48: Chapter 48 We've fallen into their trap! A diversionary tactic has placed the studio in grave danger!

Wind and snow poured into the cockpit, cutting Su Che's face like countless tiny knives.

He couldn't care less.

On the crude control console, Jiang Yingxue's text message was still lit.

[Watch out for the International Investigation Team, someone wants to kill you!]

Su Che glanced at it and immediately turned off the phone screen.

Kill me?

Right now, no one was going to stop him!

*Crunch! Crunch!*

Eight menacing metal limbs sank deep into the snow, then suddenly pulled out, bringing up large chunks of ice and snow, yet remaining as steady as if on flat ground.

The mecha exoskeleton sped through the wind and snow, emitting a dull roar.

...

On the same snowy mountain.

In a cave half-buried by snow, a bonfire crackled.

Onikiri leaned against the cold stone wall, his face deathly pale.

The wound on his left shoulder was only hastily bandaged, and his black combat uniform was stained dark red by the seeping blood.

The breakout on the night before New Year's Eve had cost him a heavy price.

Not far away, Su Pingan was tied up with a rough hemp rope, a rag stuffed in his mouth, staring at him in terror.

Just half a day ago, Su Pingan had gone to a neighboring village to seek medicine. On his way back, he encountered this "backpacker" lying in the snow, on the verge of death.

Out of the goodness of his heart, he dragged the man into this cave and built a fire to keep him warm.

In the end, as soon as he revived the man, a cold dagger was pressed against his throat.

Onikiri tore off a corner of Su Pingan's clothes and, using snow, wiped the blood off his dagger.

Looking at Su Pingan's terrified face in the firelight, he spoke hoarsely.

"Your son is very formidable."

"Unfortunately, he cares too much about you."

Onikiri fished out the old Huawei phone from Su Pingan's pocket.

He looked at Su Pingan and handed the phone over.

"Send a text."

"Four characters."

"Che'er, save me!"

Su Pingan stared at him, his eyes filled with anger and confusion.

Onikiri smiled, a smile that sounded like he was coughing up blood.

"Send it, and you both live."

"Don't send it, and I'll send you on your way right now."

...

*Boom!*

The mecha's metal foot slammed heavily onto the snow, splashing up a wave of snow half a person high.

Following the phone's GPS location, Su Che finally found the area where the signal had last disappeared.

An inconspicuous cave.

There were signs of a struggle at the cave entrance, along with a pool of coagulated, dark red blood.

Su Che's heart sank to rock bottom.

He leaped down from the mecha and stumbled into the cave.

"Dad!"

Inside the cave, Su Pingan was tied to a stalagmite, the rag in his mouth already spat out by himself.

Seeing Su Che, his face, which had been filled with terror and despair, was instantly replaced by wild joy.

"Che'er!"

Su Che rushed forward in a few strides, hurriedly trying to untie the ropes on him.

"Dad! How are you? Where are you hurt?"

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" Su Pingan looked at his son, tears and snot streaming down his face. "Where is that man? Where is that Japanese bastard?"

Su Che didn't speak, only quickly undoing the knots.

Just then.

The phone in Su Che's pocket suddenly began to vibrate wildly.

He pulled it out to take a look.

On the screen, a blood-red warning box flashed frantically!

[WARNING! Human intrusion detected! Threat Level: Lethal!]

[Target has breached the outer perimeter and entered the workshop!]

[AI Behavior Prediction: Target is suspected to be searching for a specific item!]

It was a trap!

Luring the tiger away from the mountain!

He ripped the rope apart with a hard tug and pulled Su Pingan up from the ground.

"Dad! Contact Captain Li Jun immediately! Tell him Onikiri is in my workshop!"

With that, he didn't look at Su Pingan again. Turning around like a whirlwind, he rushed back into the boundless wind and snow.

*Boom!*

The menacing steel exoskeleton started up once again.

It hurtled madly back in the direction of home!

...

Su Family Village, Su Che's small courtyard.

Of the five-man security team left behind by Captain Li Jun, four of them were split into pairs, hiding in a second-floor room opposite and a residential building on the flank. They used high-powered binoculars to keep a tight watch on every movement in the courtyard.

The team leader sat in the monitoring room, holding a cup of tea that had already gone cold.

Suddenly, his walkie-talkie crackled with a burst of static.

It was Captain Li Jun's voice, urgent but not panicked.

"Security team, take note! The target has evaded surveillance and entered the courtyard! Repeat! The target has entered the courtyard!"

"Action!"

The team leader immediately ordered the four guards to move in a tactical formation from two directions, silently closing in on the workshop, while he followed closely behind as cover.

Relying on his superb stealth skills, Onikiri slipped into the workshop like a ghost.

He searched the workshop quickly but failed to find any valuable paper documents.

Onikiri turned his gaze toward the oddly-shaped military supercomputer terminal that was humming softly.

He knew that all the secrets lay within it.

He had just pulled a specialized USB decryptor from his coat.

*Bang!*

The doors of the workshop were kicked open from two directions at the same time!

Four dark muzzles locked onto his body from different angles.

Onikiri's eyes narrowed.

He knew he had no way out.

Instead of retreating, he lunged forward. Crouching low, he abandoned the supercomputer terminal and pounced like a wounded lone wolf toward the guard on his front left.

The guard reacted extremely fast, stepping aside and raising his gun, but Onikiri's speed exceeded his expectations. With a flash of cold light, the guard's gun-holding arm was slashed by the dagger, leaving a bone-deep wound. He let out a blood-curdling scream, and his rifle slipped from his grasp.

Onikiri's tactic succeeded, but he failed to dodge the bullets from the other side.

*Bang! Bang!*

Two bullets drilled precisely into his upper back and right leg.

Onikiri's body shuddered violently, his forward momentum coming to an abrupt halt.

Using this momentum, he stumbled forward and knocked down the wounded guard, but a twisted smile, a mix of relief and fanaticism, appeared on his face.

Using the last of his strength, he reversed his grip and plunged the dagger that had accompanied him for many years deep into his own heart.

"Tenno... Heika... Banzai..."

He growled indistinctly in Japanese, his body slowly collapsing.

...

At the foot of the mountain.

Driving the mecha, Su Che could already see the lights at the entrance of the village.

He felt slightly relieved.

Just then.

In the distance, an almost imperceptible red dot pierced through the swirling snow and landed on the mecha's crude cockpit.

Right on Su Che's forehead.

*Bang!*

A gunshot rang out.