Long-term salvation

"Whoever you are, come and help!"

Interesting... They met too early, but if left alone, she might die here.

Rhodes stood on the second floor, touched his chin, thought for a few seconds, then took out an M2 heavy machine gun and mounted it on the stone railing. Under Kidman's horrified gaze, he pulled the trigger - the 12.7mm armor-piercing incendiary bullet penetrated the high-strength glass of the water tank, allowing the dirty water inside to leak out. A few more shots and the glass was completely shattered.

Caught off guard, Kidman was washed out by the current. As soon as she got up from the ground, she heard the roar of heavy machine guns again.

Bright yellow lines of fire swept across the hall floor, raising tiny specks of dust. The immense power of the heavy machine gun bullets smashed the bodies of the wandering monsters into pieces. The broken limbs and arms dragged bloody arcs through the air, falling to the ground and into Kidman's heart.

A few chaotic thoughts flashed through his mind, but Kidman, who still maintained a relaxed expression, raised his head, looked at the muzzle of the gun emitting a wisp of green smoke and the young man standing behind it, and said with a tone full of gratitude:

"Thank you for your help. Without you——"

"If it weren't for me," Rhodes moved the muzzle of his gun, pointing it at Kidman, and said with a hint of joking, "your 'companions' outside would be able to rescue you. After all, you're the only one here, and they're all outside."

Kidman: "...I believe my colleagues at the Crimson Police Department can definitely do this."

I'm afraid they're not from the Crimson Police Department? Wait, Detective Sebastian can really do that.

Looking at Kidman's expression, which looked as if he had eaten a fly but had to force out a smirk, Rhodes suppressed a smile, put away his heavy machine gun, and jumped down from the second floor. He stepped over the pool of rotten blood diluted by sewage, came to the agent, and said aloud:

"My name is Rod. I'm an FBI agent from the Special Operations Team investigating the mass disappearances in Crimson City. Um... I heard Detective Sebastian mention you, and he hopes I can provide some help after meeting you."

Kidman tightened her facial muscles and listened quietly to Rhodes' serious nonsense - what a joke, before entering the STEM world, she clearly saw the attack helicopter near the Lighthouse Mental Hospital.

Where did the FBI get the attack helicopter?!

You are an elite agent of Atlas Corporation who has begun to doubt my identity. Why are you still pretending to be a white rabbit here?

Kidman, who has not received any instructions from Mobius until now, is helpless. She can only follow the original order and try to take Leslie away from the STEM world... or get rid of Ruvik and save Crimson City?

Kidman, who still had some kindness and a sense of justice in her heart, was in a state of confusion. She had rarely considered the actions of Mobius before, but after this incident, she was inevitably shaken.

The extremely cruel human experiments, the innocent Crimson citizens dragged into them, or what happened in the past, all of these made Kidman exhausted physically and mentally. She could only use the mission of Mobius Company to paralyze herself and temporarily drive "thinking about the truth" out of her mind.

"I've found a few survivors and am now ready to catch the culprit. It looks like you'll have no choice but to work with me, ma'am."

As Rhodes spoke, he handed Kidman a pistol and several magazines. The latter took it with a little surprise, and after a few seconds of silence, he whispered a thank you.

"Don't cause me any trouble, Ms. Kidman, or I'll report your behavior to Detective Sebastian and the Crimson Police Department," Rhodes warned. But then he changed his expression and comforted Agent Mobius. "Although the situation is dire, there's still hope. Take care to protect yourself, ma'am."

"I return this to you, Mr. Rhodes of the 'FBI'."

"It's up to you. Let's move on and don't waste time."

Rhode shrugged, unconcerned with the implications of Kidman's words. His gaze swept over the shadow of a black cat running along the wall of the hall, but the cat was now hunched over as if frightened, and the shrill meow of a cat echoed in Rhode's mind!

As Kidman's face was filled with bewilderment, Rhodes gripped his chainsaw sword tightly. Within seconds, the surrounding environment changed dramatically as the ground shook violently.

The four walls of the hall suddenly retreated, and the second floor and the load-bearing stone pillars turned into ashes and gradually disappeared. In their place were countless mirrors, and the mirrors reflecting each other only reflected the figures of countless Kidmans, and each Kidman had a different expression on his face.

[Julie Kidman, Mobius's dog... I really hope your companions can know your true side, but it seems that he already knew it?]

Ruvik's voice rang out, and his shadow appeared on the mirror, with mockery and contempt.

[Be careful, the glaring sun, beware of the coming dusk, especially when she still has a pistol in her hand.]

