Chapter 28 - 26: Who Are You?

Chapter 28: Chapter 26: Who Are You?

BANG!

Another explosion rang out.

"Hold this position!" Victor ordered the Bloodthorn Squad as he drew his gun. With that, he led the security personnel outside and rushed toward the source of the blast.

The Saint Group executives used the intercom to instruct the people in the laboratory to continue the experiment, stating that Victor would handle the situation outside. The Bloodthorn Squad also sprang into action, charging through the side door down into the laboratory to protect Lucia at close range.

To avoid suspicion, Adeline merely stepped up to the observation room’s glass, secretly observing every shadow within the laboratory.

Right at that moment, down in the laboratory, the female researcher in charge of the anesthesia procedure suddenly pulled out a gun hidden under the desk and pulled the trigger at Lucia’s transfer pod.

"What are you doing?!" another researcher yelled in horror, instinctively stepping in front of the transfer pod. He was from the Dracula family.

BANG!

After the gunshot, the researcher fell. The female researcher swiftly rushed toward the transfer pod and fired continuously at close range.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The bullets struck the pod’s wall, tearing a crack in it.

White Phosphorus charged into the hall, unleashing a Blood Flame punch at the female researcher. Lighthouse and Tuner instantly shielded Lucia’s transfer pod, while Ian led the other researchers in stabilizing the equipment and the program. Lucia’s spiritual power curve was fluctuating violently and remained highly unstable.

Overall, however, Lucia still held the upper hand.

"Transfer progress is at ninety-one percent. It’s almost successful!"

White Phosphorus had thought the female researcher was a mole for the Rebel Army, or at least an Extraordinary Ability User. Yet, when her punch connected, the female researcher was easily sent flying, crashing violently against the distant wall. Her entire chest caved in, and she coughed up blood endlessly. However, as if unable to feel pain, she still mustered all her strength to raise the gun, aiming at Lucia’s transfer pod and pulling the trigger.

The bullets were all blocked by Tuner’s blood net and Lighthouse’s body of steel. An enraged White Phosphorus marched forward, raising her foot to deliver the final blow to the female researcher.

Just as White Phosphorus stomped down toward the female researcher’s head, another violent explosion erupted outside. This time, it came from a different direction and was extremely close to the laboratory, causing a sudden power outage inside the room.

BANG!

The dying female researcher fired the last bullet in her magazine, hitting an unknown target in that split second of darkness just as White Phosphorus crushed her head.

Barely a second later, the backup power kicked in. The transfer pod had a power-loss protection feature, ensuring the experiment wouldn’t fail outright. However, everyone was horrified to discover that the pipe supplying nutrient fluid diagonally below Lucia’s transfer pod had split open.

The pressure inside the pod plummeted. Lucia’s mutated body began to convulse violently, and then... BOOM!

Lucia’s body exploded. All that remained in the transfer pod was a pile of rotten flesh and black water, which mixed with the nutrient fluid and spilled all over the floor.

White Phosphorus froze. Lighthouse stood stunned. The blood silk at Tuner’s fingertips hovered in midair, seemingly unsure of where to go.

The Saint Group executives rushed down from the observation room, shoved aside the shocked Ian at the console, and stared at the progress bar on the computer screen.

99.99%.

Did it succeed?

Somewhere in the Saint Group building.

A sweet-looking woman stopped chewing her gum. Still holding the game controller she used to manipulate the female researcher, she took off her AR glasses and voiced the same question.

She wondered, "Did it succeed? Why is there only a prompt saying [Assassination Event Ended]? Is there no completion reward? Did someone steal my kill?"

Urgent footsteps echoed from a distance.

"To think they found me this fast," she muttered. "Is my protagonist halo not working in this world?"

The woman immediately packed up her belongings, consumed a Special key to open the room’s door, and directly left the Saint Group.

Back in the laboratory.

Adeline looked down at the two transfer pods with trepidation. During that split second of power outage, she had clearly used the shadows to widen the crack the bullet had left on the nutrient fluid supply pipe, causing Lucia’s body to explode. So why did she only receive the prompt [Assassination Event Ended]?

