TIC 96

 Chapter 96

A few minutes later, they located the access point leading to the next level. They had no choice but to enter.

"I bet Valentine is practically convulsing with glee right about now! It feels like that bunch of clone assassins we just dealt with were actually just there to show us the way!" Wynn remarked as they descended.

"Don't worry—with me leading the charge, Valentine wouldn't dare try to take my life just yet." Jian turned his head, flashing a broad grin in Xiao Yan's direction.

This man's smile—once wild and unbridled—now seemed utterly carefree.

Ahead lay yet another deep, shadowy corridor. The only saving grace was that, according to Casey's scans, the walls of the passage were free of any laser emitters. What *was* unsettling, however, was the sight of rows upon rows of rooms lining both sides of the corridor. Xiao Yan glanced at Casey; if these were all research labs, they might just find the main terminal!

Hein placed a hand on Xiao Yan's shoulder to stop him from moving forward. Signaling everyone to halt, he walked over to the first room and peered inside through the glass window. The room contained nothing but a single bed; it was otherwise completely bare. Beside the bed, a young boy—no more than a few years old—went through the motions of bouncing a ball, seemingly humming a nursery rhyme to himself. He wore some sort of terminal device on his head, the wires of which disappeared into the wall, extending off to some unknown destination.

Jian immediately joined Hein at his side; upon seeing the scene before them, he wore an expression of sudden realization. “Aha! Welcome to the Cultivation Chamber! This is Valentine’s way of granting them ‘freedom.’ He fits them with neural terminals, and the system simulates all manner of scenarios directly within their brains—forests, parks; they can even experience a father’s love through the terminal—a father who is *always* Valentine Sheen. Then, one day, when that idyllic life is abruptly replaced by the reality of this cold, cramped room, they begin to act out with reckless abandon, desperate to catch their ‘father’s’ attention. Only a rare few among them ever suffer the sudden, jarring realization that they were never truly loved by their father at all.”

“So, that means this child’s terminal is linked directly to the system here.”

“In theory, yes.”

No sooner had Jane finished speaking than Hein drew his sidearm. Aiming at the door’s locking mechanism, he fired shot after shot until the weapon’s magazine—loaded with cryogenic rounds—was completely empty. He then drew a combat blade, thrusting it violently into the lock and prying with all his might. The blade bent under the strain, but eventually, the sliding door yielded, opening just enough to reveal a narrow gap.

“Brace yourselves. These children can be incredibly vicious.” Jane drew his own blade, wedging it into the gap to assist Hein in forcing the door open.

At that very moment, the child who had been idly bouncing a ball suddenly spun around, his eyes blazing with a chilling, murderous intent. With a movement too swift to anticipate, he snatched a blade from the headboard of his bed and lunged at Hein. But Jane was faster; he hurled his own blade, piercing the boy’s chest and pinning him to the wall.

Jane stepped forward. The boy, still glaring at them with unbridled ferocity, struggled to wrench Jane’s blade free from his body.

Xiao Yan and Casey arrived at the doorway just in time to see Jane raise his arm and sever the boy’s head. Blood arced across the wall in a wild, defiant splash—a grotesque, unbridled bloom of crimson.

Xiao Yan showed no trace of pity. He knew all too well the true horror lurking beneath these seemingly harmless youths; they had long since ceased to be individuals, becoming mere extensions of Valentine—creatures even more pitiable than the humans who lived their entire lives cowering within the confines of the Shire.

“Whoa… isn’t that a little… gory?” Mark asked, rubbing his nose.

“Don’t you guys need the terminal embedded in his head?” Jane replied nonchalantly, hoisting the boy’s severed head into the air. It was only then that Mark realized the terminal’s cables had pierced through the skull, connecting directly into the young man’s brain.

Wasting no words, Xiao Yan and Cathy worked together to extract the terminal from the skull. Cathy took charge of linking the terminal’s cables to the wireless interface they carried, while Xiao Yan swiftly initiated a system intrusion. In an instant, his consciousness permeated the entire base; probing ever deeper, he finally pinpointed the location of Jerry’s brain.

Having removed the terminal, Xiao Yan looked at everyone with an expression of extreme gravity.

“I’ve located Jerry’s brain, but the biggest problem is that I suspect Valentine has an entire army stationed here.” Xiao Yan’s wireless terminal synced with his communicator, projecting a holographic schematic of the base’s layout directly from his mind.

