Chapter 90 - The Blood Farm
A group of three continued to dive on the dark waters of the Yangtze River.
The trio wore advanced diving suits which offered light and fast movements.
The rivers deep and dark depths held a small secret. Although it wasn't a real secret as this has been proposed to the government, this underwater tunnel didn't lie on the edge of the river. But instead, it extended to the middle.
A large drain which was being covered by metal grids was found lying inconspicuously in the middle of the deep river.
"Why is it here?" Force wondered in curiosity.
"You're surprised?" Alean laughed as she approached the drain.
Force simply frowned. While he would offer his respects to Arthur and Lowengren, Alean was not on the same level to which he should give due respect.
"Then I presume you know?" Force spoke back with a mocking tone.
"Putting this tunnel next to the river would undoubtedly increase the odds of it being found. What if someone spots this location and gets curious? Not to mention that if they placed it near the river banks, others might notice people going in and out. It's fairly obvious." Alean sneered.
Force was silent at Alean's response.
Lander only shook his head. He knew that Arthur was the smartest in terms of pure knowledge and understanding, Lowengren had the greater wisdom but in terms of schemes, blackmail and coning people, this woman from the Underworld was Queen.
"Wait till Lowengren hears of this. I've been respectful towards you and always kept Lowengren in check with his insults. Now I guess I'll have him insult you and belittle every stupid thing you said and presumed. I wonder what your brothers would say when they see you handling the unbridled insults of that brat." Alean spoke coldly.
Sure enough, Lander only nodded his head in expectation.
"Sucks to be you, pal." Lander could only mutter under his breath.
"Dear Big Sister! I was only saying that so you can enlighten me! No need for such unnecessary response! Must the Queen allow the words of flies to arouse her anger? Dear Big Sister, Magnanimous One, Pearl of the Pangean Seas! Forgive this foolish one and forget his audacious accusations!" Force quickly offered praises which he had often heard when he was about to kill his targets.
If the other Assassins saw how Force was buttering up with this woman, they would undoubtedly think that the world was ending.
Force was weeping on the inside. The quick trip they took going to Nanjing was met with the constant barrage and creative insults of Lowengren. Arthur didn't care, Lander was in no position to speak and only this person was bold enough to reprimand him. If she wasn't there to stop Lowengren from constantly insulting the two of them, then who knows how many times One would have committed harakiri to regain his honor?
"Enough. Open the gate. This metal door should be resistant to heat and other underwater cutting equipment's. Arthur believes that you have the strength to break it open correct?" Alean ignored the pleas.
"As you command!" Force immediately dove further and gripped the metal grids.
With a low grunt, he pried open the metal grids and it gave a small hole allowing the group to dive in. As the trio dove into the drain, they realized that the underground tunnel was wider and bigger than what they thought.
"It is as Big Sister theorized." Force nodded in amazement as he dove deeper to observe the strange hole on the beds of this wide and deep river.
"This tunnel could easily fit a submarine. So that means that the drain is only a cover. That lid should be able to open up wider allowing submarines to pass through here." Lander was amazed.
The group soon dove towards the darkness. Though their respective suits gave off no lights, the technology these advanced suits carried could easily see through this darkness.
Soon the trio finally reached a hangar. The hangar was bustling with activity as a submarine had surfaced and was being loaded with various crates and boxes. The submarine was situated in the middle of the large hangar and the hangar itself had several floors with various moving platforms hanging and moving around the room.
"Lander. Go ahead." Alean ordered.
Lander immediately utilized a small booster which gave a powerful burst throwing him out of the water and into the surprised expression of the workers who were loading the next shipment.
A pair of blasters protruded on Lander's suit.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The sudden gunshots alerted the security guards in the area as the workers were fleeing in panic.
"Should I help? He's facing professionals." Force dared not take action immediately. He knew since Alean ordered this, then this little field trip served as an opportunity to gather experience for them.
"That's exactly why it's safe to send Lander. If any of them were less skilled, then Lander could get shot." Alean chuckled.
The guards from the first level all up to the third level immediately scrambled to retrieve their weapons while others who had their weapons started shooting.
Lander had lived through a barrage of rockets, bullets, and beams countless times. But this was the first time he did it without an Exoskeleton. Still, he was more confident now that he ever was before.
"Skilled enemies would shoot within a specific range as they would target their enemies. Either they would predict where their enemies would be or would aim directly for the body. I'm sure you do the same thing and use their skills against them when you evade." Alean smiled.
As the gunshots echoed throughout the large room, Lander utilized his dash at the most precise moments evading the bullets. Lander continued to rush towards his enemies while unleashing his barrage and evading bullets.
Force was secretly amazed at Lander's control and skill.
"Impressed? Or are you scared at our strengths." Alean sneered.
"Formidable. But he won't be able to beat me or any of my colleagues." Force gave his conclusion.
Alean simply laughed and lept from the water to the open area. Force followed.
"Looks like their bringing in the big guns. You're up, Force." Alean announced as she pointed to a room were several Exoskeleton's were moving out.
