Regan exerted his full strength, but Ulysses was simply too fast. He stared intensely as Ulysses’s sword flashed down.

Fortunately, the female psychic named Lina reacted with lightning speed. The moment Ulysses appeared, she instantly spun around, gripping her sword hilt with both hands, blocking Ulysses’s impossibly fast strike.

Behind her, Number Ten’s eyes blazed with sharp light; he saw the opportunity he had long awaited. This woman, intent on cutting off his lineage, had her back to him and was too preoccupied by Ulysses’s pressure to notice anything else.

So, without a sound, he thrust his sword straight towards her back.

He poured all his strength into this thrust, venting the resentment that had built up from long suppression. A flash of red light illuminated the blade as the tip nearly touched Lina's [Note: The original text seems to have a missing character or word here, implying a very close call or perhaps an intended target area, which I will leave as is, respecting the structure.].

"Dream on," Yang Ying, who was right beside Lina, drew his Gauss pistol the instant he saw Number Ten strike and aimed it at his head. "Bang." A single shot rang out.

Although Yang Ying’s sword might not have been as fast as Number Ten’s, the speed of a Gauss bullet was vastly superior.

"I will kill you, I absolutely must kill you!"

Number Ten sensed that if he didn’t dodge immediately, even if he killed the female psychic, he would simultaneously be struck by the bullet. To save his own life, he could only use a twisting motion to spring backward, narrowly evading the shot. The light saber thrust was naturally aborted. Simultaneously, intense frustration surged within him. He roared his fury at Yang Ying.

At this moment, Krigen and Lina flanked Ulysses with their light sabers, one forward and one behind. Yet, Ulysses remained completely composed, easily stepping out of their pincer attack. He flicked his purple light saber left and right, holding his own effectively against the two of them.

In just a few exchanges, the psychic couple was completely tied down by Ulysses. When Lina tried to break away to help Yang Ying, Ulysses immediately intensified his offense, putting her in a dilemma—advance or retreat.

However, Ulysses also found that this couple wasn't as easy to handle as anticipated. They seemed to fight together frequently, possessing a tacit understanding that manifested in an exquisite pair-fighting sword style.

They complemented each other’s vulnerabilities between offense and defense, occasionally creating significant trouble for him.

"Interesting," Ulysses said, waving his light saber while addressing Number Ten. "You are responsible for Colonel Blade. Remember, you cannot kill him; you must take him alive. Do not disappoint me again."

Ulysses showed no concern that his words were overheard by Blade, speaking of capture as if it were as easy as breathing.

"You dare scorn me?"

Yang Ying was currently struggling, darting backward while fighting. Number Ten, having disengaged from Lina, relentlessly pursued him with a look of malice.

"A mere low-ranking psychic—it is only right that I scorn you. You should realize your place," Number Ten replied, now energized and adopting the posture of a superior, as if Yang Ying were just an appetizer. Though he desperately wished to kill Colonel Blade, Ulysses had given the order, so he had to obey.

He replied with complete confidence, "Number One, rest assured. If I fail to capture him, I’ll bring back my own head." With that, he pressed the attack even harder.

Yang Ying’s physical conditioning was far inferior to Number Ten’s; direct confrontation was unsustainable for more than a few moves. He could only fight while running.

By now, the Bray Motorcycle Corps had retreated to the outskirts of the street, leaving only Yang Ying’s motorcycle parked curbside. Both ends of the long street were sealed off by giant robot troops, with dozens of Gauss cannons aimed at the figures in the square. However, due to the lightning-fast movements of the combatants, they couldn't fire, fearing friendly casualties.

As for the tanks positioned behind the giant robots, they dared not fire at all. Their area-of-effect bombardment would indiscriminately harm friend and foe alike.

Furthermore, twenty to thirty Spectre agents, accompanied by an equal number of Machine Gunners, had climbed onto the rooftops lining both sides of the street. They had sniper rifles aimed down, but the same issue persisted: the targets were moving too quickly. Even Number Three and David were employing illusions, making their figures appear almost everywhere, rendering precise targeting impossible.

Seeing that Number Ten was determined to stick to him, an idea began to form in Yang Ying's mind.

If Colonel Blade’s physical condition could fully activate the Zerg gene, augmented by Protoss sorcery, perhaps he could handle a psychic-level enemy. But transforming in such broad daylight would be... risky.

Yang Ying realized, with a mix of fortune and misfortune, that although he commanded so many means far beyond ordinary comprehension, they all needed to be kept absolutely secret. Using them in public might solve the immediate crisis but would inevitably stir up much greater trouble. Only in darkness could he act without restraint.

Darkness, darkness... I have a way! A thought sparked in Yang Ying’s mind as he recalled a specific location. But first, I need to create distance.

Sensing Number Ten closing in, Yang Ying spun, instantly creating five phantoms—six Yang Yings in total—scattering in all directions.

"What!" Number Ten’s relentless pursuit halted. The six Yang Yings were identical; his eyes couldn't discern the real one.

"Fire!"

