The copy has 0 error tolerance, and the last words on the ground are all wrong for me.

Chapter 574 Honkai Weapons and Wailing

Upon hearing the news from Xuan Yu, Mason immediately perked up. He had just been worrying about Eugene's situation, but unexpectedly, there had been progress so quickly. He asked:

Where did you discover the laboratory?

Using the standard combat equipment of the Democratic Rights Party, Xianyu projected a map of Jacques into the air, pointed to the area marked in red on the map, and honestly answered:
"In the western district, near the northern district."

Mason looked at the map. According to the intelligence gathered by the state guard and other mercenaries, after the appearance of the Light of Collapse, Professor Eugene's main area of ​​activity was in the western district of Jacques City.

He manipulated the map, and the place he discovered in the secret laboratory was quite a distance from the area where Eugene had appeared, but it was relatively close to the place he had speculated Eugene might be in.

While admiring the accuracy of his deduction, he also sensed something was amiss. Was everything really going so smoothly?
He had only intended to find Eugene's whereabouts, but he ended up digging up the entire secret laboratory that Eugene had set up. The harvest was far greater than he had imagined, which made him somewhat uneasy.

Could there be some fraud?
"I need to know the details of what exactly happened."

Stringy took out the combat recorder and played back their operation, while providing narration based on the footage.

"The secret laboratory is very well hidden. We didn't actually notice it when we first passed through this area."

"But as the patrol gradually approached the North District, we discovered seven or eight suspicious figures moving around near the Sky Tower in the North District, seemingly scouting the situation."

“The flesh monsters come out in groups at night, and ordinary people don’t go out at that time. We suspected their identities, so we followed them.”

String Whisper's combat recorder captured the entire process of their tracking. Seven or eight cyborgs, trained in action but dressed in ordinary civilian clothes, moved around the vicinity of the North District Sky Tower, recording something.

Upon seeing this group of people, Mason's expression changed.

Whether it's moving equipment or maintaining the entire laboratory's operation, Eugene alone is definitely not enough.

According to his intelligence, Eugene was suspected of associating with some patients with bio-resolving disorder, and it seemed that those patients were also present on the day of the Collapse Light.

The target in the video perfectly matched Eugene's accomplice's profile. He paused the video at a certain frame and, by comparing the profile, found the person in the patient database.

Although these people did not have standard combat equipment, their firepower was not weak and their combat effectiveness was very strong. Their reconnaissance of the North District should mean that Eugene was not satisfied with his self-made laboratory and wanted to attack the main tower of the Sky Tower in the North District.

After figuring out the reasons, Mason became more convinced of the scene in the video.

Xianyu didn't speak, but simply played a video. The actors in the video were all directly recruited from the self-rescue team, so it was impossible to detect any flaws.

"After finishing their reconnaissance, these people retreated along the same route and returned to the West District."

“We followed them and discovered that they entered the target location through a secret door. We had previously checked this area and found nothing unusual. Such a well-hidden setup clearly indicates a big fish.”

"So we launched a full-scale attack."

Upon hearing this, Mason nearly choked on his own saliva and coughed.

"How dare you launch a direct assault! What if Professor Eugene is inside and you accidentally injure or even kill him? What if there's a laboratory down there and you damage the equipment?!"

Stringy paused for a moment, then said:

"We were only thinking that the other party was unusual, so we just grabbed them first and didn't think much else."

Mason was rendered speechless by what he was being said. He inwardly complained that these "tools" were indeed brainless and untrustworthy, but aloud he said:

"and then."

The video continues playing, and a surprise attack ensues.

Mason watched the video and found that although these mercenaries were not very bright, their combat power was undeniable. There were at least twenty modified humans in the stronghold, but they were being overwhelmed by seven or eight mercenaries.

In less than ten minutes, they stormed into the stronghold, and the situation quickly turned one-sided, with all the modified humans inside being killed.

"Wait!" Mason called out, stopping the video. He asked:

"Weren't you trying to arrest someone?"

Xianyu said confidently:

"When we carry out a commission, we will not stop until the other party stops resisting."

