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Professor Qi had previously made a definitive judgment. Based on his understanding of Qi Yang, there was a 99% chance that Qi Yang would not come this time. However, if this statement were to reach Qi Yang's ears, he would likely respond with a half-smile and retort, "Even I don’t dare claim to understand myself. Professor Qi, you’re overthinking it."
Let’s rewind to an hour earlier.
When Zhang Bendan finally injected the last component into Stab-3, a blinding white light illuminated the entire laboratory, making it as bright as daylight.
Zhang Bendan was convinced: the experiment was a success!
But then, as the light completely faded, the small, ordinary-looking sphere that remained and devoid of even a hint of metallic luster, froze Zhang Bendan’s excited expression on his face.
In a moment of desperation, he recklessly opened the glass chamber and reached out to touch the projectile, but there was none of the sharp recoil he had expected.
Zhang Bendan’s entire demeanor collapsed and tears welled up in the corners of his eyes: "Major… Major, it seems we’ve failed."
Among their nearly hundred failed experiments, the outcomes had varied.
Some had resulted in explosions, though fortunately, the intensity was not as severe as anticipated and just caused minimal damage. Others had melted into puddles of metallic liquid with no detectable properties.
But this time, the result was a dull, shrunken, and utterly useless sphere.
This was likely their last chance at success, and the blow was too much for Zhang Bendan to bear.
"Major…" Zhang Bendan cried out in anguish. But when he looked up at Qi Yang, he noticed a glimmer of excitement in his eyes. Qi Yang’s trembling fingers slowly reached into the glass chamber, but just as they were about to touch the small bullet, he abruptly stopped.
Confused, Zhang Bendan asked, "Major? What are you…?"
Finally, as if making a firm decision, Qi Yang used his left hand to firmly grasp the bullet, which was only half the size of his palm. Just as he was about to pull Stab-3 out of the chamber, his wrist suddenly jerked, and it took him a while to slowly retrieve it.
At this moment, even Qi Yang, who was usually calm and composed, couldn’t help but redden his eyes and his voice growing hoarse: "We might have… succeeded."
This was the situation that had unfolded before they hurriedly rushed to the beach battlefield.
Professor Qi believed that Qi Yang’s focus should be on dealing with the King of Mutated Beasts, S1. But he never expected Qi Yang to recklessly bring Stab-3 to the battlefield at such a critical moment instead of conserving his energy. But Qi Yang knew that aside from S1 appearing of its own volition, there was another way to draw it out.
Within half an hour, apart from the elite teams of Group A and Group B, who were trapped in the center of the battlefield by the Mutant Beast Army and unable to escape, all other Evolved Beings had retreated to the vicinity of the dam to begin their defensive strategy.
When Lieutenant Chen was summoned by Qi Yang to the embankment, he suddenly clenched his fist, only to realize that his palm was already drenched in sweat. He had been following Qi Yang for a long time—initially reluctant, but later completely intimidated by this man.
Qi Yang's demeanor during experiments, where he could kill beasts without batting an eye, had even shaken a hardened soldier like him.
Because those methods were truly terrifying.
Now, as he stood beside Qi Yang again, he instinctively assumed a standard military posture: legs together and right hand raised to his temple. "Reporting, Major Qi Yang, Lieutenant Chen Rang present! Awaiting your orders, Major!"
Qi Yang's right hand was tucked into his pocket, while his left hand held a long and exquisitely crafted cannon.
The silver barrel, reflecting the vast sea and sky, rivaled the deep blue of the ocean. The cold, familiar metallic sheen made Lieutenant Chen immediately realize where this weapon had come from.
Qi Yang remained silent while staring at Lieutenant Chen for a long time, making the honest man increasingly uncomfortable. Then, abruptly, he asked, "Are you afraid of death?"
Lieutenant Chen was taken aback but instinctively replied, "No! But I fear dying for nothing!"
Qi Yang, for once, allowed a gentle smile to grace his pale, refined face that softened his features considerably. He raised the barrel of the high-torque strong electric nuclear magnetic cannon in his hand and asked, "Do you remember the last time I held this and worked with you?"
Without hesitation, Lieutenant Chen answered, "Yes, Major! It was eight months ago! You led me and my team on a reconnaissance mission from District 80. You used this cannon to capture two Class A Mutated Creatures!"
Qi Yang nodded slightly but added, "True. But I didn't do as well as you. At the time, you managed to capture alive that disgusting, ugly Mutated Beast that had been taunting us on the battlefield... S1."
This time on the battlefield, after Ji Chuancheng called out S1's name, the look of shock and recognition on the Mutated Orca's face had imprinted itself in Lieutenant Chen's mind.
Most people present had no idea what the name S1 signified, but Lieutenant Chen understood.
He finally realized why when he first encountered that humanoid Mutated Beast, it had said, "You used it to hurt me before."
Because, back when he and Qi Yang had gone to clear the riverbed, Qi Yang had deemed the small black Mutated Beast too weak to warrant using the high-torque strong electric nuclear magnetic cannon. Instead, it was Lieutenant Chen who had merely used a simple Lightning Cannon to knock the beast unconscious and allow the Research Institute to take it into the lab.
