American comics: I am full of martial virtues and I love to be kind to others.

The next target is the "data processing center." It stores all the experimental data and research materials, and is crucial for completely dismantling this criminal organization.

The data center was heavily guarded, with two guards at the entrance. But these two ordinary armed men were virtually defenseless against the combined attack of Lynn and Martin.

Inside the data center was a huge server room, filled with servers and computer equipment. Several technicians were working busily, and when they saw Lynn and Martin appear, they immediately tried to destroy the data.

“Stop them!” Lynn commanded.

Martin reacted swiftly, using water jets to precisely attack each piece of equipment being operated, preventing the technicians from continuing to destroy data.

"Everyone off the equipment!" Lynn shouted. "Any attempt to destroy evidence will be considered obstruction of justice!"

Although the technicians were unwilling, they had no choice but to surrender when faced with armed FBI agents.

Lynn quickly inspected the data center and discovered it contained a vast amount of experimental records, victim information, and communication logs with external parties. This data was invaluable for uncovering the entire criminal network.

“Martin, can you make sure these devices aren’t damaged?” Lynn asked.

“No problem,” Martin said, using ice to protect all the critical equipment. “Anyone who tries to approach will be frozen.”

Just as the two were preparing to continue their search, the base's public address system suddenly blared. A cold male voice spoke in English:

"Intruders, welcome to my laboratory. I am Dr. Viktor Kuznetsov, the head of this base. Your performance has impressed me, but the game is over."

Lynn and Martin exchanged a glance; they were finally about to face the mysterious doctor.

“I’m giving you two choices,” the doctor’s voice continued. “Leave here immediately, and I might spare your lives. Or continue onward and face the final surprise I have in store for you.”

"The final surprise?" Martin frowned.

Lynn gripped his pistol tightly. "Whatever the surprise, we must keep going. The innocent victims need us, the whole world needs us to stop this madman."

A cold laugh came over the loudspeaker, "Very well, then let's meet in the control room. I'll show you what true scientific power is."

Lynn and Martin began their ascent into the deepest part of the base, where the Doctor's control room was supposed to be. They knew the final showdown was about to begin.

On their journey, they encountered several more groups of armed men, but these ordinary enemies no longer posed a real threat. Lynn's professional skills and Martin's mutant abilities worked together more and more seamlessly, and every battle ended in an overwhelming victory.

"It seems the main defense of this base comes from the mutants," Martin said after dealing with the last group of enemies. "While there are many ordinary armed personnel, their quality is low."

“Yes,” Lynn nodded in agreement, “but we can’t let our guard down. Since that doctor dared to wait for us here, he must have some trump card up his sleeve.”

The two finally reached the core area of ​​the base. A huge metal door was marked "Control Center," and two guards stood on either side of the door.

These two guards were clearly different from the enemies they had encountered before; they were better equipped and more alert. But even so, they were no match for Lynn and Martin, who had been fighting all night.

With the last two guards fallen, the path to the control room was finally opened. Lynn and Martin exchanged a glance, then simultaneously pushed open the heavy metal door.

The control room doors slowly opened, revealing a huge circular room to Lynn and Martin. In the center of the room was a raised platform, surrounded by countless monitoring screens and control devices. Amidst the flickering lights of these screens, a slender man stood with his back to them.

Dr. Viktor Kuznetsov slowly turned around. He was a man who looked to be about sixty years old, with gray hair, thick glasses, and a sickly pallor. His eyes gleamed with a mad light, like that of a mad scholar obsessed with evil science.

“Welcome, FBI friends,” the doctor said in heavily accented Russian English. “I must admit, your performance has exceeded my expectations. Breaking through my carefully laid defenses is truly commendable.”

Lynn raised his pistol, aiming at the doctor. "Viktor Kuznetsov, you are under arrest on multiple charges, including bioterrorism, illegal human experimentation, kidnapping, and murder. Surrender now!"

The doctor let out a grating laugh. "Surrender? My friends, don't you understand your predicament?"

He lightly pressed the remote control in his hand, and the walls surrounding the control room suddenly rose, revealing four figures hidden behind them. These people stood in the shadows, but judging from the powerful aura emanating from them, they were clearly mutants.

“Let me introduce my last line of defense,” the doctor said proudly. “They are the culmination of my years of research, each possessing a deadly ability.”

The first to emerge was a tall woman with metallic skin, clearly a mutant with enhanced physical abilities. The second was a thin man with strange red eyes, possibly possessing some form of mind control. The third appeared young, but his fingers occasionally crackled with electricity, suggesting he was an electric mutant. The last was the most enigmatic; his body seemed to constantly shift, sometimes clear, sometimes blurry, possibly possessing some form-changing ability.

“Four mutants,” Martin whispered to Lynn. “It’s going to be a tough fight.”

“We have no other choice,” Lynn replied firmly. “Those innocent victims are still waiting for our rescue.”

The doctor watched their conversation, his smile growing even more maniacal. "You think you're heroes? Let me show you what despair truly is."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the four mutants launched their attack simultaneously.

The female mutant with metallic skin charged at Lynn first, her speed astonishing, her fists gleaming with a steely light. Lynn fired, but the bullets struck her skin as if hitting steel plates, leaving only shallow marks.

Meanwhile, the mind-controlling mutant focused his attention on Martin, attempting to disrupt his thinking. Martin felt a sharp pain in his head, as if countless steel needles were piercing his brain.

"Ah!" Martin cried out in pain as his water-based abilities began to become unstable.

Taking advantage of the situation, the electric mutant launched an attack, countless arcs of electricity dancing in the control room, ionizing the air and giving off a pungent ozone smell. Lynn barely managed to dodge these deadly electric shocks while also dealing with the close-range attacks of the metal female mutant.

