TIC Chapter 61

 Chapter 61

The moment the cockpit door opened, the aircraft suddenly tilted violently. Hein grabbed the doorframe with one hand and hauled Xiao Yan with the other; the two of them hung suspended at a near-vertical ninety-degree angle.

“Liv—stabilize the heading!”

Just then, another aircraft crashed, ejecting several escape pods.

Xiao Yan realized the situation was a hundred times more critical than he had imagined. They were facing not only a direct assault by the Surge Organization but also their cybernetic intrusion into the pilots' minds. Toller—who had been co-piloting with Liv—sat with his head slumped, completely unresponsive. Piloting the craft alone placed an immense strain on Liv; their aircraft was plummeting closer and closer to the ground, with a sprawling mountain range looming ahead. If they crashed into it, the consequences would be unthinkable!

The aircraft struggled to correct its angle, but Liv couldn't hold out much longer. Hein seized the moment to pull Xiao Yan into the cockpit. They detached Toller’s neural interface cable, and Hein immediately took his seat; instantly, the aircraft regained altitude, skimming perilously over the mountain peaks.

Meanwhile, the aircraft carrying Colonel Luther was plummeting rapidly; their pilot, too, had been compromised by the Surge.

Colonel Luther squeezed his eyes shut. It had been a perilous journey, and he lamented inwardly: to think that even after escaping the Antarctic Base, he still wouldn't make it back to Shire alive!

“Colonel! Prepare to enter the escape pod!”

The very instant they smashed into a jutting rock face, an explosion rocked the craft, and Colonel Luther—along with the other researchers in the cabin—were violently ejected.

Witnessing this scene, Xiao Yan’s heart clenched tight. “Colonel Luther...!”

“As long as we make it out of this alive, we still have a chance to find them,” Hein said, his composure unshaken.

It appeared the Surge Organization’s “Blockers” possessed extraordinary capabilities, scoring hit after hit. If this continued, their entire fleet risked total annihilation.

“Xiao Yan! Take Liv’s place! Establish a link with all our remaining aircraft!”

Hein issued the command with decisive authority.

“Boss! That’s too dangerous! If Xiao Yan gets compromised, they could invade his mind and access all his research data on the Comet...!”

“No one can invade his mind. Because I’m right here.”

It was a statement delivered with such absolute certainty that it sounded like the undeniable truth. Xiao Yan gently pushed aside the hesitating Liv; any further delay would only cost them more comrades.

His mind instantly linked with Hein’s. Although they were individually controlling the left and right engines, their synchronicity was so profound it was as if they shared a single brain. Xiao Yan could sense the sheer resilience of Hein’s intellect—a force of such magnitude that its reach was utterly irresistible.

Connecting his mind with another person’s was a novel experience for Xiao Yan. No words were needed; in an instant, he grasped every one of Hein’s thoughts, while Hein’s own mental processing speed matched his stride for stride.

They reached a consensus: to unify their strategies for offense and defense, standing together to repel the enemy.

Xiao Yan’s consciousness rapidly expanded outward, locking onto every friendly aircraft, raising their altitude, and maneuvering them to skirt the mountain ranges. In a mere few seconds, the aircraft formed a cohesive formation to fend off the pursuit by the "Surge" organization. Guided by Hein, Xiao Yan fired heat-seeking missiles at the enemy craft; in an instant, two of the enemy’s aircraft were struck and plummeted to the earth.

As expected, the Surge forces attempted to breach Xiao Yan’s mind. Under the ensuing mental assault, the flight formation’s trajectory became chaotic and disjointed. Xiao Yan felt his mental links to the other aircraft being intercepted and disrupted; the enemy was even attempting to reverse-engineer its way into the periphery of his consciousness—a surging, violent force striving to pierce through his mental defenses and invade the very core of his mind.

At that precise moment, every hostile force attempting to infiltrate Xiao Yan’s mind was instantly ripped away. His mental periphery was enveloped by a protective force, shielding him from all external interference.

