Chapter 245: Predicament
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
After travelling down the winding tunnel for some time, the path in front suddenly widened.
Right in front of them was an underground tunnel with an open space. The exit for this dark path was located on top of the wall at the side of the tunnel, which was around five meters above the ground.
The air was filled with the smell dust and mold. The place had been abandoned long ago, and the walls were covered with spider webs. The front door of underground tunnel had also been locked for a few years.
Hila hugged Aurora and jumped down. Dust and debris scattered as they landed. Han Xiao followed.
“This was an early stage of the underground tunnel. After they built the headquarters, people left it without any maintenance. I dug a path from the air ventilation pipes which lead to this place. All the cameras and gates are gone, and the railroads are broken, too. We need to walk out of here. The exit a hidden door that is located at the fringe of the headquarters, and it will take around four hours for us to reach there.”
Han Xiao looked back at the hole and said, “Won’t they be able to catch up?”
“Nobody knows we are here, but we still have to be on alert.” Hila carried Aurora on her back and started walking forward.
Han Xiao quickly followed and walked right next to Hila. He occasionally dropped a few small landmines to blow up the tunnel in case anyone came later.
Three of them continued to march forward in silence.
Just now, the situation had been intense, so there were a lot of things that they were still unclear of. Now that they had the time, Hila seemed to be more confused as she kept recalling what had happened. She kept on turning her head toward Han Xiao.
Hila had a few questions to ask, but because of her cold personality, she pursed her lips and kept on walking.
Aurora, who was on Hila’s back, covered her head inside her sister’s long red hair and smelled the delightful scent she had. Her eyes were calm and safe, and she turned to look at Han Xiao.
“What are you looking at, you little brat?” Han Xiao raised his eyebrows.
Aurora quietly replied, “Do you not have a name, or is your name just Zero?”
Paying attention, Hila’s ears perked up.
“Han Xiao. That’s my name.”
“My sister said you were brainwashed. She couldn’t figure out how you escaped.”
Han Xiao stroke his chin and said, “Everything has its own destiny.”
Hila rolled her eyes.
“My sister said you are only twenty years old, but why do you look so old?”
Han Xiao’s face darkened. Didn’t I already change my appearance? This brat doesn’t appreciate beauty at all.
Then Han Xiao looked at Hila and realized that she was being oddly quiet. Han Xiao started to tease her interested and smiled. “So, do you have anything that you want to say to me?”
Hila pushed Aurora higher up on her back and coldly replied, “Thanks.”
“You don’t sound like you mean it at all.” Han Xiao started to flip the bullets in his hands. “Don’t forget that I came a long way to save your sister. There’s no need for you to kneel on the ground to show your gratitude, but at least be more polite, will you?”
Hila turned her head around and frowned. “How did you know about my sister? What are you trying to do?”
Hila could not believe that Han Xiao really came here to save her sister, and she thought that he must had an ulterior motive. Although Hila was right, she could never guess that Han Xiao’s target was her.
“You sound like you are trying to interrogate me even though I am your savior and your teammate.” Han Xiao raised his eyebrow. “If you want to ask anything, you must at least try to show some respect.”
Savior and teammate... Hila was having a hard time getting used to someone with these two roles. After a long silence, she still could not say the word ‘please’. She boldly said, “Tell me.”
“What now? Do you think I’m like the Germinal Organization, trying to use your sister to control you?” Han Xiao yawned. “I might try if I want to.”
There was no way that he could do what he said. Hila relaxed for a bit and replied, “So, what do you want?”
“I want world peace.”
Hila ground her teeth in frustration. Han Xiao had just been playing with her all this time, and she did not get anything useful out of him. Hila shut her mouth again.
“Sister told me some stories about you, and she said you were very talented.” Aurora then curiously asked, “Are those stories real?”
Oh... Hila actually complimented me behind my back.
Han Xiao looked over, and Hila did not even flinch. Her face was still as cold as ice while looking straight ahead, ignoring Han Xiao. Well, there’s a saying that if you don’t say anything. then you agree to whatever that’s happening.
“Of course, it’s all real.”
