Lin Xuan’s eyes turned cold as he faced the dagger thrusting straight at his face.
Instead of retreating, he charged forward.
His body slid sideways at an incredible angle, narrowly avoiding the blade’s edge.
Simultaneously, his left hand clamped down on the agent’s knife-wielding wrist like a steel vise, twisting it violently downward!
*Crack!*
The sound of bone fracturing echoed clearly in the narrow corridor.
The agent let out a stifled cry of pain, and the dagger slipped from his grasp, clattering to the floor.
Before he could react, Lin Xuan’s right fist, whistling with force, slammed heavily into his temple.
*Thud!*
The agent’s eyes rolled back, and he slumped to the ground.
With the knife-wielder neutralized, Lin Xuan turned to face the last agent, who was swinging an expandable baton.
The man had been momentarily thrown off balance by the trash can Lin Xuan had kicked earlier.
Just as he regained his footing, he brought the baton whistling down toward Lin Xuan’s head.
Without even looking, Lin Xuan blocked the strike with his left arm, a dull thud echoing through the hall.
At the same time, his right leg shot out like lightning, striking the agent squarely in the abdomen!
“Ugh!”
The agent doubled over like a shrimp, his baton dangling uselessly.
Lin Xuan gave him no time to breathe.
He brought his elbow down in a precise strike to the back of the agent’s neck.
Another dull thud, and the last Hydra agent collapsed unconscious.
In a matter of seconds, four highly trained Hydra agents had been swiftly neutralized, completely incapacitated.
The entire sequence was clean and efficient, a display of brutal elegance.
The system notification chimed again.
[Defeated 4 Hydra Agents. Gained +10 Tech Points.]
[Current Tech Points: 15.]
[Current Mission: Escape (In Progress).]
Lin Xuan caught his breath, glancing at the bodies sprawled across the floor.
He had no time to assess his gains, let alone loot the equipment they might be carrying.
Instinct told him a greater danger was closing in.
He immediately spun around and bolted deeper into the corridor, toward the sign marked “Back Alley Exit.”
He shoved open the rusted iron door, and a gust of relatively fresh, yet still trash-stinking, air rushed in.
This was the narrow alleyway behind the tavern, cluttered with discarded beer kegs and trash bins.
Lin Xuan had just reached the alley’s exit, ready to blend into the street outside.
Suddenly—
An incredibly dangerous, bone-chilling killing intent struck from the shadows beside him like a venomous snake!
This aura of malice was far more intense, far purer, than that of the four agents combined!
The hair on Lin Xuan’s neck stood on end, his enhanced nervous system firing at its absolute limit.
Before he could even think, his body reacted by instinct.
A blinding glint of metal tore through the dim light!
A powerful metallic arm, carrying the terrifying force to crush anything in its path and the sharp sound of piercing the air, smashed viciously toward his head!
*Too fast.*
Lin Xuan’s pupils constricted.
He snapped his waist, arching his entire body backward in a desperate, extreme lean.
The metallic arm grazed his nose as it roared past.
*BOOM!*
The brick wall behind him was smashed into a terrifying crater, sending shards of brick and stone flying.
The mere wind from the near-miss stung Lin Xuan’s cheek.
He snapped his waist straight, springing back to his feet like a coiled coil, his eyes fixed in horror on the attacker.
From the shadows, a figure slowly emerged.
His medium-length brown hair partially obscured his face.
But his eyes, where visible, were hollow and cold, devoid of any human emotion.
Most striking of all was his left arm, gleaming with a frigid metallic luster.
That was the very arm that had just nearly smashed Lin Xuan’s head to pieces.
The Winter Soldier.
He also went by the name James Barnes, or Bucky.
Aside from “Winter Soldier,” no one else knew his other names for now.
The name struck Lin Xuan’s mind like a bolt of lightning.
*Hydra has actually sent their ace to hunt me down!*
Lin Xuan’s heart sank to the bottom of his stomach.
He could feel the suffocating pressure and killing intent radiating from the man—a terrifying aura forged through countless assassinations and brainwashing.
*A head-on fight?*
*That would be suicide!*
Lin Xuan immediately concluded that while he might have a chance against such a seasoned top-tier assassin, a prolonged battle would likely be his undoing.
But his main goal now was to avoid a drawn-out fight.
He had to…
Run.
He needed to use every advantage to escape.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Lin Xuan spun around and charged toward the nearby, more complex construction site.
The area was cluttered with rebar, cement bags, and all sorts of building materials—the chaotic terrain might be his best bet.
*Thud!*
Lin Xuan had barely taken two steps when a heavy impact sounded behind him.
The Winter Soldier’s speed was staggering.
His genetically and surgically enhanced body far surpassed that of an ordinary human, and it was even superior to Lin Xuan’s newly acquired strength.
Lin Xuan pushed his speed to the absolute limit, weaving through the obstacles at the construction site.
Yet the Winter Soldier trailed him like a shadow, cold and efficient.
The clatter of metal, the crash of falling debris, and Lin Xuan’s own frantic footsteps and ragged breathing echoed sharply in the silent night.
The Winter Soldier’s pursuit was too relentless, leaving him no room to even catch his breath.
*This can’t go on,* Lin Xuan thought.
*He’ll catch me sooner or later.*
His mind raced, operating at its absolute limit.
*I have to find a way,* he thought desperately.
*Even if it’s just to slow him down for a moment.*
Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a massive, rusted old billboard hanging from the wall of a nearby dilapidated building.
Its supporting brackets looked decayed, swaying slightly in the night wind.
*This is it!*
Lin Xuan’s mind raced.
Seizing the opportunity, he snatched a half-brick-sized stone from the ground.
After a side-roll to dodge the Winter Soldier’s metallic arm, he hurled the stone with all his might at the third rusted bolt of the billboard’s support.
The stone carved a precise arc through the air.
*Clang!*
A sharp crack echoed as the stone struck the rusted joint dead center.
The already precarious billboard gave way, the impact serving as the final straw.
The connection snapped instantly.
*Creeeeeak—BOOM!*
The massive metal billboard collapsed, its heavy steel frame and tattered canvas smashing into the ground like a falling mountain.
The massive sign crashed right in the Winter Soldier’s path, kicking up a blinding cloud of dust.
But that was all he needed.
Seizing the precious few seconds while the Winter Soldier was blocked, Lin Xuan summoned the last of his strength and surged forward.
“Bye-bye. Looking forward to our next spar.”
He slipped away like a fish into a narrower, darker alley, vanishing into the labyrinthine shadows of the district.
Minutes later, Lin Xuan leaned against the cold wall of an abandoned warehouse, gasping for air.
Sweat soaked his undershirt.
His heart hammered against his ribs, the adrenaline-fueled rush slowly receding.
*Hydra sent a pursuer of this caliber.*
It seemed his value as a “successful” experiment was far higher than he had ever imagined.
The mission to escape would be far more difficult than he had anticipated.