It was Hein!

Xiao Yan took a deep breath, knowing he no longer had to fear any harm. His only task now was to fly—to soar without restraint.

Shedding all shackles like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis, Xiao Yan maneuvered his aircraft with such ferocity it seemed poised to rip the very sky apart. Inside the cockpit, Mark—strapped tightly into his safety harness—cursed loudly: "Damn it! Are you trying to make me puke?!"

The enemy locked onto Xiao Yan and launched a volley of heat-seeking missiles. With extraordinary skill, Xiao Yan orchestrated the movements of several allied aircraft; not only did they successfully intercept the incoming missiles, but they even managed to shoot down one of the enemy’s planes in the process. The duo’s coordination had reached a level of absolute mastery; indeed, it had evolved to the point where Xiao Yan dictated the flight trajectory while Hein managed the fire control systems. No verbal communication was needed; Xiao Yan instinctively knew how to maneuver the craft to align perfectly within the formation matrix, while Hein’s every shot—though appearing to be a split-second, hair-raising gamble—was, in reality, executed with flawless precision.

In less than a minute, they had successively shot down three enemy craft.

Gazing out the window at the shower of sparks and the air trembling from the concussive blasts, Liv let out a sigh of awe: "Is there anyone left who could possibly defeat the two of them?"

Xiao Yan deftly dodged the exploding debris, weaving aggressively through the enemy’s concentrated fire. The remaining enemy remnants focused all their firepower on him, but Xiao Yan skillfully maneuvered to encircle them; Hein seized every available opening to fire, driving the enemy into a desperate corner. In their panic, one of the enemy craft actually smashed directly into a rocky cliff face.

With the enemy formation thrown into total disarray, Xiao Yan—who had moments earlier been on the defensive—began to counterattack with almost audacious abandon. His craft carved arrogant, sweeping arcs across the sky—executing massive loops and even spiraling maneuvers—until, before long, the three remaining enemy craft were forced into a humiliating retreat.

Xiao Yan and Hein gave them no chance to escape; a few well-placed missile strikes reduced them to nothing more than dust in the sky.

All the surviving special forces operatives and researchers had witnessed this spectacle firsthand. Throughout the entirety of Shire, one would be hard-pressed to find another instance of such perfect coordination—an interplay of offense and defense that was utterly seamless.

Such a narrow escape from the jaws of death was likely a once-in-a-lifetime experience—to say nothing of witnessing such a spectacularly decisive counterattack!

Xiao Yan and Hein gradually broke contact with the other aircraft in their formation. Their immediate priority now was to pinpoint the location of the escape pods—specifically, the whereabouts of Colonel Luther. He was carrying the Comet samples on his person—a prize that, to the organization known as "Tides," represented a piece of bait too tempting to resist.

"Boss! What do we do now? Should we commit our entire squad to searching for Colonel Luther?" Liv voiced her concerns regarding their current predicament.

They were under strict orders to transport the surviving researchers evacuated from the Antarctic base back to Shire; any further delay would significantly increase the risk of encountering another attack by the Tides organization. However, Colonel Luther’s status was highly unique; if they failed to bring him back to Shire alive, this mission would lose half its significance.

Hein issued a command: with the exception of the craft he currently occupied, all other aircraft were to continue their withdrawal to Shire.

Liv lowered her safety harness and returned to the cockpit; at this moment, Xiao Yan remained connected to Hein via their operational terminals.

"Colonel, regarding Xiao Yan... shouldn't we have him transfer to another craft and head back to Shire first? The mission to locate Colonel Luther doesn't require Xiao Yan..."

"He must stay with us," Hein replied coldly.

Liv looked at Xiao Yan with deep concern, but Xiao Yan merely offered her a calm smile. "Is there anywhere in this world safer than right by Colonel Burton's side?"

Stunned for a moment, Liv instantly grasped Hein's intent. If the Surge Organization were to launch another attack, their primary targets would undoubtedly be the aircraft returning to Shire—for no one would ever anticipate that Xiao Yan had not returned to Shire, but was instead continuing the mission to search for Colonel Luther.

