Chapter 36: Relocating the Base

The personnel who had rushed over from the research center, upon seeing the badges on Damin and his team's uniforms, immediately recognized them as military and interrupted their conversation. They explained there was an urgent matter requiring their attention and politely asked them to come along.

In truth, the members of Falcon Squad had already guessed most of what was happening when these people arrived to provide support. It seemed clear that this group planned to sacrifice a pawn to protect the king. It was just as well; they had already discussed with Special Operations about personnel arrangements once they moved into the underground city. If any among these people were innocent, there was no harm in letting them stay.

As expected, when they arrived, the main leaders of the research center were nowhere to be seen—only the so-called "temporary staff" remained, the highest-ranking of whom was Director Jiang Hao from the central hospital. Having met before and spoken about related matters, Jiang Hao addressed them directly, "These are all the people involved in the prohibited experiments. A few others are unaccounted for, but everyone we could find is here. Captain Zhang, I’ll have to trouble you to take it from here."

Damin understood his meaning and simply nodded politely.

Just then, something unexpected happened. Ahao suddenly became agitated. He pointed at the third man in the second row, who was bound on the ground, and shouted, "It’s him!"

Before anyone could react, Ahao strode over and, using the blade attached to his mechanical leg, stabbed the man straight through the heart. The man, tied up as he was, had no chance to resist.

Having finally avenged his blood feud, Ahao felt a rush of relief, but as his long-held dream was fulfilled, he was left empty and at a loss for what to do next.

The others looked from the corpse on the ground to Ahao’s lost and hollow expression and, for a moment, could find nothing to say. They understood the need for vengeance. Yet the man lying dead was merely an accomplice; the true culprit remained at large, free and unpunished. Who could say when—or if—they would ever be caught?

Still, at least everyone was doing their part. The coalition and rebel forces battling outside were all fighting toward this same goal. Even if it meant sacrificing themselves, none hesitated.

The most pitiable were the city guard, still blindly fighting for the dark organization, unaware they had already been abandoned and were little more than pawns in a plan set in motion long ago.

While the city guard fought desperately for their masters, the upper echelons of the Great Wilderness Mountain underground city were escaping through secret tunnels, taking with them the most precious assets: years’ worth of experimental data, useful samples, even infants bred through reproductive experiments—all things they needed to present to the organization. As for the personnel, only the core members mattered; the rest could be left behind. The destruction protocol would be activated, leaving nothing for the authorities.

"Grand Elder, the destruction protocol won’t start!" Just as the group was preparing to trigger the city’s self-destruct and make their escape, the technician in charge rushed to the committee with a panicked report.

"Damn it! Didn’t anyone check this before?" Professor Wu snapped angrily.

"It’s always been part of the routine checks. It was working fine just yesterday—I’ve no idea what went wrong," the technician protested, aggrieved.

"Forget it! If we don’t leave now, it’ll be too late. Nothing crucial remains anyway," another committee member urged. But Professor Wu was unwilling to give up and decided to send a trusted subordinate to make one last attempt, even if it meant sacrificing them for the organization.

No one volunteered. At that moment, Yanze appeared at the entrance to the escape tunnel, showing no intention of stepping into the elevator. His expression was unreadable, a faint, enigmatic smile on his lips.

Upon seeing Yanze, Professor Wu recalled that he had always been responsible for the daily operations of the underground city and must know what had happened. He decided to send Yanze to check the destruction system—this would finally give his unremarkable student a chance to prove himself.

"Yanze! Go check on the destruction system. It seems to have malfunctioned. Be quick—we’ll wait for you," Professor Wu’s tone betrayed nothing.

"Oh? Is that so, Professor? So once I fix the system, you’ll blow the place sky-high, disintegrate me in the blast, and then slip away unnoticed?" Yanze’s voice had lost all its usual gentleness.

"Yanze! What are you talking about? Hurry up and fix it—be quick about it!" Professor Wu was getting angry.

"Fix it? Why bother? I broke it myself," Yanze admitted, completely unabashed.

"What did you say?!" Professor Wu could hardly believe his ears.

"I said, I sabotaged the underground city’s destruction system. Just moments ago," Yanze repeated calmly.

"So you’re betraying the organization? Tired of living, are you? Even if you’re my student, I won’t hesitate to kill you!"

"Tsk, tsk, Professor. At your age, you still get so worked up! Honestly, you’ve disliked me for a long time, haven’t you? I know—it’s just that you never found any proof," Yanze said, holding nothing back.

Professor Wu’s face darkened. "So it’s true—you really are Number 3, the one who disappeared all those years ago?"

"Sorry, my dearest Professor! For once, you’re wrong. Number 3 is actually Taoran. But I was on good terms with Wei Bu. Didn’t you ever wonder how he got in here?" Yanze was unfazed; with the coalition forces closing in, he felt invincible.

"Wei Bu—the military’s spy! You let him in?" Professor Wu was incredulous. He’d always assumed his student was simply untalented, never suspecting he’d been harboring a traitor all along.

"Correct! But there’s no prize," Yanze replied, his expression growing somber.

"You ungrateful wretch!" Professor Wu was chilled to the bone, remembering the mask of obedience Yanze had worn all these years.

"I accept the title," Yanze replied crisply.

"You—" Professor Wu was so furious he could barely speak.

"What about me?! It was you who killed my man—Wei Bu!" Yanze’s voice rose, eyes reddening. He drew a pistol from his coat and fired at Professor Wu.

At that moment, Crew Cut slipped in from outside. Seizing the chance while the elevator was still on their floor, he darted inside and slammed the doors shut. He’d grown suspicious when he saw people moving things from the research center toward the tunnels, and sure enough, they were making a break for it. He’d taken the opportunity to sneak in.

The bullet struck the elevator door. Frustrated, Yanze pounded the wall with his fist. He would have to find another way. But the underground city was about to be liberated, Wei Bu’s dying wish would be fulfilled, and at last he could rest in peace.

The core members had already escaped with the data, while outside, the city guard fought on bravely. Watching these pitiable souls, Yanze felt a pang of sympathy. Too many had died in the struggle to take this place, including his lover. He could not bear to see more senseless deaths.

He made his way to the city’s broadcast center, switched to all-city mode, and spoke in his natural voice, dropping all pretense: "You’re done for! You idiots in the city guard, lay down your arms and surrender! Just now, those people escaped with the data—they’ve abandoned you all…"

The message played over and over. When the city guards heard the committee had already fled, their morale wavered. When footage from the escape tunnel appeared on the plaza’s screens, they finally broke. All their resistance had been for nothing—a cruel joke.

Those who had fled were already disappearing into the tunnels, moving swiftly. The passage led deep into the desert, a lifeless zone beyond the government’s reach—an ideal temporary haven.

By the time the warring factions outside realized what had happened, the fugitives were already airborne, bound for the organization’s core base, Future City. There was no hope of pursuit; even capturing the Great Wilderness Mountain underground city had been a Herculean task.

It was a pity, though—some useful things at the Great Wilderness Mountain base had not been destroyed. That damned traitor! The organization would have to take such threats seriously from now on. If not for the traitors, the army would never have taken the city so easily.