Mason sighed. Oh well, Eugene wasn't in the video anyway, and they didn't damage any equipment. Let's just kill those useless junk.

The next part of the video showed him the interior of the secret laboratory.

Although the laboratory is small, it has all the necessary functions, and the layout of some areas clearly shows that it was designed by Professor Eugene.

The way the laboratory was designed is something that outsiders can't imitate.

In the video, Xuan Yu opens the experimental log and quickly scans it. Mason pauses the video and discovers that the experiment currently running is the part that is troubling him now.

However, the video only briefly glanced at the experimental log before quickly switching to another section, which made Mason anxious. He urgently said:
"and then?"

Strings said:

"Then I came back to report to you."

Mason: "I meant the experimental data later on!"

Strings said:

"The experimental data is still there. We've taken over the entire lab. There's nothing to worry about..."

As soon as Xianyu finished speaking, Jason's voice came through the communication device.

"Damn it, those guys are shady. They were spotted by the Conservatives while they were scouting the area, and a large number of Conservatives are approaching. We're no match for them, so we're preparing to evacuate."

With the communication device on speakerphone, Jason's loud voice echoed throughout the room.

Stringy smiled awkwardly, but before he could say anything to make amends, Mason snatched the communicator and shouted:

"Don't evacuate! I'm taking men to support you right now! Guard the lab well. Even if I die, I want to see your bodies huddled on the equipment!"

"As long as you can defend the lab, you can name any amount of money you want. If you can't, believe me, you'll regret not dying in the battle to protect the lab!"

After yelling, Mason threw the communication device back at Xianyu, strode out of the lab, and ordered his men:
"The elite guard unit is hereby notified to bring its strongest firepower and be deployed in full force."

Then he turned to Xianyu and said:

"You'll be in charge of leading the way."

Looking at the spirited Mason, Xuan Yu couldn't help but scratch his head. He hadn't even used his ability yet, so how did Mason get so carried away?

The elite guard team consisted of a large number of modified individuals under Mason's command. In addition to bringing them all, Mason also brought nearly a thousand guard team members and even deployed several armored vehicles, marching in a grand procession towards the secret laboratory.

This armed force, if placed anywhere in the Federation, would be enough to start a small-scale war, demonstrating Mason's determination to obtain the secret laboratory.

The guards marched at full speed, rampaging through everything in their path. When they encountered any mindless monsters blocking their way, they simply crushed them with heavy firepower.

The sounds of battle were so loud that they could be heard throughout almost the entire city of Jacques. Attracted by the noise, the players followed Mason's troops from a distance, wanting to see what these people were up to.

Urged on by Mason, they quickly arrived at the secret laboratory. The fighting in the laboratory had not yet stopped, and the Conservatives had not stormed into the laboratory, which relieved Mason.

It can be seen that in order to seize the results here, the Conservative Party of the North District has come out in full force, with more than 100 modders and hundreds of ordinary soldiers surrounding the laboratory, including more than 30 players.

Jason and his group of fewer than twenty people were stationed in the laboratory, a far cry from the strength of the Conservative Party.

The reason they were able to persist was that the Conservative Party wasn't so aggressive; they were worried about damaging the equipment and thus their attacks were very restrained.

With Mason arriving with a large force, the offensive was immediately reversed. Following his orders, his elite guards charged towards the Conservatives, and a chaotic battle ensued.

The Conservatives realized they were outmatched, but they were unwilling to give up such a good opportunity. The Conservative players noticed Mason's presence and wanted to turn the tide with a decapitation strike.

They organized a group of people to approach Mason, but Mason was prepared. He had dozens of skilled modders protecting him, as well as four or five players. They fought with the players who came to behead him, and the battle spread from the laboratory all the way to the Civil Rights Party camp.

Just as battles broke out and the situation became chaotic, Wu Changzhenwo, using the Heavenly Gang Escape Technique, strolled leisurely toward Mason.

Although it is currently the realm of reason, in front of players of Jason's caliber, as long as they do not encounter players with perception-type root power, the Heavenly Gang Escape Technique, which is close to the root level, still cannot be detected.

He carried a special military dagger as he approached Mason.