Just one floor down, Xiao Yan could sense a massive concentration of organic lifeforms. By analyzing the operational data of the facility, he calculated that the base likely housed several thousand of Valentine’s clones—and since their vital signs appeared normal, it meant they were almost certainly combat-capable.

This revelation plunged the entire group into stunned silence.

“Our objective isn’t to engage this entire army in combat, because I’ve already locked down this entire floor. Jerry’s brain is on the lowest level; if Valentine is here, he’s likely right there with Jerry. Our only route is to swim through the nutrient fluid transport conduits, moving from our current position down to the floor below.”

“What? Swim through the nutrient fluid?” Mark’s eyes went wide with disbelief. “That’s absolutely disgusting!”

“It won’t be disgusting for long; the nutrient fluid cycles on a fixed schedule. We just need to wait for the cycle to begin before entering the transport pipe. It takes only three seconds to reach the lowest level. However, the moment we arrive at the bottom, we’ll have to blast our way out of that specific exit point; otherwise, we’ll simply get swept away and recirculated to some other part of the base.”

“I’m good,” Wynn nodded.

“I’m good, too.” Liv glanced over at Mark. “Hey—you’d better be quick on the uptake, or else nobody’s going to be able to grab you in time!”

Xiao Yan led the group toward the far end of the corridor, where a massive nutrient fluid processing unit loomed. Xiao Yan raised his communicator to track the time; from the intake port, a torrent of spent nutrient fluid—having just passed through the filtration system—came rushing down with a deafening roar. Jane was the first to clip her safety line onto Casey; turning back, she spread her hands in a shrug. "I’m quite confident I can make it to the right spot."

Without a word, Hein locked his own safety line onto Xiao Yan’s waist. Wynn and Liv exchanged glances, then together attached their lines to Mark’s waist.

"Oh, so you two were worried about getting washed away? Don't worry—no matter what happens, I’ll hold onto both of you!"

Wynn wore a look of utter speechlessness, while Liv gave Mark a sharp jab with her fist. "Idiot! We were afraid *you’d* get washed away and that neither of us would be strong enough to hold you back on our own!"

"Time’s up!" Xiao Yan suddenly lowered his wrist and, together with Hein, leaped downward.

Seeing the filtration grate about to descend, the others hurriedly jumped after them.

Had ordinary people fallen into such viscous fluid, they would have struggled to even move their arms without expending every ounce of their strength; but these individuals were different.

As a powerful force drove the stagnant fluid into a sudden, rapid descent, they felt crushed by the pressure—as if plummeting into the very depths of hell.

Xiao Yan’s arm was suddenly yanked sideways by a tremendous force; amidst the sound of tearing metal, Hein—clinging with one hand to the jagged edge of a ruptured conduit—violently hauled Xiao Yan upward. Once Xiao Yan had both hands firmly gripping the edge, Hein used his free hand to shove him up and over. Jane, having already cleared the conduit, seized Xiao Yan’s wrists and hauled him the rest of the way to safety.

The nutrient fluid continued its downward rush; Liv and Wynn struggled desperately to hold onto Mark, who was on the verge of being swept away. The fluid underfoot was so slick that Wynn was forced to drive the blade of his knife into the floor plating just to anchor himself.

Working together, Hein and Jane hauled on the safety lines and finally managed to pull Mark up to solid ground.

"Cough, cough, cough..." Mark lay sprawled on the floor, coughing violently.

Everyone let out a heavy, collective sigh of relief; Liv gave Mark a hard kick. "You idiot!"

Xiao Yan wiped the fluid from his face and shakily rose to his feet. Gazing at the myriad holographic projections surrounding him—and calculating the variables of the simulated scenario—he saw the dreamscapes of the youths within the cultivation chambers fully manifest before his eyes. Xiao Yan knew, with absolute certainty, that this was the Main Control Room. But where was Valentine?

Just as Xiao Yan was about to interface with the local terminal, Jane placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Maybe Valentine is waiting for you to connect.”

“He doesn’t know me, so he might not be able to deceive me within the realm of thought. Besides, his connection speed isn’t necessarily faster than mine.” Xiao Yan gently removed Jane’s hand and entered the system.

“I’m coming with you!” Casey followed suit, connecting to the network as well.

