TIC 75

 Chapter 75

Three assassins charged forward, completely disregarding Jan’s presence.

The instant Jan moved, Sheldon suddenly appeared at his side; though his posture seemed off-balance, his center of gravity remained firmly under control as he slashed his blade diagonally toward Jan’s flank.

Jan seized the blade, using its momentum to vault over Sheldon’s head. He feigned a move to shatter Sheldon’s spine—but just as Sheldon braced for the defense, he realized that Jan’s heel had instead come crashing down directly onto the head of one of the other assassins. With a sickening *crack*, the man crumpled to the ground like a broken automaton.

Meanwhile, Sheldon’s blade ran clean through Jan’s chest.

Blood dripped steadily from the wound.

“It seems you really do care about your little pet,” Sheldon remarked, a mocking smile playing on his lips.

The two remaining assassins closed in on Xiao Yan. Jan’s teasing voice drifted over—as if having his chest impaled by Sheldon were of no consequence whatsoever: “Only two? You should be able to handle that, right?”

Sheldon stepped forward slightly, twisting the blade still embedded in Jan’s body; the sound of metal grinding against muscle was enough to set one’s teeth on edge.

“Do you really have the presence of mind to worry about others right now?”

Jan, however, clamped down on Sheldon’s hand and yanked himself backward with brute force, tearing the blade free. The sound of his flesh and muscle rapidly knitting back together rang out loud and clear.

The two assassins facing Xiao Yan struck simultaneously, attempting to pin down his shoulders.

But Xiao Yan countered instantly, seizing their outstretched hands. With a sudden upward surge and a powerful rotational twist of his body, he dislocated both of their shoulders.

Yet, acting as if they felt no pain whatsoever—without even a flicker of a grimace—the two assassins simply retreated swiftly to a safe distance, fixing their eyes intently on Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan made no move to attack first; unsure of the true extent of their combat prowess, he waited silently for them to make the first move.

Sheldon chuckled. “We underestimated your little pet.”

“Stop calling him your ‘little pet.’ You’re going to regret it.”

No sooner had he spoken than Jan suddenly materialized directly in front of Sheldon. With his fingers pressed tightly together, he thrust his hand violently into Sheldon’s chest—and seized hold of his heart. Xiao Yan stared tensely at the two assassins. As they exchanged glances, one of them brandished his blade and leaped into the air; Xiao Yan knew the man’s objective was to sever his arm. The trajectory of the attack appeared with crystal clarity in Xiao Yan’s eyes. His shoulders tensed; his arm grazed past the incoming blade, and his palm slammed squarely against his assailant’s chin. The man’s head snapped backward instantly—broken.

With a sharp *crack*, the attacking assassin’s eyes went wide. Still struggling to comprehend what Xiao Yan had done, he slumped limply to the ground at Xiao Yan’s feet.

Sheldon frowned. If Jane were to rip his heart out—even with the X-virus coursing through his veins—his body would be unable to regenerate a new one. He had no choice but to kill; he swung his blade, attempting to sever Jane’s arm.

Jane pulled back instantly, causing the blade to slice through empty air. Sheldon clutched his chest and took a half-step backward.

“Does that make us even?”

Jane laughed arrogantly.

“Even if you manage to escape this place—no matter which corner of the world you hide in—Father will find you!”

“Then let him come. It makes no difference; he never truly treated me like a son anyway.”

The remaining assassin stood frozen, awestruck by Xiao Yan’s prowess. He had always heard that the man Jane brought back was merely a researcher from Char—but why did this researcher fight with a skill level that rivaled any assassin trained over decades?

Xiao Yan picked up the blade lying on the ground and gave it a light flick; blood splattered from the edge of the steel. Immediately afterward, Xiao Yan charged forward.

The assassin anticipated that Xiao Yan was about to swing his weapon, so he raised his arm to block. However, he could never have imagined the maneuver Xiao Yan executed right before his eyes: using the blade to brace his own body, Xiao Yan stomped down violently onto the assassin’s arm—sending the man’s own weapon plunging straight into his throat.

A round of applause rang out.

Jane draped an arm over Xiao Yan’s shoulder and winked at Sheldon. “Now that it’s two against one, do you still think you have a chance of winning?”

“Aside from winning, the only other option is death. Do you not understand that?”

With those words, Sheldon charged.

He swung his right arm, thrusting his blade at Jane, while simultaneously reaching out with his left hand to seize Xiao Yan by the throat. The guy moved so fast that by the time his icy fingertips brushed against Xiao Yan’s skin, there was absolutely no time to react.

