death of hope

Chapter 1068 "Psionic Storm" (141) Awakening

All roads within a three-mile radius of the research institute were blocked off.

Workers at a nearby construction site heard the explosion and witnessed thick black smoke rising into the air. Even in Shin-Sapporo, where gangsters are rampant, such a commotion is rare.

The onlookers were kept outside the cordon, and the order was maintained not by police officers or sheriffs, but by employees of Sakura Corporation in suits and wearing pink badges.

These company employees wore fake, professional smiles and used a half-threatening tone to tell people that the noise was from an anti-terrorism and fire drill, and anyone who dared to cross the line would face the consequences.

The media was unusually quiet; the development zone television station was still broadcasting cartoons. In Shin-Sapporo, nothing was happening.

·
Beyond public view, the core area of ​​the lockdown zone

Sakura Corporation's corporate warriors versus psionic mutant monsters—a fierce battle is raging.

Light and heavy armed vehicles surrounded the research institute's compound, forming an impenetrable ironclad formation.

Tracked and wheeled armored vehicles on the ground, and drones and attack helicopters in the sky, all fired 30mm autocannons simultaneously.
On the ammunition belt, every four tracer high-explosive rounds were sandwiched with one depleted uranium armor-piercing round. The asphalt road surface licked by the shells melted and flowed like a volcano. Several buildings of the research institute, especially the main building, were bombed and riddled with holes and debris flew everywhere.

Machine gunners on the roofs of armed pickup trucks and Humvees unleashed a barrage of fire, while rocket launchers, anti-tank missiles, and grenade launchers bombarded the area in turn.

The corporate soldiers individually sought cover and firing positions, their small-caliber rifles glowing red-hot, and bullets poured out as if they were free, regardless of whether it was effective or not.

·
The research institute complex was almost completely destroyed, and beneath the raging flames and thick smoke, the psychic mutant monster continued to roar and howl tirelessly, crushing any who dared to invade into mincemeat.

From a distance, the blurry outline of the monster was quite magnificent, resembling a huge and disgusting mountain of flesh, making it impossible to discern Joseph's human appearance.

Countless pupils, sharp teeth, calcified spikes, wriggling tentacles, and twisted limbs were torn apart and charred by the artillery fire, but soon, driven by extraordinary metabolism, more proliferated.

Nothing like it could be found in biological encyclopedias, nor was there any documented record of such a monster. Even seasoned veterans began to back down. The threat they faced should not exist in the real world. It was like an immortal, eternal nightmare, spreading fear evenly to everyone's heart.

·
The corporate warriors set out in high spirits, but now they are exhausted and their ammunition is almost depleted. The monster, on the other hand, is even more vigorous and shows no signs of falling or being weakened.

"That's outrageous! That thing is practically indestructible!"

"Nonsense! That thing is just a larger carbon-based life form, not a ghost. It has a physical form, it bleeds, and it dies!"

"This is complete chaos! Where is our commander?"

"The eldest sister took the elevator down and hasn't come back. She might be dead."

"Warning! No spreading negative emotions! I'm the supervising officer! Anyone who dares to back down even half a step, I'll blow their brains out!"

"Get out of the way..."

Giant squid-like tentacles wrapped around a multi-ton block of reinforced concrete and slammed it into the convoy, causing heavy casualties in an instant.

One of the trainee soldiers turned and ran away, but was shot dead by the supervising officer. The rest gritted their teeth and persevered, praying that they could survive this long battle.

·
At a corner on the east side of the main building of the research institute, people who had escaped from area B14 gathered.
The high-strength concrete walls are tough enough that they haven't been bombarded or crushed by monsters yet, but they are only temporarily surviving.

Once he was sure no snipers were aiming at them, Li Ang kept peering out to check the monsters' condition and to find gaps in the defenses. Twisted Fate, who also had military training, was doing something similar.

Threatened from both sides, surviving this long is already a miracle. What was previously considered a hopeless escape has, in the current chaos, surprisingly offered a glimmer of hope:
“Those corporate warriors surrounded us like an iron barrel; if we showed our faces, we would be caught.”

"Calm down, stay calm. That monster will help us create an opening. Then, we can rush out in the chaos, and maybe we'll find a way to survive." Li Ang looked up at the twisted, roaring monster and felt a pang of pity.

