Chapter 29: Roadblock
Su Xiao stooped and crawled through the hole in the wall into the laboratory.
"Finally found the researcher. Is this place a maze?"
As Su Xiao entered the lab, blood dripped from the blade of Dragon-Slaying Flash. He had just encountered a squad of Hound Unit members earlier; those guys had been brainwashed, making it difficult to extract information from them.
The moment Su Xiao stepped into the lab, a Hound Unit member inside raised his rifle, aiming the muzzle at Su Xiao. A Counter Shield beside Su Xiao flew out, shooting toward the Hound Unit member. Mid-flight, the Counter Shield rapidly split into dozens of pieces, like sharp blades.
Puchi, puchi...
The Hound Unit member holding the rifle was riddled with holes. This was a new application of the Counter Shield that Su Xiao had developed; it wasn't very useful in practical combat, but it worked well against mooks.
"You... you're the intruder?"
A researcher sat on the ground, legs flailing as he scooted backward until his back hit the wall.
Su Xiao lightly stamped his foot on the floor. He vanished from the researcher's line of sight and reappeared right in front of him.
"The map of this place..."
Mid-sentence, Su Xiao suddenly realized he probably didn't need a map. Familiarizing himself with the terrain was a habit he had developed, but now, directly asking for Kihara Gensei's location was more reliable.
"Where is Kihara Gensei?"
The moment Su Xiao finished speaking, the researcher raised his hands and spoke rapidly: "I know this place's map very well. Kihara Gensei must be taking shelter in the central control room. It has a Level 4 defense system. I can take you there."
It could be said that this young researcher had a strong will to survive. Not only did he divulge the information Su Xiao wanted, but he also revealed Kihara Gensei's hobbies, age, and height. He just didn't know what color underwear Kihara Gensei wore; otherwise, he would have offered that up too.
Most of the enemies Su Xiao had encountered were tough nuts to crack. This kind of soft persimmon was truly rare.
"Take me to him. I'll spare your life."
"Alright, sir, rest assured. I'll cooperate fully."
The soft persimmon forced a smile. He was still young with a bright future ahead; of course, he wouldn't die for Kihara Gensei.
The soft persimmon stood up, trembling as he walked toward the lab entrance, and casually grabbed the work ID from his group leader's corpse. This thing served as both a keycard and an identity badge—the higher one's status, the more freedom they had in the research institute.
As Su Xiao passed by a glass pillar in the lab, he paused. He saw a clone of Misaka Mikoto. The soft persimmon noticed this and immediately began explaining.
"This is a clone of the Level 5 esper Misaka Mikoto, part of the 'Level 6 Shift Project.' A total of 20,000 clones were created. According to the plan, if the number one, Accelerator, kills the number three, Misaka Mikoto, 128 times across different battlefields, he can evolve into a Level 6 absolute ability user. Since 128 Misaka Mikotos can't exist, 20,000 clones are used as substitutes. If you want to know more about the 'Level 6 Shift Project,' I can explain in detail."
The soft persimmon had fully embraced his role as a traitor. Before Su Xiao even asked, he blurted out the entire "Level 6 Shift Project."
"Not interested. Lead the way."
"This way."
With the soft persimmon guiding him, Su Xiao's progress into the research institute accelerated significantly. After dealing with numerous defense mechanisms, he quickly reached the third floor of the institute, where the central control room was located.
Su Xiao slashed through a half-meter-thick metal isolation door with a few strikes. Under Dragon-Slaying Flash, it was like paper. Ahead was an empty metal room.
Clank, clank...
The sound of metal clashing came from the empty room. Dozens of five-meter-tall robots stood inside, conservatively estimated at over sixty units.
Seeing those towering robots, the soft persimmon wavered. He considered whether to rejoin Kihara Gensei's side.
...
Inside the central control room on the third floor of the research institute, a group of researchers stared at the large screen, which showed the area where Su Xiao was.
"That should do it. DX-794M combat mechs can't be defeated by humans. Even if he's a Level 5 physical enhancement esper, the combat mechs will tear him apart."
A researcher held a cup of coffee, taking a slow, deliberate sip. He was the developer of these mechs.
"Randy, these combat mechs you developed aren't bad."
A shabbily dressed old man with a face full of wrinkles spoke. He was Kihara Gensei.
"Of course. Although this incident has caused considerable losses, it proves that combat mechs are humanity's future, not espers. Esper development is too slow, while mechs can be mass-produced."
"Short-sighted."
Kihara Gensei sneered, completely ignoring the researcher's sour expression.
"I had prepared a final defense plan, but it seems unnecessary now. Wasted 12 minutes and 35 seconds of my research time."
Kihara Gensei glanced at the silver briefcase in his hand, hesitating whether to abandon it. For this item, his relationship with Aleister had deteriorated sharply.
"H-h-h-he..."
A researcher pointed at the large screen, his finger trembling.
"What's the panic..."
With a crash, the coffee cup in the mech developer's hand fell. On the screen, broken mechs were scattered across the room. A man holding a long blade stood amidst the wreckage, shaking bullets out of his collar.
The man with the blade looked up, his sharp gaze causing all the researchers in the central control room to step back.
With a crackle, the large screen went black. The surveillance camera was destroyed.
Boom! Boom!
A series of muffled sounds came from the third floor of the institute, as if someone was about to tear the place apart.
Boom!
The rumbling grew closer to the central control room. Kihara Gensei's expression darkened.
"We'll have to use that. Even though that thing isn't very obedient, its abilities are strong."
Kihara Gensei whispered something to a researcher beside him, who clearly showed reluctance.
"Do we really have to go get that experimental subject? He..."
"Go now. Do you want to die?"
"Yes, sir."
The researcher beside Kihara Gensei opened the central control room door and ran toward a nearby rest room.
...
Rat-a-tat-tat. Several machine guns opened fire on Su Xiao. He swung his long blade repeatedly, deflecting a hail of bullets.
A pale blue blade aura shot out, effortlessly slicing through the machine guns, silencing them.
Su Xiao walked down a corridor littered with bullet casings, a puzzled look on his face. Although there were plenty of defense devices along the way, they weren't particularly strong—at most, they could stop a Level 4 esper. Stopping him was impossible.
The difficulty of the third-rank promotion mission was Lv.23. A research institute with this level of defense didn't match Lv.23 difficulty. Could the difficulty lie in finding clues about the Necronomicon?
That was very possible. After all, Su Xiao had traveled far and wide to get leads on the Necronomicon, nearly getting killed by Kanzaki Kaori's Flash Step along the way.
Now, the central control room was right in front of him. As long as he found Kihara Gensei, the Necronomicon was as good as his.
Su Xiao stepped toward the central control room. The high-strength glass door wouldn't stop him.
"Hey, you're the test subject this time? Doesn't look like much."
A white-haired "youth" with his hands in his pockets emerged from a passage next to the central control room. The white-haired youth had red pupils and a thin, malnourished frame. He looked at Su Xiao with a half-smile.
"I see. That makes the mission difficulty about right."
Su Xiao stretched his muscles, activating his Aura Release ability. A faint red aura spread outward.
Crack.
Cracks appeared on the surrounding metal walls. Seeing this, the white-haired youth stomped his foot on the ground. With a boom, the metal floor beneath him shattered inch by inch.