Chapter 11 Phoenix Fire
After the battle with Scorpion, Lin Yao did not stay in place.
Peter led the seven test subjects to transfer to the second safe point, while Jean was responsible for wiping away the mental traces left along the way.
Before dawn, everyone entered an abandoned subway maintenance station.
Scorpion and the DODC on-site Commander were locked into the innermost maintenance room.
One lost his armor, and the other had her consciousness sealed by Jean. Without Lin Yao's permission, neither could wake up.
As soon as they settled down, Jean found Lin Yao.
"I want to continue training."
Lin Yao was checking the data module of Scorpion's armor without even lifting his head.
"Reason."
"Last night's mental disruption bomb almost made me lose control."
Jean said, "If you hadn't blocked the front, the children in the underground passage might have already died."
"I don't want to wait for you to come back and save me every time."
Lin Yao closed the computer.
"To what extent do you want to train?"
"At least next time someone uses a mental weapon against me, I can still protect the others."
"Very well."
Lin Yao stood up.
"But once the training starts, I won't stop just because you feel uncomfortable."
Jean looked at him.
"I didn't ask you to stop either."
At the back of the maintenance station was an abandoned repair yard.
Lin Yao asked Peter to find all the movable metal parts, and had the seven test subjects stay in the next room.
Jean's first training was to simultaneously control twenty targets of different weights.
Screws, wrenches, steel plates, abandoned wheels, and a section of railroad track weighing nearly half a ton.
"Lift them all up."
Jean raised her hand.
The metal objects left the ground one after another.
The first ten items were very steady.
After the number exceeded fifteen, a few screws began to shake. When the railroad track rose to half a meter, the steel plate beside it suddenly lost control and smashed toward the wall.
Lin Yao raised his hand and caught it.
"Again."
Jean clenched her teeth.
The second time, she evenly divided her attention.
All twenty items were suspended in the air.
Lin Yao casually flicked out a screw.
The screw shot toward the center of her eyebrows like a bullet.
A telekinetic barrier immediately appeared in front of Jean.
The screw stopped less than a centimeter from her skin.
Yet the moment she was distracted, the railroad track and wheels fell simultaneously.
"You blocked yourself."
Lin Yao said, "The others are dead."
Jean's expression sank.
The third time, she did not put all her power in front of her.
A layer of mental barrier expanded outward with her as the center.
The screw was blocked, and the falling railroad track and wheels stopped in mid-air again.
"Continue."
The second training was emotional perception.
Peter stood in the next room, randomly generating tension, anger, and hostility.
Jean could only judge the source of the emotion and could not read specific thoughts.
The first time, she followed the emotion and directly touched Peter's memories.
Aunt Mei, MJ, Ned, and an empty apartment flashed through her consciousness.
Peter immediately stepped back.
Jean also cut off the connection.
"Sorry."
"Apologies are useless."
Lin Yao looked at her.
"If you commit it again, it means you can't control your own ability."
Jean did not explain.
The second time, she only stayed on the surface of consciousness.
"Left."
"Peter is nervous."
"Reason?"
"I don't know."
"This time is correct."
What Lin Yao wanted was not for Jean to become gentle.
Instead, it was to let her learn when to search and when it was not worth wasting mental energy.
Facing enemies, she could directly tear open memories.
Facing her own people, crossing the boundary would only destroy trust.
The third training was long-distance mental communication.
Jean stood at the other end of the repair yard, without entering Lin Yao's consciousness, and only sent a sentence to the surface of his mind.
"Can you hear me?"
When the voice sounded for the first time, it carried static.
Lin Yao did not look back.
"Too scattered."
The second time, the voice was much clearer.
"How about now?"
"Acceptable."
Just as a trace of a smile appeared on the corner of Jean's mouth, Lin Yao had already said:
"Don't stop, change targets."
She had to simultaneously connect Lin Yao, Peter, and the seven test subjects, while maintaining everyone's independence, preventing different consciousnesses from interfering with each other.
One hour later, Jean finally established a mental communication covering the entire maintenance station.
Even if the seven test subjects were scattered in different rooms, they could hear her reminders.
This meant that the next time they encountered a siege, the team would no longer rely on mobile phones and broadcasts.
Jean did not rest.
"The last item."
"Mental defense."
Lin Yao took out the mental disruptor brought back from The Hand's stronghold.
Peter frowned.
"She has only practiced for a few hours."
"The enemy won't wait for her to rest well before making a move."
Lin Yao activated the device.
Sharp fluctuations swept across the repair yard.
The mental barrier Jean had just established began to shake.
The image of Sara collapsing on the experimental table rushed into her brain again.
The sounds of crying, blood, and the letters V-MAX repeated endlessly.
Jean's breathing became increasingly chaotic.
The metal objects suspended in the air began to vibrate.
"Jean."
Lin Yao spoke.
She did not respond.
A crimson red light lit up from her chest.
The steel plate closest to her did not bend nor break.
Instead, it began to disappear from the edges.
As if it were directly decomposed by some force.
Peter's Spider-Sense instantly gave a warning.
"That's not telekinesis."
Lin Yao had already felt it.
When the crimson energy appeared, Jean's aura completely changed.
It was hotter and more dangerous than ordinary psychic power.
Phoenix Force.
Although it was only a trace, it was already enough to decompose matter.
Jean suddenly raised her head.
The crimson light spread along the corners of her eyes.
