145: The ESTS Organization Appears

Before the fight could even begin, Mutou's clairvoyant perception suddenly gave him an intuitive feeling: Mai Shiranui would be ambushed and captured right after they left.

Therefore, Mutou quickly shouted, "Wait... can we stop fighting!"

Mai Shiranui said with a trace of anger, "A real man, why are you hesitating and acting like a woman?"

Mutou waved his hands and said, "I'm doing this for your own good. You're in trouble!"

Mai Shiranui was taken aback and asked, "What trouble could I possibly have?"

"I don't know!" Mutou's clairvoyant perception only sensed that Mai Shiranui was in danger, but he couldn't pinpoint the exact nature of the threat. Out of kind intentions, he reminded her, "Where is your fiancé, Andy? I think you need his protection!"

Mai Shiranui was extremely surprised. "You even know about my fiancé?" She grew vigilant and demanded, "Who on earth are you?"

Mutou replied, "Anyway, just do as I say. You're really in danger... A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. I'm getting out of here first!" With that, he turned around and left, taking Gu Feng and the others with him.

Watching Mutou turn away, Mai Shiranui stamped her foot, intending to rush forward and block them. But the moment she jumped up, she felt a sharp pain in her right shoulder, as if something had pierced it. She instinctively reached back to pull it out, only to find a tranquilizer dart. Panic gripped her heart and she screamed, "Despicable! Using such underhanded tactics!" She assumed Mutou and his companions had deliberately plotted against her.

However, she soon realized she had wronged Mutou and the others. She saw both ends of the narrow alley blocked by heavy trucks. Eight burly men with expressionless faces stepped out from each end, their synchronized footsteps sounding like heavy blows striking her chest.

"Hehehehe..." A lewd chuckle echoed from behind the group of big men. A skinny, wretched-looking man wearing a white lab coat and gold-rimmed glasses emerged from the crowd. He looked at Mai Shiranui and let out a spine-chilling, lecherous laugh. "I've been waiting for you for a long time... a top-sixteen beauty and martial artist! I wonder what you taste like in bed!"

Mai Shiranui's expression changed drastically. As a martial artist, her physical fitness far surpassed that of an ordinary person, so the effect of the tranquilizer dart could not knock her out immediately. But realization hit her: "If you dare... touch me, Andy will tear you to pieces!"

"Andy... that martial artist fiancé of yours who is obsessed with the martial way? Hahaha. He's actually our next target. When the time comes, I'll make sure he watches with his own eyes as you moan and writhe beneath me. Hehehe. My stamina in that area has been specially enhanced, I guarantee it will drive you out of your mind with pleasure... hehehehe!" Saliva flew from the wretched man's mouth as he spoke, as if he wanted to throw Mai Shiranui to the ground right then and there.

Although her mind was gradually growing hazy, Mai Shiranui suddenly understood: "Several martial artists have gone missing recently. Could it be your doing?!"

The wretched man chuckled lecherously and nodded lightly. "You'll be seeing them very soon." Just as he was looking triumphant, Mai Shiranui suddenly leaped high into the air, pushing off the high wall beside the alley with her feet, trying to escape from above. But just as she reached the peak of her jump, with a loud "bang," a large white net came crashing down over her head. They had even prepared a net gun.

"Hehehe, beauty, don't waste your energy. Otherwise, you won't have any strength left when we get to bed, and where's the fun in that? Hehehe!" The wretched man laughed triumphantly.

"It seems... could it be... that you're treating us as invisible?" Mutou kindly reminded the wretched man.

"Save me..." Mai Shiranui suddenly pleaded softly. She thought of her fiancé. If she were violated... she didn't know if Andy would go insane.

"Save you? By relying on them?!" The wretched man pushed up his glasses, swept his gaze over Mutou and the other three, and laughed dismissively, "A bunch of ordinary people with a combat power of less than 1! If there were real martial artists among them, would I have shown myself so recklessly?!"

"A detector?!" Mutou felt a shock in his heart. The man actually possessed such high-tech equipment; this was definitely not technology belonging to this era.

The wretched man was slightly stunned, a trace of unusual emotion flashing across his face. "You know about this?" He waved his hand at the burly men behind him and commanded, "Take them down, capture them alive!"

Following his command, four men stepped out from each end, dividing into pairs of two to close in on the four of them. Given the current strength of Mutou and his group, how could they possibly fear these few big men? Even ten times as many would have been easily dealt with. Therefore, seeing them close in, none of them cared in the least. Baldy possessed the highest fighting spirit; he stepped forward preemptively to intercept the man in front of him, grabbed his arm with a shout, and effortlessly hurled him down to the ground.

"Bang..." With a loud crash, the big man was slammed solidly onto the pavement by Baldy. Without even letting out a groan, all the bones in his body felt as though they had fallen apart. Baldy smiled smugly, casting a provocative glance at the remaining big men, only to find that the rest of the thugs showed no fear whatsoever and continued to advance step by step.

Mutou let out a puzzled sound, and the others also realized something was amiss... This was not how normal people should react. No matter who they were, seeing their companion killed with a single blow, anyone would show expressions of panic or anger, yet these big men remained expressionless and completely indifferent.

A sharp glint suddenly flashed in Lu Daoxuan's eyes as he said, "They have no souls... Are they cyborgs?"

"Ah..." Mutou was even more astonished. How could cyborgs be the technology of this world? Suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit his mind, and he said, "I see. You are from the NESTS organization. You capture martial artists to use their elements to create clone warriors." Then he turned to Baldy and said, "They are cyborgs too!"

