Wang Tong heaved a sigh. He was jealous of the FFC's ability to tame these wild Zergs. While on Norton, Wang Tong had tried many times to pacify Zergs, but all attempts were to no avail. Apache struggled to grasp the method that Wang Tong had used to arrive at his conclusion, and deep down, he believed that Wang Tong was merely bluffing.
"How did you know? We haven't seen a single Zerg yet."
"Yea, but they can see us. We have already stepped into their territory, and they are everywhere." Wang Tong straightened his back and looked around him. His eyes flashed with excitement instead of fear.
"Awesome! I can't wait!" Apache shouted out. He appeared even more excited than Wang Tong. The three of them kept on moving further into the woods and not far away from them, a surveillance camera watched them silently and coldly.
"These are bold little punks! Release the Zergs in the first zone of control. Let's see how they react to surprise attacks." Dr. Maggis announced to his workers with an ugly grin.
The entire island, down to a single grass blade, was under the control of FFC. The island might appear to be benign form the outside, and it was full of deadly traps and secret passages. The FFC had exercised extra caution and had absolute control while handling the most dangerous weapon on the island, the Zergs. Therefore, no one at the control room was concerned for the safety of the students. After all, the Zergs that the students were about to face was relatively weak anyways.
The method of 'releasing' Zergs involved shutting down the isolation devices. These devices created illusions and emitted disturbance signals to prevent the Zergs in proximity to communicate with each other. Stronger disturbance signals were to be used in the case of more powerful Zergs. The interference signals had been proven to be effective despite the fact that there was no consensus on how the Zergs communicated with one another. Some believed that they communicated by scent, like an ant, while others insisted that they communicated through electromagnetic waves. The more imaginative scientists even purported that the Zergs' communication method was multi-dimensional, that it was a "gene-level control of information flow via the astral space" as they put it in one of their thesis. Zergs' communication method was also one of the research subjects at the Paradise Island.
In addition to the isolation devices, FFC had also implanted a construct in the Zergs’body. FFC could remotely initiate these constructs to inject a dose of poison into Zergs bloodstream, which would immediately render the Zergs immobile and dead within a few seconds. Since this poison was needed to be placed deep into Zergs’ biological system, it was not suitable for the battlefield, but extremely effective in a controlled environment.
The FFC was also interested in the progression of Zerg's mutations, but those research subjects were locked deep down inside the third zone of control, due to their dangerous and unpredictable nature.
Suddenly, the three boys heard raspy noises among the thickets around them, as the bushes and the trees were disturbed by many unseen showdowns hidden in the darkness. The boys could almost see the fans and claws around them. There were hundreds of them, seemingly coming out of nowhere, encircling the three boys. The three of them readied themselves for a battle, and somehow, they seemed even more excited than the Zergs.
Suddenly, Wang Tong paused and furrowed his eyebrows. He sensed a greater danger lurking deep in the woods; it was far more sinister than the immediate threat they were facing. Worried that he would deter his team's courage, he decided to keep it to himself for now.
When the Zergs initiated their attack, the ground trembled, and the noise of exoskeletons rubbing against each other was so loud that the boys couldn't even hear their own voices. Hundreds of Zergs rushed toward their prey simultaneously like a giant tsunami wave that was about to engulf a stranded boat.
They boys didn't expect this many Zergs, and the scene had shocked them. The two of them had only encountered such scenario in a battle simulator. Unlike the battle simulator, every bit of threat to their life at this moment was as real as the Zergs rushing toward them.
Not only the boys, but also the ones in the control room were surprised by what they saw. Dr. Maggis jumped right back to his seat to reevaluate his calculations. He had only intended to release a couple of dozen Zergs, but by then, there were at least a couple hundred jumping around on the screen.
Siren suddenly went off; its sound was even louder than when the Zhang Brothers attacked the security system. The sound indicated the presence of the highest level of threat on the island.
"ALARM! ALARM! SYSTEM BREACHED. DEFENCE SYSTEM WILL SHUT OFF IN...SIX ZERO SECONDS. REPEAT..." A countdown appeared on the screen as red lights started to flash about. The whole island entered top level of emergency.