All the metal in the repair yard flew up simultaneously, their tips pointing at the surroundings.
The mental connections of the seven test subjects also began to become chaotic.
Lin Yao released Conquerors Haki.
An invisible will pressed down toward Jean's mental world.
Not an attack, but forcefully nailing a coordinate into her chaotic consciousness.
Jean's body trembled.
Lin Yao withstood the telekinesis and walked up to her.
Steel plates and railroad tracks constantly collided with the qigong defense, but could not make him stop.
"Look at me."
The red light in Jean's eyes was still spreading.
"I can't control it."
"Then control one thing first."
Lin Yao grabbed her wrist.
"Don't attack the people behind me."
Following his gaze, Jean saw Peter and the seven test subjects in the next room.
The metal stabbing toward the surroundings stopped.
Lin Yao continued:
"What's dangerous is losing control, not you."
"If you can't control it, I'll help you control it."
"When the time really comes that you can't even tell apart your own people, I will wake you up first."
This sentence was no comfort.
Yet it allowed Jean's chaotic consciousness to recapture its direction.
She began to withdraw her mental power.
The railroad track landed.
The steel plate landed.
The crimson light also shrank back into her body little by little.
The mental disruptor stopped operating.
Jean stood in place, her forehead covered in sweat.
She looked at the steel plate with one corner decomposed.
"Aren't you afraid of me?"
"The stronger your power, the more valuable it is to me."
Lin Yao let go of her hand.
"As long as you can control it, it is a weapon."
"If you can't control it, I'll accompany you to train until you can."
Jean was silent for a moment.
"What if I can never control it?"
"Then before you completely lose control, find out the reason."
Lin Yao looked at her.
"I won't hand you over to others just because of a power."
The defense in Jean's eyes completely loosened by a layer.
She originally thought that after seeing that red power, Lin Yao would treat her as a test subject like DODC.
As a result, Lin Yao did not lower the training intensity.
Instead, he picked up the decomposed steel plate and threw it in front of her.
"Remember the feeling just now."
"Continue tomorrow."
Jean caught the steel plate, for the first time not refuting his command.
That night, she independently established mental barriers for the seven test subjects.
As long as anyone tried to locate them from the outside, she would notice it at the first moment.
Lin Yao also remembered the changes when the Phoenix Force energy appeared through aura perception.
This power was still very weak.
Yet it was awakening.
In the early morning, Jean leaned against the wall of the maintenance station and fell asleep.
In her dream, she stood in that DODC corridor once again.
Sara had her back to her, with countless wires connected to her body.
"Sara!"
Just as Jean took a step forward, Sara suddenly turned her head.
Her eyes had no focus.
Yet her lips moved slowly.
"Don't look for me."
"They are using me to watch you."
Chapter 12: V-Max Is Waiting For You
"Don't look for me!"
Jean opened her eyes suddenly.
A crimson red light flashed from the depths of her pupils, and the metal cabinet by the wall vibrated simultaneously.
Lin Yao was already standing in front of her.
"Look at me."
Jean was breathing heavily, her fingers gripping the edge of the bed tightly.
The images from the dream were still repeating in her mind.
Sarah was fixed to the experimental table, her body covered in wires. She told Jean not to look for her, and also said that DODC was observing Jean through her.
"The mental barrier hasn't broken."
Jean quickly checked her surroundings.
All seven test subjects were in their respective rooms, and their consciousnesses were normal.
"But the connection is still there."
She closed her eyes.
Deepest in her consciousness, an extremely thin mental thread was still entangled with Sarah's memories.
Jean raised her hand to cut it off.
"Don't move yet."
Lin Yao pressed down on her wrist.
"It can find you, and we can also follow it to find the other side."
"This connection might expose the safe house."
"So we can't let it get the real thing."
Lin Yao looked outside the door.
"Peter."
Peter rushed over quickly, still holding a half-finished monitoring terminal in his hand.
Jean recounted the dream and the mental connection.
Peter immediately checked the cameras, radio, and underground passages around the base.
There were no drones.
No vehicles.
And no unfamiliar life auras were approaching.
This indicated that DODC had not yet obtained the real-world coordinates.
They were collecting Jean's mental data through Sarah.
Lin Yao asked Jean to touch that connection again.
Only stopping at the outermost layer.
Do not enter Sarah's memories.
Jean closed her eyes.
As soon as the connection strengthened, crimson energy emerged around her shoulders.
At the same time, she felt the mechanical fluctuations coming from the other end.
It wasn't a complete consciousness.
It was more like a program constantly recording emotions.
Her sadness, anger, fear, and even the mental frequency during her psychokinetic outbursts were all sent to the other end.
"They are copying me."
Jean opened her eyes, her voice turning cold.
"Appearances are not hard to forge, and ability fluctuations can also be simulated through equipment."
"But the mental frequency must be collected from you."
Lin Yao already understood what Metzger wanted to do.
If he couldn't capture Jean back, he would manufacture a Jean.
Make that fake kill people in public.
And pin all the crimes on the real Jean.
The television in workspace suddenly switched channels automatically.
DODC's press conference was being broadcast live.
Metzger did not appear in person; the spokesperson stood in front of a row of injured agents.
"Lin Yao is a high-risk life form of unknown origin."
"Jean Grey possesses wide-range mind control abilities."
"They hijacked seven minors and manipulated Spider-Manto participate in attacking government facilities."
