The two companions of Silver Knife had not yet reacted when a spinning bullet shot out from the jungle not far away, accurately hitting the three grenades hidden under the corpse's palm!
In such close-quarters, the two Night Owl agents were instantly subjected to multiple grenade blasts, and the dazzling fire engulfed them.
[You dealt 60 explosive damage to the enemy!] x8
[You killed a Night Owl agent! Gained 1500 experience points] x2
The bushes rustled, and Han Xiao stood up. He was in a very sorry state, half of his body charred black, with only a little more than 50 health points left. He was also bleeding, and his stamina was almost exhausted. His life was like a candle flickering in the wind, which could be extinguished at any time. His eyes were blackening, and fatigue was washing over his nerves like a tide. He braced himself and barely managed to avoid fainting.
Han Xiao used the corpse of the Night Owl agent he had killed as a meat shield to save his life from the grenade blast. He endured the pain, covered the corpse with his own clothes, and set up a corpse booby trap with the three newly acquired grenades. Then, he hurriedly hid in the bushes, waiting with bated breath like a hunter. Only Silver Knife had noticed the problem and escaped the disaster.
Blood blurred his vision. Han Xiao was in extremely poor condition, his hands and feet trembling uncontrollably with weakness. The last enemy, however, was in perfect condition. He immediately realized that he could not give the enemy a chance to widen the distance!
Just as Silver Knife got to his feet, a bloody black shadow rushed in front of him.
"You are seeking your own death!" Silver Knife was furious and drew a dagger from his waist, stabbing fiercely!
……
The searchlight of the plane illuminated the forest. The Black Harrier helicopter lowered a rope ladder, and Hela slid down to the ground. The area under her feet was full of bullet holes and blast marks, showing that a fierce battle had taken place.
The experimental subject team that arrived first collected the scattered blood stains in the field. Number One's face was livid, his fists clenched, and he said nothing.
Hela looked at the six corpses lined up in front of her, a look of shock on her face.
Night Owl Squad Three, wiped out!
Zero, missing!
The results were unbelievable!
Hela was in a daze for several minutes.
Corpses can speak. Hela crouched down to observe. Two were blown up, one was shot, and three were killed in close combat.
Silver Knife's goggles were shattered, and the fragments were inserted into his eyeballs in reverse. His death was miserable. She reached out and pinched Silver Knife's corpse. The touch was soft and weak, and most of the bones were broken, especially the pelvis and lower body, which were shattered into slag. This injury was obviously caused by a close-quarters beating from a master of combat. It didn't look like Zero did it at all.
She knew Han Xiao's close combat level best. He was only slightly better than ordinary people... No, he might not even be as strong as an ordinary person. Close combat could not be mastered quickly. Which of these agents had not trained for more than ten years? The Night Owl squad was even more elite. Even if Han Xiao had been hiding his strength all along, he had only trained for half a year at most. If the facts were not in front of her, Hela would not have believed it at all.
"Could it be that he, like me, has awakened an ability?"
Hela was a little regretful. If she had paid more attention to Han Xiao, she might have discovered the clues earlier.
She was not at the base when Zero escaped, which made Hela very depressed. If she had been there at the time, she was confident that she could have captured Zero with 100% certainty. Was this luck, or did Zero deliberately seize the opportunity?
"The Night Owl squad's equipment is gone, but we found this."
An agent came over with a light-duty powered arm. At this time, the powered arm was covered in blood, and a dagger was inserted between the gears, piercing the engine and breaking it.
"Take it back."
……
A day later, a large number of Germination Organization personnel arrived at the base, mobilized the uncorrupted surveillance footage, collected clues, and the leader even came in person.
The leader of the Germination Organization was wearing a black trench coat, a black mask, black gloves, and was wrapped tightly from head to toe. He was so dark that he looked like he had run out of the filming set of "Detective XX". Even within the organization, no more than five people knew the leader's true face.
"Where is Zero?" the leader said concisely.
"We lost him." Number One gritted his teeth and said, "If you could give me some time..."
The leader suddenly raised his hand, a gesture that contained impatience and anger. Number One had no choice but to shut up.
The leader was very angry. A few days ago, Zero was still a useless pawn in his eyes, but before long, this pawn had caused him a huge loss and escaped successfully, making him misjudge.
"A 'failed' experimental subject killed thirty armed guards, destroyed experimental data, wiped out a team of elite Night Owls, made me lose Lin Weixian, and finally escaped successfully. Am I listening to a fairy tale?!"
Everyone looked at each other.
The leader said coldly, "I want to know when did Zero start to have rebellious consciousness? Why does he have such combat power?"
The researchers hurriedly said, "We have studied the surveillance footage saved for half a year and have come to some guesses."
"Speak."
"Zero's mode of action before and after the experiment has changed a lot. According to the report provided by the team that captured human raw materials, Zero's original name was Xiao Han, the third son of the second head of the Overmeira family."
Everyone was shocked. The Overmeira family, a famous warlord family and a partner of the Tilius Kingdom!
The human raw materials for the organization's experiments were basically prisoners and wilderness wanderers. How could they have caught someone with a background!
