Chapter 131: A Grand Gesture (9/10)

“Feeling better?” Zhu Lan asked, looking at Lan Tianxin with concern.

Lan Tianxin nodded. “Nothing serious. I’m much better now!”

“You’ve had a hard time. What happened this time was my fault!”

Lan Tianxin shook her head without saying anything.

The reason Lan Tianxin had been abducted was entirely because of Zhu Lan.

That night, someone had seen Zhu Lan and Lan Tianxin talking in front of Fantasy Technology. Because of the angle from which they were observed, they assumed that Zhu Lan had gotten into Lan Tianxin’s car. Later, when Lan Tianxin returned to her apartment and hung her coat on the rack, it looked from outside as though there were two people inside the room.

Some people had noticed this and been tempted. They had secretly broken into Lan Tianxin’s apartment, leading to everything that happened afterward.

Zhu Lan had quickly investigated the matter. He had already handed several suspects over to Su Mei. Although they were employees of the company, they were only ordinary staff members.

“Would you like to take a few days off?”

Lan Tianxin shook her head. Her complexion was still a little pale, but there was nothing seriously wrong with her.

“No need, Boss. I was prepared for this long ago. I can get through it!”

Although she had been unconscious, Lan Tianxin knew exactly what she had been facing. She had been afraid, of course, but from the moment Fantasy Technology began cooperating with the military, she had been prepared for something like this. It was just that, when it finally came, it had happened too suddenly.

Seeing how determined Lan Tianxin was, Zhu Lan said nothing more.

“Go on and get back to work. If you need to, take a proper break. Just hand your tasks over to someone else.”

Lan Tianxin nodded.

“Hello?”

The moment Lan Tianxin left, the internal telephone suddenly rang. Zhu Lan answered it in surprise.

“Boss, this is Post One. A Japanese woman named Chibane Sakura would like to see you.”

“Chibane Sakura? I understand. Bring her in.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Miss Sakura, what brings you here today?”

Zhu Lan was puzzled. Why was Chibane Sakura still in China? Had she not returned to Japan?

“Mr. Zhu, I’m sorry to disturb you.” Today, Chibane Sakura was dressed in ordinary casual clothes, yet she possessed a distinctive charm.

Zhu Lan shook his head. “Please sit down. Tea or coffee?”

“Tea, please. I rather like Chinese tea culture, and I consider myself quite knowledgeable about tea.”

Zhu Lan nodded. “Have them brew some No. 9 tea.”

Kong Yan nodded and turned toward the other side of the room.

“Miss Sakura, what brings you here today?”

“Mr. Zhu, I’ve come as a representative of the Sakura Group.”

“Oh?”

“Mr. Zhu, please take a look at this.”

Chibane Sakura took out a tablet and opened a video for Zhu Lan.

Zhu Lan accepted it doubtfully. As he watched the footage, his brows gradually drew together.

The video had been filmed aboard a cargo ship, one Zhu Lan knew well: the Thousand Isles, a freighter belonging to the Sakura Group. It had once been responsible for transporting refined raw materials from Europe. After the Sakura Group obtained the Japanese agency rights, the ship had begun making one round trip every month, carrying genetic enhancement fluid.

In the video, several helicopters flew toward the ship across the open sea. A large number of people descended from them and quickly seized control of the vessel. Gunfire erupted, and soon afterward the video was cut off.

“How much was lost?”

“Seventy thousand units. The Sakura Group has launched a full investigation, but we still haven’t discovered which organization was responsible.”

“In these troubled times, I would become that streak of rainbow. As for whether I shall achieve success, please do not ask…”

Just as Zhu Lan was about to speak, his phone suddenly rang.

“My apologies.”

Chibane Sakura nodded, indicating that he should answer it.

Zhu Lan picked up the phone. When he saw the caller’s name, his brows furrowed.

“Hello?”

“Mr. Zhu, I’ve just received word that our Expedition has been attacked by an unidentified organization. No one aboard survived, and the ship’s one hundred and ten thousand units have disappeared.”

“Something happened on your side too?”

On the other end, Paul of the Saint Debao Group frowned as well. “Has anyone else been attacked?”

“Yes. A ship belonging to the Sakura Group was attacked too. Their representative is here in front of me now.”

“Looks like we’re in serious trouble.”

“You investigate on your end first. I’ll begin an investigation here as well.”

“That’s all we can do.”

After hanging up, Zhu Lan grew solemn. Two companies had been attacked in succession, and both incidents involved ships transporting genetic enhancement fluid.

“The Saint Debao Group’s ship was attacked as well,” Zhu Lan said. “They lost one hundred and ten thousand units of genetic enhancement fluid.”

Chibane Sakura had not heard the earlier conversation clearly and had not known about it. Now that she heard Zhu Lan, her expression also darkened.

“This was deliberate, targeted, and organized.”

Zhu Lan nodded. “Return for now. I need to notify the other companies and tell them to take precautions.”

Chibane Sakura nodded, knowing that Zhu Lan would soon be extremely busy.

“Mr. Zhu, I’ll take my leave.”

Zhu Lan nodded.

