The Ultimate Evolution

A flash of light appeared in an empty space, and Rocky’s figure emerged from within like a genie. Gungir shone with an incredibly sharp light in his hand. About five or six twisted rays of lights lashed out from the spear, tearing through the air, and occasionally whipping the sand, stirring up streams of dust and smoke.

The blue taint on Rocky’s body had become thicker, especially on his face. Vivid blue patterns had appeared on it, like the markings on a soldier’s face when they wanted to hide their identity. The veins on Rocky’s temples were visibly protruding. His body was obviously not in its best condition at the moment.

This man’s teleportation ability was actually pretty insane. He could instantly teleport to any spot in his field of view, even if he was only indirectly looking at the place — through a television, for example. However, the farther away the distance, the longer the activation time required, the heavier the consumption, the longer the cooldown time afterwards, and so on.

For example, if he wished to teleport a few hundred meters away, the estimated casting time was a second or so, and the cooldown time afterwards was less than twenty seconds. But back when Bind was about to kill Carlos, Rocky could only perform an indirect teleportation. It took several minutes for Rocky to gather his power, and the cost of the teleportation was several of his achievement points. When he arrived, his MP was completely empty, and the cooldown time of the ability was prolonged to 24 hours.

But Rocky certainly had a killer move which enabled him to teleport without consumption — otherwise, if he teleported over without any MP, wouldn’t he just be feeding Bind? But a killer move, while powerful, was also a double-edged blade. They either had incredibly long cooldown time like Sheyan’s ‘Death’s Lament’, or a heavy price must be paid.

“How is it, boss?” Carlos, whose whole body burned black, asked while gasping for air. His trademark ponytail had been burned away. If he was unwilling to spend utility points to restore it, then he could only appear with a crew cut for a long time. It looked pretty funny.

“There were four vehicles in total. I’ve destroyed all of them. I didn’t find any signs of contestants,” Rocky answered solemnly.

“There’s no way it’s a coincidence. Although the distance is more than ten kilometers, but in order to make up for our shortcomings, we’ve specially found a helper with high Perceptive Sense! Yet he couldn’t sense the threat from a bombing of this scale at all? And he was even killed in the bombing?” Steel File a.k.a. Paper Weight voiced his doubt with a scowl.

Carlos took out a handheld computer and pressed it a few times. “We can basically confirm that they were the special M26 dual-propellant rockets launched from A150-300 mm wheeled rocket launchers. Their launching speed has been raised to a shocking level. In theory, it took only 1.3 seconds from the launch of the rockets to the detonation, while the aiming was done via a satellite….if the guy was careless at the time, 1.3 seconds really is too short for a warning. This isn’t too strange for an S-level mission.”

“But more importantly, who would dare to stand in our way? With the combination of boss and you, the strongest MT in existence, even a monster like Bind wouldn’t dare to show himself! Considering that he was badly injured by boss in the fight before, he’s probably still hiding somewhere to recuperate.”

Steel File harrumphed, which was a tacit acceptance of Carlos’s half-compliment and half-true statement. “….I can’t help but feel that something fishy’s going on. We should move to the target area quickly. We don’t have a Perceptive Sense specialist in the team anymore, so if we’re found by the satellites and they fire unconventional weapons at us again, we’ll definitely suffer further losses.”

Rocky opened his mouth to say something, but he ended up not saying it. If they wished to avoid satellite detection, they would have to go underground. But in an underground environment, Rocky’s teleportation ability would be greatly restricted. As for the unconventional way of teleporting through a barrier, it required a long casting time. Any soldier with a submachine gun could interrupt his cast.

But if he said that aloud, it would obviously be taken as a lack of faith in Steel File’s strength — something he definitely could not do.

***

Sheyan was also in a somewhat miserable state at the moment.

That’s because he had actually followed along with the four A150-300 mm wheeled rocket launchers. Without the suppression of his Perceptive Sense, they could not have ambushed Rocky’s team. What Sheyan did not anticipate was how quickly and violently Rocky had counter attacked!

Fortunately, Sheyan had detected Rocky’s arrival in advance and had jumped into the sand to hide. Otherwise, a direct confrontation with Rocky would have been unavoidable. If that were to happen, Rocky could just stall Sheyan until his allies arrived.

Sheyan knew very well that Party Ace was certainly not the opponents’ match, mainly because the guy called Paper Weight had broken the balance. Sheyan had no confidence of winning in a direct fight, unless Bind was on their side, which was obviously impossible.

