Antonia

"What is this?" Reno pointed to the metal block.

"That's an IntelliServ, a type of machine," surprisingly, Daniel answered.

Reno glanced at Daniel, "What's it used for?"

After a moment of hesitation, Daniel replied, "It's used for analyzing relics."

Reno looked coldly at Daniel and fired his gun.

A shot hit Daniel in the abdomen.

"Ah!" Daniel cried out, clutching his stomach.

The gun then turned towards Fernandez. "You answer."

"I'll talk, I'll talk!" Fernandez shouted. "It's a machine used to search for relics!"

"A relic-searching machine?" Reno furrowed his brow. "It might be useful, but why is it placed with the relics?"

Fernandez yelled in fear, "No, it's not what you think. We didn't invent it; it was discovered in a relic a long time ago... Only it can find relics; we can't even replicate it."

Reno was astonished. So, this was the only machine capable of finding relics?

"Where is it?" Reno asked.

"Not here, in another secret room," Fernandez replied.

With a wave of his hand, Reno brought up the map on the terminal.

"Point it out."

Trembling, Fernandez pointed to a room.

Reno saw that the room wasn't far from here. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly widened his eyes.

Because on the map, a red dot was swiftly approaching the room. The dot had been slowly moving towards that room, but after Fernandez pointed it out, it suddenly accelerated.

Reno turned back urgently and saw a blinking light on Daniel's wrist terminal. He suddenly understood, "You have another person?"

"I didn't arrange it. The rest of Santiago's people are in the big room over there... I get it, they want to take the IntelliServ opportunity!" Fernandez exclaimed.

Reno rushed up and kicked Daniel's chin hard. The kick was fierce, shattering Daniel's jaw.

Reno turned back to Fernandez. "Although you've been cooperative, I'm sorry." He knocked him unconscious with a punch.

Then Reno called out, "Clair, come to me, take the child away."

By this time, Clair had already awakened. Due to the shared channel, everyone in the big room knew what was happening here.

With a response, Clair hurried towards Reno's direction.

As he spoke, Reno dashed quickly towards the room over there.

The red dot on the map had entered the room Fernandez pointed to, then quickly left, heading towards another fork.

Reno saw, and shouted into the terminal, "That person has obtained the IntelliServ. Ike, keep an eye on the target, send out robots."

"All combat robots have been depleted."

"Then activate the automatic defense system."

"This is a research institute; there's no automatic defense system."

"Damn!" Reno cursed.

The red dot on the map was moving incredibly fast. Reno even had trouble catching up. He shouted loudly, "Send out robots, any robots, even the ones used to brew coffee, send them to provide service, surround the target, slow down his pace!"

"Understood." The virus's rapid operations were heard in his ears. "All service robots are activating, converging towards the target, requesting comprehensive mandatory service."

A mechanical sound resounded, and various service robots appeared at this moment.

There were luggage robots with eight arms like spiders, capable of carrying a large amount of luggage; cooking robots with spatulas and lighters, skilled in making exquisite dishes without the need for a kitchen, serving as both kitchen and chef; hygiene robots with a big round belly and a vacuum arm; and lifelike humanoid robots, mostly beautiful women...

These machines surged from all directions towards the red dot.

Reno saw the speed of the red dot noticeably slow down.

He hurried to catch up, then heard a distant rumble.

Gunshots.

The speed of the red dot suddenly accelerated.

"The target is breaking through. Close the institute gates!" Reno ordered.

"It's closing... Damn it, the gates can't stop the target!" the virus shouted.

A distant sound of collapsing came from ahead.

"Damn, does the target have a mech suit on the move?" Reno cursed as well.

But from the displayed map, the speed of the red dot inevitably slowed down.

Reno hastened to catch up. After reaching a corner, he saw a pile of fallen robots.

Each robot had a bullet hole in a vital spot.

One shot, one kill!

Incredibly precise marksmanship.

For some reason, Reno felt a sense of deja vu when he saw those bullet holes.

He didn't linger but continued to chase. The gates ahead were still falling one by one, almost all of them being blown open by small-sized high-explosive bombs. These bombs weren't too powerful, but each explosion hit precisely at the vital spots, so even with minimal energy, they had maximum effect, almost one explosion, one hit.

Reno ran all the way, feeling more and more alarmed as he went.

With his extensive experience, Reno could tell at a glance that these attacks were almost all done in a state of high-speed motion, something even Nora couldn't achieve—she excelled in precise long-distance strikes, unlike these close-range consecutive shots, which Reno had only seen one person achieve.

