The Valkyrie Laboratory's surface disguise was an abandoned farm, with neglected fields and dilapidated buildings. An electrified wire fence enclosed the farm, with only one gate. An endless forest surrounded it, and the ruins of numerous shattered buildings lay among the trees.
A small city from Planet Aquamarine's old civilization had once stood nearby, but it had now been abandoned.
Decades ago, Planet Aquamarine had established contact with interstellar forces and gained access to knowledge common throughout the universe, entering a new era of civilization. Society had changed drastically, and many cities had fallen into ruin, leaving a distinctly bleak, post-apocalyptic atmosphere.
A Black Harrier helicopter landed on the abandoned farm. Six heavily armed agents in black stepped out, wearing dark, horizontal-strip goggles. Their faces were stern, and their whole beings radiated a cold-blooded aura that warned strangers to stay away.
"Night Owl Third Squad. I'm the captain, code name Silver Blade. I've been ordered to transfer the Valkyrie test subject squad."
Silver Blade's voice was as hard and cold as stone.
Hila gathered up the long hair blown loose by the wind from the rotors and said mildly, "Whatever. There are off-road vehicles in the garage. I'm commandeering the helicopter, so don't waste my time."
Number One led nine test subject squad members up to Silver Blade. He stood tall, puffed out his chest, and said, "Test Subject Number One, reporting for duty, sir!"
Silver Blade's expression was impassive. "Come with us."
"Yes, sir!" Number One's face flushed with excitement. In his eyes, going to headquarters for training was the highest honor.
The Night Owl squad and the test subject squad went to the garage and pulled away the jungle-green dust covers used for camouflage, revealing several powerful, bulletproof off-road vehicles. The two squads drove out through the only gate and disappeared into the forest.
Hila boarded the helicopter and flew away.
Suddenly, she felt uneasy, gripped by an ominous premonition.
"Strange. I feel like I've overlooked something." Hila frowned.
Today was the day the leader had approved her visit to her younger sister, so Hila did not think any further about it.
Mechanical modification room.
After attaching the last hinge, Han Xiao put down his wrench and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Before him lay a hollow exoskeleton mechanical arm that looked like an oversized silver alloy vambrace. Its outer armor was made from manganese steel alloy, a tough, hard material suited to forging weapons and armor. To reduce its weight and absorb shock, the powered arm's internal frame was made from lightweight metal. All the parts had been machined on the lathes in the modification room. Germinal's workshop had advanced equipment, and the parts fit together seamlessly. The metal materials had all been readily available. Although the base had reduced his allotment of materials for the mechanical modification room, finding some good metal had not been difficult.
He had used his left arm as a reference when making it. His left hand could slip snugly inside the mechanical arm to control it, and a curl of his fingers would activate the hinge switches. Power came from a small engine and an air pump concealed at the powered arm's core, protected by layers of armor, which could provide great strength.
The blueprint contained every detail needed to make it, and with Han Xiao's own experience, the process had gone smoothly, from machining and processing to final assembly.
From Han Xiao's perspective, which was ahead of its time, the Light Power Arm's control and power systems were rather outdated, and the materials used were ordinary. But for now, it was the best weapon he could make, and it counted as excellent equipment for the early stage. It could increase his chances of escaping by at least twenty percent.
He had also discovered that, although making things himself was much harder than waiting for a progress bar in the game, it gave him room to improvise, and the benefits far outweighed the drawbacks.
[Light Power Arm (left)] [Quality: white] [Basic parameters: attack 35-58, defense 13-17, power level 38, durability 270/270] [Equipment requirement: strength 25] [Attribute bonus: speed -3] [Length: 51 centimeters (elbow + forearm + hand)] [Weight: 14.7 pounds] [Additional effect: +10 to strength checks]
Equipment grades, from lowest to highest, were: gray-commonplace, white-ordinary, green-good, blue-high quality, purple-excellent, pink-rare, orange-legendary.
The panel notified him that he had completed his first crafting project and gained 3,000 experience. Creative technical work paid better than assembly or enhancement.
Han Xiao's current strength was twenty-one, so he spent four free attribute points on strength to meet the equipment requirement.
During spare moments while machining parts on the lathe, Han Xiao used [Basic Enhancement Modification] to modify a Type 73 Wasp pistol. It had an attack of 38-47 and was more powerful than the standard version. This was the first weapon he had enhanced to the best of his ability, and naturally, he kept the good stuff for himself. Once he obtained ammunition, the gun could show its power. Han Xiao also used scraps left over from making the powered arm to machine a tactical dagger. Its cutting edge incorporated tungsten steel, making it extremely sharp, and it provided 10 melee attack. The materials would have gone to waste otherwise.