After getting on board the helicopter sent to pick him up, Sheyan instantly turned on the communicator.

“How’s it going over there, guys?”

“They’ve disappeared from our satellite surveillance. You’re right, those guys have probably gone underground. Their mission hints likely only gave them a pretty broad area, that’s why they have to keep investigating. Otherwise, they would’ve just rushed here straight away,” replied Sanzi from the other end.

When Sheyan jumped out of the helicopter, Zi contacted him. “We’ve confirmed that the targets have indeed gone underground. They’re currently moving in the periphery of Area F.”

Sheyan snapped his fingers in satisfaction. Dr. W’s lab is in Area A, which means that Rocky had chosen the longest path possible to their destination. He passed down more orders to rearrange the troops. He then took the time to give Mr. G a call.

“Hello, Mr. G.”

“Hello Seaman.”

“I’ve lost eight helicopters, 138 people, four A150-300 mm wheeled rocket launchers, and I expect the losses to continue piling up. The final losses may be ten times heavier than this.”

Mr. G was silent for a moment. “That’s not what I want to know. You should know that I’m only concerned about one thing — will Dr. W’s research be interrupted?”

“Nothing should be able to interfere with his research except for his advanced-stage liver cancer,” Sheyan answered seriously.

Mr. G heaved a sigh of relief. “That’s all I ask for. As for the losses, just try to control the scope of the losses within what would be caused by the coming apocalypse. I will grant you the relevant level of authority.”

Mr. G’s implication was clear. When the apocalypse came, the vast majority of the country’s forces would be lost to natural disasters anyway, so why not let them go out like bright fireworks before the time came….

After Sheyan was authorised, he instantly issued some orders. “Transport three “Seeder” defence systems to Area D pronto! Mobilise some troops from the Tibetan Military Region over and arm them to the teeth! How many? As many as possible, as long as you can keep it secret from the outside world! Give them mostly weapons that can cause heavy impact, the kind that can destroy cave walls. One more thing, help me ask Dr. W when’s the next time he’ll be taking his medication. I need to speak with him.”

***

Sheyan soon met with Dr. W again.

He was lying flat on a chair to take the three injections that he needed.

The first injection was to kill pain. It had little effect on him, but it was still better than nothing.

The second injection was a highly concentrated nutrient solution. The cancer cells were frantically squeezing away his vitality, his physical strength and his energy, and him overworking his body certainly did not help. Therefore, it was necessary to provide more external help to this nearly dying body.

The third injection was a radiotherapy drug. Although cancer cells had spread all over his body, but any bit of cancer cell they could kill may help him prolong his life, even if only by a little.

Dr. W looked much older than the first time Sheyan met him. The wrinkles on his face, the fading light in his eyes, and even his heavy voice made him seem like he had aged considerably. His eyes were also deeply sunken, but his gaze had only turned more frightening, more resolute!

Sheyan smiled at him. “I’ll keep it short. Two things: First, a little friend of mine will reinforce the rocks around your laboratory so that we can more effectively prevent any external impact from disrupting you. Second, ….Dr. W, I believe you must be very unwilling to die, but also feeling very helpless about it?”

“Yes! I know that my life is coming to an end. I can already see where the end is. But why can’t the heavens give me just two more days!” Dr. W said, helplessness apparent in his voice.

Sheyan lifted a finger to interrupt him. “I might be able to give you a bit of help in this matter, but only if you’re willing to trust me.”

Dr. W replied with a self-deprecating smile, “I’m a person whose remaining lifespan can be counted in terms of hours. There’s nothing I can’t put aside.”

Sheyan took out his ‘Endless Vodka’. He shook it, then smiled.

“Have a drink.”

A doctor nearby immediately panicked. “Hey, that’s strong liquor! You’re going to kill him! Doctor W’s esophagus and stomach have already been corroded by cancer cells!”

Sheyan ignored him and just stared at Dr. W. Dr. W sighed after a while. “I haven’t had any alcohol for ten years. How I miss the taste of Maotai. Okay, fine. I hope the taste of vodka won’t disappoint me.”

As he spoke, he took a swig from the bottle. Then, he closed his eyes and carefully recalled the feeling.

The doctor next to him shut his eyes painfully and shouted, “Stretcher, adrenaline, get the emergency measures ready!”

Two nurses appeared, ready to hold Dr. W. whom they expected to fall down… But the middle-aged man did not fall down! Instead, when he opened his eyes again, there was a bright glimmer in them!!

“This… This vodka!!!!”