Chapter 55: Metal Storm
At 21:40, the Second Branch of the Army General Hospital. The patients, family members, and medical staff who had come and gone during the day had suddenly vanished without a trace, as if they had all agreed on a signal.
In fact, it wasn’t just these two connected medical buildings; the entire military hospital had fallen into a peculiar silence. The once-bustling corridors were now left with countless armed troops from the Dark Arrow unit, alongside various special operations vehicles.
Han Jielisi, Meng Huai, and Han Bi were all dressed in black combat uniforms of the Dark Arrow, their expressions varied as they gazed at the two 25-story connected medical buildings before them.
“The surveillance analysis from earlier today has confirmed that one unidentified male and one unidentified female entered the building. They disguised themselves as a doctor and a nurse, and are now hiding in the second anesthesia preparation room on the 20th floor of Building A.”
Han Jielisi looked at the tablet in her hand, her tone calm. “The male is two to three centimeters taller than Xia Yan, and his build is slightly different. Based on A-recognition simulation analysis, the likelihood of him being Xia Yan is very low. As for the woman… there’s no effective intelligence on her.”
Both wore masks that obscured their faces and had taken temperature-increasing drugs, injected with internal and external hormone suppressants to conceal their identities, making it impossible to discern their true levels. However, based on the response of the tracking butterflies released on-site, they should be two knights of considerable strength.
As Han Jielisi said this, her expression grew peculiar. “Sister San, Brother Meng, those two aren’t Xia Yan and Gu Yao at all. Don’t you think… they seem more like individuals sent to act on behalf of Xia Yan, or perhaps they’re waiting for her?”
Meng Huai, who exchanged a glance with Han Jielisi, frowned slightly, still sensing something in the plan that remained inadequately explained.
Seconds later, Meng Huai turned to Han Bi with a serious expression. “Han Bi, you’ve leveraged the Han family’s influence to initiate this capture operation, even pressing headquarters on some principle issues to force them into making choices!”
Han Bi turned his head, sweeping his gaze past the two men, chuckling nonchalantly. “Unfortunately, it’s very likely not Xia Yan and Gu Yao. At the very least, they have a direct connection to Xia Yan… Do you think after all this, those two unfamiliar blood family knights just stumbled in here by accident?”
Headquarters had already elevated the task of capturing Xia Yan and Gu Yao to level B. What confidential information is behind this, I don’t care. All I know is that they surely have some value that I cannot understand, and it’s not just going to stir up trouble for us. A level B target, that’s a treatment worthy of a blood family viscount.
“I’ve assessed that harboring Xia Yan or even blood family forces coveting her could intervene this time and lead to a failed capture. Now that we’ve successfully confirmed their identities, whether the two are Xia Yan and Gu Yao is irrelevant.”
Han Jielisi was taken aback, slowly her expression turned intriguing. “Sister San, you’ve played a big hand.”
Your plan has never directly targeted Xia Yan, or rather, you’re more interested in what else lies behind them. “What a crazy woman…”
Meng Huai sighed deeply, glancing at his watch, only moments before 22:00. At this moment, he finally understood why Han Xiao cared so much about capturing Xia Yan. “Calculating even against the headquarters like this… If this ends in failure, do you think the Han family can still stand as before?”
Meng Huai’s face grew cold, and he found it increasingly hard to understand the thoughts of the woman beside him. “Heh, with the men of the Han family nearly extinct, does it even matter if we stand or fall?”
“Meng Huai, the information behind Working Group 430 has been classified at the highest security level! Therefore, from the beginning, I didn’t believe Xia Yan and Gu Yao could be treated as isolated targets. Unless we uncover the forces behind Xia Yan, we will never catch them, and that’s my conclusion!”
Han Xiao looked at Meng Huai, a hint of a mocking smile at the corner of her lips. “Meng Huai, I think you hate vampires more than anyone. You’d like to solve every nightmare related to them in the limited time you have.”
“Xia Yan and Gu Yao have only just become blood family; the greatest threat isn’t them per se but rather the blood family forces attempting to possess them!”
“Enough of this talking, it’s time!” Meng Huai pulled back the bolt on his gun and strode towards the deployment area of the armored battalion.
In that direction was the outermost line of the entire blockade; the assault squad and support squad of the armored battalion, over 200 fully armed soldiers, were already ready for action.
Casting a sideways glance at the exuberant female captain of the Embroidered Uniform Battalion, Han Jielisi suddenly felt she was unable to read her cousin clearly; the other party seemed to be doing more than just proving herself.