Liv withdrew to the main cabin, leaving only Xiao Yan and Hein alone in the cockpit.

The unconscious Toller was transferred to another aircraft; Xiao Yan hoped the man would make it back to Shire safely.

This marked the very first time he had truly fought side-by-side with Hein, and his mind was still so immersed in the perfect synergy they had shared earlier that he could not quite snap back to reality. Instinctively, he reached out and brushed his fingers against Hein's. The instant their skin touched, Xiao Yan felt utterly foolish. Yet, just as he was about to withdraw his hand, Hein grasped his fingers.

Hein’s fingers slowly interlaced with Xiao Yan’s, closing around them with intense force. Xiao Yan’s finger bones began to ache—though he knew that Hein wasn't *truly* exerting his full strength; otherwise, his fingers would have shattered completely. Xiao Yan frowned, yet he made no attempt to pull away; for some inexplicable reason, he found himself clinging to the sensation of Hein’s powerful grip. Because their minds were linked via the operational terminals, their sensitivity to one another’s physical sensations was far more acute than usual. Perhaps sensing Xiao Yan’s discomfort, Hein silently loosened his grip—yet he could not bring himself to let go of Xiao Yan completely. Without a moment's hesitation, Xiao Yan tightened his grip on Hein’s hand once again; for the first time, he felt with such clarity the extreme care and caution Hein exercised in his dealings with him.

*If you are afraid that I might get hurt, you don't have to do anything at all—just let me be the one to reach out to you.*

As if bound by a silent understanding, Xiao Yan’s palm settled atop the back of Hein’s hand; and the Colonel—typically so aloof—held the back of his hand perfectly still, steadfastly supporting Xiao Yan’s touch.

The two finally approached the crash site of Colonel Luther’s escape pod.

At that very moment, an enemy craft hovered directly above the escape pod. Two assassins were rappelling down ropes, attempting to use some sort of electrode device to disable the pod’s airtight sealing mechanism. Xiao Yan had no doubt that the instant the hatch was breached, Colonel Luther’s head would be severed from his body.

Naturally, the enemy spotted Hein and Xiao Yan closing in and, to their surprise, immediately fired two heat-seeking missiles in quick succession. Operating with flawless coordination, Xiao Yan and Hein executed a looping spiral maneuver, successfully shooting down one of the missiles. However, having expended so much of their ordnance during their previous pursuit of the *Tide Surge*, they were left with only a single missile remaining.

With perfect synchronicity, Xiao Yan and Hein made the exact same decision. Hein’s command rang out through the cockpit: in that split second, every special forces trooper aboard threw open the cabin doors and leaped out. Xiao Yan and Hein simultaneously ejected from their pilot seats; just as the enemy’s heat-seekers slammed into their craft, they fired their final missile, striking the enemy vessel in return. The enemy had never anticipated that Hein and Xiao Yan could lock onto a target and launch a counter-missile in the instant before impact; consequently, they had absolutely no time to evade. Their cockpit and left-side engine were utterly wrecked, and the craft plummeted from the sky, smashing violently into the ground below.

As he was catapulted high into the air, Xiao Yan momentarily lost his bearings. Then, a figure glided in from nearby, fiercely embracing Xiao Yan—who, having just been ejected, was completely off-balance and tumbling through the sky.

Hein drew Xiao Yan’s auto-injector pistol and, before they hit the ground, administered the serum into his bloodstream; the X-2 formula took effect instantly. Although Hein completely lost his balance the moment he landed with Xiao Yan, he instinctively twisted his body to cushion Xiao Yan’s fall. The sound of friction against the ground rang out as Xiao Yan slammed heavily onto Hein, sliding across him; Hein dug his heels into the earth to slow their momentum, and finally, they came to a halt.

