Chapter 65: New Equipment
Mason's move was lightning fast. Heavy Duty only felt a gust of wind under his armpits as a dark shadow brushed past him.
Immediately afterward, a pair of powerful arms encircled his waist, his forward momentum faltering slightly. A tremendous force struck, and his body was uncontrollably lifted into the air. The world spun before his eyes, and he heard gasps from the crowd.
"How is this possible!"
"Is this guy a monster? He can actually lift Heavy Duty up like that!"
Heavy Duty no longer had time to consider why Mason possessed such terrifying strength—he was now being held high above Mason's head. With a single thrust of his core, Mason could deliver a powerful suplex, slamming him to the ground!
Given the strength Mason had just displayed, combined with Heavy Duty's own weight, if this throw landed squarely, he would likely suffer a broken neck, spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
In that split second, he repeatedly tried several counter-moves, but his opponent's arms were as steady as steel. Faced with such an absolute difference in strength, his limited techniques were rendered useless.
"Mason!"
Scarlett's exclamation rang out from the crowd. Everything happened so fast—before anyone could react, a deafening crash followed. Heavy Duty's massive body was slammed to the ground by Mason!
His face contorted in pain, his teeth clenched to stifle a cry.
Mason had adjusted his landing trajectory at the last moment; otherwise, with the force of the impact, if Heavy Duty's neck had hit the ground first, he would likely be dead by now.
"I told you—defeating you is easy!" Mason stood up, looking down at Heavy Duty.
"You cheated!" Heavy Duty caught his breath, his face dark with rage.
"Heh..." Mason sneered.
"You taught me that. Didn't you say anything could happen in real combat? Did you really expect the enemy to stand still during an operation?"
"Idiot!"
Mason looked around, glancing at the spot where he had just been standing.
"Besides, I truly kept my promise—I didn't move back an inch!" He looked at Snake Eyes nearby.
"Do I need to fight you as well?"
Snake Eyes shook his head, filling in 100 points on Mason's assessment form.
"Excellent, Mason!"
"You passed these three main tests—the rest are just formalities." Scarlett extended her slender hand and said solemnly.
"Welcome to G.I. Joe!"
"It's an honor!"
"How are you? Are you alright?" Mason turned to Heavy Duty and asked. Heavy Duty kept a sullen face and remained silent.
"Looks like he's fine—I'll take him for a checkup later." Breaker said from the side.
Snake Eyes held up two thumbs and gestured to Mason.
"He said you're impressive!" Breaker explained. "You know, Snake Eyes rarely praises others when it comes to close combat."
"Can I learn swordsmanship from you?" Mason seized the opportunity and asked Snake Eyes directly.
Snake Eyes hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
Rico's teaching had been very traditional. He always adhered to the principle of mastering hand-to-hand combat before weapons, believing that weapons were merely an extension of the body. Once one had mastered unarmed combat skills, learning weapons would be much more efficient.
Mason indeed agreed with this philosophy. In close combat, he discovered that what Rico taught him, though seemingly basic, was actually fundamental.
However, time waits for no one. Burdened by missions and the pressures of reality, Mason didn't have time for systematic learning—he had to force himself to grow rapidly.
With his rapid learning ability, although he couldn't fully master the essence of Snake Eyes' blade techniques in a short time, he could at least understand the style's core principles. This would give him a significant advantage when facing opponents in the future!
At this point, if Mason still thought Snake Eyes was just a highly skilled ordinary human, he would be a fool.
According to Mason's estimation, Snake Eyes' strength was slightly weaker than Heavy Duty's, but not by much. However, his reaction speed and agility far surpassed that of ordinary humans, even approaching twice the human limit.
Combined with his masterful swordsmanship, he was terrifying even in this age of firearms. Furthermore, ancient martial arts traditions like his likely possessed secret techniques to unleash potential and temporarily boost combat power!
Therefore, while Mason's physical abilities gave him a significant advantage, he didn't assume he could do whatever he wanted in this world.
"Come with me—I'll show you around our living quarters," Scarlett said excitedly.
After they left, Breaker helped the groaning Heavy Duty to a chair. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. I was too careless. I let that kid provoke me and fell for his trap!" Heavy Duty said indignantly.
"Next time, next time I'll definitely teach him a lesson!"
Breaker placed his tablet in front of Heavy Duty, displaying footage of their fight.
"I don't think you'll get a chance to beat Mason. Look at him—his movements are swift and powerful. According to my data analysis, the speed he displayed when he dodged was even comparable to Snake Eyes!"
"Even if you were mentally prepared, you absolutely couldn't dodge it!" Breaker said seriously. Hearing his words, Heavy Duty's already dark expression darkened even more.
He clenched his fist and slammed it heavily on the armrest. "That's why I said this kid definitely has something going on. How could the French counter-terrorism unit's training intensity produce such a terrifying operative?"
"Maybe he's just naturally gifted?" Even Breaker himself was a little unsure.
"He's our teammate now, Heavy Duty. I suggest you put aside your prejudices and accept him. As for the General's death, the truth will come out one day!" Breaker advised.
"No! I will never give up!" Heavy Duty shook his head.
At this moment, Mason followed Scarlett's lead, touring the base's living quarters.
"This is the mess hall, and this is the equipment training room," Scarlett said as she walked, finally stopping in front of a heavily guarded gate with numerous security checkpoints.
"What is this place?" Mason asked.
"This is the weapons research and development center for all of G.I. Joe. The holographic camo suit you saw earlier that can make you invisible, and other advanced equipment, were all developed here."
"Although MARS Industries maintains a close cooperative relationship with us and provides the vast majority of our weapons, as a special operations unit, we still need some proprietary systems that only we control."
"Besides, this is also a perk for you."
"What do you mean?" Mason became interested.
"For every new official member joining G.I. Joe, the R&D department will custom-make a piece of equipment for them free of charge. For example, Snake Eyes' combat suit, the electronic crossbow I use, and Breaker's analytical eyewear."
"You'd better think carefully—you only get one chance."
Mason nodded, an idea already forming in his mind.
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