They searched relentlessly until they finally located the signal emanating from Jerry’s brain: *What are you doing here?! Leave—immediately! Valentine isn’t here at all; this place is nothing but a trap designed to ensnare Jane!*

At that very moment, Xiao Yan sensed that a specific node within the main control system had been activated. He attempted to shut it down, only to realize it was a *manual* override! It dawned on Xiao Yan then that one of the cultivation chambers had been opened—and the young boy inside had been the one to trigger that node!

Xiao Yan took command of the system, sealing off all access conduits.

“We have to evacuate—now! Someone has breached the floor above us!”

“Give me a moment! We have to set Jerry free!” Casey shouted, his eyes wide as he stared at Xiao Yan.

Without a word, Jane snatched the terminal from Xiao Yan’s hands. “I’ll do it! Casey doesn’t have the heart for it!”

In an instant, a specific neurotoxin was automatically synthesized and injected directly into Jerry’s brain.

Jerry’s neural activity began to subside; his thoughts were fading, as if he were drifting into a gentle, peaceful dream.

“Goodnight, my friend. You’ve earned your rest,” Jane whispered softly.

*Thank you... Goodnight...*

Jane sprang to her feet and hauled up the dazed, stupefied Casey. “Let’s go!”

Their only escape route lay through the vertical transport conduits. The walls—now drained of their nutrient fluid—offered no friction to grip; they were forced to drive their blades into the metal plating, using the embedded weapons as handholds to haul themselves upward.

When they finally reached the top, they discovered that a filtration grate was jammed tight against the opening.

“Damn it!” Mark cursed loudly.

Hein remained silent, simply pressing an explosive charge against the conduit wall. Everyone was forced to scramble back down a short distance; once the wall was blown apart, they finally clambered their way up onto the second basement level. Before Xiao Yan even had a chance to catch his breath, a sharp blade slashed toward his head. In a split second, he drew his dagger and fiercely deflected his attacker's weapon. Only then did Xiao Yan realize who was waiting for them: the group of youths from the cultivation chamber. Their faces were devoid of expression; weapons in hand, they swarmed forward en masse.

"Good God—this is absolutely endless!"

These youths were no match for the special forces soldiers, yet their utter indifference toward their own lives imbued their every movement with a reckless, frenzied madness.

It was a battle devoid of emotion—nothing but flashing blades and splattering blood.

"I really hope I never have to do a mission like this again!" Mark exhaled heavily.

From deep within the corridor, the faint sound of footsteps began to drift toward them.

Xiao Yan’s pupils constricted instantly; he knew these youths had served merely as a delaying tactic to hinder their escape. Hein grabbed Xiao Yan and yanked him forward, breaking into a sprint.

They ran with frantic speed. When Mark glanced back over his shoulder, he nearly stumbled and fell.

Countless clones—each an exact replica of Jian and clad in combat uniforms—were closing in on them.

Given their sheer numbers, they stood absolutely no chance!

When they reached the junction in the corridor, they discovered that the sliding door was shut tight!

Everyone drew their blades and worked together to pry the door open. Once through, they scrambled upward, finally reaching the second floor of the facility.

"Listen up! The main exit door is definitely sealed—and there’s no way we can pry *that* one open!" Jian called out a warning.

Running at full tilt, Xiao Yan activated his communicator, pulled up the base's structural schematics once more, and pinpointed its weakest point.

"We have to get to the disposal area for the 'failed specimens'! If we blast open the ceiling there, we can access the base's flight hangar! Once we're inside, I can interface with the terminal and unlock the hangar doors!"

"Let's just hope they've already finished cleaning up the bodies in there!"

The group sprinted forward with every ounce of their strength. Bringing up the rear, Wynn was forced to draw his cryo-gun and fire at their pursuers. The killers in the front ranks were struck in the legs and crumpled to the ground, yet the others didn't hesitate for a second; they simply trampled over their fallen comrades to continue the chase—and not a single one paused, even as the bodies beneath their feet were crushed into mangled fragments.

"What a bunch of monsters!" Wynn spat out in disgust. They finally arrived at the body disposal area; it was just as they had found it—bright, pristine, and utterly devoid of any trace of activity.

Everyone unstrapped the explosives from their bodies, set the timers to ten seconds, and simultaneously tossed them to Hein. Hein swiftly bound them with a rope to a grappling hook, which he then fired toward the ceiling, carrying the explosives with it. Everyone turned their gaze toward the direction from which the assassins were charging, silently counting down in their minds.

“Five... four... three... two... one!”

