"Let's get going quickly." Rui said as they all entered the security floor.
It was wide with different compartments and sections. And they were all littered with corpses.
"You memorized the means of operating the elevator, correct?" Rui asked as he glanced at the closed doors at the end of the security floor.
"Of course." Kane replied.
He walked over to the elevator. Hitting a few buttons and pulling a lever and then rotating it until the doors finally opened leading to a spacious platform meant to accommodate many.
Kane spun a lever on the inside, closing the doors and the elevator automatically began descending.
The tension in the air rose. None of them were particular fond of what was about follow.
Except for Nel, who was grinning at the prospect to a fight to the death with hopefully strong Martial Apprentices. If they were weak, Nel intended to crush them and fight the grade-ten Martial Apprentice. However, he didn't reveal this to Rui in a rare moment of logical analysis. He knew Rui would probably not allow it.
But what he didn't know was that Rui was already well aware of his intentions. He simply decided to personally ensure that the mission wasn't screwed up due to Nel's desire to fight strong people. He did not think he could control him.
The elevator touched the ground.
"Here we go." Kane said as he opened up the elevator doors. They all took their stances as he opened it. Rui merely executed the breathing technique needed for the Tempestuous Ripple.
One moment before he launched it, he saw a bustling energetic research facility with all kinds of men and women hurrying around vibrantly, busy with something or the other.
Not a single one cared to look towards the elevator, asides from stationed guards whose eyes widened at their sight.
Yet before they could even do anything;
Rui launched a fully charged and powerful Tempestuous Ripple that blasted away expanding in front of him.
It instantly killed all humans within fifteen meters of him and went on to inflict varying degrees of critical damage to most humans in their section of the research facility. Kane immediately disappeared as he raced through the facility at incredibly high speeds, sabotaging communications and killing
Only two people were unharmed to Rui's senses.
"Two Martial Apprentices, approaching us at high speeds, gang up on them." Rui instructed. He had no qualms of using a number advantage against them. Primordial Instinct told him that they weren't particularly strong.
Rui ran forward as he saw the two Martial Apprentices rushing towards him.
He avoided their attacks as he feinted behind them.
He sent them flying towards the trio, who quickly pounced on the hapless Martial Apprentices. He turned around, employing Seismic Mapping and Primordial Instinct to locate the hiding and fleeing survivors, killing them swiftly and painlessly.
Once he entered the main research and development infrastructure and area, he paused. Taking a look around.
There were tons of test subject humans who were being subjected to all kinds of things. Rui felt a less horrible about his actions when he thought about the suffering they went through. This was one of the most horrific things that a human being could be put through. Rui would rather die than be put in through this, yet the researchers of this research facility did not even give them even that.
All of them were medically alive upon closer inspection, but their eyes were lifeless and rolled over. Rui's instincts told him that there was no consciousness or mind left.
('Brain death.') He recalled Kane's descriptions as he noticed that all the test subjects possessed the same trait. Medically alive, but brain dead.
All of this seemed to support Kane's theory of the goal of the facility being human evolution. But Rui's gut instinct as well as certain logical rationales told him this was not true, or atleast incomplete.
He shook his head. He had a mission to complete. The grade-ten Martial Apprentice and the remaining Martial Apprentice were the only things that could obstruct the mission anymore.
('Speak of the devil.') He turned as he felt faint weight on his mind from a distance, locating the source with Seismic Mapping. ('He's not grade-ten, but he's strong for sure.')
Rui dashed towards the Martial Apprentice, finding him quickly.
The man attacked him immediately, throwing a swift and heavy punch.
Rui simply feinted as he shifted past the attack and launching a strike with ferocious power and speed.
The attack crashed into the man's neck, creating a devastating impact. Rui could even feel something cracking from the strike. After all, it was a strike strengthened with four Apprentice-level techniques, three of which were grade-seven.
The man crashed into a thick wall, falling down.
A Powerful dropkick from Rui crushed his skull, denting it.
At his current level of power, even Martial Apprentices of high-grade were no longer even worthy of being subjected the VOID algorithm. It would simply be a waste of time. They would all die before the predictive model was even completed.
('Now there's only the grade-ten Martial Apprentice.') Rui mused. ('But where the fuck is she?')
Grade-ten Martial Apprentices were certainly strong without a doubt. But Rui had already killed a Martial Artist who was, at the very least, at the lower-end of grade-ten. Even if this grade-ten Martial Apprentice was as strong as Rui, he did not see himself losing. He had four powerful Martial Apprentices in his team and that was an overwhelming numeric advantage that nobody in their Realm should be capable of overwhelming.
The quality of those Martial Apprentices was high as well.
Fae, Kane, Hever and Nel had grown significantly stronger in the past nine months since the preliminary contest, they had all been promoted to grade-nine since then. Rui had absolute confidence in all of them.
('Unless something absolutely crazy happens, this mission is a complete success.') He thought confidently.