Veronica rushed to the entrance of the third underground level, where she met a group of rebels.
"Who are you?" Hak looked warily at the stranger in black robes who had appeared before him. "Is that the dress Gulina gave you?"
"Yes, I'm Amir's friend." Veronica did not remove her hood. If she wanted to continue living on Coruscant, she had to avoid revealing her identity.
"Amir! Is he here too?" Hak and the others had just decided to break through the defenses by force. Hearing this news made them a little excited.
"He stopped an Imperial Inquisitor and told me to come help you first," Veronica said.
"Reinforcements have finally arrived. We have to attack immediately," Hack muttered to himself.
"Attack? Just charge straight to the next level?"
Hak listened to the girl in black robes in front of him and detected a hint of excitement in her voice, though he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination.
"Get out of the way. Let me try my new weapon first." Veronica looked at the passageway in front of the barrier. Imperial stormtroopers had already set up a tight defense line at the end of it.
Veronica peered out from behind the obstacle, extending her mechanized left arm. Suddenly, the gun barrel on her side erupted with a burst of flame accompanied by a sound different from that of a blaster. The large-caliber bullet, filled with concentrated gunpowder, streaked straight toward the end of the passageway.
"BONG!"
A deafening explosion rang out in the stormtroopers' ears.
Veronica's lips curled into an uncontrollable smile. She recalled what Amir had said when he helped her install the cannon barrel. "That blaster gun that just goes 'biubiubiu' is just for fun. This is art!"
She felt like she finally understood the meaning of "art."
Hak and the others saw the massive gap in front of them and charged forward without pausing to react.
The stormtroopers hit by the blast were knocked to the ground. Others, swept by the heat wave, clutched their heads, still dazed from the explosion.
The elite rebels used precise gunfire to eliminate the stormtroopers hiding behind cover, gradually breaking through the defensive line.
"Call Jeda! Have our ships start heading this way!" Hark shouted.
The group quickly charged to the third floor. Some continued to eliminate the remaining stormtroopers while the researchers among them were cornered and controlled.
Hak led a few others to open the cells where the children were being held.
"Don't be afraid. We're here to save you!" Seeing the weakened children before him, Hack's anger wouldn't subside. He knelt down and tried to comfort them.
Perhaps because of his inherently kind and passionate nature, the children quickly trusted him. He gently held the arm of a boy in front of him that was covered in tiny needle marks.
At that moment, a cabinet in the detention room opened, and a man in a white lab coat emerged.
"Stay where you are!" The rebel soldier wearing glasses who had entered with Hack reacted swiftly, pointing his gun at the researcher.
"I surrender! Don't shoot me!" The researcher raised his hands, hid his head behind his arms, and crawled out, crouching slightly.
"Just shoot him!" the man in glasses said. "These scum deserve to die!"
"No! No, ah!" The researcher was so scared that tears came to his eyes. He knelt on the ground and begged for mercy: "I can save these children! Give me a chance! You put down your gun first!"
Hak frowned when he heard this and said, "Finish what you were saying!"
"They've all just been implanted with different types of biological cells. No, it wasn't me. I was just following orders." The researcher slowly lowered his hands but kept his head down. "If we follow the normal experimental procedure..."
"You dare mention the experiment?" Hack, this guy is worthless. Let me kill him!"
"Calm down, Thomas. Let him finish." Hak had already realized that something was wrong. Gulina and her brother had been rescued early, so they hadn't undergone the experiment and were fine. But these children had been used as test subjects!
A bad feeling washed over him.
"According to normal procedure, if immune rejection doesn't kick in, there's still a 50% chance of survival."
" The researcher raised his head, a glint of fear flashing in his eyes. He didn't look at anyone, though, only staring at the empty space in front of him as if lost in thought. "If you interrupt the experiment, then there's only a five percent chance of survival. Their own rejection response will attack every cell they come into contact with indiscriminately. They'll start with a fever, then their bodies will swell up..."
Hak's eyes grew icy cold, as if they could freeze water.
"You have other ways to save them, right?" Hack picked up his blaster, stood in front of the researcher, and pointed the black muzzle directly at his forehead.
"Ah, ah, ah!" The researcher raised both arms to shield his head and screamed in panic. "Completing the experiment is the best way! I can help! Please spare my life!"
Several younger children began to sob while the older ones hugged them, but this did not ease their fear.
"Are you going to believe these scum's words, Hak?" Thomas shouted, suppressing his emotions.
It was the first time Hak felt this way—his mind seemed suspended in midair, surrounded by the cries of his enemies, the sobs of the children, the blast of the cold rifle, and his comrade's accusation.
He knew there wasn't much time left—not enough time to stand there in a daze!
. . .
The Fifth Brother quickly recovered from the electric shock of the spider robot and swung his lightsaber at Amir with even greater speed. This stopped Amir from advancing to attack the Seventh Sister.
Amir felt overwhelmed. The Imperial Judge was stronger and faster than he was, and he had to execute every block with the utmost caution.
Add to that their rigorously trained sword techniques, and if it weren't for Amir's astonishing reaction speed and constant dodging, he would have been split in two long ago.
After suddenly jumping back to avoid the Fifth Brother's attack, Amir gripped the lightsaber with both hands and breathed heavily. His heart pounded like a drum, racing wildly.
"Ah!" The Seventh Sister picked up her lightsaber with her left hand and charged toward Amir angrily. The lightsaber severed her prosthetic arm and sliced through her remaining limb; the pain nearly caused her to lose her mind.
"The Fifth Brother is much stronger than the Seventh Sister," Amir said, raising his lightsaber to block her attack. Her left hand was significantly weaker than her right.
"We must stop these two. If the rebel army is flanked by two people who can use the Dark Side, we'll be annihilated."
"But if we charge head-on, they won't last against more than a dozen gunfire lines. We just need to hold on until they finish and come help me..."
"Zenn! Zeng!" Amir swung his lightsaber horizontally, intercepting both of theirs simultaneously. The impact was too much for his body to withstand, and he was knocked backward, his lightsaber slipping from his hands.
After rolling twice to steady himself, Amir looked at the two people in front of him and silently held out his hands.
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