Chapter 44

Lin Chen pulled Xia Nuan to run to the second floor,

and the footsteps of the "Shadow" organization members behind them were getting closer,

their roars following like a death warrant. He kicked open the door of the room at the end of the second-floor corridor,

pushed Xia Nuan inside, held the door shut with his back, and pulled a dagger from his backpack.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" The door was shaken violently by the people outside, and wood shavings fell along the door cracks.

Xia Nuan quickly looked for something to brace the door, pushed the iron shelf in the room over, and braced it tightly behind the door. Lin Chen panted heavily,

and suddenly caught a glimpse of a backpack strap sticking out of Xia Nuan's pocket. Just now when getting in the car,

he seemed to have seen a small black thing under the car. He didn't pay attention at the time, but thinking about it now, it might be a tracker!

"Xia Nuan, check if there's anything strange on your backpack!" Lin Chen said urgently.

Xia Nuan quickly rummaged through her backpack, her fingers touching something hard.

She took it out and saw it was a black square the size of a fingernail, with a faint red light flashing on it. "What is this? I didn't bring this!"

"It's a tracker!" Lin Chen's heart sank, "It must have been placed by someone in the underground garage; the 'Shadow' organization found us because of this!" He snatched the tracker,

smashed it hard on the ground, and ground it several times with his foot until the red light finally went out. But it was useless to talk about this now;

the smashing sound outside was getting louder, and the door had already been pried open a crack with a crowbar.

"You scum inside! Come out now!" the "Shadow" organization member outside cursed, and the crowbar reached further into the crack,

"If you keep hiding, we'll blow this door up!"

Lin Chen roared at the door crack: "Why should I come out for you? You're nothing! If you have the guts, blow it up, let's see if you can hurt me!"

These words completely enraged the people outside, and the force of smashing the door became even greater,

and the sound of pulling a gun bolt came: "Damn it! You don't know what's good for you! Today I'm going to tear you to pieces!"

Just as the door was about to be smashed open, gunfire and shouting suddenly came from downstairs—it was the voices of Chen Mo and A Kai!

Lin Chen felt a surge of joy and was about to shout, when he heard someone downstairs yell: "Brother Chen Mo!

Watch your back!" followed by a scream of "Ah," and Lin Chen's heart instantly tightened.

"It's Chen Mo!" Xia Nuan's voice was choked with sobs, "We have to go down and help them!"

Lin Chen gritted his teeth, pulled the bolt, and slammed the door open. The "Shadow" organization member outside was caught off guard,

and was knocked back a few steps by the door. He pulled Xia Nuan and rushed downstairs, shouting as he ran: "Chen Mo! A Kai! We're coming!"

Rushing to the first-floor lobby, the scene before him made Lin Chen's eyes turn red. Chen Mo was lying on the ground,

a knife stuck in his chest, fresh blood staining his black protective suit; A Kai was leaning against the wall,

the submachine gun in his hand still firing, and he had several wounds on his body; the other members of the Dawn Squad were in a melee with the "Shadow" organization people, and the ground was littered with corpses,

the smell of blood and gunpowder mixing together, making one's stomach tighten.

"Chen Mo!" Lin Chen rushed over, crouched beside Chen Mo, and tried to help him up.

Chen Mo opened his eyes, weakly grabbed Lin Chen's hand: "Don't... don't worry about me... take A Kai and Xia Nuan and go... the research institute backyard... has our squad's car..." Before he finished speaking, his hand dropped, and his eyes closed forever.

"Damn it!" Lin Chen punched the ground, tears almost falling. He grabbed the submachine gun beside Chen Mo,

and fired at the "Shadow" organization members: "I'll kill you bunch of animals!"

Xia Nuan and A Kai also rushed up, the three of them back-to-back, firing at the surrounding "Shadow" organization members.

The other members of the Dawn Squad saw them and rushed over, shielding them in the middle:

"Brother Lin Chen, we'll cover you, hurry to the backyard and get in the car!"

Several people retreated toward the backyard while fighting. Just as they reached the backyard gate, they heard a "boom"—it was the modified pickup truck Lin Chen had parked at the gate, which had been blown up by the "Shadow" organization's rocket launcher,

the car body catching fire and quickly burning into a pile of scrap metal.

"My car!" Lin Chen felt heartbroken; that was the car he had found people to modify, and he didn't expect it to be gone just like that.

"Forget the car! Get in the car!" the Dawn Squad members pulled them,

and they got into an off-road vehicle in the backyard. A Kai drove, and Lin Chen and Xia Nuan sat in the back seat,

firing at the "Shadow" organization members chasing them, and the off-road vehicle quickly drove out of the research institute backyard.

Just as they drove to the bottom of the residential complex, Lin Chen suddenly saw something flashing with blue light in a snow pile by the road.

He told A Kai to stop the car,

and braved the wind and snow to run over. It was a fist-sized blue crystal, cold to the touch, and carrying a faint energy fluctuation. 【System Prompt: Rare-grade material "Ice Energy Crystal Core" detected, can be used to exchange for Absolute Defense reinforcement】

Lin Chen quickly put the crystal core into his pocket. Just as he wanted to get in the car, he suddenly felt a chill in his palm, and a cold air traveled from the crystal core to his arm—【System Prompt: Host detected contacting Ice Energy Crystal Core, "Absolute Zero" ability awakened, current level 1, duration 1 second, cooldown 10 minutes】

He was stunned for a moment, and before he could think too much, A Kai shouted: "Brother Lin Chen!

Get in the car! The 'Shadow' organization people are chasing!"

Lin Chen quickly got in the car, and the off-road vehicle soon drove to the bottom of the 45th-floor safe house. The three got out of the car,

and ran upstairs against the wind and snow. A Kai said while running: "We reinforced the safe house's doors and windows before, it should be able to hold for a while."

Rushing to the 45th-floor entrance, Lin Chen took out the key to open the door, let Xia Nuan and A Kai in,

and was the last to enter, locking the door behind him and piling the supply boxes behind the door. Xia Nuan leaned against the wall, panting heavily, tears still falling: "Brother Chen Mo, he..."

Lin Chen patted her shoulder and looked at the wounds on A Kai's body: "Don't be sad,

Chen Mo definitely wouldn't want us to be like this. A Kai, you treat your wounds first, I'll go see if the doors and windows are reinforced well."

He walked to the window, touched the thickened glass, and checked the supply boxes behind the door, confirming there were no problems. 【System Prompt: Current safe house doors and windows reinforced well, no external threats for now】 【System Prompt: Host awakened "Absolute Zero" ability, can increase level by absorbing Ice Energy Crystal Core】

Lin Chen ignored the system prompt, walked to the sofa and sat down, and took out the Ice Energy Crystal Core. With this,

he could exchange for Absolute Defense, and they would be safe for the time being. He looked at Xia Nuan and A Kai,

and breathed a sigh of relief in his heart: "Alright, we are very safe now, let's rest for a while, and then think about what's next."