Chapter 330: Locked and Loaded

Rose checked her weapon.

"Entrances?"

Ghost answered.

"Three."

"Primary."

"Vehicle tunnel."

"Maintenance access."

Bear smiled.

"Explosives?"

Ghost looked toward him.

"No."

Bear looked disappointed.

Shen Tian spoke.

"Adrian takes maintenance."

Rose looked over.

"He agreed?"

"No."

Silence.

Then...

Across the comms...

Adrian’s voice.

"I can hear you."

Shen Tian smiled.

"Good."

Adrian continued.

"I picked vehicle tunnel."

"No."

"Why do you get to decide?"

"Because I’m stronger."

Silence.

Rose looked down to hide a smile.

Adrian sighed through the radio.

"Maintenance it is."

Elena’s voice appeared faintly behind him.

"Stop arguing with him."

Adrian answered.

"I’m establishing boundaries."

Shen Tian smiled.

"Poorly."

"Fuck you."

Then...

The operation began.

. . .

Shen Tian’s team entered through the primary access.

No stealth.

No need.

The first security checkpoint spotted them.

Alarm.

Red lights.

"Intruders!"

Weapons raised.

Rose fired first.

Three controlled shots.

Three men dropped.

Nonlethal?

No.

These weren’t guards.

They were armed mercenaries actively firing.

Ghost moved left.

Bear right.

Shen International operators advanced professionally.

Then...

Heavy machine gun fire erupted from the upper platform.

Rounds tore into concrete.

Rose ducked.

Ghost shouted.

"UPPER!"

Shen Tian looked.

Then...

Raised one hand.

Golden Qi formed.

The bullets stopped.

Midair.

Dozens.

Floating.

Every operator froze for half a second.

Bear grinned.

"Never getting old."

Shen Tian flicked his fingers.

The bullets reversed.

Metal screamed.

The machine gun emplacement shattered.

Not the man.

The weapon.

The mercenary operating it stared.

Then...

Ran.

Rose looked at Shen Tian.

"Showing off?"

"No."

"Sure."

Then...

They advanced.

. . .

Maintenance sector.

Adrian was having a less elegant time.

Gunfire.

Smoke.

Elena slammed against cover.

"Left corridor!"

Adrian fired.

Two enemies dropped.

His system flashed.

Combat performance increased

Minor Fate gain: +400

Adrian smiled.

Then...

A grenade landed beside him.

"Shit."

He kicked it.

It exploded in the next room.

Elena stared.

"That was stupid."

"It worked."

"You could’ve lost your foot."

"But I didn’t."

She glared.

Then...

They moved.

Adrian’s system suddenly displayed.

Hidden Rescue Route Nearby

He froze.

"Hold."

Elena looked toward him.

"What?"

Adrian looked left.

A sealed laboratory door.

Not on the facility plans.

There.

He smiled.

"Found something."

Elena immediately looked suspicious.

"You say that too often."

"Good instincts."

She stared.

"You’re doing that thing again."

"What thing?"

"Talking like Shen Tian."

Adrian froze.

Then...

His face became horrified.

"No."

Elena smiled.

He pointed.

"Take that back."

"Move."

She walked toward the door.

Adrian followed.

His system quietly displayed.

Elena Affection +1

Adrian stared.

Then...

Smiled.

Maybe talking like Shen Tian wasn’t completely terrible.

Then...

He immediately hated himself.

. . .

Deep inside Project Fenrir...

Rose stopped.

A symbol was painted across one wall.

A black wolf head.

Her expression changed.

Old Black Wolf operational mark.

Not Shen International.

Old.

Lu Chen’s era.

Ghost saw it too.

Bear became quiet.

Shen Tian looked toward them.

"What?"

Rose reached out.

Touched the faded paint.

"Safe route marker."

Ghost nodded.

"Black Wolf used this facility."

Shen Tian’s eyes narrowed.

Xu Ning appeared.

[Residual memory route.]

A panel opened.

