Chapter 127: Breakthrough

Before the explosion went off, Chang’an had already returned to the room where Lei Li had been imprisoned.  

“Chang’an, get over here!” Lei Yin shouted from the bathroom on the right side of the room.  

Chang’an immediately ran over as instructed.  

Once inside the bathroom, Lei Yin said, “Cover your ears—there’s going to be an explosion.”  

Moments after Chang’an covered his ears, a deafening explosion erupted from outside. The shockwave swept everything in the room outward, even causing the people in the bathroom to feel disoriented and their ears ringing.  

“Follow me!” Lei Yin yelled as soon as the explosion subsided, charging out of the bathroom.  

In the dusty and smoke-filled space, five people crawled through the large opening created by the timed bomb.  

“General, shall we kill them?” asked a scholarly-looking man standing beside the man in the white suit.  

“Kill everyone except for Shen and Lei Li. Capturing either one of them will suffice—I’ll make them my dogs,” the man in the white suit said coldly, a sinister smile on his face.  

“Master, what do we do now?”  

Suddenly hearing Lei Li’s voice, Chang’an turned to see that Lei Li was following right behind him. His face was so swollen that he looked like a pig’s head, clearly slapped awake by Lei Yin’s Giant Spirit Palm.  

“We’re surrounded like wolves in a cage now. The only way out is to fight our way through. That map of the facility is no longer reliable—who knows if they’ve tampered with it. Our best bet is to break through to the main entrance. If we can seize a vehicle, our chances of survival will be much higher,” Lei Yin explained while running.  

He had initially considered pretending to cooperate with the man in the white suit, but after seeing the man’s methods, he knew it would be nearly impossible to deceive someone like that. Worse, if they ended up being drugged by him, it would be a fate worse than death. So, Lei Yin ultimately decided to force their way out.  

“I’m sorry, Master, Chang’an. This is all my fault,” Lei Li said after a moment of silence.  

“What’s the use of saying that now? Don’t worry—once we’re out of here, I’ll make sure to give you a good beating. I’ve already notified the brothers on the ship outside to come and back us up. Whether we live or die now depends on how quickly they can get here.”  

The five of them dashed around the vast space, constantly ambushed by black-clad gunmen who fired at them. The scene became a chaotic battlefield.  

Perhaps due to the drugs’ effects, the black-clad men charged at them recklessly, firing without concern for their own safety. In the rain of bullets, the group’s progress was frequently impeded. Since they didn’t have many grenades, Lei Yin only ordered their use when the enemy fire became too overwhelming. Even so, it wasn’t long before they ran out of grenades. In the end, they had no choice but to set the timers on their remaining bombs faster and use them as makeshift grenades.  

Explosions echoed throughout the base, making it seem on the verge of collapse.  

As they fought their way through, shooting anyone in their path, Lei Li and the other two team members, who had never experienced such an intense battle, were visibly exhilarated. Guns were scattered all over the ground—easy to pick up and use—so running out of ammunition wasn’t a concern.  

Watching the surveillance footage of the group steadily breaking through exit after exit, the man in the white suit grew increasingly agitated.  

“It’s just five people, yet they’ve turned the entire base into this mess. Are all of our men useless?” he said angrily, slamming the table.  

“I apologize, General. I didn’t expect them to be so tenacious. I’ve already ordered all remaining forces to converge at the exit. Once they reach there, they’ll be pinned down by our superior firepower. Then we can encircle and capture them from both the front and the rear,” his young subordinate said respectfully.  

“We have no other choice now. Remember, no matter what, one of the two must be captured alive, preferably both,” the man ordered.

“Understood, General,” the young subordinate replied, saluting before leaving the room.

“Those bastards have destroyed so many of our facilities. I have no idea how I’m going to explain this to the higher-ups. Those old geezers are going to nag endlessly,” the man muttered to himself in frustration.

Facing the sudden increase in firepower, Lei Yin and his group could barely lift their heads.

“Chang’an, when will our reinforcements arrive?” Lei Yin shouted.

“Master, they’ve just landed on shore, but it’ll take them about an hour to get here,” Chang’an replied.

“An hour? By then, they’ll just be here to collect our corpses! Contact them immediately and tell them they must get here within 20 minutes, no matter what. How many bombs do we have left?” Lei Yin asked.

“We’re down to our last timed bomb,” Chang’an answered.

“Set the timer to detonate in five minutes. I’m going to blow open the wall on the left,” Lei Yin ordered.

He knew it wouldn’t be long before the black-clad men circled around behind them. The only option now was to retreat into the base and engage in guerrilla tactics to buy time until reinforcements arrived.

As the remaining teammate was setting the bomb’s timer, Chang’an suddenly shouted, “Master! Lei Li’s been shot!”