The screen then switched to a recording of the Kamehameha piercing through the night sky.
The host continuously zoomed in on the beam of light, describing that scene as an out-of-control city-level attack.
In the Daily Bugle live broadcast room, James slapped the table and shouted:
"Look at this light!"
"Who can guarantee that next time it won't land in Manhattan?"
"And that red-haired woman, she can crawl into anyone's brain!"
Peter stared at the screen.
"They cut out all the footage of saving people."
"Very normal."
Lin Yao turned off the television.
"Reasoning cannot win against editing."
"Getting the equipment they used to forge Jean and the startup logs is the only way to make them shut up."
He walked towards the innermost maintenance room.
Mac Gargan and the DODC field Commander were both locked up there.
Mac Gargan had already woken up.
After losing his armor, he could only lean against the wall, his chest wrapped in bandages.
Seeing Lin Yao walk in, his first reaction was not to provoke him, but to shrink back a little.
"I can give you information."
"Tombstone's warehouse, Metzger's contacts, DODC's black market list, I know all of them."
"Unlock the armor data first."
Lin Yao threw the shattered data module in front of him.
Scorpion's expression changed.
"That thing will read my neural signals."
"I know."
Lin Yao grabbed his wrist and stabbed the interface into his skin.
"That's why you're still alive."
Neural authentication passed.
The data module lit up.
Mac broke out in a cold sweat from the pain, but he didn't dare to struggle.
Lin Yao quickly skimmed through the remaining records.
The armor's self-destruct program was remotely initiated by Metzger himself.
The time, permissions, and background commands were all preserved.
Continuing down, a device access record named [Mirror Personality] appeared.
Sarah Grey's neural samples had once been input into a personality simulation transmitter.
The Scorpion armor was used to test the impact of mental frequencies on enhanced soldiers.
"Where is the equipment?"
"I don't know."
Scorpion gritted his teeth.
"I only saw the transport vehicle."
"Serial number D-0719, the handover location is Pier Six. I hadn't put on the armor at the time, I was just responsible for watching the place."
Jean stood at the doorway, her mental power sweeping across his surface consciousness.
"What he said is true."
Just as Scorpion let out a sigh of relief, Lin Yao unplugged the interface.
"Don't celebrate."
"The things in your brain haven't been fully taken yet."
On the other side, the field Commander was fixed to a metal chair.
There was a tiny neural interface at the back of his neck.
As soon as Jean approached, the interface lit up with a red light.
"It's very similar to The Hand's mental restrictions."
"If we forcefully search his soul, his memories will be burned away."
Lin Yao connected Scorpion's data module to the interface.
Grandmaster-level Ki control was enough to maintain the device's minimum power supply.
He compressed his Ki into an extremely thin wisp, stabilizing the current along the circuit.
As soon as the automatic deletion program started, it got stuck in the verification stage.
Jean took the opportunity to immobilize the Commander's consciousness.
Peter read the external terminal.
A fragmented command appeared on the screen.
[Collect Jean Grey's emotional responses.]
[Complete personality mirroring.]
[Conduct combat verification in public areas.]
[All casualties shall be borne by the target herself.]
The room fell silent for a few seconds.
Peter clenched his fists.
"They're planning to let a fake Jean kill people."
"And then make all of New York hunt down the real Jean."
Jean looked at the Commander.
As long as she was willing, she could crush his head right now.
But he still had value for his permissions.
Lin Yao unplugged the interface and knocked the man unconscious again.
"Keep him for now."
"We'll deal with him once the equipment and startup location are found."
Jean didn't object.
She now understood that killing him later didn't mean letting him off.
It just meant making the enemy spit out a little more before they died.
Next, Lin Yao began counter-deploying.
Jean kept that outermost mental connection.
Not transmitting real images of the base.
Only releasing controlled anxiety, anger, and longing for Sarah.
Peter integrated the spider drones and underground surveillance into the alert system.
The seven test subjects entered the independent evacuation zone.
Once real-world tracking appeared, they could leave through three different passages.
As for Lin Yao, he compressed his Conquerors Haki to an extremely small range, lingering at the edge of Jean's mental barrier.
It wasn't an intrusion.
But a coordinate that only Jean could confirm.
"Remember this feeling."
Lin Yao said.
"In the future, no matter who appears in your dreams, as long as they don't have this coordinate, do not believe them."
Jean closed her eyes, incorporating Lin Yao's will into her own mental recognition.
That power was tough, stable, and without disguise.
For the first time, she actively allowed another person's will to enter her defensive range.
"What if the other side copies your aura?"
"Aura can be imitated."
Lin Yao looked at her.
"My will, it cannot copy."
Jean touched Sarah's connection once more.
A response quickly came from the opposite side.
A fake image began to form.
Sarah stood in the laboratory, reaching out to her for help.
Jean didn't get close.
She first searched for the will coordinate left by Lin Yao.
None.
Sarah in the image immediately distorted.
Deep within the dream, a piece of equipment began recording at an accelerated rate.
Jean opened her eyes.
"It has taken the bait."
Peter looked at Lin Yao.
"You guessed long ago that it would continue collecting?"
"Metzger needs a more realistic Jean."
Lin Yao said, "The more anxious we're to cut it off, the more he knows the plan has been exposed."
"Now let him think we haven't discovered it yet."
Meanwhile, at the top floor of Fisk Tower.
