I Have A Super USB Drive

by <unknown>

  The girl happily took her notebook and carefully placed it into her bag like a treasured artifact. "Good luck Lane, I know you'll win the tournament!"

  Their conversation seemed to have caught the attention of the people around them. Several youngsters quickly rushed toward Lane and formed a circle around him. One of them cried out in a mix of awe and delight when he took a closer look at Lane, "It's Lane! I saw you just now but I wasn't sure if it was you."

  "Lane, I'd like a signature too!"

  Another chubby boy tried to get his piece in as well.

  In a matter of seconds, Lane found himself surrounded by a mob of youngsters...

  Lane found himself in unfamiliar territory dealing with his crowd of young supporters. Without realizing it, his empty heart was being filled with a strange sense of satisfaction.

  'What are the chances that I could become world-famous superheroes just like the BHB trio? No, those people were hypocrites and actors, only I'm a true Nobel hero!'

  Such ideas began to take shape in the depths of Lane's mind...

  ...

  Over the coming days, the other four members of the crew would come to notice that the usually quiet and reserved Lane was becoming more passionate. He was surging with vibrant energy every day and fully immersed himself in his VR training sessions.

  To obtain a better ranking, they raised enough money to customize a pair of high-end bionic prostheses for Lane to allow him to stand up from his wheelchair.

  It was worth noting that from the third round onward, Blackwatch would gather all the contestants in Northern America together in one spot and create customized bionic prosthetics for each contestant. However, Lane could get an advantage over the other contestants by having prior personal experience with a bionic prosthetic beforehand.

  After all, the combat abilities of the contestants were tested in the third round.

  The tests ranged from close combat practice to firearm use, then to actual combat drills. These were all activities that required plenty of accumulated experience. Meanwhile, a majority of the contestants Lane had to face were either retired soldiers or police officers.

  However, there was another facet to it. It was because of that that the young and tender-looking Lane managed to stand out among the contestants and attract the most attention from the audience.

  When the third round of the Call of Duty tournament commenced, Lane had managed to accumulate a significant amount of combat experience. The third round was unlike the second round that only took place over a day. It was a week-long event that was almost like a reality show.

  During this week, the organizers would record the journey of each contestant and compile a training montage of the contestants after they obtained their designated customized bionic prosthetics. On the final day, the contestants would participate in the grand trial.

  Lane met up to the expectations of the vast amount of audience and managed to emerge second place in the overall score for the third round. Meanwhile, he claimed first place in fan votes which qualified him to the fourth round, which was the semi-finals.

  Lane's popularity had skyrocketed over the span of the tournament. He had become the most discussed contestant in the Northern American region.

  Underneath the facade of fervent applause and dazzling spotlight, Lane was confronted with a harsh reality...

  "What do you mean I have to give up on the rest of the tournament?"

  Lane stood at the entrance of the dimly lit garage and looked at the four of his accomplices in utter disbelief.

  "I'm sorry about this Lane, there's been some change of plans. You'll have to do this."

  Kraken advised gently, "You should know that everything we're working on is funded by this person called 'Cain'. He issued an order yesterday and said that you'll have to drop out of the tournament because there's another mission that our entire crew has to be a part of..."

  "I don't understand."

  Lane shook his head. "I'm about to become the regional champion of Call of Duty, I might even become the global champion by the end of it. I can become a superhero on par with the likes of the BHB Combative Police Force..."

  Chapter 492: Wiped Out |

  Midnight.

  Lane sat by himself on the rooftop of a building and silently gazed at the full moon that hung in the sky. Beside him was the same photo frame from before.

  It was the photo frame seen previously in the revenge squad's garage base. Lane took it out from the garage and kept it with him.

  The night breeze brought a chill toward Lane. It seemed as if a thought occurred to him as he suddenly held up the picture frame and wiped its surface.

  As one of the most prosperous cities on earth, the scenic view of the moon and the starry night sky in New York City had long become something that only existed in memory. Lane still had faint memories of gazing at the starry night sky as a child.

  These days, the starry nightscape had been replaced by neon lights. Still, Lane continued to gaze into the tranquil night sky as countless thoughts flashed across his pensive eyes.

  "Lane, I knew you'd be here."

  Lane suddenly heard the clear and crisp voice of a woman coming from behind him, accompanied by the sweet scent of perfume. The pink-haired lady had sat down beside him uninvited, her feet dangled over the edge of the building just like Lane did.

  "What are you doing here, Christina?"

  Lane asked without turning to look at her.

  "I was just worried about you?"

  The lady stayed silent for a moment before she mentioned with a smile, "I know how much work you've put in to infiltrate Blackwatch. I understand it's not fair that you have to give up on the tournament, but unfortunately there's no helping it."

  "'Cain' has plans of his own, all we need to do is to do as he instructs..."

  Lane only smiled sourly as he heard this. "But my goal is to approach that BHB Combative Police Force officer called Brooke and deliver a swift end to him myself."

  Lane said in a low voice, "I was steadily approaching my target one step at a time, but now I'm instructed to give up?"

