manynovel Chapter 60 The Pursuers Are Approaching
Chapter 60 The Pursuers Are Approaching
"Purification Protocol?!" Chen Haotian's pupils constricted sharply; the name itself sounded ominous. Without hesitation, he grabbed the storage box containing the virus samples, pushed off with his feet, and moved like lightning, instantly reaching the area below the ventilation vent. With his legs slightly bent, he leaped upwards with tremendous force!
He channeled his internal energy to its limit, as if defying gravity, and effortlessly slipped back into the narrow ventilation duct. Almost simultaneously with his body fully inside the duct, dozens of nozzles on the ceiling of the laboratory below instantly opened, spewing out a dense white mist that quickly filled the entire space! The mist carried a pungent chemical odor, clearly some kind of potent disinfectant or deadly nerve agent.
"Tony! 'Purification' protocol activated, it's nerve gas! Evacuate Zone C immediately!" Chen Haotian shouted urgently through the communicator as he crawled quickly through the pipes.
"Roger! The route has been replanned to avoid the gas-spreading area! Hurry!" Tony's voice was tinged with urgency. He could detect through his armor's sensors that the entire "Ark" laboratory and the connecting corridors were filled with a high concentration of unknown chemical substances.
Following the newly designed green arrows on his mask, Chen Haotian sprinted through the intricate network of pipes. The toxic gas behind him seemed to be spreading through the ventilation system, its pungent odor faintly audible. He had to hold his breath, relying on his internal energy to maintain his bodily functions.
"Bang!" He kicked open the cover of the pipe he had entered through earlier, landing nimbly beside Tony. The corridor outside the isolation door remained pure white and silent, but the piercing alarm and flashing red light reminded them that the crisis was not over.
"This way!" Tony pointed to a fork in the road leading to a cargo lift. "Jarvis calculated that this is currently the fastest route back to the main passage, bypassing the gas core!"
The two rushed onto the elevator platform. Tony destroyed the control panel, manually reconnected the wiring, and forced it to start. The platform creaked and began to slowly ascend.
"Red Queen has mobilized the UBCS elite team." Tony stared at the real-time monitoring footage transmitted by Jarvis through his mask, his expression grave. "At least two full-strength tactical teams, well-equipped, have entered through the upper entrance and are flanking us along our possible escape routes. They are carrying heavy firepower, and... their operational methods are exceptionally efficient, unlike ordinary security personnel."
In the footage, UBCS soldiers, dressed in black combat uniforms and wearing full-coverage helmets, move tactically with clean and efficient movements, providing cover for each other and advancing at an extremely fast pace, clearly elite soldiers who have been through countless battles.
"Our disguised identities have definitely been exposed," Chen Haotian calmly analyzed. "The Red Queen has marked us as the highest priority threat and mobilized her most elite forces. If we force our way out, casualties are inevitable, and it will completely expose our capabilities and origins."
"Time is of the essence!" Tony glanced at the platform's ascent progress. "The countdown for the 'Purification' protocol is still ongoing. Although it primarily targets Sector C, no one knows if the Red Queen will expand the area. We must reach a relatively safe zone before these elite teams surround us, and then I'll let you activate the portal!"
The elevator finally reached the target floor, and as soon as the door opened, a barrage of bullets rained down on them!
"Da da da da—!"
Tony reacted extremely quickly, instantly sidestepping to shield Chen Haotian behind him. An energy shield instantly deployed on the arm of his nanotech armor, flashing with blazing white ion light, blocking all the incoming bullets and sending sparks flying.
Ahead of the passage, six elite UBCS soldiers spread out in a fan shape, using cover to maintain continuous fire. Their weapons were not ordinary rifles, but special models equipped with armor-piercing rounds and high-capacity drum magazines, making them extremely powerful.
"Trouble!" Tony spat, raised his other arm, charged up the pulse cannon in his palm, and shot out a thick beam of energy!
"boom!"
The metal bunker in front of the soldiers was instantly blasted open, and the shockwave sent two soldiers flying, crashing heavily into the wall, their fate unknown. But the remaining four immediately changed formation; two continued to provide suppressive fire, while the other two flanked from the side with incredible speed.
"They're professionally trained, work together seamlessly, and their target is clearly us!" Tony said, retaliating with his pulse cannon while moving quickly to find a way in.
Chen Haotian firmly secured the virus sample box to his back, his sharp eyes scanning the battlefield. He circulated his internal energy, sensing his surroundings. Suddenly, he noticed the fire sprinkler system overhead and several differently colored pipes on the wall.
"Tony, three meters to the left front, that yellow pipe!" Chen Haotian shouted in a low voice.
Tony instantly understood, and the miniature missile launchers on the shoulder of his armor activated. Two small high-explosive missiles shot out with a "whoosh," accurately hitting the yellow pipe that Chen Haotian had pointed to!
"BOOM!!"