His combat uniform mitigated the pain caused by his body scraping against the gravel-strewn ground, yet Xiao Yan knew that Hein had absorbed the brunt of the impact for his sake. The moment their eyes met, Xiao Yan saw not the slightest trace of pain in Hein’s gaze; the strength of his embrace was immense—so powerful, in fact, that it compressed Xiao Yan’s ribcage, leaving him breathless.

The instant Hein released his hold, Xiao Yan scrambled to his feet. Once again, he owed his life to Hein.

"When we get back to Char, you’re going straight into aerial gliding training."

That was Hein’s succinct summary of the entire incident.

He had been injected with X-2—Hein had absolutely no need to worry about the physical trauma he might sustain upon landing—yet the guy had done it anyway...

"Keep up!"

Hein broke into a sprint. Xiao Yan realized they could waste no more time; if the "Tide" operatives managed to breach Luther’s safety pod, the consequences would be catastrophic. Xiao Yan had never run so fast in his life; the wind whistled past his ears, and before his eyes lay the sight of Hein’s wind-tossed hair and the taut, powerful lines of his back as he ran at full throttle.

The safety pod loomed just ahead. Suddenly, a loud *boom* rang out as the hatch burst open; a "Tide" assassin raised his blade, poised to sever Colonel Luther’s head.

At that very moment, Colonel Luther pressed his service pistol against his own chin. All it would take was a single pull of the trigger to obliterate his brain completely! Luther’s finger did not tremble in the slightest; his eyes remained locked on the "Tide" assassin, his demeanor utterly fearless in the face of death.

He had dedicated fifteen years to research at the Antarctic Base—everything he had done was for the sake of Char. To him, allowing the "Tide" to seize his brain would render those fifteen years of research utterly meaningless.

The assassin’s blade glinted in the sunlight, and a cold, razor-sharp chill seemed to spread and deepen within Luther’s eyes. Suddenly, a silver arc slashed through the air; the assassin’s arm snapped, sending crimson blood splattering in all directions. Behind the assassin, Hein’s blade had already grazed his neck, delivering a swift, decisive strike that left the enemy no time—not even a fraction of a second—to hesitate.

In the instant of Luther’s stunned shock, another assassin glided to his side, his fingers brushing against Luther’s neck. Luther’s own fingers remained locked on the trigger of his sidearm, while Hein was currently pinned down by three other assailants. Although Hein was a legend within the Special Operations Force—and despite Luther’s belief that even if Hein returned to Shire with nothing but his brain, the scientists there could still fulfill his dying wish to return home as an expatriate researcher—Luther dared not take the risk. Just as Luther was about to pull the trigger, someone abruptly knocked his gun barrel aside; simultaneously, another hand clamped down on the assassin’s wrist and twisted with brutal force. With a sharp *crack*, the assassin’s wrist bones were crushed. In that very instant, Luther was yanked behind his rescuer—a figure who still wore the wireless terminal rig typically issued to technical specialists strapped across his back.

“Colonel Luther, your sidearm should be aimed at the enemy—not at yourself.”

“Lieutenant Xiao Yan?” Luther was utterly dumbfounded; the sheer agility and combat prowess the young man had just displayed were completely unlike those of a technical specialist.

Xiao Yan deftly drew a combat knife from his waist, using it to parry the assassin’s blade. Immediately pivoting his body, he planted his left foot precisely beside the assassin’s right, then dropped his weight and drove his knee violently into his opponent. The moment the assassin lost his balance, Xiao Yan plunged his knife deep into the man’s shoulder blade; before the wound could even begin to heal, Xiao Yan executed a reverse grip maneuver and wrenched the assassin’s own blade from his grasp. The entire sequence unfolded in less than a second—precise, ruthless, and executed without the slightest hesitation.

Luther couldn’t even fully process what Xiao Yan had just done.

