The negative fourth floor housed a small ordnance department. Designed to handle emergencies, it contained enough equipment to arm a hundred men.
No one had ever imagined it would actually be needed.
Now, nearly ninety elite soldiers stationed on the negative fourth floor were scrambling to equip themselves, preparing for an asymmetric battle. The air was filled with the metallic ...
Only three seconds had passed.
Forty-one shots rang out. Since the M16 rifles held only 30 rounds each, Bardi had reloaded once.
Forty-one bullets tore through the knees of the kneeling soldiers, forcing screams and sobs from their mouths. Some wept uncontrollably.
There was no pity in Bardi's expression. Not even a flicker of emotion.
He swept his cold, indifferent ...
"Follow the order, soldier!"
"Fire!"
Slade's ruthless voice echoed over the radio.
The already suffocating atmosphere of fear became even heavier, freezing the soldiers in place. Their pupils flickered with hesitation as they struggled to obey the command. But Slade's tyrannical tone thundered once again through the broadcast.
"Fire!"
The soldier's t...
Negative fourth floor, in a small command and monitoring room.
Each floor of the underground research base had its own monitoring command center, each overseen by a major. However, as the colonel and the overall commander of the facility, Slade held authority over all the floors of the research institute.
A burst of static crackled from the walkie-talkie in Slade's hand.
'Z...
"Whatā¦"
The stunned silence was suddenly shattered by a soldier's piercing scream. Before anyone could react, another soldier collapsed to the ground, a large, gaping hole blown clean through his head. Blood and brain matter splattered out as his lifeless body crumpled, his eyes wide open, unable to rest in peace.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The gunshots rang out in quick suc...
Outside the warehouse door, the air was thick with tension, so silent that even the sound of a needle dropping would have been deafening.
Dozens of soldiers stood at the ready, gripping M16 automatic rifles, their formations carefully arranged. Some crouched behind cover, others wielded riot shields, forming a tight barricade in the middle of the corridor. The space outside the warehou...
It felt like those cold, detached eyes were staring at Jack through the barrel of a gun, boring into his soul.
In a panic, Jack pulled the M9 pistol from the holster strapped to his thigh, his trembling hands fumbling to aim it. His movements were swift and practiced, the result of years of trainingābut it was far too late.
"Boom!"
Bardi's right leg whipped out with the f...
"HANDS ON YOUR HEAD AND KNEEL DOWN!"
The command echoed loudly in the warehouse.
The two soldiers, Jack and Mason, stood frozen for a moment, their minds reeling. They had been tasked with guarding a paralyzed manāBardiāsomeone who had supposedly been confined to a wheelchair. But now, here he was, standing tall under the golden sunlight, his arms raised skyward in triumph.
Bardi smiled faintly as the elevator doors closed, shutting Slade and Bori out of sight. Watching them leave, he felt an immense sense of accomplishment, the culmination of all his planning.
One might expect him to laugh wildly or be overwhelmed by excitement for the opportunity he had painstakingly worked toward.
But he didn't.
Instead, he smiled quietly.
His heart ...
Underground base.
"Colonel Slade, I don't understand you." Bori spoke quickly as he pulled Slade along the corridor. His wiry frame moved with surprising speed as he pressed his point. "Bardi has explained his planet's beliefs countless times, and yet you insist on stopping him. Are you trying to drive him to desperation? Do you really want him to die?"
Slade followed, his express...
Underground base, at the elevator.
The atmosphere froze as Slade stepped out of the elevator, his imposing figure blocking the path of Bardi's wheelchair.
"Where are youā¦ going?" Slade asked coldly, his sharp gaze sweeping over Jenny's striking appearance before settling briefly on Bardi.
It wasn't a glare, nor was it a prolonged stare. It was the kind of dismissive glanc...
The next morning, at nine o'clock, the golden rays of the sun began spreading from the eastern horizon.
Bardi could only pray that it wasn't a cloudy day. Nothing would devastate him more than losing this chance. No one in the entire underground base longed for sunlight as desperately as he did. For Bardi, sunlight was more than warmth and light, it was life itself. It was the source of ...
Bardi took another crucial step forward, his thoughts turning as he strategized his next moves.
Gaining Bori's trust was proving to be a valuable asset. Bori's willingness to help, fueled by his greed and self-interest, could be exploited further. Next, Bardi would need Bori to either speak favorably on his behalf to Slade or distract him entirely, both actions were critical to his plan....
Bardi's expression froze momentarily, but internally, he was already running through his meditation techniques, carefully controlling his heartbeat. He raised it slightly to mimic the reaction of someone genuinely caught off guard, someone surprised at the sight of the object before him.
And truthfully, he was a little stunned. He hadn't expected the key to be in Dean Bori's possession. ...
Time flew by. Another six months passed, and Bardi had now spent a total of one year and three months in this underground base, cut off from the light of day.
His life had changed significantly.
For any ordinary person, such a drastic shift in circumstances, whether for better or worse, would inevitably bring a mixture of resistance and reluctant acceptance. Change, after all, is ...
