"It's no good?"
Kristie asked worriedly. Amagiri Kōsuke shook his head and said.
"This is just experimental data; it cannot be used as direct evidence."
"Furthermore, the Umbrella Corporation's importance to the world's various countries now..."
"Let's go."
Amagiri Kōsuke led the way out of the top-floor office. The four of them descended the stairs together. When leaving, they no longer needed to go through the windows but directly through the main entrance.
"Click~"
The main entrance slowly opened. Amagiri Kōsuke and the three others, dressed as guards, stepped out.
"Swish!"
But the moment they stepped out of the gate, a huge shadow suddenly flashed before them. A thick, waist-sized arm was raised high and slammed down fiercely.
"Watch out!"
Amagiri Kōsuke's pupils contracted, instantly narrowing to pinpricks. His body rolled to the left on the ground.
"Boom!"
The attacker's fist slammed onto the ground, creating a perfectly round, fifty-centimeter-diameter crater in the hard marble floor.
The violent aftershocks kicked up a large amount of dust, making the four cough incessantly.
Before Amagiri Kōsuke could react, the attacker's foot shifted. With a "boom," it charged violently towards him, who was crouched on the ground. Its hand, larger than his head, opened and grabbed towards his legs.
"Thump!"
At the critical moment, a heavy punch that appeared out of nowhere struck the attacker's cheek, knocking its three-meter-tall body off its original trajectory.
"Haaa~!!!"
Papa let out a muffled roar from his throat, moving his heavy body and charging towards the Avenger. He raised his right fist, which was condensed with Ki, and slammed it into the Avenger's abdomen.
"Thump!"
The moment the fist touched the flesh, a faint aftershock blossomed.
"Heh heh, a heavy artillery punch that no one can withstand head-on!"
Papa raised a smug smile, but this smile lasted less than a second before freezing.
"Hmph..."
The Avenger bent its body, exhaled a hot breath, and raised its head to look at Papa, whose fist was still pressed against its abdomen.
"Roar!!!"
The Avenger opened its massive mouth and roared furiously at Papa. A thick, foul breath and saliva erupted, splattering onto the fat man's face.
"Smack!"
The Avenger opened its large hand and squeezed the fat man's face, effortlessly lifting his five-hundred-pound body.
"Ahhh...!!"
Papa's face was distorted by the Avenger's large hand, and the intense pain made him scream.
"Papa!"
Amagiri Kōsuke, who had escaped danger, immediately drew his katana and charged towards the Avenger, who was holding Papa up.
"Roar~!"
The Avenger looked at Amagiri Kōsuke, roared, and raised the arm holding Papa's body high. Its arm muscles continuously bulged.
"Ahhh~!!!"
Papa's cries of agony grew even more piercing. Blood flowed from his seven orifices.
"Swish!"
Accompanied by Papa's screams, the Avenger suddenly swung its arm, single-handedly using Papa's five-hundred-pound body as a weapon, and violently slammed him towards Amagiri Kōsuke, who was charging at him.
"Swish, swish, swish..."
Just as Papa's body was about to collide with Amagiri Kōsuke, a faint, dense sound of air being torn echoed from behind him. A large number of purple threads wrapped around the Avenger's thick arm.
"Thump!"
Amagiri Kōsuke's blade flashed. A line of blood appeared on the Avenger's right wrist, which was gripping Papa's head. The hand, along with Papa's entire body, dropped.
"Swish!"
Amagiri Kōsuke stomped off the ground with both feet, catching Papa's falling body in mid-air, and rejoined his companions in a line.
"Papa, can you still move?"
Amagiri Kōsuke patted the fat man's face.
"Kō...suke..."
The fat man Papa struggled to open his eyes, which were bloodshot. Amagiri Kōsuke's heart sank.
"Run... quickly..."
The fat man's chubby right hand clutched Amagiri Kōsuke's clothes. Amagiri Kōsuke and the two others understood Papa's meaning.
They had encountered no obstacles when entering, but someone was blocking them outside when leaving. This was clearly a trap.
"Roar!"
At this moment, the Avenger soldier, bound by a large number of threads, roared and struggled violently.
"No, his strength is too great; I can't hold him!"
Kristie gritted her silver teeth. Her strength was not her strong suit. Even against a monster that Papa couldn't defeat, she could only hold it for about ten seconds, even with her ability.
And during these ten seconds, Akutagawa Heiri continuously used his ability to attack the Avenger from a distance.
"Bang!"
