Chapter 46: Bloodbath at Falcon

Outside Camden, New Jersey.

The abandoned industrial area looked especially bleak in the winter afternoon light.

Falcon Tech secret base, main entrance.

"Bang!"

Leo kicked the heavy iron door open, hands in his pockets, a cigar in his mouth, and swaggered right in.

Sunlight streamed in behind him, stretching his shadow long across the floor.

"Who's there?"

Two armed guards at the entrance immediately raised their guns. "Stop! This is a restricted area!"

"Bang! Bang!"

Two shots answered them.

Both guards were hit in the forehead and dropped to the ground.

Leo put away his pistol and kept walking.

"Woo..."

A piercing alarm instantly echoed through the entire base.

"Intruder! We have an intruder!"

"Everyone, prepare for combat!"

"Move! Lock down all entrances and exits!"

The base erupted into chaos.

Dozens of fully armed security personnel poured out from every corner, carrying assault rifles, surrounding the main entrance.

"Just one person?"

The security captain looked at the surveillance feed, frowning. "Is he crazy?"

"Captain, should we activate the heavy weapons system?"

"No need."

The security captain sneered. "It's one guy. We don't need that much firepower. Capture him alive! I want him to know what happens when you break into Falcon Tech!"

"Yes, sir!"

Base main corridor.

Leo walked at an unhurried pace, his footsteps echoing in the empty hallway.

Ahead, a mass of security personnel had taken position, at least forty or fifty people, all guns pointed straight at him.

"Stop! Hands up!"

The security captain shouted through a megaphone. "You're surrounded! Drop your weapon and surrender immediately!"

Leo stopped, looked at the dense line of gun barrels ahead, and a mocking smile curved his lips.

"That's it?"

He exhaled a puff of smoke, casually dropped the cigar to the floor, and crushed it under his toe.

"Well then, let me see what Falcon Tech is really made of."

As soon as the words left his mouth.

Leo moved, vanishing from where he stood like a ghost.

"What?"

The security captain's eyes widened in disbelief.

The next second.

"Bang!"

One security guard went flying from Leo's punch, slamming into the wall with such force that cracks spidered across it.

"Fire! Open fire!"

The security captain screamed.

"Rat-tat-tat-tat..."

Gunfire erupted, muzzle flashes strobing down the corridor.

However.

Leo's speed was unreal, tearing through them like a wolf in a flock.

One strike took down three people.

A backhanded elbow caved in someone's ribs.

He snatched an assault rifle and swept it around.

"Rat-tat-tat..."

Another seven or eight people dropped.

In less than a minute.

All forty or fifty armed guards lay sprawled across the corridor in blood.

The security captain turned to run in terror.

"Stop."

Leo's voice came from behind him, cold as ice.

The security captain froze, his legs giving out, and he collapsed to the floor.

"Who... who are you..."

"Leo Ashford."

Leo walked up to him, looking down. "I'm going to ask you a question. Answer honestly, and I'll make your death quick."

"You... ask..."

"Where's the core laboratory?"

"It's... on the third basement level..." the security captain answered, trembling.

"Good."

Leo raised his hand, aiming at his forehead.

"Bang!"

A single shot.

Leo put away his pistol and was about to head to the third basement level.

Just then.

"Beep beep beep..."

All the screens in the surveillance room suddenly went black, then lit up again at the same time.

On the screens was Olivia's face.

She flashed an OK sign at the camera.

A smile curved Leo's lips.

The surveillance system had been hacked.

Olivia had succeeded.

Meanwhile.

Third basement level, core laboratory.

A middle-aged man in a white lab coat and gold-rimmed glasses was frantically typing at a computer.

His name was Dean Parker, Falcon Tech's technical director and the person in charge of this secret base.

"Damn it! Damn!"

Dean's forehead was slick with cold sweat. "The network's been cut, the surveillance system's been hacked! Who the hell are they?"

"Dr. Parker! The intruder has broken in!" a researcher shouted in panic.

"Activate the self-destruct sequence!"

Dean jumped to his feet, a flash of madness in his eyes. "Right now! Immediately! Destroy all data!"

"But... there are so many people still here..."

"I don't care about that!"

Dean gritted his teeth and entered a string of passwords on the computer.

"Beep... beep... beep..."

A piercing alarm sounded.

[Warning! Self-destruct sequence activated! Countdown: 10 minutes!]

