The next day.
Early morning.
Hawk, dressed and ready, went to the motel front desk and took thirty US Dollars out of his pocket, handing it over.
"Extend for one more day."
"Room key."
"Here."
Hawk handed over the room key.
The motel staff took the key, glanced at the room number, completed the registration, and then returned the key to Hawk.
Hawk retrieved the key, thanked them, and turned to leave the motel.
Soon after.
He arrived at the mountain road beside Quantico Base...
Hawk wasn't worried that his morning run would attract attention from soldiers at the base.
Because besides him, other residents from Quantico Town also jogged along this mountain road.
Wearing a cap, Hawk followed leisurely at the back of the running group, attracting no attention at all.
Soon.
As he reached a curve, Hawk saw that no one in the group ahead noticed him, and no one from the group behind had caught up. Without hesitation, he accelerated instantly. By the time the runners behind caught up, Hawk had vanished.
Only the rustling of leaves from the forest beside the mountain road.
By the time Hawk reappeared and returned to the motel, it was already afternoon.
Back in the room, sitting by the bed, Hawk took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket.
The paper unfolded.
At first glance.
A simple map of the interior of the Quantico Military Base had been sketched out.
Barracks.
Office building.
Tank depot.
Airport.
And also...
An abandoned laboratory, Hawk had spent the entire morning roughly figuring out his destination, and then spent the afternoon quickly traversing the forest near the base to find three escape routes for himself.
However, he had not yet decided which escape route to choose.
But that didn't matter.
As long as there were escape routes, he could improvise once the mission was complete.
Hawk thought to himself and then glanced again at the map on the paper marked with symbols only he could understand, then tore the paper into fragments. Only when it was impossible for even professionals to restore it did he throw it into the room's trash can.
Soon.
The sun set in the west.
At this time, Hawk returned to the motel front desk, handed in the room key, and completed the check-out process before leaving the motel.
This is a motel.
The front desk had seen people check out less than ten minutes after checking in with their companions.
So the front desk wasn't surprised by Hawk's early checkout.
After leaving the motel, Hawk found a nearby pizza shop, ordered a pizza, and sat by the window to eat.
With an impending battle, one cannot afford to be hungry.
If he ran out of energy mid-fight or couldn't run during escape due to hunger, getting caught would be too tragic.
Night had fully fallen.
With his stomach full, Hawk was now moving under the cover of night. His speed was so fast it could cause a sonic boom, darting like a phantom through the dense woods, quickly reaching the high-voltage fence of the military base.
Hawk did not hurry in but looked up at the towering Sentinel tower within the military base.
On the Sentinel tower, searchlights activated at night were scanning the designated areas automatically and slowly.
When the searchlight swept over, Hawk ducked behind a tree, hiding himself under his hood.
The cap from the morning jog had already been used and was unsuitable to be used again as a precaution.
But this black hooded jumpsuit would do.
He had found it in the trunk before he drove a car into the river.
Hawk switched into this outfit after leaving the pizza shop.
Soon.
The searchlight moved away from the tree that hid Hawk.
The next second.
Without hesitation, Hawk emerged from behind the tree. As his right knee slightly bent, his foot pressed into the muddy ground, and in an instant, he leaped like a great falcon, silently soaring over the protective fence no ordinary person could cross and landed inside the base.
Once inside the base, the task became more manageable.
Simply find the abandoned laboratory, dig it up, and then make a run for it.
Hawk had already planned it all out.
So upon landing in the base, Hawk began to proceed as planned, swiftly skirting the edges of the base's shadows, heading to the abandoned laboratory he had scouted.
A minute later.
The abandoned laboratory, surrounded by corrugated iron and guarded by soldiers at the only entrance, flashed into his view.
Hawk stood quietly about a kilometer from his destination, using a randomly placed shipping container on the base's grass as cover to watch the two soldiers within his sight.
"Phew!"
"Time to go."
Closing his eyes, Hawk took a deep breath, then slowly opened his eyes, focusing on his destination in sight.
The next second.
Boom!
At the moment grass flew under Hawk's feet, and with a sound akin to a sonic boom, Hawk shot out like a cannonball.
The two men responsible for the abandoned laboratory's security were chatting and laughing.
They thought today would be another uneventful day.
Until...
Out of the corner of their eyes, they seemed to notice something, followed by the explosive sound abruptly thundering beside their ears.
Thud! Thud!
The two soldiers didn't even utter a cry before their eyes rolled back, and they fell to the ground.
Hawk didn't go for the kill; in an instant, he knocked the two soldiers unconscious and darted into the abandoned laboratory.
The next second.
"Shit!"
"Who's there."
"..."
After crawling past the corrugated iron, Hawk glanced at the two soldiers in front of the battered outer wall, which seemed to have once endured explosion impact tests, raising an eyebrow.
Oh boy.
Was it necessary?
There were soldiers outside, and they left two inside as well?
Was it essential?
Hawk's mind grumbled somewhat speechlessly.
While scouting the area during the day, he could only see outside the corrugated metal, unable to see inside.
The two soldiers, stunned upon seeing Hawk in a hooded outfit and a medical mask on his face, regained their senses after an initial shock.
The next second.
Both soldiers pulled their triggers.
"Enemy attack!"
"Sound the alarm!"
"Woo woo woo!"
Instantly, a sharp alarm tore through the stillness of the night at Quantico Military Base.
At the moment the two soldiers pulled their triggers, Hawk's figure vanished from sight.
By the next second, Hawk had already appeared before the two soldiers attacking him.
The two soldiers outside hadn't pulled the trigger.
They lived.
These two...
Expressionless, Hawk swung his right hand toward the two wide-eyed soldiers!
...