Akutagawa Heiri's fist moved at warp speed, traversing space and appearing directly at the Avenger's chin. He delivered a fierce uppercut to its chin.
"Bang, bang, bang..."
Akutagawa Heiri's punches were so fast they appeared as afterimages. He delivered continuous uppercuts, landing over a hundred punches in just ten seconds.
He made the Avenger soldier roar repeatedly, struggling with even greater force.
"Damn it, why is this monster unaffected!?"
Akutagawa Heiri complained. Even a Nen user of the Enhancement type, standing still and taking so many uppercuts, should have fainted by now.
But this monster not only took over a hundred punches from him, but it also lost an arm.
"Kill him first, or we won't be able to leave."
Amagiri Kōsuke stood up again. He clearly understood the current situation. Every pursuer killed was one less.
"I can't hold on!"
Kristie shouted.
Amagiri Kōsuke sheathed his katana, closing his eyes tightly.
He took a step forward with his right foot, forming a right angle. His waist was straight, and his upper body leaned forward.
His left hand gripped the scabbard opening, his thumb and forefinger pressing against the sword guard. His right hand slowly grasped the katana's hilt, with his pinky and ring fingers tightly clasped, and the other fingers loosely held.
"Hoo~"
He took a deep breath, maintained his posture, cleared his mind, and activated [Nichi no Maru].
"Roar!"
The Avenger soldier finally broke free from Kristie's束缚 (restraint). It charged rapidly towards the three, its heavy footsteps thudding.
"Swish!"
Amagiri Kōsuke's eyes suddenly opened wide, a bright light blossoming in his pupils.
He pulled his left elbow back, and his left thumb instantly pushed the sword guard away from the scabbard opening. His right hand swiftly drew the katana and delivered a devastating draw-slash aimed at the charging Avenger's neck.
"Swish!"
In the pitch-black night, as the two figures crisscrossed, a dazzling white light flashed.
"Thud~"
A huge head flew up and fell to the ground.
"Thump... thump..."
The headless Avenger soldier still took two steps forward, then...
"Splish~!"
Accompanied by heavy footsteps, the Avenger's headless corpse splished as it sprayed a sky-high fountain of blood. Drenched in a shower of blood, it fell at Amagiri Kōsuke's feet.
"Clang~"
Amagiri Kōsuke took a deep breath. The katana in his hand slowly entered its sheath. He stood up and looked at the headless corpse behind him.
"Kō...suke..."
But in front of him, Kristie and Akutagawa Heiri looked at him with an expression of disbelief, or rather, at the head behind him.
"What's wrong?"
Amagiri Kōsuke was puzzled. Could that person revive after death?
He turned around in confusion, looking at the huge head that had fallen to the ground, at its face.
"How... is this possible!"
Amagiri Kōsuke's mind was struck by a thunderbolt, and his body trembled uncontrollably.
That face, distorted by modification, slowly overlapped with the rugged face in his memory. It was his old friend, Austin.
"Clap, clap, clap..."
Suddenly, a slow clapping sound from the darkness startled the four. They looked towards the source of the sound.
"Click, click..."
A sound of a safety being disengaged.
"Bang!"
Immediately after, blinding strong lights shone on them, making them unable to open their eyes for a moment.
"Damn it!"
The three instantly realized something was wrong. Carrying the heavily wounded Papa, they tried to retreat to the main entrance of the building.
But the main entrance clicked shut, blocking them outside.
"Damn it, this is a trap!"
The three looked at the rows of fully armed guards standing outside the building, aiming assault rifles at them, their faces grim.
"Humans are foolish creatures, shrinking from the future, wasting effort on what is already lost."
Within the fully armed guard squad, the guards parted to clear a path. A figure slowly walked out from within, his low, deep voice lingering in the space.
"Why not find a corner of the world and live a stable, mediocre life there?"
Pride stood not far in front of the four, holding a book titled Lost Paradise. A faint, mysterious smile hung on his face.
"Who are you!?"
Amagiri Kōsuke took a step forward, looking at Pride, who appeared like a child, his expression grim.
"Who I am isn't important, but I've always been watching you."
Pride looked up and stared at Amagiri Kōsuke, revealing an innocent, childlike smile.
But for some reason, all four, including Amagiri Kōsuke, felt a collective shiver in their hearts, as if they had seen the smile of a demon.
"You discovered us long ago!"
Akutagawa Heiri spoke, making Pride glance at him slightly, a smile on his face.
"We discovered you when you were complaining about the mosquitoes in the forest."
The four's expressions changed drastically. They hadn't expected to be exposed at that time. They had even been secretly proud.
