The US Military was extrely excited about the results of the experint, but they had not yet conducted trials on their own personnel. The reason was simple: they could not determine whether this enhancent had long-term side effects.
For instance, would the enhanced individuals have shortened lifespans? Would it trigger other diseases? After all, evolution has never been smooth sailing.
The vast majority of evolution is harmful, and even the few beneficial ones often co with terrible side effects or lack stability.
"Survival of the fittest, at the cost of countless corpses." Dias murmured softly, a hint of ruthlessness flashing in his eyes.
However, Zhou Qingfeng appeared...
Dias was certain that this kid had obtained all the information on the "X" project through "Apocalypse Creatures" and might even beco the first stable beneficiary of the "X" project.
If this were true, then Zhou Qingfeng’s value would far exceed imagination.
"A stable enhanced individual... cannot be a non-Arican." Dias, accustod to the "Arican exceptionalism" paradigm, could not accept Zhou Qingfeng’s existence.
"We need to use greater force to deal with this kid." Dias glanced at several experintal reports submitted by the US Military. Among them, a few ’overseas’ test subjects perford excellently and were brought back to the United States.
"Is it possible to have these monsters kill each other?"
As Dias’s attention was focused on Zhou Qingfeng, he naturally overlooked so inconspicuous descriptions in the military reports - the X Virus had already escaped from the laboratory.
Because two ’cleaners’ called, "We found Hamr Lee’s hiding spot and unexpectedly discovered another target, Victor."
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Old Hamr’s secluded villa was situated on the edge of a remote forest, surrounded by tall hedges, seemingly isolated from the world.
The nearest neighbor was also several hundred ters away, so quiet that only the rustling of the wind through the treetops could be heard.
Once they confird they would retaliate against Dias, Lucy sprang into action, packing her luggage while directing Zhou Qingfeng to load necessary items into the car.
She was accustod to such ergency evacuations. Before leaving, she activated the villa’s surveillance system, then turned to Zhou Qingfeng, "Are you sure you want to stay?"
"Yes." Zhou Qingfeng’s answer was brief and firm. He dragged a heavy toolbox out of the villa’s basent.
When the box was opened, it revealed several firearms of varying lengths and over a thousand rounds of ammunition, "I want to see who will co later."
Lucy appeared ordinary, but she had an almost instinctive sharpness in tracking and counter-tracking.
Previously, while hiding in that middle-aged father’s house, she had tried to identify who had brought the police to investigate them.
Her thod was simple - when the middle-aged father’s daughter suggested taking a photo, Zhou Qingfeng initially planned to take the girl’s phone and return it when it was safe. But Lucy stopped him.
"Let her send it." Lucy said coldly afterward, "That little girl won’t listen. She’ll eagerly post the photo online for attention.
She needs to learn a lesson, to understand that life can’t be too reckless."
Facts proved Lucy’s judgnt completely correct. While they circled the city in a taxi, the rebellious little girl indeed posted the photo on social dia.
Within less than half an hour, her classmates, crazed with jealousy, reported her to the police.
The police imdiately stord the little girl’s house, dragging her from her bed at gunpoint for interrogation.
Subsequently, the police quickly tracked the cab’s location, effortlessly thanks to the GPS signal transmitter on it.
Upon reaching Hamr’s villa, Lucy specifically asked the cab driver to stay temporarily, which only served to expose them to the police.
After entering the villa, Lucy started a countdown - she knew that the police helicopter would arrive in this area within half an hour at the soonest.
"But the cops won’t be the first to co." Old Hamr sat on the sofa, his tone calm yet tinged with a trace of sarcasm.
He was quite familiar with this kind of situation, "If Dias really wants to get , the first to co will surely be his ’cleaners’."
’Cleaners’ was jargon in the intelligence community, referring to off-book operatives who did the dirty work, akin to "contract workers".
Every senior intelligence analyst had a few "cleaners" under their command, handling clandestine tasks.
Hamr was well aware of this. With a cold chuckle, he said, "Dias wouldn’t have too many ’cleaners’. Killing one or two would be enough to hurt him."
Zhou Qingfeng grabbed an old M700 sniper rifle from the weapons box, weighed it in his hands, then shook his head and chose a short-barreled M4 assault rifle instead.
He laughed self-deprecatingly, "Sniping is an art form, not everyone can pull it off. It’s simpler to use an assault rifle to ’spray and pray’."
He picked up a few magazines and stuffed them into his tactical vest pockets, then waved to Lucy and Hamr, "You guys go, I’ll leave alone later."
Lucy did not object further. She sent away the maid and had the middle-aged driver leave by himself, then helped Hamr towards the garage.
Old Hamr paused at the door, looked back at Zhou Qingfeng, "Victor, don’t be reckless."
"You might not even rember in a few hours." Zhou Qingfeng smiled, standing by the villa window, watching Lucy and Hamr’s car disappear down the forest’s path.
Ti passed minute by minute, the villa so quiet that only the ticking of the clock could be heard.
Zhou Qingfeng did not stay inside the villa, instead crouching near the hedges outside. He held a tablet, monitoring surveillance footage inside and outside the villa.
Only a dozen minutes later, bright headlights illuminated the distance, accompanied by the low purr of car engines.
But the car stopped about a hundred ters away, without advancing, and turned off its headlights and engine.
Though Zhou Qingfeng could not see the people, he quickly picked up the M4, checked the magazine, released the safety, and silently moved his position slightly.
A few minutes later, a faint buzzing sound could be heard in the air, which would have been masked by ambient noise if it hadn’t been so quiet.
"They’ve deployed drones. It really is ’cleaners’ coming."
Infrared has strong penetrative abilities, even if hiding in the forest would be highly visible. Cover was needed to avoid detection.
Zhou Qingfeng dared not move recklessly anymore. He chose to stay in the small shed near the villa, waiting quietly for his opponents to approach.
-----------------
At the end of the road, three black SUVs approached slowly, their tires crunching lightly over the gravel path.
The cars stopped about a hundred ters from the villa, the doors opening almost simultaneously, and six casually dressed "cleaners" quickly exited.
Among them was Zhou Qingfeng’s "old acquaintance" - Lux, the forr CIA operative who earned a salary of $300,000 per year.
This guy wore a thick bulletproof vest, holding an assault rifle, and after getting out of the car, didn’t forget to put on a tactical helt.
He flipped the night vision goggles atop his helt down in front of his eyes, adjusted them, and then softly spoke into the radio:
"Everyone, be alert, the target Victor may be in that villa. That kid is tough, don’t underestimate him. Shoot on sight, no need for questions, we don’t need any live captures."
A "cleaner" walked up to Lux, asking quietly, "Who is that kid? Where was he trained?"
"I don’t know." Lux did not reveal Zhou Qingfeng’s actual age - only nineteen, a fact hard for anyone to believe.
He recalled being repeatedly outsmarted by Zhou Qingfeng with paintball guns at the test farm.
The kid always appeared in the most unlikely places, winning in the most unexpected ways.
Lux briefly advised his companions, "Don’t treat Victor like an ordinary target. He’s far more dangerous than you think."
The "cleaner" shrugged, "Got it. We won’t underestimate, even if the target is a rookie."
Lux didn’t argue, simply coldly retorting, "I hope you stay confident later."
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