After all the Aogiri Tree members rushed in, Hiro felt it was time to make his move.
With a single thought, the power of "Carnage" inside his body surged out instantly. Dark red matter covered his entire body like a living organism.
In the blink of an eye, he transformed into a tall, dark red monster radiating a ferocious aura. This was his Kakuja form.
Watching from the shadows, Yoshimura Eto saw this form and the thought of "I must pull him over to our side" surfaced again.
This power was clearly stronger than hers. If she could bring him over, their plan's success rate would greatly increase. But how to win him over was the problem.
Hiro had no time to care what others were thinking. He locked onto a corner below and jumped down directly.
He was so fast he looked like a red meteor. The humans and ghouls fighting below had no idea something huge was descending from above.
Just as he was about to slam into the ground, a pair of wings burst open behind him. With a powerful flap, the force of his fall was skillfully neutralized, and he landed lightly without making a single sound.
He moved along the base of the wall, focusing his perception to the maximum, sweeping every inch like radar.
Soon, behind a cluster of pipes, he found a hidden passage entrance. It was pitch black inside.
Without hesitation, Hiro went in. The passage was not long. After a few steps, he reached the end. In front of him was a solid metal wall.
He knocked on it.
Knock knock.
The sound was dull. It was hollow behind it, and the wall was thick. He grinned. Found it.
The symbiote on his right arm writhed and instantly transformed into a large spiked hammer. It resembled Riot from the Venom movie.
He swung his arm in a full arc, turned his body to generate force, and smashed it down hard.
Boom.
With a loud crash, the metal wall caved in deeply but did not break. He did not stop and kept smashing.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
After several heavy blows, the metal wall finally gave way and split open with a large gap.
He grabbed the edges of the crack with both hands, tore it wider, then lowered his head and stepped inside.
The moment his head entered, bullets poured toward him like rain. They were all Q bullets specifically designed to deal with ghouls.
Hiro did not dodge. The symbiote covering his entire body hardened instantly, becoming tougher than steel.
The bullets struck with a clanging storm of noise, all deflected without leaving even a mark.
He glanced around and understood. It was a laboratory. He had found the right place.
The ten-man squad in front of him was likely the laboratory's entire guard force.
He charged forward through the hail of gunfire. With a casual swing of his arm, one team member was sent flying as if hit by a fully loaded truck.
His body instantly bent like a folded phone, then slammed into the wall. He was clearly beyond saving.
"Spread out. Spread out now!" The captain's eyes turned red as he shouted hoarsely.
The team members were well-trained. They immediately dispersed and took cover, but their guns never stopped firing. Bullets kept pouring toward Hiro.
Unfortunately, it was useless, not even as painful as a mosquito bite.
A savage grin appeared on the monster's face. His long tongue flicked out, moving so fast it became a blur.
In an instant, he was in front of another team member. His sharp claws grabbed the man's head.
Crunch.
With a crisp sound, the head burst like a watermelon. Red and white splattered everywhere.
Immediately after, four tentacles shot out from his back. Their tips transformed into sharp blades and swept fiercely around him.
Slash slash.
Four team members hiding behind cover, along with their cover, were cut into pieces.
In the blink of an eye, only four of the ten remained.
"Retreat. Retreat now!" The captain knew it was over. This was not a battle. It was a slaughter.
One team member reacted extremely fast. Upon hearing the order, he immediately pulled out a flashbang grenade and threw it at Hiro.
At the same time, all the survivors closed their eyes and covered their ears in perfect unison, clearly drilled countless times.
Boom.
A blinding flash erupted, followed by an explosive roar capable of rupturing eardrums inside the laboratory.
The light did not affect Hiro much, but the sound drilled into his brain like a bit. Pain made his movements stiffen.
"Urgh..."
He let out a low growl. It felt as if an invisible sledgehammer had smashed into his skull. Intense pain and dizziness surged like a tide.
What irritated him even more was that the "Carnage" symbiote covering his body seemed to have been thrown into boiling oil, beginning to fluctuate and pulse violently out of control.
Its surface bubbled like boiling water, constantly bulging and sinking, emitting faint crackling sounds.
The high-frequency sound waves interfered with its structural stability. He felt a slight lag in his control over Carnage.
Fortunately, the flashbang's effect was instantaneous, not sustained. The maddening sound waves and intense light quickly dissipated.
The abnormal fluctuations of Carnage rapidly calmed, becoming stable and hard once more.
Hiro shook his still-ringing head. The violent killing intent inside him burned even fiercer because of this small accident.
But the captain had seen hope. While pulling out his own flashbang, he shouted wildly, "It works. Flashbangs work. Keep using them. Blow him up."
The other two survivors immediately followed suit. Three flashbangs were about to be thrown at the same time.
Hiro's heart skipped. Damn. This is embarrassing.
If someone of his top-tier strength got crowd-controlled by a few soldiers with flashbangs and word got out, how would he face anyone again?
A surge of fury shot to his head.
"All of you die."
The symbiote across his entire body exploded outward.
Countless dark red, razor-sharp spikes shot in all directions like a torrential rainstorm.
They were so fast they were almost invisible, covering every corner of the room.
The four team members preparing to throw their flashbangs froze mid-motion.
Thud thud thud thud.
Dense piercing sounds filled the air.
The captain looked down and saw multiple dark red spikes piercing through his chest, abdomen, and arms simultaneously.
He opened his mouth. Bloody foam poured out, but not a single word came.
The other three were the same, nailed to walls and equipment by the spikes, motionless.
The laboratory fell silent at once, leaving only the crackling of short-circuiting wires and the dripping of blood.
Hiro snorted coldly. The spikes he had fired soon turned to ash as if they had never existed.
He did not even glance at the mess of corpses. Stepping forward, boots splashing through sticky blood, he walked toward the thicker security door deeper inside the laboratory.