One of the six Yang Yings raised an arm high, signaling with a gesture, then slashed it down fiercely. The allied forces immediately opened fire at full capacity, unleashing the most violent barrage upon the motionless Number Ten standing in the street.

"Aiya!" Number Ten sensed trouble the moment Yang Ying made the motion to fire. An attack of this magnitude, even a quasi-Master would face dire consequences if hit head-on with this density of fire, let alone him.

The instant the word "Fire!" left the phantom’s mouth, Number Ten flickered away from his original spot, his target being the gesturing Yang Ying.

Yang Ying appeared stunned, standing motionless as Number Ten flashed directly in front of him.

As Number Ten arrived, a sudden, violent alarm screamed in his mind. Without pausing, he blinked away from the spot.

The next second, a tremendous barrage of artillery fire swept over the entire surrounding area—the tanks, in siege mode, had opened fire!

The gesture Yang Ying’s phantom made was the signal to the tank corps: "Fire at me." Yang Ying had also learned the Terran military’s concise and effective field hand signals.

The tanks' siege mode lived up to its name. After one round of bombardment, nothing remained in the original spot.

"A trap! He used the phantom's wave to trick me into giving the order?"

Although Number Ten escaped quickly, he was clipped by the blast wave of the explosion, hurled dozens of meters away. He finally managed to regain his footing, and before dozens of targeting systems on the surrounding buildings could lock onto him, he initiated a high-speed movement sequence.

"But even so, you think you can escape my grasp, old man?"

Number Ten roared as he continued flashing past, sweeping his hands upward. The shards of glass on the surrounding ground were instantly lifted by invisible psychic force. Number Ten violently pushed them, transforming the debris into a multitude of projectiles aimed at the other five Yang Yings.

Four phantoms, defenseless, were instantly riddled like sieves by the glass shards and dissipated like soap bubbles.

Meanwhile, Yang Ying had already mounted his motorcycle, using psychic energy to deflect the incoming glass shards, and sped toward the end of the street.

"Stop!" Number Ten flashed after the motorcycle, shouting that classic, meaningless phrase.

It was classic because so many pursuers loved to shout it, even knowing it served no purpose.

Yang Ying had not yet mastered the art of 'shrinking the ground,' and he knew the motorcycle's speed couldn't match Number Ten’s foot speed. However, there were ways to impede Number Ten’s progress.

Yang Ying looked back, drew his gun, aimed at Number Ten’s lower abdomen—the Dantian area—and pulled the trigger one last time.

The Dantian area is roughly the center of gravity for the human body, the hardest place to evade.

Number Ten’s expression tightened. He then stomped the ground, creating an impression mark, and used the resulting rebound force to vault himself into the air, executing a somersault without losing any momentum.

Yang Ying seized the moment while Number Ten was airborne, firing three more shots, forcing Number Ten to land immediately to dodge them. This maneuver cost Number Ten considerable speed.

The two exited the long street in this manner, one chasing and one fleeing.

"Remember, you must bring Colonel Blade back. Our mission requires him, do you understand?" Ulysses's voice echoed in Number Ten's ear.

"Understood!" Number Ten shouted back in reply.

At this time, Ulysses was still locked in a standoff with the Krigen couple, while Number Three had long since abandoned the plan for a swift victory and was now engaging in a wary skirmish with David.

His quick-strike tactic had been rebuffed by David’s counter-defensive strategy. The hilt of his light saber was now searing hot, no longer capable of sustaining a more ferocious assault.

Number Three could only rely on his psychic advantage, using rapid movement to create distance, then attacking with supplementary spells and force fields. While energy spells boast strong offensive power, they were of limited use here.

This was because the light saber almost perfectly countered all energy spells—be it fire, lightning, or ice. David could parry them all without taking a scratch. He simply needed to channel the incoming energy attacks into the light saber's blade with his psychic power; the blade’s inherent pure energy would naturally assimilate the foreign energy and send it back to the energy battery for recycling.

In effect, energy attacks only served to recharge the light saber.

After leaving the long street, Yang Ying engaged in hit-and-run tactics with Number Ten, weaving through several avenues until they reached a building that looked like a warehouse.

This location housed a secret chamber built by the Terran Corps, constructed in the standard bunker model, surrounded by thick walls. Even if all of Gray Harbor were vaporized by a nuclear bomb, this shelter would remain intact.

Once the main gate was closed, it was a place completely isolated from the outside world; even a Master would need considerable time to breach it.

Yang Ying had already contacted the guards stationed at the bunker while en route. Thus, the bunker door, located in the center of the warehouse, had already risen from the ground, standing open. Yang Ying charged straight into the warehouse and into the bunker entrance.

Naturally, Number Ten followed closely behind. In his estimation, even if the underground area was an ambush, as long as he could capture Colonel Blade as a hostage, he could return safely from below.

After Number Ten entered, the bunker door emitted a low whirring sound and slowly descended back into the earth. A thick layer of alloy sealed the entrance. Events happening outside from a nuclear explosion would not affect the interior, and anything happening inside, no matter how catastrophic, would not affect the exterior.