"Joseph... the old man was kind to me when he was alive, I never expected he'd still be helping me break through even after he's dead..."

"Bullshit! That old bastard deserved it!" Trist roared. "That guy doesn't even treat psionicists like human beings! Look what he's done to my daughter!"

·
Li Ang was speechless after being rebuked. He recalled how Joseph had recruited him, a homeless man, into the research institute with a high salary, and how full of hope he had been then. Less than a year later, it all felt like a lifetime had passed.

He betrayed the company himself, the old man was betrayed by his top disciple Ryan, and Drizzt betrayed the organization to save his daughter. These three "traitors" came together, their fates truly unpredictable and full of twists and turns. Li Ang couldn't help but sigh:

"Joseph is a devil, but he did do me a favor. Without him, I would have frozen to death last winter. It just goes to show how complicated people are... It hurts me to see him like this..."

Trist glared at Li Ang: "What a corporate dog kept by capital! Still trying to defend that devil!"

Junxiong, the youngest and most talented member of the team, advised, "Anyone can bicker, but not you two. Brother Li, Uncle Pointy Ears, everyone is waiting for you two to make a decision."

Li Ang looked back at the ragged fleeing group, which was a truly pitiful sight.
The hospital gowns were torn and burned, leaving them barely clothed. Everyone was bruised and battered, with wounds all around. Half of the able-bodied were dead, and the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled were almost all gone. Of those who made it to the surface, less than one in ten survived.

·
Some people began to regret why they had run away; they could have lived longer in the cage. Witnessing the apocalyptic scene of monsters battling corporate warriors, it was hard not to feel pessimistic about the future.

For every pessimist, there is an optimist. The old lady who had been incessantly nitpicking Li Ang suddenly unleashed her inner strength in the subsequent battle, displaying incredible marksmanship and extraordinary courage.

The old woman wielded two automatic pistols and unleashed a frenzied barrage of fire, managing to repel three attacking tentacles and save many lives.

As a Gruul agent with Eldar talents, Drizzt's combat prowess was astonishing, and Leon himself was no less formidable. However, the combat strength of these two powerful men paled in comparison to the strongest psychic talent in history.

When they encountered the monster in the elevator lobby, everyone, including Leon and Drizzt, thought, "We're doomed," and had no choice but to face it head-on.

The tentacles alone are difficult to deal with, so how can we fight the main body? The weak and ragged team was slaughtered and the corpses littered the ground in less than half a minute.

Just as Leon and Trist were about to be wiped out after being knocked away by the monster, no one expected that the sickly blonde girl, Yuna Jinguji, would step forward.

"Please step back, everyone. I'll handle this..."

·
Thinking back to that scene, it still feels unreal; it was even more exaggerated than comic book superhero movies.
Energy filled the entire hall, altering gravity and causing strange ripples in the air. In an instant, the energy of the research institute's power plant reactor was drained.

Yuna floated in mid-air, her eyes seemingly filled with holy light, a huge golden sphere of spiritual energy appeared in her left hand, and her right hand emitted black and red lightning.

With a flick of the wrist, it can rise from the ashes like a wicked phoenix; with another, it can vanish into nothingness like a raging dragon.
This was exactly the effect Joseph had dreamed of: to apply psychic power to the military in every aspect, which was also the goal of Project Zero.

For millennia, what the people of Terra have been pursuing...
War, and destruction.

Such a person is an army.
If they could obtain this world-destroying power, the Terran people would surely reign supreme among all civilizations in the galaxy.

·
Drizzt was stunned. The level that even the Queen of the Elves, who was once considered the strongest psionicist, had failed to achieve, was accomplished by a sickly human girl from Terra, not for destruction, but for salvation.

The so-called innate talent is self-taught, requiring no instruction, and is perfectly natural.
Jinguji Yuna closed her eyes tightly, meticulously controlling every breath in her meridians, enduring the excruciating pain of having her flesh torn out, without losing control of her mind or experiencing a burst of spiritual energy, and steadily gathering energy into her palm.

The moment the energy reached the critical point, her brain tissue, ravaged by the experiment, recovered somewhat. She remembered many things, and the tall, lingering image of Jinguji Ryūshun flashed through her mind:
"Brother is right...what's the use of crying?"
This world is cruel and heartless. Wipe away your tears and clench your fist in surrender...

This time…

I will protect it…