The workers inside the control room started to hustle to get ready for evacuation, but when they glanced at the main screen, they paused to watch in disbelief.
The cameras showed that the Zergs had swamped the island. They had revolted against the humans. There were approximately 350 Zergs on the island according to estimates, but the reality suggested that there were thousands of them. There were so many of them that it was impossible to come up with an accurate number. The Zergs popped out from the ground underneath one after another like resurrected nightmares.
"How is it… possible?" One worker gasped. All Zergs on the island were sterile. Therefore, they had no means of reproduction.
There was no time for the FFC workers to ponder on the cause, as the Zerg army would arrive at the central control room in about twenty minutes. Although the control room was buried underneath, it would not escape Zergs death clutches since many breeds of Zergs were capable of boring into the earth to this depth.
Samantha and Martyrus's face turned pale, but Dr. Maggis was still calm: "Everyone, get into the S-11 emergency tunnel ASAP. This is not a drill. Move, NOW!" After the announcement, Dr. Maggis turned to the two principles and said, "Looks like the training will have to be interrupted." His grave face suggested the magnitude of the crisis. The tell-tale sign lay bare in front of them: the strong defense system had been breached, and the sterile Zergs had been somehow reproducing hatchlings all this while. Dr. Maggis could come up with only one explanation: someone was after the FFC, someone who was very powerful.
The guard captain had gathered all the students and led them to the control room, including the Zhang Brothers. The two brothers had initially put up some resistance against the captain since they had taken the guard captain's command to leave the area as FFC's method of cheating during their standoff in the cyberspace.
"Captain Colleen, dispatch the F-14 unit to extract the three students who are still outside the wall. The rest of us will evacuate this island right now. Principals, after you please." Dr. Maggis was not only the chief researcher, but also the one who could really call the shots on this island.
"Unit number 5, escort our lady!"
"Roger!"
The FFC would make sure the safety of Ma Xiaoru under any circumstances, even at the expense of this entire island that they had poured so many resources into.
The students were still wondering about what had just happened, second guessing if this was another one of their teacher's treacherous plot to "test" them. As they evacuated the island under the escort of heavily armed soldiers, the situation perplexed them even more.
"Is it another petty show staged by our principals?" Karl touched his chin as he mumbled to himself. The 'show' started to become a little bit too real when he noticed that the workers were also among the evacuees. Ma Xiaoru was surrounded by guards as they made their way to the muster point.
"My lady, we need to get out of here."
"What happened?"
"My Lady, my name is Dr. Maggis, I oversee this island for your family. There is a ...an emergency... and I need you to evacuate this island for your safety. Help is on their way."
"Dr. Maggis, please make sure that everyone's safety is your priority." Ma Xiaoru announced calmly. She had gone through many drills like this ever since childhood. Her safety had always been at the forefront of her families' concerns.
Luckily, the Paradise island was well prepared for a crisis like this. The guards led the evacuees to the emergency tunnel, through which, they landed into a submarine and set off to the sea. Fifty miles away, the private mercenaries hired by FFC were on their way to the danger zone.
Maggis was very clear of what he should do: first, he had to ensure the safety of Ma Xiaoru. Second, he had to make sure that no Zergs would escape the island. After all, if they did, they would quickly reproduce to massive numbers and wreak havoc on earth.
"Captain Rino, fetch that son of b*tch Lanes!"
"Doc! Lanes and his cohorts have committed suicide!"
Maggis's face turned black. He couldn't fathom as to who he was dealing with, who would dare butt head with the FFC?
"Doc, This is Colleen. The Zergs have controlled the area outside the wall; we can't go any further. We are standing by and request to abort the mission."
The extraction unit intended to kill their way into the thicket, but somehow, their action instigated retaliation more intense than what they were capable of handling. The sheer number of Zergs shocked the guard captain.
Maggis's enemy was not only able to bribe personals from his inner circle, but also knew the fact that the Zergs were capable of concealing the part of the horde that was still fertile. Dr. Maggis concluded that he was dealing with someone as powerful as the FFC. But what worried him the most was the sinister undertone reflected in the timing of the attack: it happened during Ma Xiaoru's visit.