong way. The enemy is behind you."
"I have other tasks."
Hila donned her cold, camouflage once more, pushed through the crowd, and hurried away against the flow of people.
Along the way, Hila encountered more than a dozen groups of pursuers. She dared not stop, but fortunately, everyone only glanced at her with suspicion and did not question or pursue her. They hurried past her.
The incident happened suddenly, Hila's betrayal had not yet been exposed. Even with her strong will, she couldn't help but secretly rejoice that Han Xiao had reacted quickly, destroying all the cameras and creating an advantageous situation for her.
Hila's indifferent state of mind only thaws and her emotions fluctuate when it involves her sister.
They arrived at the target floor without any trouble. All the members rushed upstairs to surround and intercept Zero. With no one around, Hila began to destroy the cameras along the way to prevent the exact location of the secret passage from being discovered later. Because when Germinal came to her senses, she would definitely find that Aurora had disappeared.
After completing all this, Hila opened the secret door and entered the hidden passage, a dark and narrow passage that could only be traversed by crouching.
The hidden door to the passage was closed, shutting out all sound. The silence was as pervasive as the air itself, dispelling any tension and leaving only the gradually slowing heartbeat.
Only now did Hila truly breathe a sigh of relief and relax.
Once inside the passage, the escape plan was more than halfway to success.
The backpack twitched, Hila unzipped it, Aurora her head out, looking around curiously. "Did we escape?" she asked.
"It'll be soon." Hila affectionately patted Aurora's head.
Aurora rubbed her hand against the back of her hand, hiding her face in her bag, only revealing her big, watery eyes, and suddenly asked, "Where's Uncle Zero...?"
Hila hesitated for a moment, "I'll wait five minutes at most. He should be... almost there."
Aurora tilted her head. "Sis, Uncle Zero seems really strong."
"It's alright," Hila replied vaguely.
"Sister, why did he come to save me?"
"How would I know?" Hila said, her hand unconsciously touching the photo hidden in her pocket. She remembered that Zero had seen this photo back at the base. Could it be from that time...?
But Zero was preoccupied with his own problems at the time, so why did he remember this insignificant matter? He only glanced at the photo before planning today's operation. Could it be that his "precognitive" abilities allowed him to see something about the future...?
Hila shook her head, still unable to understand Han Xiao's motives. She felt that his figure was as elusive as a fog, and that the current situation of Germinal was almost entirely his doing. She was filled with dread for such a person.
Thinking back to when Zero was still her apprentice at the base, weak and easily crushed by her, she realized how quickly he had become someone she feared. The world is ever-changing. Hila remained expressionless, but inwardly sighed.
"Sis, Uncle Zero, he..."
"Stop bringing him up all the time." Hila was getting impatient. Although Han Xiao had saved her sister, for some reason, she couldn't reconcile the Zero who was training at the base with the Han Xiao she knew now. She felt like something was missing, and there was a strange sense of familiarity, as if she had seen him somewhere else, but she couldn't quite place it.
Aurora in a wronged tone, "Sis, when you told me the story, you clearly admired him a lot..."
"Nonsense." Hila pinched Aurora's cheek.
At that moment, a third person's voice rang out in the dark, narrow space, its tone strange.
"Did I hear that right? You actually admire me?"
Hila turned around in an instant, her powers about to be released, but she felt a hand like an iron clamp grip her wrist, slamming her against the wall in a classic wall slam.
By the dim red light, she could finally see the third person who had suddenly appeared; it was none other than Han Xiao, who was supposed to be drawing fire from outside.
"What are you doing here?!" Hila was shocked.
Han Xiao released his grip and chuckled, "I am everywhere."
Hila's body went limp, her powers dissipating, and she looked utterly astonished. She remembered clearly that she had only opened the passage once, and it had never been opened again. How did Han Xiao get in? Did he walk through walls?
Han Xiao smiled without saying a word. When he took the initiative to suggest splitting up, he already had a simple but effective plan. Of course, he wouldn't gamble on whether Hila would tell him her real location, so he kept two methods in reserve. One was to put a simple tracker on Aurora's bag, and the other was a trump card that he had never used before: the Dean character card he obtained in the Western Continent, which had a special invisibility ability.
Although he was very strong, he didn't want to be ganged up on and his main mission was to escape from headquarters. So after taking down Number One, Han Xiao walked forward and destroyed all the cameras at the intersection, giving Germinal the illusion that he was in that area. Then he activated Dean's character card and secretly followed Hila back the way he came.
Whether Hila's words are true or false, she definitely used the secret passage.
Dean's character card ability is called "You Can't See Me," and it's true to its name. Han Xiao swaggered past, completely ignoring the pursuers.
In this way, all the enemies were drawn to the area where Han Xiao had been operating, unaware that he had disappeared. Han Xiao followed Hila all the way, and when she opened the passage, he jumped in as well.