"Strange. Why would these people have access to a military-grade Exoskeletons?" Force wondered.
"Is that a problem?"
"Not at all. It's just that it seems Larson's company has a few secrets of their own." Force frowned before moving at extreme speeds.
At the evolving progression of the war, the world focused on developing technologies that can defeat others. However, a certain General in China held on to the martial might that he had inherited on his ancestors. Technology and martial arts collaborated creating a powerful Force that brought India to its knees.
A fist smashed directly on the head of an Exoskeleton. This fist wore a special glove that started emitting a strange light that was pulsing every now and then.
The fist pierced through the metal smashing into pieces.
Force utilized a small burst which suddenly appeared on right shoulder and thigh to quickly turn around pulling the hand that pierced through both metal and skull. As he rotated in midair, he kicked the Exoskeleton right beside him
A metal blade protruded from his suit right before his kick reached. Another burst caused Force to spin faster and the Exoskeleton was sliced in half.
Using these burst, Force was jumping from one enemy to another, killing them immediately with one strike. The force of his punches and kicks would either pierce through or slice the enemies.
It wasn't long before these three had already finished killing everyone.
Force had an extremely disgusted expression as he gazed at the inner parts of the factories.
"Human blood. Are they farming human blood?" Lander spoke in disgust.
"It seems that even our organization pales at the abominations that this Larson has," Force spoke as he witnessed the thousands of blood.
"They must be keeping some humans alive in order to continuously farm blood from them." Alean analyzed as she reached the inner parts of the room.
"Regardless, we have to destroy these place. Set up the whiplash bombs." Alean ordered and immediately turned around.
Force had a peculiar stare at Alean.
"We've seen worse in our mission in Pangea and Australia. Compared to the operations happening in those countries, this here is nothing." Alean shrugged noticing Force's expression.
Lander was quiet. A sense of anger and disgust started rising as he realized the implications of such a hidden organization. He knew that Larson was closely associated with various Bringer of Change in Australia. The anger seemed to have seeped deep in his heart as a quiet rage started building.
"Are you doing this?" Lander could not help but ask.
"No. I'm not holding the switch remember?" Alean smiled as she understood the question.
As the ongoing battles occurred underground, life on the complex above was business as usual.
Suddenly, the entire complex started to shake. The shaking started to intensify and soon the people in the building started panicking.
Everyone started rushing out of their offices. Another strong tremor was felt and some who were running were pushing each other on the escalator causing some to fall several stories high.
Soon, a group of armed men escorting some VIP's appeared and rushed for the emergency exits.
"Follow them. They should be rushing upstairs. This building must have been built to withstand earthquakes with that building as its foundation. A helicopter should be waiting upstairs. I trust you have ways to make it look like an accident?" Arthur asked. The trio stood at the center of the complex, next to a large fountain.
The various escalators that crisscrossed in the center allowed the trio to have a good view of the activities happening on each floor level. The three wore strange masks and a similar suit that Alean and her group wore.
One could only sigh and started tailing the group. Instead of using the escalators, One used his superior martial arts to scale the levels.
"Let's go." Arthur and Lowengren then moved quickly as One was no longer in sight.
The pair did not rush upstairs but headed to the lower levels of the building.
The Medical Center of Larson served as a mini-hospital and research facility inside this large complex. The place was chaotic as most of the people were the first to have evacuated.
Arthur and Lowengren soon caught sight of a series of large warning signs were erected everywhere and an air-lock and quarantine chamber that led to another part of the building.
"They're quite deceptive. They made this place openly accessible to all. But who would go to this area with all the chemicals and diseases being treated here." Lowengren laughed.
Arthur shot a light beam on the handles of the door and the pair walked in one room with guns ready and started shooting the scientists inside.
Aside from the scientist that the pair killed, there were humans being kept in pods, while others were being kept in cages.
"It's actually a blood farm. Although we didn't find any secret weapons… Master Meng will be most… interested in this." Lowengren laughed.
"We have to inform Master. We calculated incorrectly. They don't have any special techs. The reason why they've been snooping at our people might be due to their illegal activities. Something must have made them paranoid about us." Arthur gave a grim look.
"What about these people?"
"Let's just kill them. Will use a Scorching bomb to make it look like a gas leak exploded."
"Why do that? If the government found out about this, then we wouldn't have to lift a finger to kill Larson." Lowengren complained.
"No. Because of the Australian Avarice, discovering this place could implicate all of One China. It could even cause another troublesome war and we might have to get involved again."
"Are you afraid, Trigger?" Lowengren laughed.
"I'm not as sadistic as you, Specter." Arthur frowned.
"Let's just gather whatever data we can and blow this-"
The video feed was suddenly cut.
Pridgeon, who was attentively watching the video feeds immediately turned to Larson.
"The bombs must have destroyed the power plant that was powering up the entire complex." Larson gulped a mouthful of saliva.
"It seems that I have to personally take action for this.." Pridgeon frowned.