The rain continued throughout the entire night.
The mountain roads had become muddy.
The wheels constantly produced dull thuds as they rolled over the ground.
The entire convoy had slowed down noticeably.
After several consecutive days of guerrilla attacks,
everyone had already entered a state of extreme alertness.
No one knew where Cobra would appear from.
And no one knew when the next attack would begin.
At four in the morning,
the outer perimeter guards once again detected something unusual.
"Heat signatures detected in the eastern forest."
"Unknown quantity."
"Two kilometers away."
The communication channel instantly fell silent.
The escort unit quickly entered combat readiness.
However, this time,
Lucian did not issue an order to engage.
He simply stared at the map in silence.
His finger slowly settled on one location.
Then,
it moved to another.
The analyst standing beside him frowned.
"Young Master?"
Lucian did not answer immediately.
His gaze remained fixed on the map.
The attack routes from the past few days.
The retreat directions.
The positions where they had covered their withdrawal.
The areas where corrosive weapons had been deployed.
All the data was reorganized.
At first glance,
everything seemed chaotic.
But in reality,
there was an extremely subtle pattern hidden within it.
Every time those core combat units retreated,
they would disappear.
But they were not truly "disappearing."
They were circling around.
Constantly changing direction.
Constantly creating false trails.
Then returning to a certain area.
It was difficult for ordinary people to notice.
The routes had been fragmented too thoroughly.
But if all the retreat points were connected,
they would eventually discover
that the enemy had always been operating around the same area.
Lucian slowly raised his head.
He looked toward the dark mountains in the distance.
"I see."
The person beside him immediately asked,
"What did you find?"
Lucian calmly replied,
"They aren't trying to delay us."
"They're protecting something."
The air fell silent.
Dawolf stood behind them.
His expression slowly changed.
The next second,
as if he had realized something,
he suddenly looked toward the map.
"The core area…"
Lucian nodded.
"Viper has never moved too far away."
"Because he has to maintain the supply of ability weapons."
"Those corrosive weapons can't be transported over long distances for an extended period."
"That means their core base must be nearby."
A nearby member immediately asked,
"Then why haven't we been able to find it?"
Dawolf spoke in a low voice.
"Because they've been deliberately leading us on."
Everyone fell silent at once.
Dawolf continued,
"Every retreat route is different."
"Every time, they deliberately leave traces behind."
"Making us think we're about to catch them."
"But in reality, they're constantly adjusting our direction."
"The truly important area…"
"Has been deliberately avoided the entire time."
The camp gradually fell silent.
Finally,
someone spoke quietly.
"So…"
"We've been led around by the nose these past few days?"
No one answered.
Because the answer was already obvious.
Lucian lowered his head and looked at the map again.
Then,
his finger landed on the northernmost mountain region.
Almost no attacks had occurred there.
There were no signs of activity either.
It was too quiet.
And that silence itself
was the biggest problem.
"Prepare the vehicles."
Lucian spoke calmly.
"We leave now."
At five in the morning,
the convoy left its original route.
It headed directly into the northern mountains.
The roads became increasingly difficult to traverse.
Large sections did not even have proper roads.
They could only force their way through the forest.
The reconnaissance team continued expanding its search radius.
Yet they still found no enemies.
Until noon.
The vehicle at the very front suddenly stopped.
"We found traces of a facility!"
Everyone immediately got out of the vehicles.
Deep within the forest,
an extremely well-hidden metal cable was buried beneath the mud.
The cable was new.
It was obvious that it had been used recently.
Dawolf crouched down.
He examined the direction of the cable.
His expression gradually darkened.
"Underground power lines."
"And high-specification ones at that."
A nearby member quickly said,
"There must be a facility nearby!"
The search area immediately expanded.
Half an hour later,
the reconnaissance team finally discovered a hidden entrance on the other side of the mountain.
It was a metal door disguised as part of the rock wall.
Interference devices were scattered all around it.
No wonder the drones had never been able to detect it.
The atmosphere gradually tightened.
Everyone simultaneously entered combat readiness.
However,
Lucian slowly raised his hand.
"Wait."
Everyone stopped.
Lucian looked at the entrance.
His expression remained calm.
"The people inside already know we're here."
Dawolf's pupils contracted slightly.
The next second,
the metal door suddenly opened automatically.