This scene made Rhode frown slightly. Ruvik's idea was simple: tear apart the fragile but necessary disguise between the two of them, and provoke a direct conflict between him, Kidman, and the Mobius forces behind her. No matter who solved the problem, it would be a good thing. In this way, this crazy genius would be able to find opportunities in the chaos.

"I don't know anything about Mobius, and I don't care what Kidman is up to," Rhode said quickly. He needed to stabilize the situation first. "As long as she wants to rescue the survivors and kill you here, then her and I share the same goal. We're on the same journey together."

"..." Kidman breathed a sigh of relief and lowered her pistol, but the gloomy-faced "self" in the mirror around her did not. Instead, she pointed the gun steadily at Rhodes, which made Kidman's heart tighten again.

[But this Mobius agent was thinking differently. She was afraid, afraid of death, afraid of... failure.]

In the mirror, countless Ruviks walked past countless Kidmans, who then melted into pools of shadows. The shadows converged in the mirror into a tall man in a suit. His face was covered in darkness, and only the halo around him was particularly dazzling.

At this moment, Kidman's fear of Mobius and more complex emotions were concretized and became a real nightmare!

[Kidman, your mission is to bring that boy back to us.]

The nightmare of "Mobius" said this, bending down and looking at Kidman, who was already frozen in fear. Kidman opened his mouth, and his brain, which was instantly overloaded with thinking ability, subconsciously controlled his mouth and said:

"I... I can't... I can't do this... Ruvik must be eliminated, otherwise if he escapes..."

You've pledged your loyalty to us, Kidman. You have no right to make the decision.

"I……"

Seeing Kidman, already gripped by fear, Rhodes sighed. He didn't know if he'd been injected with some company-loyalty drug, or if he'd been subjected to a fair amount of PUA, but this state of mind wouldn't allow him to continue executing his undercover plan within Mobius.

Rod grabbed Kidman, grabbed her collar, and beat her left and right without mercy.

The crisp sound made Ruvik stunned, and even the nightmare form of Mobius stopped for a moment.

"If someone hits you on the right cheek, turn the other cheek as well - don't thank me, Ms. Kidman, it's my job."

Rhode looked at Kidman, whose cheeks were slightly red and swollen, and nodded. The female agent reached out and touched her face blankly, a hint of anger rising between her brows.

"Even my dad never hit me... No, I wasn't even slapped in the face during the company's training camp!"

"It's okay, this is my first time slapping someone too," Rhodes said, patting Kidman's shoulder with a smile. "Besides, you've come to your senses now. Be smart and don't embarrass yourself!"

Before Kidman could say anything, she felt something land lightly on her head, and then jumped onto Rhodes' shoulder - it was a pitch-black cat, cute and clever in appearance, with emerald eyes engraved in it, but the cat's expression was a little too human!

"It looks like Abigail and the others have successfully locked onto us," Rhode said, reaching out to stroke the black cat's chin, causing it to purr comfortably. His gaze fell on Ruvik, whose expression had darkened. Without turning back, he said to Kidman, "Looks like we'll have to say goodbye for now, Ms. Kidman... Just try to survive your incarnation of fear. Perhaps in the future, we'll be the best of partners."

After saying that, Rhodes raised his foot and rushed towards the mirror. The black cat immediately turned into a tattoo that spread from the neck to the corner of the cheek. The curved cat tail covered the eyes with the eye patch. The next second, the man and the cat disappeared without a trace with a shattering sound and a strong light.

Seeing this, Kidman looked up and saw that the tall Mobius Nightmare had walked out of the mirror.

Without further hesitation, following the decision made in his heart, Mobius's agent Kidman turned and fled, escaping Mobius' nightmare.

[Go ahead, Kidman, but you can't escape, just like everyone else who has anything to do with us—we'll hunt you down, all the time!]

Scenes from deep within his memory slowly emerged on both sides of Kidman, along with everything Mobius had done in Crimson City, from the past to the present.

Ruvik failed to bring Rhodes and Kidman into direct conflict, but he still left some tricks to tell the Mobius agent -

You're just a pawn.

Chapter 143: Hunting for Ruvik (3K)

Rhodes rushed into the mirror and saw a look of surprise on Ruvik's face standing in front of him.

Before the mad genius could react, a fist zoomed in front of him—Rhode's fist struck Ruvik squarely in the face, the hard, glove-covered fist shattering and denting his nose! Blood gushed out of his nose, accompanied by the muffled sound of bone fractures. By the time the pain reached his brain, the ferocious left hook had already sunk deep into his soft abdomen.

