Thud. Thud. Thud.
A heavy, rhythmic sound of footsteps suddenly echoed from the depths of the dark passage.
The long-haired man's head snapped around, his neck turning with a quick, fluid motion. His tightly closed eyes seemed to sense the new presence.
"There is another one," he hissed, his voice a low whisper.
He immediately abandoned the bloody, gasping Bucky in front of him, dismissing him as a non-threat. He waved the cold, shining katana, its edge gleaming in the dim light, and lunged forward into the darkness.
The next second, a terrifying giant blade, glowing with an eerie, green light and whistling as it cut through the air, spun out of the darkness. It flew and slashed at the long-haired man in the middle of the passage.
"A trifling trick!"
The long-haired man sneered, his confidence absolute. He once again lifted his wide white robe sleeves, his body a blur. He dodged sideways, a precise, economical movement. The katana, held tightly in his palm, slashed at the wide blade of the giant green weapon at an extremely tricky angle.
He clearly wanted to deflect the weapon's rotation, to send it clattering uselessly away.
However, at the moment the two weapons came into contact, the unstoppable, huge force on the terrifying giant blade was not what he expected. The long-haired man's face changed suddenly, his sneer vanishing.
He suddenly opened his tightly closed eyes. A pair of gray-white pupils, flat and dead, suddenly burst out with his invisible petrification ability. The power surged toward the green blade. He wanted to take the opportunity to weaken the foreign metal, or even cut off the invader's weapon.
Unfortunately for him, this was the C'tan Phase Sword. The materials and forging technology used were not something that could be easily broken by a mere petrification ability.
The gaze had no effect.
The long-haired man's katana, which he didn't have time to retract, was easily cut off. The green blade didn't even slow. Half of his arm was severed along with it, spraying a hot mist of blood.
The spinning C'tan Phase Sword chopped heavily into the passage wall, sinking deep into the metal.
The next moment, the long-haired man, his face contorted in a mask of shock and pain, had no time to even feel the agony of his broken arm.
In his wide gray-white pupils, he saw a terrifying figure, as tall as three meters, slowly walking out of the end of the passage.
The figure quickly raised a dark, massive muzzle.
The deafening roar of the bolter sounded again, echoing in the confined space. The explosion burst into flames. A wet, red mist from the body's explosion covered everything around.
In the blink of an eye, the last trace of the long-haired man in the world was gone. Only bloody flesh and shattered bones were left, splattered against the walls.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The huge Terminator armor took heavy steps, each one vibrating the floor, and slowly moved forward.
It came to Bucky, who was pale and slick with sweat, leaning heavily against the wall. He was shaking his head and smiling bitterly, looking at the mess that used to be a man.
"Tsk, tsk." Nolan's voice crackled through the armor's external speaker. "Bucky, it seems that you also need to strengthen your training."
Nolan, wearing his diamond-shaped helmet, spoke, the slightly teasing remark echoing in the wide, blood-spattered passage.
At this time, Bucky, blood leaking from the cuts in his carapace, couldn't help but raise his head. He stared up at the massive Terminator armor, grinned, and said, his voice strained, "Captain. If you give me armor like you, I could fight one hundred people too."
Nolan smiled, a sound that didn't quite come through the speaker. He moved in Terminator armor and stretched out a huge metal palm towards Bucky.
"You are still alive, which is beyond my expectation. Bucky, it's not that you are too weak, but that the opponent was too strong. According to the information David obtained, this guy was the Hydra leader of the Mount Fuji Base. In other words, while I was still fighting ordinary enemies, you actually took the lead in opening the final boss challenge."
Hearing Nolan's words, Bucky couldn't help but twitch his mouth. He grunted as he barely stood up from the ground, using Nolan's massive metal palm for support.
Nolan drove the Terminator power armor and pulled the C'tan Phase Sword from the wall with a grating shriek of metal.
He turned his eyes to Bucky, who was wincing as he tried to lift his Hellgun.
"Bucky, don't worry about it. I don't think there are many Hydra left in the base. Just follow me and sweep the perimeter. If you can't hold out, warn David ahead of time."
"Captain," Bucky ground out, "a man can't simply say no." He clenched his jaw, hauled the heavy, damaged energy pack with his mechanical arm, and fastened it back onto his shoulders. He scanned the area, eyes catching on the crimson chaos nearby. Limping over, he bent and picked up the red ribbon embroidered with a snake.
He used it to crudely stabilize his original arm, which was the most seriously injured, tying it tightly against his chest.
Then, holding the Hellgun in his one good mechanical hand, Bucky turned his head to Nolan and nodded.
"I'm ready, Captain."
Facing Bucky, whose will to fight was still strong, Nolan was not displeased at all. He gestured toward Bucky with his bolter, then turned and walked in front, C'tan Phase Sword in hand.
About an hour later, the fighting was over.
The final Hydra survivor broke and ran, but Bucky cut him down, blasting his body into shapeless gore. The Hydra base under Mount Fuji was annihilated.
Nolan moved in Terminator armor and searched around the entire base quickly.
Then, according to David's instructions, he found the hard drive used by the base to store data.
Then, Nolan took the hard drive and several Hydra-made energy guns he'd salvaged.
He walked out of the base with Bucky, who was now covered in grime and drying blood, but had recovered a little from his injuries.
The Valkyrie, its engine roaring, quickly landed on the rocky, uneven surface of Mount Fuji.
Nolan moved in Terminator armor into the cabin.
He saw a petite young girl with a cold, expressionless face.
"David, is she the source of your intelligence?" Nolan asked, taking off his diamond-shaped helmet with a hiss of decompression. He narrowed his cyan wolf eyes slightly.
He asked David, who slowly stood up from the cockpit.
David raised a metal palm and pointed at Yukio's position.
With blue light flashing in his optics, he whispered to Nolan, "My Lord. This human named Yukio is the adopted daughter of the Yashida family. She is willing to offer her loyalty to you if you save Mariko, the legal heir of the Yashida family. Have you found a human woman inside the Mount Fuji Base?"
Nolan frowned, baring his fangs subconsciously.
He turned his head to look at Bucky, who was sitting heavily in a cabin seat and gasping for air, and asked:
"Bucky, did you see any women in the base?"
"No." Bucky's voice was rough. He hesitated for a moment, his eyes closing as he replayed the last hour.
He lowered his head and pondered.
Finally, he determined the answer.
"No. The Hydra in the base have been completely destroyed, and no hidden room has been found. There are definitely no prisoners."
Nolan narrowed his cyan wolf eyes and stared at Yukio, who was trembling all over, her hands clenched into white-knuckled fists. He grinned, a cold, predatory expression.
"Girl. The person you want to save isn't here."
"On behalf of the Yashida family, I offer you... offer you... loyalty." Her voice was shaking. "Please, be sure to save Mariko-neesan!"
The trembling Yukio took a few deep, shuddering breaths. She suppressed her emotional fluctuations, her knuckles white, and tried to raise her expressionless face.
Hearing the other party's stumbling words, Nolan seemed to be thinking about something. He lowered his head and pondered for a while, studying her.
He said lightly:
"You're in no position to offer loyalty. However, if the time and opportunity are right, I am interested in setting up an outpost base in Japan."
The next second, Yukio's eyes widened. This was her only chance.
She shouted hurriedly, her words tumbling out:
"I am familiar with everything about the Yashida family! I also know the route to the other Hydra base!"
"I am willing to lead you to Hiroshima! The resistance forces in the Yashida family are also willing to be used by you!"