Chapter 1186: A necessary measure

Capítulo 1186: A necessary measure

The man in front stared at Ethan and Skinny Pete. “Put Colonel Hale down, and I’ll release them.”

“Who told you to bring them here on your own?!” Leonard roared from the floor, mangled and barely recognizable after the beating.

Yeah, Leonard knew they were trying to save him.

But facing two Tier 10 Enhanced, how the hell did they dare bring the hostages here? If the other side caught even a tiny opening, their only bargaining chip would be gone.

“Don’t worry, Colonel Hale—we’ll get you out!” the leader said.

Then he saw Skinny Pete start walking over and immediately barked, “Stop! Don’t move! One more step and we shoot!”

Skinny Pete frowned and glanced at Ethan.

The moment they came in, Ethan had already started calculating.

A little over twenty of them. Over twenty rifles pressed to two old people’s heads—M4A1 carbines.

The parents were normal humans. If they got hit, they’d probably die on the spot.

Worse, the couple was separated. With [Teleportation], Ethan could save one, but the other would be in danger.

Ethan thought for a few seconds, then shot Skinny Pete a look—his eyes flicking upward.

Skinny Pete gave a tiny nod.

“Hurry up!” the leader snapped, ramming his muzzle harder against Skinny Pete’s father’s temple. “Put Colonel Hale down or I’ll kill him first!”

“You want an exchange?” Ethan said calmly. “Fine. But who goes first—your hostages, or our Colonel?”

“You’re the strong ones,” the leader said harshly. “So you go first. And you don’t just ‘let him go’—Colonel Hale has to be safely out of here. Then we release them.”

“And how do I know you won’t screw us the second I comply?” Ethan asked.

“They’re useless to us,” the leader insisted. “Once you release Colonel Hale, we release them. Simple.”

Ethan laughed quietly. “Anyone can say that. Why would I believe you?”

“Then what do you want?”

“You send one of them over first.”

“No!” Leonard shouted from the floor.

He’d seen Ethan’s ghostlike movement. If one parent was released, it would hand Ethan an opening on a silver platter.

Smack!

Ethan backhanded Leonard across the face.

“Is anyone asking you?”

“You—!”

“Stop!” the leader shouted. “Touch Colonel Hale again and I’ll pay you back on them—exactly!”

“Fine.” Ethan’s voice stayed even. “I won’t touch him. Now send one over, and I’ll give you Colonel Hale.”

“Impossible,” the leader snarled. “You release Colonel Hale first!”

“Then there’s nothing to talk about.”

“…!”

For a moment, the room locked up in a tense deadlock.

Then chaos erupted outside—shouts, scrambling footsteps, panicked yelling.

“Mutant beasts!”

“Flying mutant beasts!”

“How the hell did mutant beasts get this close? Are the wall guards asleep?!”

“All the high-Tier Enhanced came here—those are Tier 9 mutant beasts! The guards can’t stop them!”

“Watch it! It’s heading for Colonel Hale’s mansion—stop it!”

BOOM—!

The mansion’s front door and part of the wall blew inward, blasted open into a jagged hole.

A massive golden eagle burst through and swooped into the room.

Everyone inside jolted, reflexively turning toward the crash—

And in that heartbeat, Ethan moved.

His figure flickered.

He appeared beside Skinny Pete’s mother, grabbed her, and hurled her toward Skinny Pete.

No pause.

Ethan teleported again, instantly appearing beside Skinny Pete’s father.

The guards finally reacted and squeezed their triggers.

Rat-tat-tat—!

A storm of rifle fire tore toward them.

Two huge plates of chitin snapped into existence, wrapping around Skinny Pete’s father like an armored shell.

Bullets pinged off with sharp metallic clicks, but not a single one left even a scratch.

On the other side, Skinny Pete caught his mother and pulled her tight, throwing his own body between her and the incoming fire—taking the bullets meant for her head-on.

Ethan’s poleaxe flashed into his hands as he pulled it from his spatial storage ring.

He swung it in a wide, horizontal sweep.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

A series of heavy, dull impacts landed almost back-to-back.

The bodies of the surrounding guards—Enhanced or not—blew apart on the spot.

That one swing froze the entire room.

Eyes went bloodshot. People looked like they wanted to charge in, to shoot, to do something—but when they saw the poleaxe dripping red, they all stopped. Nobody dared move.

Leonard squeezed his eyes shut in pain and despair.

It’s over.

Completely over.

Ethan dragged Skinny Pete’s father back to Skinny Pete, then pulled out two more Ironback Rat carapace plates and wrapped Skinny Pete’s mother in armor too.

“Ethan,” Skinny Pete said, voice shaking with fury held barely in check, “watch my parents for me. I’ll handle the rest.”

“Got it.” Ethan nodded and tossed Skinny Pete his spear from the spatial ring.

Skinny Pete lunged straight into the remaining crowd, stabbing without hesitation.

They’d held guns to his parents’ heads.

They had to die.

Against a Tier 10 Skinny Pete, these Tier 7 and Tier 8 Enhanced were helpless. They tried to run, but Nugget blocked the exit completely, sealing the doorway like a living wall.

In the end, every last one of them fell under Skinny Pete’s spear.

When it was done, Skinny Pete came back to Ethan, breathing hard.

“Ethan… thanks.”

“How many times do I have to say it?” Ethan shot back. “Between us, you don’t say thanks.”

“Yeah.” Skinny Pete nodded.

Then the two of them walked back to Leonard.

Leonard’s face was ashen now, empty of fight.

“You got your people,” he said hoarsely. “I know you won’t let me live. Just give me a clean death.”

Ethan flicked Skinny Pete a look.

Now.

Leonard was at his weakest—his willpower stripped down to nothing. There was a chance.

Skinny Pete nodded and stared into Leonard’s dead eyes. [Enthrallment] activated.

Just like Ethan predicted, Leonard didn’t even have time to resist this time.

He went slack, controlled.

“What is ‘live experimentation’?” Ethan asked again.

“Using living humans for experiments,” Leonard said dully.

“…Yeah, I got that.” Ethan’s voice sharpened. “I’m asking what the purpose is.”

Leonard’s face twitched, struggling.

Skinny Pete immediately increased the pressure, both of them watching Leonard nervously—afraid he’d end up like Lucas.

Thankfully, Leonard was tougher than Lucas. He didn’t break.

After a moment, he spoke again, still wooden.

“Two days ago, the Hale family found a method near Atlas City—in a special space—that can create thralls.”

“It can massively increase the thralls’ strength, and they will obey orders absolutely.”

“But the method is dangerous. If it goes wrong, the body explodes and the subject dies.”

“After repeated tests, we learned the stronger the subject is, the higher the success rate.”

“But Tier 9 Enhanced already failed. So we had to try someone stronger.”

Ethan’s eyes narrowed. “So you targeted us.”

“Yes,” Leonard said. “I thought Tier 8 or Tier 9 would come. I didn’t expect Tier 10. So I swapped those two out at the last second to stall you.”

“You seriously thought you could handle us?” Ethan asked.

“No,” Leonard admitted. “But I have poison developed from mutated venomous snakes. As long as you stayed in Goldcrest City, I’d eventually get a chance.”

“…Holy shit.” Ethan stared at him. “So you really were going to poison us.”

“A necessary measure,” Leonard said, expressionless.

Skinny Pete’s jaw tightened. “Necessary my ass.”