After Chibane Sakura left, Zhu Lan immediately connected his computer to a special program. It was a system used by the distributors. Whenever necessary, he could issue announcements directly through it. Every distributor possessed a terminal connected to the network, which they used to place their monthly orders with Fantasy Technology.

After sending out news of the attacks on the Sakura Group’s and Saint Debao Group’s genetic enhancement fluid shipments, Zhu Lan rose at once and walked toward a concealed passage on one side of the room.

He arrived at the Azure Base and went directly to the third level.

“Red Queen, locate all genetic enhancement fluid.”

A huge map of the world appeared before Zhu Lan, accompanied by a three-dimensional virtual projection.

As the first red point appeared, countless others began to emerge in rapid succession. Red points spread across the entire world, though most were concentrated in seven locations: Japan, China, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and the United States.

A small quantity was scattered among other countries, but very little by comparison—only a few thousand units lay outside those seven regions.

Zhu Lan quickly located four other large concentrations of red points.

One was in the Pacific Ocean, clearly marked as the Black Dragon. It carried the Fuji Mountain Group’s allocation for the month and was currently en route to the United States.

The other three, belonging to Britain, France, and Italy, had already passed the Cape of Good Hope and entered the Atlantic. They were very close to one another, with no more than two hundred nautical miles between the furthest vessels. All three were safe.

But Zhu Lan could not see the genetic enhancement fluid belonging to the Sakura Group or the Saint Debao Group—the shipments that had been hijacked.

“Red Queen, activate deep-space detection. Start the secondary scanning system and find the rest.”

At Zhu Lan’s command, a special satellite deep in Earth’s outer space was activated. It had been manufactured by the former Soviet Union and carried a detection technology that the Soviet Union had never publicly disclosed. The satellite had not been activated for decades because the technology required to operate it had been lost. Russia probably did not even know that the Soviet Union had launched such a mysterious satellite. Since that was the case, Red Queen had no qualms about putting it to use.

Because of its unique detection technology, combined with particle scanning, the satellite could penetrate certain magnetic fields and observe what lay within them.

A blue line swept across the world map. As it passed over the southern Indian Ocean, it suddenly flashed. A huge area filled with countless red points appeared, but the points quickly vanished again.

“I’ve got you.”

“Activate the remote-sensing satellite. Show me exactly what’s there.”

The world map continued to enlarge until a stretch of ocean appeared before Zhu Lan.

Then a huge cargo ship came into view.

Two warships were sailing around it.

Zhu Lan narrowed his eyes as he studied them.

The flags flying from the two warships were Russian.

One was a Sovremenny-class destroyer, and the other was an Udaloy-class destroyer.

“Interesting. Electromagnetic interference?”

Through the satellite, Zhu Lan could see the enormous tower mounted on the cargo ship. Red Queen had already analyzed its composition. It was an artificial electromagnetic-field generator designed to create a magnetic field capable of disrupting signals.

No wonder the first scan had failed to find them.

Zhu Lan was just about to make a call when he suddenly froze.

Beside the cargo ship, a massive black fish slowly emerged into view.

As the shape became distinct, Red Queen rapidly produced a set of data.

“A Typhoon-class strategic nuclear submarine?” Zhu Lan blurted out.

What was a Typhoon-class submarine?

It was a sea monster—a military machine larger than any other underwater craft ever built by humanity, and the largest submarine in the world. Weighing more than ten thousand tons, it could carry dozens of nuclear warheads. During the Cold War, the Typhoon-class had been a nightmare hanging over the Western nations. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the class technically remained in service, but economic difficulties left most of the vessels mothballed. Upon entering the new century, the Typhoon-class was retired entirely, replaced several years later by a new generation of strategic nuclear submarines: the Borei class.

Even so, the Typhoon-class remained a terrifying weapon capable of intimidating the entire world. Only the Soviet Union had ever been able to create such a demonic machine.

“Boss, this vessel has undergone modern modifications. It is no longer a strategic nuclear submarine, but an ocean-going transport submarine.”

Compared with Zhu Lan, Red Queen could see the vessel more clearly. During the events of Resident Evil: Retribution, the Umbrella Corporation had seized a former Soviet submarine base in the Arctic and built a virus laboratory there. The virus had been transported using a former Soviet Typhoon-class nuclear submarine. No one understood the terror of the Typhoon-class better than Red Queen.

The Umbrella Corporation had modernized its vessel, making it nearly impossible for the outside world to detect its existence. This one had likewise been modernized by Russia. Once it submerged into the deep ocean, it would be nearly impossible to discover by any means.

The Typhoon-class was not merely a strategic deterrent. More importantly, it possessed extraordinary stealth capabilities. In many respects, the American Ohio-class strategic nuclear submarine was inferior to the Typhoon-class.

“What a grand gesture. What a grand gesture!”

A bitter note entered Zhu Lan’s voice. First there had been an American Sea Wolf-class submarine, and now a Typhoon-class. Fantasy Technology had already entered the sightlines of both Russia and the United States. For now, they were merely probing, but there was no guarantee they would not take action later.

To be continued.