Rat-tat-tat-tat!
Before Ken Fu and Shawn Young could rush into the command center, a barrage of bullets swept toward them, slamming into the bulletproof glass outside the lab. Sparks flew everywhere, but the thick glass held firm. As soon as the gunfire started, Agent 343—Ken Fu—darted into the command center and began searching for documents.
Shawn Young, right behind, snapped to attention. Slinging Ryosuke Eguchi over his shoulder, he darted into the command center too. Only then did he notice the room was packed with surveillance screens, metal racks, and at least ten heavy electronic safes. Each safe required an electronic password to open. Ken Fu was already working on cracking the first one.
Beep beep! A sharp alarm rang out—the electronic lock on the safe flashed a red light for incorrect password. Ken Fu's first attempt at cracking it had failed. He quickly stopped and frowned at the metal safe.
"Damn! This is a complex auto-grid security lock! The Japanese are so devious—they set it so if you enter the wrong password three times, it explodes and destroys all the files inside!" Ken Fu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, sounding anxious.
"What!? So what do we do now? Can you hurry up and find the files we need? The enemy outside is about to break in!" Shawn Young shouted, panic rising.
"The files must be in one of these safes. If I had enough time, I could crack them all slowly, but right now..." Ken Fu couldn't keep his cool anymore. The situation was way more chaotic than they'd planned.
Outside the bulletproof glass, dozens of Japanese Self-Defense Force special ops soldiers had gathered. Unable to open the locked metal door, they focused all their firepower on the glass, even prepping high-explosive armor-piercing rounds to force their way in.
"Crap, there's no time! Is there any way—anything at all—you can find those files faster?" Shawn Young grew more anxious as the special ops soldiers outside were about to shatter the glass barrier.
"Ryosuke Eguchi definitely knows where the files are, but the guy's knocked out cold! Damn it, this is so frustrating!" Ken Fu said, nearly losing it.
"I'll wake him up right now!" Shawn Young immediately tossed Ryosuke Eguchi off his shoulder, then started slapping him hard across the face.
Smack! Smack! After a few heavy slaps, Ryosuke Eguchi's cheeks were swollen and bleeding at the corners of his mouth, but he finally groggily came to.
Ken Fu was overjoyed. He rushed forward, grabbed Ryosuke Eguchi by the collar, whipped out a pistol from who-knows-where, and jammed it under his chin. "Bastard, where'd you stash the files? What's the password? Speak up or I'll blow your head off!" he threatened.
But as soon as Ryosuke Eguchi opened his eyes, he sneered contemptuously, then suddenly bit down on his own collar.
Ken Fu was shocked. He quickly smacked Ryosuke's face with the butt of his pistol, knocking his head to the side. Then he yanked the collar, and a small white pill dropped to the ground—turns out Ryosuke was trying to swallow a cyanide capsule and kill himself.
"Hmph! You filthy Chinese pigs, thinking you can get the files and passwords out of me? Dream on! Our men will be here any minute, you can't escape! Hahaha!" Ryosuke Eguchi spat in perfect Mandarin, cursing Ken Fu and Shawn Young before bursting into maniacal laughter.
Boom boom!
Outside the lab, the sound of high-explosive armor-piercing rounds echoed. Dozens of Japanese Self-Defense Force special ops soldiers were using both armor-piercing ammo and heavy battering rams, pounding the bulletproof glass until it was riddled with cracks.
"Damn it, this bastard's tougher than a boiled pig! There's no way we'll get anything out of him in a hurry!" Ken Fu said to Shawn Young, frustrated.
A sudden idea struck Shawn Young. He quickly asked Ken Fu, "I've got a way to get his secrets out right now, but should we keep him alive or not?"
"If you can get his secrets, then we don't need to keep him alive. Dragging him around will just slow us down! Uh, are you sure you've got a way?" Ken Fu asked Shawn Young, curious.
"Yeah! I'll do it right now!" Shawn Young nodded, closed his eyes, formed a hand seal, and instantly activated his Illusory Sea. He quickly chanted, "Nature of Heaven and Earth, spirit returns to the void, Five Elements reversed, power from all directions, Soul-searching spell of Taixuan, act now as commanded!"
As soon as the incantation finished, Shawn Young flipped his palm and pressed it against Ryosuke Eguchi's forehead. A violet light shot from his hand, piercing into Eguchi's Illusory Sea—Shawn was using the Soul Search technique in a pinch!
Ryosuke Eguchi shuddered, his eyes went blank, and Shawn Young started extracting and peeling away all the secrets hidden in his mind, guiding them into his own Illusory Sea. This time, Shawn went all out—Eguchi would never be normal again.
Soon, Ryosuke Eguchi's eyes rolled back, his body collapsed like a pile of mush, foaming at the mouth—he'd turned into a complete idiot. Shawn Young shoved him aside and stood up, saying, "Done!"