Still retaining some traces of his humanity, Ruvik instinctively arched his body, only to be met with Rhode's knee strike. This time, however, he finally reacted, folding his hands over his chest, blocking the blow that could have killed any mortal!

Staggering back a few steps, Ruvik returned a hateful look. If looks could kill, Rhodes would have been dead by now.

"Escape, Ruvik? I give you permission."

Rhodes wiped the blood off his hand casually, then placed it on the hilt of the chainsword at his waist and slowly walked towards Ruvik. The latter reached out and brushed his hand across his face, and the wound healed immediately, but the scars left by surgery and burns still remained on it, twisting with hatred and anger.

"I don't have time to argue with you," Ruvik breathed slowly. He suppressed his anger and surprise and stepped back. "Your fate..."

"Leslie, that boy, you wanted to devour his consciousness to escape the prison Mobius built for you, right?" Rhodes said calmly. Meeting Ruvik's hateful gaze, he chuckled softly. "Go ahead, but I will follow you like a shadow, and destroy every attempt you make."

"Then you're a very good dog," Ruvik responded with a sneer.

With that, Ruvik suddenly transformed into blood-red particles and merged into the surrounding darkness. The mirror world in front of Rhodes then collapsed and reorganized. Thousands of fragments swept in like a blizzard, piling up layer by layer to make Crimson City like a spiral scroll - Cedar Mountain Church, Elk River Village, the urban area, and the ever-shining Lighthouse Mental Hospital gradually revealed themselves here.

However, Rhodes was in no mood to appreciate this strange and magnificent scene. He observed it carefully, jumped off the platform made of piled-up building debris, and found a classic Indian motorcycle on the twisted and broken city streets.

The black body of the car is spray-painted with bright red flame patterns, and the handlebars are adorned with a bracelet made of canine teeth of an unknown animal, giving it a wild and wild look reminiscent of the North American West.

"Wow~~ What a nice bike! I remember Indian Motorcycle stopped production in the 90s, didn't it? It only gradually recovered after repeated restructuring in the millennium." Rhodes got on the motorcycle with interest, turned the handlebars a few times, and heard the low roar of the engine. "I hope the owner can forgive my theft. Pickman, lead the way for me. It's time to let Ruvik have a taste of being hunted!"

The black cat's tattoo seeped into Rhodes' all-seeing eye patch, and he immediately saw a bright blue thread extending along a crooked road and piercing into the depths of the STEM world.

Rod turned on the headlights and rode his motorcycle forward, speeding through a world that slowly unfolded like a kaleidoscope.

The lights of the motorcycle split the dark road ahead, smashing the blurry rain curtain and mist into pieces. The air currents rolled up the mist and raindrops, forming several long milky white strips like angel wings on both sides of the vehicle.

In just a few breaths, the motorcycle suddenly rushed into a hospital corridor as if piercing a plastic film. Three people were running in panic. The last one running - Detective Sebastian turned his head from time to time and shot at the monster rushing out from the end of the corridor with the rifle in his hand. The monster was so huge that it almost filled the entire corridor.

The original hybrid (Amalgam Alpha), whenever an experimental subject dies in STEM, the strong emotions they experience at the time of death are preserved and distorted and strengthened by the power from another surreal dimension, thus giving birth to such a terrifying monster:

The half of the human body that had not yet been merged into it twisted on its blasphemous body, uttering meaningless low howls. The huge mouth of the abyss, like a gaping wound, spewed out fishy saliva. Its strong arms clung to the wall of the corridor and rushed rapidly towards the few people who were fleeing in front.

"Doctor! What have you done?!" Detective Sebastian shouted angrily. He kept firing to make it easier for Dr. Jimenez to escape with Leslie. "How did this damn monster suddenly appear?!"

"I don't know... Rhodes?!"

Hearing the sound of a motorcycle behind him, the decadent detective subconsciously turned his head and saw Rhodes raising the front of the motorcycle, and at the same time, an M72A3-LAW rocket launcher appeared in his hand, and he pulled the trigger on the outer barrel of the outer shell towards the original hybrid.

The rocket instantly crossed the corridor, whizzed past the heads of the fugitives, and hit the monster. The jet of matter immediately tore through the flesh and blood, causing minced meat and blood plasma to be pumped out, covering the entire corridor with a layer of dark red filth.

The next second, in front of the shocked gazes of Sebastian and the others, Rhodes slammed into the monster on his motorcycle, and disappeared without a trace in an instant with a flash of light. Only the monster's whimpers and howls when it was injured still echoed in the corridor.

