TIC Chapter 44

 Chapter 44 

"Jan Wallis." Hein’s voice dropped low once again; a turbulent undercurrent surged through the air, making it nearly impossible for Xiao Yan—caught between the two men—to breathe.

"He is the only tech specialist here. Both my unit and yours have the right to technical support." Jan chuckled softly, lifting a finger to clamp down on Xiao Yan’s neck. "Or perhaps I should just strangle him right now—that way, we’d be even."

Mark and Liv drew the blades sheathed on their backs and stepped forward to confront Jan, ratcheting the tension in the air up another notch.

Xiao Yan swallowed hard; he could feel the pressure of Jan’s fingers—the lunatic wasn't joking. He was just a tech specialist! Did they really have to make such a big deal out of this?

Colonel Shannon showed absolutely no inclination to intervene or dissuade Jan; on the contrary, he stepped in front of Jan, adopting a stance that seemed to openly challenge Liv and Mark.

Hein remained silent, yet in his gaze, Xiao Yan sensed a profound, murderous intent—as if Hein were looking right through Xiao Yan’s body, intent on crushing Jan Wallis into dust within the very air around them.

Good God! Weren't they in the middle of an extremely dangerous mission right now? It was questionable enough whether they would even make it out of this base alive! No matter which side he joined, he would only be a liability—he certainly wasn't going to improve their chances of mission success!

Xiao Yan’s terminal flashed a warning: several members of the "Surge" organization were heading straight toward their location!

"Liv, Mark—let's move out."

Hein suddenly turned around, leading his squad forward and into the corridor on the left.

Xiao Yan stood frozen in bewilderment, unsure whether he was more stunned by how easily Hein had given up, or by the fact that such a swift, unconditional concession seemed completely out of character for the man.

In any case, Jan finally released Xiao Yan, giving his cheek a playful pinch as he did so. "Well? Did I scare you?"

Xiao Yan frowned and shot him a glare. The guy was grinning as if nothing at all had just happened; a surge of inexplicable anger rose within Xiao Yan, though he knew this was neither the time nor the place to lose his temper—and besides, facing off against a lunatic like this, he hardly had the leverage to do so anyway.

"Let's go, Colonel Shannon." Without wasting another word, Xiao Yan turned and headed into the corridor on the right. Meanwhile, Mark—who was continuing to move out with Hein—seethed with suppressed anger. Lowering his voice, he asked, "Boss, why did you hand the rookie over to Jan Wallis? That guy certainly won't protect him! Jan Wallis just wants to poach him from us!"

In Mark’s mind, it was *they* who had saved Xiao Yan after his first spacecraft crash; subsequently, Xiao Yan had gone on missions with *them*. No matter what happened, it went without saying that Xiao Yan was *their* tech specialist.

Hein remained silent, but Liv let out a soft scoff. "If the Boss had actually tried to fight that lunatic back there, do you really think his threat to snap Xiao Yan’s neck was just a joke?"

Mark fell silent.

"Anyway... if Jan Wallis lets anything happen to him, I’m going to rip that lunatic’s head right off."

Liv gazed at Hein’s retreating figure. She could clearly sense the chilling, austere aura radiating from him—an intensity so oppressive it nearly took her breath away. She truly couldn't fathom how a fool like Mark remained completely oblivious to it, still prattling on with his complaints. With a frosty tone, she remarked, "Mark, how many years do you think it would take you to actually manage to rip Jan Wallis’s head off?"

As Xiao Yan and Jan’s squad moved stealthily through the corridors, they arrived at a circular chamber that resembled a central hub. Xiao Yan instinctively glanced upward, but Jan suddenly yanked him back behind him just as several assassins came plummeting down from above, their blades flashing. Sharon barely managed to parry the initial strike, and the rest of the squad immediately engaged the assassins in combat. Jan, however, showed no intention of joining the fray; instead, he retreated step by step. Xiao Yan, trapped behind him, found himself pinned against the wall. Jan showed no sign of stopping, continuing to press back against the wall with crushing force. With his spine pressed flat against the cold surface and his chest pressed tight against Jan’s back, Xiao Yan was on the verge of being squeezed breathless. He had no choice but to pound furiously on Jan’s shoulder—he knew perfectly well that the bastard was doing this on purpose!

The clashing of blades rang out incessantly, each metallic clang slicing through the air like a knife through the heart—yet Jan remained utterly indifferent to the chaos around them.