A massive explosion rocked the chamber, cracking the ceiling above. Hein hurled the blade in his hand directly into the center of the fissure; the instant it sank in, accompanied by a dull *crack*, a section of the ceiling gave way, revealing a gap just wide enough for a single person to squeeze through.

“Xiao Yan! Go!”

Xiao Yan fired his grappling line and began ascending.

An assassin hurled a blade at Xiao Yan, but Hein—acting almost simultaneously—threw his own spare blade to deflect the attack.

Xiao Yan scrambled up and looked down to see the first wave of assassins storming into the room; Hein and the others were completely surrounded. Hein moved with ruthless ferocity—acting on pure instinct yet utterly unpredictable—forcing the assassins to constantly fall back.

However, Xiao Yan quickly realized that the assassins' true target was Jian. None of them attempted to inflict physical harm upon Jian; instead, they tried only to grab him by the shoulders and drag him away.

“Liv! Get up there!” Hein issued the command in a voice of cold steel.

Liv stepped onto Mark’s shoulder, leaped into the air, snagged the grappling line, and began her ascent.

Xiao Yan gripped his cryogenic gun tightly; whenever an assassin made a move to attack Liv, Xiao Yan would open fire, blasting them back.

Once Liv had safely reached the top, Jian shouted out: “Casey! You go up, too!”

In the span of barely three seconds, Jian sliced ​​through the midsections of three assassins. Xiao Yan looked down, watching the muscles across Jian’s back stretch into lines of extreme tension; with every swing of his blade, a suffocatingly heavy, boiling intent to kill surged forth.

“I’m not going! You go first!”

They had barely managed to cut down that initial group when yet another wave of assassins came surging in. “You and I absolutely cannot both die here! Don’t you want to see Aver again?!” Jane shoved Casey beneath the rope. “Go up! Then protect Xiao Yan! They won’t kill me! Think about our objective! Think about Claire and Jerry! Don’t let their deaths be in vain!”

Jane’s furious roar forced Casey to cast aside his emotions; he grabbed the rope and scrambled upward.

“Mark! You dead weight—you idiot—get your ass up there!” Wynn shouted.

“I’ll go last!”

“Don’t waste time! You’re the biggest one here; try it now! If you get stuck, Xiao Yan will just kick you back down—and then you won’t be able to get up even if you want to!” Wynn fought his way fiercely through the attackers until he reached Mark’s side. “That’s an order! Don’t forget—I’m a Major, and you’re just a Second Lieutenant!”

“Damn it! Damn it!” Mark cursed loudly as he grabbed the rope. “You bastard—you always use your rank to lord it over me!”

With only three of them remaining, their struggle became even more desperate.

“Boss—you go first!” Wynn shouted.

“Go up and protect Xiao Yan. That’s an order, Major!” Hein’s strikes grew even swifter.

Wynn gritted his teeth; he grabbed the rope but hesitated, unable to bring himself to leave. Suddenly, Hein lunged in front of Wynn and pressed the button at the base of the rope; Wynn was instantly hauled upward.

Finally, only Hein and Jane remained in the chamber. Standing back-to-back, the two of them managed to hold off the entire horde of killers, preventing them from closing in any further.

“Hein! Jane! Hurry up and get up here!”

Hein and Jane simultaneously fired their grappling lines toward the fissure overhead. In that very instant, a killer leaped up and grabbed Jane by the leg. A sharp blade flashed out, severing Jane’s line; reacting instantly, Hein twisted his body to snag Jane’s severed line, wrapping it twice around his wrist as he attempted to haul them both to safety.

More and more killers latched onto Jane’s legs; Hein let out a guttural roar and pulled with all his might.

The anchor bolts at the top of the fissure began to wobble, threatening to tear loose from the wall at any moment. The instant Rivethead began to fall, Xiao Yan yanked him back; the moment Xiao Yan started to slide down after him, Mark grabbed him firmly around the waist.

Wynn and Liv immediately rushed forward to help Xiao Yan hold onto Rivethead.

The sharpest point of Rivethead’s gear pierced deep into Xiao Yan’s palm; blood trickled down the rope, seeping into the crevices between the fingers of Hein, who was gripping the line.

“Casey! Use my sidearm! Tracker rounds!” Xiao Yan gritted his teeth; at this rate, he feared the rope itself would snap.

Casey drew the pistol and, in rapid succession, took aim at the various assassins who were grappling with Hein.

