Su Ming moved silently in the darkness, checking every room, only to find mostly useless junk. Everything here seemed primitive in Su Ming's eyes.
Like the electrotherapy equipment, far inferior to that of a certain Professor.
Brainwashing machines and the straps weren't even real leather.
And a shabby laboratory, where research began with just a blackboard.
Even clad in Heavy Armor, Su Ming possessed special skills that allowed him to move without making a sound, the only noise in the darkness being the occasional soft 'creak' of doors opening.
Halfway through his search, he encountered a researcher who got up to use the restroom.
Probably an assistant, as real scientists lived in suites, with only student assistants needing to leave their rooms at night to use the communal bathrooms.
Su Ming ambushed him from behind while he shivered after finishing his business.
"I ask, you answer, quietly."
He switched to fluent Russian, leaning in close to the captive's ear from behind.
The captive's pants fell to the ground as he tried to pry open the iron grip-like hands.
But the person behind him held him tight, his struggles futile, unable to move the seemingly immobile assailant.
"Not cooperating?"
Su Ming covered the captive's mouth with his right hand, pinching his neck with his left, lifting him off the ground with slight force.
Indeed, as the saying goes, with feet off the ground, the virus shuts down, and intelligence regains high ground.
The researcher vehemently nodded, indicating willingness to cooperate.
"Where is the Leech Potion?" Su Ming released the captive's mouth.
"With the Chief Scientist, he keeps it personally."
"Where is he?"
"Along the corridor, turn left and then go straight, turn right, it's in the large suite."
"What is your research subject?"
"The influence of mental humiliation on human cybernetics."
"Thanks, be a good person in the next life."
Su Ming snapped his neck and discarded the body.
No way around it, for perfect Stealth, captives are useless.
Moreover, this researcher of torture methods, Su Ming doesn't quite need him, the memory of Deathstroke has already gifted him with too much knowledge of Darkness.
Exiting the foul-smelling restroom, Su Ming continued forward according to the testimony, of course, leaving no survivors where he passed.
The scientists here could better be described as mental health experts; most projects researched were cybernetics or brainwashing methods, all of them lunatics.
Apparently, only the Chief Scientist was an expert in biochemistry, no wonder the Leech Potion was with him.
Su Ming crept outside the suite door, hearing a woman's voice inside, seemingly engaging in some indescribable activity.
He'd seen the Chief Scientist's photo earlier, a bald, goat-bearded old man; working on research in the middle of the night?
Su Ming quietly pushed open the door.
He saw the old man entangled with a scrawny, ugly old woman, an acquired taste; Su Ming somewhat regretted entering.
However, the woman's vigilance was visibly higher than the scientist's; she immediately noticed the change in airflow from the door opening for a moment, spotting the third person in the room.
Unlike typical scenarios where women might scream or cover up, she immediately leaped naked from the bed, charging at the intruder.
The first intention was to jab Su Ming's goggles.
A reasonable choice, as the one-eyed person's remaining eye indeed appeared as a weakness.
But as one often dealing with Batman, Deathstroke could not possibly be ignorant of this fact.
The helmet wasn't like the old cloth mask Deathstroke wore; if any part was most reinforced, it must be these goggles, with dozens of contingency plans for when someone attempts to attack this 'weakness'.
He effortlessly brushed aside the woman's attack, simultaneously kicking a nearby chair, knocking out the old man attempting to flee.
The woman attacked frantically, trying throat and lower quarter vulnerabilities after failing to jab the eye.
Su Ming casually deflected while feeling the difference between this assassination melee technique and conventional fighting methods.
Overall, it somewhat resembled the Assassin Alliance's style, but more insidious and unscrupulous.
The Assassin Alliance at least pursued honor as a Martial Artist group, though they also practiced assassination, they simply appeared in the target's room and engaged them directly.
The Red House, however, only nurtured assassins with no bottom line, teaching them to exploit the enemy's weaknesses, whether moral or physiological.
This old woman should be one of the instructors, both the strength and agility of her moves were significantly superior to average.
Moreover, despite her being at least fifty years old, aerial flips and similar flexibility actions remained unproblematic.
Her arms and legs were blocked by Su Ming during the fight, both limbs a patch of bruising and even a few broken fingers, yet she remained silent, continuing the assault quietly.
Considered a decent Warrior, unfortunately, an enemy; she perhaps could handle a dozen Ordinary people, yet the gap with Deathstroke was still too large.
However, not everyone possesses the courage to face an enemy evidently stronger than oneself.
Out of respect for Warriors, Su Ming refrained from using weapons or Strangulation, these unconventional means, merely learning her combat patterns before seizing the moment and suddenly striking.
A fierce strike to the opponent's jaw caused dizziness, then he grabbed the neck and twisted.
Resolved, Su Ming tore off the bed sheet to cover the woman, thinking it would give her some dignity.
Then he searched the room for the possible storage location of the potion.
