Chapter 508.3: The Eighth Person

Countless thoughts flew through his mind.

Even when Willick had encouraged him to assassinate Griffin, he hadn’t felt so conflicted.

“So strange...”

Unaware of the two people beside him harboring different agendas, Meng Liang kept his eyes fixed on the screen and muttered softly to himself. “I really thought it was them who deleted the data.”

...

Earlier...

In the reactor room, a dark red Hive pulsated rhythmically like a human heart.

The reactor at the center had been almost completely consumed.

It was easy to tell that each pulse of the hive was slightly larger and more frequent than the last.

Through the floor-to-ceiling window, Wally stared at the hatching sacs with an involuntary shudder running down his spine.

They were separated from the Hive by just a single pane of glass.

Even if the newborn spawn couldn’t smash through that window and leap at his face, circling around the power core via the outer corridor wouldn’t be a problem.

As one of the eggs burst open and an unknown lifeform crawled out, Wally couldn’t help but bark a warning.

“Oi, lass, how much longer?!”

“Almost done.”

“If you were one of my guys...”

“Shut it.”

Ignoring the vulgar Wislander, Jiang Xuezhou stared blankly at the console, her fingers flying rapidly across the interface.

Finally, as the last firewall fell, her expression eased with relief.

“All done?!” Wally asked immediately.

“Yeah.”

Lifting her hands from the console, Jiang Xuezhou turned her gaze to the floor-to-ceiling window beside her.

At almost the exact same moment, the ceiling panel in the reactor room slid open. A milky-white mist-like crystal poured down like a waterfall, soaking the Hive clinging to the reactor.

The pulsating hive instantly shrank back as if shocked by electricity, trying to dodge to the side while extending fleshy tendrils to block the source of the coolant.

To its credit, the thing was intelligent, and its self-preservation instincts were clear.

But in the face of coolant meant to stabilize an active reactor, its resistance was utterly futile.

Even the egg sacs connected to its tendrils, full of life just seconds ago, were frozen solid in an instant. The water vapor in the air turned to frost, forming a thick layer on the inside of the glass.

Seeing the hive freeze over, Wally finally let out a long breath. He lowered his rifle and relaxed his taut nerves. “Good job.”

Jiang Xuezhou ignored him, her eyes still locked on the frozen world beyond the glass, momentarily entranced.

So beautiful...

Though the Wandering Swamp often saw snow, she rarely paused to appreciate it like this.

Just then, an ill-timed cough sounded beside her. “Hey, I know you can’t be bothered to talk to me, but I’m heading to the administrator’s office to regroup with my guy. If you want to stay, fine. If not, hurry up.”

“Who said I wanted to go with you?” Jiang Xuezhou rolled her eyes, but since her destination was the same, she gritted her teeth.

Wally grinned and slung his rifle over his shoulder.

The crisis was over.

The Hive had been the biggest threat here.

But just then, a surge of danger prickled at the back of his mind. Almost reflexively, he raised his gun and flicked off the safety.

“Down!”

Startled by the Wislander’s sudden action, Jiang Xuezhou widened her eyes.

“What are you...” Before she could finish her sentence, gunfire erupted from the corner of the room.

Ratatata...

Almost simultaneously, Wally pivoted and fired. But the bullets struck something like an invisible wall, rippling outward in distorted waves.

Three shots hit his chest. One struck his shoulder. With a grunt, Wally collapsed to the ground.

From the rippling distortion, a slim figure emerged.

She wore a lightweight exoskeleton, its chest plate cracked open by the bullets, revealing a blue undershirt.

She held a silenced pistol. Her athletic build and the scar below her neck made it clear. The woman was no ordinary combatant.

There was a trace of dishevelment on her tanned face, showing Wally’s burst hadn’t left her completely unscathed.

But compared to the man lying on the ground, she was clearly in much better shape.

Optical camouflage?!

Jiang Xuezhou was stunned and shouted, “Wangy, take her out!”

But before her robotic dog could even deploy its weapons, an EMP grenade rolled to its side.

At the same time, the woman stepped forward and kicked the sidearm from Jiang Xuezhou’s hand, then wrapped a powerful hand around her throat.

“Argh...!”

Her face turned purple as her breath was cut off.

It felt like an iron clamp was crushing her neck. No matter how she struggled, she couldn’t pry it loose. The next moment, she was lifted clean off the ground.

The motions were so smooth, so fast, she had no time to react.

But that made sense.

She wasn’t a frontline combatant. And the woman before her was clearly on a whole different level in speed, strength, and experience.

Looking up at the helpless prey dangling in her grasp, the woman clicked her tongue in mockery. “So weak.”

Gasping on the ground, Wally reached for the handgun hidden at his waist while squinting at the woman’s face, trying and failing to recognize her.

The only thing he recognized was that jacket, no wastelander would mistake it.

Not every person wearing it was from a shelter, but every shelter resident wore one.

“Who are you?”

“Guess.”

But she didn’t give him a chance to guess.

Raising her silenced pistol, she aimed at his upper body and emptied the last round in the clip.

With half his face blown off, Wally collapsed silently into a pool of blood. The pistol slipped from his limp hand.

Jiang Xuezhou watched in horror as her companion died before her eyes. Her whole body trembled uncontrollably as the woman holding her throat looked her way again. “Hmm, not a bad face.”

The woman’s gaze flicked, then a chilling smile spread across her tanned cheeks. “It’s mine now.”

Ignoring Jiang Xuezhou’s desperate struggles, she pulled a C-shaped visor from her belt and slammed it onto her face.

Green indicator lights blinked.

Jiang Xuezhou convulsed as if electrocuted, then suddenly went limp.

Once the victim was confirmed to be in the virtual world, the woman gently patted her pale cheek and tossed her into a corner.

“Enjoy yourself.”

“No need to thank me. Letting you relive happy memories before you die, call it mercy.”

As she spoke, she reloaded her empty pistol. At the same time, her tanned skin slowly gave way to a pale, sun-starved complexion.

The shifting optical camouflage didn’t just alter her appearance and hair color, it even changed her clothes, mimicking every tiny detail.

Still, compared to true optical camouflage, the full-spectrum disguise system wasn’t very practical.

It didn’t work well at long distances, and up close it wasn’t great either. It was only useful for short-term deception.

If she really wanted to fully become someone else, she would need to read their memories thoroughly, and maybe even get cosmetic surgery.

She would consider it when she got back.

If their Lord Return to Ruin thought it was worthwhile to repurpose this Researcher’s identity...

Pulling a timed bomb from her belt, the woman stuck it to the nearby floor-to-ceiling window.

With one last glance at the frozen reactor, she turned and left the power chamber, heading toward Zone X-13.

The operation on the surface was probably wrapping up.

The phase cannons stationed nearby were enough to cripple those two airships. And the forces led personally by Return to Ruin were set to strike at the same moment.

Now, it was time for her to awaken her sleeping kin and reclaim what had always belonged to them from these ancient ruins.