The group followed the twists and turns of a winding corridor to get downstairs. The elevator exit was likely blocked by people, so they went with the emergency staircase.

The enemies who tried to block their path came in from all directions. Han Xiao went all out and used everything from his melee skills to sniping to continuous shooting. All but Viper, which was his trump card, was thrown out, and he fought like a true assassin, leaving behind a trail of corpses.

There were four types of enemies: newbie troops, superhumans, Germinal directors, and players. Only the directors were capable of slowing him down, while the rest, players especially, were taken care of in mere seconds.

The players rushed up in waves while kicking and screaming only to disintegrate into light particles the next second. Han Xiao figured that if it continued for a bit longer, he could probably use up all of the players’ weekly resurrection, which could help cure their gaming addiction and have them go complete their homework instead.

As the players were not much of a threat to him at all, Han Xiao did not want to bother with talking sense into them. At this point, players could not change sides yet anyway.

Soon enough, the players became more hesitant and stopped rushing in masses with their previous fervor.

Although players did not fear death, they did not want to throw away their lives for no reason. They realized that the mission reward was only something they can covet but could not even come close to touching. With their current levels, trying to stop this monster of a character was pure fantasy.

This kind of feeling when the reward was so close yet so far was akin to constipation, and continuing to rush in would only cause more experience to be lost. There was just no point.

In an instant, the players started to back off. Who cares about some required mission? What’s so amazing about forcing the tasks? Do you think I care about you that much?

Not only that, but when attacked, the interface showed a constant drop in reputation points with the NPC. However, no one really minded this, as no one knew him anyway.

Electrolux swallowed his saliva to calm his nerves. He recognized Han Xiao as the person who gave him the mission, but he never would have thought that he was an enemy, let alone someone as insanely overpowered as this. For a while now, Electrolux had been witnessing one Germinal director after another, all with ‘Fatally Dangerous’ tags on them, rushing up to the also ‘Fatally Dangerous’ Han Xiao, only to be smacked all over the place like wet cabbage. Electrolux was so scared that he was about to suffer liver problems just from watching.

Bullsh*t. Why do they even have the same tag? This is all a scam!

Even more fatal than ‘Fatally Dangerous?’ Why not just say that you’re here to harvest lives?

The players could not stop lamenting at the unfairness of it all.

…

The Executive Officers in the headquarters were by no means weak, but it was a shame that they are pitted against Han Xiao. Unless they were at least LV 50, there was not even a tiny bit of chance that they could hurt him.

Hila did not even need to help a single time along the way, so she focused on protecting Aurora. Han Xiao was simply unstoppable. However, Hila realized that the Germinal forces did not know about her betrayal. Instead, some were even shouting at her for help against this monster of an enemy.

The cameras along the way were blown up by Han Xiao, and the Germinal leader did not know that Han Xiao and Hila had teamed up. Hila realized that this was a huge advantage!

As Hila looked at Han Xiao’s figure amid the intense battle, she thought, Could it be that this was all part of his plan? Did he not have me help for this purpose?

Bang!

… and another director fell beside his feet. Han Xiao wiped away the blood on his face and could finally take in a deep breath.

He was not exactly unscathed. Some directors had weird powers that could threaten him, but both his defense and HP were very high, so the damage was hardly worth mentioning. The problem was his energy and stamina, which had both decreased significantly. However, he still did not think that it was necessary for him to use Viper.

The class advancement mission had reached 27 points, and Han Xiao found that killing stronger opponents had a chance to award him with 2 to 3 points at once.

“Only the last two levels left,” said Han Xiao.

“Be careful. These are only the vanguard. The main force has yet to arrive.”

Hila’s face was tense as she knew how much manpower the leader had allocated to the headquarters. Even if Han Xiao did far exceed her expectations with his combat strength, he could not possibly take on a whole army.

Hila was still considered one of the ambushing members, and her earpiece was still connected. However, there was not much use as the enemies’ number was too great, and she could not discern any useful information from the overlapping coms transmissions.

They had to be smart if they were to escape from this place.

In that moment, Hila thought of a plan that would basically guarantee her and her sister’s escape but would put Han Xiao in significant danger. She pursed her lips together finally decided before speaking out. “I have an idea.”

Han Xiao immediately replied. “Split up, and I will be the bait.”

Hila’s eyes were then wide open, and her face was full of shock. “How did you know?”

“I guessed,” Han Xiao said nonchalantly. From the moment Hila appeared, he had already started coming up with this vague plan, which was why he focused on destroying all the cameras. It was to ensure that Hila was not considered a traitor—at least not yet—in the eyes of Germinal.

Hila could just use her position as a high-level director to escape easily, while Han Xiao could pull all the attention elsewhere.

However, this would also mean that Han Xiao would be facing all the danger by himself. Hila had never thought that Han Xiao would suggest this idea himself.

“Splitting up is a good idea. Tell me the where the secret passage is, and I will catch up with you after I have diverted their attention.”

