Kate opened his mouth slightly—he felt something was off. “But…”
“I am aware of your concerns. If you want to find a stamp of Germinal Organization on the mechanical suit, I suggest you save the effort. Times are very tough for us, and it is very dangerous to have a high profile. I’ve been given full responsibility for this matter, so if you want to contact a higher ranked official… Forgive me for being so straightforward, but your position doesn’t warrant that,” Han Xiao said in a serious tone. He almost believed it himself.
Kate hesitated and said, “I need to discuss with the other high ranked officials.”
He walked to the side and opened his laptop to contact the other high ranked officials. They were all experiment lab supervisors, and they were surprised by Han Xiao’s origins.
“He can’t prove it, not trustworthy.”
“Do you want him to shout ‘I’m part of the Germinal Organization’ everywhere he goes? I think there’s no need for him to lie. We will know if he’s the real deal when we make the trade.”
“Makes sense to me.”
“But cooperating with the Germinal Organization seems somewhat dangerous…”
Han Xiao cut in their conversation and said, “Any trade we make will be kept confidential. As long as you and I don’t tell anyone, no one will know. We can even give you some financial support to build new divisions in Andrea.”
The eyes of all the high ranked officials in the research lab turned bright. Andrea was filled with radiation, and many genes mutated flora and fauna avoided by others were treasures to them. They had heard about the generosity of Germinal Organization. In Maple, the government was corrupt, and they had just about had enough of it. It seemed like a rather good plan to change the environment.
Even if they did not move their headquarters, opening a research division in Andrea was a pretty good idea, too.
“Shall we try to make a deal?”
“Bring him to the exhibition room.”
With the discussion coming to an end, Kate smiled and said, “We accept the trade, Heisenberg. Please follow me. I will show you our research results.”
Han Xiao nodded. Without taking off the mechanical suit, he followed Kate into the lift, and they descended two floors.
The drugs exhibition room looked like cold storage from outside the door. Kate entered the password, and the doors slid open. Inside was a dark compounded room separated into two levels connected by a metal staircase. Showcases were laid out at the side of the walls, and inside them were drug tubes of various colors with tags describing their names and test results. All the drugs had finished products with different levels of concentration.
“These are the products of our research institution. Which ones does your organization want?” Kate said with a smile.
Han Xiao acted like he was looking around and said, “Every one of them. Money is not a problem… as long as you have enough in stock.”
Joy filled the faces for the high ranked officials who were watching through the camera—this was a big order.
Han Xiao raised his eyebrows. “But I will have to verify their effects first.”
Kate opened the showcase’s password lock, took out a drug, and passed it to Han Xiao. Han Xiao read the information on the interface. It was a temporary enhancement drug; consuming it would grant a +3 Endurance buff for three minutes.
After making sure all the drugs in these showcases were real, Han Xiao calmly said, “I will need a large quantity.”
Kate received commands through the headphones. He took out a laptop, opened the price page, and said with a smile, “We have enough inventory. After you have made the payment, these cute little things will be yours.”
Han Xiao narrowed his eyes. “I will only make payment when I see the products with my own eyes.”
“Don’t have to worry, we are just a small organization, and we don’t have the guts to go against a large organization like yours. We won’t go back on our word, and we hope you understand our concerns. Anyway, I believe this is an insignificant amount of money for your organization,” Kate said with a smile on his face.
Seems like this is as far as I can get by lying. Han Xiao’s eyes flashed. He had no intention of paying. He placed the gun against Kate’s forehead before he could react and said, “This is my payment.”
Pa!
The laptop fell onto the ground with a bang.
The threatening feel from the gun muzzle made Kate tremble all over. “You are a fake!”
Han Xiao did not reply. He fired at the showcase, but the glass was bulletproof; it only cracked but did not shatter.
Far away in the surveillance room, the high ranked officials were shocked.
“He wants to rob our finished products.”
“Luckily, we brought him to the exhibition room where there are security systems!”
The metal door of the exhibition room shut tight, and the showcases moved back into the walls, leaving no traces behind. The room became empty, and the ceiling moved aside, revealing three rows of guns who range covered the entire room. Han Xiao and Kate were both under the guns,
The proud voice of a high ranked official sounded from the speaker.
“Didn’t expect that, did you? We were suspicious of your origins from the start. Now that your life is under our control, you have no escape. We just have to press a button, and you will be dead. Unless you want to know how many seconds it will take for these guns to turn you into a puddle of blood, put down the guns, take off the mechanical suit, and get down to your knees. Then tell us your true identity, origin, and who sent you. ”
Chapter 181 - The Wicked Will Be Dealt With By The Wicked
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The superiors of the research institution were very angry. They felt like the man had thought them foolish monkeys, but the liar had walked into their trap.
How dare he come to mess with us without knowing who owns this territory.