  "I'm sorry, I understand your built-up hatred and frustration."

  The lady shook her head.

  Another strong breeze came toward them that scattered her hair apart, revealing the hideous scar on her right cheek. She instinctively turned her face to the other side to shield her scar and happened to see the photo frame Lane held in his hands.

  She reached for the photo frame and took it from Lane. Then she put it under the light and said, "I've heard about your past. The story is that your mother was held hostage by a robber and was killed by the BHB Combative Police Force while they were in the process of taking out the robber, is that it?

  "Unlike you who specifically want to exact your revenge on Brooke, the reason I joined this Blackwatch resistance squad is that I want to bring an end to this company..."

  A deep hatred surfaced in her eyes as she said this.

  "I once came from a wealthy family. My father was a businessman and his company specialized in collaborating with pharmaceutical giants like Pfizer and Johnson to supply drugs that alleviate the effects of cancer. However, Blackwatch's cancer-targeted drugs had not only driven my father's company to bankruptcy, he even became knee-deep in debt...

  "On a certain night, when we were surrounded by the debt collectors in our factory, my father forced our family to drink nitric acid..."

  Lane was slightly shocked to hear this. All this time, he knew that most of the members in this Blackwatch resistance squad had their families torn apart by the corporation. However, he never knew how Christina ended up like this nor did she ever tell anyone of her background.

  It was only till today when he found out the origin of Christina's gruesome scar...

  "But I resisted. The nitric acid ended up splattering over my face, but I never drank it."

  "As for my parents and my five-year-old brother, they..."

  Christina choke
d up as she said this. She made herself pause for a moment before continuing. "I don't know if Blackwatch is on the wrong for what they've done. All I know is that my father would never have been driven to bankruptcy if not for Blackwatch nor will my family be subject to such a horrible fate. I wouldn't have ended like this either... Which is why I'll destroy this company and bring an end to them. I'll give my life for this cause!"

  Lane opened his mouth and tried to say something, but the words failed to come out because he quickly realized that what Christina needed was not meaningless words of comfort.

  "So promise me, Lane, let us fight together."

  Christina encouraged. "We have to unite and combine our forces. It's only by doing this that we can stand a chance to defeat Blackwatch and exact our revenge!"

  "I understand..."

  Lane nodded and became silent.

  The two of them continued to stare at the sky this way until the first signs of daylight appeared on the horizon.

  It was daytime.

  ...

  Perhaps their conversation had caused a change of heart in Lane. Over the next few days, he slowly returned to his past self and stopped completely immersing himself in firearms and combat training. Just like in the past, he would rendezvous with the team and discuss potential exploits of Blackwatch with the others and they would eat and drink beer together.

  Upon seeing this, the members who were once in disagreement with Lane saw that their concerns were appeased. The sour atmosphere in the group had also subsided and was replaced by the peaceful atmosphere in the past.

  However, there was a sudden change of events on the day the semi-finals of the fourth round commenced...

  ...

  "Why isn't Lamb here for the meeting still?" On this day, four of the members apart from Lane were huddled together on a bench inside the usual garage. It was only Lane who was absent.

  After they waited for what seemed like forever and still saw no signs of Lane, they started to become agitated and began speculating.

  Christina, who was the leader of the group, frowned slightly. "Did Lamb oversleep? Wildfire, give him a call and see where he's at."

  "I've called three times, nobody's picking up!"

  Wildfire clapped his palms against the table repeatedly. "This idiot. He always picks up at the first ring whenever I call him!"

  "This is bad, could Lamb have gone to attend Call of Duty?"

  Digit sounded uncertain as he raised the thought that was on everybody's mind as well.

  "I don't think Lamb would do something like this!"

  Christina shook her head pointedly. "He must've gotten into some other accident. Digit, check his GPS coordinates!"

  "Alright."

  Digit heeded the command and stepped over to the cluster of server machines. He used the computer to open several intricate software and started entering something in the search query.

  "I'm hacking into the communication satellite network, hold on..."

  The group started waiting impatiently.

  After about ten minutes had passed, Digit suddenly turned to them and let out a sigh, a look of relief washed over him as he said, "Lamb's cell phone signal shows that he's still in his rented house and hasn't left."

  "So, you're saying that this guy simply overslept?"

  Christina felt a weight lifted off her chest. She got up and made a light-hearted joke. "I'll go get him myself. I'll make sure to give him the proper punishment for being late to our important meeting!"

  "Hold on, Kraken..."

  Before Christina finished, Digit suddenly turned around from his computer and noted suspiciously. "Kraken, there's some suspicious activity outside..."

  They all turned to the high-definition surveillance camera live footage mounted to a wall in the garage. The cameras broadcasted live footage of the view outside the garage and they saw several men dressed in black standing outside. These people had heavy cloaks and hoods that concealed their appearance and were slowly advancing toward the garage entrance.

  "This is bad!"

  Christina took out her gun without so much as a second thought as she barked the order, "Everyone, get ready to evacuate using the secret passage! Hurry up, they're almost here!"

  "I'll lock the gate!"

