Explosions echoed in the distance, and Hela tensed, knowing that Han Xiao had begun to attract attention.

A large group of pursuers appeared ahead, running toward the explosions. The leader, an executive, saw Hela and frowned. "You're going the wrong way. The enemy is behind you."

"I have another mission."

Hela donned her icy mask once more, pushed through the crowd, and hurried away against the flow of people.

She encountered more than a dozen waves of pursuers along the way. Hela dared not stop. Fortunately, they only looked at her with suspicion and did not question or pursue her. They brushed past her in a hurry.

The incident had happened suddenly, and Hela's betrayal had not yet been exposed. Even with her strong will, she could not help but secretly rejoice that Han Xiao had reacted in time, destroying all the cameras and creating their current advantageous situation.

Only matters involving her sister could melt Hela's indifference and stir her emotions.

She arrived at her target floor without incident. All the members had rushed upstairs to encircle and intercept Zero. With no one around, Hela began to destroy the cameras along the way, preventing the exact location of the secret passage from being discovered later, because once Germination came to their senses, they would surely notice that Aurora had disappeared.

After completing everything, Hela opened the secret door and entered the hidden passage. It was a dark and narrow tunnel, only allowing someone to move forward by crouching.

Closing the secret door to the passage, all sounds were cut off. Silence permeated everything, and the tense emotions were dispelled, leaving only the sound of a gradually slowing heartbeat.

Only now did Hela truly breathe a sigh of relief, her spirit relaxing.

Entering the passage meant that the escape plan was more than half successful.

The backpack wriggled. Hela opened the zipper, and Aurora poked out her little head, curiously looking around. "Did we escape?"

"Almost," Hela said, affectionately stroking Aurora's head.

Aurora obediently rubbed her cheek against the back of Hela's hand, hiding her face in the bag, revealing only a pair of watery eyes. She suddenly asked, "Where's Uncle Zero..."

Hela's voice caught in her throat. "We'll wait for him for five minutes at most. He should... be here soon."

Aurora tilted her head. "Sister, Uncle Zero seems very strong."

"He's alright, I guess," Hela said vaguely.

"Sister, why did he come to save me?"

"How would I know?" Hela said, but her hand involuntarily touched the photo hidden in her pocket. She remembered when she was still at the base, Zero had looked at this photo. Could it be that...

But at that time, Zero was preoccupied with his own problems, so why did he remember this small matter? He only glanced at the photo and planned today's action. Could it be that his "precognition" ability allowed him to see some future...?

Hela shook her head, still unable to understand Han Xiao's motives. She only felt that his figure was like a cloud of mist, difficult to grasp. Germination's current situation was almost entirely caused by him. She was filled with apprehension towards such a person.

She recalled that when they were at the base, Zero was still her student, weak and easily crushed. But now, in such a short period of time, he had become someone she also feared. The world was ever-changing. Hela was expressionless, but she sighed inwardly.

"Sister, Uncle Zero, he..."

"Stop mentioning him," Hela said impatiently. Although Han Xiao had saved her sister, she could not reconcile the Zero who had trained at the base with the current Han Xiao. She felt that something crucial was missing, a strange familiarity, as if she had seen him somewhere else, but she could not remember where.

Aurora said in a aggrieved tone, "When you told me stories, you clearly admired him..."

"Nonsense," Hela said, pinching Aurora's cheek.

At this moment, a third voice rang out in the dark, narrow space, with a strange tone.

"Did I hear that right? You actually admire me."

Hela turned around in an instant, her Esper Ability about to be released, but she felt an iron-like hand grip her wrist, pressing her hard against the wall in a textbook-perfect *bi咚* (wall slam).

By the dim red light, she could see the third person who had suddenly appeared. It was Han Xiao, who was supposed to be outside attracting the enemy's attention.

"Why are you here?!" Hela was shocked.

Han Xiao released her and chuckled. "I'm everywhere."

Hela's body went limp, and she dispersed her Esper Ability, looking astonished. She remembered very clearly that the passage had only been opened once by her, and had not been opened again. How did Han Xiao get in? Did he walk through walls?

Han Xiao smiled without speaking. When he took the initiative to suggest splitting up, he had a simple but effective plan. Of course, he would not gamble on whether Hela would tell him the truth. So he left two measures: one was to put a simple tracker on Aurora's bag, and the second was a trump card he had never used before, the Dean Character Summon Card he had obtained in West洲 (West Continent), which granted a special stealth Esper Ability.

Although he was strong, he was not willing to be ganged up on. His main task was to escape the headquarters. So after taking down Number One, Han Xiao walked forward and blew up all the cameras at the intersection, giving Germination the illusion that he was in that area. Then he activated the Dean Character Summon Card and quietly followed Hela back the way he came.

Whether Hela was telling the truth or not, she was definitely walking through the real secret passage.

The Dean Character Summon Card's ability was called "You Can't See Me," which was exactly what it did. Han Xiao swaggered past, and the pursuers completely ignored him.