To Han Daji's surprise, the location Hila told him was accurate; the room name and location matched perfectly. To be honest, when they parted ways, Hila's expression almost made him think he was going to be sold out, but the result was unexpected. Hila was loyal enough not to abandon her benefactor.
In fact, Hila struggled with the decision, but in the end she chose to tell the truth.
Han Xiao saved Aurora. If Hela abandoned him, Hila didn't know how to face her sister. Although her inner evil tempted her to be ruthless, she hesitated for a long time and finally gave up the temptation to betray him.
Compared to her previous life as the [Goddess of Death], Hila is not yet completely consumed by darkness and despair. Her heart is dark and silent, yet there are still clouds and stars shining through. Aurora is her star and moon.
Han Xiao had originally thought that if Hila tricked him and then suddenly appeared, Hila would definitely feel embarrassed and guilty, and her goodwill towards him would rise rapidly, as she would feel indebted to him. However, Hila did not betray her teammate, which made Han Xiao look at her with new respect. Although he was mentally prepared, no one wants to be betrayed, and his mood immediately improved.
"Little brat, what story did your sister tell you about me?" Han Xiao finally had a chance to ask.
Aurora was about to answer obediently, Hila interrupted her expressionlessly, saying, "Don't waste time. This is only the beginning of the passage. We're going to an abandoned underground tunnel. Let's hurry."
Hila Aurora led the way, moving swiftly and decisively.
Han Xiao scratched his head and had no choice but to follow. Suddenly remembering something, he slapped his forehead, "Oh dear, I forgot to ask the old man what the trigger words for Aurora's brainwashing personality are... Never mind, I'll slip away first."
Meanwhile, thousands of members of the Germinal searched for any trace of Han Xiao in the area where he had disappeared, but to no avail.
"Reporting to the leader, no target found."
One by one, the executives came to report, but the content was always the same.
The leader's eyes blazed with fury, his clenched fists crumpling his gloves as he growled, "This is the area where the camera last disappeared! He's in this area, how could we not find him!"
"That's right, I saw him walk in this direction," Number One said loudly, lying to one side, his expression resentful, as researchers were assembling his limbs.
Find him for me!
The leader slammed his fist against the wall with a loud thud. The steel tore and twisted like paper, undulating like a long snake. The executives fell silent, forced to continue their search.
Originally believing Han Xiao was trapped and fighting for his life, the leader was eager to test his skills against Zero, hoping to personally eliminate this formidable enemy of the organization and vent his anger. However, his well-prepared attack resulted in nothing but emptiness. The accumulated power remained trapped within him, and the sense of disappointment nearly made him explode with rage.
Every attempt to deal with Zero resulted in a series of failures. The leader was almost at his wit's end. He glanced coldly at the super soldier parts scattered all over the ground and muttered "useless."
Taking out his computer, the leader thoroughly investigated the clues again, when he suddenly noticed something amiss: the security camera on the floor below had also been destroyed. He sensed something was wrong.
"Could he have accomplices?" The leader typed on the keyboard, quickly bringing up various interfaces, and suddenly noticed new traces of activity. The camera footage from area A-4 seemed to have been modified. He suddenly realized something and said, "Send people to investigate area A-4."
Soon, the news came back.
"The security measures were shut down from the back end, the guard died, and the little girl was taken away."
Suddenly, a thread connects all the clues: Aurora's disappearance, the destroyed camera, why Hila didn't entangle Zero, and so on.
We've been tricked!
The leader suddenly realized what was happening, his entire body Fury with fury, and he spat out a voice like chewing steel through clenched teeth, "Hila!! You traitor!!"
"Investigate Hila's whereabouts immediately! She ran away with Zero!"
Everyone was shocked. The order was passed down the chain of command, and more people were mobilized. However, before Hila left, she destroyed the security cameras on one floor. Even if they knew which floor she disappeared on, they didn't know her exact location.
Just then, someone finally brought the unconscious Cerberus to the leader. After a series of slaps, Cerberus slowly woke up, looked up and saw the leader with murderous intent, and his expression immediately became tense.
The leader said coldly, "Tell me everything you know!"
Cerberus dared not hide anything and recounted everything that had happened from the moment he was taken hostage until he was knocked unconscious.
"He took the organization's classified information, and he stole Aurora..." Cerberus said cautiously, "He... he might very well be an Inhuman!"
Inhuman?!
The leader swayed slightly; if it were an unkillable Inhuman, the organization would almost certainly be defeated.
Taking a deep breath, the leader resolutely said, "It's just a guess. Once I kill him, I'll know if he's Inhuman!"
The leader ordered Cerberus to be taken away, sparing his life out of concern for the remaining research, as he had never had any hope for Cerberus's loyalty anyway.
"Embrace him from the outer perimeter; he may escape headquarters, but he won't escape this continent!" the leader said coldly.
This force is merely the tip of the iceberg.