Kingpin finished watching the DODC's press conference, then opened the internal report sent by Tombstone.
Scorpion lost contact.
Two warehouses were exposed.
A large amount of DODC's black funds began to be urgently transferred.
Kingpin did not contact Metzger.
"Tally DODC's weapon warehouses, underground properties, and experimental data."
"Metzger is already out of control."
"He might lose."
The man standing in the shadows tossed a coin high into the air.
When the coin fell, it precisely pierced an apple on the table.
Bullseye smiled.
"Want me to kill Lin Yao?"
"Not for now."
Kingpin looked at the list of six V-Max researchers on the screen.
"First confirm which witnesses must disappear."
Inside the safe house, Peter's computer suddenly popped up with emergency news.
The DODC Evidence Center was attacked.
In the surveillance footage, a red-haired woman raised her hand.
Dozens of agents simultaneously turned their muzzles around, aiming at their own colleagues.
She possessed an appearance completely identical to Jean's.
The same psychokinetic fluctuations.
Even the mental frequency was almost identical.
The real Jean was standing right beside Lin Yao.
The "Jean" on the screen slowly turned her head.
She wasn't looking at the surveillance.
Yet, as if through the screen, she saw the real Jean.
Afterward, she said with Sarah's voice:
"Jean."
"V-Max is waiting for you."
Chapter 13: I Want the People in This Car
"She struck again!"
The Daily Bugle's live broadcast filled the screen.
In the DODC evidence center, more than a dozen agents raised their guns simultaneously, aiming at their own colleagues.
The red-haired woman standing in the middle of the corridor just raised her hand slightly.
Gunshots rang out one after another.
In the surveillance footage, she had the exact same face as Jean.
Even the red ripples left when telekinesis blew open the blast door were consistent with Jean's past ability records.
James slammed the table and shouted:
"All of New York saw it!"
"This out-of-control Mutant is controlling government personnel to kill each other!"
"As for that flying, glowing alien thug Lin Yao, he is shielding a murderer!"
The real Jean was standing right in front of the television.
From the beginning of the attack until now, she hasn't left the safe point a single step.
The "Jean" on the screen suddenly turned her head, and after saying the sentence "V-Max is waiting for you" in Sarah's voice, the live broadcast signal was immediately cut off.
Jean's fingertips glowed with a red light.
The television casing began to deform.
Lin Yao reached out and pressed the screen.
"Smash it, and James won't shut up either."
Jean withdrew her power.
"Then let me go to the television station myself."
"If you show up now, it will only give DODC another piece of footage."
Lin Yao looked at Peter.
"Pull up all the surveillance here from last night until now."
Peter had already opened the terminal.
"Internal surveillance can prove that Jean has been here all along, but DODC will say the video has been modified."
"That's why we don't rely on a single video."
Lin Yao had the seven test subjects record their testimonies separately.
Each person only filmed their voice and back, without exposing their faces and abilities.
The recording time, device number, and nearby traffic broadcast and news sounds were all retained.
Peter then pulled up the underground passage cameras, spider drone records, and continuous data of Jean's mental barrier during training.
These things could form a complete time chain.
Yet it was still not enough.
The public might not believe Jean.
Nor might they believe Peter.
What truly could not be overthrown was DODC's own original records.
Lin Yao walked into the maintenance room where Scorpion was detained and connected the data module to Mac Gargan's neural interface.
"What are you doing again?"
"Borrowing your permissions to find something."
"I've already said everything I know."
"Then prove that you didn't leave anything out."
Authentication passed.
Lin Yao entered the D-0719 transport vehicle number and traced the handover records of Pier 6.
A large amount of deleted data reappeared.
Three days ago, a [mirror personality emitter] was sent into the DODC evidence center.
The equipment was not registered for an official purpose.
Yet the receiver used Metzger's Level A authorization.
More crucially, every time the device ran, it needed to connect to a relay station located at the old communication center in Brooklyn.
Peter stared at the screen.
"The fake Jean's signal came from there."
"The second attack will also be controlled from there."
Lin Yao unplugged the interface.
Scorpion looked at him.
"I helped you find it."
"It was your neural permissions that found it."
Lin Yao turned and left.
"This doesn't count as an extra life for you."
Ten minutes later, the three of them left the safe point.
Peter proceeded along the underground route.
Jean flew using telekinesis.
Lin Yao concealed the aura of all three and landed from the surveillance blind spot of the relay station.
The exterior of the old communication center was already abandoned.
Yet underground there were over twenty life auras.
There were also two snipers on the roof.
Jean closed her eyes.
"Sarah's fluctuation is right below."
"It's not a complete consciousness."
"It's like someone repeatedly edited the strongest fear before her death and stuffed it into the program."
Peter tightly gripped his web shooter.
"Get the raw data first."
Lin Yao stepped into the hall.
Conquerors Haki was silently released.
The ordinary guards on the first and second floors lost consciousness simultaneously.
In the surveillance room, two technicians remained conscious and immediately reached out to initiate data destruction.
Two compressed air bullets passed through the glass.
The first shattered one of their heads.
The second pierced through the other's chest.
When the two corpses fell, the data destruction button had not been pressed all the way down.
Peter dropped from the ceiling, his webbing pulling open the terminal casing.
"Give me a minute."
Jean walked up to the main emitter.
Floating in the center of the equipment was a cluster of red mental projection.
That face belonged to Jean.
