In front of the overturned van, its wheels facing the sky, William used brute force to pry his way inside. The twisted metal groaned under the pressure, vibrating against his bones and echoing through the air. However, before he could catch a glimpse of his wife, he was met with a barrage of gunfire.
— Tatatatata!
The air seemed to tear apart in front of him, the dry sound of bullets reverberating in his ears like consecutive thunderclaps.
William leapt back, but even so, he was struck repeatedly by several shots. Each impact shook his body, as if invisible sledgehammers were striking him without pause, forcing the air out of his lungs.
— Who the hell is attacking us?! — Ralf shouted, outraged.
As he crawled out of the vehicle, he spat out blood and fragments of teeth, which hit the ground with small, dry clicks. His face was shredded with deep cuts stretching from one side to the other, completely soaked in blood that ran hot across his skin.
— Damn it, Romeo broke his leg! — Alan's voice echoed from inside the van, muffled by the deformed metal.
Moments later, John stepped out carrying a black briefcase.
— Ralf, assess the perimeter. You have permission to eliminate anyone who approaches! — he ordered, opening the case to retrieve a semi-automatic rifle. The metallic click of the weapon sounded cold in the air.
Ralf, holding an AR-15, nodded and fixed his gaze in the direction the shots had come from seconds earlier. His breathing was still heavy.
He was surprised not to find a body lying on the ground.
— Where the hell did he go? — he muttered, scanning the surroundings, his eyes darting from one point to another.
Alan emerged soon after, helping Romeo, who also carried a briefcase. Each step made his body tremble in pain. Behind them, Demi appeared carrying two more.
All of them bore injuries and cuts on their faces; in some places, blood soaked through their uniforms, sticking to their skin and slowly dripping down.
Finally, Rafael came out of the van with an expression of agony, pressing his wounded arm tightly, his fingers trembling as he tried to stop the bleeding.
Now, the only one left inside the vehicle was Juliane, still motionless and tied up.
Under partial cover from John and Ralf, Demi opened one of the briefcases, taking out three satellite radios. He handed one to John and another to Alan, keeping the third.
The second case contained a semi-automatic rifle.
John was about to contact Director Michel when, at that moment, he heard another burst of gunfire.
— TATATTAA!!
The sound echoed closer this time.
William, who had taken cover behind a boulder, was spotted by Ralf, who immediately opened fire.
"Damn! Like Master said, by coating myself with a layer of Ki I won't be injured, but the pain is still intense," he thought as he leapt toward Ralf.
He covered his face as he advanced, trying to reach him. At first, with the initial shots, he felt fear — every bullet that struck him made his skin vibrate and his muscles contract involuntarily. However, upon realizing the bullets wouldn't kill him, he gained some confidence.
His master hadn't taught him any martial arts. All William had was his Ki and some amateur movements to try to fight trained soldiers.
Even so, he felt that he could actually win.
— Tatatatata!!!
The gunfire continued, the sound echoing deafeningly, making the air tremble slightly around them.
And with each passing second, Ralf and the others grew even more perplexed.
It was the first time in their lives they had witnessed a man defending himself from bullets with his own body.
For some reason, when the bullets hit William, they sparked before falling to the ground, ricocheting with small metallic sounds.
— Where the hell did this bastard come from? Why won't he die?! — Ralf shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice faltering slightly at the end.
He was an experienced mercenary, having participated in countless missions, including operations in the Middle East, before becoming subordinate to Director Michel.
With nearly two decades of experience, this was the first time he had felt such a strange, suffocating despair tighten his chest, making his breathing irregular.
He emptied his weapon into the enemy, who took everything head-on. Still, it was useless! How could he not despair? How do you fight someone immune to bullets?
His mind raced when he saw the man, who had been twenty meters away, suddenly glow in a golden hue. The air around him seemed to ripple slightly, as if distorted by intense heat.
And in the next instant, he shot forward like a comet.
— Creak!! Puf!!
The sound of bones breaking was dry, brutal, impossible to ignore. Then blood burst from Ralf's mouth in an uneven arc.
To those watching from afar, it was as if a golden flash had struck him. His left arm seemed fused to his ribs as his body bent in an unnatural way before being hurled more than twenty meters through the air.
He hit the ground with a heavy impact and rolled several meters, leaving behind a red trail that contrasted with the ground.
Everything happened too fast, catching everyone off guard.
