The Geared Immortal

The equilibrium

/*unedited*/

Afraid and in panic, Susan Tang swings her hands unconsciously as she wanted to shoo away the woman. However, the small pendant that she is holding was flung out instead. Shin Jiao saw everything that happened and he wanted to curse out from under his breath.

The small pendant flew towards his direction while the woman immediately arrives in front of Susan Tang grabbing her neck. Shin Jiao just extended his hand and grabs the pendant while disappearing from his position.

"Huh? Where… where is that guy?" The two middle-aged men muttered as they turn their gaze all over the office.

"…"

After waiting for a while, even the smallest trace of Shin Jiao\'s shadow could not be seen.

"Let\'s go! I think that guy escaped…"

"Shin… did you really abandon me?" Susan Tang thought as she felt depressed.

She could not help but tear up a bit because of the feeling of abandonment. However deep within her heart, she knew the Shin Jiao would not do that. But still, right now she can\'t help but feel depressed.

"Hehe… some hero. Your boyfriend can\'t even save you. He might be strong but he is just a coward." The woman sneered looking at the depressed expression of Susan Tang.

The group was able to escape and dodge the security of the company who was too late to arrive at the scene.

…

Inside the getaway car of the three kidnappers, Susan Tang silently cooperated with them as they took her to a tall building. Walking out of the building, she noticed that the people inside it are wearing black suits which look like that of a ninja. Their faces are covered in black colored metal face mask which looks imposing.

As they walk inside the building, Susan Tang saw a lavishly decorated corridor and then they entered a medieval decorated room which is a combination of Japanese and European style.

At the end of the room is a large black table where a middle-aged looking man wearing a white suit is sitting behind. He has long blonde hair tied in a ponytail. On both, his side stood two women, one of them looks like an army wearing a black vest and a camouflage uniform, while the other one wore a tight fit black suit.

"Ah, Welcome! Welcome, Miss Tang… Please sit down." The man said in fluent Chinese while he gestured to the chair in front of him.

Susan Tang reluctantly sits on the chair while looking everywhere inside the room. She could see that the room was designed perfectly and the owner is a great fan of the medieval ages. Ranging from the decorations and the weapons on the racks, she can feel the domineering aura and even the faint smell of blood.

"I hope that your travel to my place is smooth and comfy… Coffee?" the man asked with a gentle smile.

"Wha… what do you want from me?" Susan Tang asked in a low voice.

Though afraid she still didn\'t want to look weak in front of these people. That is her dignity and pride as a woman. She can only show weakness in front of her family and Shin Jiao. To the rest, she would force herself to look strong.

"From the dawn of men, many have tried to break the limits of humanity. Many geniuses tried to enhance the human potential to its utmost limit, but many failed… but I… I think that a human limit can be broken through the mind. We only need to open the mind and once we can access its full potential then our body would follow. And that is the reason why you are here."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, as I\'ve heard your company developed a program that can access the mind… That… That is what I want."

"Access the mind? You mean… the virtual world?" Susan Tang suddenly gained some understanding of the reason why she was abducted.

At first, she thought that it was about the A.I. program, but it seems that it was about the virtual world. With this in mind, she began to think of a way to be able to get out of this predicament.

"Mr…"

"Ah, my bad, my bad, where are my manners… I am Adam McGrath, a visionary man." the man said with a polite gesture.

"Mr. Adam… I can call you Mr. Adam, right?" Susan Tang asked.

"You see, our technology does not read or access the person\'s mind, but instead the whole aura in one\'s body. So, I guess you have the wrong idea about my company." Susan Tang said calmly as she sighs with exasperation.

It seems that no matter what kind of business she does she would always be bullied because people look at her as an easy target.

When Adam McGrath heard her answer, he was a little taken aback. He has sent spies inside the NXT Element Company and those spies verified that the product can access the mind space of a person.

"Miss Tang I suggest you cooperate while I am asking nicely," Adam said with a change in his tone.

"I am… I am telling you the truth. When you put on that visor, the power core at the back of the visor would cover your whole body with an aura. That\'s it, that\'s how you…"

"No! What do you think I am, a seven-year-old kid who plays games and listens to stories about auras and ghosts?"

"But… but… I\'m telling you the truth…" Susan Tang rebutted.

Then suddenly three folders were thrown to the table and all of them contain the data of the research from the visor prototype in the company.

"This… So you base your assumption on the spies you\'ve sent to my company? Haha… My chief engineer has already predicted this and the same data were sent to all the other companies. These are all false data." She said.

Shin Jiao has already instructed her before to not hide anything if ever something happened. Her safety is more important, in fact, even if they discover the aura. No one would believe it.

And True to Shin Jiao\'s conjecture, it seems that he was right.

"That guy was able to predict that no one would truly believe this story." Susan Tang thought.

But still, she felt a little scared.

"So you have shown us the wrong data and information? Humph… That is impossible… The data in this is feasible. It just needed the right formula to turn it into reality. Don\'t play around with me. Give me the formula!" shouted Adam while the woman in a suit suddenly walked behind Susan Tang.

The situation seems dangerous, but in truth the problem is simple. This madman wanted to know the way to access the mind, however, it is impossible.

Suddenly something fell to the table which startled the people inside the room.

All of them suddenly turn their direction at the door and a shadow suddenly extended with Shin Jiao\'s figure appearing.

Everyone was stunned at this situation.

"You! Don\'t come any closer or we kill her." Suddenly the woman who kidnapped Susan Tang shouted.

She then turns to the man and said.

"Master that is the chief engineer of the company. He is the man who invented the virtual world."

"I\'ve listened to your demand and have known what you wanted. But I\'m telling you, I will not cooperate with you in any way possible. I\'m just here to warn you. Never bother us again and I will leave you in peace. Challenge me, and I will destroy you." Shin Jiao said.

Then suddenly his figure flickered and then the figure of Susan Tang is already on his side.

Everyone was startled at this situation as Shin Jiao casually walks outside the room. Before leaving the room he stops by the door.

"That is the prototype. Try it so that you can understand." Shin Jiao said as he turns around and left.

While leaving, Shin Jiao suddenly showed a sinister smile on his face. He already knew how tempting the virtual world is, so he wanted that man to experience it firsthand.

And true to his conjecture, Adam McGrath immediately grabs the visor on the table and carefully scrutinizes it. That day, he called all the brightest minds in his arsenal and tried to reverse engineer everything. But to his dismay, he discovered that the visor is using the new rune technology which is fairly a new thing in the field of science.

Gritting his teeth, Adam McGrath, put on the visor.

"My Lord, please… It might be a trap." the woman wearing a suit said as she tried to dissuade Adam from his decision.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I don\'t think that man is this despicable. Plus according to our scientists, this thing could only last for 12 hours before it needed to recharge… So if there are problems then you just have to wait for 12 hours." He said confidently.

After a few seconds, he heard a voice command from his ears.

"Entering the virtual world, initiating in 5…"

"4…"

"3…"

"2…"

"1…"

"Log on successful."

The figure of Adam McGrath lies calmly on the bed. Everything seems peaceful as he didn\'t show any movement.

A few minutes later…

The two assistants who were waiting now felt that there is something wrong. They knew their master and his ways. He would never do something as stupid as to waste his time in a virtual world for more than 5 minutes.

So they approached and tried to remove the visor. However, a voice prompt was heard.

"Warning! Please, don\'t remove the Gear. It might cause mental damage and retardation to the user if removed improperly."

Hearing this voice prompt, the two\'s expression immediately turns white.