A red figure flashed through Reno's mind.

"It can't be that coincidental," Reno muttered to himself.

Despite this, he sped forward.

The gates ahead continued to fall, collapsing continuously under attack. The virus shouted, "The target is approaching the open hall! Damn it, there's a spaceship there, Reno, hurry to intercept the target!"

Reno looked around and saw a silver disc not far away. With a wave of his hand, the disc flew to his feet, and Reno stepped on it, controlling it with telekinesis to fly forward.

Reno's telekinesis couldn't directly affect himself; he could only fly using this method. However, it was much harder to control than a hoverboard and consumed more energy.

He almost lay flat on the disc, flying through the long corridor and rushing into the open hall.

A red figure flashed before him, about to board the spaceship.

"Antonia!" Reno shouted loudly.

The red figure suddenly turned around, a gun already aimed at Reno.

The shot came fast and hard. Reno was hit immediately, falling from the silver disc and rolling towards the red figure.

The red figure took a step forward, the gun already aimed at Reno, revealing a blonde woman, slender and beautiful, wearing red combat armor, with a flight pack strapped to her back.

No wonder she was so fast.

"Johnny Reno, we meet again," the woman said with a grin.

Her voice was crisp, filled with strong confidence and pride, like a queen looking down from above.

Lying on the ground, Reno stared at the gun above him and said slowly, "Hand over the IntelliServ, and you can leave, Antonia."

"Oh, it seems like you're in my hands now?" the woman named Antonia replied with a smile.

"That doesn't prove anything," Reno stared at her intently.

"Is that so?"

They locked eyes.

Antonia seemed to sense something, she suddenly pulled the trigger.

But this time, nothing happened.

Antonia was stunned. Reno had already punched her hand, sending the gun flying, while he lunged towards her.

But as he lunged, Antonia leaped backward, pausing eerily in mid-air, then spun around with a flying kick, hitting Reno squarely in the chest, sending him flying back.

Antonia then reached back and grabbed another gun. As she aimed, Reno activated his telekinesis, sending the gun flying again, while he drew two silver pistols from his back, aiming them at Antonia and firing repeatedly.

He didn't intend to kill Antonia, so he aimed for her arms and legs.

But as he fired, Antonia swiftly retrieved two more guns, firing rapidly into the air. Bullet after bullet shot from the barrels, intercepting Reno's bullets in mid-air. In a dazzling display, bullets exploded in mid-air, falling with clear, crisp impacts.

Four guns fired relentlessly into the air, neither side relenting, neither daring to stop!

Bullet after bullet collided in mid-air.

Until finally, with all four guns depleted, the sound of empty clicks filled the air, and the gunfire finally ceased.

"You..." Reno was also stunned.

Even if one person's marksmanship was excellent, it couldn't reach such a level.

There was only one explanation for all of this: Antonia was like him!

"Didn't expect that, did you?" Antonia laughed, wiping a trickle of blood from her nose. Clearly, the high-precision bullet exchange had taken its toll on her as well. "Not only are you special, I am too, even earlier than you!"

As she spoke, flames erupted from her backpack, propelling Antonia forward, slamming into Reno.

Antonia grabbed Reno's body and flew out violently, slamming him against the wall.

The impact was fierce and heavy, leaving Reno unable to get up for a moment.

The spaceship's engines roared to life as its intelligent system, following Antonia's command, automatically activated and began to ascend slowly.

Antonia was about to board when Reno gestured, and the silver disc collided with Antonia's waist. "Leave the stuff behind!" Reno grunted.

Antonia groaned in pain. "I'll remember you." Without looking back, she continued to ascend into the ship.

Reno wanted to control the flight pack with telekinesis again but felt a wave of dizziness. He knew he had overused his telekinetic abilities once more. With a sudden lunge, he grabbed one of the guns Antonia had previously sent flying, aiming it directly at her in the air, this time aiming directly at Antonia's head.

Injuring her had no meaning; only a fatal shot would suffice.

At that moment, the ship's cannon finished charging and fired a shot upwards.

A large hole was blasted in the dome of the hall, and the ship began to rise into the sky. Antonia's crisp voice came, "Goodbye, Reno. Thanks for going easy on me!"

The ship's engines roared, carrying it into the vast depths of space.

In that split second of hesitation, Reno lost his last chance.