My Tribrid System: More than a Monster-Chapter 142: Plan B?

Chapter 140

"Kuk. Cough... kuk..."

Van’s body twitched involuntarily as a broken whimper escaped his throat.

Crimson blood continued to gush from his mouth and nose, pooling on the floor beneath his frame, which remained plastered against the wall, hovering a few inches above the ground.

His arms were outstretched to either side, pinned against the masonry as if he had been nailed there, his head hanging low in a state of complete exhaustion.

The mechanical gauntlet that had been his only line of defense groaned one last time before crumbling into a pile of useless metallic scraps on the floor.

It was painfully clear that he would no longer be able to inflict any harm whatsoever in his current debilitating condition.

"Hm. You are remarkably resilient to still be alive," Bryce muttered, a look of mild annoyance crossing his features as he noted the occasional, pained twitches from Van’s body.

Turning his head to acknowledge the guard who had delivered the final blow, Bryce allowed a thin, cold smile to touch his lips.

’There’s a reason I have never found it necessary to replace my personal security. I handpicked every one of them myself, selecting the most formidable meta-humans to ensure I remain untouched.

Superspeed, super strength, kinetic barriers... they are the elite.

Though, it seems this one restrained his physical power more than I would have liked,’ Bryce mused inwardly, his brow furrowing slightly at the thought of his subordinate’s lingering mercy.

’No matter. I won’t cause a scene here. I will deal with his lack of lethality once we return to headquarters.’

Turning toward the guard standing directly to his right, Bryce issued a sharp command:

"Get him down from that wall."

Without a word of protest, the guard moved with practiced efficiency.

Within moments, Van was unpinned from the masonry and unceremoniously dropped onto the cold floor.

Seeing that the boy remained motionless, Elysa took it upon herself to inspect the damage.

She sauntered toward him, her hips swaying with a sense of dark excitement.

Reaching his crumpled form, she crouched down to peer into his face.

Van was drifting on the edge of consciousness, every ounce of strength siphoned from his muscles, leaving him unable to even keep his eyelids from drooping.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Hey, wakey-wakey, boy. Are you going to open those eyes for me?!" Elysa questioned, her voice dripping with mock concern as she sharply tapped his bruised cheek.

When he remained unresponsive, her feigned patience snapped.

She wound back and swung her hand, smacking his face with all the strength she could muster.

"Gasp—! Cough, cough, cough..."

The violent impact jolted Van back to the waking world, though he remained utterly paralyzed.

He began to cough repeatedly, the sound weak and wet.

Through a haze of blurry vision, he managed to make out the sharp, triumphant features of his instructor looming over him.

"Look at you. You stormed in here making such tall claims, yet you achieved absolutely nothing in the end. I won’t lie to you, Van; your ability is incredibly handy, and I’m actually quite envious of it. But what was the point of it all?"

Bryce watched from a few paces back, a predatory grin fixed on his face as the woman continued her taunting.

"You had a choice. You could have collaborated with me and become wealthier than you ever dared to imagine.

You had the golden opportunity to secure your future, yet you chose to play the hero instead?"

She leaned in closer, her voice dropping to a hiss.

"Unfortunately, your story ends right here. You are going to lose your life. Your disappearance will be meticulously covered up by me, and the world will simply move on. Our plans will proceed exactly as scheduled."

Van remained silent, his gaze searching the woman’s eyes for even a flicker of remorse.

Finding none, his cracked lips finally moved.

His voice was a mere ghost of a sound at first, forcing Elysa to lean forward, her ear strained to catch his final words.

"What was that? Speak up."

"Re-remember... when I said I would be taking one of you to... to hell with me?" Van rasped, his voice hoarse and trembling with a final, hidden intent.

Elysa picked his words up and quickly aimed to stand upright, but unfortunately, Van’s eyes shone a brilliant blue for a fleeting moment.

From the far corner of the room, something shot out at a blazing speed, passing only inches away from actually meeting her head. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

But before the projectile could find its mark, a guard darted forward at lightning velocity and quickly grabbed whatever was heading the woman’s way in the nick of time.

It turned out that the lethal object was an incredibly sharp screw from a machine laying directly beside Van.

Yet, even as his desperate plan failed, the boy still moved his lips slightly while smiling softly.

Elysa’s heart was pounding with immense intensity as cold sweat drenched her face in a second.

She forcefully swallowed at the terrifying prospect that she had just evaded death by a mere hair’s breadth.

Taking several shaky steps back, she fell onto a nearby chair while quivering in visible fright.

Van, on the other hand, was in a much worse state.

Even though his body ached with incredible agony, and even though several of his ribs were clearly broken, he remained defiant.

While he was still coughing up thick blood, he pressed his palms firmly against the ground.

Then, with trembling lips, the youth began pushing himself off the floor at a slow and painful pace.

However, after a few grueling seconds, he finally staggered to his feet.

Bryce and everybody else in the room stared at this unexpected scene, wondering what a severely injured kid was possibly about to do next.

Grimacing in deep pain, Van grabbed his side to steady his footing before staring around the crowded room with a hazy gaze.

"Instructor Elysa," Van began, his voice raspy as he spoke without even looking in her direction.

"... As a tech inventor and a certified genius, there is a specific code we always abide by. We must always prepare for potential failure and hidden contingencies."

Bryce fumed, not wanting to even listen to the kid’s rambling words any longer.

"You know what? Enough is enough. I think I finally have to get my own hands dirty for my plans to truly succeed," Bryce snarled.

He dug his hand deep into his pocket and pulled out a device akin to a standard flip phone.

Upon slamming the interface, the machine began whirring, twisting, and changing shape until what the man held resembled a sleek, metallic pistol.

"Do you know that with a single shot from this, a concentrated beam will burst out and rip through your entire body?"

Van just stared at the lethal contraption and then let out a painful, wet chuckle.

"Do you know? I always keep a plan B ready, just in case things go south."

Bryce wasn’t even paying him any attention anymore as he gripped the trigger, ready to pull it back.

"Any last words before you die?"

Van nodded slowly before tracing his gaze upward to stare at the ceiling.

Blood was trickling from a gash on his forehead, running down towards his face in crimson streaks.

But he didn’t seem to care about the injury as he tilted his head to smile at Instructor Elysa, who was still quite shaken up by the previous exchange.

"You can all go to hell, because my plan B is officially here, suckers!"

CRACKLE—!

"HOW DARE YOU BASTARDS TOUCH MY FRIEND!"

ZAP—!