Yet the endlessly repeating emotions in the inner layer were entirely Sarah's fear, despair, and cries for help before death.
Jean reached out and touched the projection.
A strange memory rushed into her mind.
Sarah was fixed onto an experimental table.
The researchers recorded her every breath and scream.
Finally, these data were spliced together with Jean's mental frequency.
Jean abruptly opened her eyes.
"This is not me."
"Nor is it Sarah."
Lin Yao looked at the equipment screen.
The second attack had already entered countdown.
The target was located at a temporary evacuation center in Manhattan.
There were hundreds of civilians and media present at the scene.
DODC was preparing to let the fake Jean control the security personnel to open fire, and then detonate the building's power supply system.
Lin Yao raised his hand.
"Which one is the energy source, and which one is the data core?"
Peter pointed to two adjacent chips.
"The left provides power, the right stores."
An air bullet only the size of a rice grain was shot out.
The energy chip on the left was precisely pierced through.
The adjacent data core, circuits, and casing suffered no damage at all.
The emitter immediately stopped running.
The countdown returned to zero.
Peter looked at that small hole, and remembered the Kamehameha that lit up New York.
The same power.
Lin Yao could pierce through the night sky, and could also just break a single chip.
"The original surveillance has been found."
Peter projected the image onto the wall.
Before the attack started, there was no Jean at all in the real surveillance of the evidence center.
There was only a DODC adaptive body wearing a neural interface.
The mirror emitter overwrote her appearance, telekinetic characteristics, and mental frequency.
The internal documents also wrote very clearly:
[Target: Fabricate the fact of Jean Grey going out of control.]
[Phase Two: Public evacuation center.]
[Public opinion guidance channels: Daily Bugle, New YorkOne, government emergency broadcast.]
Peter looked up.
"Send all of these out?"
"Send it to all channels first, then send it to Jamesseparately."
"Why give it to him as well?"
"He cursed the loudest."
Lin Yao said: "Making him admit in person that DODC lied to him is more useful than us explaining it ourselves."
Peter synchronously uploaded the original files, digital signatures, and timestamps.
The internal surveillance of the relay station was also connected to the public live stream.
In the footage, Lin Yao stood among a ground of unconscious guards, fired a tiny air bullet, and precisely shut down the equipment.
No explosion.
No collapse.
Residents above the communication center didn't even know a battle had happened downstairs.
In the Daily Bugle live broadcast room, James stared at the suddenly popped-up original files, his voice getting stuck for the first time.
The technicians repeatedly confirmed.
"The signature is real."
"The timestamp comes from DODC's internal server."
"The target of the second attack really is the evacuation center."
James fell silent for a few seconds, then faced the camera again.
"I still don't believe a guy who can light up New Yorkshould be unregulated."
"But DODC must explain why they are creating a fake Jean Grey!"
"If these records are true, then they almost let hundreds of New Yorkers die in an attack designed by themselves!"
Public opinion showed a crack for the first time.
Yet Jean did not watch the live broadcast.
She had already found another hidden order from the emitter.
Six researchers participating in the V-Max project would be secretly transferred forty minutes later.
The surface destination was a federal protection facility.
The real order, however, wrote:
[After the vehicles enter the tunnel, eliminate all witnesses and equipment.]
Peter quickly pulled up the route.
"They have already set off."
Lin Yao stored the personality simulation emitter core and all data into the system space.
Jean walked to his side.
"I'm going too."
She didn't say this was Sarah's matter.
Because those six researchers not only knew how Sarah died.
They might also know where more test subjects were sent.
Lin Yao glanced at her.
"Then don't let them die on the road."
A DODC transport vehicle drove into the tunnel.
On top of the roof of the car, a blonde woman secured her body with a steel cable, preparing to cut open the compartment.
Just as the blade touched the metal shell, a golden figure had already landed in front of her.
Yelena raised her head.
Lin Yao stepped on the car roof, looking at the cutter in her hand.
"The people in this car, I want them."
Chapter 14 Black Widow snatching people?
The moment the widows bite attached to the roof, the entire transport vehicle shook violently.
Blue current spread along the metal shell, and the driving system failed at the same time.
The wheels locked up.
The armored transport vehicle, weighing over a dozen tons, slid sideways dozens of meters in the tunnel, crashing through the guardrail before stopping.
Yelena knelt on one knee on the roof, the cutter in her hand already inserted into the armor seam.
Just as she was about to pry open the carriage, a foot stepped right beside the cut.
"The people in this car, I want them."
Yelena raised her head.
Lin Yao stood in front of her, his clothes fluttering from the airflow in the tunnel.
"You're the guy who beat the scorpion into a totaled car?"
"You know me?"
"Now all of New York knows you."
Yelena flipped her wrist.
Two widows bites fired simultaneously.
The current hit Lin Yao squarely in the chest.
The voltage, which was enough to instantly paralyze enhanced soldiers, only caused a few sparks to flash across the surface of his clothes.
Lin Yao looked down.
"Mediocre power."
Yelena didn't hesitate.
A steel cable popped out from her cuff, entangling Lin Yao's legs.
Another micro-bomb simultaneously attached to his chest.
She backflipped off the roof.
The explosion rang out.
The flames hit the top of the tunnel, but Lin Yao walked out of the smoke.
There wasn't even a wound on his chest.
Yelena stood beside the transport vehicle, her gaze turning a bit more serious.
"The report says you're tough."
