A hush fell over the crowd. Whether in the Black Fist Arena or the bosses' VIP hall, nearly everyone stared in shock, eyes wide. Even though the cameras kept getting wrecked during the fight, so folks couldn't see every moment, that leap of over twenty meters and the punch that smashed a guy's head and neck—that scene burned itself into everyone's memory, clear as day.
Jack Young wasn't calm either. That 'Old Veteran' clearly had strength above the Titan Spirit Method: Third Stage. A twenty-meter leap—Jack's own miracle jump in the ancient world was about the same. He'd just been pondering this, and now, boom, it happened. If Donald Zade can mass-produce warriors like this, the world really is about to change.
The bosses saw even more than Jack Young did, so their expressions were even more complicated. These deep schemers couldn't help but lose their composure at the Old Veteran's performance. The ones who'd just been mocking Donald Zade exchanged glances, sat up straight, and changed their tone: "Mr. Donald, is this 'Old Veteran' one of your new products too? What's the price tag?"
The bosses felt both excited and worried about a monster like the Old Veteran. Excited, because they wanted a super weapon like that for themselves. Worried, because if the enemy had one, their own heads wouldn't be safe.
"I'd love to say 'yes,' because I'd love to get rich. But sorry, gentlemen, I'm an honest man." Donald Zade was very pleased with their reaction, and his smile returned. "The Old Veteran is just a forward-looking prototype for now, showing the direction super soldiers are heading. We still have some tough nuts to crack before we can mass-produce them."
The bosses all sighed—some disappointed, some relieved. Neither they nor the world were ready for that kind of power.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the Old Veteran had already smashed through a second mercenary squad. Just as he was about to take out the third, he suddenly froze in place, like he'd received some kind of order.
A roaring sound grew louder—a helicopter was hauling over that hive-shaped box. Thanks to the Old Veteran, there weren't any mercenaries nearby, so this time, the chopper landed without a hitch. The box opened, the Old Veteran walked in, and slotted himself into the steel platform's groove. Clang, the claws snapped shut, locking him down tight.
Two pilots got out to check everything, making sure those locks hadn't loosened. While inspecting, one pilot said, "Hey man, what's up with this monster? It's unreal! If these freaks start popping up everywhere, our jobs are toast."
"No need to worry just yet," the other pilot whispered. "I overheard the higher-ups saying this guy was an accident in the lab. So far, those bald-headed docs still have no clue what happened."
"Huh? So... is he dangerous? I mean, could he just wake up and tear us to shreds or something?"
"Who knows? I just heard the lab geeks gave the higher-ups a serious warning: don't use the Old Veteran unless you absolutely have to."
"So this time..."
"You know how Young Master Donald is—he'll lose anything except face. Alright, we're done here, let's head back."
Buzz—the box sealed shut, darkness swallowed the Old Veteran. Neither pilot noticed the muscles near the plug in the back of his head twitching. Squeak—a tiny sound, and the plug was nudged out a bit. The Old Veteran, who'd been as lifeless as a corpse, suddenly took a breath, his eyeballs shifting under his eyelids...
"Gentlemen, I know your biggest worry about super soldiers—their actions are controlled by programs, rigid, predictable, easy to exploit. The live combat test just now seemed to prove that, but—" Donald Zade spoke confidently from the stage. "Every miracle hides inside a weakness. Next, let me introduce the strongest feature of the super soldier system: learning."
"Learning?" What a laughable and tragic thing—learning is supposed to be a basic human instinct, but right now, hearing that these super soldiers could learn, all the bosses looked shocked.
"That's right, learning. The super soldier chips aren't so simple—they're all linked to a main brain. Every bit of data each soldier gathers goes into a database, and that experience gets shared with every other super soldier. Thanks to this setup, super soldiers under the same main brain just keep getting stronger." Donald Zade pointed at the big screen. "Now, you'll see examples of these super soldiers learning."
"Alright, pigs—your turn." Donald Zade's face appeared on the big screen in the Black Fist Arena, grinning wildly. "Your whole purpose in life is to help perfect this product that'll change humanity. Now, go fulfill your mission!"
Whoosh—a door opened in the wall, and a bunch of expressionless big guys walked in. They were the super soldiers.
Seeing this, the Black Fist bosses went nuts. Some begged for mercy, some cursed, others tried to prove they had enough cash to be customers. Liu Zihao, one of the bosses, pointed at the ceiling and started cussing, "You shameless little bastard! You tricked us here just to treat us like dogs! If word gets out, you'll never make it in this world again! Every merc will hate you, every underground boss will loathe you, and your name's gonna end up on every hit list! I know I'm dead today, but I won't go down easy—I'm taking you with me!" As he spoke, he pulled out a gun and aimed at the big guys at the door, who raised their own guns—the tension was about to snap.
But Donald Zade just waved his hand, and the big guys lowered their guns again. "You misunderstood—I've never lied to you." Donald Zade was as cool as ever. "I said I'd host a tournament with a big prize, and for you all, watching a bunch of videos just means you learned about the competition. At the end of the day, you're just joining a fight. Win once, get a million bucks and one person walks free. Win twice, two million and two people walk. And so on—the prize goes up each round."
"Really?" The bosses huddled together, and Liu Zihao shouted, "How do we know you're not just playing us?"
Donald Zade shrugged, "What a dumb question. Why would I mess with a bunch of pigs?"
"You!" Donald's cocky attitude made people grit their teeth, but his promise sounded legit. Another boss asked, "So, what happens to the losers?"
"Losers? Well, they end up like him." Donald Zade pointed right at Liu Zihao. Liu hadn't even reacted when, bang bang bang, a burst of gunfire tore him to pieces, blood splattering a whole two square meters.
"Hiss—!" Everyone sucked in a breath. The gore didn't scare them, but the danger made their teeth ache. Only one person nearly screamed—and almost did. It was none other than the Bloody Queen. (Our first group, Jack Young's apartment, is already having a blast!)