by <unknown>
“Bring me to the central computer. I need your authorization. Don’t try to pull of any tricks; I can penetrate your heart in less than 0.1 second if anything abnormal happens.”
“I won’t,” Cyberlos said as he felt the coldness on his chest. Then he calmed his mind and lead the way. He was not a soldier; his life was more important than anything to him. He knew that he had no choice but to compromise, so he was not willing to take the risk of triggering the alarm.
They met quite many Germinal Organization members on the way, and Cyberlos acted very naturally, nodding as usual. Han Xiao followed behind. The others had no suspicion and thought that he was Cyberlos’ assistant.
After entering an empty corridor, Cyberlos looked carefully at Han Xiao’s face and suddenly said softly, “I see you had a surgery on your face, Zero.”
Han Xiao was shocked. How did he figure out my identity?
“In order to catch you, the leader has planted an inescapable trap. Countless Executive Officers are on standby, ready to act anytime, and here you are as expected.”
Han Xiao’s expression changed a little in disbelief. The leader had set up an ambush and waited for him, which meant that he knew he would sneak in‽
How is this possible‽
I haven’t told anyone about my plan!
Does the leader have someone who can predict the future? Does that mean I am already in siege at the moment?
Han Xiao was perplexed at the time, but he hastily calmed himself down. Then he noticed something wrong. If the leader really knew his goal, he could not have snuck in this easily. That meant that the leader had limited knowledge and did not even know he had the ability to infiltrate through changing his face, which explained why there were no preventive measures.
Han Xiao instantaneously thought of the gap between the deployment layout of the Germinal Organization and was now sure that it was a trap.
Although he had many questions, since Cyberlos had mentioned the matter, Han Xiao knew what he meant. Han Xiao suppressed his killing intent and said in a low voice, “Tell me everything you know. I will consider letting you live.”
Feeling the cold and piercing murderous intent, Cyberlos’ back was soaked in cold sweat. He forced himself to calm down and said, “This is all the prediction of Destiny’s Child.”
Destiny’s Child? Han Xiao frowned. He had never heard of such a person in the Germinal Organization.
“Destiny’s Child’s ability might be foreseeing the future; it might also be deciding the future. We are unsure as well. He said you will walk into the trap yourself…” Cyberlos described everything from the beginning—Destiny’s Child’s ability, the prediction about Han Xiao, the leader’s plans, and other things. For the sake of his own life, he poured out everything he knew.
There is someone like that hidden in the Germinal Organization? Han Xiao was shocked. There was no information about this person in his previous life. It seemed like this was the Germinal Organization’s deepest secret. If Destiny’s Child could influence the future, did that mean his thought of saving Aurora could have been forced upon him?
Suddenly, he felt a strong need to kill Destiny’s Child.
The mind was one’s palace—anyone would be extremely furious if it was invaded.
Many abilities could influence the mind—psychic, magic, Esper—and there were even similar natural phenomenon in the universe. The Psychic Current, for one, was made up of thoughts, emitting waves that affected the mind, travelling in the universe unseen, causing any life form that passes by to hear ‘voices’ from the Psychic Current and thus get influenced.
However, after some pondering, Han Xiao felt this guess was way too unbelievable because he already had thought about saving Aurora when he first saw Hila more than one year ago, and he had analyzed the reasons for doing so, which were all beneficial to himself. It did not feel like he was influenced to do it at all; furthermore, saving Aurora was not the only motive he had for infiltrating the Germinal Organization headquarters.
There had to be limitations to Destiny’s Child’s abilities, or at least it had a limited effect on him. However, he did come to Germinal Organization headquarters alone as predicted, and that had him relieved and worried at the same time.
He finally understood how dreadful it was to have an enemy that might be able to predict the future. Suddenly, he felt the leader’s pain.
I have made the Germinal Organization suffer so much; the leader probably wants to skin me alive.
From what Cyberlos had said, Han Xiao knew that there was a large number of Executive Officers and troops hidden in the headquarters at the moment, all waiting to ambush him, and as soon as anything happened, a siege could be formed any time. He was in a rather dire situation.
However, Han Xiao also noticed the huge advantage that he had, which was that the leader only knew he would come, not when he would come or what was his goal.
Seems like I still have the upper hand, but I can’t drag this any longer. It’ll be best to complete the goal and leave immediately.
If he could complete the mission and leave without raising the alarm, it would be the best result.
Also, he made a mental note of Destiny’s Child.
Chapter 239. Nerve Connection (2) |
The central computer room was located at the core area of the headquarters. It stored a large amount of confidential information. Cyberlos had the necessary authority, so he turned off the defense measures and brought Han Xiao into the central computer room.
Rows of large hard drives were placed neatly like a bookshelf. Indicator lights flashed continuously, and at the end of the central computer room was the monitor and the controls. The room was simpler than the underground central computer room of Stardragon Division 13.
Cyberlos turned on the central computer, keyed in the password, then identified his fingerprint and scanned his retinas. There was actually a secret alarm measure in this step, where one set of passwords would activate the alarm in the event that a high-ranked official was threatened. However, Cyberlos did not plan to do such thing for the sake of his own safety.