Ken Fu watched as Ryosuke Eguchi, perfectly fine just moments ago, was reduced to this mess by Shawn Young's magic. He felt a chill run down his spine and quickly asked, "Uh, you—you turned him into a vegetable?! What about the password?"
Shawn Young, having obtained all of Eguchi's memories, tapped his own head and said, "Relax, all the secrets are right here."
This chapter isn't over yet ^.^, please click next page to continue reading!
As he spoke, Shawn Young walked over to one of the metal safes, quickly punched in the code—beep beep—and the safe popped open. Inside was a large stack of document folders. Shawn grabbed them and handed them to Ken Fu. "Take a look, is this what we're after?"
Ken Fu opened the folder and immediately nodded, excited. "That's it! This is the info we need—even the Japanese G-virus research files are here! Damn, kid, you've got some serious skills. Your powers squad is full of hidden talent, huh? Now we—"
Boom! Rat-tat-tat-tat!
Ken Fu hadn't even finished speaking when the bulletproof glass outside shattered. Several Japanese Self-Defense Force special ops soldiers burst in, spraying gunfire.
"Watch out!" Ken Fu shoved Shawn Young aside and dodged, but a spray of blood burst out—he'd been shot in the shoulder, blood pouring everywhere.
"Crap, they're in! Take the files and break for the side door—once you're out, our people will meet you!" Ken Fu stuffed the document folder into his black briefcase and tossed it to Shawn Young, yelling. Then he fired his pistol at the incoming special ops soldiers.
Bang bang bang bang!
He emptied a whole magazine, dropping several special ops soldiers. But the enemy only paused for a moment before, at the commander's shout, charging in recklessly.
"Go! No matter what, you have to get the files out to our people! Move! I'll cover you!" Ken Fu quickly reloaded and kept firing at the flood of enemies.
But Shawn Young hesitated—he didn't leave. Instead, he darted over to the command center's computer panel and started typing in a flurry of complex commands.
"Are you nuts? Get the hell out! If they rush in, we're both dead!" Ken Fu yelled at Shawn Young.
Shawn Young ignored him and kept typing. After the last command, "ding ding"—the floor next to the control room split open, and a metal panel rose up with a few buttons. Shawn pressed one without hesitation.
Whirr beep beep whoosh!
A string of bizarre machine noises echoed, then suddenly, a "Metal Storm" turret in the corridor outside the lab swung open its firing ports, revealing its chilling barrels. It automatically locked onto the group of Self-Defense Force special ops soldiers!
The special ops soldiers looked up and saw the "Metal Storm" turret aiming at them—panic erupted! But Shawn Young had already pressed another button without hesitation.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—rat-tat-tat-tat!
A blinding flash and a barrage of explosions mixed with desperate screams and howls filled the corridor in less than half a minute. The Metal Storm's wall of bullets swept through like a tidal wave.
In an instant, dozens of Self-Defense Force special ops soldiers were shredded by the terrifying hail of metal, reduced to nothing but bloody pulp—not even their weapons survived!
Shawn Young and Ken Fu stared in shock as the "Metal Storm" devoured dozens of living men. Even though they controlled it, they felt the sheer terror of this weapon's power.
"Holy crap! This thing is insane—it's a nightmare-level killing machine!" Ken Fu finally snapped out of it, mumbling in awe.
After extracting Ryosuke Eguchi's memories, Shawn Young now knew tons of top-secret info about the underground base. He quickly found a small Blu-ray disc on the control panel, popped it into the computer, and started typing rapidly. A flood of data and weapon schematics appeared on the screen.
Ken Fu took one look and immediately understood what Shawn Young was up to. He shouted excitedly, "Damn! It's the top-secret files for building the Metal Storm! We're hitting the jackpot! Hahaha!"
Shawn Young quickly copied the Metal Storm data onto the Blu-ray, pulled it out, and carefully placed it in a metal box. He also grabbed a few G-virus syringes from the rack and handed everything to Ken Fu, asking, "All done! Mission complete. You okay?"
Ken Fu packed the disc and syringes into the black briefcase. Blood kept seeping from his right shoulder, but he gritted his teeth, clutched the wound, and nodded. "I'm still standing. Let's get out of here—Japan will send reinforcements soon! We need to escape through another passage. With all this chaos, getting out the normal way is impossible now."
Ken Fu finished speaking and nearly collapsed, having lost so much blood. Shawn Young quickly said, "Don't worry, I know another way out!"
With that, Shawn Young helped Ken Fu up, typed a string of passwords into the computer, then led him into the innermost room of the lab. There, a valve and a metal spiral staircase led underground. Ken Fu stared in surprise, "Whoa, this is the basement control room's pipeline and drainage system! But it's so complicated—I have no idea where it leads."
Shawn Young pointed to his head and said, "I have a pretty good idea where it goes. Let's go—if we take this route, we've got a shot at escaping!"
(End of chapter)