"The report didn't write it all."
Lin Yao didn't continue attacking.
Rapid heartbeats came from inside the transport vehicle.
A total of seven people.
The data only had six researchers.
The extra person's aura was much steadier than the others.
No fear.
Only the calmness of waiting for orders.
Jean and Peter also arrived from the other end of the tunnel.
Jean's psychic power swept across the surface of the carriage.
"Six people are afraid."
"One of them is afraid of being silenced by DODC."
"Two are worried about their families."
"Three don't know where they will be sent."
She paused.
"The last one is afraid of nothing."
"He is waiting for the explosion."
Lin Yao raised his hand and tore open the carriage door.
Six people wearing research uniforms were fixed to the seats.
Black metal rings were clasped around all of their necks.
The seventh person sat in the back row, with a researcher badge hanging on his chest as well.
The moment the car door was ripped open, he directly pressed the button on his cuff.
Peter's Spider-Sense gave frantic warnings.
"Bomb!"
Lin Yao flicked a wisp of Qi.
A rice-grain-sized Qi bullet pierced the man's wrist and shattered the transmission chip inside the button.
Jean raised her hand and pressed down.
The fake researcher was pressed into the car wall by telekinesis.
His spine snapped on the spot.
Fresh blood surged from his mouth, and he still wanted to bite open his poison pouch.
Lin Yao grabbed his chin and crushed it directly.
"What are the collars on you?"
An older researcher's voice trembled.
"Remote bombs."
"As long as the convoy deviates from the route, or someone tries to dismantle them, they will all explode together."
Peter immediately crawled into the carriage to check.
"Six independent detonators."
"And a series circuit."
"If you dismantle any one of them incorrectly, the other five will start."
Taking advantage of everyone paying attention to the carriage, Yelena slid into the data vehicle from the other side.
Through aura perception, Lin Yao clearly captured her position.
But he didn't stop her.
Three hard drives were placed in the data cabin of the transport vehicle.
The most conspicuous one was marked with V-Max Top Secret.
Yelena directly pulled out the hard drive.
The alarm sounded immediately.
A red prompt popped up at the bottom of the data cabin.
[Unauthorized disassembly detected.]
[Core data transfer program initiated.]
Yelena's expression changed.
What she got was a decoy.
The real data was transferring to another hidden terminal.
Lin Yao had already appeared outside the data vehicle.
He raised his hand and lifted the guard plate under the car.
An unmarked black core was automatically clearing the data.
"So it was hidden here."
Yelena looked at him.
"You knew that hard drive was fake?"
"Suspected."
"So you let me pull it for you?"
"You are more professional than us."
Lin Yao said, "It's just right for stepping into traps."
Yelena twitched the corner of her mouth.
"You really know how to compliment people."
She suddenly stuffed the decoy hard drive into her clothes and raised her gun at Lin Yao.
"But I want this one too."
"Take it."
Lin Yao didn't stop her.
Yelena was taken aback instead.
"So generous?"
"Without the scorpion's neural key and Sarah's psychic frequency, you can't open it."
Lin Yao took down the real data core and stored it into the system space.
"The one in your hand counts as a ticket at most."
Engine roaring came from afar.
The DODC pursuit convoy had already entered the tunnel.
Four armored vehicles, two low-altitude drones, and a suppression cannon specifically targeting psychic ability users.
The transport Commander crawled out of the cockpit and reached out to activate the backup detonator.
Jean grabbed his arm from the air.
Bones made a snapping sound.
"Silence password."
The Commander clenched his teeth.
"I don't know."
Jean walked in front of him.
This time, she didn't wait for Lin Yao's arrangement.
Her psychic power directly pierced into the surface of the opponent's consciousness.
She avoided the deep area where the self-destruct program was installed and only grabbed the numbers he had just prepared to enter.
"Seven, nine, zero, three, six, two."
The Commander's face instantly turned pale.
Peter entered the password into the control terminal.
The six sets of bombs stopped counting down simultaneously.
"It can only be paused for three minutes."
"I still need to dismantle the main line."
"You continue."
Lin Yao walked towards the pursuit convoy.
The first armored vehicle accelerated and crashed over.
He didn't dodge.
Pressing both hands on the front of the car, the ground under his feet instantly cracked.
From charging at full speed to coming to a complete stop, the armored vehicle took less than a second.
Before the soldiers inside the car could react, Lin Yao had already lifted the entire vehicle.
Boom!
The armored vehicle was flipped over, smashing sideways into the second vehicle behind it.
The third vehicle rotated its muzzle.
Lin Yao raised his hand and flicked.
A precise Qi bullet pierced through the barrel and detonated the shell inside.
The entire turret was blown away.
But the vehicle body did not affect the researchers behind.
The fourth armored vehicle braked urgently.
The car door opened, and more than a dozen DODC special operations team members rushed out.
"Fire!"
Armor-piercing shells, suppression bullets, and a high-voltage grid flew over simultaneously.
Lin Yao released Conquerors Haki.
Most of the soldiers lost consciousness on the spot.
The three elites still standing just as they prepared to continue attacking, Qi bullets had already pierced their heads.
Two drones swooped down from high above.
Yelena stood on top of the data vehicle and shot down one with her gun.
The other one had just adjusted its direction when Lin Yaohad already flown above it.
Stomping down with one foot.
The drone smashed into the tunnel ground, shattering into pieces.
Yelena put down her gun.