The shapeshifting mutant moves through the room like a ghost, sometimes materializing to attack, sometimes becoming ethereal to evade and counterattack, making it impossible to pinpoint its location.

The battle situation was extremely unfavorable for Lynn and Martin. The four mutants' teamwork was flawless, and the complex environment of the control room limited their options. "Martin, pull yourself together!" Lynn shouted while dodging attacks. "We need your abilities!"

Martin struggled against the effects of the mind control, gritting his teeth and forcing himself to concentrate. "I'm trying, but his mental attacks are too strong!"

At this critical moment, Lynn remembered the strategies he had learned in training. He suddenly changed tactics, no longer trying to confront the Metal Woman head-on, but instead using the equipment in the control room as obstacles to begin guerrilla warfare.

He moved quickly behind a large control console, then suddenly leaned out and fired at the mind-controlled mutant. Although the bullets were dodged, they successfully distracted him.

“Now!” Lynn shouted to Martin.

Martin seized this brief opportunity and broke free from the mind control. He immediately activated his water-based abilities, instantly activating the fire suppression system in the control room, with countless jets of water spraying down from the ceiling.

“That’s great!” Lynn said excitedly.

Under Martin's control, the water wasn't sprayed randomly, but rather precisely targeted at the enemy. Although Metalgirl had tough skin, the force of the water still affected her movements. The electric mutant encountered even greater trouble; the presence of water significantly reduced the power of his electric shocks, potentially even harming him in the process.

“Very clever,” the Doctor observed the battle from the platform, “but that’s not enough.”

He pressed the remote control again, and the temperature in the control room began to drop sharply. The powerful cooling system activated, attempting to freeze Martin's water-based abilities.

“Damn it,” Martin sensed the change in the environment, “he’s lowering the temperature, trying to limit my abilities.”

But Martin didn't give up. He changed his strategy, no longer creating large streams of water, but precisely controlling small amounts to form high-pressure water jets. This attack method, though small in range, was extremely powerful.

A water jet struck the mind-controlled mutant precisely in the shoulder. Although it did not cause fatal damage, it was enough to temporarily incapacitate him.

Taking advantage of the situation, Lynn intensified his attack, firing simultaneously from multiple angles, forcing the other mutants to keep up. In this high-intensity battle, the enemy's coordination began to falter.

The shapeshifting mutant attempted to ambush Lynn from the side, but was stopped in time by Martin's water flow. The electric mutant wanted to concentrate its fire on Martin, but was forced to divert its attention by Lynn's bullets.

“Their coordination is starting to break down,” Martin observed the enemy’s patterns of movement. “We have an opportunity.”

Lynn nodded in agreement. "We need to take them down one by one. You focus on the electric and shapeshifting ones, and I'll handle the Metal Lady."

The two worked together more seamlessly. Martin used the conductivity of water to disrupt the electric mutant's attacks, while simultaneously using high-pressure water jets to attack the shapeshifting mutant, forcing him to maintain his solid state.

Lynn adopted a more direct tactic. He noticed that while the Metal Woman had tough skin, her joints were relatively vulnerable. So he focused his attacks on her knees and elbows, successfully limiting her mobility.

After twenty minutes of intense fighting, the four mutants were finally subdued. The mind control mutant fell unconscious due to excessive blood loss, the electric mutant was stunned by Martin's water jets, the shapeshifting mutant was struck in a vital spot by Lynn while maintaining his physical form, and MetalGirl lost her ability to fight due to joint damage.

“It’s over,” Lynn said, panting, pointing at the Doctor. “Now no one can protect you.”

But the doctor's face showed no fear; instead, a more maniacal smile spread across his face. "The end? No, this is just the beginning."

He held up another remote control, "Since my research is doomed to fail, then let everyone be buried with me!"

"No!" Lynn realized the doctor's intention and immediately rushed towards him.

But it was too late. The doctor pressed the button, and piercing alarms immediately blared throughout the base. Red warning lights began flashing, and an electronic voice started a countdown: "Self-destruct sequence activated. Explosion will occur in ten minutes."

“You madman!” Martin roared. “By doing this, you’ll kill all the victims!”

The professor let out a hysterical laugh. "If I can't get perfect experimental results, then no one can! That's the price of science!"

Lynn quickly analyzed the situation. Ten minutes was far from enough time to rescue all the victims, let alone safely evacuate the base. Moreover, the base was located in the Arctic Ocean, and even if they escaped the building, survival in this environment would be difficult.

"Martin, is there any way to stop the self-destruction?" Lynn asked.

Martin inspected the equipment in the control room. "The self-destruct system has been activated, and it has multiple security locks. With our current equipment and time, there's simply no way to crack it."

The countdown continued: "Eight minutes until the explosion."

Looking at their despairing expressions, the doctor said smugly, "You think you're heroes, but in the face of true science, individual heroism is meaningless. Although I'm dead, my research data has been transferred elsewhere, and others will continue my work."

"What?" Lynn asked in shock, "Where did you transmit the data?"

“You’ll never know,” the doctor sneered, “because you’ll all soon be dying here with me.”

Just then, Martin suddenly thought of something. He quickly surveyed the layout of the control room, then looked up at the ceiling.

“Lynn, I have an idea,” Martin said eagerly, “maybe we can escape underwater.”

"Underwater?" Lynn didn't understand. "This is a base on the ice."

“That’s right, but the base is above the Arctic Ocean,” Martin explained. “If I can break through the surface and melt enough ice, we can escape by diving.”

“But what about the victims?” Lynn asked worriedly. (End of Chapter)