In the exhibition room, Kate calmly backed off, adjusted his clothes, and looked at Han Xiao haughtily. “If you move, such as wanting to capture me as a hostage, you will be turned into a pool of blood, so don’t have any ideas of taking the risk. Just put down the gun and surrender; you can still live.”
Han Xiao looked up at the dark black guns. The cameras were in the corners of the room, and the high ranked officials were looking at him through those. He even knew that the vents could release poisonous gas.
With a cold expression, he issued a voice command.
“Launch program.”
The smart chip in the mechanical suit immediately recognized the command and connected to the standby computer. It then entered the research institution’s intranet and activated the hacking program planted by Han Xiao the previous night.
The research institution’s system fell like dominoes in the face of the hacking program. Without much effort, the entire authority system was overridden, and Han Xiao gained control in a few seconds.
This was not a last-minute simple hacking program that Han Xiao had created; he had created many smart chips, and to prevent losing their control to someone else, he had also made some anti-attack programs as well as some invasive programs, but he had not had the chance to use them before.
The tactical hologram screen showed the terrain map of the research institution. Han Xiao issued another voice command. The walls of the exhibition room reopened, and the showcases appeared again. The guns on the ceilings slid back, and the doors opened.
When he invaded the research institution system yesterday, he had already seen the structure of it, and he knew the security measures clearly. There are some tightly guarded warehouses in the research institution with a high amount of drug inventories, but it was much more than he could carry—the amount in the exhibition room was just right.
The sudden turning of tables left the high ranked officials of the research institution horrified.
“What happened? The system h
as lost control!”
“Quick, take back the control!”
The technician at the side was sweating all over. He smashed the keyboard rapidly, and lines of code kept appearing. Suddenly, his screen turned green, and the computer froze. The technician exclaimed, “I can’t. The invasion speed of his program is too fast; it’s impossible to solve it in a short time!”
“He was ready yesterday!” The high ranked officials were filled with hatred.
In the exhibition room, Kate was stunned. He looked into the Han Xiao’s black goggles, and fear gnawed at his heart. His legs softened, and he fell to the ground. ‘I-I…”
Bang!
Smoke rose from the ground between his legs where the bullet had hit.
Kate was extremely afraid, not even daring to move.
“Stay there and don’t move. You can still live,” Han Xiao said in a mocking tone.
“O-Okay, calm down,” Kate replied hastily as cold sweat wet his entire back. He could only sit there and tremble.
Han Xiao broke open all the showcase cabinets. The enhancement from the mechanical suit made his punches stronger than bullets. He took out his backpack and put all the vials inside. Soon, his backpack was full.
He patted his bag with satisfaction. It was a huge amount of rewards.
At the start, he had no intention of robbing the research institution. However, that changed when he accidentally overheard Kate and the high ranked official talking about Yang Dian and Ned. Since the research institution was not one with morals, Han Xiao did not bother to do things the nice way. They neither were good people anyways, so they might as well follow the rules of the wicked—whoever was stronger had the right to take from the weaker side.
If the opposite party had reliable morals and beliefs, Han Xiao would not mind interacting with them normally, but if they made Han Xiao unhappy and were not strong enough, Han Xiao would go back to his old habits when he was a player, robbing whatever he saw. Furthermore, he was very interested in the Research Institution’s drugs. He actually liked to convince people with his virtues… but if that did not work out, he would then fight them instead.
Although Han Xiao did not like the idea of sacrificing oneself for the sake of others and wasn’t like those superheroes who had a great love for the entire world, he still liked people who were kind. Befriending a kind person was definitely better than befriending an evil person. Even those who were evil would rather befriend those who were kind; it was safe and worry-free.
Unfortunately, the number of kind people in the world was dwindling. No one could tell if a smile had ulterior motives behind it or which ‘brother’ seemed to be loyal on the surface but talked bad about them behind their back. Betrayal was common, even between old friends.
Kind people were such rare animals that they could even be placed in the zoo as an exhibit. Zoo might not be the best term—’News Feed’ would be a better description. The research institution toyed with the ‘heroes’, and it was because of these snobbery hypocrites that kind people became fewer, society became harder to survive in, and spiritual traditions collapsed entirely.
Very often, one’s perseverance in others’ eyes was just the minimum of what one should do. One’s hard work was just a way of gaining more profit. Just like how the Louis Research Institution used the passion of Yang Dian and Ned, Han Xiao robbed the research institution’s hard work.
An old saying appeared in Han Xiao’s mind. “Karma will find its way. Wickedness will be dealt with by the wicked.”
“Looks like I’ve become wicked.” Han Xiao laughed. An opportunity to do bad things without feeling guilty did not come by often.
Why would he spend money on someone he could rob from? He could just change his face and become a new customer anyway.