At exactly 22:00, on the 20th floor of Building A.
Zhao Peng and Xia Yan, both wearing masks, walked down the empty corridor, their figures clad in scrubs that made them appear somewhat bulky, seemingly hiding more complex attire beneath.
From the moment they emerged from the hidden second anesthesia preparation room, Jiang Yan had completely lost heart.
There was not a single person on the entire floor; clearly, all personnel had evacuated. It was likely that their shadows had long been captured on the Dark Arrow unit’s surveillance screens.
Ahead were the heavily guarded hospital rooms from hours earlier, but now the corridors were utterly deserted. Jiang Yan wore a somewhat grim smile as she mechanically pushed open the door to a room, only to find that the elderly Jiang Chunhua was missing from the hospital bed.
As if she had anticipated it, the moment Jiang Yan opened the hospital door, Zhao Peng grabbed her arm and quickly retreated.
They began to run faster, both activating their boiling blood and tearing off their surgical gowns.
The hormonal changes inside and outside their bodies occurred violently as special blood energy proteins stored in their bone marrow began to rapidly decompose, filling their bodies with immense physical power.
Suddenly, both connected medical buildings experienced a power outage, except for the individually powered emergency exit lights. The interior of the buildings was pitch black. Jiang Yan knew this was a common tactic of the Dark Arrow unit; even though vampires had excellent night vision, they aimed to disrupt the vampires’ actions as much as possible.
In the dark building, Jiang Yan was running at high speed, with Zhao Peng closely following.
At that moment, Jiang Yan was clad in a tight black combat suit unique to Hyacinths, layered with tactical gear, and donned bulletproof armor, with knives and guns strapped to her thighs.
Beneath the tactical cover, the snug combat suit outlined the graceful curves of her youthful body, her long ponytail lifting behind her. With blood-red eyes, her expression was icy; amidst her heroic demeanor lay a strong, killing intent, like a butterfly flitting between life and death.
The completely activated boiling blood caused the intensity of Jiang Yan’s breath to rise rapidly and then burst through to the next tier of knight, continuing to ascend… The monstrous presence inside her named Xia Yan finally retreated in fear, fleeing far away without a backward glance.
Similarly, Zhao Peng, who had also fired up his boiling blood to its peak, could only barely keep up with Jiang Yan’s speed, filled with shock as he watched her back.
After all, the Siberian blood family was not known for speed or mobility. Yet Jiang Yan, at the level of a high-tier attendant, managed to unleash speed and mobility surpassing that of a high-tier knight, once again shattering Zhao Peng’s perceptions.
Even if there was no power cut, they couldn’t take the elevator; Zhao Peng and Jiang Yan had to swiftly descend several floors via the stairwell, passing through several hallways before reaching their designated point of escape.
Unfortunately, the darkness lasted less than ten seconds before countless blinding searchlights enveloped the entire medical building from all directions, piercing through the glass and illuminating every passage and room within.
As the frontline commander of this operation, Han Bi stood atop a special operations vehicle, waving his hand lightly.
Before and behind him, as well as at various high vantage points, hundreds of fully armed soldiers from the Dark Arrow unit had taken position, their tactical helmet visors revealing only pairs of either tense or indifferent eyes.
Once the order to fire was given, all weapons simultaneously spat fire.
Like the arrival of midnight on New Year’s Eve, countless gunfire erupted around the building. Bullets of various calibers painted vibrant strokes across the night, forming a wider net of light, sweeping across a corridor where two figures were sprinting.
The outer glass shattered before the supersonic flying bullets, countless shards of glass and shredded aluminum parts flew in a flurry.
Under the brilliant searchlight, the wall on the opposite side of the corridor became pockmarked, the splattering projectiles creating a chaotic scene of cracked tiles, scattered bricks, and plaster dust, as large sections of the wall crumbled, resembling the devastation left by a monstrous tongue’s sweep.
Zhao Peng and Jiang Yan ran with dazzling speed and agile direction changes, emerging under the torrent of this terrifying metal storm.
This frenzied and extravagant fire assault lasted nearly a minute, directly trapping Zhao Peng and Jiang Yan in the mid-rise of Building B.
Immediately afterwards, the roar of helicopters thundered through the night; several large black transport helicopters circled overhead, spotlighting the area and deploying two squads of Dark Arrow troops onto the rooftops of both medical buildings via rope descent.
Simultaneously, two additional squads of Dark Arrow troops surged into the entrance at the lower level and the underground parking lot, including Han Xiao, who was leading the charge.