"Are you throwing a tantrum at me, Xiao Yan?" To his astonishment, the guy’s voice even carried a faint hint of amusement. Just then, an assassin lunged toward Jane. Xiao Yan assumed the guy was finally making his move; in response, he simply pressed down even harder against Jane. The pressure nearly crushed Xiao Yan’s sternum. At that very instant, Jane drew the pistol from his waist. Just as the attacker’s blade came within an inch of his head, a bullet pierced the assassin’s skull. Before the man’s brains could splatter, Jane kicked him away with a swift, powerful thrust. His reaction speed was so blindingly fast that it seemed to transcend the very limits of human capability. Each pistol held only three tracer rounds; Xiao Yan hadn't expected Jane to expend one so casually—it was an act of truly arrogant wastefulness!

“Xiao Yan, you still haven’t answered my question.” Jane lifted one leg, his heel brushing provocatively against Xiao Yan’s calf. Though the gesture was clearly meant to be seductive, to Xiao Yan, it felt charged with sheer danger.

“I didn’t...” Xiao Yan had to strain with every ounce of his strength just to force the words out.

“Didn’t *what*?” Jane’s airy voice sounded utterly—and infuriatingly—smug.

“I... I wasn’t throwing a tantrum at you...” Xiao Yan felt utterly spineless admitting it, though, truth be told, he couldn't really see what good "having a backbone" would do him in a situation like this anyway.

Suddenly, the crushing weight pressing against his chest vanished. Jane abruptly drew his twin blades and plunged into the fray.

Xiao Yan’s eyes went wide; he couldn't even process the speed of Jane’s movements. With a single fluid slide, Jane severed the wrists of two assassins right where they gripped their blades, while the head of a third was instantly lopped off. It all seemed effortless to him. Every leap, every swing of his blades was executed with an impeccable precision—as if calculated by a supercomputer running hundreds of simulations—even though Xiao Yan knew that every move was driven purely by Jane Wallis’s instincts. Moments later, Jane braced one hand against a teammate’s shoulder and executed a sudden, sweeping spin; two more assassins’ heads tumbled from their shoulders. Within a few dozen seconds, only one assassin remained—kneeling on the ground, his hands severed at the wrists—while Jane stood over him, one foot planted on the man’s left shoulder, his eyes cast downward like the Angel of Death descending upon his prey.

“You won’t be reaching the Main Control Room,” he said, tilting his head back with a smile. Jan, however, sheathed his blade and walked slowly toward Xiao Yan. Grabbing him by the arm, he led him to a vertical shaft—a chute leading down to the next level of the base.

The other team members immediately converged on Jan.

The assassin watched the scene unfold with deep suspicion, right up until Lieutenant Colonel Sharon was the first to leap down the shaft.

"Aren't you supposed to be killing me?"

A cruel curve twisted Jan’s lips as he yanked Xiao Yan firmly against his chest, wearing a smile so flippant it practically begged to be slapped. "Kill you? I actually plan to let you watch me walk right into that so-called Main Control Room!"

With that, he leaned back and tipped over. Xiao Yan squeezed his eyes shut, thinking, *Damn it—here we go again.* He loathed the sensation of weightlessness, yet—more wretchedly still—he had come to accept it as a daily occurrence.

Jan maneuvered himself and Xiao Yan mid-air, executing a steady landing. He released his grip on Xiao Yan—whom he had been carrying tucked under his arm—allowing the young man to regain his footing. Suddenly, the access nodes of the vertical shaft slammed shut; Sharon and the others instinctively looked up.

"What’s going on? Xiao Yan, did they detect your intrusion into Main Control?"

Xiao Yan froze for a split second. Only then did he sense an inexplicable force silently stirring within his mind—a presence that, no matter how he tried to evade it, clung to him like a shadow.

Abruptly, Jan ripped Xiao Yan’s neural link cable free. All data feeds vanished from their view, and in that very instant, the base’s alarms began to blare.

"Boss! What the hell did you do?" Sharon stared at him in utter disbelief.

Jan’s expression, however, remained chillingly detached. He ruffled Xiao Yan’s hair, his voice devoid of any trace of amusement: "His brain was being invaded."

Xiao Yan gasped for breath; the sudden sensation of liberation was so overwhelming that he could barely remain standing.

Being disconnected from the terminal meant that his attempt to infiltrate the base’s Main Control system had failed! Yet, had Jan not severed Xiao Yan’s link in the nick of time, the "blocker"—the intruder that had breached Xiao Yan’s mind—could very well have burrowed into his subconscious, or even completely shattered his cognitive functions.

It was just as he had suspected: his experience was still woefully insufficient.

