Su Xiao bent down and crawled into the lab through a hole in the wall.
"Finally found the researcher. Is this place a maze?"
As Su Xiao entered the lab, blood dripped from the edge of Dragon Flash. He had just encountered a squad of Hound Unit members, who were brainwashed and challenging to extract information from.
Upon entering the lab, a Hound Unit member raised his rifle, aiming at Su Xiao. A counterattack shield beside Su Xiao flew out, shooting towards the Hound Unit member. The shield rapidly split into dozens of sharp fragments mid-flight.
Splat, splat...
The Hound Unit member holding the rifle was turned into a sieve. This was Su Xiao's newly developed use for the counterattack shield, which was not very practical in combat but effective against small fry.
"You... you're the intruder?"
A researcher sat on the ground, legs flailing, pushing himself back until he hit the wall.
Su Xiao lightly stepped on the ground, disappearing from the researcher's sight and reappearing before him.
"The map of this place..."
Mid-sentence, Su Xiao realised he didn't need a map. Understanding the layout was his habit, but now, directly asking for Mokuhara Maboroshi's location was more practical.
"Where is Mokuhara Maboroshi?"
When Su Xiao finished speaking, the researcher raised his hands and quickly said, "I know the map here very well. Mokuhara Maboroshi must be in the central control room. It has a level-four defence system. I can take you there."
This young researcher had a strong will to survive. He provided the information Su Xiao wanted and details about Mokuhara's preferences, age, and height. He would have revealed that if he knew the colour of Mokuhara's underwear.
Most of Su Xiao's enemies were tough. Such a soft target was rare.
"Take me to him, and I'll spare your life."
"Okay, I'll cooperate fully, sir."
The researcher forced a smile. He was young with a bright future and didn't want to die for Mokuhara.
He stood up, trembling as he walked towards the lab door, pausing to grab an ID card from his superior's corpse. This card functioned as both a key and identification; the higher one's status, the more freedom in the lab.
As Su Xiao passed a glass pillar in the lab, he paused, noticing a clone of Mikoto Misaka. The researcher quickly began to explain.
"This is a Level 5 esper Mikoto Misaka clone, part of the 'Absolute Ability Evolution Program.' There are 20,000 clones. According to the plan, if the top-ranked Accelerator kills the third-ranked Mikoto Misaka 128 times in different battles, he can evolve to Level 6. Since there can't be 128 Misakas, the clones are used instead. I can explain further if you want more details on the 'Absolute Ability Evolution Program."
The researcher was eager to betray. Su Xiao hadn't even asked, and he spilt everything.
"Not interested. Lead the way."
"This way."
With the researcher leading, Su Xiao's progress through the lab increased significantly. After bypassing many defence mechanisms, he quickly reached the third floor, where the central control room was.
Su Xiao easily sliced through a half-meter-thick metal door, revealing an empty metal room ahead.
Clang, clang...
The sound of metal clashing came from the room as over sixty robots stood inside, each over five meters tall.
Seeing the towering robots, the researcher hesitated, considering switching sides back to Mokuhara.
...
Researchers watched the giant screen showing Su Xiao's area in the central control room on the third floor.
"This should be enough. The DX-794M combat mechs are unbeatable by humans. Even a Level 5 physical enhancement esper would be torn apart."
One researcher, holding a cup of coffee, took a leisurely sip. He was the developer of the mechs.
"Randy, your combat mechs are impressive."
An old man with a wrinkled face spoke. He was Mokuhara Maboroshi.
"Of course. Despite the losses in this incident, it proves that combat mechs are the future, not espers. Developing espers is too slow, while mechs can be mass-produced."
"Short-sighted."
Mokuhara sneered, ignoring the researcher's dark expression.
"I was going to use the final defence plan, but it seems unnecessary now. This has delayed my research by 12 minutes and 35 seconds."
Mokuhara glanced at the silver suitcase, hesitating whether to abandon it. His relationship with Aleister had worsened over this.
"He... he..."
A researcher pointed at the screen, trembling.
"What's the panic..."
Crash! The mech developer's coffee cup fell. On the screen, shattered mechs lay scattered, and a man with a long knife stood among the wreckage, shaking bullet casings from his collar.
The man with the knife looked up, his sharp gaze causing all researchers in the control room to step back.
With a crackle, the screen went black; the camera was destroyed.
Boom! Boom!
Explosions echoed from the third floor like someone was tearing down the lab.
Boom!
The explosions neared the control room, and Mokuhara's expression darkened.
"We have to use it. Though it's unruly, its power is formidable."
Mokuhara spoke to a nearby researcher, who visibly resisted.
"Do we have to use that experimental subject? He..."
"Hurry, or do you want to die?"
"Yes."
The researcher ran from the control room to a nearby lounge.
...
Bullets from several machine guns strafed Su Xiao, but his long knife deflected them effortlessly.
A light blue sword beam cut through the machine guns, silencing them.
Su Xiao walked down a corridor littered with bullets, puzzled. The defences weren't strong enough to stop a Level 4 esper, but not him.
The difficulty of this third-tier promotion mission was Level 23. The defences here didn't match that level. Was the difficulty in finding the Muling Codex's clues?
Possibly. Su Xiao had gone through much to get those clues, nearly being killed by Kanzaki Kaori's Flash Strike.
Now, the control room was closed. Once he found Mokuhara, the Codex was practically his.
Su Xiao approached the control room, but the high-strength glass door had no obstacle.
"Hey, you're the test subject? You don't look impressive."
A white-haired, red-eyed, skinny boy emerged from a side passage, smirking at Su Xiao.
"I see. That makes the mission's difficulty more reasonable."
Su Xiao stretched, releasing his aura. A pale red energy spread around him.
Crack.
The metal walls around him cracked. Seeing this, the white-haired boy stomped the ground, causing the metal floor to shatter.