Chapter 063: Betting on My Own Win
"I didn't do anything, but Scarlett, you need to understand that anything can happen in a normal operation!" Heavy Duty remained all business.
"You deliberately increased the difficulty of the test—what's the difference between that and sabotage?" Scarlett clearly couldn't accept Heavy Duty's behavior.
"We're G.I. Joe—we can't let personal feelings interfere with operations! Don't you even understand that?"
At this moment, facing the simultaneous raising of weapons by four enemies behind him, Mason didn't have time to think. He frantically dove toward cover beside him, not even having time to aim, and pulled the trigger based solely on muscle memory.
A long burst of fire erupted from the muzzle, taking down the two enemies closest to Mason. Mason's body spun rapidly in the air, desperately trying to dodge the incoming fire.
Thud!
A beam of light grazed Mason's shoulder, activating the program in his armor. A powerful current surged forth, enough to incapacitate an ordinary adult, but it only made Mason's hands and feet numb.
He quickly recovered and continued pulling the trigger, finally taking down the other two enemies before his body reached cover.
Beep beep beep!
A piercing alarm sounded, all the lights in the training room turned on, and the test automatically ended.
Mason walked out of the training room with a grim expression and immediately saw Heavy Duty standing near the control panel.
"Did you rig this?" he asked in a low voice.
The four enemies who suddenly appeared at the end were incredibly suspicious—it wasn't a simulated combat scenario anymore, it was practically like auto-spawning enemies in a video game.
Heavy Duty shrugged. "I didn't do anything—you're just not good enough."
Mason suppressed the urge to smash the other man's face in. He couldn't help but feel wary—the hostility Heavy Duty showed him went beyond ordinary dislike, seemingly carrying some ulterior motive.
He took a deep breath, nodded, but said nothing more.
The most important thing now was to join G.I. Joe. Once he was on the team, with Mason's abilities, he had plenty of ways to deal with the guy.
"You arrogant punk, let's see your results!" Heavy Duty shouted.
He pretended to check the control panel beside him. "Looks like your score isn't very good?"
"You were hit while there were still two enemies left—mission failed. However, given your previous performance, you still got some points."
"Heavy Duty, don't push it."
Scarlett couldn't stand it anymore. "Although Mason was hit, he eliminated all the hostiles. His actual score would be much higher than this!"
"No, the last two enemies were killed after he was hit in the body. According to protocol, he was already out when he was shot, but this kid has incredible endurance and actually pulled the trigger while withstanding the electric current."
"Although your score is 92 points, which is outstanding among ordinary operatives, it is still a long way from G.I. Joe standards. I advise you to give up now to avoid embarrassing yourself later!"
"Also, according to the test rules, you have two more attempts. Do you want to try?" Heavy Duty said provocatively.
"No need—let's move on to the next test," Mason coldly refused. With this guy sabotaging things, even if they did the test again, the result would probably be similar.
Mason knew his strengths—his power came from his extremely stable and enhanced physique, which wouldn't fluctuate much even after a hundred tests.
Heavy Duty was slightly taken aback. He gave Mason a penetrating look. "Alright, let's move on to the next test."
"In the next test, I absolutely will not allow what just happened to happen again," Scarlett said to Heavy Duty. "Although I don't know why you hate Mason, I hope there's a limit to this!"
Scarlett was a woman of strong convictions, with a tough personality. She wouldn't easily change her stance, even toward her teammates.
The second test was vehicle operation. With his enhanced reaction ability and physical capabilities, without Heavy Duty's interference, Mason was in his element this time, achieving a rare perfect score.
Meanwhile, Heavy Duty had already arrived at the third test site.
"Did you find anything unusual?" Breaker adjusted the detection device on his eyewear, analyzing Mason's combat data.
"No matter how I provoke him, this kid hasn't shown any particularly unusual behavior."
"Snake Eyes, during the next test, go all out and push him as hard as possible. This kid is definitely hiding something—the General's death is connected to him somehow," Heavy Duty instructed.
Since his master's death, Snake Eyes had vowed never to speak again. Hearing Heavy Duty's words, he nodded and brandished his training sword.
Snake Eyes came from a prestigious martial arts lineage and, like Storm Shadow, was a rare weapons master in the world, and also a rare operative in G.I. Joe who used melee weapons.
This was a kind of discipline, a kind of pride, a symbol of extreme confidence in his own abilities!
"This Mason is incredibly capable. Although his marksmanship talent isn't as refined as Scarlett's, it's far beyond that of ordinary people. If we recruit him into G.I. Joe, our strength could be significantly enhanced," Breaker said with admiration after analyzing Mason's data.
"Furthermore, he performed flawlessly in the vehicle operation test, achieving a rare perfect score. Given that reaction speed, his combat effectiveness would be astonishing if he wore the Delta VI exosuit!"
"But he got General Hawk killed!" Heavy Duty said grimly.
"That was just an accident."
"But who can guarantee that?" Heavy Duty retorted.
At this moment, upon learning of the upcoming hand-to-hand combat test, a group of trained G.I. Joe members gathered around the arena.
In fact, among all the test items, hand-to-hand combat ability was relatively less crucial. After all, many times, a gun is far more useful than fists.
But due to human nature, people were still more interested in hand-to-hand combat and enjoyed finding excitement in such physical confrontations.
As more people gathered, Heavy Duty stopped the previous topic. He patted Snake Eyes on the shoulder and gave him a look. Snake Eyes nodded, removed the sword from his back, and picked up the training baton beside him.
The baton, nearly six feet long, widened at both ends and was covered with an electromagnetic device. Upon contact with a person, it would generate an electric current, incapacitating the test subject.
"How many rounds do you think this Mason can last against Snake Eyes?" a team member joked.
"I think three rounds at most."
"Three rounds? You're giving him too much credit. Two at most!"
"Come on, everyone, place your bets!" As more people gathered, a betting pool was started regarding the test.
Some bet on three rounds, some on two, and only a very few bet on five. No one believed Mason had a chance—the only question was how many rounds before he lost.
"Count me in." A voice came from outside the crowd. The young man in charge of recording asked without looking up, "How many rounds?"
"I bet I'll win!" a confident voice replied.
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