Han Xiao changed into a guard's uniform and left Lin Weixian's laboratory.
Quite a few people in the base knew Lin Weixian had taken him away, so he couldn't appear as himself for the time being. Only four people had a clear impression of him-Hila, Number One, Lin Weixian, and Balotta. The first two weren't at the base, and he had eliminated Lin Weixian. As long as he didn't run into Balotta, he would be safe for now.
The underground laboratory's main door was made of a special alloy eighty centimeters thick. Even using up all the explosives in the armory wouldn't blast it open. The only way through was the electronic access system, and only three people had identity cards authorized to open it. Lin Weixian was one of them.
A pure white card now lay quietly in Han Xiao's jacket pocket.
But a sentry stood beside the access control, and the guards' quarters were on the first basement level. Everyone there knew the three white-card holders, so there was no way to get past them unnoticed. An emergency door control stood beside the sentry. Pulling its lever would manually shut down the access system and lock the door completely. If Han Xiao swaggered over with the white card to open it, he would have no way back and would be surrounded within ten seconds. He would be a turtle trapped in a jar. A single bullet could take dozens of points off his health, and if they concentrated their fire on him, he might last 0.8 seconds with a bit of luck...
Hmm, very heroic. Not a bad way to die. I'll keep that version as a backup option.
Han Xiao's plan was to cut off communications and buy himself a few hours without interference. It was the safest approach. His original plan had been to sabotage the power supply, but the access system needed electricity and would stop working if he cut it off.
The communications transmitter was hidden inside a wall on the third basement level. He needed the mechanical arm to break through it.
The mechanical modification room was on the second basement level. Han Xiao had to go back and get his equipment first.
But plans never kept up with changes.
When he was only fifty meters from the mechanical modification room, a large hand suddenly reached out from the side and pressed against his chest. Han Xiao's eyes narrowed. The person who had stopped him was none other than Balotta!
What rotten luck. The base is so big, so how did I happen to run into Balotta, the last person I wanted to see right now? Who am I supposed to complain to about luck like this? Is Murphy the incarnation of fate?!
"Which squad are you with? How come I've never seen you before?" Balotta asked suspiciously.
Han Xiao lowered his head, pressing down his cap to hide his face. "I'm new. I'm assigned to Squad B."
Balotta looked doubtful. "Since when did we get a new recruit? How come I don't know about it? I think I've heard your voice somewhere. Raise your head and let me see your face."
Han Xiao glanced sideways and saw that Balotta's hand had already moved toward the handgun at his waist, ready to fire at any moment. Three guards nearby had also noticed something was wrong and were coming over.
What do I do? If I'm found out, Balotta will definitely send someone to find Lin Weixian. Once they find his body, what I've done will be exposed. So should I really have dismembered and chopped up the corpse before leaving? No, no, no. For the sake of my appetite over the next few days, I'd better not do that... Die here? Don't think like that. You need confidence in whatever you do, okay? When failure obviously means death, there's no need to think about defeat before victory.
"Troublesome... I didn't want to use plan B."
"What did you say?" Balotta hadn't heard him clearly.
Han Xiao suddenly raised his head, a dangerous smile on his face. "I've always wanted to tell you, you donkey balls ought to see a psychiatrist!"
"Number Zero?!"
In the split second of his opponent's shock, Han Xiao struck first, driving his dagger toward Balotta's chest. Balotta's pupils contracted sharply, and he hastily leaned back. The blade grazed his jaw, cutting through flesh and sending a string of blood droplets flying.
"Open fire!" The three guards hurriedly drew their guns, but they had come too close. They were less than three meters from Han Xiao, a poor distance for a gunfight. Han Xiao strode across the gap and drove a fist into the first man's cheek with tremendous force. If there had been a slow-motion replay, the skin struck by his fist could have been seen rippling like waves.
-48!
The heavy punch stunned the man outright. He staggered into his two companions, and all three fell to the ground.
Han Xiao spun around without hesitation and sprinted toward the mechanical modification room at the speed of a fifty-meter dash. Gunshots rang out behind him. Bullets brushed past him and struck sparks from the walls.
Balotta clutched his bleeding jaw, his expression grim. He fired wildly at Han Xiao as he came striding after him.
"All agents, listen up! Reinforce the mechanical modification room on the second level immediately! Target is Number Zero. The test subject has gone out of control!" Balotta roared into the miniature communicator on his collar.
The guards patrolling the various floors looked alarmed and doubtful, thinking they had imagined what they'd heard.
"Number Zero's out of control? You've got to be kidding!"
"Wasn't that test subject brainwashed?"
"Could this be a drill?"
"Are you stupid? I can hear gunshots!"
Bullets whistled past, and the sense of danger prickled against Han Xiao's back. His emotions suddenly became exceptionally calm. This was his special state of concentration: his mind was like ice, rational and detached. Countless pieces of information gathered in his head, and the world before him became a crisscrossing grid, like a spiderweb. Everything was connected.
I can reach the mechanical modification room in two seconds. Balotta will take 3.7 seconds to catch up. The three guards can't threaten me within 4.2 seconds. Reinforcements will arrive in twenty-five to thirty-five seconds...
Han Xiao had been through countless battles. His extensive combat experience was the foundation that let him maintain this state.
He ran in a zigzag, concentrating fully on dodging the shots.
Balotta pursued him relentlessly. He didn't care why Number Zero had gone out of control. He knew his duty was to capture Han Xiao, and if necessary, he was even authorized to shoot him dead on the spot and report afterward.