A violent explosion rang out, and the yellow pipe ruptured instantly. The special coolant stored under high pressure inside, intended for use in certain experimental areas, leaked and vaporized instantly, forming a large patch of cold, white fog that quickly filled the entire passage!
Their field of vision was instantly obscured, and the temperature plummeted. The thermal imaging aiming systems of the UBCS soldiers were severely hampered, resulting in a significant drop in firing accuracy.
"Now!" Chen Haotian roared, his figure disappearing into the thick fog like a ghost. He didn't need to rely on sight; the perception provided by his true qi allowed him to clearly "see" the position and movements of every enemy.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Several muffled thuds followed, accompanied by the sound of bones cracking and short screams. In the thick fog, Chen Haotian moved like a tiger among sheep, displaying exquisite internal martial arts techniques. Whether with palms, fingers, fists, or feet, each strike precisely hit the soldiers' joints, acupoints, or vulnerable areas under their helmets, instantly dismantling their fighting ability.
As the thick white fog dissipated slightly, only the UBCS soldiers lying on the ground and Chen Haotian, standing proudly with slightly disheveled clothes, remained in the passage. He clapped his hands, his breathing steady, as if he had just done a warm-up exercise.
Tony deactivated his energy shield, looked at the scene before him, and whistled, "Dude, every time I see you fight, it makes my armor feel a bit... clunky."
"Each has its strengths." Chen Haotian smiled faintly. "Let's go, this is just the advance team."
The two dared not linger and continued their frantic run along the route Jarvis had planned, constantly adjusted according to the enemy's movements. They encountered several sporadic ambushes along the way, but thanks to Tony's powerful firepower and Chen Haotian's unpredictable close-quarters combat skills, they managed to break through each one without serious injury.
However, the enemy's numbers seemed to be increasing, and the encirclement was constantly shrinking. UBCS soldiers began to appear both in front of and behind the passage, and the crossfire became increasingly dense.
"We're trapped in the passage connecting Sector B and Sector C!" Tony shouted anxiously, blasting away the enemies ahead with his pulse cannon. "Our retreat is cut off too! Jarvis, is there any other way?"
"All known passages have been blocked or heavily guarded. Calculations show that the success rate of a forced breach is less than 15%," Jarvis replied coldly and objectively.
At both ends of the passage, more and more UBCS soldiers appeared. They were no longer in a hurry to attack, but instead advanced steadily, building strong firing positions, clearly intending to completely trap them here. The heavy footsteps and the sound of weapons being loaded echoed in the passage, creating a strong sense of oppression.
"The situation is critical..." Tony's face beneath his visor was grim; the armor's energy reserves had been significantly depleted during the ongoing firefight.
Chen Haotian took a deep breath, sensing the energy fluctuations of the time-travel rune within his body. After continuous use and his stay in the other world, the rune's energy had been mostly depleted, but it should still be enough to open a return portal once in an emergency.
He glanced at the well-equipped UBCS elite squad hot on his heels, then at the soldiers ahead, who were standing ready and forming a defensive line. He knew he couldn't hesitate any longer.
"Tony, prepare to retreat!" Chen Haotian said in a deep voice, while concentrating his mind and beginning to communicate with the transmigration runes in his sea of consciousness. A profound spatial fluctuation began to slowly ripple outwards from him.
"Now? Here?" Tony was taken aback, glancing around at the fierce battlefield. "The energy interference is too strong; can your teleportation be stable?"
"We can't worry about that now! If this drags on, we might really be left here to be 'purified' by Umbrella!" Chen Haotian roared, the light of runes shining deep within his eyes, and the surrounding air began to subtly distort. "Get closer to me! Grab the samples and data!"
Tony said no more and immediately moved to Chen Haotian's side. The nanotech armor was at maximum power output, forming a solid energy shield around the two of them, temporarily blocking the storm of bullets coming from all directions.
Chen Haotian pressed his hands together, and the runes in his sea of consciousness flickered violently, generating a powerful suction force. A pale blue portal, barely wide enough for two people to pass through, with its edges constantly twisting and flickering, slowly took shape before them! The instability of the space caused the lights inside the portal to flicker wildly, and even the walls began to show tiny cracks.
"They're trying to escape! Stop them!" The UBCS squad commander seemed to have noticed something amiss and gave a stern order.
Even fiercer firepower was poured onto the energy shield, causing ripples to spread across its surface, flickering intermittently.
"Hurry up!" Tony urged, feeling the shield working overtime.
Veins bulged on Chen Haotian's forehead as he channeled his mental energy to stabilize the teleportation portal. Finally, the dark blue passage stabilized to a critical point!
"Walk!"
He grabbed Tony, and without hesitation, the two of them leaped into the ever-spinning, eerie blue vortex that exuded an aura of an unfamiliar universe!
The instant they vanished, the portal, deprived of its energy, abruptly collapsed and disappeared. A hail of bullets struck empty air, leaving countless bullet holes in the walls and ground.
Inside the passage, only bewildered UBCS soldiers remained, along with the still-sounding alarm and flashing red lights.