He believed that Han Xiao could kill him easily before being caught, and he did not want to take the risk.
Thus, this alarm measure was useless to him.
Cyberlos was lawless and extremely daring when doing experiments, but when something concerned his life, he was a total coward.
“What do you want to see?” Cyberlos asked.
“Full map of the headquarters,” Han Xiao said.
Cyberlos controlled the computer, and the construction map of the headquarters showed up on the screen.
Han Xiao took out Viper’s helmet from his equipment bag, took a photo of the map, and stored it into the database to create a 3D model automatically. At the same time, he was also memorizing the map, quickly locating where Aurora was imprisoned.
Thinking about the Destiny’s Child mentioned earlier, Han Xiao was a little tempted to see what that was about, but Cyberlos said that only the leader had the authority to open the gate toward the Destiny’s Child. Thus, Han Xiao had to let go of that idea.
“Open your confidential intelligence database,” Han Xiao said.
Cyberlos did as he was told. The secrets were laid out right in front of Han Xiao.
Gathering this intelligence was the other reason he had come to the Germinal Organization headquarters. He had changed the original storyline, so it was only natural that there would be secrets that he did not know. Furthermore, he had just been a player in his previous life, so he did not have information on things like experiment stats, deployment plans, and such.
Han Xiao saw the exoskeleton structure of the super soldiers, it did indeed use the technology from the light mechanical arm he once had left behind, they were basically just using his leftovers.
Han Xiao recorded all the intelligence, especially the detailed information regarding the Hand of Death system. Giving all this to the Six Nations could create incom
parable advantages for them and eliminate the Germinal Organization’s last resort. The more useful the intel he contributed, the more progress he would made in his mission.
That was not all.
The Six Nations and the Germinal Organization both had a part of the class advancement knowledge—opportunities like this did not come very often.
His target was indeed the class advancement knowledge!
Han Xiao always like to maximize his benefits. Saving Aurora was not his only goal; intel and class advancement knowledge were, too.
“Open the knowledge database,” Han Xiao said.
Class advancement knowledge of Pugilist, Esper, and Mechanic showed up on the screen. Han Xiao let out a long exhale upon seeing that class knowledge. He was excited deep down—he could finally gain new class advancement knowledge after so many months.
The Mechanic class advancement knowledge the Germinal Organization had was [Nerves Connection] of the ‘control’ branch.
_____________
Mechanic class advancement knowledge detected: [Nerves Connection].
Spend 2 potential points to learn?
_____________
“Confirm.”
_____________
Learning in progress. Do not cancel.
5%…. 43%… 78%…
Successfully learned! You have learned [Nerves Connection]!
_____________
Han Xiao closed his eyes and felt the new knowledge appeared in his mind.
Like the name suggested, [Nerves Connection] was an important technology related to biological machinery. By reading the nerve signal from a life form, machinery could be controlled with one’s mind, increasing the reaction speed several levels. Having new advanced class knowledge meant that the number of possible knowledge combinations increased, and he could fuse many more blueprints. It was a direct benefit to him.
Finally, I have the second class advancement knowledge after the one from Stardragon about a year ago.
Han Xiao did not stop there. He also recorded the class advancement knowledges for Pugilist and Esper. Although he could not use them, he could sell them to the players in the future and profit a lot from it.
Controlling the source would give him a monopoly over the technology and attract the players. Furthermore, these were the core abilities for the players, so selling them would not be a problem.
When the level of the players was higher, they would start to need class advancement knowledge, and when they realized that they could buy from Han Xiao…
Han Xiao started to worry if he could take that level of popularity.
Intel and knowledge, it was a lot of profit.
Cyberlos was watching from the side all the time. Suddenly, he felt a chill and asked while shivering, “You… are you an Inhuman?”
Through their research, the organizations had realized that the Inhuman had the ability to learn things very quickly, and Han Xiao’s actions earlier were a little suspicious, so Cyberlos suddenly thought of this possibility.
Han Xiao had an evil idea. He laughed and misleadingly said, “What do you think?”
Cyberlos suddenly felt a chill around his hands and feet.
The arch enemy of the organization was an undead Inhuman, then what was the point of opposing him?
Sh*t!
What the hell!
Damn it!
“But… you appeared much earlier than the Inhumans…” Before Cyberlos finished his sentence, he became extremely shocked and looked at Han Xiao as if he was looking at a ghost.
Is Zero actually the first Inhuman‽ Was the Inhuman phenomenon actually spread by Zero and his ability‽
Not bothering about Cyberlos, whose thoughts diverged further and further from the truth, Han Xiao checked the intelligence and made sure it was correct before asking, “Is there a self-destruction program in your central computer?”
“Who would be so stupid to set a self-destruction function in the headquarters? That’s crazy…” Cyberlos wiped away his sweat.
