Chapter Sixty-Two: Ten Seconds

"Xia Yan!" Adam roared repeatedly, his body lunging forward. He reached out, and the surrounding violent winds began to whip up, transforming into countless blade-like gusts that swept toward Xia Yan.

Both of them possessed formidable strength. Their battle in this central zone forced the surrounding test subjects to keep their distance, while the chaotic whirlwinds continuously sliced the mutants to pieces.

The scene was a flurry of flashing blades and gleaming lights. Although Adam wielded no weapon, his fists had undergone metallic transformation, bestowing immense strength that made them sharper than ordinary arms.

The versatile blade, intermingled with the energy of the ash flames, was unstoppable!

Adam threw a punch with overwhelming force.

"The ash flames!" Adam gasped, horrified to the extreme. He could feel the ash flames invading his fist, followed immediately by an unbearable wave of agony. Blood poured from his right hand, and untold numbers of bones within it had shattered.

Given the properties of the ash flames, the physical damage they inflicted was simply terrifying. While his metallic transformation could amplify his defense to a certain extent, how could it possibly withstand the ash flames?

Adam instantly retreated, a brilliant white light flashing over his clenched fist.

"Self-healing ability?" Xia Yan's gaze narrowed. Moving with extreme velocity, he closed in on Adam and brought his blade down upon his right arm.

"Block!"

A look of shock crossed Adam's face; he had not expected Xia Yan's attack to be so fierce. He wanted to retreat, but how could he possibly escape in time?

In an instant, his right arm was cleanly severed by Xia Yan!

No matter how strong his regenerative abilities were, it was pointless. Xia Yan gave him no opportunity to heal, directly severing his limbs.

"Adam, I'll give you one more chance, the last one," Xia Yan sneered coldly. "Hand over the research data to me, immediately."

"Xia Yan!" Adam shrieked in agony, growing even more frenzied. But the moment his body moved, his left arm was sliced off by Xia Yan as well.

With his brain development rate sitting at just a little over fifty percent, how could he possibly be Xia Yan's match? Furthermore, having been previously invaded by negative emotions, it was already a miracle that he could maintain his sanity; his combat effectiveness had plummeted drastically.

This battle was an absolute annihilation!

"Hand it over to me!" Xia Yan repeated. Items like data chips were extremely fragile; if Adam were killed outright, the chip might be destroyed in the process.

Neither side held any intention of compromising. Xia Yan would never allow the research data to leak—absolutely not. He would never yield to anything related to the Demon race.

Nor did the human faction have any qualification to obtain the research data.

As for Adam, delivering the research data outward was an absolute necessity; it was the very purpose for which he had lurked here for twenty-two years.

"Xia Yan, you are a traitor! You're a traitor to humanity!" Adam screamed madly. "Why? Why are you doing this? Whose bidding are you doing?"

"Hand it over. Last chance," Xia Yan sneered. With another slash of his versatile blade, he severed Adam's left leg. The man was driven nearly insane by the pain, wailing incessantly, yet his eyes retained an unyielding madness.

"Xia Yan, you despicable traitor! Humanity will not let you go. You will surely die!" Adam roared hysterically with his remaining strength. "Xia Yan, one day, Lord Gong Kui will surely kill you! She sacrificed so much for you back then, yet you betrayed her without a shred of mercy!"

"Even humanity has no right to get their hands on this research data." Casually, Xia Yan swung his blade and decapitated Adam.

He then searched Adam's body thoroughly, finding only a damaged chip.

Betray the human race? No, he had never considered himself a traitor to humanity!

In the first place, humanity desiring to obtain such research data was fundamentally problematic!

You want to start a war? Fine. But there is one thing that cannot be tolerated: you must not destroy this already scarred and desolate world.

"How is it? It's been so long," Emilia muttered anxiously, not daring to blink.

"Sister Emilia, you don't need to worry. I can still track his location," Xiao Qing said with a smile. "When he enters the deepest part of the central zone and accesses the terminal device, I will contact him."

"That's not what I'm worried about," Emilia sighed softly. "Xiao Qing, once we contact him, how much time will we have?"

"Without exposing ourselves, fifteen seconds at most, maybe only ten," Xiao Qing replied immediately.

"Ten seconds..." Emilia frowned. "Within ten seconds, we need to persuade Xia Yan and stop him from destroying the research data. Is that even possible?"

"Destroy it?" Xiao Qing's expression changed drastically. "Sister Emilia, you mean he won't follow your orders?"

"Right. Someone like Xia Yan would never listen to me," Emilia said angrily. "I could tell from the look in his eyes back then—he will definitely destroy the core zone completely."

"This..." Xiao Qing found it hard to comprehend. "Then, Sister Emilia, why didn't you explain it clearly beforehand? It's too late now."

"There was no choice; an emergency occurred. I originally intended to explain it to Xia Yan before he carried out the mission, but unexpected events made that impossible."

"How are we supposed to convince that guy within ten seconds?!" Xiao Qing asked, utterly bewildered.

"No matter what, we only have ten seconds, and Xia Yan's identity cannot be exposed," Emilia gritted her teeth. "I have to persuade Xia Yan within those ten seconds."

District One, Jingyang City, Gong Kui's estate.

"Lord Gong Kui, it's so late. Why aren't you resting yet?" Xia Yi stood beside Gong Kui, asking with concern.

Gong Kui remained silent for a long moment before letting out a soft sigh. "The plan, I presume, has failed."

"The plan failed?" Xia Yi looked perplexed. "But this operation shouldn't have failed. We tested that drug; it can suppress the invasion of negative emotions in a short period of time. Adam shouldn't have died in a place like that."

"No," Gong Kui frowned.

"No?" Xia Yi was startled.

"He didn't die at the hands of the fiends," Gong Kui shook her head. "He died at the hands of someone else."

"Whose?" Xia Yi asked with indignation.

"At the hands of the person who made Xia Yan participate in the Free Zone auction," Gong Kui's eyes turned sharp. "Perhaps the one executing this mission was Xia Yan himself!"

"This..." Xia Yi gasped in shock. "Lord Gong Kui, do you mean to say that Xia Yan betrayed the human faction? But Xia Yan ought to be dead."

"I cannot be certain whether that person was Xia Yan. At the very least, the Chain of Purity is in the possession of the one who killed Adam." Gong Kui found it hard to believe. "Xia Yan might have died after his battle with the level-6 mutant last time... yet, no one ever found his corpse."

"He used Mad Hell; even the healing ability users of the Free Zone couldn't save him. There's no way Xia Yan could have survived," Xia Yi said uncertainly.

"Don't forget one thing," Gong Kui said with keen insight. "An ability user of absolute development..."

"What—" Xia Yi gasped in terror. "You mean... Xia Yan was saved by an absolute developer?"