This level of the base was proving to be far more complex than he had ever imagined. A hissing sound drifted down from above. The group looked up to see four zombies—their limbs twisted into grotesque shapes—scuttling across the ceiling overhead. They bore absolutely no resemblance to human beings; their blood-red eyes looked as if they were on the verge of bursting from their sockets.

The instant one of the creatures dropped, Jian shoved Xiao Yan to the ground. A sharp blade flashed through the air; the zombie let out a high-pitched shriek and instantly scrambled away, while the other three converged on the spot.

Yellow-green slime dripped from Jian’s blade. Xiao Yan’s heart—which had seemed to stand still—suddenly began to pound in his chest. Acting on pure instinct, he unclipped a portable sampling device from his belt and collected the viscous fluid. Judging by the zombies' grotesque forms, the Surge Organization had undoubtedly subjected them to some form of genetic modification! Xiao Yan had no idea if he would make it out of this place alive, but driven by the insatiable curiosity and investigative zeal of a true scholar, he *had* to find out exactly what the Surge Organization had done to these creatures!

The three remaining zombies dropped simultaneously, and the special forces team resumed their deadly work. Sharon’s blade sliced ​​deep into one of the creatures, but it nimbly dodged away; its body—nearly severed in two—miraculously healed itself within a mere two or three seconds, letting out a sound that bordered on a taunt.

Sharon gritted her teeth and gave her blade a sharp flick. "What the hell *are* these things?"

Xiao Yan quickly reattached his neural interface and ran an analysis on the sample. He froze in stunned disbelief: the zombies' genetic code actually contained DNA from both tarantulas and lizards!

It was utterly impossible! An insurmountable genetic chasm existed between different species; their genetic codes were inherently incompatible and mutually exclusive. How—by what twisted means—had the Surge Organization managed to pull this off?

Jian’s fingers brushed lightly through Xiao Yan’s hair. Xiao Yan looked up to see a smile playing on Jian’s lips—a smile that was at once playful and chillingly cold.

"Stay right here and don't move. And one more thing: take good care of your brain."

With those words, Jian tightened his grip on his twin blades, called out Sharon’s name, and lunged forward. His hair whipped through the air behind him, and the taut lines of his back seemed to coil with a raw, explosive power that defied all prediction. Sharon suddenly began hacking and slashing furiously at the zombies; with every downward stroke of her blade—and in the split second before the zombies’ wounds could heal—Jane would strike again with uncanny precision along the very same cuts Sharon had made, her movements a blend of decisiveness and sheer madness.

Xiao Yan stared blankly at the scene unfolding before him.

He knew that Jane and Hein were fundamentally different. Hein regarded killing with utter indifference, whereas Jane seemed to revel in it.

Yet, they were also the same—equally lethal.

Just as Xiao Yan felt something pressing against his neck, Jane suddenly materialized at his side; cradling the blade of her sword with one hand, she slammed her other hand against the pommel, driving the sharp steel straight through the head of the zombie lurking behind Xiao Yan. With a wet thud, the creature collapsed like a sack of rotting flesh, its face still frozen in a mask of frenzied madness.

"Good boy," Jane murmured, the movement of her lips like the weaving of a demonic incantation from the depths of hell.

Xiao Yan took a sharp intake of breath; Jane gripped his shoulder, signaling him to keep moving forward. Relying on his memory of the facility’s layout, Xiao Yan chose the passageway leading to the next level.

The instant they had all stepped inside, the nodal gateway behind them snapped shut; the walls instantly became overlaid with holographic imagery, and Professor Manson’s face appeared on the display.

"Welcome to my lair. I hope you enjoy your little adventure."

For a fleeting moment, Xiao Yan was mesmerized by the sight of Professor Manson’s face, but he quickly realized it was nothing more than a twisted, cruel joke orchestrated by the Tide organization.

The nodal gateway ahead of them hissed open; at that moment, everyone froze in their tracks. Jane immediately positioned herself squarely in front of Xiao Yan, shielding him completely.

"Hey—what else is waiting for us up there?" Sharon asked in a half-joking tone, though Xiao Yan knew just how serious she actually was.

"Hybrid monsters," Xiao Yan answered in a low voice.

He knew that, back then, he should have refused this damned mission—even if it meant dying—rather than meekly submitting to it. But now, regretting it was utterly pointless; at the very least, those researchers hadn't even had the chance to lay eyes on these monstrosities before they perished.