"...Keep running, Dr. Jimenez, Leslie. We're far from safe."

Unlike Sebastian and the others who looked at each other for a few seconds and then set out on the road of escape again, Rhodes and the monster fell into the village around Crimson City. The latter crashed into houses, raising wood chips and dust. Before it got up, another rocket hit it!

The motorcycle landed lightly and went up the village path without looking back, leaving the original hybrid struggling in the wreckage of the house.

At the end of the mountain road, Rhodes saw Ruvik wearing a white hooded coat. The latter had an ugly expression on his face. It was obvious that he had not expected the pursuer to be so fast.

Ruvik was convinced that if he didn't do something, he would be tracked all the way back to his original body!

With a slight change of mind, Ruvik raised his hand to change the terrain of the entire village and hills. The earth cracked, and high-temperature underground water vapor evaporated by the lava spurted out from the cracks, forming dangerous curtains - but Rhodes ignored all this. He raised his left hand to block his exposed face, and suddenly turned the accelerator with his right hand, allowing the motorcycle to penetrate the water curtain like an arrow and arrive directly in front of Ruvik!

Seeing this, Ruvik took a half step back and fell backwards from the edge of the cliff, and Rhodes naturally followed closely behind him.

In mid-air, Ruvik looked at Rhodes, whose forehead was still slightly burned, and suddenly laughed out loud:

"How interesting! You're a lunatic too... I'm suddenly curious. What kind of hound are you? Can you freely travel through the areas outlined by these fragments of consciousness?"

"The Hound of Tindalos," Rhodes said, releasing the handlebars of his motorcycle and pulling out his chainsword. He held it with both hands and pointed the tip of the sword directly at Ruvik's chest. "Have you heard of it?"

"Nice name."

Ruvik's mouth curled into a disdainful smile as the chainsaw sword pierced his chest. The blade drank in the cold, alienated flesh and blood, crushing the organs into pieces - but Ruvik still had that mocking expression until the two of them fell into the icy lake below.

At that moment, Rhodes heard Ruvik's voice ringing in his ears. The voice was low and steady, as if the chainsaw sword had never caused him any harm:

"You'll survive after risking your life, Crazy Sun. I'll be waiting for you at your desired destination. Bring Leslie with you, or you'll be buried with them."

The moment Ruvik's body touched the water, the surface of the lake flipped upside down, pressing down on the two of them like a tsunami. The surging water washed over them, leaving Rhode with the same awful feeling of being washed away by blood as before.

After struggling in the lake for a few seconds, Rhodes suddenly felt someone pulling him out of the water.

It's Kidman.

She had survived her nightmare, but it looked like she had been washed here by the lake. The Mobius agent dragged Rhode's hand and pulled him ashore. After taking a few breaths, she said in a disheveled state, "I'm in a terrible state."

"You're wearing too much!"

"You have to save your life, ma'am," Rhodes stood up after coughing a few times. He looked into the distance and saw the city collapsing.

It wasn't a reorganization, but Ruvik no longer restricted the expansion of the STEM virtual world and no longer operated it as his own private property. The outer walls of the city buildings were covered with large pieces of flesh and blood, with huge eyeballs engraved in them, shaking constantly. The monsters transformed from fragments of human consciousness were becoming more and more crazy. They gathered together and crowded on the road like maggots.

At the deepest and highest point of the city, the lights of the Lighthouse Mental Hospital gradually faded, replaced by a huge human brain bound by wires, Ruvik's brain!

Time was running out. Ruvik's brain was releasing mental shocks, and nearly transparent waves were spreading out in all directions, attracting those beings whose brain waves were close to him - attracting Leslie and Sebastian to come closer.

To survive after death...

At this moment, Rhodes was very skeptical about how much power Ruvik would have to control the entire STEM world after the energy of the inner world was mobilized by so many extreme negative emotions.

Like Rhodes, Kidman was also looking at the city in the distance. She sighed and said quietly:

"So, you anticipated this? That my loyalty to the company would be shaken?"

"Predicted what? I'm not a prophet."

Kidman took a deep breath and decided not to argue with Rhodes about this issue anymore. She rubbed her temples with her hands and spoke helplessly:

"Being your partner is definitely exhausting... What should we do now? We can't let the destruction in STEM completely spread to reality."

"Now?"

Rhodes clapped his hands, and a UH-60A Black Hawk helicopter was exchanged out and landed in front of the two men. The Gatling guns on both sides of the opened cabin looked particularly tempting.

"Ms. Julie Kidman, can you fly a helicopter?"

Chapter 144: End the Madness with Iron and Fire! (3K)