Flashing through Xiao Yan’s mind was the memory of Hein Burton’s fingers clamping down on him in the training room all those months ago.

*Learn to utilize your body’s rotational force.*

Acting on pure instinct, Xiao Yan’s right hand clamped down on the web of Sheldon’s hand; his left hand twisted Sheldon’s wrist, and as he simultaneously lowered his center of gravity and executed a swift pivot, Sheldon’s left arm was violently dislocated.

At the same instant—with lightning speed—Jane snatched Sheldon’s blade and plunged it deep into his chest. This time, Jane showed absolutely no restraint; his eyes blazed with a destructive ferocity as he drove the hilt of the blade deeper into Sheldon’s body. Sheldon crumpled to the ground.

“Kill me,” Sheldon said, staring up at Jane, blood still gushing from his dislocated left wrist.

Jane picked up the severed hand lying on the floor and pressed it back against the stump of Sheldon’s wrist; the X-Virus was already accelerating his regeneration.

“Let’s hope your ‘esteemed’ father decides to spare your life—or perhaps you can take my place and become his new vessel.”

Jane whispered the words softly into Sheldon’s ear.

Sheldon’s eyes went wide as he struggled to grasp the true meaning behind Jane’s words.

The sound of running footsteps echoed down the corridor. Jane yanked Xiao Yan along and urged him to keep moving forward.

“Are you absolutely certain you’ve completely locked down the fire control system here?”

Jane asked Xiao Yan as they ran.

“I’m positive! The current terminal system is so advanced that, ironically, it possesses no defenses against the basic viruses that were commonplace in network systems over two hundred years ago—unless Valentin Xi’en personally purges them from the system himself! But that would require manual computation; even with the accumulated knowledge of over two centuries, it would still take him at least an hour to fully clear the virus!”

“Then we don’t have much time left!”

They scrambled into the submarine and sealed the hatch. Jane dragged Xiao Yan toward the cockpit—only for Xiao Yan to discover, with a jolt of alarm, that Casey, Jerry, and four or five others were already waiting inside!

A sense of dread washed over Xiao Yan. He feared the worst: that they had long since discovered Jane’s plan and were simply waiting inside the submarine for them to walk right into the trap!

But instead, Casey rushed forward with a look of sheer anxiety on his face and threw his arms tightly around Xiao Yan. “Thank goodness you guys made it! If that fool Sheldon had cut off your head, I never would have forgiven Jane!”

At that moment, Xiao Yan’s heart gave a sudden flutter; almost instinctively, he reached out to pat Casey on the back, intending to comfort him just as he had in the past. But his hand froze in mid-air.

A familiar smile played upon Jane’s lips. “You underestimate me far too much, Casey. Did you get the data?”

“Got it!” Casey beamed with a look of triumph.

“Let’s go!”

Casey donned his terminal, and the submarine slowly glided out of its berth.

In that instant, everything finally clicked into place for Xiao Yan.

Jane had been secretly plotting all along to steal the antidote for his own condition from Valentine Xi’en; Casey and Jerry were his accomplices. Jane’s true motive for abducting Xiao Yan was to leverage his brain—which processed information three times faster than an ordinary person’s—to hack into the facility’s central control system and simultaneously divert Valentine’s mental focus. This would create the opening for Casey to slip into Valentine’s mind and extract the information they sought.

As the submarine sped further away, the turbulent emotions churning within Xiao Yan gradually settled.

He had been used by this pack of deceivers!

“Next up, we need to find a place to synthesize the antidote. Every autumn, the pain is so excruciating I feel like I’m dying,” Casey muttered incessantly.

“Where exactly are you planning to go?”

“I need to synthesize a serum to neutralize the viral suffix, and you need to synthesize X-2... How about we go take over a research facility?” Jerry asked, his tone half-joking, though a glint of cold ruthlessness flickered in his peripheral vision. If Xiao Yan refused to synthesize the X-2 exactly as they demanded, Jerry would show no mercy in kicking him right out of the submarine.

“Have you lost your mind?” Casey shot Jerry a cold, withering glance.

“Don’t worry about a thing. We’re free now, Xiao Yan.”

Jane appeared weary; leaning his head against Xiao Yan’s shoulder, he closed his eyes. His breathing grew deep and steady—it was the first time he had ever fallen asleep in Xiao Yan’s presence.