William, on the other hand, remained still for a moment after delivering the blow, his arm still extended. His muscles trembled slightly, still carrying the inertia of the attack.
He looked at his own hand, then at Ralf in the distance, bloodied and contorted. He couldn't tell if he was still alive.
For a moment, William's heart wavered.
He didn't know if he had killed someone.
His strength was something new. He had attacked with everything he could muster, feeling that he could use up to sixty percent of his maximum capacity, since his Ki core was nearly depleted.
However, the idea of taking a life was difficult for someone who, just a few hours earlier, had been nothing more than a patriotic astronaut who had never been in a fight.
In uncertainty, he wanted to run over, but biting his lips until he tasted blood, he suppressed his feelings and hid again behind the boulder.
He had consumed too much Ki.
He thought he could recover it by absorbing it from the environment, like in webnovels, but there was nothing to absorb. The air felt empty, ordinary, without any response.
Only then did he realize that the little Ki he had was what remained after his master had awakened his martial physique.
"Well… Master could've told me to take it easy… I wasted too much Ki crashing into the car earlier… and resisting bullets also constantly consumes it."
William felt frustrated. He looked toward where his master had been hovering earlier, but his expression darkened when he realized it was empty.
He scanned the surroundings with hope, but didn't find even a trace of him.
His gaze turned grim.
William felt that his master was far too strict with a beginner disciple like him.
"This… is so different from the novels, where the master is always there to help when the disciple needs it…"
°°°
John, who had witnessed his companion's tragic end, understood that the situation was beyond his control.
An unarmed man, immune to firearms, extremely fast, and capable of killing with a single blow… that was not something a human being should be able to do.
He remembered his boss, Michel, mentioning a technology to create superhumans, developed during the time of the Soviet Union.
Even though he had been young at the time, Michel had participated in certain experiments, even if they were considered failures.
John didn't expect that the woman he had been sent to kidnap could be the wife of someone who had gone through those experiments.
The information he had also indicated that she was married to a U.S. astronaut.
Of course, it was all just speculation based on vague information.
Rafael, leaning against the van, watched everything, completely perplexed and overcome with fear. His breathing was heavy and irregular, his chest rising and falling rapidly.
The man who had appeared was practically a Superman. He could die right there, before even facing the punishment of the terrifying Director Michel.
He didn't know what to do. Even if he survived, he might still be doomed… and the thought of his wife and daughter consumed his heart.
Alan was trembling. His fingers wouldn't stop moving, as if they couldn't find rest. This posture was completely different from the one he had shown inside the van. He was genuinely terrified.
"Damn it! What kind of monster did the boss mess with? Why did he have to involve me in this…? That bastard! I've done so much dirty work for him, and now he wants to get rid of me!"
Despite the chaos in his mind, he didn't dare express anything. He knew Michel's cruelty well.
Romeo, on the other hand, was lost in his thoughts. The pain in his leg throbbed constantly, radiating through his body.
He had been on vacation, enjoying time with his women, when he received John's offer.
He thought it would be easy money.
"Just drive the damn van and take the target to a warehouse in Amsterdam… that was it. So why is a bulletproof bastard who can destroy cars here to kill us? Who says I won't be next?"
Romeo was completely regretful, feeling that he had sold his life for a mere ten thousand dollars.
Demi observed the situation calmly, despite the tension. His eyes moved in a calculated manner, analyzing every detail around him. He was a veteran, someone who had faced countless life-or-death situations — and had always survived.
Even in such an unfavorable scenario, he believed this time would be no different.
— Leader… it's best to inform the boss about the situation so he can send reinforcements and heavy weaponry — he said, staring at John's back.
John had already been thinking the same and simply nodded.
After turning on the radio, his voice came out firm:
— Alpha Zero-One, this is Charlie One-Two. Enemy in sight. What are your orders? Over.
— Charlie One-Two, this is Alpha Zero-One. Request enemy description and firepower. Over.
Faced with the question, John remained silent for a few seconds, prompting the other to repeat the request.
It wasn't that he didn't want to explain — it was just hard to believe.
Even so, he reported that a possible survivor of superhuman experiments had attacked them.
He described the enemy's strength, bullet resistance, and absurd speed, making it clear that they had no means to deal with it.
He requested reinforcements.
John had to insist for some time, as well as obtain confirmation from the others. Only then did Alpha Zero-One relay the message, albeit under threat in case it was a joke.
All of this took less than three minutes from the moment of William and Ralf's confrontation to the communication with Alpha Zero-One.