Although Chu Xuan said this, bystanders still felt as if he had done it intentionally, as if he had known beforehand that this situation would arise and had mockingly allowed the captain of the Central Team, Zheng Zha, to fall into danger. He simply gave off the impression of doing it on purpose.

Zhao Yingkong remained silent, this little girl nodding mutely. She turned and ran out of the weapon testing base. Although her expression was indifferent, anxiety shone in her eyes. It was clear that this girl was deeply worried about Zheng Zha.

Chu Xuan did not stop Zhao Yingkong. He casually walked outward while flipping through the documents in his hands, speaking as he went, "…Well, we have enough time to escape this place, the items have been acquired, and the side mission reward points have been obtained. That settles it then, this mission to steal the TBD primary fluid is a complete success…" Having said this, he ignored the strange looks from those around him and simply walked towards the exterior of the base on his own.

After Chu Xuan had walked more than ten meters away, Cheng Xiao finally whispered to the others, "Did something happen before I was resurrected? Does Chu Xuan want to get Zheng Zha killed? This perverted guy really is someone you can’t afford to provoke; he’ll kill anyone, and you won't even know how you died. In short, don't mess with Chu Xuan… Speaking of which, has Zheng Zha ever actually provoked Chu Xuan?"

Overlord clapped him on the shoulder, "Although it might be my delusion… don't you think your words just now might have provoked Chu Xuan?"

Cheng Xiao’s face instantly showed a look of sudden realization. He even cautiously turned his head to glance at Chu Xuan. Only when Chu Xuan continued to look at the documents in his hands as if nothing were wrong did he let out a breath, "Speak carefully. That man has a demon hidden in his heart—a terrifying man. Don't let his usual composure fool you; in reality, when he schemes against others, he chews them up and spits out the bones. Anyone who speaks ill of him behind his back needs to be extremely careful; you might just be the next one abandoned to die…"

"…Speaking ill of him behind his back. Like what you’re doing right now?" Wang Xia walked up beside him and asked casually.

"Huh?"

Putting aside Cheng Xiao courting death, Zhao Yingkong, on the other side, rushed anxiously toward the research base. Although she was not talkative, she was genuinely deeply worried about Zheng Zha. She did not want this man to die just like that.

She didn't know when it had happened, but she had already come to accept these people in her heart. Even by the standards of her former comrade and elder, Zhao Zhuikong, these people were standard weaklings: weak in strength, weak in will, essentially companions who could be discarded at any moment. Yet, without realizing it, she had come to identify with Zheng Zha and his companions.

Her former companions had all been killed by Zhao Zhuikong, the person she trusted. Now, she didn't want to abandon any of her current companions. Although this feeling did not align with the Way of the Assassin, she truly did not want her companions to die; she wished to protect them.

The road out from the weapon testing base was utterly calm. The defensive installations along this passage had been completely flattened by the members of the Central Team, and all the guards had been eliminated. Thus, Zhao Yingkong exited the weapon testing base with ease; the process took only about two minutes. She then sprinted like a madwoman toward the research base. Along the way, she noticed that the surroundings were filled with explosions and burning fireballs. The wreckage of several armed helicopters lay scattered about, the debris still exploding and burning, while high above, a strikingly cool shuttle zipped past, trailing electrical arcs, pursued by more than ten armed helicopters.

Zhao Yingkong could no longer afford to watch this intense battle scene. She rushed toward the research base with all her might. Halfway there, she heard a massive boom from a distance. Following a loud peng of a gunshot, an armed helicopter in the sky, which had been firing an air-to-air missile, was instantly blown to smithereens, as if struck by a gigantic bullet. Before its wreckage could even hit the ground, it erupted in a violent explosion in mid-air.

Yuan Dian, farther away, clutched his head and groaned. Zhan Lan, beside him, hurriedly asked, "What happened? Why was that helicopter blown to pieces? Yuan Dian, are you alright?"

Yuan Dian shook his head and then spoke in a low voice, "It's nothing, just a slight headache… the success rate of 'Point-Line Demon Eye' is too low. I can only perceive the combination of points and lines of an object within 0.5 seconds, and the speed at which the points and lines shift and move is too exaggerated. This is the fourth shot I’ve pulled; it’s simply impossible to hit the moving point. Hitting the line is already relying on the extreme speed of the Gauss sniper rifle. The success rate for utilizing the Point-Line Demon Eye is only about one in four to one in five…"

Zhan Lan didn't know what the Point-Line Demon Eye was, but since even the sniping master Yuan Dian said so, the success rate of this skill must indeed be very low. Just as she was about to say something, she suddenly noticed blood seeping from Yuan Dian’s eyes, mouth, nose, and ears, and she panicked, urgently asking, "Yuan Dian, are you alright? Yuan Dian, say something!"

