Nightfall draped over the abandoned district, the underground passage damp and shrouded in a musty, decayed stench. Li Chuan and his team navigated swiftly through the narrow pipes, their footsteps echoing against the cold metal. On Shen Qiu's screen, streams of data flickered rapidly, guiding them forward.
"Exit's two hundred meters ahead, but… wait." Shen Qiu's fingers froze mid-air, his expression shifting ever so slightly. "Someone's waiting for us."
Su Man raised her firearm instinctively, voice low. "How many?"
"Just one." Shen Qiu's brows knitted together, an odd hesitation lacing his tone. "But his vitals… they're not normal."
Li Chuan's eyes darkened. "Can you tap into nearby surveillance?"
"Trying." Shen Qiu's fingers danced over the keyboard, linking into a derelict underground security cam. The feed crackled, static-ridden, yet they could still make out the figure standing by the exit—
A lone, thin man, head bowed, unmoving. He stood there like a statue in deep slumber.
"What's his ID?" Cheng Mo asked, gaze locked onto the screen.
Shen Qiu's system scoured the database. Seconds later, red text flashed across the interface—
Identity: Not Found.
Li Chuan's gaze sharpened.
"That's impossible," Shen Qiu muttered, frowning. "Every living person leaves a trace in the system unless—"
"Unless he isn't… 'normal,'" Su Man finished, her finger tightening around the trigger, voice like ice.
Li Chuan exhaled slowly. "Prepare for engagement."
Approaching cautiously, the group inched toward the exit. Yet the man remained eerily still—until they closed in within five meters.
Then, he lifted his head.
Under the dim light, his features came into view—gaunt, pallid skin, eyes devoid of warmth. His lips curved into an unsettling smile.
"…Li Chuan," he rasped, voice hoarse, as if unused for years. "You've finally come."
Li Chuan's pupils contracted. "You know me?"
The man's grin lacked all human emotion. Slowly, he raised his hand, revealing a branding-like sequence on the back—
X-109.
"I am Experiment X," he murmured, his pronunciation off, as though the words were foreign to him. "And my task—" his voice dipped lower, "is to bring you back."
The last syllable had barely left his lips when his silhouette blurred—
And vanished.
A streak of motion, impossibly fast, lunged at them.
Li Chuan barely twisted away, the bullet from Su Man's gun grazing X-109's shoulder—but the man moved unnaturally, dodging with an elegance bordering on mechanical precision.
Su Man and Cheng Mo fired in unison. Yet X-109 wove between the bullets like a specter, his body bending in ways no human should. Then, with a sudden burst of force—
BAM!
Cheng Mo was launched backward, slamming against the wall, blood trickling from his lips.
"He's… too strong!" Cheng Mo gritted his teeth, chest heaving.
Li Chuan narrowed his eyes. "Shen Qiu! Scan his vitals!"
"Analyzing—" Shen Qiu's voice was clipped, urgent. "…No good! His heart rate's three times the norm. Muscle density? Five times that of an average human. Skeletal structure? Reinforced. His cells… they've been altered."
Su Man's expression tightened. "So this is what the Taylor Foundation created."
X-109's smile widened into something manic. "You react faster than expected," he mused. "But… this is merely the beginning."
Then, he vanished again.
Li Chuan's every nerve stood on edge.
This wasn't just another skilled opponent—X-109's movements, strength, even battle intuition had surpassed human limits. If they didn't neutralize him swiftly, exhaustion would claim them first.
Shen Qiu's voice crackled through the earpiece. "Li Chuan! His attack patterns—they follow a sequence! After every strike, his muscles enter a micro-recovery state for precisely 0.8 seconds. That's our only opening!"
A cold gleam flickered in Li Chuan's eyes. "Then we wait for his next move."
Su Man and Cheng Mo adjusted immediately, shifting from offense to counter-play.
X-109's expression finally wavered. The madness in his eyes dimmed, replaced by a glint of… calculation.
"…Interesting," he murmured.
And then, like a bullet from a chamber, he struck again—
Li Chuan held his breath.
In the split second before impact, he dodged—just barely.
"Now!"
Gunfire exploded.
Su Man and Cheng Mo's shots struck true—joint-targeted rounds locking onto his weak points.
Li Chuan's fist crashed into X-109's midsection.
A direct hit.
X-109 jerked, his manic grin finally cracking.
His frame shuddered violently, muscles convulsing—then his body froze unnaturally.
Shen Qiu's voice rang through their comms. "It worked! His nervous system—overloaded! He can't sustain his combat mode any longer!"
Without hesitation, Li Chuan delivered a swift strike to the base of X-109's neck. The experimental soldier collapsed, unconscious.
Gunpowder lingered in the damp air. Li Chuan stared down at X-109's unmoving form, his mind heavy.
"What the hell is the Taylor Foundation trying to accomplish?" Su Man murmured.
Suddenly—
Shen Qiu's screen flickered. His face drained of color. "Shit… we've been watched."
Li Chuan's head snapped toward him. "Explain."
Shen Qiu's fingers trembled slightly as he scrolled. "During the fight, X-109's internal chip activated a remote transmission mode. Everything… was broadcasted to someone."
Cheng Mo's voice dropped. "Who?"
Shen Qiu inhaled sharply. Then, in a measured tone, he uttered a name—
"The true master of the Taylor Foundation."
Li Chuan's fist clenched.
"So… the real game begins."
Across the city, atop a towering skyscraper, an obscure figure watched through a surveillance feed.
A slow, cold chuckle echoed in the dark.
"…The prey," the voice murmured, "is finally awakening."