NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Escape from the Abyss
The underground facility was in chaos.
Emergency alarms blared through the corridors, their shrill tones echoing off cold metal walls. Smoke and flickering red lights painted the scene in dystopian hues.
MegaCorp's forces were on high alert. Akira was now Priority Target #1.
Ramirez's fingers flew across her wristpad. "We have a problem."
Akira checked his rifle's energy levels. "Only one?"
She shot him a look. "The facility is in full lockdown. Every exit is sealed. And… they've activated the Abyss Protocol."
Akira frowned. "Sounds dramatic."
"It is." Ramirez's voice was grim. "They're purging the lower levels. If we don't leave in the next five minutes, this whole place turns into a mass grave."
A deep mechanical groan rumbled through the walls. The vents hissed, releasing toxic gas—MegaCorp's way of ensuring no loose ends survived.
Akira activated his combat cloak, its nano-weave fabric adjusting to mask his thermal signature. "We take the high-speed lift to the surface."
Ramirez hesitated. "That'll be heavily guarded."
He smirked. "Good. I was getting bored."
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Sector C-17: The High-Speed Lift
The entrance to the lift was a fortress. Reinforced steel doors. Automated turrets mounted on the walls. A full squad of enforcers, their armor gleaming under the harsh lights.
They were waiting for him.
The moment Akira and Ramirez appeared, the turrets whirred to life.
Gunfire erupted.
Akira activated his gauntlets.
BOOM.
A single shockwave punch shattered the floor, sending a wave of kinetic energy surging outward. Turrets exploded. Enforcers were thrown off their feet.
Akira darted forward, his trench coat whipping behind him. The VX-99 kicked in, firing precision plasma rounds that burned through armor like paper.
One enforcer raised a riot shield—a futile effort. Akira vaulted over it, twisted mid-air, and slammed his gauntlet-enhanced fist into the soldier's spine.
CRACK.
The guard collapsed, unmoving.
The rest of the squad hesitated. They knew they were outmatched.
Ramirez used the distraction to hack the lift panel. "Thirty seconds!"
Akira dodged a desperate knife strike, grabbed the attacker's wrist, and snapped it without breaking stride.
"Make it ten."
Ramirez cursed under her breath but sped up the override.
More footsteps. Reinforcements incoming.
Akira clenched his fists. His neural interface scanned the battle data, analyzing movement speeds, enemy formations—
His body reacted before he could think.
Duck. Roll. Strike.
He moved like a ghost. A blur of violence.
One enforcer tried to grab him—Akira grabbed first. With inhuman force, he threw the soldier into his comrades, sending them sprawling like dominoes.
Ding!
The lift doors slid open behind him.
Ramirez grabbed his shoulder. "Move!"
They leaped inside as gunfire shredded the air around them.
The moment they were in, the doors sealed shut—right as a grenade exploded just outside.
The humming vibrations of the high-speed lift filled the silence.
Ramirez exhaled, rubbing her temples. "I swear, you enjoy this."
Akira leaned against the wall, reloading his rifle. "Not really. But I'm damn good at it."
She shook her head. "You're not human anymore, are you?"
Akira didn't answer.
As the lift ascended, he gazed at his own reflection in the metal walls.
His eyes, once full of uncertainty, now held something else. A cold, calculated sharpness.
MegaCorp hadn't just experimented on him.
They had unleashed something they couldn't control.
And soon, the world would know.
The lift slowed.
Above them, the surface doors began to open.
The real fight was about to begin.