Chương 144: Chapter : 144

"That sounds like a free nap to me," Ken smiled goofily, completely unfazed by her anger.

"Do you have a blanket I can borrow?" Before Elma could pull out her silver short-swords to actually attack him, the quiet, nervous engineer from the 9th Unit suddenly froze. Raja held up a small, blinking gadget from his heavy leather toolbelt.

"Stop," Raja whispered frantically, his eyes going wide.

"My scanner is picking up multiple heat signatures. They are moving fast. They are coming right toward us." The comedic banter died in a single second. The heavy metal doors at the far end of the corridor suddenly hissed open. A swarm of heavily armed lab guards poured into the hallway. But these were not normal security guards. They looked absolutely terrifying.

Their eyes were completely bloodshot, glowing with a faint, toxic green light, and thick, glowing tubes of liquid were pumped directly into their necks from canisters on their backs. They were chemically enhanced with crude Solurius runoff, making their muscles bulge to unnatural sizes.

"Intruders!" the lead guard roared, his voice sounding wet and distorted.

"Kill them! Protect the research data!"

"Here they come!" Naomi shouted. Her green wind magic instantly flared up around her combat boots. She didn't hesitate for a microsecond. Naomi launched herself forward, moving like a brilliant green blur. She ducked under a heavy, clumsy swing from the first guard, spun around, and used the handle of her dagger to strike the back of his knee, sending the massive man crashing to the metal floor. Elma drew her twin silver swords. Despite her terrible personality, she was an absolutely flawless, elite fighter.

She leaped gracefully into the air, using the narrow walls of the corridor to bounce back and forth. She slashed through the guards' weapons with perfect, mathematical precision, making sure not a single drop of blood or dirty water touched her pristine white uniform. Raja stayed a few steps back, pulling small, non-lethal shock-grenades from his toolbelt. He threw them perfectly into the crowd of guards, letting out bright, loud flashes of electricity that temporarily blinded the attackers. And Ken?

Ken was currently performing a masterclass in staying completely out of the way. The absolute second the doors had opened, Ken had let out a loud, high-pitched scream, thrown his hands over his head, and dived directly behind a tall stack of heavy metal shipping crates sitting near the wall. He curled up into a comfortable little ball, peeking his head out from around the corner to watch the fight.

"Whoa! Watch out on your left, Naomi!" Ken yelled from his hiding spot, pointing a finger like a sports commentator.

"He has a really big metal pipe! Duck! Nice! Ten points for agility!" The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Naomi parried a strike and kicked a guard away, panting heavily.

"I do not need you to narrate the fight, Ken! Just stay behind the box!"

"I am providing vital tactical support!" Ken shouted back happily. He looked over at the blonde girl.

"Hey, Elma! You missed one! He is sneaking up right behind you! Oh, wait, never mind, you got him. Good job! Your dry cleaner is going to be so proud of you!" Elma sliced through a guard's magical staff and spun around, her face turning bright red with pure fury. She was fighting for her life against chemically enhanced monsters, and this messy, untucked idiot was shouting useless advice from behind a crate.

"Why is he even here?!" Elma screamed at Naomi, dodging a heavy punch.

"He is complete dead weight! He doesn't have a weapon, he doesn't use magic, and he just sits there making stupid jokes! You should have left that useless peasant at home!" Naomi's eyes flashed with fierce, protective anger. She kicked a guard squarely in the chest, sending him flying backward into the wall, and turned her head to glare right at Elma.

"Do not call him that!" Naomi yelled back, her voice echoing loudly over the sounds of clashing metal.

"He might not have a fancy sword, but he has more heart than your entire shiny, arrogant unit combined! He saved my life yesterday when none of you were around! So shut your mouth and focus on the fight!" Behind the metal crate, Ken blinked his sleepy eyes. He actually felt a tiny, unexpected warmth in his chest. Naomi was genuinely defending him in the middle of a chaotic battle. She didn't care that he was currently hiding; she completely respected him for who he was.

"Aww, thanks, boss lady!" Ken cheered from the floor, throwing her a goofy thumbs-up.

"You are my favorite coworker!"

"Stay down, Ken!" Naomi barked, though she couldn't completely hide a small, exhausted smile. The three fighters pushed forward, their teamwork surprisingly effective. Naomi's blinding speed, Elma's flawless sword strikes, and Raja's clever gadgets were rapidly thinning the crowd. The chemically enhanced guards were incredibly strong, but they were mindless and clumsy. Within minutes, almost the entire swarm of enemies was groaning on the floor, completely knocked out or disarmed.

There was only one guard left standing. He was backed into a corner near the heavy metal doors. He was breathing heavily, his eyes darting back and forth between Naomi and Elma. He knew he was completely trapped. He looked down at the broken bodies of his friends, and a look of absolute, crazed desperation washed over his face.

"We cannot let you reach the core room," the last guard wheezed, his voice bubbling with toxic magic.

"The doctor's vision must survive!" The guard reached into his heavy tactical vest. He didn't pull out a gun, and he didn't pull out a sword. He pulled out a large, thick glass syringe. The liquid inside the syringe was not the usual diluted green chemical. It was a pure, unfiltered, glowing black sludge that radiated an incredibly heavy, suffocating aura. It was highly concentrated, raw Solurius waste.

"No! Don't do it!" Raja screamed, recognizing the sheer danger of the raw material.

"That will completely destroy your cellular structure!" The guard didn't listen. With a terrifying, fanatical scream, he jammed the thick needle directly into his own neck and pushed the plunger all the way down. The reaction was instantaneous, and it was the stuff of absolute nightmares.

The guard dropped the empty glass syringe. He fell to his knees, clutching his throat as a horrific, agonizing scream tore out of his lungs.

"Ew, gross," Ken mumbled from behind his metal crates, wrinkling his nose in complete disgust.

"Why do bad guys always do this to themselves? Just give up and go to jail. Prison food cannot be worse than injecting black sludge into your neck." But this was not a normal mutation. The raw, unfiltered Solurius radiation completely rejected the guard's human DNA. His flesh literally began to tear apart from the inside out. His screams distorted into a highly pitched, clicking, insect-like screech.