The leader gave a sound of surprise, "The son of the second head of the Overmeira family? What's going on?"
"According to our investigation, Xiao Han is the most unremarkable son of the second head of the Overmeira family. He has neither awakened Qi strength nor possesses outstanding leadership skills, and his personality is very weak." The researcher flipped through the report. "We found a dying Xiao Han among the corpses of a battlefield. According to our investigation, Xiao Han was following his elder brother Xiao Hai's team at the time, escorting a batch of supplies. They were ambushed on the way."
"Continue."
"At that time, Xiao Hai was the commander of the team. The target of these attackers was not the supplies, but to intercept and kill Xiao Hai. Xiao Hai was a rising star of the Overmeira family. If nothing unexpected happened, he would inherit the position of the second head of the Overmeira family. According to our informants, this attack was the result of internal strife, the cause of which was that someone wanted to eliminate the second head's heir."
"Xiao Hai forced Xiao Han to put on his clothes as bait and escape separately. In the end, Xiao Han was hit by a shell, while Xiao Hai escaped safely."
The leader frowned, "Our informants know such detailed information?"
"Uh, Xiao Hai did not hide the detailed information, including the behavior of forcing Xiao Han. He had nothing to fear."
"Xiao Han's death did not cause his family to be dissatisfied with Xiao Hai. The original words of the second head of the Overmeira family were 'As long as Xiao Hai is safe, that's enough'. As you know, the Overmeira family worships strength, and Xiao Han's position in the family is dispensable. His brothers and sisters don't seem to care about his death at all... After that, we accidentally discovered Xiao Han, who was not completely dead."
The life and death of the original body was like a small wave, and no one cared about it.
In the eyes of the Overmeira family, it was acceptable to exchange an incompetent younger son for the survival of an excellent heir. The benefits outweighed the emotions.
Han Xiao did not have these memories. When he transmigrated, the original body's memories had been violently washed away by the Germination Organization.
The leader sneered, "Weakness is the original sin. Incompetent people are not worth pitying. I want to know what's going on with him now."
The researcher said, "We speculate that the Valkyrie experiment produced a mutation in Zero, and the effect may be beyond our imagination. What he gained was not only mechanical talent, but even extraordinary intelligence!
Zero showed harmlessness within half a year after the experiment, and there is a 90% chance that it was a disguise. He started planning to escape six months ago!"
Hela couldn't help but interject, "You mean brainwashing didn't work on him?"
"I'm afraid so."
Hela looked annoyed.
The researcher continued, "May I ask why a human raw material whose past memories have been washed away by us would suddenly have the consciousness of resistance and escape? There is only one possibility, that is, the experiment helped him regain his memories. But according to the investigation, Zero did not possess outstanding abilities in the past. He is so cunning and sophisticated, which means that he not only recovered his memories, but even awakened some strange personality. This is the most reasonable explanation."
"Can you guarantee it?" The leader's tone was cold.
"No..." The researcher's mouth was bitter. Who knew what Zero's situation was? This was just the most reasonable guess.
Number One couldn't help but say, "Could it be because of luck..."
The leader stared at him like an idiot. If you can replicate Zero's record with luck, you can have my position as leader.
"By the way, the guards brought back the exoskeleton mechanical arm used by Zero." The researcher took out the report and exclaimed, "Although it is technically very rough, it is very innovative. It is estimated that most of Zero's combat power comes from this machine. The weapon development department is very willing to imitate and improve it. Of course, this requires a lot of money, and the weapon department requires an appropriation."
Finally, there was good news, and the leader's mood improved slightly, "Money is not a problem, as long as they can give me a finished product."
The researcher nodded and turned back to the original topic, "Regardless of the reason, Zero has been patient and hidden for half a year, and with the mechanical talent and combat power he has shown, he is undoubtedly a meticulous, extremely deadly, and dangerous person."
Everyone's heart trembled.
"Zero is a special experimental case with high research value. If we can obtain his body, even if it is dead, we can further improve the experimental data."
When sorting out the previous surveillance footage, Zero's disguise for half a year, his patience, made people shudder. All the researchers felt fear from the bottom of their bones, but at the same time, every researcher had a fanatical desire to study Han Xiao!
Number One noticed the longing in the researchers' eyes, and his face suddenly became gloomy.
What he couldn't stand the most was losing to Zero.
From the beginning, Number One knew that he was the second experimental subject, and someone had a code name before him.
So all along, he had regarded Han Xiao as a imaginary enemy. When he thought he had finally stepped on Han Xiao, reality gave him a head-on blow.
The leader thought of one thing, "By the way, before the hidden dangers of the Valkyrie potion are eliminated, suspend all experiments and conduct another round of brainwashing for all existing experimental subjects. I don't want another Zero to be born."
Number One's eyes were full of anger, feeling that his loyalty had been insulted, and he shouted, "I am willing to lead the team to hunt down Zero!"
The leader glanced at him. He had high hopes for the experimental subject team, and said slowly, "Can you do it?"
"Guarantee to complete the mission!" Number One felt the leader's importance, and his fighting spirit was high, and he made a military pledge loudly.
"Okay, bring Zero back to me, dead or alive!"