"Do you always deal with pursuers like this?"
"When I'm in a hurry."
Peter finally dismantled the last set of metal rings.
All six researchers were rescued.
Jean dragged the transport Commander aside.
"The complete orders Metzger gave you."
The Commander kept his mouth shut and refused to answer.
Jean looked at his neural interface.
She didn't rashly search deeply, but instead used telekinesis to isolate the interface current first, and then extracted the surface commands bit by bit.
Metzger's voice came out from the Commander's memory.
"After the vehicle enters the tunnel, initiate Program Six."
"Eliminate all researchers, data, and the transport team."
"No one can be left behind to prove the existence of the Sarah project."
Jean opened her eyes.
"He is even prepared to kill his own transport team."
Yelena looked at the DODC soldiers all over the ground.
"Very typical."
"When the secret is too big, everyone who knows the secret becomes consumables."
Lin Yao asked the six researchers to state their names and experimental numbers respectively.
After seeing the data of the personality simulation transmitter, one of the older researchers finally spoke:
"Sarah's experimental number is S-17."
"She didn't participate voluntarily."
"Metzger ordered us to preserve her death neural response to train psychic weapons."
A flash of red light flickered in the depths of Jean's eyes.
The lamps at the top of the tunnel burst simultaneously.
Lin Yao stood by her side.
The willpower coordinates formed by Conquerors Hakiappeared immediately.
Jean suppressed the Phoenix fluctuations.
"The rest, we'll talk about it when we get back."
She did not evade, nor did she lose control.
Instead, she personally sent the six researchers into the backup vehicle.
Yelena took the opportunity to walk towards the tunnel exit.
"I have other missions."
Lin Yao's figure dropped from above her, blocking the only exit route.
Yelena's hand groped for the widows bite again.
"Preparing to snatch back the hard drive?"
"The hard drive can stay in your hands for now."
Lin Yao looked at her.
"But you have to unlock it for me."
Chapter 15: Do You Think You Are Safe Three Kilometers Away?
"Decrypt for you?"
Yelena leaned against the tunnel wall without lowering her widows bite.
"Let's talk about the reward first."
Lin Yao was just about to speak when a hint of abnormality suddenly appeared in his breath perception.
The six researchers had already been transferred to the backup vehicle.
One of the older researchers had just walked out of the tunnel exit when a red dot appeared on his forehead.
Lin Yao vanished in an instant.
Gunshots rang out in the distance.
A special sniper bullet traveled a distance of three kilometers, first hitting the edge of a roadside billboard. After changing its angle, it brushed past a car's rearview mirror and headed straight for the researcher's glabella.
When the bullet was only ten centimeters away from the skin, a hand suddenly appeared.
Lin Yao pinched the bullet tip with two fingers.
The high-speed rotating bullet emitted a harsh friction sound between his fingers.
Finally, it came to a complete stop.
The researcher's legs went soft, and he sat directly on the ground.
Yelena looked at the bullet in Lin Yao's hand, and her expression changed.
"Everyone get down!"
As soon as her words fell, the second gunshot had already arrived.
This time, the bullet came from the completely opposite direction.
It first pierced through the window of an abandoned car, bounced continuously twice on the metal frame, bypassed Lin Yao, and shot toward the female researcher at the end of the team.
Lin Yao didn't even look back.
His right hand grabbed backward.
The second bullet stopped in his palm.
Peter looked up at both sides of the tunnel.
"Two snipers?"
"One."
Yelena immediately said, "He is changing positions."
"There is only one person who can calculate this kind of bounce angle."
"Bullseye."
Lin Yao crushed open the first bullet.
The inside of the bullet tip was not an ordinary lead core, but a specially treated high-density metal.
The outer layer also carried a micro attitude correction device.
This kind of bullet could slightly adjust its direction during flight.
No wonder Bullseye could continuously use obstacles to complete bounces.
Jean had already pulled all six researchers behind the wall.
The mental connection was established instantly.
"From now on, do not leave my perception range."
"No matter what you see or hear, you are not allowed to act alone."
Jean's voice sounded simultaneously in the consciousness of all six people.
They did not object.
After two consecutive bullets were caught barehanded by Lin Yao, these researchers already understood that only by staying by the side of these three people could they possibly survive.
The third bullet did not appear.
But an explosion came from the distance.
Firelight rose from a few streets away.
Peter's cell phone received two emergency messages at the same time.
A bomb was found in the underground equipment room of a community hospital.
A remote control device of the same model also appeared at the nearby subway station.
The countdown had only four minutes left.
Yelena looked at Lin Yao.
"He is forcing you to leave."
"Once the hospital and subway explode, many people will die."
"But as long as you go to disarm the bomb, he will continue to kill the researchers."
Jean said coldly, "I can scatter all the researchers."
"No."
Lin Yao directly denied it.
"Separating will only give him more angles."
He looked at Peter.
"Leave the hospital to you."
"What about the subway?"
"Yelena."
Yelena raised an eyebrow.
"Are you ordering me?"
"The hard drive is still on you."
Lin Yao said, "If you want to know what's inside, prove that you are worth cooperating with."
Yelena didn't continue talking nonsense.
She turned and rushed toward the subway entrance.
Peter shot out webs and swung toward the hospital.
Lin Yao stayed in place.
Bullseye wanted to use bombs to force him to choose between witnesses and civilians.
But this temporary team didn't have only him.