Baldy was stunned at first, then broke into a smile. "They can actually replicate martial artists' elements to create cyborgs? This guy will be useful to me!" He pointed at the wretched man.

The wretched man suddenly felt a chill in his heart and screamed, "Attack together, kill them!"

Those cyborgs only knew how to obey orders; they had no concept of fear whatsoever. They immediately swarmed forward. Baldy let out a roar, charged into the crowd, punching and kicking. Those men were no match for him at all, and in the blink of an eye, every single one of them was dealt with. It made the wretched man tremble all over. He wanted to run, but his intuition told him he couldn't outrun this god-of-war-like big man.

Before he could snap out of it, the god-of-war-like big man had already walked up to him, looking down at him with an ominous smile. Unconsciously, his legs gave out, he dropped to his knees with a thud, and he cried out piteously, "Hero... spare my life!"

At that moment, both heavy trucks at either end suddenly started up. It seemed they had noticed the abnormality on this side and wanted to make a run for it. Mutou gave a faint smile and channeled the vital energy of heaven and earth: "Piercing Spikes!"

Instantly, countless sharp earthen spikes shot up from beneath the two trucks, piercing their fuel tanks before exploding with a loud "boom."

Seeing these people display abilities far surpassing ordinary humans, how could the wretched man not realize that he had kicked a massive iron plate? His entire body went limp.

Baldy pulled a sheepskin scroll from his spatial bracelet and asked, "Do you want to live, or do you want to die?"

The wretched man hurriedly answered, "I want to live, I want to live!"

Baldy smiled and said, "Good, if you want to live, sign this contract!"

With that, he drew a small knife from his person, slashed the man's finger, and let a few drops of fresh blood fall onto the sheepskin scroll. Then he patted the man on the head. A flash of golden light swept by, imprinting a hexagram array on the wretched man's forehead. The array flickered, and the man vanished instantly.

Seeing Mutou's astonished gaze, Baldy explained, "I also have a cyborg manufacturing factory, but I never thought of using martial elements to create cyborg warriors. Their train of thought has greatly inspired me; it might just enhance the combat power of my cyborg warriors, which is why I made him sign a servant contract."

Mutou nodded and said, "I know about that. What I'm wondering about is that scroll of yours—how can it store living beings like magic? I thought spatial items from magical planes couldn't hold living beings?"

Hearing him say this, Gu Feng smiled. "Ordinary spatial items can't hold living beings, but there is a type of magic contract that links to a different dimension, allowing servants to sleep within that space and be summoned at any time and place. It's somewhat similar to our 'Harem' system, except the 'Harem' has far more powerful functions, allowing people inside to live freely, whereas this cannot!"

Only then did Mutou understand. No wonder Baldy was able to bring cyborg warriors into different planes without the "Harem." He had always wanted to ask about this, but since it wasn't a major issue, he hadn't paid too much attention and kept forgetting to ask.

After discussing the wretched man's problem, they looked over at Mai Shiranui, who was lying flat on the ground and unconscious. Mutou was just about to go wake her up when Lu Daoxuan said, "Wait... Mutou, there are some things about this world you haven't told us! Why didn't you mention this NESTS organization?"

Mutou scratched his head, looking embarrassed as he said, "Well... I haven't played the King of Fighters games in years, and after all, it's just a game. I didn't focus too deeply on the plot details, so I forgot!"

Lu Daoxuan glanced at him and said, "A mistake, a major mistake. This NESTS organization is deeply problematic. Tell us everything you know about the situation!"

Mutou thought for a moment and said, "I really don't know much about this organization. In this world, they only appear near the end. After Chizuru Kagura, Kyo Kusanagi, and Iori Yagami joined forces to seal Orochi, everyone was in a state of severe injury. Iori was taken back to the shrine by Kagura to recuperate, while Kyo was captured alive by the NESTS organization to serve as the element for clones."

"As for the NESTS organization, the game lore says the mastermind behind the scenes is Igniz, who was bent on ruling the entire world and becoming an overlord. Although he was already 56 years old, through body modification surgery, he achieved eternal youth and maintained the appearance of a 20-year-old. He wears a specially crafted combat suit that makes him invincible. He delusionaly thought of becoming a god, destroying the current world, and building a new one... In that regard, he's very much like the Great God."

After listening to Mutou, Lu Daoxuan pondered for a long time and asked, "Was that detector also something that originally existed in this world?"

Mutou thought about it and shook his head, saying, "No... the game lore didn't introduce that!"

Lu Daoxuan nodded and looked at Baldy. Baldy was slightly startled, but immediately understood his meaning and summoned the wretched man back out.

"When was this pair of glasses given to you?" Lu Daoxuan asked.

Restricted by the contract, the wretched man hurriedly and respectfully replied, "About a year ago, I suppose?"

"Did any major changes happen within your organization a year ago?" Lu Daoxuan asked again.

"Changes?" The wretched man thought for a moment and answered cautiously, "I'm a researcher, so I'm not familiar with the upper echelons of power. However, a year ago, my superior was replaced by someone I didn't recognize!"

Lu Daoxuan nodded, signaled Baldy to put the wretched man away again, and then solemnly told Mutou, "After this world ends, you must copy all the materials of the most popular and once-popular movies and animations on Earth for me... From now on, whenever we enter any world, we must thoroughly study the materials before entering."

*(The following word count is free: Because there were some materials, I deliberately wrote a few hundred words more, hahaha. Mutou is the most honest, monthly tickets, subscriptions, everyone please come click and recommend to support Mutou, bowing in gratitude)*