“Then what happened after you escaped?” Aurora was really interested into Han Xiao’s story. During her time of imprisonment, when she and her sister meet up, her sister would always tell Aurora about the stories of the world outside. The stories of Zero had left the deepest impression on her.
Hila thought that Han Xiao had some things that he did not want to say, so she suddenly had an idea.
“Even though we don’t know how Zero... Han Xiao has gain so much power in such short period of time, when he escaped the base, he was not strong. After he finally got the freedom he longed for, he was frightened that the organization might capture him, so he had no choice but to change his name and hide away from the eyes of the Germinal Organization. He never showed himself and only gathered information in the dark, and the organization could not find him.”
Seeing that Han Xiao remained quiet, Hila thought that she must have guessed it correctly. After working for the Germinal Organization for years, she knew the consequences of rebels, and Han Xiao must have had a difficult past during his time hiding from the organization.
After a few sentences, Aurora slowly fell asleep. Her body was weak, and the intense journey quickly drained her energy. Han Xiao and Hila also stopped talking and focused on the journey ahead.
After three hours of silence, they reached a part where the tunnel was blocked, and the exit was right above their head.
Han Xiao and Hila stepped on the shattered rocks. Hila’s hand swept over the ceiling, and she found the lever. After she flipped the lever, cracks suddenly appeared and formed a square, and dust started to fall from above of them. The crack was dark, and one could not see anything on the other side.
“Get up.” Hila pushed open the hidden door and jumped into the room.
The room was pitch black without any sound. After the eyes had adjusted to the darkness, they could see that they were in a large storage room. Tons of boxes and containers were lined up, and there was another exit at the corner of the storage room that was covered in dust.
“They don’t have anything important in this warehouse, so there shouldn’t be a lot of security here. Toward the south is the secured part of the headquarters. As long as we can get out of the secured zone, then we will be safe.”
Han Xiao remained silent.
Cyberlos had once said that the leader encircled him using large amount of manpower, and they set up countless of troops scattered in a radius of a few hundred miles. Even though he had escaped the headquarters, he still did not escape the encirclement. If what Cyberlos had said was true, then there was still a long way before Han Xiao could get to safety.
Gripping his equipment bag, Han Xiao thought, My identity will be revealed sooner or later. I might as well just do it right here.
Suddenly, the interface popped up with a message.
_____________________
Your landmine successfully killed the soldiers of Germinal Organization. You gain 1 experience.
_____________________
“The landmines in the tunnel just exploded, it won’t be long before the Germinal Organization catch up,” Han Xiao said.
Hila’s face briefly let slip a stunned expression. “We need to pick up our pace.”
It was night, and the sky was dark. They woke Aurora up and put her into the bag. Then the two of them quickly left the warehouse, sneaked under the patrol of the soldiers, and head toward the exit.
A number of troops started to show up and settle down in the area around the headquarters. The security level was also increased by a few levels.
A few hours ago, Han Xiao and Hila had disappeared in the headquarters. The leader called for the highest level of order to employ all the standby troop to catch Han Xiao. He knew that Han Xiao must still be in the headquarters’ surroundings, so he reinforced the security at the borders and would not let anyone pass.
The ambushing troops on the outside was a few hundred times more than the number of troops in the headquarters. In the beginning, the leader used all the resources that he had to set up the encirclement of troops that lasted for a few hundred miles. All the preparation was for any possible accident, and the day’s events proved that he had been right to be so cautious.
The leader of southern troops quickly changed from a normal leader to executive officer Kedor who was LV 55. To target the powerful growth that Han Xiao had, the leader also employed the veterans and executive officers. There were more than ten executive officers, a dozen super soldiers, a few hundred Inhumans, and a few thousands common soldiers that followed after Kedor.
In the chaotic battlefront, Kedor was receiving orders from the leader.
“The headquarters have already found the location of the target and have started a blanket search operation. There is a high chance that the target is heading toward you. You are authorized to fire at any suspicious object in the battlefield, and you are authorized to kill on sight. Do not let him get away!”
“If he dares to come toward me, he will die,” Kedor replied. “How about Hila and her sister?”
“They betrayed the organization; if they resist, kill them all.”
The leader’s voice was deep. Zero was the number one enemy—even sacrificing Aurora would be worth it.