Lei Yin turned abruptly and saw Chang’an pressing firmly on Lei Li’s back. Lei Li, facing him, was pale as a sheet.

“I’m fine…” Lei Li started to say, but he suddenly coughed violently, spitting up blood.

Lei Yin rushed over and tore off Lei Li’s shirt, revealing a ghastly bullet wound on his upper right back.

His fingers moved swiftly, pressing several points around the wound before tearing Lei Li’s shirt into strips to bandage it.

“Master, how is Lei Li?” Chang’an asked, his face full of worry.

“It’s bad. The bullet pierced his lung, and blood is flowing back into it. If this continues, he’ll drown in his own blood. It looks like he was hit a while ago but endured the pain to keep up,” Lei Yin said grimly.

“What should we do now?” Chang’an asked. He had watched Lei Li grow up and cared for him as much as Lei Yin did.

“I’ve sealed several key pressure points to temporarily stop the bleeding, but he can’t move. If he does, the blood will flow back into his lungs,” Lei Yin explained.

Chang’an felt his heart sink. If they didn’t leave soon, the enemy would catch up and surround them. But looking at Lei Li’s deathly pale face, he didn’t know what to do.

“Master, Chang’an, don’t worry about me. Go… just go,” Lei Li said, coughing again mid-sentence.

“Stop moving,” Lei Yin commanded.

Chang’an turned to Lei Yin. “Master, I’ll stay here with him. You and No. 12 go. They only want Lei Li and me; they won’t harm us. Once you have an opportunity, come back to rescue us,” he suggested.

Lei Yin didn’t reply immediately. Instead, he told the covert unit member, “Don’t set the bomb yet. Keep it ready. Look for opportunities to keep shooting at them.”

The team member immediately picked up two submachine guns and prepared to fire.

“Chang’an, it seems we underestimated our opponents this time,” Lei Yin said with a sigh.

“Yes, Master,” Chang’an replied, nodding heavily.

Lei Yin continued, “Looking at the scale of this base and its equipment, if they don’t have government backing, I wouldn’t believe it even if you beat me to death. This might even be a biological research lab set up by them.”

Chang’an smiled bitterly. “I’m starting to understand why they want to control Black Dragon. Maybe it’s to secure massive research funding and to have Black Dragon supply them with more test subjects. Just like how they once propped up the New York gang led by Donald King.”

Half a year ago, when those black-clad men launched their first attack on several Black Dragon strongholds, Lei Li and his team couldn’t find any leads. Lei Yin, however, took human tissue samples left behind by the explosions and traveled to several countries that maintained specialized human genetic preservation databases. Using various means, he managed to persuade some insiders to search for a match to the samples in the database.

Because genetic information is highly private, only individuals who had registered as willing donors of specific body tissues, such as bone marrow, would have their blood and genetic data recorded. After extensive screening across genetic databases in those countries, Lei Yin finally found a match: a retired Finnish soldier named Mark.

Mark had submitted a voluntary bone marrow donation application years ago to an organization in Finland specializing in leukemia treatment. During that process, his blood was tested, and his genetic information was archived, eventually leading Lei Yin to him.

With this crucial lead, Lei Yin instructed Chang’an to track down Mark at all costs, as he was one of the black-clad men. After months of investigation, Chang’an discovered that Mark had once worked under Donald King, suggesting that the assassinated Donald King might have been colluding with the black-clad group.

Now it seemed that the man in the white suit was the true mastermind, with Donald King serving merely as a pawn.

“At this point, we have only two ways to survive. One is to surrender. That’s the simplest route,” Lei Yin said, glancing at Lei Li.

“But you’ve seen what happened to No. 18. Surrendering is extremely dangerous. They might do the same to you. A compliant dog is far safer than a bound wolf. So, to spare you the suffering, I’d rather shoot you myself,” Lei Yin said coldly.

Hearing this, Chang’an and Lei Li both looked up at him.

“In fact, there’s another, simpler solution: kill every last one of them,” Lei Yin said, a strange expression suddenly crossing his face.

“Master, what are you planning?” Lei Li asked. He had seen that exact smile on Lei Yin’s face ten years ago, and it stirred a deep sense of unease in him.

“Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you. Chang’an, it seems it’s time to say goodbye again,” Lei Yin said softly.

“Sir, you…” Chang’an started, but then noticed a faint silver glow enveloping Lei Yin.

Lei Yin smiled faintly, and in the next moment, he vanished entirely.

It was as though he had turned into air—Lei Yin disappeared without a trace. Chang’an and Lei Li couldn’t believe their eyes.

Moments later, they heard strange screams from ahead, followed by chaotic gunfire.