In this way, all the enemies were attracted to the area where Han Xiao had been active, not knowing that he had run away invisibly. Han Xiao followed Hela all the way, and when she opened the passage, he jumped in with her.

What surprised the Great Technician Han was that the location Hela told him was actually real. The room name and location matched. To be honest, Hela's expression when they parted ways almost made him think he was going to be sold out, but the result was unexpected. He didn't expect Hela to be loyal enough not to abandon him, her benefactor.

In fact, Hela had hesitated, but in the end, she chose to tell the truth.

Han Xiao had saved Aurora. If she abandoned him, Hela didn't know how she would face her sister. Although the evil side of her heart tempted her to be ruthless, she hesitated for a long time and finally gave up the temptation to kick him to the curb.

Compared to the transformed [Death Goddess] of his previous life, the current Hela had not been completely swallowed by darkness and despair. Her heart was dark and silent, but there were still clouds and stars shining. Aurora was her star and moon.

Han Xiao had originally thought that if Hela double-crossed him, he would suddenly appear, and Hela would be embarrassed and ashamed, and her good feelings would rise rapidly. She would owe him a favor. But Hela didn't sell him out. Han Xiao couldn't help but be impressed. Although he was mentally prepared for it, no one wanted to be betrayed, and his mood immediately improved.

"Little kid, what stories did your sister tell you about me?" Han Xiao finally had the chance to ask.

Aurora was about to obediently answer, but Hela interrupted expressionlessly. "Don't waste time. This is only the front section of the passage. We need to go to an abandoned underground tunnel. Let's go quickly."

Hela led the way with Aurora, decisive and efficient.

Han Xiao scratched his head and had to follow. He suddenly remembered something and slapped his forehead. "Oops, I forgot to ask the old man what the trigger word is for Aurora's brainwashed personality... Oh well, let's get out of here first."

...

On the other side, thousands of Germination members were searching for traces in the area where Han Xiao had disappeared, but they found nothing.

"Reporting, Leader, no target found."

One executive after another came to report, with the same message.

The leader's eyes were spitting fire. He clenched his fist, crumpling his glove, and roared in a low voice, "The last area where the cameras saw him was here. He's in this area. How can we not find him?!"

"That's right. I saw him go in this direction," Number One said loudly from the side, with a resentful expression. Researchers were helping him reassemble his limbs.

"Find him for me!"

The leader slammed his fist against the wall with a thud. The steel tore and twisted like paper, undulating like a long snake. The executives were silent, and had no choice but to search again.

The leader originally thought that Han Xiao had become a trapped beast. He rubbed his hands together, preparing to compete with Zero and personally kill this great enemy of the organization, to vent his resentment. But the result of his preparations was a wild goose chase. The accumulated power was suffocating in his body, and the sense of disappointment almost made his lungs explode.

Every time he dealt with Zero, it was a series of failures. The leader was almost at the end of his rope. He glanced coldly at the super soldier parts scattered on the ground and cursed the trash.

Taking out his computer, the leader thoroughly investigated the clues again and suddenly noticed an anomaly. The cameras on the floor below had also been blown up, and he had a bad feeling.

"Does he have accomplices?" The leader tapped on the keyboard, quickly bringing up one interface after another. He suddenly discovered a new trace of manipulation. The camera records in area A-4 seemed to have been tampered with. He suddenly thought of something and said, "Send people to investigate area A-4."

Soon, the news came back.

"The defense measures were disabled from the backend, the guards are dead, and the little girl has been taken away."

Suddenly, a line connected all the clues: Aurora's disappearance, the blown-up cameras, why Hela didn't entangle Zero, and so on.

He had been played!

The leader suddenly realized, and his aura surged with rage, spewing out a steel-chewing sound from between his teeth. "Hela!! You traitor!!"

"Immediately investigate Hela's whereabouts. She ran away with Zero!"

Everyone was shocked, and the orders were passed down one level after another. More people were mobilized. However, before Hela left, she blew up the cameras on the entire floor. Even if they knew she had disappeared on that floor, they didn't know the exact location.

Just then, someone finally brought the unconscious Cerberus to the leader. After a flurry of slaps, Cerberus slowly woke up. He looked up and saw the leader's murderous expression, and his expression immediately became tense.

The leader said coldly, "Tell me everything you know!"

Where would Cerberus dare to hide anything? He recounted everything from when he was taken hostage until he was knocked unconscious.

"He took the organization's confidential information and snatched Aurora..." Cerberus said carefully, "He... he might be an Esper!"

An Esper?!

The leader staggered. If it was an unkillable Esper, the organization would almost certainly lose.

Taking a deep breath, the leader said resolutely, "It's just speculation. Once I kill him, I'll know if he's an Esper!"

The leader had Cerberus taken away. Seeing as he was still useful for research, he spared his life. He never had any hope for Cerberus' loyalty.

"Open the outer encirclement. He can escape the headquarters, but he can't escape this continent!" the leader said coldly.

The headquarters' forces were only the tip of the iceberg.