Shortly after they left, the signal from the abandoned pickup truck on the roadside suddenly reappeared.
Almost at the same moment, the blaring alarm at the town's monitoring center suddenly went off, breaking the silence of the night.
"Damn it! How the hell did that vehicle show up a hundred and eighty miles away?!"
The tracking team captain's face went white, and he slammed his fist on the control panel.
"We've been played. Adrian and Logan broke through the blockade ages ago without making a sound!"
A team member stared at the screen, his voice quiet but shocked: "They didn't just block all signals—they managed to leave town without setting off a single alarm... This is insane."
"Mutants like these are perfect killing machines, born for the battlefield," the captain said through gritted teeth. These battle-hardened soldiers knew it all too well.
The abilities Adrian had shown were basically the ultimate assassination method every intelligence agency and spec ops team dreamed of.
"Report it now! Start emergency pursuit procedures!" the captain roared, spinning around to face the comms officer.
"Notify all units: that kid cannot escape!"
The message went out fast, and the powerful forces backing the lab sprang into action. Everyone understood that as long as Adrian was brought back under control, all their previous losses could be written off.
Adrian's detailed file was quickly handed to the higher-ups running the experimental project.
"Damn it! Why didn't anyone realize how terrifying his abilities were for all these years?!"
The lab's financier was pissed after seeing the report, slamming his fist on the mahogany desk hard enough to splash coffee from his cup.
"Sir, he's always been... hiding it," a researcher explained nervously, pushing up his glasses.
"All the records show he could only mess with light perception to pull off basic optical invisibility. But based on how he escaped this time... he never showed his real Mutant abilities during all the years he was with us."
"Contact our people in the city, set up every checkpoint, and absolutely don't let him get away," the financier said coldly to his assistant, keeping his anger in check.
To run a Mutant lab this size, the forces he had at his disposal weren't anything to mess with.
Besides an elite private security force, he also had deep connections with major gangs across the United States. And the city Adrian and Logan were heading to was one of his most heavily fortified spots.
"Yes, Boss," the assistant replied quietly, quickly grabbing the communicator to start deployment.
Meanwhile, Logan was sneaking into the city with Adrian on his back.
This was a small city with a dead economy and serious population loss, stuck in one of the more run-down states in the Midwest, nowhere near the busy cities like New York or Washington.
The streets were wide but empty, with way more abandoned houses than lit windows.
The two quietly slipped into an empty house with a decent view, temporarily hiding in a south-facing room on the second floor.
"Pretty sure we've been exposed."
Adrian leaned against the wall, his face pale as a ghost. Even after two days of rest, his body was still seriously weak.
The constant use of Elemental Control abilities had basically drained his mental and physical strength completely.
Since awakening his abilities, he'd lived under the grip of an inhibitor, never getting the chance to actually train this power.
If not for suddenly remembering his past life, which let him recall deeper psychokinetic techniques, they'd probably still be stuck in that lab.
"You look... can you actually hold on?" Logan frowned, a rare hint of worry in his voice.
"I'll be fine after some rest." Adrian closed his eyes, trying to steady his breathing.
"The next stretch is crucial. This is an urban area—they won't dare use heavy weapons, at most just light firepower... That works in our favor. As long as we break out of here, we're home free."
"Still going with the original plan? I'm the bait?" Logan asked quietly.
"Yeah. But the resistance should be lighter than expected." Adrian managed a faint smile.
"Based on how the town reacted and what's happening now, that riot at the lab cost them big time... Otherwise, we would've heard helicopters by now."
"Alright." Logan didn't say anything else. The moment he turned around, his eyes changed completely.
It was like he'd switched back to being that cold-blooded killer on the battlefield, with nothing but icy killing intent left in his gaze.
He knew his nearly immortal body and insane self-healing ability made him an incredibly valuable research subject for powerful people obsessed with the secret of eternal life.
Because of that, he'd volunteered to be the bait, drawing all the firepower.
"Hoo... hoo... Need to hurry." Adrian struggled to sit upright. The elemental energy floating in the air slowly started flowing into his body.
Even without actively using his abilities, this energy would keep nourishing his flesh and organs. Wisps of faint, multicolored light circulated around him, flickering on and off, looking especially mysterious in the dim room.
Meanwhile, Logan moved like a ghost through the city alleys, soon reaching the eastern part of the city, more than six miles from Adrian's hiding spot.
He immediately spotted armed gang members on patrol.
"Just like I thought—even slower than Adrian figured." Logan's lips curled into a cold sneer.
The next second, he lunged forward, bone claws tearing through his skin, their sharpness suddenly on full display.
"Roar!!" A beast-like roar, the whistle of bullets, and human screams instantly shattered the night's peace.
"Shoot! Keep shooting! Kill him!" the gang leader yelled hoarsely, his rifle spitting fire nonstop, but he could never lock onto Logan's ghost-like movements.
Even when the occasional bullet hit, it was instantly negated by his healing ability.
"Monster... that guy can't be killed!" Blood splattered everywhere, and a bunch of gang members lost it psychologically, starting to run in total panic.
The security team that'd just arrived in the city also got the news and immediately deployed in tactical formation, converging on Logan's position from multiple directions.
"Need to make more noise." Logan's eyes were ice cold. He grabbed a dropped submachine gun and didn't hesitate to spray bullets everywhere. Gunfire flashed, and blood bloomed like dark flowers in the night, one after another.
Time ticked by. Logan, like some tireless killing machine, weaved and fought between the gang members and security personnel.
He had zero mercy for these people—they oppressed civilians, dealt drugs, committed every crime in the book, so their deaths weren't worth pitying.
Suddenly, he sensed something was off. The enemy's formation started changing, their movements got way more coordinated, and their teamwork showed signs of professional training.
Logan licked the blood from the corner of his mouth, flashing a bloodthirsty smile.
"Finally, something decent showed up." He knew the lab's security team had arrived.
Those guys were all soldiers who'd gone through professional training and real combat—nothing like those gang members.
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