It was not the time to check through his rewards. He picked up his backpack and walked toward the lift.
Kate’s body was still soft. He let out a sigh of relief as he saw Han Xiao leaving, but the fear was still lingering in his mind.
The high ranked officials in the surveillance room were bleeding in their hearts when they saw all the drugs being taken. One of them yelled in anger, “Quickly think about what can we do!”
“I got it. Ask the switchboard room to cut off all electricity in the basement and trap him in there!”
“Immediately seek help from Maple! We still have some guards. Gather them all at the main gate. We just have to stall him for fifteen minutes until the military force arrives, and I want him to be demolished then!”
As Han Xiao arrived at the lift, the entire floor’s lights turned off. He raised his eyebrows and switched to night vision. Cutting off the power, as expected.
Han Xiao’s legs bent as the power from nanotechnology muscle fiber gathered in his legs and burst in an instant. The floor cracked open, and he shot through the ceiling like a rocket.
After two jumps, Han Xiao bumped straight into the hall. A group of guards who were gathering came into his sights. There were only some twenty of them, not even one-fifth of the research institution’s guards. Han Xiao’s way of going up the floors was way too swift and violent. It didn’t give much time for the research institution to react.
The high ranked officials were shocked by the power of the mechanical suit. They hurriedly ordered the guards to attack.
“Stall the enemy. The rest of the guards will be here in less than twenty seconds… f*ck!”
Before he could even finish giving the order, Han Xiao bumped through the guards like a bowling ball hitting a strike and sent them flying. The guards could not even slow him down as he broke through the glass door and disappeared in the streets. The people there could only catch a tint of black shadow.
The high ranked officials of the research institution were raging with anger, they were hopeful that the guards could at least stall him for fifteen minutes, but they barely could for three seconds.
Seeing the drugs would not able to be retrieved, the superiors’ hearts were bleeding, and they were furious.
“When will the Maple Military arrive?”
“At least ten minutes.”
“That’s too long. That asshole would’ve been long gone. Is there any other way?”
Kate had returned to normal and immediately said, “The superhero duo is still in the city. I will contact them now!”
“Hurry up!”
Chapter 182 - Shaken
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Yang Dian received a phone call from Kate. Confused, he asked, “Mr. Kate, are you looking for us?”
Kate sounded anxious. “A robber has taken the products of the research institution, including the oppressor for the Death Virus. If we can’t retrieve it, our results will be lost. Since the military can’t make it in time, we have to count on you guys!”
The duo turned serious. “We will definitely help.”
“That’s great. You’re our only hope. I’ll send you the coordinates. The enemy is a man wearing a black mechanical suit!”
Black mechanical suit‽
Yang Dian and Ned’s expressions changed.
“Could it be him‽”
…
Running on the street wearing a mechanical suit was too flashy. As soon as Han Xiao left the research institution, he climbed onto the rooftop of a building and continued running across rooftops. That way, even if someone saw him, it would not cause as great an impact. He was planning to find a hidden spot to take off the mechanical suit and change to a different face.
So many drug potions, enough for me to drink it like water. Han Xiao laughed.
After turning into a few streets, Han Xiao jumped into an empty alley. It was at this moment that two strong vital signs showed up on the radar, and after the automated search in the database, it surprisingly had a match. It turned out to be the two superheroes that he had met twice.
They’re chasing me? Han Xiao thought for a while, and he knew that they were being toyed with by Louis Resear
ch Institution again.
This time, a notice popped up on the interface.
_____________________
You have triggered mission [Trial of a Hero]
Mission Introduction: Heroes of justice are never in short supply, but only the right ways to do it. Some people become depraved and give up their initial goals; some lose their adherence and become what they swore to fight against; some are used and lied to. Choosing justice is a tough path, and you can be the trial for them to find the right path toward becoming a real hero.
Mission Requirements: Defeat Yang Dian and Ned, and expose the truth about Louis Research Institution.
Rewards: Random
_____________________
Han Xiao narrowed his eyes.
He was quite interested in this mission. It was a chance for him to feel what it was like to be the ultimate evil.
Han Xiao analyzed the data.
I’ve got a few minutes to kill, just enough time to play with them a little.
Han Xiao stopped in place and waited. Yang Dian and Ned’s figures flashed past the alley entrance not long after—they ran too far. After a few seconds, the duo realized and immediately turned back, standing at the alley entrance with a confronting stance.
“It really is you!” Yang Dian’s face was stern. He had seen the power of this mysterious warrior in the mechanical suit with his own eyes. Even in his peak state, he would probably be beaten in a few punches, and he was now injured. But the thought of Han Xiao robbing the cure to the Death Virus encouraged him to not back up even if he could not win.
Ned rubbed his hands and was ready to strike. He said in a low tone, “Even though you saved us before, I’m afraid we can’t let you take the cure.”
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