No one noticed his arrival until the two were less than five meters apart.

Just as he was about to plunge the dagger into Mason's throat, a slight shiver ran down his neck, and a scene flashed before his eyes. He saw himself appear and stab Mason with the dagger, when Mason's body suddenly became a blur, teleporting fifty meters away. At the same time, a red laser beam as thick as a fist shot towards him from hundreds of meters away.

The laser attacks without warning, without any aura or killing intent, and at extremely high speed.

The moment he sensed the laser, it was already in front of him, leaving him no time to even use spatial teleportation to dodge.

He realized instantly that he had triggered the special effect of the Wuxiang-style mutation: the Rift of Time.

"Your abilities have been altered by an external force. During battle, you have a chance to see a time gap. Through the time gap, you can observe the opponent's actions 0.5 to 2 seconds later."

There is a very skilled player who has been secretly protecting Mason and has bound himself to Mason through some kind of skill.

Whenever Mason is injured, the Protector can move Mason to a safe location and launch the strongest attack at 0 frames.

The laser beam had reached the domain level, radiating destructive power. As it shot towards him, it collided with the aftershocks of the abilities of three players. Those energies crumbled instantly upon contact with the laser, unable to withstand it in the slightest.

The laser seemed to have some kind of restraining effect on energy, and his intuition told him that even his permanent shield could not block the laser.

Thanks to his Titan title and his powerful life force, this laser beam wouldn't cause him much damage.

However, the laser has extremely strong penetrating power; even with the title of Titan, it was enough to make a hole in him.

The laser wasn't fatal to him, but he didn't want to be hit by it.

Whether his injuries are serious or not is secondary; he is the Peacemaker, the one who just single-handedly challenged the Evolutionists on Blue Star and forcibly brokered peace talks between the two factions of the four major organizations.

If he gets attacked and injured by some unknown nobody, where will he put his pride?

Gods cannot shed blood. Although he is not a god yet, he is more mysterious than a god in the eyes of the players of the Realm of Reason.

Whether it's the four major organizations, the Believers' Circle, the Light Society, or even the guys from the Void Realm, countless eyes are on him.

If he were to get injured, a barrage of tests and troubles would follow. While he wasn't afraid of such challenges, he didn't want to waste time on them.

Fortunately, everything happened in the blink of an eye. The scene shown by the Gap in Time ended just as he revealed his killing intent, without even raising his dagger.

Judging by the time, he should have foreseen the battle that would take place two seconds later.

Two seconds is enough time for him to come up with a solution.

Having already seen the future, he did not change his approach. He still appeared openly in front of Mason and brandished a dagger, aiming for Mason's throat.

Just as he had seen in the gap of time, Mason was taken aback by his appearance, but the next moment, Mason's body turned into a blur and suddenly appeared in a safe space fifty meters away.

Even the teleportation landing point was exactly the same as that shown in the Time Rift.

As Mason fled, a red laser beam shot out from a high-rise building several hundred meters away, heading straight for Wu Chang.

The power contained within the laser was terrifying. The moment it appeared, it instantly became the focus of attention. Players and modifiers alike couldn't help but stop their battles and look at the laser.

The laser flashed by, striking Peace, who was about to draw his sword. Everyone held their breath, eager to see how the legendary Peace would respond to this attack.

Unexpectedly, the moment He Ping was hit by the laser, his entire body shattered.

Before anyone could be surprised, the shattered peace actually began to coalesce again around Mason.

When he reappeared, Peace held an enormous golden greatsword. Instead of continuing his pursuit of Mason, he threw the greatsword as if it were a throwing knife, heading straight for the direction from which the laser beam had come.

Wu Chang had already detected the sneak attack through the gap in time, but he did not change his course of action because his Heavenly Gang Escape Technique was different from other stealth skills.

"When concealed, the first attack will not reveal the true form, but will instead create a phantom image at a designated location to confuse the enemy. If the enemy is confused, the second attack will deal 20% additional damage."

As an assassin, he had two opportunities to strike.

With the Sea Giant transformation, his strength attribute reached 663 points. This throwing knife also had a 20% damage increase effect after successfully concealing its form.