The assassin clearly had not anticipated that Xiao Yan possessed such lightning-fast reflexes. He took two steps back—and Xiao Yan retreated two steps as well. This act of withdrawal astonished the assassin; why would Xiao Yan retreat when he held every conceivable advantage? A smile, however, played upon Xiao Yan’s lips, for this was precisely the safe distance he maintained from his enemies. The instant the assassin yanked the dagger from his shoulder blade, Xiao Yan decisively drew the sidearm holstered at his waist. As the bullet left the barrel, the temperature plummeted; a sound akin to freezing condensation could be heard hanging in the air. The assassin had managed to dodge the projectile itself, yet he failed to escape the effective radius of the "Condensation Round." Consequently, one entire side of his body was instantly frozen solid.

"A... a Condensation Gun?" Major Luther was stunned. He had received no intelligence suggesting that the Condensation Gun had been successfully developed and deployed for active combat.

At that very moment, Hein leaped into the air, his body tracing a graceful arc against the sky. In his hands, a fully assembled sniper rifle fired downward toward the ground; the sheer recoil from the shot propelled him even higher. Since the bullet’s intended target was the earth below, the three remaining assassins merely gave chase to Hein—never anticipating that the instant the round detonated, their bodies would be flash-frozen by the sudden, extreme cold, while Hein landed safely and steadily some distance away.

Xiao Yan let out a long, relieved breath; Hein had taken an incredibly reckless risk just now! Had anything gone wrong with that Condensation Gun, he might well have ended up freezing himself!

Just then, Liv, Mark, and the others arrived on the scene. Upon seeing that the three of them were safe and sound, Liv exhaled a deep sigh of relief.

"Lieutenant Xiao Yan, did you inject yourself with the X-Virus?" Major Luther finally snapped back to reality. To his mind, there was only one plausible explanation for the combat prowess Xiao Yan had just displayed.

Xiao Yan was about to answer when Hein interjected coolly: "It is the latest pharmaceutical agent developed by the Central Academy of Sciences. Its effects are temporary—lasting only for a limited duration—after which it is naturally metabolized and eliminated by the human body."

"Ah... is that so? Why, that is a truly revolutionary breakthrough! It could be instrumental in refining and perfecting our research into the X-Virus!" Colonel Luther exclaimed, his face alight with excitement—wearing the look of a man barely able to restrain himself from rushing off to discuss his findings with his colleagues.

Even so, Colonel Luther’s gaze upon Xiao Yan grew increasingly profound and speculative. For he knew that no mere pharmaceutical agent—no matter how advanced—could automatically endow a man with such flawless combat proficiency; every single move Xiao Yan had executed to subdue the assassins had been indistinguishable from that of a highly trained Special Forces operative. This young Second Lieutenant possesses not only a neural interface speed far surpassing that of ordinary people, but also truly formidable combat skills.

It has been barely a dozen years since I last returned to Shire, yet the Academy of Sciences has already produced such a wealth of exceptional talent!

“Boss! We’ve lost the aircraft...” Liv’s expression turned anxious.

The *Tide Surge* craft was now merely a disabled vessel; more enemies would soon be in pursuit—not to mention the peril of being exposed in the wilderness, where zombies were already beginning to converge upon them. Their expressions were hideous, and the hunger for flesh and bloodlust burning in their eyes made Luther instinctively take two steps back. He hadn't seen a zombie in fifteen years; judging by appearances alone, they were far more terrifying than the killers from the *Tide Surge*.

Beside him, however, Xiao Yan remained remarkably composed.

"Xiao Yan," Hein called out, his voice calm and measured.

Xiao Yan unclipped his wireless terminal, pinpointed their current location, and transmitted a distress signal.

"I’ve already contacted Colonel Shen Bing at Base 2; his craft will arrive within ten minutes!"

Everyone stood ready for battle. Eliminating every approaching zombie within those ten minutes would be no difficult feat for Hein’s squad.

"Protect Colonel Luther." That was the order Hein issued.

The effects of the X-2 stimulant were gradually wearing off, and a wave of fatigue began to wash over Xiao Yan.

