After Walt fell, Su Mo's throat was forcefully gripped by a small hand.
With a thud, he was pushed against the wall by Nuobai.
The black eyes behind the mask were filled with murderous intent.
Nuobai watched Su Mo warily and took out a retro nine-key phone from her pocket.
Her slender fingers quickly tapped on the keys.
She aimed the screen at Su Mo, showing a line of words:
[Why do you know my name?]
Su Mo smiled, beginning his mysterious act: "Surprising, isn't it? It seems some intermediaries who worked with you... made secret intelligence deals with Hegemony Company without your knowledge?"
Nuobai's gaze grew even colder, typing:
[Who?]
Su Mo continued to smile inscrutably: "Miss Silent Death God, you should know, nothing in this world is free."
"You can learn the name of this traitor—provided you have something of equal value to trade with me."
As he spoke, Su Mo felt the grip on his neck tighten, making it nearly impossible for him to breathe.
Nuobai's eyes were filled with murderous intent, her fingers moved, and a cold line of text appeared on the phone screen:
[I have many ways to make you talk]
Su Mo was suffering from the chokehold, but still forced a cold smile: "You didn't kill me immediately, but plan to take me away, I presume you took on someone's kidnapping job. If you make me a bloody mess, your employer won't be happy, right?"
Nuobai was silent.
"Moreover..." Su Mo pointed to the broadcast on the wall.
The alarm sounded perfectly timed: "Base self-destruct countdown, 2 minutes."
Nuobai was again silent.
Su Mo squinted and said, "Nuobai, you don't have time to force answers out of me. Why not make a deal?"
"Let me go, then tell the intermediary that Base 101 was too heavily guarded, beyond expectations, and you've decided to abandon the task, then compensate the employer three times the commission. This way, the impact on your reputation can be minimized."
"In return, I will tell you who sold your personal information."
The two of them stared at each other, neither moving.
In the end, things did not go as Su Mo wished.
Nuobai coolly typed two words:
[Follow]
She forcefully grabbed Su Mo's arm and dragged him out.
Su Mo frowned.
Did the negotiation fail...
It seems the strategy of using words won't work.
But he can't just be taken to the Iron Blood Alliance like this.
Otherwise, his experience will unfold exactly like the original plot.
At that time, he would suffer in agony from the backlash of the Ancestral Blood Code, unable to live or die.
He must think of another way to change the narrative path.
Su Mo let one of his arms be dragged by Nuobai, while his other hand hung by his side, four fingers curled, using his nails to dig into his palm forcefully.
The burning pain through his skin grew as he kept digging, causing sweat to bead on his forehead.
But he didn't stop, instead getting more forceful, as if trying to gouge out the flesh of his palm.
Nuobai had no eyes on her back, and even if she did, she wouldn't notice such a subtle movement.
Finally...
With a piercing pain, Su Mo's palm was torn open by himself.
Warm liquid seeped from the palm, extending continuously along the fingers and palm.
Drip.
A drop of blood fell to the ground, the sound drowned in the piercing alarm.
Su Mo's gaze was heavy, looking at the increasingly close exit ahead.
This was the last hope...
...
...
...
Eight hours later.
The self-destruct sequence was irreversible, and Research Base No. 101 had been completely destroyed in a massive explosion, leaving only scorched wreckage all over the place.
Several large floating airships hovered above the ruins of the base, constantly seeing soldiers in Hegemony Company uniforms descending on individual flying devices to conduct cleanup operations around.
Among the soldiers were eight men in pitch-black uniforms, with extremely special armbands on their arms, marked with a horizontally-inserted razor emblem.
If Su Mo were here, he would recognize that all eight belonged to one of Hegemony Company's four elite units, the "Razor Rapid Response Team," each a formidable "Blood Code Carrier."
A soldier in charge of directing the excavation ran up to the lead Razor Warrior to report: "Group Leader Alote, Base 101 is completely destroyed, no survivors were found around, the researchers and guards should have perished."
"But there's also good news, we found something in the ruins."
At this moment, an excavation robot emerged from the rubble, its mechanical arm clamped around a black sphere the size of a fist.
The black sphere was covered in dust and scorch marks, its shell dented and warped, yet the indicator light remained green.
Upon seeing this black sphere, a cheer erupted on the scene.
The soldier also smiled: "How fortunate, the 'Black Core' survived the self-destruct, it should contain all the related data backup of Base 101."
Alote nodded and said to the soldier: "Organize a convoy to transport the Black Core to the nearest branch from here."
"Yes." The soldier departed.
Alote summoned another on-site surveyor: "Have you found any traces?"
"Yes, just found." The surveyor pressed a mechanical wrist wheel, bringing up a clear holographic image.
He reported: "We found two sets of footprints entering and exiting around the base, one set matches both entry and exit. The other set does not match, not the same person who came in and out."
"Our initial judgment is that there were two intruders, one of whom died inside the base for some reason. The other one, upon exiting, abducted and took away a researcher from the base."
Beside him, a Razor Warrior reminded Alote: "Group Leader, there's already a risk of leaked information. Either recover the kidnapped researcher or eliminate them."
Alote immediately ordered everyone: "Inspect all surrounding traces on site, report any anomalies to me at once."
Half an hour later.
A reconnaissance soldier's voice came through the communicator: "Group Leader Alote, we found a bloodstain, please come and see."
Alote took the Razor Warriors toward the target location.
It was a dried drop of blood, fallen on gravel, over a hundred meters from the base, very minuscule, but couldn't escape the professional's trace inspection.
A Razor Warrior frowned and said: "Leaving your own blood at the scene? Would the intruder make such a rookie mistake?"
Alote squinted slightly: "Not necessarily left by the intruder."
The Razor Warrior realized: "You mean... left by the kidnapped researcher?"
Alote summoned another Razor Warrior: "Activate your Blood Code Ability."
This Razor Warrior, implanted with the "White Shark Blood Code," had an extraordinarily enhanced sense of smell. When activated, his olfactory sense was dozens of times that of a hunting dog, comparable to a shark in the sea.
He sniffed the bloodstain on the ground, then lifted his nose into the air, inhaling repeatedly.
"Hmm? So close..." His gaze sharpened, striding swiftly in one direction.
He continued sniffing with his nose, finally stopping at a rocky beach.
He searched the beach, quickly picking up a rock.
On it was another dried bloodstain.
Holding the rock to his nose, he sniffed and said, "Blood with the same scent."
Alote: "Continue the pursuit."
The Razor Warrior gazed across the endless wilderness, seemingly catching another scent, sprinted several hundred meters, searching back and forth amidst a patch of wild grass.
On the withered grass, there was yet another inconspicuous bloodstain.
Following the direction in which the scent extended, the Razor Warrior's eyes fell on the northern position, his face breaking into a sneer.
"That researcher left us a trail."