A suffocating atmosphere spread throughout the base. Jiang Jin roamed the outskirts like a specter, his attacks growing more frequent and brutal. He even began deliberately ambushing squads marked with wind-type ability users.
Base losses mounted relentlessly. Outer missions had become synonymous with death, and grumbling among the lower-tier survivors grew louder. Yet orders from the inner sector remained unchanged: intensify the search and capture that "dangerous fire-type ability user."
Lu Zhao was once again assigned to an outbound squad tasked with searching a nearby abandoned logistics transfer station. Each member wore a grim expression, the atmosphere as heavy as visiting a grave. Everyone knew the probability of encountering that fire-wielding madman was extremely high.
Sure enough, disaster struck the moment the team dispersed to search the transit station's warehouse.
The warehouse ceiling erupted violently, blown open by a massive hole! Scorching debris and flames rained down like hail! Jiang Jin descended from the breach like a fire god incarnate, his form shrouded in near-white flames. The shockwave from his landing instantly hurled several team members near the entrance into the air, their screams abruptly silenced.
"He's over there!" the squad leader shouted hoarsely, raising his weapon—only to be instantly engulfed by a thick pillar of fire.
Chaos! Utter chaos!
Lu Zhao used his wind-element ability to retreat backward the instant the explosion erupted, dodging the first wave of shock. Hiding behind a massive shipping crate, his heart pounding, he watched Jiang Jin rampage through the warehouse, precisely locating and slaughtering every team member. His objective was clear—force Gu Xun out—and killing Lu Zhao was the most direct way to achieve it.
"Come out! You insect!" Jiang Jin's roar echoed amidst the crackling flames. He casually hurled fireballs, igniting one cargo container after another, sowing panic and creating obstacles.
Lu Zhao knew hiding was futile. He took a deep breath and burst from behind the crates, unleashing a barrage of wind blades toward Jiang Jin!
"Found you!" Jiang Jin's crimson eyes blazed with astonishing intensity. Without flinching, he unleashed a punch that instantly consumed the wind blades in flames! He charged toward Lu Zhao, each stride leaving scorched footprints on the ground as the intense heat warped the air.
Lu Zhao pushed his speed to the absolute limit, weaving through the burning shelves while using his wind blades to harass and hinder Jiang Jin. His blades sliced through the flames but struggled to harm Jiang Jin himself—the opponent's fire resistance and regenerative abilities were monstrously abnormal. Several times, scorching airwaves grazed Lu Zhao's body, leaving searing pain in their wake.
"All you can do is dodge? Useless!" Jiang Jin's rage boiled over. Clasping his hands together, a massive, rapidly compressing fireball formed in his palms, radiating an aura of utter destruction.
Lu Zhao's pupils contracted sharply as he sensed the deadly threat! He scrambled backward, but the fireball's speed was too swift!
At that critical moment, hurried footsteps and shouts erupted outside the warehouse! "Target inside! Move out!" It was the base's elite squad! They had finally arrived!
Icicles, earth walls, and energy beams shot toward Jiang Jin, interrupting his spell. The fireball detonated prematurely, engulfing everything nearby in a sea of flames.
The squad leader—a sharp-eyed ice mage—coldly surveyed the battered Lu Zhao and the corpses littering the floor before ordering, "Subdue the target. Capture him alive if possible!"
The battle escalated. Jiang Jin fought multiple opponents alone, his raging flames clashing violently with the elite squad's diverse abilities, causing the entire warehouse to shake precariously. Lu Zhao was caught in the fray, dodging Jiang Jin's indiscriminate attacks while also avoiding stray shots from the elite squad, his situation perilous.
He spotted an elite squad member sneaking up from the side, attempting to capture Jiang Jin with a specialized alloy net. Jiang Jin, fully engaged in battling the ice-type squad leader ahead, seemed oblivious.
In a split second, Lu Zhao didn't know why he acted—perhaps to prevent Jiang Jin from being captured by the base, a fate worse than death—he unleashed a wind blade. Not to strike Jiang Jin, but to precisely sever the rope holding the alloy net the squad member had thrown!
"You!" The enraged team member glared at Lu Zhao.
That split-second distraction gave Jiang Jin his opening. He spun violently, punching the team member hard enough to send him crashing into the wall, unconscious and possibly dead.
But Jiang Jin had exposed himself. The Ice Captain's frigid beam struck his left leg, instantly freezing his joints and halting his movement. Attacks from the other members followed in rapid succession!
Jiang Jin roared in agony as flames surged around him, repelling the closest enemies. Yet the frost binding his left leg severely hampered his movement. He shot a venomous glare at Lu Zhao and the elite squad before charging toward another breach in the warehouse. He crashed through the burning obstacle and vanished into the flames and thick smoke.
The elite squad did not pursue deeply. The captain, his face grim, assessed the casualties before fixing a cold stare on Lu Zhao.
"What did you just do?"
Lu Zhao gasped for breath, offering no reply. He surveyed the wreckage of the warehouse, the fallen comrades, and the direction Jiang Jin had vanished. His heart turned to ice.
This base cared nothing for the lives of its lowly workers—only for capturing and exploiting them. Jiang Jin was a mad threat, but the base itself was an abyss that devoured its victims whole.
He had to get out of here. He had to leave with Gu Xun.
Meanwhile, in the inner zone, Gu Xun had just finished treating a psychic who'd been injured during an experiment. Piecing together the unconscious man's delirious ramblings and scattered fragments of documents in the lab corner, he uncovered a horrifying truth—the base was conducting human experiments on psychics, attempting to strip, replicate, and even amplify their abilities! The so-called "treatment" was sometimes merely a means to better observe the test subjects' reactions and data!
A chill ran through him. This place was darker than he'd imagined.
Taking advantage of an opportunity to treat an old injury for a senior administrator, Gu Xun casually mentioned that he had a companion in the outer zone, his tone tinged with concern. The administrator seemed in a good mood and revealed, "You mean that kid Feng? He's got a strong constitution—made it back alive again today. But his squad nearly wiped out."
Gu Xun's heart sank.
That night, through a low-level medic moved by his healing abilities and willing to take risks, Gu Xun successfully delivered a folded note to Lu Zhao, who had just returned to the Dust Zone, still shaken by the ordeal.
The note contained only a few brief words, a detail about the outpost known only to the two of them: [Old spot, water tank. Tomorrow night, moon at its zenith.]
Lu Zhao clenched the note tightly, crumpled it into a ball, and swallowed it. The decision was made. Desertion.