Because Han Xiao had kept a low profile for so long, no one was assigned to watch him around the clock anymore. He was the only mechanical support worker at the base, and to be cautious, he had made the individual parts first, then welded and assembled them at the end. The guards who occasionally glanced at the surveillance feed could not tell what he was making and assumed he was repairing guns as usual, so the process had gone smoothly without anyone discovering it.
Han Xiao hid the Light Power Arm and the enhanced Wasp pistol. The inventory represented the weight he actually carried, not an alternate dimension, and the equipment was too conspicuous for him to carry around.
He concealed the dagger at his waist, left the room, and went to the cafeteria on the first basement level.
When they had nothing to do, most agents usually played cards here to pass the time. Much of his intelligence came from their everyday conversations. No one held back when chatting in front of him, giving him opportunities to gather information.
Pretending to be slow-witted had indeed been a wise choice.
"I'm so jealous Hila gets to leave the lab. I'm stuck in this lousy place every day. It's driving me crazy."
"She's an executive officer of the organization. Her status is way above ours."
"That face and figure of Hila's... I'd give up three years of my life to spend one night with her."
"You must be new, kid. The last person who dared provoke Hila didn't have a single hair left. How do you think she became an executive officer?"
"You mean... she's a superhuman?"
"Hmph, of course she is."
Han Xiao's eyes flickered. Not having to face Hila head-on was very good news. He had no confidence whatsoever in beating her.
He stood up and left the cafeteria without attracting attention.
There were surveillance cameras in every corridor. If he wanted to escape, he first had to clear out the monitoring room.
The monitoring room was on the third basement level. Han Xiao pretended to wander aimlessly as he approached it. The armed guards he encountered along the way paid him no attention.
Two armed guards stood at the monitoring room door, and there would be another two on duty inside. That meant he had to take out four guards quickly and silently. It would not be easy, but he had already rehearsed it thousands upon thousands of times in his head, and he was not nervous at all.
There was a camera at the corner of the corridor leading to the monitoring room. Seeing no one around, Han Xiao took out some soft bread left over from breakfast, put it in his mouth, and soaked it with saliva until it formed a lump. With a flick of his hand, he stuck it to the camera lens, blocking the picture. Without advanced hacking equipment, he had to use this old trick.
He waited three seconds, but no one came out of the monitoring room, putting his mind at ease. He had learned the inside story when he last heard a guard on duty complaining to a colleague: the base had never faced any danger, so the guards on duty did not take their work seriously and all slacked off.
Han Xiao steadied himself and walked up to the monitoring room door, where the two armed guards reached out to stop him.
"No unauthorized personnel."
"That's Number Zero. There's no point talking to him. Just shoo him away."
The guard on the left nodded and reached out to push Han Xiao's shoulder. Just as both guards had let their guard down completely, Han Xiao moved!
He seized the left guard's wrist and, with his other hand, drew the tactical dagger from his waist with lightning speed. He thrust it up through the right guard's jaw and straight into his brain. The dull sensation of the blade driving into flesh traveled clearly through the hilt to his wrist!
The right guard's expression froze on his face. He died instantly without making a sound.
Han Xiao released the dagger and swept his arm back. Before the left guard could react, Han Xiao had caught his head against his chest in a cross-neck hold. As a trained security guard, the man knew exactly how deadly the hold was and frantically tried to pry Han Xiao's arm away.
The next second, Han Xiao twisted hard. There was a crack, and the man in his arms immediately stopped struggling.
Taking two lives had taken less than a second!
[You hit a fatal vital point! Normal attack converted to fatal attack!]
Pale blue damage numbers, "-162" and "-171," popped up above their heads. The damage from a fatal attack was equal to the target's maximum health.
[You killed a Germinal Organization armed guard. Gained 360 experience.] x2
Han Xiao caught the bodies and lowered them silently to the ground, then drew a deep breath. He had actually rehearsed those swift, clean kills countless times in his mind.
Killing had not made him uncomfortable, and he was secretly alarmed. Had he been so repressed lately that he had become a psychopath? In his previous life, the largest animal he had killed was probably a gutless rat back in his rural hometown, yet killing people now felt no different. He felt an urgent need for psychological treatment...
The panel notified him that he had obtained information on the two men. They were level 7 agents with 10 strength, 15 endurance, and around 150 health. This was the level of most armed guards at the laboratory. Individual health values varied slightly due to differences in physique.
[You obtained 4 pistol magazines.]
Han Xiao found four Wasp pistol magazines on the two bodies, retrieved his dagger and held it in a reverse grip, then quietly pushed open the monitoring room door.
The blue glow of dozens of surveillance screens lit the room, and Han Xiao saw a scene that left him utterly dumbfounded.
Three Hundred Thousand and Constipation Bro, who were on duty, were holding each other intimately, their lips only a centimeter apart. Hearing the door open, they turned in alarm. All three froze, and the atmosphere became painfully awkward.
Han Xiao stared, dumbstruck, as if a mouthful of blood had lodged in his throat, unable to go up or down.
My eyes!