Chapter 18

*Whoosh!*

A car sped down the street. For Hit-Girl, driving a car was far simpler than accurately shooting enemies.

"Not far now..." Mindy said, pressing down on the accelerator. At fourteen years old, her petite frame made it look like she was almost standing up in the driver's seat.

It was an oddly cute sight.

However, Su Chen didn't find it amusing at all. If his guess was correct, Mindy's father had probably been implicated because of him. He could only pray silently that her father would be okay.

Damn it...

If he could better control his power to rewrite reality, he wouldn't be in such a passive position. He could have just teleported directly to the destination.

But they were almost there.

Mindy performed a sharp drift, making the car slide a full ninety degrees before coming to a stop on the street.

"Something's wrong!"

She suddenly felt deceived.

Mindy got out of the car, following the map location indicated by the tracking device on her phone, only to find it pointed right ahead.

But in front of her was a deserted, wide road with nothing but a conspicuous trash can in sight.

"Damn it!"

Mindy cursed, kicking over the person-high trash can. Among the scattered garbage was a gray T-shirt.

"This is Big Daddy's shirt. It's a trap to fool us."

Hit-Girl's eyes reddened with anger.

At this moment, she realized her enemy wasn't just some stupid gang members but the colossal state machinery pressing down on her like a mountain.

How could she possibly outplay military personnel with such clumsy tactics?

Mindy gritted her teeth and dialed another number on her phone.

It was a friend of Big Daddy Damon, a former intelligence agency comrade who had helped them acquire weapons and equipment.

*Ring... Ring...*

After dialing two or three times, no one answered.

An ominous feeling filled her heart. Perhaps he had been implicated too, arrested. The mere thought of it made Mindy's heart clench.

"We need to leave quickly; this place isn't safe..." Mindy forced back her tears, sitting firmly in the driver's seat.

Seeing this, Su Chen felt a pang in his heart.

If it were a stranger, he wouldn't feel so distressed. But his cold and cautious heart had just started to open up to a new friend, only for a cruel reality to strike. It seemed he had caused this friend's family great harm.

He had brought too much trouble to others.

...

...

In a daze, the two returned to the safe house. Staying at Mindy's old home was no longer an option.

Inside the safe house, with its walls lined with guns, the atmosphere was heavy and solemn, unlike the previous joyful vibe. They spoke little.

The once cheerful and lively girl was now incredibly silent.

Last year, she could kill her way through a gang's underground garage, emerging unscathed.

But now, facing this enemy, she felt powerless, at a loss.

She couldn't even find where her father was being held.

After all, they were just two kids with no powerful connections or extraordinary means. Faced with Damon's disappearance, they could only wait helplessly.

The sky outside was gradually brightening.

A new dawn had arrived, but the light they awaited inside the house was still nowhere to be seen.

"I will definitely help you..." Su Chen didn't know how to comfort her, so he made a promise.

"How? Are you going to bomb the military base? Fight against this country? Fight against the world?"

Mindy snapped back.

Her uncontrollable emotions were evident in her tear-filled eyes. Her delicate face was streaked with tears, and all her pent-up grief burst out.

After all, she was just a fourteen-year-old child. No matter how much experience she had, she couldn't withstand the loss of a loved one.

At this moment, an even worse piece of news arrived.

The TV, which had been on, suddenly switched to a news broadcast.

"Breaking news: early this morning, a battle occurred in Central Park, Manhattan. General Ross's troops were fighting a mutant and suffered a devastating defeat. General Ross himself was also present at the scene."

This sensational news shocked every viewer watching the broadcast.

In peacetime, could an army really be defeated by a single mutant?

Was this another terrorist attack by the Mutant Brotherhood?

Or was it the army trying to capture a mutant only to be counter-attacked?

Soon, the exclusive report played the battle footage from Central Park that night. The screen showed a swarm of needles killing soldiers, and a thin boy's figure slamming into a hulking monster.

Although the footage was in black and white, it was more thrilling than a Hollywood blockbuster.

With the private message spreading, the TV station's ratings skyrocketed.

The military was caught off guard. They hadn't expected the despicable Rising Tide organization to outmaneuver them, but they quickly reacted, launching a public relations campaign with the TV station.

"...a military representative has informed us," the anchor appeared on screen, reading from a note, "that the suspect is a new member of the terrorist Mutant Brotherhood, an extremely dangerous mutant, an Asian boy named Su Chen."

"Hmm..."

"He now faces the highest level S-class wanted order, which means there's no place for him to hide."

To help viewers identify him, the TV station enlarged Su Chen's black-and-white image.

Seeing this, Su Chen, standing in front of the TV, felt his face contort in anger.

Central Park was near Manhattan's most prosperous area, making it impossible to hide from the media. Su Chen had even harbored a slight hope that the media or someone else would clear his name and exonerate him.

Instead, he, an innocent experimental subject who barely escaped death, was now globally wanted, branded as an extreme terrorist mutant.

It was sheer nonsense!

He clenched his fists, breathing heavily. His eyes reddened, and his shoulders trembled as he endured immense frustration and pain.

"...in an hour, a press conference will be held at the newly renovated 'Dome' building in the capital, where details of the suspect will be revealed."

The anchor's voice continued.

The Dome was the military's newly renovated high-tech prison, not yet in use. This unusual debut was meant to show the criminals where they would end up.

The irony was palpable.

And then came the news that shattered Mindy.

"However, we can reveal that one of the suspect's accomplices was killed while attempting to flee."

Mindy collapsed completely.

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