CHAMPION | NCT

o62

C H A P T E R
S I X T Y - T W O

The slate-gray exoskeletons of the cyborgs crunched and whirred as we encountered them on different parts of the headquarters. Everytime their artificial eyes landed on me and Ten, their steel bodies maneuvered around one another, always ready to assemble in an attack position.

Controlled, they were. They couldn't even recognize their own creator.

The word continued to flutter around in my brain like a flock of quails frightened by the sound of a shot from one of the the Ruler's guards. Yuta's definitely under their control now, just as Hendery and Xiaojun said, and we don't have much time left to rescue him.

Ten had been acting a little strange, and I couldn't blame him for it. This place was his home for many years, even way before he met me. These cyborgs were his friends from the very beginning.

And to shut it down like a system - I don't know if anything could be as cruel as that. They're more than just wires and metals.

My eyes raked over another cyborg, taking in every lights and plates. My gaze expertly landed on the its chest part, where the main command was located. Ten was stiff as a stone beside me, and I could sometimes hear him breathing louder than I did.

"You don't need to fight," I told him, cutting the air like a knife with the sharpness of my voice.

His pair of silver eyes darted towards me, and it was clouded with... rage.

"Do you know how frustrating it is to hear that?! I've debunked seven of my cyborgs already, Sooji. Seven! Tell me to stop fighting once I've shut all of them off."

I wasn't expecting his answer, but he's right.

Ten and I were perched high above a certain platform, near the ceiling, watching at least three cyborgs churn through the hallway like clotted blood through a vein. We were straddling an exposed metal beam that connected the freightship to the window-like roof a few meters away from our position.

Gripping the beam with both hands, I swung my legs over the side and launched my body to the nearby catwalk, landing silently in a crouch. Directly underneath me, the cyborg continued farther into the hallway, weaving around the empty air searching for us. Its gaze swept left and right as though he was taking mental inventory of the space.

"What are you doing?" Ten murmured through gritted teeth.

I shimmied along the beam until I was directly above the cyborg. Then, I tipped forward, rotated around, and kicked both feet out in front of me.

The cyborg fell to the floor like a heavy bunk of metal, colliding against the floor with a loud thump.

Ten moved quickly and landed in a squat. Meanwhile, I jumped from the beam and avalanched my whole weight on top of the cyborg. Ten instantly picked up and pinned the cyborg's arms to the ground, tackling it until it was incapable of any motion.

I went straight for the circuitry implants on the nape of its neck, clucking my tongue as my fingers clawed on its skin that resembled human flesh. With the help of the AXION model that Taeil lent me, I was able to penetrate through its surface and sink my fingers straight to a vital circuit - right where the command should be.

"Don't press it," Ten hissed. "It sends a signal."

"To whom?"

"To whoever's controlling it."

"Hendery knows what we're doing," I replied bitterly. "There's no other way!"

Ten bit his lower lip. "Fine. But we'll send away our location."