"Bardi!!"
Jenny's scream pierced the air, her voice laced with panic. According to her calculations, the reflex nerve flow guided by the pulse radiofrequency needle should have been connected seamlessly. There should have been no painānone at all.
Bardi should have temporarily lost all nerve response in his limbs without experiencing any discomfort, let alone the intense pain an...
The wheelchair reclined slightly, with Bardi's head resting against the cold metal backrest. He could feel the faint chill of the pulse radiofrequency needle embedded in his spinal cord.
As the anesthetic gradually wore off, for the first time in nearly ten months, he could sense faint responses from his body. The sensation was weak, he could barely register the touch of a hand on the me...
In the pristine white room, now repurposed into an operating room, Jenny and Bori were clad in light green sterile surgical gowns, latex gloves, disposable hats, and masks. Two assistants stood nearby, ready to help, while several tall soldiers waited on standby not far away.
Bardi lay anesthetized on the operating table, his broad shoulders, thick back, and imposing figure making him se...
Bori took the report from Slade's hand, the document containing General Vic's approval of Jenny's proposal.
Adjusting his glasses to sit more firmly on the bridge of his nose, Bori opened the report and placed it on the table. He spoke in a calm, thoughtful tone. "I didn't expect Jenny to come up with such a method. Truly, her talent in biology is remarkable."
Bori began flipping ...
The underground base laboratory.
In Bori's office, the atmosphere was tense. The transparent glass display cases were filled with meticulously arranged files, and the desk, though tidy, still had stacks of neatly organized documents.
Bori sat behind his desk, wearing a pair of round glasses perched on his nose. Deep wrinkles lined his forehead as he studied the room with a calm ye...
Bardi had promised Jenny he would help them advance their research and share his technological knowledge. In exchange, he had hoped for a semblance of freedom, perhaps even the opportunity to leave his cell. But not at the cost of his own body being mutilated.
The price they proposed was far too high.
It wasn't freedom they wanted for him; they sought only to bleed him dry, to ext...
The next day, when Bardi saw Jenny step in to replace Wendy as his English instructor, he knew he was inching closer to freedom. Inside, he smirked coldly.
Even in confinement, the hearts of people were easy to manipulate.
As long as human desires existedāambition, curiosity, attachmentāno prison, no matter how advanced, could truly hold him.
They craved the alien techn...
Several days passed, and the monotony of the underground research continued. Wendy, the middle-aged woman tasked with teaching Bardi English, persisted in her futile attempts. She would hold up cards with English letters, shaking them in front of his face, her slightly raspy voice droning as she read them aloud.
Both Wendy and Bardi were growing increasingly frustrated.
Bardi unde...
Everything was unfolding just as Bardi had anticipated. The underground research base had reached an impasse in its studies.
Without his guidance, the scientists were floundering. The technology aboard the Kryptonian spaceship was so far beyond anything available in 1980 that they had no idea where to begin.
This was a world where personal computers like the IBM 5150 had only just...
General Vic: a tyrannical and ambitious soldier, ruthless in his pursuit of power.
Dean Bori: the old man heading the research on Bardi, overseeing the underground base and holding the highest authority in studying his body.
Dr. Jenny: a cool and aloof biologist, with the detached demeanor of a scholar. Within the research hierarchy, she is second only to Dean Bori.
Willife...
General Vic emerged from the shadows of the giant sequoia forest, his figure illuminated by pale moonlight as he approached the alien spacecraft. The black smoke rising from the crash was gradually dissipating, while sporadic sparks flickered faintly on the damp, green leaves. Despite the potential for disaster, there had been no secondary explosions or forest fires.
Vic's sharp eyes gle...
Nevada, the town of Stonetown.
The town of Stonetown was as ordinary as they come, indistinguishable from countless others. It had no remarkable architecture, no scenic vistas, and no historical landmarks worth mentioning.
In the distance, however, stood the giant sequoia forestāa rare and striking feature.
Giant sequoias are the thickest trees in existence, some even gro...
Nevada, District 18 Military Base.
In the satellite reconnaissance control room, the photos displayed on several large monitors silenced the entire space.
The screens were blurry, but they showed a white object streaking through the atmosphere, heading toward Earth. Its thrusters burned brightly, emitting flames like a meteor as it descended.
Despite the blurred image cause...
The origin of the universe remains elusive. Before the advent of life, there was only endless darkness, a void so deep it chilled the heart.
When gazing up at the starry sky, the ignorant admire its beauty, while explorers stand in awe, drawn to its mysteries and striving to unravel them.
Deep space is vast and lonelyāa boundless, infinite expanse.
Among the brilliance of...
[DC: Tyrant]
In his past life, he was an honest and hardworking man who deeply loved his kind ex-girlfriend. They reunited and got married and later welcomed a premature baby into their lives. He worked tirelessly to provide for his family, feeling both exhausted and fulfilled, as their happiness became his driving force.
However, his life took a dark turn when a shoc...