Shrouded Seascape

Charles pushed aside Planck, who tried to support him. He felt slightly better now and wiped away the saliva from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. Staring at Alice on the ground, he asked again, "All those special abilities you have displayed are related to the relics embedded in you, right? How many relics did the Foundation implant in you?"

"You mean projects? Quite a few," Alice said with a sheepish smile. "But it's been so long, I can't remember quite clearly."

Realizing that he wouldn't be able to get any more information out of Alice, Charles pondered for a few seconds before issuing his next order.

"Let's get out of this wretched place. Take her with us. Maybe Anna can pry something useful from her. After Anna's done, we can then dismantle her and extract all the relics from her body."

The crew of the Narwhale answered with an affirmative before dragging Alice's battered form back the way they came.

Meanwhile, Charles scanned the spacious workshop with a grave expression. Though they hadn't found any lead on recovering the darkness, they had accidentally stumbled upon the Foundation's secrets.

However, that hadn't been his objective, especially at the cost of an eye. Moreover, he now felt like he was suffering from high myopia of ?10.00, where he could only make out vague shapes.

The sound of messy footsteps echoed continuously in the workshop, but suddenly, Alice's voice halted them all in place.

"You can't leave. No one can get out of here."

The next moment, a snap sound cut through the air. The workshop lights blazed brightly, and a gentle voice spoke from the ceiling, "Containment Breach Level One: Mobile Task Force—the Black Beaver. Awaken."

"Damn it! Run! It's a trap!" Charles barked, and everyone hastened their steps. In such dire circumstances, only a fool wouldn't realize the gravity of their predicament. The Foundation had set up contingency plans to prevent any mishaps.

The group sprinted out of the workshop with the incinerator and dashed toward the narrow crack at the entrance.

The constant flashing and blaring of the red warning lights around the building made everyone's skin crawl as the extremely tense atmosphere weighed down on them.

Click!

Leading the group at the forefront, Charles felt that he had stepped on something. The next moment, a violent explosion erupted from beneath him, sending a massive shockwave that catapulted him into the air.

"Land mines! Careful of ambushes!" Charles' warning was drowned out by a barrage of gunfire.

The gunfire came from a nearby workshop behind them. Having been blasted into mid-air, Charles caught a glimpse of their assailants.

They were dressed in black tactical gear, but the details appeared blurry to Charles. However, he managed to discern the four red lenses on the goggles on their head.

Armed with submachine guns, the task force rained down bullets at the crew.

One after another, the Narwhale crew was struck, but they managed to react swiftly. They started dodging and returning fire, instantly escalating the situation into a chaotic battle.

Charles took a brief glance at his mangled right leg before extending the translucent tentacles from his back. Pushing himself off the ground with the tentacles, he lunged at the task force.

Bullets hit him repeatedly, but his speed remained unchanged; ordinary bullets were useless against him.

"Target is approaching Team A. Status: Levitating. Conventional weapons: Ineffective. Initial analysis: Abnormal project. Initiate Plan E."

In response, the mobile task force members in front of Charles swiftly pulled cylindrical grenades from their belts. A dozen of those grenades were hurled toward Charles.

Before Charles could evade, the grenades exploded, and a thick, choking white smoke filled the area. They were smoke grenades, not explosives.

Cough! Cough!

Charles coughed violently. The smoke was laced with other substances.

Charles' body swiftly morphed into a giant bat spanning over five meters. Flapping his wings relentlessly, he dispersed the smoke and sent the giant net hidden within it flying as well.

It seemed that the Black Beavers had planned to capture Charles using the net with the smoke as their cover.

"This ends here!" Charles bellowed and parted his monstrous maw. A piercing sonic blast reverberated around him, causing the Black Beavers to clutch their ears in agony.

Soon, they collapsed on the ground, as blood oozed from their ears. Even those few who remained standing could barely hold onto their weapons.

Charles swiftly disposed of the nearby Black Beavers, one after another. Soon, only one was left. He sank his fangs into the vein of the last standing task force member and fed on the latter's blood hungrily.

Just then, a loud snap echoed as his head was jolted back.

A gruesome hole appeared in his temple.

There was a sniper in hiding!

Instantly, Charles vanished as he slipped into stealth mode. A couple of seconds later, he found the sniper crouching atop the workshop and twisted the latter's neck off.

The distant gunfire gradually ceased; it seemed like his crew members were nearly done with the battle.

However, as Charles leaped off the rooftop to regroup with his crew, he noticed something. The bodies of the Black Beavers were slowly turning translucent and vanishing into thin air. Even their gear and weapons were not spared.

Something's amiss... these guys aren't ordinary mobile task forces. We have to get out of here quickly! Charles then spread his wings and swiftly flew toward his crew.

"Move out quick! There's something off about the strength of these task force members. Since they are Alice's backup, they shouldn't be this ea—"

A gunshot rang out and cut off Charles' sentence. In mid-air, Charles jerked as a bullet pierced through his mouth, shredding his vocal cords in its path.

"Mission complete. Target's AOE sonic attack has been neutralized. Stay alert. It can turn invisible. Ready the fluorescent bombs!"

Charles turned toward the source of the bullet and saw that the supposedly dead sniper had reappeared atop another building. He was in a crouching position with the gun aimed at Charles.

At the same time, he also noticed the previously dead Black Beavers materializing in the pathways between the workshops. Armed with their weapons, they were trying to encircle them.

Clearly, the Foundation had employed some method to make these mobile task forces seemingly immortal. If Charles and his crew were to prolong the fight, they would just end up meeting their creator here.

Charles quickly folded his wings and landed among his crew. Gesturing with flag semaphore, he commanded everyone to head for the distant crack at their fastest speed and escape the building.

Alice had also been tossed aside, and the crew dashed forward. Soon, they encountered the Black Beavers again.

This time, Charles chose not to engage with them directly. He instructed the strongest among the crew to cover their retreat and buy time for the wounded and less combat-capable members to make their exit first.

Being able to turn into a blue mist, Dipp proved invaluable in their current situation. He could eliminate the Black Beavers swiftly while their attacks were ineffective against him. After getting "killed" several times, however, the Black Beavers soon found a solution.

With a spray of an unknown transparent gel, Dipp was pinned to the ground. Had it not been for Audric flying in to rescue Dipp in time, he would have been captured by the Black Beavers.

With a fierce tug, Charles ripped out the spine of the task force member in front of him. Seeing that the rest of the crew in the distance was almost out of reach, he ordered the main battle force to start withdrawing.

The group fought as they retreated.

It seemed like the mobile task force's respawn point was some distance away, and soon, they wouldn't be able to catch up.

Just as Charles and his crew were about to burst out of the crowded workshop, the gentle female voice from before echoed once more. "Containment Breach Level Two: Mobile Task Force—the Collective. Awaken."

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