Mr. Si
The alarms of the Ark space station wailed like the wail of a dying beast, echoing through the maze of metal corridors, drawing ever closer. The maintenance tunnel was filled with the stench of oil and overheated metal. The emergency lights cast a bleak green glow, stretching the running figures of Shao Wei and Hong Falcon into distorted ghosts.
"Turn left! The third vent in front, get in!" Kestrel's voice echoed in the narrow space. Her green eyes were as sharp as a falcon in the dim light. She had already engraved the escape route transmitted by the "Night Owl" in her mind.
Shao Wei said nothing, his movements executing his orders with precision. His breathing was steady, belying the experience of someone who had just endured a galaxy-shattering public revelation and a brief, intense battle. His icy blue eyes, like two cold stars in the darkness, held no trace of relief for survival, only a bottomless, calculating silence.
Like two nimble geckos, they slipped into the dusty, wire-filled ventilation duct. The duct became even more cramped, forcing them to crawl forward. Behind them, the footsteps of the pursuers and the muffled thud of energy weapons hitting the bulkhead were clearly audible.
"The signal jamming continues to be effective, but they used physical tracking dogs! Damn, are people still using these things these days?" Ahmet's voice came from the headset, with an angry knocking sound.
"How far is it to the scheduled meeting point?" Shao Wei asked, his voice flat.
"Go through this main pipeline and go down fifty meters. There is an abandoned cargo transfer room. The 'Night Owl's' pick-up boat will be waiting for us there, but the window of opportunity is only ninety seconds!" Hong Xun answered breathlessly, sweat dripping down her temples.
Ninety seconds. Speed.
The pipe began to slope downward, the slope becoming increasingly steep. Shao Wei and Hong Shun had to use their hands and feet to slow their descent. From below, damp, cold air rose, mingled with the pungent smell of some chemical.
Suddenly, the kestrel stopped abruptly and made a gesture to keep quiet.
There were faint sounds of conversation below, and... the low whimpering of dogs.
"…Confirmed target enters C-7 maintenance level…"
"...IGEC demands a living person, especially that Shao Wei..."
"...Understood. Seal all exits and use tranquilizer bullets..."
It's the station security force, they've joined up with the IGEC guys! They're stuck in front!
Hong Xun looked at Shao Wei with a questioning look. Force his way in? Or find another way?
Shao Wei closed his eyes, as if sensing something. After a few seconds, he opened them and pointed to a weld gap on the side of the pipe that looked identical to any other spot.
"Here. Ahmet, structural weakness."
"Roger that! Analyzing... Found it! Three centimeters to the lower left, the stress concentration point! But blasting it will reveal our position!"
"Explode." Shao Wei only had one word.
Without hesitation, Hong Xun took out a miniature energy-gathering blasting patch from his leg pocket and stuck it precisely on the position designated by Shao Wei.
"Cover your ears!"
A slight, dull explosion sounded. A gap opened in the weld, barely wide enough for one person to pass through. Outside was an even darker space filled with huge, roaring machinery—it seemed to be the main power pipeline layer of the space station!
"Jump!"
The two jumped down without hesitation!
The feeling of weightlessness lasted only a moment before they landed on a cold, oil-stained metal platform. All around them, the main energy pipeline pulsated like the heart of a giant beast, emitting a deafening roar and a searing blast of air. The environment here was extremely harsh, but it also perfectly concealed their tracks and the sound of the explosion.
"The pursuers have been temporarily shaken off! But they are mobilizing more manpower to surround this area!" Ahmet reported promptly.
"Connection point!" Shao Wei wiped off the oil splashed on his face and scanned the huge power layer, looking for a path to the cargo transfer room.
"There's a maintenance ladder at eleven o'clock!"
They quickly descended the rusted maintenance ladder, the roar of the power level masking their footsteps but also disrupting communications.
"Commissioner Shao...can you hear me? The signal...is being interfered with..." Ahmet's voice was intermittent.
"…Repair boat…in position…be careful…ambush…"
The last few words were drowned out by a strong noise of energy fluctuations.
Shao Wei and Hong Shun stopped at the same time, looked at each other, and saw the vigilance in each other's eyes.
There are ambushes.