The submarine surfaced beside a solitary island, where Xiao Yan spotted an aircraft waiting. The sensation of leaving the deep sea was one of incomparable exhilaration; standing atop the submarine, Xiao Yan took a deep, full breath. The sea breeze blew in gusts, and overhead, the cries of seabirds sounded vivid and bright.

"Hey! You dummy! If you don't catch up soon, we're going to leave you behind!" Casey wrinkled her nose.

In that instant, it felt as though Xiao Yan had been transported back to the most innocent years of his past—and that Casey was still the very same Casey.

"Come on, baby."

Jan wrapped an arm around Xiao Yan’s waist, giving it two decidedly restless squeezes.

Xiao Yan shrugged Jan off and fell in behind Casey.

The aircraft carried them away from the isolated island.

This time, they flew out toward the deeper reaches of the ocean.

"Are we heading for the mainland?"

"Guess." Jan played coy once again.

A swathe of green gradually emerged before them. Xiao Yan looked down; the vegetation cover, the plant communities, and the distant mountain ranges—to Xiao Yan, it all looked incredibly familiar. This was the very place where he had first met Hein!

His heart began to pound uncontrollably.

"You really do get distracted by absolutely everything," Jan smiled faintly, his fingers tenderly threading through Xiao Yan’s black hair.

"Could you open the hatch? I want to catch the scent of the forest."

Xiao Yan pressed his fingers against the glass, his face alight with longing.

Casey glanced at Jan, and Jan gave a nod.

The instant the hatch slid open, Xiao Yan swiftly disengaged his safety restraints and lunged toward the opening.

Almost simultaneously, Jan clamped a hand down on Xiao Yan’s shoulder, his gentle gaze turning vicious in an instant.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" His furious roar echoed over the treetops, lingering long in the air.

Without a second thought, Jerry moved to slam the hatch shut, but Xiao Yan lashed out with a kick, striking Jerry’s fingers.

"Agh!" Although the injury was minor, the sudden pain made Jerry scream aloud.

The sound drew the attention of the zombies lurking within the woods. They craned their heads upward, their faces contorted in expressions of frenzied excitement, and began leaping in pursuit of the aircraft. A few even scrambled up the trees, stretching their arms out toward the sky—yet they remained, still, a vast distance away. “Do you see that?! Even if you jump down, countless zombies will swarm you! Do you really think you can kill them all?!”

Jerry glared furiously at Xiao Yan, then suddenly landed a punch square on his face. “Damn it! I knew you were a troublemaker!”

His fist was intercepted by Casey.

“I’m heading to the cockpit!” Jerry stormed off in a rage, casting a cold, parting glare at Xiao Yan as he left.

Xiao Yan was yanked back; Jian clamped a hand around his neck and slammed him hard against the glass window. “I don’t trust you anymore.”

“And I don’t trust you, either.”

Xiao Yan met Jian’s gaze unflinchingly.

“Boss, we’re getting too close to Base No. 2. Shouldn't we take a detour?”

Base No. 2 was garrisoned by at least one full Special Operations Squad—a force far too powerful for Jian’s current manpower to contend with.

Casey made a point of saying this right in front of Xiao Yan.

“Go around it.”

Xiao Yan closed his eyes, filled with regret over his earlier impulsiveness. He should have exercised more patience—waited until the aircraft landed, or even pretended to join forces with Jian and Casey, then manufactured an opportunity to escape later. Instead, his rash actions just moments ago had ruined every chance he had.

It was only then that he realized just how much he missed Hein.

He missed that maddeningly aloof expression of his; he missed the forceful, irresistible embrace; and he missed... the intensity of his kisses.

Xiao Yan no longer cared what Hein’s true feelings toward him might be.

He simply wanted to see the man again.

Just then, the aircraft lurched violently, and Casey let out a startled cry.

“Hey! Jerry! Can’t you fly this thing properly?! That trick of yours—trying to scare us on purpose—isn't funny anymore!”

But there was no reply from Jerry.

“What’s going on?” Casey’s expression turned grave.

As if suddenly realizing the truth, Jian abruptly drew a dagger from his ankle holster, then grabbed a handful of Xiao Yan’s hair and yanked him close.

“Hey—Jian! What are you doing?!” Casey watched in horror, scrambling to pull Xiao Yan back toward himself. “The microchip embedded in him has led Char’s people right to us! Casey! Take over for Jerry! His mind is under intrusion!”

The aircraft was rapidly losing altitude. Without a word, Casey threw open the cockpit hatch and climbed inside.