Could it be that this didn’t count as her achievement? Did the Player controlling the female researcher steal the kill? Or perhaps... Adeline dug her nails fiercely into her own fingers.

Accompanied by the hissing sound of the transfer pod releasing pressure, the pod door on S717’s side slowly opened. A hand with prominent knuckles reached out from the nutrient fluid and grabbed the edge of the transfer pod.

Everyone nervously held their breath, watching as S717 propped herself up into a sitting position. She kept her head down, the nutrient fluid dripping from her pitch-black short hair. She raised her hands, spreading her fingers and clenching them into fists, opening them, and clenching them again.

The corners of her mouth slowly curled upward. The smile was very light and faint, but in White Phosphorus’s eyes, it landed like a heavy hammer. Lucia always smiled like this after winning a tough battle. It wasn’t smugness; it was a feeling of "I’ve managed to survive once again."

"You..." White Phosphorus’s voice was tight. "Who are you?"

S717 abruptly turned her head. Her originally brown pupils had turned a pale, translucent red. It wasn’t as deep as Lucia’s original eye color, but it was undoubtedly a blood-red hue. "What kind of bullshit are you spouting?"

White Phosphorus froze for a moment before bursting into tears of joy. She rushed over and threw her arms around S717, terrified that she might disappear in the next second.

"Captain! Thank goodness, we succeeded! We succeeded!"

Lighthouse also ran over. The two-point-three-meter-tall giant stood to the side, grinning helplessly with red-rimmed eyes. It was indeed their captain; her tone and mannerisms were exactly the same.

Only Tuner stood rooted to the spot, watching S717 being held tightly by White Phosphorus. His eyes were filled with suspicion and scrutiny.

"What’s going on here?" the Saint Group executives asked Ian.

Ian pushed up his glasses and pulled up a few lines of data from the console. The earlier data curves were a mess, clearly showing two streams of spiritual power clashing fiercely. But in the fraction of a second before the power went out, S717’s spiritual power curve had suddenly stabilized, as if she had given up the struggle.

The data showed a blank patch during the instant of the power outage. By the time backup power was restored, the two spiritual power curves had begun infinitely approaching one another, until they finally merged.

"The fluctuation curve of S717’s spiritual power has a 95.3 percent similarity to Lucia’s archives. Judging from the data..." Ian paused. "Yes, the consciousness transfer experiment was a success. However, Lucia’s spiritual power has suffered some damage. As for the specific effects this will cause, further observation and research are required."

After speaking, Ian looked up, his gaze falling on S717 in the distance. Their eyes met, both as unfathomable as an abyss.

"Captain, let me get you out first."

White Phosphorus couldn’t care less about anything else. She quickly disconnected the tubes attached to S717 and helped her out of the transfer pod.

Once Lucia—or rather, Yin Zhen, who was disguised as Lucia—touched the ground, a ruthless look flashed across her eyes. She suddenly snatched the gun from White Phosphorus’s waist, raised her hand, and fired toward Ian.

BANG!

A bullet struck the console. The flying debris sliced across Ian’s face, and his deep gaze immediately turned to astonishment, though he stood frozen in place.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

An executive beside him took a step sideways. The Particle Protection Shield on his cybernetic prosthetic flared open, blocking Yin Zhen’s subsequent bullets.

"Lucia!!"

Yin Zhen didn’t stop until she had emptied the entire magazine. Her sudden, explosive rage directed at Ian left the three members of the Bloodthorn Squad looking at each other in dismay, but this temper and style...

White Phosphorus thought joyfully, "It’s the captain!"

Lighthouse thought, "The captain is still... just as terrifying!"

Tuner simply remained speechless.

"That damn test subject’s consciousness wasn’t anesthetized at all! You fucking almost got me killed!" Yin Zhen roared furiously.

She didn’t know the exact details of the consciousness transfer experiment, but she knew the company definitely had a way to monitor her clash with Lucia on the consciousness level. Ian’s earlier comment—"judging from the data"—only made her more certain of this.

Therefore, she had to put on this act!