"Interesting. The little toy wants to fight back." Balotta licked the blood on his chin, his eyes vicious. "This is the way you chose to die!"
Although Han Xiao's sneak attack had succeeded, Balotta was still supremely confident. He was an elite agent with twenty years on the job. No matter how astonishing Number Zero's ability to learn was, he had only trained for six months. How many of Balotta's moves could he withstand? Besides, from the look of it, Number Zero was already fleeing blindly in a panic.
Han Xiao charged into the mechanical modification room and slammed the door shut.
"You chose to hide in a room? That's a dead end. You're too green!"
Balotta grinned viciously and rushed to the door. He raised a foot to kick it open, quickly changed magazines, and prepared to empty a burst inside without worrying about anything else once the door was open.
Then something unexpected happened!
The door exploded into a shower of fragments with a boom. A mechanical fist gleaming metallic all over burst through it, its engine roaring and sputtering. The silver-glinting steel fist slammed into Balotta's chest.
-95!
A muffled crack of breaking bones rang out!
Balotta flew through the air like a broken sack and slammed hard into the wall. Four or five of his ribs broke, and his handgun went flying. He spat out a mouthful of blood and stared in horror at the dramatically transformed Han Xiao.
Han Xiao now had the Exoskeleton Light Power Arm fitted to his left arm. Like an oversized armored bracer, it enclosed his arm. Hinges and gears turned with a clattering mechanical rattle, and the metal fingers flexed nimbly. Exposed pipes belched out clouds of black smoke to the roar of the engine, like dark clouds curling around his arm.
"What the hell is that?!" Balotta's eyes widened in horror.
A short distance away, the three guards raised their guns and aimed, but Han Xiao was faster. He raised the Enhanced Type 73 Wasp, loaded with a magazine, in his right hand and fired twice.
Agility affected shooting accuracy, and skills came with accuracy corrections. Han Xiao's marksmanship was astonishing now. The bullets struck two men in the eye socket and throat respectively. Both hits struck vital points, triggering lethal damage and killing them outright.
The third guard fired. A bullet shrieked toward Han Xiao, who raised his mechanical arm first. With a clang, the bullet ricocheted off its outer armor.
[Light Power Arm (left) lost 8 durability.]
Han Xiao fired another shot, sending the third man to his grave.
The guard's eyes widened before he died. He couldn't believe that the quiet, wooden Number Zero could be so formidable!
Hadn't they said the test subject had been brainwashed?!
It was all a lie!
The corridor fell silent, leaving only Han Xiao and Balotta.
"The nearest guards will take about thirty seconds to get here." Han Xiao flexed his mechanical arm and said calmly, "I'd really like to break your neck with my own hands, to thank you for the four hundred and twenty cuts you gave me over the past six months."
Balotta's eyes were fierce. He spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm, drew a dagger from his combat boot, and crouched, ready to pounce at any moment. He sneered. "That punch just now had some kick, but if you think fiddling with that piece of junk machinery will let you beat me, you're dreaming!"
"Prove it."
"Thirty seconds is enough for me to kill you ten times over!" Balotta roared and lunged at him with his dagger, like a cheetah. Han Xiao held his mechanical arm in front of him, and they collided head-on!
"Screech-" The dagger scraped a long trail of sparks across the armor. As the two passed each other, Balotta sharply twisted his waist and whipped out his lower leg like a scorpion raising its tail, kicking at the back of Han Xiao's knee. Kicking an enemy down from behind and slitting their throat with a dagger was a vicious move. Having trained under Hila, Han Xiao had guessed that Balotta would use it. He reacted in a flash, smashing his mechanical arm backward into Balotta's lower leg. A clear crack of breaking bone rang out.
-87!
The mechanical arm had a power level of 38. Combined with Han Xiao's own power level, it nearly reached the standard of an E-grade superhuman.
The Light Power Arm doubled Han Xiao's attack power. Even if he couldn't completely overwhelm Balotta, each blow still dealt around 90 damage, a considerable amount. Balotta's health was only a little over 300, and that included the Well-Trained specialty. Added to the punch that had burst through the door, Balotta's health had already dropped below half. In reality, those numbers were reflected in Balotta growing weaker.
Balotta grunted and attacked through the pain, thrusting his dagger at Han Xiao's eye from a tricky angle. His movements had already slowed, and the mechanical arm caught the dagger in its grip.
"Impossible. How could I lose? You..."
Balotta roared in unwillingness, trying to fight back with his life on the line.
As soon as the words left his mouth, his vision suddenly went dark. The mechanical hand gripped his head and smashed it hard into the wall. The brutal force shoved his roar right back down his throat.
"Bang!"
Gravel and flesh went flying.
A cold light flashed in Han Xiao's eyes. He pressed Balotta's head against the wall and dragged it hard across the surface, plowing a dark red streak of blood into it.
Balotta's face, ground against the wall, had become a bloody mess, completely unrecognizable.
Han Xiao let go. Balotta collapsed to the ground like a puddle of mud, without a breath left in him. None of his earlier bluster remained.
"Sorry, I broke my word. I didn't break your neck. How about you get up and let me kill you again?" Han Xiao raised an eyebrow.
Balotta didn't answer, nor would he have another chance to.
[You have killed Balotta, deputy supervisor of the Valkyrie Laboratory. You have gained 1,500 experience.]
Lin Weixian and Balotta, the two men he hated most, had both died by his hand. Han Xiao felt as though he had taken a huge bite of ice cream in the hottest days of summer, refreshed and thoroughly satisfied from head to toe!