If he were to die here, his name would probably end up carved into the memorial monument in the Central Plaza. He just hoped they wouldn't carve it too high up, or else no one would be able to see it. That guy, Casey, would probably stand right in front of his nameplate and spend the rest of his life nagging him about it. Just thinking about it gave Xiao Yan a splitting headache. Jane did not rush forward immediately; the other side of the node was shrouded in pitch darkness. Since the Surge Organization was already aware of their arrival, what lay ahead could hardly be a sumptuous afternoon tea—especially considering that no one here had any fondness for black tea or sweets. Xiao Yan knew that they had effectively become guinea pigs for the Surge Organization to test the lethality of their hybrid zombies. His only hope was that Jane Wallis and his squad would manage to hold out until the very end.

Jane activated his illuminator, and the entire space ahead was instantly flooded with light. It revealed a curved wall lined with rows upon rows of high-density titanium doors—stacked like bookshelves—each bearing an identification number. As a technical specialist, Xiao Yan instantly realized what horrors were concealed behind those doors.

Just as Jane was about to step forward, Xiao Yan grabbed him by the arm.

"What is it?" Jane turned to look at him.

"That is... this base's specimen chamber... It houses a great many of the monsters they’ve created," Xiao Yan warned him with grave seriousness.

Jane’s fingers brushed lightly against the tip of Xiao Yan’s nose; within his typically flippant smile, there was—surprisingly—a hint of earnestness. "Silly boy... I’m a monster, too."

With those words, Jane took his first step forward. In that very instant, the floor sensors detected Jane’s presence and lit up; only then did everyone clearly see the Surge Organization’s cross-shaped emblem glowing beneath their feet.

Xiao Yan started to follow him, but Jane raised a hand to stop him, while Sharon placed a restraining hand on Xiao Yan’s shoulder.

Jane tilted his head back slightly, his gaze sweeping across the rows of doors. Suddenly, the door directly facing him flew open, and something lunged out violently, hurtling straight toward Jane.

Xiao Yan instinctively recoiled half a step, watching in horror as the grotesque monster opened its terrifying maw, snapping its jaws at Jane’s head. Then—as if it were a mere optical illusion—Jane’s body blurred; he leaped nimbly into the air, instantly reappearing behind the monster, and drove his knee with brutal force into the back of its neck.

The monster’s head clearly exhibited the telltale characteristics of a zombie, yet its sheer physical bulk was several times that of an ordinary undead creature.

It let out a muffled grunt, but its massive frame did nothing to hinder its astonishing agility.

The monster’s regenerative capabilities were far too rapid; the only effective way to kill it was to sever its head. The creature lashed out a claw, swiping at Jane’s back. But Jane used its arm as a springboard, leaping into the air; mid-flight, he twisted his body and plunged his twin blades deep into the monster’s neck. The monster thrashed violently, attempting to shake Jane off; Jane yanked his blades free and landed nimbly on the ground. The monster panted heavily, the wound on its neck already beginning to heal.

Jane curled the corners of his lips into a smirk, then suddenly hurled the blade in his right hand. The monster batted the projectile aside with a claw, but in that exact instant, Jane lunged forward like an arrow; with the blade still in his left hand, he struck upward, aiming to drive the weapon through the monster’s jaw and out the top of its skull.

To Xiao Yan, it was an incredibly daring maneuver—though for Jane, it was evidently nothing extraordinary; he remained utterly unruffled, his breathing steady and his heart rate unchanged. Yet, Xiao Yan saw no look of triumph on his face; instead, Jane raised a hand to signal "Full Alert."

In that very moment, every single door in the room burst open, and Xiao Yan’s heart instantly leaped into his throat.

Countless monsters—each of a different, grotesque form—came surging out!

Sharon grabbed Xiao Yan and yanked him along. They had no opportunity to fight back; they were reduced to mere prey, fleeing helplessly as the monsters gave chase. The space that had moments ago felt vast and open suddenly became claustrophobic and perilous. No sooner had Sharon pulled Xiao Yan clear of one monster than another loomed right before their eyes. Just as the creature gaped its jaws—so close that Xiao Yan could distinctly feel the hot, foul breath washing over his face—Jane suddenly stomped down onto the monster’s head. He drove his blade downward with brutal force, aiming to pierce its skull from the crown; however, the monster dodged just fast enough that Jane’s blade merely sheared off its ear.

Amidst the chaotic melee—filled with the monsters' roars and the flashing blades of the special forces operatives—Xiao Yan felt a ringing in his ears and lost all sense of direction. A monster tore the arm clean off one of the soldiers; in the split second that the man’s combat effectiveness was compromised, a second monster clamped its jaws around his waist. Between the two of them, they instantly tore the soldier’s body in half.

Xiao Yan’s mouth fell open, yet he could not utter a single sound. It was the first time he had ever witnessed a special forces soldier meet such a gruesome, violent end.