If given another chance, Lieutenant Chen would never have chosen the Lightning Cannon. Instead, he would have seized every opportunity to strangle that Mutated Beast in its cradle before it could grow.
But he also vaguely understood that even Qi Yang's terrifying experimental methods hadn't managed to kill that Mutated Beast. Given his own capabilities, he likely wouldn't have been able to eliminate it either.
Lieutenant Chen took a deep breath to steady himself and nodded earnestly. "Yes, I captured S1 alive."
Qi Yang turned his gaze to the vast, boundless sea and said coldly, "It hates me."
Lieutenant Chen's throat tightened but he offered no reply.
Qi Yang didn't keep him waiting for long. He turned his head again to look at Lieutenant Chen with calm and composed eyes, and spoke in a tone as certain as a statement: "It also despises you."
Not hatred, but indeed a sense of disgust.
Lieutenant Chen nodded calmly: "I know. Major, are you planning to use me as bait to lure it out?"
Qi Yang, however, gently shook his head: "You are just a decoy. I will be the one to draw it out."
Lieutenant Chen was taken aback: "Major, how do you know it will be around here? An hour ago, Evolved Beings from the N City Base seemed to have come to communicate. They too have been suddenly attacked by Mutated Beasts, and the situation is extremely critical. In our S City Base, they have already sent two SS-Class Mutants. Presumably, S1 has no need to..."
"It will come." Qi Yang's icy and indifferent gaze pierced through Lieutenant Chen's body, as if he was locking eyes with someone. He slowly curled the corner of his lips before murmuring softly as if sighing: "Because it wants to watch me die."
Lieutenant Chen was instantly speechless.
The task Qi Yang assigned to Lieutenant Chen was quite simple: to stand at the high point of the dam and sweep the ground with the Lightning Cannon at those C-Class Mutants.
In fact, the Lightning Cannon was the most basic of all Lieutenant Chen's attack methods. With his Special Ability value now close to 500, he hadn't used this move in a long time.
However, supported by stronger Special Ability power, Lieutenant Chen's focused Lightning Cannon strike could always directly kill a C-Class Mutant, and sometimes even achieve two kills with one shot and blow up two C-Class Mutated Beasts.
Meanwhile, Qi Yang stood expressionlessly beside Lieutenant Chen with his eyes scanning over the furious and frenzied Mutated Beasts below the dam.
To some extent, Lieutenant Chen's attacks were mere child's play to this army mostly composed of high-level Mutated Beasts. But no matter how trivial, the number of Mutated Beasts he killed was too many.
Groups of C-Class Mutated Beasts turned into dust under the small Lightning Cannon strikes and finally provoked the anger of some B-Class Mutants.
Seeing this, Qi Yang just furrowed his brow and ordered Zhang Bendan to use the A-6 Assassin to eliminate those aggressive B-Class Mutants. Only when a few A-Class Mutants began to attack from a distance did Qi Yang sigh heavily then raise his gun, and fire with one hand.
"Bang—"
An A-Class Mutant fell dead on the spot.
After that, he no longer remained silent.
Bullet after bullet shot out from the High-torque strong electric nuclear magnetic cannon that almost every shot brought down an A-Class Mutant. However, this weapon, which could even severely injure an S-Class Mutant, Qi Yang only used it to snipe A-Class Mutants.
This bizarre behavior seemed inexplicable to Zhang Bendan.
But Lieutenant Chen's heart gradually sank. He was beginning to understand Qi Yang's plan and also knew... why he had asked him if he was afraid of death.
Chen Rang, at the age of nineteen, had voluntarily joined the army.
After three years of rigorous training in the military, Qi Yang was specially recruited into the special forces of S City and was sent to the border for four years.
By the time he returned, he had already been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. However, such a rank was clearly disproportionate to his merits, so it was a foregone conclusion that he would be promoted to Captain in this year's major evaluation.
But just as Ji Chuancheng might forever remain a Major, Chen Rang also understood that he might only be able to end his military career at the rank of Lieutenant.
After the Mutation Day, the system of governance in China had almost completely collapsed and only Evolved Beings had the qualifications to establish a new political system.
Of course, all of this had to happen after the apocalypse ended.
Thinking of this, and realizing that everything was far from over, Lieutenant Chen's expression turned serious as he continued to fire the Lightning Cannon.
When the last C-level Mutated Creature within visible range fell to the ground, Lieutenant Chen's heart trembled.
And without hesitation, he ran down the embankment and charged into the defensive forces to attack!
Zhang Bendan, seeing Lieutenant Chen suddenly disregarding the danger and entering the enemy's encirclement, was startled. He quickly turned to Qi Yang and urgently said, "Major Qi, why did Lieutenant Chen suddenly defy your orders and run down there..."
Zhang Bendan's voice abruptly stopped.
He saw Qi Yang silently straighten his back while watching with a solemn and tragic gaze as Chen Rang stepped into the encirclement of those ferocious and terrifying Mutated Beasts before gradually being surrounded and disappearing from sight.
He asked, "Are you afraid of death?"
He replied, "I'm only afraid that my death would be in vain."
A bitter taste rose in Qi Yang's throat.
He tightened his grip on the cold gun in his left hand, as if suppressing his voice, and softly shouted, "S1, it's time for you to come out!"