Meanwhile, the tip of Jane’s blade sliced ​​through the skin of Xiao Yan’s neck; blood trickled down his throat, and Xiao Yan let out a muffled groan.

“Shh... shh... it’ll be over in a moment.”

Jane breathed softly against Xiao Yan’s ear as the blade’s tip deftly extracted the microchip; instantly, the wound on Xiao Yan’s neck began to heal.

“There. It’s out.”

With a sharp *hiss*, the microchip crumbled into metallic dust between Jane’s fingers.

“Now they can’t track you anymore. Once we shake them off this time, no one will ever be able to find you again.”

“Jane—help me!”

A cry for help rang out from the cockpit.

Jane’s expression turned tense in an instant. After instructing the person beside her to keep a close watch on Xiao Yan, she rushed into the cockpit.

The aircraft finally stabilized its altitude.

“I’m sorry... Jane... Someone just breached my mind. By the time I reacted, that guy was inches away from infiltrating my subconscious...”

Casey was still visibly shaken, while Jane let out a cold snort.

“There are precious few people capable of breaching *your* mind, aren’t there?”

The aircraft surged forward at high speed; when Xiao Yan glanced back, his pursuers were already out of sight.

Now—before Jane returned...

There were four people inside the cabin now; this time, he couldn't afford to act impulsively.

Xiao Yan suddenly thrust his legs upward. Just as expected, the man across from him attempted to pin down his knees; seizing the moment, Xiao Yan abruptly yanked up his safety harness. The person seated next to him tried to force the harness back down, but Xiao Yan landed a sharp punch to his gut. He then kicked out violently at the man across from him; the man raised his arms to block the blow, giving Xiao Yan the opening he needed. He threw back his safety harness, flung open the hatch, and leaped out.

Unfortunately, he was still caught.

Xiao Yan struggled with every ounce of his strength, kicking and thrashing wildly, until finally—he broke free and plummeted downward.

In that very instant, Jane leaped out through the hatch after him.

“Xiao Yan!”

His hair whipped wildly in the wind, and his usually languid expression was now contorted with sheer terror. “Don’t let your head hit the ground!”

Xiao Yan snapped back to reality. He twisted his body in mid-air, but the moment his legs hit the earth, the searing pain of a broken neck—instantly inflicted—sent him crashing to the ground.

Although both men had suffered broken bones in the fall, Jane Wallis’s pain tolerance was clearly far superior to Xiao Yan’s. By now, he had already reached Xiao Yan’s side and roughly hauled him back to his feet.

“Did you think you could get away?”

His voice was low, yet a spine-chilling coldness crept up Xiao Yan’s back.

“You can’t keep me trapped forever!”

With his tibia now fully healed, Xiao Yan drove his knee upward; but Jane seized the opportunity to clamp down on his lower leg, hoisting him into the air and pinning him against a tree.

“Have you been gloating all this time, thinking I couldn’t bring myself to hurt you? You’re wrong, Xiao Yan! I’ve finally seen through your stubbornness—once you’ve set your mind on something, you wouldn’t change it even if the entire human race were wiped out!”

“You’ve already gotten everything you wanted! You’ve secured your freedom! Why can’t you just let me go?!”

“Gotten everything I wanted?” Jane raised an eyebrow, sneering. “Yes—and from this moment on, I’m going to take *everything* I want!”

Jane’s kiss descended with brutal force, and he thrust his hips between Xiao Yan’s legs. Xiao Yan struggled violently against him. Jane paid no heed to the blows raining down on him—punches delivered with such force that they shattered Xiao Yan’s own bones—as he tore away Xiao Yan’s trousers.

Xiao Yan knew that this time, his captor would show him no mercy. He clamped his hands around Jane’s neck, his fingers digging for the cervical vertebrae; but before he could apply the necessary pressure, Jane seized his hands and crushed his fingers with a sudden, brutal squeeze.

“Ngh—”

His finger bones shattered—though, compared to the agony of a broken tibia, this pain was barely worth mentioning. The man before him no longer cared about inflicting pain; his rage had completely obliterated his reason.

Xiao Yan drove his elbow toward the side of Jane’s neck, but his attacker’s hand shot out to seize his wrist, jerking it violently backward until his elbow slammed hard against the tree trunk.

This time, the pain was utterly excruciating.

And now, Jane was forcefully prying open his entrance, poised to launch his invasion!

At that very moment, out of the corner of his eye, Xiao Yan caught sight of...He noticed that a considerable number of zombies had already closed in around them.