Hein’s cold voice rang out in Xiao Yan’s ear: "Hold on, Lieutenant. In ten minutes, I guarantee you’ll get a good, long rest."

Xiao Yan steeled his resolve.

The zombie population in the wilderness was not as dense as it was within the cities, yet the sight of dozens of them swarming toward them was enough to make Colonel Luther’s fingers tremble with anxiety; he tightened his grip on his sidearm.

Xiao Yan sighed and offered a reminder: "Colonel Luther, your sidearm fires tracking rounds; their biological targeting function won't work on zombies."

Luther’s shoulders gave a slight start. Xiao Yan then extended his own Cryo-Gun toward him. "Use this carefully—just try not to freeze our own men by mistake."

"And what about you?" Luther asked with concern.

"Me? I suppose I’ll just use this." Xiao Yan used the tip of his boot to flip up a sharp blade that one of the fallen killers had dropped. The zombies drew ever closer. Although this was Luther’s first time handling a cryo-gun, his powers of observation and memory were extraordinary. Based on the power and effective range he had witnessed during Xiao Yan’s previous use of the weapon, he fired decisively the moment the zombies entered his estimated range. As the projectile pierced through a zombie’s chest and unleashed its cryogenic force, five or six surrounding zombies were instantly frozen solid. Wielding the weapon firsthand proved to be an experience beyond Luther’s wildest imagination; the gun had minimal recoil, the rounds exited the barrel at blistering speeds, and its accuracy was remarkably high—having undergone multiple calibrations, it fully met the standards for advanced combat operations.

As if having found his rhythm, Luther immediately fired two more shots in quick succession; the surging horde of zombies congealed into a wall of ice, blocking their path. Zombies possessed virtually no tolerance for extreme cold, so the remaining horde simply skirted around the ice wall and attacked from a different direction. Luther held his fire; he was acutely aware of just how scarce the raw materials for the cryo-gun’s ammunition were.

In the span of a mere second, Hein raised his blade and blurred into motion, severing the heads of over a dozen zombies. The other special forces operatives also sprang into action, displaying their formidable skills; they knew they would be kept extremely busy until Colonel Shen Bing’s aircraft arrived on the scene.

Xiao Yan remained steadfastly by Luther’s side, while the other operatives exerted every ounce of their strength to prevent a single zombie from getting anywhere near Luther or Xiao Yan.

Two zombies, having slipped through the defensive net, charged straight toward Luther and Xiao Yan. Hein’s gaze flickered briefly toward Xiao Yan; Luther assumed he would rush over to intervene, but to his surprise, Hein continued his relentless slaughter of the other zombies.

One of the zombies lunged forward, jaws gaping wide as it attempted to sink its teeth into Luther’s shoulder. Xiao Yan shoved Luther out of the way, then suddenly snapped his leg upward; pressing his palm firmly against the back of the zombie’s neck, he slammed its head violently down onto his rising knee. The sickening crunch of shattering bone rang out with such clarity that Luther’s shoulders involuntarily shuddered. The zombie slumped to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut, just as the second zombie closed in on Xiao Yan from behind.

“Watch out!” Luther cried out, his face draining of color. Xiao Yan abruptly raised his arm, driving his elbow backward to slam against the zombie's jaw; immediately thereafter, he spun around to position himself behind the creature and, with a swift, decisive motion, snapped its head clean off.

Luther stared blankly at the scene unfolding before him. While one might have attributed Xiao Yan’s lightning-fast movements—following his injection with X-2—to sheer speed that Luther simply couldn't track, the rapid-fire sequence of attacks he had just witnessed forced Luther to make an admission: not every technical specialist, even with their physical capabilities enhanced, could hope to reach Xiao Yan’s level of combat proficiency.

Finally, Shen Bing’s aircraft arrived.

Xiao Yan glanced at the communicator on his wrist: eight minutes had elapsed. The reinforcements had arrived ahead of schedule—it had to be said that, this time, Shen Bing’s efficiency had far exceeded Xiao Yan’s expectations.