Hila was shocked.

They had no reason to trust each other, yet Han Xiao was giving the choice to her. She could not understand where his trust came from.

Is he not afraid that I will give him the false directions? However, this dark thought started to take from inside her mind and would not go away.

Give him the wrong location, let him be cornered by Germinal and buy even more time.

It was as if this voice in her mind was packed with magic, constantly causing her to waver.

For Aurora, I will do everything it takes to keep her out of harm’s way.

Hila looked down, touched Aurora’s face through the bag, and felt the slight tremor from her sister’s petite body. She steeled her resolve once again.

“Room H-418. The fourth brick on the floor from the left is the secret passage’s entrance.”

“Got it.” Han Xiao laughed, seemingly not doubting her words at all as he gently patted the bag with Aurora. “Go.”

Hila took one last look Han Xiao as she tried to etch his image into her memories before she turned and left with hurried strides, afraid of wasting even a single second.

One side of Han Xiao’s mouth perked up, and he went the other direction. He took out multiple bombs of different shapes and sizes out of his tool bag and stuck them onto the walls along the way.

Since he was trying to get attention, he might as well made it big.

Boom!

Sounds of explosions came one after another, followed by heat waves that spread out all over the place.

The whole headquarters were shaking. Although the actual damage was not much because of the previous work, the tremors could still be felt throughout. Even without the security cameras, one could tell where Han Xiao was just by following the explosions.

A large number of troops changed course and were heading straight for him.

“Just wait for me to kill you myself.”

The leader was shuddering all over out of rage as he made his way toward Han Xiao.

…

Han Xiao was humming to a tune, and despite knowing there were an army of Germinal troops closing in on him, he acted without any sense of worry nor care because he knew that they were walking right into his trap.

After turning a corner, he saw that the path ahead was jam-packed with soldiers. All superhumans with top equipment. With at least twenty of them, they acted like a wall that blocked Han Xiao’s way.

The one at the front stood out larger than the rest, with every single part of his body aside from the face looking like it was made of metal. This was test subject No. 1.

“Zero, do you still remember me?” No. 1 said through gritted teeth, his tone full of hatred. “You killed me.

“I became this monster, all to get the power to crush you like a gnat!

“I will break your limbs just like you did to me!”

No. 1 roared and pushed with his legs. Power burst forth from the hydraulic press on his exoskeleton, and the ground beneath him shook. No. 1 shot forward like a cannonball, flying straight for Han Xiao’s head with his hulking body.

The murderous gaze in No. 1’s eyes also contained excitement. He could not wait to exact vengeance to his rival.

At the last moment, Han Xiao turned and side-stepped the attack. He then reached out, grabbed No. 1’s exoskeleton, picked him off the ground, and started swaying around him. This was happening so fast that Han Xiao’s actions became a blur as a magnetic force penetrated through No. 1’s defense.

No. 1 instantly lost any feeling in his right arm, and the upper right portion of the exoskeleton started to fall apart until eventually everything broke off with gear parts flying all over the place, looking like a mechanical power that bloomed.

The design of these superhuman soldiers’ exoskeleton suits was extremely similar to his lightweight mechanical arm. Han Xiao had also just learned ‘neural link’ not too long ago, and as a magnetic ring mechanic, he could easily assemble or disassemble such equipment at will.

So, in a way, superhuman soldiers posed the least threat to Han Xiao. He could easily reduce them down to bare naked bodies.

No. 1, who had lost balance, stared at his now non-existent right arm. He could not process what had happened.

When he finally came to his senses, his rage soon returned, and he stood up once again with the other arm swinging.

“It took me everything to get this power. What gave you the right to beat me!”

Seeing this guy screaming like some dying pig, Han Xiao decided to detach his other arm as well. His legs too. Might as well.

As the other superhumans rushed up, Han Xiao danced between them, and limbs could be seen flying all over the place.

Soon, Han Xiao was the only one left standing amid piles of torn limbs and mechanical parts. This scene was scary enough to fit right in to any kind of horror film.

No. 1 was left facing the sky, hatred still clear on his face, still questioning why he lost.

Han Xiao had wanted to ask since a while ago… Who is this dude?

Han Xiao never would have guessed that it was No. 1, as the appearance was much too different. Moreover, to him, No. 1 had died already.

“Have we met?” Han Xiao asked confusingly.

“How could you not know me‽” No. 1 was furious. “I’m your rival!”

What rival? He must be delusional. Who on earth is this metal head?

Han Xiao was baffled, and his ear was starting to hurt from No. 1’s screaming, so he flipped the limbless No. 1 around to face the ground.

It was instantly much quieter.

No. 1’s mouth was plastered onto the ground and could only make muffled noises. He was enraged, yet there was nothing he can do except stare at Han Xiao out of the corner of his eye.

Gradually, the shining halo faded, only to welcome a curtain of black.

Soon after, the sound of security cameras being shot could be heard again.