They moved with precision, targeting Zi Zhen with brutal speed, aiming to subdue him but not kill him.
Another figure surged from the far end of the dark corridor—this one was a female, face partially visible beneath her shattered night-vision visor, headed straight for Wan Ruyi, a needle-thin blade glinting faintly in her hand. Her steps were near silent but deliberate. She was here to kill, not capture.
At the same time—a third faction revealed themselves.
From behind a hidden panel in the wall, two more attackers emerged—slick suits and high-tech eyewear. Mercenaries. Corporate killers. One raised an EMP pulse gun aimed at the ceiling, ensuring communications stayed down.
Suddenly, more assassins filled the hallway. All were capable enemies.
Three different enemies.
Three different motives.
Zi Zhen twisted, catching one assassin's wrist mid-strike and breaking it with a vicious crack, he wasn't going to be merciful. One hit, one kill... He didn't have time.
The second attacker slashed across her side, drawing blood. She gritted her teeth and spun low, sweeping his legs with a kick.
Wan Ruyi rolled to her feet, her fingers already sliding a hidden dagger from her dress, which she always carries.
She blocked the blade of the woman assassin just in time, the force jarring through her forearm.
"Who are you working for?!" she demanded, but the woman didn't speak. Her attacks were silent, trained. Military precision and this scared Lu Wan Ruyi. Nothing was terrible like getting attacked by government personnel.
Ruyi shifted her stance, bracing low—not to attack, but to guard. Every movement of hers now was measured, precise, and protective toward her bump.
She couldn't afford recklessness—not with the baby. Her left arm deflected a thrust; her right hand pressed to her abdomen between movements as if to shield the life inside with muscle and will alone.
The female assassin was fast, unnaturally so, her blade a blur of silver in the flickering emergency light. She struck again.
Ruyi twisted, just enough to avoid the fatal edge, her dagger slashing the assassin's thigh in return. The woman hissed but didn't slow.
They wanted her alive.
That was the advantage.
Zi Zhen caught it too.
Lu Zi Zhen silently thought of his pregnant momma! His eyes narrowed with white-hot fury. He bellowed, "You touch her again and I will break every bone in your body!"
Another assassin lunged at him from the side, but Zi Zhen ducked and drove his elbow back, cracking the man's jaw before twisting the mercenary's arm and slamming him into the corridor wall. Bone snapped. A scream choked off.
But more were pouring in.
Four more black-clad attackers dropped from a ceiling vent.
They surrounded them now—six, no, twenty in total, including the tech-equipped mercenaries and the female killer. The few guards that were along the corridor were overpowered already by these trained assassins.
Zi Zhen reached into his coat and pressed the emergency tracker embedded in the lining—a sharp jolt to his thumb. It would send a silent signal to his backup team. If anyone's within range...
They didn't have to wait long.
A roar split the hallway as the side service door burst open.
"FOR THE YOUNG MASTER!" came a voice, Lu Tian's commanding the guards.
Clad in tactical gear and wielding a reinforced staff, he swept through the hallway like a hurricane, cracking skulls and tearing through the flanks of the mercenary line.
Behind him, three more members of the Lu family's shadow guard surged in—silent, brutal, and loyal to a fault.
One tackled the woman with the EMP weapon, ripping the device from her hand and slamming her to the ground. Sparks erupted as it shattered.