Mo Wen had considered various scenarios upon entering the fortress - being ambushed by top psychics combined with the fortress defense systems, or being eliminated during an inspection when he couldn't resist. But he never expected to be hunted mid-air.
If the Corporation had wanted him dead from the start, they shouldn't have given him that inexplicable opportunity. They should have just framed him and mobilized all companies to attack him together.
Now every corporate satellite would witness the Corporation breaking trust by attacking suddenly.
Was this a last-minute change of plans? Did the fortress inhabitants realize his approach would cause problems, hence deciding to kill him here?
Mo Wen couldn't fathom his enemies' thoughts, but survival was his priority now.
His supposedly disconnected augmentations were suddenly hacked, several components overloaded instantly. Pain beyond neural tolerance limits ravaged his body - enough to kill ordinary people outright. Even battle-hardened soldiers would be incapacitated by such neural damage. The dead might even stagger from the data stream impact.
Mo Wen staggered, but in his psychic acceleration state, he remained the fastest being on this planet.
Before the next wave of danger manifested, he slashed through the cabin wall and leapt out.
Clouds flowed beneath his feet, converging into tides across the planetary surface. Ahead, Earth's curvature was visible, along with distant war satellites preparing to attack.
Four war satellites fired at him.
Light - massive, glorious, scorching light that screamed death even across thousands of miles - erupted forth.
The beams were so immense they could envelop entire mountain ranges, carving trenches across the land with mere touches.
Mo Wen couldn't comprehend what power source could generate such attacks.
Worse, he could no longer fly upward.
The planet's gravity, transcending time itself, anchored his body downward. He could only descend, unable to counterattack the satellites or fortress.
But Mo Wen would keep struggling.
At maximum thrust, his vector thrusters screeched as gravity amplified his speed to the augmentations' limits.
Friction ignited his body as he barely slipped between the four beams' gaps. The spacecraft wasn't so lucky - grazed by a beam, it nearly vaporized, leaving only scattered debris. His teammates survived the psychic warnings, scattering in freefall.
"Whaaaat?" Ren Sisi panicked.
"What's happening?" The Dragonblade Ninja desperately tried contacting their company.
Phantom had disappeared - probably not vaporized in the first attack... hopefully?
Mo Wen stopped worrying about his teammates, focusing on anticipating further attacks.
Four war satellites clearly weren't the enemy's limit. Missiles? Probably too slow to catch him. More concentrated beam fire? Likely.
He needed to reach ground quickly, find cover, then plan survival and counterattack.
Suddenly, Mo Wen saw a massive "city" below.
No - not a city, but a fortress. Unlike the research-oriented orbital fortress in records, this was purely war-born, designed for absolute destruction.
Weapons covered every visible surface - only hollowed-out mountains could produce such an impossible marvel.
Thousands of heavy turrets, light-devouring drone swarms like black mist, countless missile launchers, shimmering shields, and psychics lurking within.
Mo Wen couldn't tell if its sudden appearance meant psychics had strained spatial teleportation abilities, or some absurdly advanced technology was involved.
They're sending this... against me?
They must really respect him!
As a normal human fighting augmented soldiers, then as an augmented soldier facing this war fortress - only when he picked fights did he get easy matches. When trouble found him, it was always nightmare difficulty.
But he would survive!
Mo Wen charged the fortress.
Psychic foresight showed his doomed escape attempts: speed and psychic powers suppressed, endless beam fire, missile barrages, and supercharged psychic attacks offering "special surprises."
Only by seeking life within death could he find hope.
The fortress wasn't designed for internal defense. Such a valuable asset wouldn't risk satellite beam attacks until severely damaged.
Mo Wen needed to destroy restraining devices and specialized psychics, carving an escape path.
First step: penetrate the shield.
This world's shields weren't just fantasy-style repulsion fields - some, like this war fortress's, generated ultra-high temperatures to vaporize intruders.
Extremely dangerous, but Mo Wen feared nothing.
[Current Energy Level: 4. Augmentation Stability: 98%]
Further unleashing his psychic power started his life's countdown... and boosted his combat capabilities.
Sharper senses detected something in the Corporation's research fortress that conflicted with his existence.
Only his death could ensure its proper birth. His presence was interference, an omen of destruction, potentially its future destroyer.
Hah. So that's why.
Dismissing the conflict's cause, Mo Wen refocused.
His already terrifying time acceleration intensified further. Psychic energy materialized without form, brutally altering reality itself.
Thus, an intangible shield manifested around Mo Wen, his augmentation's electromagnetic field shrinking within it.
Impact!
The shield's violent heat could melt metals - even mountains thrown at it would liquefy.
Yet Mo Wen succeeded.
A scorching crimson monster breached the shield.
The searing intensity burned so vividly it seemed etched onto the psychics' retinas before they could react, threatening to blind them.
Their brains hadn't processed what happened, but biological instinct screamed danger first.
Mo Wen surveyed the obstructing fortress, noting every obstacle.
Melted augmentation armor, overheating alerts, weapon failures - irrelevant.
His limbs could kill. His will could crush resisters. He'd seize, destroy, and carve his own survival path.
In the end, I will win.