The instant their heads exploded, everyone exerted every ounce of their strength to haul Hein up. Just as Hein’s hands found purchase above, Xiao Yan and the others managed to pull Jian to within mere arm’s reach.

More and more killers flooded into the area, filling the entire ground below. They trampled over one another to climb upward—rising higher and higher—resembling ants swarming after honey, piling atop one another in a terrifying, grotesque mass.

“Come up—Jian!” Xiao Yan’s hands clamped onto Jian’s wrists, yet Jian’s legs were being dragged down by the killers below—a force of immense magnitude.

Xiao Yan gritted his teeth, feeling as though his very bones were on the verge of snapping. Hein reached out to lock his grip around Xiao Yan’s wrists, aiding in the upward pull, while Mark struggled to maintain his hold around Xiao Yan’s waist.

Like grains of sand coalescing into a tower, they watched helplessly as an ever-increasing number of killers trampled over one another, eventually managing to seize hold of Jian’s waist as well.

“Last time, you were desperate to leave me; this time, you’re struggling so hard to keep me. It truly leaves me at a loss.” Jian pursed his lips at Xiao Yan; the smile he wore in that moment was reminiscent of the very first time Xiao Yan had stumbled into his chest back at the Central Academy of Sciences.

A look of flippant indifference toward absolutely everything.

“Hein Burton, you taught him combat techniques, but you failed to teach him the fundamental laws of warfare.”

Jian was attempting to pry himself free from Xiao Yan’s grasp, inching downward bit by bit.

“Jian Wallis! What the hell are you doing?! You bastard! What is your game?! I know that bullshit rule—*never look back!* But I’m not looking back right now!” Xiao Yan was losing his grip on Jian; he could only cast a desperate, pleading glance toward Hein. “We have to get him out of here!”

“Don’t look at Hein! Look at *me*!” Jian suddenly roared, the force of his shout rattling Xiao Yan to the bone and sending a fresh wave of pain through his shoulders. “You need the decisiveness to make a judgment call, and the courage to let go! *That* is what you need to learn! Casey—do you remember what you promised me?!”

“You’ll never be able to shake off your bastard nature!” Casey snarled through clenched teeth. Crouching beside Xiao Yan, he exerted every ounce of his strength to pry Xiao Yan’s fingers open—prepared, if necessary, to snap the bones in his hands. “Casey… Casey, what are you doing…?”

Xiao Yan could scarcely believe that Casey would actually do such a thing.

“Didn’t you hear Jian tell you to let go?! Did you not hear him?! Valentine isn’t here; even if they capture Jian, they have to take him to Valentine alive!” Casey’s tears welled up in his eyes but never fell. “If you fall down there with Jian, everything he’s done will have been for nothing!”

For nothing?

In the split second Xiao Yan pondered that question, Jian abruptly tore his fingers free. The entire human tower—formed by the piled-up bodies of assassins—collapsed and crumbled as if its central pillar had been removed. Jian smiled, his gaze fixed on Xiao Yan; his lips seemed to form the word: *Goodbye.*

Hein clamped a hand around Xiao Yan’s neck and yanked him back.

And Jian… was already being swallowed up by the swarm of assassins.

Xiao Yan still hadn’t fully snapped out of his daze; Hein pressed both hands against his cheeks, forcing his eyes to focus.

“Major Xiao Yan! Tell me—are you going to jump down there to save him right now, or are you going to stick to the original plan and head for the hangar access tunnel?!”

Hein’s gaze was like a scorching sun—burning hot, piercing deep into Xiao Yan’s eyes. In that instant, his nerves stretched taut, threatening to snap.

Those eyes seemed like black holes, drawing together every scattered thought in Xiao Yan’s mind and forging them into a single, unified force.

“The hangar access tunnel!”

Having spoken, Xiao Yan spun around abruptly and pressed forward.

They had to get out of here as fast as possible and rendezvous with their reinforcements! If the enemy took Jian, they would inevitably have to use a spacecraft; as long as he could establish a link with the spacecraft’s terminal, Xiao Yan was 100% confident he could track their destination!

The group successfully reached the flight access tunnel. Xiao Yan hacked into the system and unlocked the hangar doors; just then, a spacecraft hovered into view directly before them.

The hatch hissed open, and Lauren’s voice rang out: “Hey—hurry up and get on board!”

“Lauren… what are you doing here?!” Wynn asked, looking utterly astonished.