Lu Chen hidden operational history detected.

Project Fenrir was discovered by Black Wolf six years earlier.

Lu Chen failed to destroy it completely.

Rose stared at the mark.

Then...

Her expression changed.

"I remember."

Ghost looked toward her.

"What?"

She turned.

"Six years ago."

"Sudan contract."

"Lu Chen disappeared for three days."

Bear’s eyes widened.

"Fuck."

Rose nodded slowly.

"He said he’d been tracking traffickers."

"He came back bleeding."

"Wouldn’t talk about it."

Ghost looked toward the corridor.

"Fenrir."

Rose’s jaw tightened.

Shen Tian said nothing.

Then...

A voice came through the facility speakers.

"Rose."

Silence.

Her entire body froze.

Viper.

The speaker crackled.

"It’s been a long time."

Bear immediately looked upward.

Ghost’s face became murderous.

Rose’s eyes went cold.

Shen Tian looked toward the nearest camera.

Then...

Viper continued.

"I wondered who Shen would bring."

Rose slowly raised her weapon.

Viper laughed.

"Still loyal to dead men?"

Shen Tian’s expression changed.

Not much.

Just enough.

Rose noticed.

Then...

Viper continued.

"Lu Chen failed you."

"He failed all of Black Wolf."

"He ran to China."

"Chased a woman."

"Lost his army."

"Then..."

Pause.

"...died for nothing."

Rose’s grip tightened.

Shen Tian spoke.

"Viper."

Silence.

The voice stopped.

Shen Tian looked directly at the camera.

"Keep talking about him."

Rose looked toward Shen Tian.

His voice remained calm.

"See what happens."

Silence.

Then...

Viper laughed.

"Protective."

Shen Tian smiled.

"No."

His green eyes became cold.

"Respectful."

Rose’s expression softened slightly.

Viper didn’t answer immediately.

Then...

"Come downstairs."

"Let’s see how respectful you are after you learn what your dead War

Wolf left behind."

The speakers cut.

Rose stared.

Shen Tian looked toward her.

"You good?"

She nodded.

Too fast.

Shen Tian stared.

Rose exhaled.

Then...

"No."

Honest.

Shen Tian stepped closer.

His hand rested briefly against her shoulder.

"Then stay beside me."

Rose looked up.

Their eyes met.

Her expression softened.

"Okay."

. . .

Sublevel five.

Adrian entered the hidden laboratory.

Then...

Stopped.

Rows.

Glass tanks.

People.

Men.

Women.

Some unconscious.

Some awake.

Some barely alive.

Wires.

Needles.

Metal implants.

Adrian’s expression changed.

Elena went pale.

"What the hell..."

His system activated.

Major Rescue Fate Route Detected

Original protagonist beneficiary: Lu Chen

Replacement beneficiary: Adrian Vale

Potential Fate gain: 22,000

Adrian stared at the number.

Then...

At the people.

His expression hardened.

For once...

The Fate gain became secondary.

"Open them."

Elena looked toward him.

"All?"

"All."

"Some could be unstable."

"I said open them."

She stared.

Adrian turned.

His voice became colder.

"Nobody stays in a tank."

Elena’s eyes changed.

Then...

She nodded.

"Do it."

Their team moved.

Adrian approached the first chamber.

A boy.

Maybe nineteen.

Scarred.

Thin.

Alive.

Barely.

Adrian’s jaw tightened.

Original Adrian Vale...

Would have seen assets.

Weapons.

Potential soldiers.

Current Adrian...

Saw someone who had been trapped inside a story that wasn’t supposed to

matter.

He touched the glass.

"Not anymore."

His system flashed.

Villain Survival System secondary philosophy conflict detected

Adrian frowned.

"What?"

Host action aligns with heroic rescue archetype.

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(Author’s Note: IMPORTANT!)

SEND POWESTONES!!!

ALL SUPER GIFTS (Magic Castle, Space Ship, Golden Gachapon) = MORE ChapterS!