"Do you like the gift I sent you?"
Pride looked at the huge, bleeding head on the ground, then at Amagiri Kōsuke, and smiled.
"Human modification experiments!"
Amagiri Kōsuke said six words slowly, his face grim.
"The one you just killed was UB-010, the new Avenger Soldier."
Pride calmly stated the headless corpse's designation number.
"Austin isn't some Avenger Soldier!"
Amagiri Kōsuke stared intently at Pride, his eyes gradually turning red and bloodshot, blood vessels appearing.
"Don't look at me like that. You were the one who killed him."
Pride's lips curled. Though he had the face of a cute, innocent boy, he exuded an extremely dangerous aura.
"What did you do to Danica?" Amagiri Kōsuke suddenly asked.
"Humans are so pathetic. They already have the answer in their hearts, yet they refuse to believe it."
Pride didn't answer his question directly, but Amagiri Kōsuke's body trembled. He understood what Pride meant.
In fact, when he saw Austin's face, he had already guessed.
"Hmm, speaking of which, I've also picked up some bad human habits."
Pride looked up and pondered for a moment.
"According to my usual nature, I should have directly killed you all."
"And not wasted time and effort, nor even sent an Avenger Soldier for you to kill."
"However, this is also a necessary path for me to evolve into a more perfect individual."
Amagiri Kōsuke and the two others looked at Pride's innocent face, their expressions hardening. They all simultaneously unleashed their abilities at him.
"Swish!"
A black circular barrier suddenly appeared in front of Pride, blocking the incoming fist. But Kristie's purple threads wrapped around Pride's body, circling him completely, forming a cocoon.
"Tat-tat-tat..."
The moment they made their move, the guards behind Pride pulled their triggers.
"Watch out!"
At the critical moment, Papa, who had already awakened, stood in front of Amagiri Kōsuke and Kristie. A large number of bullets shot at him, blocked by the thick Ki, falling to the ground with a "clink, clink, clank."
"You guys, hurry and go!"
Papa blocked in front of the three, strenuously gathering the Ki within his body, resisting the incessant rifle bullets.
"Kōsuke, hurry and go!"
Kristie continuously shot out a large amount of threads, wrapping them around the purple cocoon where Pride was, attempting to seal him inside.
"Bang!"
In the guard squad, someone was hit on the head by a suddenly appearing fist. He swayed dizzily twice and fell to the ground.
"We'll stop them here!"
Akutagawa Heiri hid behind Papa, also activating his ability to strike down the shooting guards one by one.
"Are you guys crazy!?"
Amagiri Kōsuke cautiously guarded against Pride, who was wrapped in a large amount of purple threads within the cocoon. His sixth sense was frantically warning him to stay away from that eerie child.
"Kōsuke, if you don't leave now, it will be too late!"
Akutagawa Heiri and Kristie simultaneously looked at him and said in a deep voice.
"You should understand what we mean."
Amagiri Kōsuke's pupils contracted. He fell silent.
His hand gripped the katana tightly, his fingernails digging into his flesh. He remembered a few months ago, when Austin had single-handedly covered their retreat for him.
"I understand..."
Amagiri Kōsuke said in a deep voice, taking a long look at Kristie, Akutagawa Heiri, and Papa, his three companions. He silently retreated rapidly.
"Swish!"
Just as Amagiri Kōsuke was about to escape, several black spikes rose from beneath their feet.
"Thud, thud, thud..."
They instantly pierced through Kristie, Papa, and Akutagawa Heiri's bodies, hoisting them into the air.
"Thud..."
Amagiri Kōsuke, who had just taken a step, trembled all over.
"Hiss, hiss..."
Amagiri Kōsuke looked in Pride's direction. The purple threads wrapped around him gradually turned into specks of light and dissipated in the air, revealing an unharmed Pride.
Amagiri Kōsuke's face hardened, and he fled wildly towards the outside.
"Rustle, rustle, rustle..."
In the pitch-black night, the sound of footsteps treading on the grass echoed in his ears. Amagiri Kōsuke dared not look back, running straight ahead with his head down.
"Bang!"
Suddenly, a heavy thud echoed in his ears.
He instinctively looked up and saw ten fully armed personnel standing five or six meters in front of him.
"Tap... tap..."
A crisp sound of footsteps echoed from behind him. Amagiri Kōsuke suddenly looked back.
Pride, holding the book in his hands, walked step by step towards Amagiri Kōsuke, a childlike, adorable smile on his tender face.
"You don't actually think you can escape from my hands, do you?"
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