Their bodies swayed unsteadily, and their eyes burned with the ravenous hunger of creatures that had finally sighted long-awaited prey.

Jan, however, paid them no heed—not until four or five zombies lunged at them in a desperate frenzy. Finally left with no choice, Jan reluctantly released Xiao Yan; he seized one of the zombies, brutally slamming its face against that of another, and then kicked every single one of the lunging attackers flying.

A veritable mountain of zombies swarmed in.

From the distance, the sound of an explosion rang out—Jan’s aircraft, having spiraled out of control, had smashed into the mountainside. Xiao Yan’s shoulders gave an instinctive shudder.

“Didn’t you want to run? Well, here they are—thousands upon thousands of zombies, waiting just for you!”

The zombies’ encirclement tightened ever more closely, yet Xiao Yan continued to retreat, step by step.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Jan grabbed hold of Xiao Yan.

“They want to eat *you*, not me... I’m sorry, Jan.”

More zombies continued to surge forward; even without weapons, they were utterly fragile before Jan Wallis. Yet, the sheer, mountain-like momentum of their collective charge instantly overwhelmed Jan.

He cut them down one after another, the mangled remains of the zombies piling up around him—but amidst the carnage, Jan could no longer catch a glimpse of Xiao Yan.

“Xiao Yan! Xiao Yan, where are you?! Xiao Yan!”

Jan received no reply from Xiao Yan; through the gaps in the surging horde, he saw only Xiao Yan’s retreating figure, running away into the distance.

The zombies showed absolutely no reaction to Xiao Yan, behaving as if he were one of their own kind.

For long before Jan had whisked him away from Shire, Xiao Yan had already completed his research on the “Sharon” virus. He had injected himself with this specialized pathogen, thereby tricking the zombies into perceiving him as one of their own and rendering himself immune to their attacks.

He had to escape—and the sooner, the better. Given Jan’s capabilities, it wouldn’t take him long to shake off the zombie horde and catch up.

Stumbling, Xiao Yan fell to the ground; yet, without a moment’s hesitation, he scrambled back to his feet and pressed onward.

In that very instant, the sunlight overhead seemed to warp and refract, and the air itself was violently cleaved apart.

Xiao Yan swiftly dodged to the side just as a figure clad in black combat gear descended from above, driving a blade deep into the earth where Xiao Yan had stood moments before. Had he been even a tenth of a second too late, his head would have been severed.

The figure slowly raised his head; strands of silver-grey hair swayed gently with the movement, and Xiao Yan met the gaze of eyes that gleamed with a cold, steely light.

“Sheldon...”

Without a word, Sheldon attacked again, delivering a powerful kick toward Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan raised his arm to block, barely avoiding being sent flying by the force of the blow.

“I don’t have much time; you know that horde of zombies won’t be able to hold him off for long.”

The blade slashed downward; Xiao Yan dodged by a hair’s breadth, just as the tree trunk behind him was sliced ​​clean through.

Xiao Yan’s heart pounded wildly. He wasn’t sure if he was a match for Sheldon; the fact that this guy had tracked him down—and that his target wasn't Jane—could only mean one thing: he intended to return to Valentine with Xiao Yan’s severed head as proof of mission completion.

Sheldon gripped the hilt of his blade with both hands. “Let’s see just how much you’ve learned from Hein Burton!”

The blade thrust forward. Just as Xiao Yan moved to dodge, Sheldon suddenly released his left hand and slammed it against Xiao Yan’s chest. Unable to evade, Xiao Yan was impaled by the blade and pinned against the tree.

Letting out a pained growl, Xiao Yan grasped the blade, attempting to wrench it free; but Sheldon, his face utterly devoid of expression, drew a second blade from his back and swung it toward Xiao Yan’s neck.

He was going to die...

Refusing to accept such a fate, Xiao Yan—in a frenzied burst of desperation—ripped the blade pinning him to the tree trunk clean out.

The roar of an aircraft engine sounded overhead. A figure descended from the sky—like a meteor breaking free from the atmosphere’s embrace, finally hurtling toward its destined impact.

In the very instant the blade was about to touch Xiao Yan’s neck, Sheldon’s wrist was severed. A powerful kick sent him flying; he smashed through five or six trees in succession before finally coming to a halt, impaled by a tree trunk.

The figure standing before him—seen only from behind—was so achingly familiar. It anchored his fading consciousness as an aura of earth-shattering, cataclysmic power unfurled around them.