  A scrawny little man in the group sprinted toward the entrance in an attempt to seal the gate before the enemy could enter. Before he could get the job done, he heard someone crying out after him from behind, "Get back here!"

  "Ah?"

  The scrawny little man turned around wearing a blank expression. The next second, he saw a column of flames erupting in front of his eyes and his body was flung into the air. Before he had time to register what was happening, his consciousness faded away nearly instantly...

  "Boom!"

  A tremendous explosion tore through the garage gate. The fiery sparks filled out nearly half of the garage in a matter of seconds. Christina and the others managed to get behind a table just in time as the heavy and deafening rupture of the explosion rang in their ear!

  The space in the garage became unbearably hot!

  After the dust had settled, the three of them emerged from the pile of rubble while coughing violently. It was only when Digit tried to pull himself up on his feet when he realized that his legs were turned into a mash of meat underneath a collapsed pillar!

  "Ah, my leg! My leg!"

  Digit cried out immediately.

  "Digit!"

  Christina charged over and gave her best attempt at lifting off the pillar but it would not budge no matter how much she strained her muscles.

  "It's no use! Kraken, get out of here with Wildfire!"

  When Digit realized the severity of the situation, he shoved Christina out of the way and produced a gun which he aimed in the direction of the gate that had been blown apart. "Hurry up and get out of here, I'll hold them off! Go!"

  "Digit..."

  Christina was hesitant in abandoning her courage.

  "Go, hurry up!"

  Digit screamed at the top of his voice and pointed the gun at his temple, "I'll kill myself if you still don't go!"

  "Let's get out of here Christina!"

  The also heavily-wounded Wildfire managed to pull himself up and immediately went to get Christina. They took off toward the small room at the other end of the garage!

  As soon as they opened the wooden door leading to the room, four figures in black robes appeared outside the warehouse. Before they even set foot in the garage, Digit had opened fire!

  "Bang bang bang!"

  A barrage of gunshots rang across the garage as Digit belted a stream of curses at them, "Come get me you piece of sh**! You better take me out or else I'll..."

  "Swish!"

  The sound of an unidentifiable weapon firing sliced across the air, immediately cutting off Digit mid-sentence!

  Christina turned around instinctively just in time to witness Digit's head bursting open like a watermelon. She saw the red meat of the fruit splatter all across the floor!

  The unmistakable gunshot had to come from the electromagnetic weapons owned by Blackwatch!

  Christina immediately realized what was happening. There was only one possibility, they were betrayed!

  "Lane, how dare you betray us!"

  Christina was not the only one who made the connection, Wildfire connected the dots as well. When he saw the figures advancing toward them, he shoved Christina into the room without any hesitation and bellowed like a beast, "Lane, you don't deserve to live!"

  Wildfire held his fingers on the trigger and fired away like a mad man!

  When Christina heard the barrage of gunshots from outside, she quickly silenced the mixture of emotions racing across her mind at the moment and lifted off the toilet bowl to reveal a secret passage hidden underneath. She entered the secret passage and put the toilet bowl back in its natural position.

  Within seconds, Wildfire was turned into target practice with countless bullet holes riddled across
his body. The robed men charged into the room after that.

  "Clack!"

  The one leading the charge was a woman in high heels. She surveyed the room upon entering and immediately sensed something below her. She stomped down with her foot on a certain tile that unwound certain mechanisms in the room to reveal a hidden passage before them.

  The lady in charge took off her hood and revealed her beautiful and captivating appearance underneath.

  Nobody would ever expect such beauty and grace hidden underneath this mask of violence seemed to be a match made in heaven. The two elements were blended to perfection, part poison mixed with vodka to form the perfect concoction...

  "Inform squad two that our target is escaping through a secret tunnel!"

  The lady turned around and shouted orders at the crew behind her, "Keep her alive at all cost. I want to know just who this mysterious 'Cain' is and what makes him think that he can oppose Blackwatch!"

  "Got it, Chief Sara!"

  Chief Sara's crew responded immediately and bolted out of the room, leaving her by herself in the room.

  Chief Sara pondered for a moment before lifting off her robe to reveal an eloquent, custom-fitted combat suit underneath. She took out a black object attached to the suit and flicked the cap off using her thumb!

  "Tick!"

  The safety pin popped out its shell with just a gentle pull. Chief Sara immediately tossed the all-black spherical object with one arm and sent it rolling down the tunnel!

  After this, she bore a brittle smirk and proceeded to step out of the garage.

  "Boom!"

  An enormous explosion followed as soon as she stepped out of the garage, the violent shockwave caused by the explosion made the air in the vicinity tremble. On the chief commander's combat suit, one could make out the text printed across her chest that read B.S.S.!

  Chapter 493: Mission Accomplished |

  Chen Chen opened his eyes as he lay inside the Medpod3000, also dubbed as the Blacklight Fully-automated Medical Platform.

  The first thing that came to view was an all-white room that was plainly decorated. The only thing present in the room was the medical platform that was shaped like a CT scanner and a simple-looking but extremely premium rug.