[All personnel must evacuate immediately!]

However.

Just as Dean was preparing to escape.

"Click."

The laboratory door was suddenly locked from the outside.

"What?"

Dean frantically pounded on the door. "Open up! Open the door!"

Outside the door, Olivia coldly watched the surveillance feed.

"Want to run? Too late."

She walked to the control room next to the laboratory and sat at the main console.

Her slender fingers flew over the keyboard, lines of code flashing across the screen.

"Countdown: 8 minutes!"

"Countdown: 7 minutes!"

"Countdown: 6 minutes!"

When the countdown reached six minutes.

"Hack successful!"

Olivia hit Enter.

"Beep!"

[Self-destruct sequence terminated!]

The red warning lights went out.

Olivia let out a long breath and slumped in her chair.

"Whew... that was close..."

Dean saw the alarm stop and instantly collapsed to the floor.

"It's over... it's all over..."

"Dr. Parker?"

Leo walked in, stepping over scattered documents and broken equipment.

"Who... who are you..."

Dean looked in terror at this young man radiating killing intent.

"Leo."

Leo walked up to him, grabbed his collar, and lifted him up.

"Two years ago, the new energy technology your Falcon Tech stole from Luke, where is it now?"

"I... I don't know what you're talking about..."

"Don't know?"

Leo sneered and punched Dean in the stomach.

"Ugh..."

Dean's eyes bulged as he spat out bile.

"I'll ask one more time." Leo's voice was emotionless. "Luke's new energy technology, where is it?"

"It's... over there..."

Dean trembled as he pointed toward a server deep in the laboratory.

"That's the controlled nuclear fusion technology..."

"Controlled nuclear fusion?"

Leo's brow furrowed slightly.

No wonder the Drake family would stop at nothing to steal this technology.

Controlled nuclear fusion was humanity's ultimate dream in the energy field.

Once commercialized, it would completely change the world's energy landscape.

Oil, coal, natural gas... all traditional energy industries would be overturned.

This wasn't a business worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

This was a key that could change the world.

"Luke's research back then had reached the critical point for controlled nuclear fusion..."

Dean said weakly. "With enough funding and time, it could have been commercialized..."

"But the Drake family stole the technology without the funds to continue research... so they converted the technology into military weapons..."

"Military weapons?"

A cold glint flashed in Leo's eyes.

"That's right..." Dean laughed bitterly. "They wanted to turn controlled nuclear fusion technology into a new generation of tactical nuclear weapons... If successful, the entire world's military landscape would be rewritten..."

Leo was silent for a few seconds.

Then he released his grip, and Dean collapsed to the floor.

"Olivia."

"Yes!"

Olivia emerged from the control room.

"Copy all the data, then destroy the server."

"Yes, sir!"

"No... don't..."

Dean struggled to stop them, but Leo stepped on his chest.

"Do you know the value of this technology? This is humanity's future!"

"Future?"

Leo bent down, his eyes full of cold killing intent.

"Luke wanted to use this technology to build a clean energy empire and benefit humanity."

"But you and the Drake family wanted to turn it into a weapon for killing."

"You... don't deserve to have this technology."

"You... you can't kill me..."

Dean looked at Leo in terror. "I'm Falcon Tech's chief scientist... I hold all the core technology... Only I can interpret that data..."

"Is that so?"

Leo pulled out his pistol and aimed it at Dean's forehead.

"That's too bad. I'm not interested in that data."

"I came here for only one purpose."

"To get justice for Luke."

"Bang!"

Gunshot.

Dean's eyes widened, his body stiffened, and he slowly fell into a pool of blood.

Leo put away his pistol and turned toward the door.

"Boss, all data has been copied."

Olivia handed Leo an encrypted hard drive.

"Good."

Leo took the hard drive and glanced at the mountains of research materials in the laboratory.

"Blow this place up."

"Yes, sir!"

Ten minutes later.

"Boom!"

The Falcon Tech secret base turned into a sea of flames with an earth-shattering explosion.

Thick smoke shot into the sky, the firelight painting half the sky red.

In the distant woods.

Leo stood by the SUV, watching the burning base in the distance, lighting a cigar.

"Luke, I got your technology back."

He took a deep drag and exhaled a cloud of smoke.

"Those people who wanted to use your dream to kill, they've all paid the price."

"Next..."

Leo turned and got into the car.

"It's the Drake family's turn."