Did the other party predict their escape route?
Holding their breath, they carefully approached the base of the maintenance ladder, guided by the shadows of the massive pipes. Below them lay the abandoned cargo transfer bay. Through the gridded floor, they could see the interior was gloomy, illuminated only by a few emergency lights. The outline of a small assault boat was faintly visible in the center of the bay, its hatch tightly closed.
Everything seems normal.
But Shao Wei's glands were burning slightly, and an intuition that he was locked in danger was like an icicle piercing his nerves.
He made a few gestures to Hong Kestrel, who nodded, silently unhooked the electromagnetic sniper rifle from his back, and quickly looked for a sniper position.
Shao Wei took a deep breath, concentrating his pheromones to the utmost, as if blending into the noise and smell of the surrounding environment. Like a feather, he gently descended from the maintenance ladder and landed on the cold floor of the transfer room.
The footsteps created a slight echo in the empty space.
He walked towards the assault boat. His steps seemed steady, but all the muscles in his body were tense, like a cheetah ready to pounce.
Ten meters. Five meters. Three meters.
Just as he was about to touch the door of the assault boat—
Something strange happened suddenly!
Four dark figures suddenly shot out from behind the pile of abandoned cargo boxes! Their movements were as fast as lightning, and their pheromones carried a cold, venomous quality, instantly locking onto Shao Wei!
They weren't the station's security forces, nor were they IGEC's "Purifiers"! Their uniforms bore no markings, and their weapons were rare, specially designed to target high-level Alphas, using nerve paralysis nets and sonic oscillators!
Private armed forces! Are they the remnants of Shao Qing's gang? Or are they other forces whose interests have been affected?
At the same time, two people quietly slid down from the shadows above his head, blocking his retreat!
Six to one! A perfect ambush!
"We've been waiting for you for a long time, Master Shao Wei." The leading dark figure laughed hoarsely and pointed a strange-looking gun at Shao Wei. "Come with us. Someone wants to have a good talk with you..."
Shao Wei stopped and slowly turned around to face the enemies surrounding him. His face remained expressionless, as if the person being pointed at by six deadly weapons was not him.
"Talk?" He repeated the word, his icy blue eyes clear, "Okay."
He paused, and when the other party slightly relaxed his vigilance, he added the second half of the sentence, his voice as light as a sigh:
"Talk about it with your lives."
Before he finished speaking, he moved!
He didn't retreat, didn't dodge, but rushed directly towards the two people in front of him like a ghost! His speed was so fast that it exceeded the limit of visual detection, leaving a faint afterimage in the place where he stood!
The two men obviously didn't expect him to dare to attack when he was completely surrounded, and at such a terrifying speed! They subconsciously pulled the trigger!
“Whoosh! Whoosh!”
Nerve paralysis nets and sonic waves shot out, but they missed! Shao Wei's figure twisted and veered in a way that defied common sense, slipping like a slippery fish, just at the edge of the energy attack!
The next second, he appeared in front of the two people!
Hands up! Palms down!
There are no fancy moves, only the most direct destruction brought by pure speed and power!
"Crack!" "Puff!"
The sounds of bones breaking and internal organs shattering rang out almost simultaneously! The two ambushers didn't even scream as they flew backward like rag dolls, slamming heavily onto the cargo box behind them, and died without a sound!
All this happened in a flash!
The remaining four ambushers hadn't even had time to react before their companions were killed instantly!
"Open fire! Kill without mercy!" The leader was shocked and angry, and shouted loudly!
The remaining four opened fire simultaneously! Dense energy beams and special ammunition poured down on Shao Wei like a torrential rain!
However, Shao Wei's figure once again faded into obscurity! He weaved and dodged amidst the hail of bullets, each movement accurately predicting the trajectory of the projectiles. Those deadly attacks always narrowly missed his body! It was as if he wasn't dodging, but dancing on the edge of a knife, calm, precise, and with a chilling grace!
"Bang!"
A dull gunshot, different from that of an energy weapon, came from above!
An ambusher who was aiming at Shao Wei suddenly tilted his head back, a tiny bloody hole appeared between his eyebrows, and he fell to the ground without a sound.
It's Kestrel! She's found a perfect sniping spot and is clearing out the threat!