In Building B, on a mid-level floor, the design of the building’s exterior differed, combined with the load-bearing wall layout of the waiting area, creating a temporary refuge for Zhao Peng and Jiang Yan while blocking out most of the searchlight’s beams.
The two leaned against the nurse station platform in the waiting area, each pulled out a syringe and jabbed it into their legs.
This was an expensive boiling blood agent that could substantially increase boiling blood thresholds and stability within an hour; it was one of the highest-tier drugs in the contemporary vampire world, monopolized by mainstream blood family houses in Europe and America, and quite difficult to obtain domestically.
They had traversed through several layers of frantic fire lockdown zones and had reached their designated floor. Next, they only needed to cross a corridor to reach their escape point.
Unfortunately, Zhao Peng had been gravely injured along the way; one leg and one arm were shattered, and the wounds cauterized by silver ions had turned black and charred.
In addition, Zhao Peng’s back and shoulders bore multiple carbonized wounds of varying sizes, and even his face had been marked with dark bloodlines from shrapnel.
A minute ago, while rushing across the enclosed aerial corridor connecting the two buildings, a single soldier-launched high-explosive rocket had screamed in, causing Zhao Peng to perform a mid-air roll and shield Jiang Yan from the terrifying heat and rampant shrapnel, leaving her unharmed.
Unfortunately, after landing, Zhao Peng was unlucky, getting hit by the dense metal storm outside the corridor, leading to his current condition.
“Xiao Yan, I’ll cover you for a few seconds; you go first…”
Zhao Peng’s eyes were bloodshot; after removing his mask, he breathed heavily, his body temperature still rising, clearly breaking through the threshold of his boiling blood.
His appearance could now be described as grotesque. The bodily distortions after breaking through the boiling blood threshold were visibly alarming.
The bones and muscle tissue of his legs began to twist; miraculously, the broken leg gradually restored itself in this skeletal mutation, taking on a horrifying reverse-joint appearance.
His palms started to morph into claw-like structures reminiscent of metal.
To withstand the impending onslaught of metal storms, Zhao Peng had unleashed every potential of a high-tier knight’s peak.
The silver bullet remnants still in his body tormented him like a torture to those in boiling blood states; it was an extremely dangerous desperate gamble.
Having accepted many of Wanyue’s personal teachings and rigorous training over the years, Zhao Peng’s current physical state made it difficult to ensure he could make it through to the end of the final corridor under heavy fire. His boiling blood state felt more like paving a path to survival for Jiang Yan at the cost of his own life.
“Don’t say that; I’ll carry you!”
Jiang Yan tore off her mask, smiling as she held Zhao Peng down before he could leap up; her voice was calm. “Zhao Peng, if I don’t make it back this time, please take good care of Xiao Yao for me.”
Before Zhao Peng could respond, Jiang Yan struck fiercely at his heart with a heavy punch, even denting the special bulletproof armor made of composite materials.
The violent impact nearly caused Zhao Peng’s heart to stop; a sense of dizziness and spasms from blood deprivation spread through his body. He lost control of himself as the boiling blood began to recede, and his mutations started to reverse slowly.
Then, Jiang Yan untied the rope from her waist pouch, binding Zhao Peng’s body to her back, then crouched down to gather her strength, preparing to make a final sprint down the brightly lit corridor illuminated by the searchlights at the end of the darkness.
Suddenly, in the waiting hall, where only the faint glow of the emergency exit sign lit up, the sound of metallic objects hitting the floor echoed, followed by billowing smoke as if someone had thrown several smoke grenades.
A few seconds later, the smoke alarm on the independently powered floor was triggered, and countless automatic sprinklers began dousing the ceiling, making it rain indoors.
Both Jiang Yan and the weakened Zhao Peng were momentarily taken aback.
After hesitating, Jiang Yan slowly supported Zhao Peng and retreated to a dark corner, her eyes filled with confusion as she observed the unfolding event.
At the far end of the dark hall, near the corridor entrance, footsteps approached, sounding like two people.
Amidst the indoor rain created by the sprinklers, two figures, one tall and one short, a man and a woman, slowly walked in, each holding a large plastic bucket. As they strolled, the pair of black-clad individuals poured streams of liquid from their buckets, causing a familiar metallic smell of blood to gradually permeate the floor.
A few moments later, the sprinklers ceased working, and aside from the sound of dripping water, the waiting hall fell silent again, though the lingering scent of blood intensified.
Within seconds, from upstairs and downstairs, the vague sound of dense footsteps echoed; it was the Dark Arrow unit, nearly a hundred strong, preparing to complete the encirclement.