Yuan Dian wiped the blood dripping from his eyes and said with a bitter smile, "And the strain of the Point-Line Demon Eye on the body is too great… I can’t see anything now, but I probably won't die. I’ll just have to unlock the current Gene Lock state soon, and the resulting pain will probably cause me to pass out…" As soon as the words left his mouth, Yuan Dian’s body began to convulse violently…

The power of Yuan Dian’s shot was indeed stunningly decisive, but Zhao Yingkong, who was currently charging toward the research base, could not possibly have the mood to watch any fireworks display. She continuously counted the seconds under her breath, and her entire body had entered the state of unlocked Gene Lock. She ran frantically toward the research base. At the entrance of the base, guards were continuously running out, almost all of them shouting in horror and fear, scrambling toward the checkpoint exit. Several guards were missing arms or legs; their appearance was terribly pitiful.

Zhao Yingkong ignored them. She wore the Dragon Crystal necklace with its energy intact and held the transparent Sword of Victory and Vow in her hand. Although this sword was a two-handed greatsword and lacked the thick laser wall feature Zheng Zha mentioned, its sharpness was exaggerated enough. At least, even the blade light from Zheng Zha’s Tiger Soul Blade could not sever it. Furthermore, due to its transparent nature, it rendered Zhao Yingkong’s assassination techniques invisible.

Along the way, Zhao Yingkong stopped hiding her figure, instead charging inward at top speed. The guards, as if seeing a ghost, continued to scream and run outward, no longer bothering to engage her. Both sides passed each other without interference, while Zhao Yingkong kept counting the time—four minutes and thirty-seven seconds—until she burst into a large hall where she was hit by an intensely concentrated smell of blood.

There was not a single living person in this room. Two giant creepers, each about seven meters long, were hanging upside down from the ceiling. They had some protruding tendrils on their bodies, making them look like two huge monsters covered in octopus-like growths. Their hideous and terrifying appearance was enough to scare an ordinary person to death, and even Zhao Yingkong felt a jolt of alarm. What surprised her even more was the overwhelming sense of pressure and danger these two terrifying creatures projected, which kept her already unlocked Gene Lock state on high alert. Her instincts told her that facing two such monsters simultaneously… she would definitely die!

As expected, one of the creepers leaped down from the ceiling. Zhao Yingkong pushed off her feet and rolled into a side corridor. Where she had been standing, the creature’s claw had already dug deep into the alloy floor. This thick alloy floor was easily lifted up by it as if it were paper. With a screech of metal, it ripped up several square meters of the floor plating, and the other creeper also jumped down from the ceiling, lunging toward Zhao Yingkong.

(…I can kill one of them, but I will be gravely wounded, and the other one will kill me…)

The speed and strength of the creepers were both terrifying. Given Zhao Yingkong’s speed and strength, she could only rely on the sharpness of the Sword of Victory and Vow to slay one of them. Against such massive monsters, unless she used her old remote metal wires, her close-combat assassination techniques were almost useless, especially in such an open hall…

Zhao Yingkong’s experience told her that escape was the only option now. Fighting both creepers head-on would result in certain death unless she could find suitable terrain or a solution; otherwise, her assassination skills would have no effect. What troubled her even more was that the creepers didn't seem to perceive things by sight. If they relied on scent or temperature, her stealth techniques would also be useless, which greatly vexed her. Thus, the moment she rolled up, she decisively fled toward the depths of the corridor.

(Two minutes left. I must find Zheng Zha immediately, but now…)

Zhao Yingkong dared not look back. Although her movement speed was faster than the giant creepers, at this pace, she couldn't afford to care about anything else but surging forward. But what filled her with despair was that the smell of blood ahead grew stronger, almost to a suffocating degree. That area looked like a slaughterhouse. Could there be even more giant creepers there?

Zhao Yingkong took a deep breath, her feet never stopping as she charged forward, the Sword of Victory and Vow held high in her hand. As she rounded a corner in a passage, her vision suddenly lit up. It was an enormous central hall where she saw Zheng Zha. His feet stood upon the corpses of countless people and creepers. In his left hand, he held the head of a giant creeper, while his right hand gripped the Tiger Soul Blade, driving another giant creeper into the wall. In this room, there were at least a hundred corpses of giant creepers… Jumping to—