Viper completed the 3D map at that moment, so everything was ready. Han Xiao pulled Cyberlos up and yelled, “Turn off all the defense measures of area A-4. Freeze all the surveillance cameras.”
Cyberlos did as he was told hastily, then it occurred to him… Area A-4, isn’t that where the little girl with the vital power ability is imprisoned?
“What do you want to do?”
“I want that little girl. Let’s go.” Han Xiao left the central computer room while pushing Cyberlos.
Cyberlos was stunned. He could understand why Han Xiao wanted the intel, but Aurora was the organization’s top secret. Han Xiao had not looked into details of the intelligence he just received, so it was like he knew it all along.
Was the reason that Han Xiao chose him to be the hostage also because he knew that he would cooperate?
Cyberlos felt a chill up his spine.
The feeling of being completely exposed was a fear that deeply penetrated into his bones, devouring his mind.
…
Cyberlos was very good cover. They came to area A-4 without any problem. After walking past the twisted corridors, they finally came to the tunnel toward the prison Aurora was in. The defense measures had already been turned off.
The duo arrived at the gate, and the guards stopped them.
“Open the gate.” Cyberlos tried to be as calm as possible.
“Cyberlos, I didn’t receive any authorization,” the guards said with confusion.
“Just the routine blood draw.”
“But someone is already drawing the blood…” the guards said hesitantly. However, when they saw that Cyberlos was losing his patience, they still opened the gate.
Walking into the room, Han Xiao finally saw Aurora. She was petite and skinny. Her skin was the kind of pale that had not been under the sun for years. She was locked in the room with glass walls, like an animal in a zoo.
The little girl was cowering in the corner and hugging her knees. She looked at the people in white coats outside with fear. These people were pushing a small trolley full of tools and preparing for the blood draw.
Aurora vividly remembered the pain of the blood draw, and it was going to happen again today. She bit her lips and hoped that the waiting could last forever. However, she knew that these people would enter the room sooner or later and insert a needle into her blood vessels and bones while she helplessly watched her life force turn into a red torrent and leave her body in a tube.
Aurora had fantasized that her older sister would save her from this fate, but she knew that was too much to ask. She did not want her sister to be in danger just to save her, so all she could do was look happy and optimistic in front of Hila—only then would Hila not feel even worse and feel less stressed.
At this time, she saw the gate open once again. Two people walked in. Then she could only see a few white lights flashing before she saw the people in white coat and the guards fall onto the floor with blood spurting out from their bodies.
Aurora blinked with confusion. She stared blankly as the glass wall that stood between her and freedom was opened easily.
A ferocious looking weird uncle walked in and reached out toward her.
“I’m here to save you, follow me.”
Aurora froze in place. She had fantasized and dreamed of this moment, but when freedom finally came, she was lost.
Chapter 240. Shock |
Aurora looked at the hands that reached out for her before raising her head to look into Han Xiao’s eyes.
“Why are you here to save me?” she asked timidly.
Han Xiao pondered and said, “You can take it as I’m just a warm-hearted person.”
“Who are you?” Aurora turned her head sideways.
“You can call me Zero,” Han Xiao said casually.
Aurora’s wet and large eyes were filled with surprise. “So, you’re Uncle Zero.”
Han Xiao squinted his eyes. Being called uncle made him felt like he was abdu
cting a little girl.
Cyberlos hesitated before speaking up. “She went through brainwashing. You should take note of that if you want to save her.”
Brainwash?
He knew about this rumor, but Aurora’s expression did not look like she was brainwashed. Han Xiao’s eyes twinkled, and he said, “Tell me more.”
“We have many methods of brainwash,” Cyberlos said softly, “such as the destructive one that will recreate one’s personality or the gentle one that twists their thoughts. We have also been researching on chips recently… although there has yet to be any progress.”
“Which method was used on me?” Han Xiao said with interest.
Cyberlos was immediately covered in cold sweat. He braced himself and said, “I saw your documents before. When we found you, you were already severely injured, delirious, and had clear signs of memory loss. When you became a test subject, because of the importance of your brain and the fact that you were already in such a state, we used the gentle brainwashing method.”
This was within Han Xiao’s expectations. Back then, he had been tormented for quite some time by conflicting images and sounds that could be nullified if his Intelligence was just higher than ten. He figured that it was not any sort of destructive method. Anyway, it was in the past, and Han Xiao did not particularly care about it. “What about her?”
“Her elder sister is a strong Executive Officer. Her ability is very unique—she holds a special position and has contributed a lot to the organization. Because of that, Aurora’s brainwash was an even more gentle method. Her personality and mind remained unchanged. However, if she hears a set of specific words, her brainwashed personality will take over, and she will follow orders strictly,” Cyberlos said.
Han Xiao understood roughly. Although Aurora was important, there would not be any accidents since she was completely under control. Her sister, Hila, was a sharp blade, so they left Aurora’s personality unchanged as a way to order Hila. Getting rid of the brainwashed personality would not be a problem; since Aurora was just a weak little girl, Han Xiao just had to knock her unconscious if her brainwashed personality was awakened.