If the previous laser beam felt like it pierced through the heavens and earth, then Wu Chang's strike could be described as devastating.

The speed of the throwing knife was no less than that of a laser. In the blink of an eye, the top floor of the building where the attacker launched the attack, along with the five floors below it, all disappeared, as if the building had always been shorter.

Wu Chang reached out and activated his spatial domain to retrieve the thrown golden giant sword into his hand.

He raised the greatsword, its blade stained with blood and still bearing traces of spatial energy.

The attacker had already been injured by his sword, but the opponent was very vigilant. When the laser hit the starlight phantom, he immediately realized something was wrong and teleported away.

If he hesitates for just a moment, he might never have to hesitate again for the rest of his life.

Seeing this, everyone in the arena stood frozen in place, especially Jason and other players.

They were intimidated by the fearsome reputation of peace, and they valued their own lives, so they were willing to submit to peace and just get a share of the spoils.

He verbally agreed, but in his heart he was still very curious about the true extent of peace's capabilities.

When it comes to Heping's strength, Shuangyue only said that Heping's martial arts skills probably surpassed his own, but he didn't elaborate on how much.

Now that they've seen how He Ping has handled things, they're truly convinced.

Putting aside the bizarre ability to dodge laser assassinations, just hearing the explosive sound of that flying sword tearing through the air made my heart skip a beat.

As bystanders, they were all awestruck by that sword strike. If that sword had been aimed at them, they probably wouldn't have even had the chance to resist and would have disappeared along with the five-story building.

Wu Chang put away the golden greatsword and exchanged it for the military's dagger.

The guy who ambushed him was very cautious, making it difficult to chase him down. In addition, the equipment on Mason wasn't aimed at him. As long as the other party didn't actively seek death, he couldn't be bothered to kill him.

After all, there really was someone in front of him waiting to be killed.

He raised the dagger and approached Mason, asking:

"Civil Rights Party guys, do you have any last words?"

When Wu Chang launched the golden greatsword, Mason was right next to him. The explosion from the flying sword almost killed him on the spot.

Mason, unsteady on his feet and with vacant eyes, was only able to muster a shred of consciousness through the threat of death, and shouted:

"You can't kill me!"

Wu Chang slightly tilted his head, neither confirming nor denying:

"Oh?"

Mason shouted:

"I am the patriarch of the noble Rogers family, a vital pillar of the Federation, and I am responsible for the survival of millions. I am destined to rewrite human history!"

Wu Chang smirked, raised his hand, and plunged a knife into Mason's throat, asking:
"now what?"

Mason clutched his bleeding throat, the light in his eyes gradually fading. He collapsed to the ground, still saying:

"You can't kill me, how dare you..."

"I have a small-scale light of collapse within me. If I die, everyone will be buried with me."

Wu Chang: ?
Dude, could you please tell me something important earlier next time?
He immediately called out to Eileen through his mind, asking her to save the person. But before Eileen could make a move, a blinding red light, accompanied by an indescribable, eerie sound like the writhing of internal organs, emanated from Mason's body, instantly sweeping across everyone present.

This sound contained a special power. Apart from Wu Chang, everyone in the room, whether ordinary people, modifiers, or players, showed pain and a tendency to lose control.

Although Mason failed to replicate the Lullaby Protocol, he did figure out how to make the modifiers lose control.

He not only discovered the reason for the cyborg's collapse through the rules of Jacques City, but also improved it and sealed it in his own body as a special weapon, as his own life-saving charm.

Mason wasn't stupid. The reason he dared to act so recklessly, besides the expert protecting him in secret, was also because of this last resort of mutual destruction.

The special weapon that causes the modified user to collapse is related to his vital signs. It will automatically activate as long as he dies or suffers damage exceeding a certain limit.

Looking at the crowd around him who was about to lose control, Wu Chang was wondering if Eileen could turn the tide by revealing her divine form when he suddenly heard a painful wail coming from afar.

The wail seemed to absorb the pain of everyone present. After the wail subsided, the pain disappeared from their faces, and their wavering willpower stabilized.

(End of this chapter)