Chapter 113: X should be dead

The moment "X" pressed the button, the turrets on the laboratory walls immediately spat tongues of fire.

Bullets shot straight toward Lin Chen. Lin Chen reacted extremely quickly, immediately mobilizing his Absolute Zero ability,

and condensed a thick ice shield in front of him. The bullets struck the ice shield, making "bang-bang" sounds, but were never able to penetrate it.

"Is that all you've got?" Lin Chen sneered, condensing several ice spikes in his palm and shooting them at the turrets. The ice spikes precisely struck the core components of the turrets.

The turrets stopped operating instantly, emitting black smoke. Seeing this, "X"'s expression shifted slightly, and he shouted to the researchers nearby, "Activate the backup plan! Release the mutants!"

The researchers nodded in a panic and pressed the red button on the console.

Several metal cabin doors in the corner of the laboratory slowly opened, and five strangely shaped mutants rushed out from inside—they had no limbs, only a thick torso, their heads were covered in eyes, and their mouths were full of sharp teeth. They moved extremely fast, pouncing toward Lin Chen.

Su Qing screamed in fright and hid behind the laboratory bench. Lin Chen gripped the Purple Lightning Purification Gun tightly and fired at the mutant in the lead.

The bullet hit the mutant's head but left only a shallow dent; the mutant was completely unaffected and continued to pounce. "System, what is the mutant's weakness? Ordinary bullets can't stop them!" Lin Chen asked the system urgently.

【Detected mutant weakness is the red core in the center of the torso; must destroy the core to kill.】 The system replied. Lin Chen immediately adjusted his target, aimed at the red core in the center of the mutant's torso, and fired again.

The bullet pierced the mutant's skin and hit the core. The mutant let out a piercing roar, its body instantly went limp, and it stopped moving.

Seeing this, the other four mutants rushed over even more crazily. Lin Chen dodged while looking for opportunities to shoot, and soon eliminated two more.

The remaining two mutants suddenly changed direction and pounced toward Su Qing, who was hiding behind the laboratory bench. Su Qing was trembling all over with fear, lacking even the strength to run away.

Lin Chen was quick-eyed and fast-handed, throwing out two ice ropes that entangled the mutants' torsos, pulling them toward himself. Afterward, he raised the Purple Lightning Purification Gun,

and fired two shots in succession at the mutants' red cores. The mutants fell to the ground at the sound. Su Qing looked at Lin Chen, her eyes full of gratitude, but she couldn't say a single word.

Seeing his mutants all eliminated, "X" was thoroughly enraged. He drew an ice blade from his waist and charged at Lin Chen himself. "Let's see how you die today!" "X"'s speed was extremely fast, and the ice blade, carrying a chill, slashed toward Lin Chen's chest. Lin Chen dodged to the side, simultaneously waving out a wave of cold air that shot toward "X".

"X" could also control cold air; he condensed an ice shield to block Lin Chen's attack, and the ice blade swung again. The two tangled together, ice blades and cold air colliding; the temperature in the laboratory plummeted, and a layer of thin ice condensed on the ground. Lin Chen gradually discovered that "X"'s ability to control cold air was slightly weaker than his own, but his combat experience was richer, and his moves were ruthless, each one fatal.

After fighting for more than ten minutes, Lin Chen's arm was cut by the ice blade, and blood flowed freely. He endured the pain, mobilized all the ability in his body, and pushed Absolute Zero to the limit. He condensed a huge ice ball in his palm and smashed it fiercely at "X". "X" did not expect Lin Chen to have such strong power and, unable to dodge in time, was hit by the ice ball, his body instantly frozen inside.

Lin Chen breathed a sigh of relief and was just about to step forward to confirm if "X" was dead when he suddenly heard the system's alarm: 【Warning! Detected strong energy fluctuations; the laboratory is about to explode. Please evacuate immediately, Host!】 Lin Chen's expression changed drastically, and he shouted to Su Qing, "Run! The laboratory is going to explode!"

Su Qing also heard the alarm, quickly ran out from behind the laboratory bench, and followed Lin Chen toward the exit. Just as they reached the stairwell, a loud "Boom—" came from behind; the laboratory began to collapse, and rubble fell continuously from overhead. Lin Chen pulled Su Qing, running upward with all his might, while the flames behind them spread along the stairs, scorching their skin.

The two finally ran out of the underground parking lot. Just as they reached the entrance of the shopping mall, the shockwave from the laboratory explosion caught up, sending them both flying. Lin Chen fell heavily to the ground, dizzy and disoriented. He struggled to climb up and looked at Su Qing—Su Qing had also fallen to the ground, blood flowing from the corner of her mouth; she seemed to be seriously injured.

"How are you? Can you still walk?" Lin Chen ran over and helped Su Qing up. Su Qing shook her head and said weakly, "I... I can't walk anymore. Don't worry about me, you run first." Lin Chen frowned, didn't speak, and directly carried Su Qing on his back, running toward the steel-armored vehicle.

The abandoned shopping mall behind them kept collapsing in the explosion, smoke and dust filling the air. Lin Chen carried Su Qing, used all his strength to run to the steel-armored vehicle, opened the door, put Su Qing into the passenger seat, sat in the driver's seat himself, immediately started the vehicle, and drove toward the direction of the Sky Villa.

On the way, Su Qing leaned against the seat, looked at Lin Chen, and said softly, "Thank you... for saving me again." Lin Chen didn't look back, stared at the road ahead, and said flatly, "I just didn't want you to die halfway. Once we return to the villa, you decide where to go yourself."

Su Qing fell silent, stopped talking, and closed her eyes, seemingly falling into a coma. Lin Chen glanced at her and continued driving. The steel-armored vehicle sped across the snow, soon disappearing into the smoke and dust. When they returned to the Sky Villa, the sky had already darkened. Xia Nuan saw Lin Chen and Su Qing return and ran over quickly. Seeing Su Qing injured and then seeing the wound on Lin Chen's arm, she asked anxiously, "What happened? Did you encounter danger?"

Lin Chen nodded, helped Su Qing down from the vehicle, and said to Xia Nuan, "Help her to a room first, then I'll tell you about the laboratory." Xia Nuan nodded, helped Su Qing into the villa, and Lin Chen followed behind, his heart relaxing—"X" should be dead, and finally, they could have some temporary stability for a while.