"Xiao Yan! What are you gawking at?" Jane suddenly yanked him into his arms, just as a lunging monster missed its target by a hair’s breadth. Lifting his eyes slightly, he saw no trace of sorrow on Jian’s face over the loss of his subordinates—a superfluous emotion that would only cloud their judgment, or even cost them their lives. *This* was true warfare.

The fight was so brutal that it stripped away every vestige of human emotion—even fear.

In an instant, two of the monsters cornered Xiao Yan and Jian against a wall. Jian shielded Xiao Yan with immense patience, parrying the beasts' attacks time and again. The longer this battle dragged on, the heavier the casualties would be for Jian’s unit.

Xiao Yan lifted his leg, drew a pistol he had strapped to his calf, and raised his arm—though his fingers trembled violently.

"At their core, they’re still zombies! Shooting them won't do a damn bit of good!" Jian reminded Xiao Yan with exasperation.

"Lieutenant Colonel Wallis, let's see once and for all if you and I truly share any chemistry," Xiao Yan gritted his teeth, and his fingers ceased their trembling.

Jian offered no verbal reply, merely smiling with cool detachment. The moment he deflected one monster with a single hand, the head of the other monster lunged forward violently. Xiao Yan abruptly squeezed the trigger; the density of the air around the beast surged, and the temperature plummeted, accompanied by a sound like cracking ice. The monster’s movements slowed drastically, freezing solid right before Xiao Yan’s eyes; the slime dripping from its gaping maw solidified instantly, and the blood-red glow in its eyes faded to dullness. Jian spun around and struck the monster’s head with the pommel of his sword; in an instant, it shattered into fragments.

The second monster closed in once more. Jian took the pistol from Xiao Yan’s hand and squeezed the trigger. The monster attempted to dodge, but half of its body had already frozen solid; without hesitation, Jian cleaved it in two.

With two fewer monsters to contend with, the combat zone opened up considerably, allowing the Special Forces operatives to strike with far greater efficiency.

"You actually managed to perfect the Cryo-Gun?" Jian asked, examining the new weapon with keen interest.

"No, I haven't quite finished the power core yet..."

Jian aimed at another monster and fired a third shot. However, to his utter surprise, the Cryo-Gun in his hand suddenly shattered into pieces. Fortunately, his reflexes were lightning-fast; he thrust his blade forward, piercing the monster’s throat—though the creature still managed to recoil away. Jane turned back to look at Xiao Yan. "Hey, what is going on?"

"I was just about to tell you! Although this gun won't give the user frostbite like the last one did, it can only fire two shots!"

At that very moment, the ground beneath their feet rapidly contracted. The special forces soldiers swiftly deployed their grappling lines, but Xiao Yan—along with the monsters—plunged into the abyss below.

"Xiao Yan!" Jane let go of her line, and Sharon immediately followed suit, diving down after her.

The rushing wind whistled past Xiao Yan's ears; darkness engulfed his vision, and he squeezed his eyes shut tight.

Suddenly, something caught him, abruptly arresting his fall. The anticipated impact—and the pain that should have followed—never came. He heard the distinct sound of shattering bone, but it wasn't his own.

Xiao Yan opened his eyes to find himself face-to-face with a stern, impassive countenance.

"Colonel Burton!" Only then did Xiao Yan realize that his rescuer was none other than Hein Burton!

Just then, Jane and Sharon landed right beside Xiao Yan.

Their light emitters illuminated the space around them as the monsters that had tumbled down with them scrambled back to their feet and attacked once more.

Hein set Xiao Yan down and brought his arm down in a powerful slash; the front claws of the monster before him were severed, and the battle resumed. Hein and Jane slaughtered the monsters with a ferocity that suggested a silent, unspoken rivalry between them—any monster Hein failed to dispatch in a single blow, Jane would deliberately finish off; conversely, any monster attempting a sneak attack on Jane would instantly have its brain pierced by Hein.

Xiao Yan was shielded by Liv and Mark. The pair worked together with flawless coordination—and with Sharon’s assistance—managing to eliminate two of the monsters, albeit with considerable effort.

Finally, as Hein lopped off the head of the last remaining monster, a profound silence settled over the scene.

Xiao Yan swallowed hard, only then noticing the dried trails of monster slime caked onto Hein’s uniform. Liv and Mark’s combat gear also looked battered and disheveled. Furthermore, the number of soldiers from Hein’s unit gathered in this area was noticeably smaller than before; Xiao Yan realized that reaching this point in the base must have come at a heavy, heavy cost for them.

This level served as the base's central control hub; ahead, stretching into the darkness of the passageway, lay a nightmare that seemed to extend into infinity.