"Whoosh!"
Controlling two daggers, George stealthily eliminated two guards at a junction by slitting their throats.
According to what he had gathered during his time here and information he had overheard, the right path led to the cafeteria, and beyond the cafeteria was the area where the mutant children were held. The left path led out of the laboratory.
If he chose the left path now, given his current abilities, he would most likely be able to make a safe escape, find a vehicle, and drive away.
Once he reached the crowded city, he would be free as a bird in the sky.
With those mutant children drawing the enemy's attention, it was unlikely many would be sent to pursue him later on.
"Ahhh!"
Just as he was about to take a step down the left path, a heart-wrenching scream echoed from deep down the right corridor. It was a young, innocent voice, the voice of a child.
The scream made George lower the foot he had just raised.
"Sigh, I guess I just can't be that rational, that heartless."
After hesitating for a moment, he turned and headed to the right.
There were fifty mutant children in total in the base, and according to what he had seen in the movie, fewer than twenty of them managed to escape in the end, including X-23, the young Wolverine.
This meant that more than thirty mutant children died during this escape.
George never thought of himself as a good person, but he wasn't a bad one either. He considered himself just an average person, morally speaking.
Logic told him that in the current situation, the safest thing to do was to let the children draw the enemy's fire while he quietly made his escape.
But people aren't machines; how can anyone be that logical?
If those screams had come from a group of adults, he would have steeled his heart and ignored it, after all, they were strangers to him.
But these were just innocent kids, and he had seen them every day. Although they had never spoken, he still knew them all.
However, he also understood his priorities. If he could save them, he would try. But if saving them was impossible, he would flee and prioritize his own survival.
"Rudy, Vil, Ellie..."
In the cafeteria, Gabriela watched, tears streaming down her face as three children who had tried to hold back the pursuing guards were shot dead.
Once she realized that the genetic modification institute wasn't researching a cure for cancer but rather was breeding mutant assassins, she, along with a few kind-hearted colleagues, decided to help the poor children escape.
But before their plan could be carried out, the higher-ups decided to execute all the children.
They had no choice but to flee ahead of schedule. However, despite their extraordinary abilities, the children were no match for the experienced guards with their cold, deadly firearms.
Just getting to the cafeteria, several of Gabriela's colleagues had been killed while covering their retreat, and out of fifty children, more than a dozen had died. She knew that even more would likely die before they could truly escape.
"Laura!"
At that moment, Gabriela saw X-23, the strongest of the children, kill six guards but then be captured, her limbs bound and suspended in mid-air. Gabriela grabbed a submachine gun from a dead guard beside her and said to the children behind her:
"Go to the exit. Aunt Isa will take you to the destination."
Isa was the last colleague still alive, mainly responsible for driving the large truck that transported supplies from the city to the base.
After receiving the notice, she had driven the truck to the exit, ready to pick them up.
"But what about you and Laura?"
The oldest boy, Richter, showed a worried expression. Though they had lived in the lab and had no common sense, they weren't stupid.
"Richter, you are the oldest among them. I leave them in your hands. Take them to the destination and wait for me there. I promise I will bring Laura to you."
Gabriela spoke in a gentle tone and then fired wildly with the submachine gun to create an opportunity for the children to escape.
Though she wasn't a good shot, her frantic firing forced the guards controlling Laura into disarray, allowing Laura to free one of her legs. She fiercely drove the Adamantium claws in her foot into a guard's eye, freeing herself momentarily.
However, more guards were clearly approaching from the other end of the corridor.
Seeing this, Richter gritted his teeth and led his siblings through the hallway, running away from the cafeteria.
But as soon as they escaped the cafeteria, they were blocked by four guards with firearms in the corridor.
"Everyone, attack together!"
Though terrified, they mustered the courage to fight the guards for their lives, hoping to break out.
"Whizz! Whizz!"
Before they could use their abilities, two of the guards suddenly collapsed, blood spurting from their necks. The remaining guards quickly turned around, only to be met with two bullets.
"Are you all okay?"
George, having dealt with the four guards, let out a slight sigh of relief as he saw the stunned children in front of him.
Thirty-four children were still alive. He had arrived just in time.
"Subject 757!"
Richter was stunned to see that the one who saved them was Subject 757, who had never spoken a word. But he quickly said anxiously:
"Aunt Gabriela and Laura are still in the cafeteria!"
"I cleared out the guards behind you. Keep running. I'll go back and save them."
George didn't hesitate. He gave them a quick instruction, then tossed aside his empty submachine gun, grabbed two from the fallen guards, and rushed toward the cafeteria.
"So brutal?"
Upon entering the cafeteria, he was just in time to see X-23, Laura, riding on a guard's shoulders, viciously clawing at his head until his brain matter was splattered.
The display shocked even the guards surrounding her.
But in the end, Laura was still too small. The guards, snapping out of their fear, opened fire on her. Though her healing factor kept her alive, the bullets drove her back, knocking her down.
Gabriela, meanwhile, was stuck behind cover, unable to help as her bullets had run out.
"Damn it!"
In this situation, merely using the dagger to fight wouldn't suffice. He wasn't Wolverine—he didn't have healing powers to shrug off countless bullets.
If he couldn't eliminate them quickly enough, he'd be gunned down.
So George raised both submachine guns, pouring all his magnetic control into the bullets in the magazines, and began firing wildly.
The bullets, under the influence of his magnetic power, curved mid-air, targeting the guards' vital spots with remarkable precision.
The speed of submachine gun fire combined with near-sniper accuracy—that was the ace up his sleeve that gave him the confidence to come back and help.