Almost no need to search, the massive safe was right in the corner, others might need a stethoscope or blowtorch to open it, but for Su Ming, all he needed was the Great Sword.
A row of scarlet liquid sat in the test tubes, with plenty of research documents, cash, and jewelry inside the safe.
The documents recorded the characteristics of the Leech Potion and clinical trial conclusions, stating that the potion would grant the recipient stronger cell division and proliferation.
Essentially providing the ability of immortality, with slight enhancements in healing, strength, and agility.
However, those enhancements were minimal; if an ordinary person needs a month to recover from a severe injury, Black Widow might need around 25 days?
But this potion also increased body immunity, making the injection recipient less prone to infections and illnesses, which was somewhat interesting.
Su Ming wanted trainees who hadn't been trained yet, not Black Widow, that would be better.
While they're still young, send them to Zhongsi Academy for transformation; they can become useful for the company.
Don't just think about killing, killing is not the only solution. The world is so beautiful, yet they are so irritable, it's not good.
Shaking his head and sighing, Su Ming casually added another sword for the Chief Scientist.
This old man was useless; he wasn't the researcher of the Leech Potion, just an ordinary chemistry professor, and his methods of live experiment were disgusting and repulsive.
Su Ming took all the documents and valuables from the safe, packed them in a pillowcase, and let Strangulation extend a tentacle to carry it for him.
He carefully placed the test tube containing the Leech Potion into his cigar box, securing it in a safe place.
Strangulation, now carrying money and documents, appeared dispirited.
Half of the mission was completed; the rest was to clear all enemies, rescue his future students, and figure out how to safely evacuate them.
Su Ming was well-prepared.
.........
Layer upon layer, each security measure was about the same, with few guards patrolling the corridors, yawning widely at the time.
Corner kills, surprise attacks from boxes, various tactics left the guards defenseless.
After Su Ming cleared out the instructors' dormitory, he amassed a good amount of money and property, leaving only the lowest level, the student dormitory area.
"Ah, it's such a hassle. Once I have stronger allies, I won't have to do things like this myself."
Su Ming lamented inwardly, quietly descending the stairs, the dark areas feeling quite familiar, though all the surrounding walls were red, which was a bit much.
There's a branch in clinical psychology called color psychology, studying the effect of colors on human psychology, originating alongside Rorschach tests of abstract blots.
For instance, someone living in a deep blue room for a long time may become depressed; living in a green room improves mood.
A room entirely painted red, however, is proven to increase blood pressure, heart rate, and maintain heightened alertness.
Red symbolizes passion, seduction, prestige, confidence.
But it also represents bloodshed, violence, jealousy, control.
"Oh, Leviathan people focused on experiments with breeding pests, it's better to train more special agents for practicality."
Su Ming descended the last step, peeking out from the corner, the air filled with the scent of blood and cosmetics, light footsteps approached from nearby.
Look at Hydra, even though their special agent capabilities are mediocre, they're good at disguise and have large numbers.
The Hand Union, all ninjas, sticking to ancient Sengoku era practices, the number of Lower Ninjas is overwhelming.
As the Celestial Dynasty proverb says, accumulating dirt forms mountains, accumulating water forms abyss, Leviathan cultivating one Black Widow for years, how many years would it take?
Even if they intended to use the Winter Soldier program to fill numbers, hasn't it still been unimplemented? Leviathan barely utilized it before, Soviet Union collapsed, Hydra took the Winter Soldiers.
Guards were insignificant, easily dealing with the last of them, Su Ming began opening girl dorm rooms one by one.
Some might think it's like a rescue mission with police saving hostages, full of surprises and joy, but reality isn't like that.
The girl's hands were cuffed to the bed, stuck in a surrender position.
Even with Su Ming entering the room, they lay there silently in darkness, staring blankly at the red light of his visor, saying nothing.
He found the handcuff key on the guard, freeing the little girl.
"Are you here to rescue us?" the little girl sat up, pitifully adjusting her little skirt.
"Yes, young lady, rescuing each one of you," Su Ming replied, patting her head, "wait outside for me, I'll free your friend."
The little girl nodded, obeying the order, but as Su Ming turned to rescue her roommate, she ambushed him from behind.
Leaping onto Su Ming's back, using her legs to clamp around his waist, reaching to twist Su Ming's jaw, seemingly intending to break his neck.
Unfortunately, she couldn't budge it, starting to punch several key points on the spine, seemingly intending to paralyze Su Ming.
But to Su Ming, her attack felt like a kitten scratching, not to mention the X Metal bones, even this Holy Statue Armor wasn't something breakable by bare hands.
Su Ming countered, pulling the girl off, holding her like a cat in front of him, observing as she continued flailing her limbs in futile aggression, still making fierce expressions.
The other girl on the bed, locked in place, began struggling too, repeatedly trying to kick at Su Ming.
Ironically, Su Ming felt like he was some kind of plundering bandit.