Chapter 54: Attacking the Tetragrammaton
Two days later,
still in the underground resistance base, in the same cozy little room, Mozart was still playing.
The incandescent bulb emitted a gentle light, a warm, orange-yellow glow that was considered contraband in this world.
Jake and John sat facing each other, though John was still bound.
Judging from his disheveled hair and slightly pale face, he hadn't enjoyed living in this cozy room these past few days; instead, it seemed he'd been constantly tormented by the unfamiliar sensations, and he couldn't stand the disturbance.
"This is Mozart's music. Many pregnant women around the world like to play his music for their unborn children," Jake said, looking at John, whose head was half-lowered, his index fingers interlaced and his chin resting on them. "It's said that this makes the child very intelligent."
John didn't speak, still with his head down, but Jake didn't believe he would be unmoved.
John's silence now likely stemmed from thoughts of his deceased wife, a former sense offender.
A moment later, Partridge, still dressed in his Cleric's uniform, entered. In the past two days, he had been interacting with other emotional individuals in the underground resistance, like a fish swimming freely, incredibly happy.
He even had a woman he liked.
But the more this happened, the more determined Partridge became, and the more he wanted to overthrow the Tetra grammaton's rule.
"Have you decided?" Four sense offenders carrying submachine guns entered with him. Upon entering, they instinctively raised their guns and pointed them at John.
Their companions had already experienced firsthand the power of high-ranking Clerics, a lesson that served as a warning. In such a confined space, if John were to suddenly turn on them, they could all be slaughtered!
"Of course," Jake nodded, standing up from his chair and fearlessly walking towards John.
Even ordinary people wouldn't be able to guarantee that John, having developed emotions, would side with the sense offenders. Others wouldn't dare, but Jake was absolutely certain.
He unlocked the laser handcuffs on John's feet and hands.
To everyone's relief, John didn't resist, remaining seated.
John had almost fully regained his emotions, and what Jake had said before—that the Tetragrammaton was controlled by DuPont—would definitely leave a lingering impression on him.
In the original movie, after gaining feelings, John kept reliving the scene of his wife's death. Now that he knew the culprit might be DuPont, he had no reason not to investigate the truth.
"I'm sorry for what you've been through these past few days," Jake said, extending his hand to John. This gesture made everyone gasp instinctively.
John's sudden hand movement startled several people, almost causing them to pull the trigger.
Fortunately, Partridge waved to control the situation.
The two hands clasped tightly together, and John looked up, his eyes red.
"Welcome back to reality..." Jake smiled.
At this moment, Jake felt like some kind of motivational speaker. Awakening, salvation?
After John Preston gained his feelings, the group split into two teams after discussion: one team planned to blow up all the Prozium pharmaceutical factories with explosives, while the other team went to the Tetragrammaton headquarters.
To paraphrase Jake's words at the time, "Kill their leader DuPont, leave them leaderless, then blow up all the pharmaceutical factories. Without a leader, Prozium's production will grind to a halt for a short time, and we'll gain the time we need!"
He originally wanted to go with the people who were blowing up the pharmaceutical factories; going to the Tetragrammaton with John was a bit dangerous, but just in case, and also to fight alongside Christian Bale once, he gritted his teeth and followed.
Only Jake, John, and Partridge were on this mission.
In the car, Partridge drove to the Tetragrammaton headquarters, with Jake and John in the back seat.
"Do you really have to bring so much stuff?" John frowned, looking at the large suitcase Jake was carrying, and then glancing back at the trunk, where there was an even larger one.
"I don't have your special pistols," Jake said, glancing at the sleeve of John's Cleric uniform with a hint of envy.
The Cleric's two special pistols were modified from Beretta 92FS handguns, featuring higher magazine capacity and easier concealment. The Beretta 92FS was also Jake's favorite pistol model, so he fell in love with these two incredibly cool-looking weapons the first time he saw them.
"I'll give you a pair after this is over," John said, his expression still a little dazed, though a hint of warmth could be heard in his words.
"Alright, it's a deal!"
As they neared the Tetragrammaton, Jake opened his black leather suitcase. To facilitate travel between worlds, and inheriting Leon's habit of carrying suitcases, Jake had many suitcases custom-made in the Princess Diaries world—various styles and sizes. Because they were custom-made, he had also printed his logo on them:
a cube-shaped logo. He believed that all the movie worlds were like sandbox worlds, each with its own story.
He was an outsider, able to travel between these worlds.
That was the meaning of the logo.
Inside the box were two Beretta 92FS pistols, six magazines loaded with bullets, and two olive-drab painted grenades from the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. They were ugly, but powerful enough.
There was also an American M16A2 5.56mm assault rifle.
There was a scene in the movie where John used this long rifle in a gunfight—it looked incredibly badass!
Jake also equipped himself with it.
As mentioned before, this was a pseudo-utopian world. Because of Prozium's existence, there was no war, no conflict, and no betrayal.
But because of the absence of emotion, everything appeared gray to people.
For example, the city—gray buildings, black cars parked on the roadside.
Pedestrians wore somber gray clothes and had expressionless faces.
One glance was enough for Jake to completely hate this world. If this was what utopia was like, Jake never wanted any part of it.
After getting out of the car, Jake ran to the trunk, took out a huge black leather suitcase, and then followed the two Clerics, John and Partridge, towards the massive Tetragrammaton building.
John was probably so famous that many people who saw him didn't expect him to be there to kill, and instead saluted him respectfully.
As for Jake, carrying a rifle and a huge suitcase, following behind two high-ranking Clerics, how could he possibly be a threat?
The three of them took the elevator without any trouble.
According to John, Father hadn't appeared for several years, so seeing him was obviously impossible, but seeing DuPont wouldn't be so difficult.
Since Father was a fake, they might as well just take down the final boss.
Jake gave John a thumbs up to express his admiration for this bold act of skipping straight to the endgame.
"Please stop!" A guard in full tactical gear stopped the three of them.
Speaking of the equipment in this world, Jake couldn't help but critique it again.
It was clearly a futuristic world, yet there was no high technology whatsoever. Instead, everyone was using standard automatic weapons like the Heckler & Koch MP5, MP3, Benelli M3 Super 90 shotguns, and similar firearms.
Only the Cleric's two pistols had a somewhat futuristic look. The most valuable item in the entire world was actually a drug like Prozium, which controlled emotions!
Just as Jake was mentally critiquing the man's black tactical coat, authoritarian-style uniform, and ballistic helmet,
John moved!
With a flick of his wrist, two pistols slid from his sleeves and were caught in his hands.
He spun the pistols in his hands, gripped the barrels, and with a flick, a row of thin spikes protruded from the bottom of the pistol grips!
Then, the spiked pistol grips slammed into the ballistic helmet!
The black ballistic visor shattered instantly, and blood spurted out!
The battle began in an instant!
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