A low mechanical sound slowly echoed through the area.
A dark passage appeared before everyone.
There was no ambush.
No gunfire.
Only the lights slowly turning on,
as if waiting for them to enter.
The atmosphere instantly became oppressive.
The escort unit immediately raised their weapons.
Yet Lucian simply stepped forward.
Dawolf instinctively called out,
"Young Master."
"There could be a trap inside."
Lucian did not stop.
"There is."
"But he wants to see me more than anything right now."
With that,
he walked directly into the passage.
Everyone quickly followed.
The underground facility was far larger than they had expected.
Large quantities of equipment were still operating.
The air was filled with the smell of metal and chemicals.
The corridors were extremely quiet.
There were no guards anywhere.
Until they reached the deepest section.
A heavy metal door slowly opened.
The interior of the room was finally revealed.
The lights were stark white.
Large quantities of equipment were arranged in the center.
Green liquid slowly flowed through transparent pipes.
And at the far end of the room,
a figure was sitting there.
He wore a long black coat.
In his hand was a cup of coffee that he had yet to finish.
Hearing the footsteps,
the man slowly raised his head.
They were extremely calm eyes.
There was no anger.
No panic.
Not even the slightest trace of desperation one would expect from a defeated man.
It was as if everything had been anticipated.
"Finally, we meet."
Viper slowly spoke.
His voice was low and steady.
The escort unit immediately raised their weapons,
but no one fired.
Because everyone could feel it.
The man standing before them
was completely different from the enemies they had encountered before.
The air was terrifyingly quiet.
Viper slowly stood up.
His gaze settled on Lucian.
After staring at him for a long while,
he suddenly let out a laugh.
"How interesting."
"I originally thought…"
"You would be someone more like a monster."
He slowly walked forward.
His footsteps were neither hurried nor slow.
"But now that I see you…"
"You're no different from me."
The air seemed to freeze.
Viper stared at Lucian.
He slowly said,
"I can't see any difference between you and me."
"You have the same scent as I do."
"Doing whatever it takes to achieve your goal."
The room fell completely silent.
Everyone looked at Lucian.
But Lucian simply stood there calmly.
He neither denied it
nor became angry.
Several seconds later,
he slowly spoke.
"Perhaps one day, I will become someone like you."
"But…"
Lucian raised his head.
His eyes were terrifyingly calm.
"There is one decisive difference between us."
The air fell silent.
Viper narrowed his eyes slightly.
And at that moment,
Lucian remembered the scene of the Ability User Academy being swallowed by darkness.
That day.
The flames.
The blood.
The collapsing buildings.
And the person standing at the very front.
Then,
Lucian slowly spoke.
"I encountered an existence worthy of becoming a king."
"I will devote everything to him!"
His voice was not loud,
yet it was extraordinarily firm.
The room fell silent for a brief moment.
Viper quietly stared at him.
Then,
he suddenly laughed.
It was not mockery.
It was a complicated kind of emotion.
"I see."
"You've already found your direction."
He slowly lowered his head,
as if thinking about something.
A few seconds later,
he raised his gaze again.
"I envy you."
The air suddenly became silent.
The words left quite a few people stunned.
Yet Viper's expression remained calm.
"A long time ago…"
"I also thought I would become something."
"But in the end…"
"All that remained was surviving."
He spoke softly,
as if he were telling someone else's story.
Dawolf frowned.
Because this was the first time he had seen Viper like this.
There was no madness.
No oppressive aura.
He seemed more like a man who had been exhausted for a very long time.
However, the next second,
Viper suddenly raised his hand.
The surrounding equipment instantly activated.
Large quantities of green liquid began flowing rapidly.
Alarms suddenly rang out.
"Structural release detected!"
"Danger level increasing!"
The escort unit's expressions instantly changed.
Dawolf suddenly looked up.
"Not good!"
"This is the core of the ability weapon system!"
Viper slowly stepped backward.
Then sat back down in his chair.
"However…"
"I can't die yet."
The next second,
the entire underground facility began to shake.
Large quantities of metal structures emitted ear-piercing sounds.
Green liquid continuously surged through the pipes.
A dangerous aura began spreading through the air.
Viper looked at Lucian.
A smile slowly appeared on his face.
"Come."
"Let me see…"
"Just how far you can go."