The remaining three ambushers instantly fell into panic! Not only did they have to face Shao Wei, a monster-like melee meat grinder, but they also had to beware of the deadly sniper hiding somewhere in the darkness!
"Retreat!" The leader made a prompt decision, knowing that the mission had failed.
But how could Shao Wei let them leave?
He was like a thorn in the flesh, instantly closing in on the two people who were trying to retreat, and gripping their necks with his hands like iron pliers!
"Well……"
The two men struggled in vain, their eyes bulging and their faces filled with fear and disbelief.
Shao Wei's ice-blue eyes looked closely at their dying expressions, without any pity in them, only a deep indifference as cold as ice for ten thousand years.
"Tell me, who sent you?"
His voice was not loud, but it carried a chill that pierced the soul.
One of them seemed to want to say something, but Shao Wei exerted a little force with his fingers and crushed his larynx.
He looked at the last person, the leader.
The leader looked at Shao Wei's eyes that were devoid of any human emotion, his whole body was cold, and the fear of death overwhelmed everything.
"It's... it's the 'Presbyterian Church'... they... want your blood..." He uttered a few words with difficulty.
The Presbyterian Church? Shao Wei's pupils shrank slightly. What was that? Was there a higher-level organization behind Shao Qing?
Just when he was distracted and asked again——
"Be careful!" Hong Xun's cry came from the headset!
An extremely concealed, almost transparent energy thread shot out from the corner like a venomous snake, silently wrapping around Shao Wei's ankle! It was the other ambusher who had been hiding overhead! He had been lurking until now!
Shao Wei reacted very quickly and raised his foot to dodge!
But, it was still a moment too late!
The energy thread tightened instantly as if it had life, and a strong sense of numbness quickly spread up the legs!
At the same time, the leader whose neck he had grabbed had a glint of ruthlessness and determination in his eyes, and he suddenly pressed a button hidden in his combat uniform!
"Let's die together!"
A blinding white light burst out from his body! He was actually a human bomb!
Self-destruction! And it's a highly concentrated energy core!
At such a close distance, there is no way to avoid it!
Although the Red Falcon's sniper bullet instantly penetrated the detonator's head, it was unable to stop the explosion of energy!
The destructive white light engulfed Shao Wei's figure!
“Shao Wei——!!!” Hong Xun’s eyes were bloodshot!
Boom——!!!!
A massive explosion engulfed the entire cargo transfer room! The scorching air and shockwaves sent abandoned containers flying like scraps of paper! The solid metal walls were torn and twisted!
The air was filled with smoke and flames shot up into the sky!
The shockwave from the explosion knocked Hong Kusanagi off her sniper position and she fell heavily to the ground, coughing up blood. She struggled to raise her head and look at the center of the explosion, where only a huge charred crater remained, and molten metal debris flew everywhere.
Shao Wei...is missing.
Was it blown to pieces? Or...
The smoke and dust slowly dissipated.
At the edge of the explosion crater, a figure slowly stood up.
It’s Shao Wei.
His suit was already tattered, revealing skin beneath that shimmered with faint icy blue patterns. A trickle of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, and his face was pale, but his icy blue eyes were brighter and colder than ever before.
In his hand, he tightly grasped half of the charred body part that belonged to the detonator.
And around his body, an extremely thin but real ice-blue energy shield was slowly dissipating.
At the most critical moment, the power from the "Thread of Life" in his body was passively activated again, forming a weak layer of absolute defense, which barely blocked the core power of the explosion.
He raised his hand and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. His eyes swept across the messy transfer room and finally fell on the assault boat that was still anchored there and unharmed.
Ahmet's anxious shouts and the roar of the "Night Owl"'s engine starting were heard on the communicator.
The footsteps of the pursuers approached again from all directions, more frequent than before.
Shao Wei took a deep breath of the air filled with the smell of burnt and blood, and walked towards the assault boat.
His steps were slightly staggering due to his injuries, but his back looked like a king crowned with thorns and frost, walking out of a sea of corpses and blood.
Isolated, but powerful.
"Presbyterian Church..." He repeated the name in a low voice, carving it at the top of the revenge list.
"Let's go."
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