Jean was responsible for protecting the researchers.
Peter and Yelena handled the bombs respectively.
He only needed to keep his eyes on Bullseye.
Lin Yao closed his eyes.
Within a range of three kilometers, thousands of life auras intertwined together.
The auras of ordinary people were chaotic.
Panic, running, staying, with no fixed pattern.
But one of the auras was extremely stable.
Move immediately after firing.
Each stay did not exceed five seconds.
No fear, no hesitation.
That aura disappeared from the top of an office building, and a dozen seconds later reappeared at the edge of the parking building.
The fourth gunshot.
The bullet did not shoot directly at the researchers.
It hit the fire pipe at the top of the tunnel.
High-pressure water gushed out, blocking Lin Yao's vision.
At the same time, the fifth bullet shot from the other side of the water curtain, targeting the youngest of the six researchers.
Lin Yao raised his hand.
A tiny qi bullet shot out.
The two bullets collided in mid-air.
Bullseye's bullet tip shattered on the spot.
One piece of the attitude chip, only the size of a fingernail, flew toward the corner of the wall.
Lin Yao flicked his finger.
A wisp of extremely weak qi attached to the chip.
The next moment, the return device inside the chip automatically started, sending the bullet-hit data to Bullseye's receiver.
That wisp of qi also followed the energy fluctuations generated by the weak signal, locking onto the direction where the receiving end was located.
Aura marking established.
Lin Yao opened his eyes.
"Found you."
Three kilometers away.
Bullseye stood beside the water tank of an office building, looking at Lin Yao inside the scope.
That bullet just now was not meant to kill.
But to confirm Lin Yao's reaction upper limit.
Five shots.
Three directions.
Two bounces.
One vision obstruction.
All failed.
Bullseye licked the corner of his mouth.
"Interesting."
The voice of Kingpin's subordinate came through his earpiece.
"Has the target been eliminated?"
"Not yet."
"The hospital and subway bombs have also been tampered with."
Bullseye turned the rifle.
The scope aimed at a researcher again.
"Then change the method."
He pressed the remote control.
At the bottom of the backup vehicle carrying the researchers, a beep suddenly came.
Jean turned her head sharply.
"There is a bomb in the car!"
Lin Yao grabbed the car body, lifting up all six researchers and Jean.
The hidden bomb at the bottom of the car exploded the next second.
Boom!
Flames engulfed the tunnel exit.
The backup vehicle was blown to pieces.
The surveillance footage in the distance was interrupted accordingly.
Bullseye looked at the rising fireball and lowered his rifle.
In the last second before the explosion, he clearly saw that all six researchers were beside the car.
With this scale of explosion, ordinary people could not survive.
"Mission complete."
He disassembled the rifle and packed it into a suitcase.
Then he left the office building along the escape route prepared in advance.
But in the center of the explosion, a qigong barrier propped up in front of Lin Yao.
All impacts and fragments were blocked outside.
Jean used telekinesis to support the six researchers, not letting a single person fall or get hurt.
The flames dissipated.
All six people were alive.
The oldest researcher looked at Lin Yao's back, his lips trembling constantly.
...
In the direction of the hospital, Peter had already disarmed the bomb.
Inside the subway station, Yelena used her widows bite to cut off the last detonation line.
Both decoys failed completely.
Lin Yao did not immediately pursue Bullseye.
The researchers were still by his side.
There might also be a second set of bombs nearby.
Chasing out now was not as beneficial as completing the transfer first.
He asked Jean to take the researchers into the underground maintenance line.
Then he walked to the explosion debris and picked up the first special bullet he had caught himself.
Yelena just happened to return.
She took the bullet tip and took a look.
An extremely small production serial number was engraved at the bottom.
[ FISK - A17 ]
"Fisk Advanced Defense."
Yelena said, "An arms company under Kingpin."
"This kind of custom bullet won't flow into the ordinary market."
"So DODC didn't hire him."
Lin Yao looked in the direction where the aura marker was moving.
"Kingpin wants the witnesses to disappear."
"He doesn't want us to find out what DODC left behind."
For the first time, Yelena did not bargain with Lin Yao.
She put the decoy hard drive she had taken onto the table.
"Bullseye won't make a move for an ordinary silencing mission."
"Kingpin has already listed you as a real threat."
Lin Yao put away the special bullet.
"That's just right."
"I also need to know what he is planning to take from DODC."
Yelena looked at him.
"You're not chasing Bullseye?"
"He will go back."
Lin Yao closed his eyes.
That aura marker was moving rapidly along the city roads.
Bullseye changed three cars and entered an underground passage without surveillance.
But no matter how he changed his route, Lin Yao could feel that wisp of weak qi.
"He thinks he has completed the mission."
"Now let him lead the way for me."
Fisk Tower top floor.
Kingpin sat in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the action video sent back by Bullseye.
The first bullet was pinched barehanded by Lin Yao.
The second bullet was caught by him with a backhand.
The fifth bullet was even shattered in mid-air by a smaller energy bullet.
Kingpin played the last segment of footage repeatedly.
Lin Yao stood in the center of the explosion, the invisible barrier in front of him blocking all the flames.
"He is more dangerous than Metzger said."
The assistant asked in a low voice:
"Do we still continue to help DODC?"
"Who said I want to help them?"
Kingpin turned off the video.
"Metzger has already lost."
"So before DODC falls, we must take its most valuable part first."