Just then, Jack Young suddenly turned to look deep into the corridor. In his senses, something was approaching—fast. Those heavy footsteps... no doubt about it, it was the Old Veteran!
He grabbed Donald Zade and pressed his gun to Donald’s head. “Trying to pull another trick? If that Old Veteran takes one more step, I’ll blow your brains out!”
“No, it’s not me!” Donald Zade’s heart was about to jump out of his throat. “I swear, I’m not controlling it! I didn’t say a word!”
Even Jonathan and the others could hear it now—the heavy footsteps, coming closer at an incredible speed. The floor was shaking, making Sophie Chow so nervous she nearly screamed. Jack Young stood his ground. At the Old Veteran’s speed, no one but him could outrun it. So instead of panicking and running, it was better to face the enemy here. From what he’d seen, if the Old Veteran had no other abilities and only the third level of Titan Spirit Method strength, he wasn’t that scary. Of course, he’d know for sure only after trading blows.
But just then, those heavy footsteps suddenly vanished. A moment ago, it felt like the Old Veteran was about to burst out from behind the corner, but now—gone, like it had never been there. The sudden change made everyone tense up. Only Jack Young suddenly shoved Jonathan aside and threw a punch toward Jonathan’s flank.
At that exact moment—crash! The side wall was smashed open as a figure burst through, wind howling as it charged in.
Bang! Jack Young’s fist landed right on the figure, sending it flying back into the hole in the wall. But Jack Young frowned a little—the Old Veteran’s strength was even higher than he’d expected. In terms of pure power, the Old Veteran was actually a notch stronger than Jack Young.
Of course, that was just raw strength. When it came to real fighting ability, Jack Young wasn’t worried at all.
Boom! The wall was smashed again—a figure lunged straight at Jack Young. “Jonathan, get everyone out of here!” Jack Young shouted, meeting the attack head-on. In the blink of an eye, the two were locked in combat. As the fight raged, the sound of crashing echoed, the walls on both sides getting battered and dented.
Although the building’s structure relied mainly on its framework, and the walls were nowhere near as sturdy as those in Eastern architecture, they weren’t made of paper either. Sophie Chow screamed and ran for cover, but Jonathan could see that Jack Young was totally dominating the fight. The Old Veteran’s reflexes were fast and his strength was impressive, but his fighting style was straight out of the military—practical and efficient, but not suited for going up against someone like Jack Young.
Those brick walls? All smashed up because the Old Veteran couldn’t hold back his strength.
“Come with me!” Jonathan shoved Donald Zade forward. Donald glanced at the gun pointed at his head, grunted, and had no choice but to move. But he sneaked a peek at his left wrist, a faint glow seeping out from under his skin. “Heh heh.” That twitchy smile crept back onto his face.
The corridor ended quickly at a round hall. Sophie Chow was about to walk in, one foot already over the threshold, when Jonathan suddenly pulled her back. At the same moment—bang bang! Two bullet holes appeared right where Sophie Chow had stepped, still smoking.
“It’s an automatic defense sentry gun!” Jonathan peeked inside, then quickly ducked back and glared at Donald Zade. “Shut those things down, or I’ll blow your head off!”
“I don’t even have a walkie-talkie right now. How do you expect me to shut it down?”
“Stand at the door and order your men to shut it down through the camera.” Jonathan pressed the gun into Donald Zade’s back. “Trust me, with our relationship, I won’t lose sleep over killing you. Move!” He shoved Donald Zade toward the door. Donald shouted at the camera, and after a moment, turned back. “All clear now.”
Jonathan tested it—no problem. Then he said to Sophie Chow, “Wreck those sentry guns.” Sophie did as told. Who knew what tricks Donald Zade might pull? If he gave a look or a signal and brought those guns back online, that’d be a disaster, so better to break the safety just in case.
With Donald Zade in tow, they entered the round hall. Jonathan spotted a big steel gate on one side, flanked by glass walls. Through the glass, he could see rows of big metal crates—definitely important stuff. No wonder they had sentry guns here.
“What’s in there?”
“Armory.”
“Armory?” Jonathan eyed one of the crates—over two meters long. “Is this for tanks or attack helicopters?” The crate’s size clearly matched the weapon inside. There was no way something that big was for a pocket-sized toy.
Donald Zade just grinned. “Nope, not vehicle weapons. These are single-soldier weapons. Tiberius Laboratory may specialize in biochem, but we can still pull some special gear from other labs.”
“Single-soldier gear?” Jonathan caught on immediately. “You mean gear made just for the Old Veteran?”
“Exactly.” Donald Zade’s voice was suddenly calm, like he wasn’t even being held hostage. “This machine gun—189 centimeters long, weighs ninety-four kilos. Nobody but the Old Veteran can use it.”
Meanwhile, in the corridor, Jack Young and the Old Veteran were still fighting. Amid flying debris, Jack could clearly see the Old Veteran’s condition. To Jack’s eye, this man—just over 1.7 meters tall—looked seriously weird. His eyes glowed green, and his body was covered in green veins, making him look downright terrifying, enough to make grown men cry. Plus, his healing ability was wild. Jack kept using the Old Veteran’s own punches to smash the wall, so both the wall and his fists were splattered with blood, but the wounds healed almost instantly, never slowing him down.
If that were all, it’d be fine—looks aren’t everything, and healing can be dealt with. What really got Jack’s attention was the Old Veteran’s qi. It was hard to pin down, which Jack had expected. He could read normal people, but not every expert. The strangest part was, whenever he did sense the Old Veteran’s qi, it felt bizarre, like two different energies were tangled together.
If you think of a person’s blood energy as a red line, then there was also a green line running through his body. The red and green lines moved along different paths.
While Jack was deep in thought, the Old Veteran threw another heavy punch at his chest. Jack stepped back, clasped his hands together—one grabbing the wrist, the other locking the elbow. With a twist of his waist and a jolt of his shoulders—crack!—he snapped the Old Veteran’s arm right at the elbow. “Aaargh!” The Old Veteran roared, and the green veins bulged even more.
This was the first super soldier who actually screamed in pain.
While his arm was flopping around like nunchucks, Jack Young closed in, grabbing both his wrists. Next second, Jack danced around like he was doing the Latin hustle, weaving in and out in front of the Old Veteran. He never let go, twisting and knotting the Old Veteran’s arms until they were locked behind his back like a pretzel.
The Old Veteran roared in pain, and Jack Young darted in from the front—bam!—a single knife-hand strike, right to the throat. Crack! The sound of a crushed windpipe, and the Old Veteran’s roar cut off, blood spilling from his mouth. Then Jack stepped in and shoved hard with his other hand.
Doesn’t matter what kind of freaky qi you’ve got—just die already! Jack’s new move, honed by killing thousands—Mountain-Crushing Strike! He planted his palm squarely on the Old Veteran’s forehead.
Thud! Like beating a drum, then a faint slosh like water in a tank. The Old Veteran’s face froze. Jack’s palm strike hit his skull, and the Old Veteran shuddered, then finally collapsed backward. Bang—he hit the ground, and a plug shot out from the back of his head. Squeak—the flesh around the plug started wriggling.
Jack Young’s ears twitched at the sound. He hooked the body over with his foot, frowning at the spot. “Still healing? Not dead yet?” Not dead? Fine, let’s fix that. Jack pulled out a pistol, aimed at the Old Veteran’s back, and pulled the trigger.