Chapter 19: Sudden Attack
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The ground shook and Angel felt sunken, as he was pulled beyond his own weight. He could barely react in time as he lost control of his body. It might be happening in the virtual world yet his body was soaked with cold sweat. A mystical voice boomed into his ears, “You have finally come! I have waited long enough!”
Angel replied in a trembled voice, “Who… Who are you?” He acted frankly, for it was perhaps the last day or the last moment of his life. The reason being that he would really want to know the identity of this man among the Mavericks, not with vengeance, but with admiration. YC had earned his respect during the battle before for his outstanding performance in any aspect of the field that Angel could not compete. Like an alpine mountain in his career, steep and craggy, YC became the idol in his mind. If he were to be dead afterwards, due to YC, Angel would be fine and have no complaint with that fact. He was prepared for the consequences, knowing the fact that YC could have been a member of the Mavericks all this while.
Angel froze alone in a distorted posture in place. There wasn’t anybody around.
A fading voice flashed before him, “Keke, haven’t you done your research? How could you still not know who I am?” The question had Angel pale and frightened, “I know I am impotent to you. But why the trickery? It’s not funny.”
… A moment of silence struck the place.
The voice lingered apologetically, “I’m sorry for what I’ve done just now!” And it dramatically turned into a blood-thirsty voice, “But I know. You are certain of why I am here. Aren’t you?”
Angel shuddered. I knew it! What’s coming to him would arrive in the end. Well, there wouldn’t be a need for him to keep hiding anymore. Angel then confessed everything, from how he got his deal, to how he hacked into the core of the training ground, without holding back.
He was ready for death as he closed his eyes, with his mouth shut tightly immediately after the confession.
…
… He awaited his death, but nothing occurred. And by the time he had realized it, his body regained its mobility.
“If you want to kill me, just do it already!”
His shaking voice trailed off in the street where a few pedestrians had their eyes fixed on Angel in deep pity, as if seeing an idiot in his own melodrama.
Did he… let go of me… for real? He was in disbelief. He tried lifting himself up from his feet. The unforgettable voice from the previous oblivion was not ringing in his ears anymore. Angel, who held back his flooding tears, slammed the logout button at light speed!
At Luo’s Research Center.
The manager rested in his cozy armchair, setting his eyes upon the view of the outside world through the highly transparent glass window. He watched the people below hurry by, as a feeling of serenity surged through his body, for he knew that this very research institute is the heart of the Luo family and is significant to what kept their family going strong. Due to Luo’s authority, the existence of this institute had been safely protected in secret. The strength of this research center! It would be among the first few in the entire Fal galaxy. The lord of this family entrusted him with this center. What faith in his capability! He had thought so, as he snickered. An outsider earning this much of trust from the lord, this is more than a mere achievement.
But well, I heard there was a dispute between the young master and the lord… wonder if it’s true… Sigh… every family has their own difficulty, not even the great lord, wise and decisive, could prevent this. Still, this was very strange. The young master had always been known for his gentle and humble nature, a genuine man, and a likeable character to the lord. Then why the dispute? Almost everyone in the house presumed the young master was to be the successor to the Luo family, even the lord himself claimed in a few occasions that the young master could take his legacy and become the next prominent figure in the family. Does that mean he is now keener towards the younger master? It couldn’t be! That young man only knew how to spend his rotten life wallowing in his gambling and prostitution! There was not once he caused problem without raising the name of the Luo family. Oh, all the nonsense he had done! The people hate him! Even the lord hates him to the bone! The lord couldn’t have been this dim-witted, could he?
The fiasco panicked everyone under the roof. There hadn’t been good news coming from the authority and nobody wanted to know the details, for it would cost their head if they knew about it!
His pondering was interrupted by the alarm that came wailing.
Luo Renhuo jumped up from his chair and rushed to the lobby, upholding his nature of responsibility, always being in the frontline, as complimented by his lord.
The institute had descended into chaos. The researchers scurried around in fear.
He scowled and shouted, “What’s with the panic! Everyone, get back into your positions! Mo Lianfu, what’s going on?” His steadiness influenced the men and the situation became under control. His reputation among the men had pacified the institute!
A slender man quickly reported, “Manager, we have been attacked! Our processor was damaged and we have lost control! What should we do? We are doomed at this rate!”
“Lost control?” His head was bombarded by bewilderment for a while, with his eyes reflecting the horrified look of Mo Lianfu awaiting for further commands.
Luo Ren was finally conscious, surely he could not go wrong at this stage, if not, everything else would go wrong!
They sprinted to the processor control room, where the usually empty room was crowded by people by then. None of the crowd were tranquil.
An aged researcher waved at them.
“Elder Mo, how’s the situation? Could we retrieve control?” Manager’s tone was somber, but he tried maintaining respect towards Elder Mo,for he was Mo Lianfu’s grandfather, who also happened to be the senior researcher in the institute. Even the lord would address him as Elder Mo.
Elder Mo shook his head, “It’s really, really bad. The attacker might have been a Maverick, who snuck in stealthily into our institute. Ohh… how could we have not notice! The shame!” Elder Mo felt sorry for his helplessness.
“Is there really no way to resolve this?” Manager Luo nervously asked.
Elder Mo pointed his fingers towards ten men in helmets, “Well we would have to depend on them. They are the experts among the Mavericks we could find, hopefully they could at least trace the attacker in the virtual network.” He pondered, “It would be best if you inform the lord right away and call for aid!”
Manager Luo went to connect with the communicator on the spot, as the research institute held great significance, all the reporting goes to the master, directly!
Connection failed. Connection failed. Connection failed. He tried connecting for sometime but all of them failed. The manager’s face further drained. An intuition pulsed within him that something bad had happened. What if the lord was attacked too? His heart skipped a beat. This is a planned attack! Everything was well chained and well guarded! And they could only passively stay. Who in the world is this brilliant attacker?
He whispered, “Elder Mo, stay here and watch over everybody. I’ll go get backup from the lord.” And he jumped right through the window.
Wait! This is the 80th floor of the building! Manager!
As he fell freely in the air, his right pointing finger and middle finger fondled the mech warping button and in an instant, a blazing red humanoid mech appeared before him. He grabbed the right arm swiftly and slid into the cabin.
All engines on! Full speed due northwest!