The Village

They decided to ambush the village at night to increase their chances of destroying it. All the assassins deployed on Winter and Nikolai's team were dressed in all-black, camouflaging themselves in the darkness. They were a group of ten elite assassins. It was more than enough for this mission.

They crept along the houses, using the wooden structures as their shield. Bypassing the workers on night duty, they made their way to their destination. In front of the laboratory, more guards were holding weapons and on guard.

It wasn't hard to find the laboratory, since it was the only white building in the village. The village was secluded from the city. It was well hidden from the authorities' eyes.

With his inhuman speed and agility, Nikolai sliced the throats of the two guards guarding the front door. Without further ado, they infiltrated the laboratory and searched for the room where the data was stored.

In contrast to the darkness outside, the inside of the laboratory was bright. The contrast made Valentin's eyes flinch. As the assassins were searching, Valentin stayed behind.

From what they remembered, Winter and Nikolai rushed to the main experiment room from their memories. When they found it, they pushed the door open. The room remained the same as their memories. It was filled with tall tanks loaded with liquid. Dark memories formed in their minds. The endless days when they were coldly emerged in those tanks. Tonight, they will mark the end of their traumatic childhood.

Nikolai brought out a USB key and plugged it into the main computer. It contained a virus that would erase all the data of the experiments. They knew that the scientist wouldn't be so dumb as not to have saved the data elsewhere. So, the next step was to find the scientist, threaten him to give the remaining data and kill all the people who were involved in the village's foundation.

When they were young, they would always meet the scientist in the laboratory. They've never seen him outside the white building. This time too, they were sure that the scientist was in the laboratory.

Hidden behind a corner, the white-haired scientist had seen Nikolai and Winter walking into the main laboratory. He had woken up to check on his experiment room. Who knew that only two children who survived and escaped the village came back?

The scientist snickered. Maybe it was a good opportunity to catch his earliest experiments to enrich his research. He was curious to know what had happened to the first generation's assassins.

The scientist triggered the emergency alarm of the village, notifying the guards that there were intruders. The kids who were sleeping in the houses got up automatically, controlled by the chip inside their brains. It was a new technology that the scientist had developed. It was a shame that Nikolai and Winter didn't have it. They wouldn't be able to escape if it were the case.

After Winter and Nikolai successfully escape the village, the scientist has been working hard day and night, trying to find a solution to prevent the test subjects from escaping. The founder of the village wasn't happy when he heard that the two promising children had escaped.

The young assassins rushed to the laboratory, followed by the guards. They clashed with the assassins that Winter and Nikolai brought with them. They had stayed behind, in case something unexpected happened.

The children had no light in their eyes. They ruthlessly attack anyone in their sight. The white laboratory was bombarded with superpowers. The building was threatening to collapse from the attacks. The assassins were sent against the walls, but it was too tight inside for them to use their skills. But they had enough experience to hold onto the young assassins until their leaders came back.

The second generation's kids were a more successful experiment than the first generation. There were fewer deaths, and they had fewer side effects. However, due to the mind control, they were starting to lose their sense of self.

Hearing the loud explosive noises, Winter and Nikolai rushed towards the entrance. Activating their skills, they tried to knock out the young children without hurting them. Their heart ached at the sight of the children. Most of them seemed to be less than 12 years old. The scientist loved to collect young children since they were the best to experiment on.

Seeing that his test subjects had a clear advantage, the scientist snickered. It meant that his test subjects were successful. His boss would surely be happy to know about this.

While the two sides were fighting, Valentin strolled around the laboratory. It was filled with high-tech systems and large tanks. It must have cost a fortune. Seeing a man in a white robe, he approached the person and tapped lightly on his shoulders.

Startled, the scientist turned his head, trying to see the person who had given him a scare.

"Who are you?" the scientist asked suspiciously. He had never seen that man before. From his aura, clothing and unique red eyes, the scientist knew that he came from the upper class.

"Just someone passing by," Valentin replied. Now that he has seen the white robe man's face, it reminded him of the photo Winter and Nikolai showed him. It was the scientist that they were trying to find.

The scientist looked at Valentin. He had no words for his shamelessness. Who in the world would take a simple stroll inside his laboratory? He definitely came along with his old test subjects.

"I'll give you a chance to escape, because if you don't, you'll die tonight, just like your little friends," the scientist warned. He didn't want to mistakenly kill someone of high status. He didn't have enough power to escape without consequences.

Valentin laughed at the scientist's words. It seemed like the man was smarter than the average person.

"Aren't you afraid that I'll spill everything out to the police? What makes you think that my friends will lose?" Valentin asked.

The scientist smirked. What was the young man so confident about? Can't he see that his friends are slowly getting tired because of the side effects of their superpowers?

"There's nothing for you to gain. Besides, rich kids like you don't normally care about these kinds of things. I suggested you go back to where you came from before things get more chaotic. You won't get another chance to escape," the scientist warned for the last time.

Valentin laughed and activated his reward, 'Breaking Mind Control'. Winter and Nikolai made a good choice to bring him along. The system always gives him rewards that are useful for the future.

Suddenly, the children looked around their surroundings, puzzled. Weren't they sleeping before? What were they doing at the laboratory so late at night? They shook their heads, and it felt like a heavy fog was lifted off. Their heads were much lighter after the chip controlling them was removed from their brains.

Seeing the light in the children's eyes, Winter quickly told the other assassins to stop. She approached closer and asked the kids about their condition.

A kid started to cry after seeing the scary strangers around him. Since he came to the village, it was a nightmare every day. He hoped that the police would come and save him and his friends from this horrible place.

Winter knelt so that the children would be less afraid and reassured them that they were there to help them escape.

"Are you going to take us out of here?" a kid asked cautiously. He stood out from the crowd, protecting the kids behind him. It seems like he was the eldest and the leader of the young assassins.

"Of course, that's our mission," Winter said with a soothing voice.

The kid relaxed his small body and decided to trust the beautiful stranger. He thought that the woman with white hair was scary at first, but strangely, he felt at ease around her. Maybe that's because he can detect people's true feelings. With his ability, he can tell that the workers at the village meant harm to the children. Winter was the first person he met who had kind intentions towards them.

Angry, the scientist yelled as he saw the kids getting out of his control. His experiments were supposed to be perfect. What went wrong?