Chapter Fifty: The Exoskeleton Apparatus

Starting from Fantasy Technology, they arrived at a military airport eighty kilometers outside the city. To Zhu Lan’s surprise, a massive aircraft was parked in this small airport: an Il-76 heavy transport plane.

“Is this ours?” Zhu Lan pointed at the Il-76, barely able to believe his eyes as he looked at Xiao He.

Xiao He nodded. “Mr. Zhu, please! We need to fly over two thousand kilometers. Ordinary planes are far too slow!”

Zhu Lan shook his head, stepped out of the car, and walked toward the Il-76, accompanied by Kong Yan.

Xiao He didn’t object to Zhu Lan’s secretary coming along; he simply let Zhu Lan bring her.

Xiao He had asked, but Zhu Lan’s answer was simple: Fantasy Technology needed a liaison, and he didn’t trust their people. Kong Yan was the person he trusted most, born in that region of Africa, with a strong sense of danger. Zhu Lan didn’t quite trust them this time, preferring to rely on himself.

The plane took off quickly, heading north.

Despite its size, the aircraft carried few passengers: Zhu Lan, Kong Yan, Xiao He, and a handful of soldiers.

Zhu Lan didn’t ask where they were going. He already knew someone wanted him dead; asking too many questions would be useless. Better to save his strength and wait.

He could have refused. Even if he did, no one could do anything about it.

This time, Zhu Lan chose to go to the biochemical crisis base out of pure curiosity.

No one knew that Zhu Lan had a special device in his ear, allowing him to receive real-time data from Kong Yan and Qite.

From the moment Xiao He showed the video, Zhu Lan had already instructed Kong Yan to locate the place.

China is vast, over nine million square kilometers, and finding a base hidden for decades was no easy task!

But now it wasn’t so difficult, because the military had already discovered the base.

Kong Yan’s task was to trace the secret routes mobilized by the military, cross-reference some information, and even hack Russian and American spy satellites to search for the location directly from space.

What she found stunned Zhu Lan.

The place was less than eight kilometers from the city, and the area had already been zoned by the city government for an industrial park, with construction underway.

Initially, the military sealed off the site, clearing out the workers, but within two days, the blockade was lifted.

An armored battalion had moved in.

Moreover, six reserve airports built in the 1970s around the area had been activated, with a large air force presence. There were at least three hundred armed helicopters, a third of them Z-10s.

Additionally, a tank division from a military district four hundred kilometers away was advancing toward the location. If the timing was correct, Zhu Lan would arrive just as the tank division did.

This wasn’t the main issue—the main issue was that Kong Yan intercepted a secret signal. The decrypted message was from an American spy. Without a cipher book, no one could understand the coded message; even Kong Yan couldn’t find the right combination among hundreds of millions.

But one thing was clear: a US Delta Force unit had secretly infiltrated China from India, targeting this base.

Further investigation revealed at least five foreign units had secretly entered China.

Whether China was aware of this, Zhu Lan did not know.

For so many special forces to risk entering dangerous territory, the base surely contained more than just the gene enhancement serum—there must be other things, things worth any price.

Now Zhu Lan was truly intrigued.

He had another goal: to demonstrate his strength.

At such a critical moment, moving him away was not only aimed at him, but more at Fantasy Technology.

Since they wanted to play, Zhu Lan would play along—see who has the upper hand in the end.

Night fell. The plane landed at an airport ablaze with lights, bustling with soldiers.

Fighter jets stood ready, seemingly poised to take off at any moment.

Just as Zhu Lan stepped off the plane, he saw two J-11s leave the airport, destination unknown.

“Mr. Zhu, I’m glad you could come!”

“And you are?” Zhu Lan looked at the man with a colonel’s insignia, extending his hand in confusion.

“Allow me to introduce myself: I am the mission commander, Lu Cang.”

“Colonel Lu, nice to meet you!”

“Please, follow me!”

Zhu Lan nodded, boarded the car, and left the airport, arriving at a small building.

Inside, he found numerous soldiers, all busy.

Entering a room resembling a conference hall, Zhu Lan saw over twenty people already present.

They were fully armed, faces painted in camouflage.

What caught Zhu Lan’s attention was their gear—not any Chinese standard weapon he recognized, and their uniforms interested him.

“Let me introduce the unit for this mission: China’s most elite soldiers. Their captain is Zhang Sanxian, known as the King of Soldiers!”

“This is Zhu Lan, a biochemical expert. He developed the enhancement serum in the base. Your mission is not only to retrieve the data but also to protect Mr. Zhu!”

“Hello, Mr. Zhu!”

“Just call me by my name,” Zhu Lan said, shaking hands with Zhang Sanxian, laughing.

“And she is?” Zhang Sanxian looked at Kong Yan beside Zhu Lan, puzzled.

“Oh, she’s my secretary and bodyguard. Is it okay if I bring her?” Zhu Lan looked at Lu Cang.

“No problem. Since Miss Kong Yan is brought by Mr. Zhu, of course there’s no issue!” Lu Cang didn’t refuse, agreeing directly.

Zhu Lan shook his head slightly: it seemed those above truly wanted him dead!

With Lu Cang having no objections, Zhang Sanxian had nothing more to say. For them, this mission was simple.

As China’s top special forces, accustomed to harsh environments, a domestic task was almost trivial.

“Well then, let’s review the situation at our destination.”

Lu Cang gestured, and the lights dimmed.

A model rose from the center of the room.

“This is our objective: an abandoned cement factory.”

“This cement factory was a special facility built in the 1970s to produce high-grade cement. By 2006, its equipment was outdated, and the factory was abandoned, the machinery sealed, the site left in ruins.”

“High-grade?” Zhu Lan looked at Lu Cang.

Lu Cang smiled awkwardly. “On the other side of the cement factory is the base entrance. According to drone footage, the cement factory is extremely complex. After production ceased, the Japanese secretly remodeled it, turning its depths into a maze.”

Lu Cang deftly shifted the topic, avoiding further discussion of high-grade cement.

High-grade cement is used for special engineering, generally in military projects. To withstand possible bombing, its solidity far exceeds regular cement.

Such a factory was a state-level secret unit. And now, beneath it, there was a secret Japanese-built base. Clearly, the matter was far from simple.

“This is one of the monsters you’ll face!” A virtual creature appeared before everyone.

It was tiger-sized, but with two dog heads, walking upright on two legs.

“We call these creatures ‘Tiger Dogs.’ Experts believe the Japanese combined tiger, dog, and leopard genes. Its top speed reaches eighty kilometers per hour, its skin resists ordinary bullets, and its jumping ability is so strong it can easily leap three stories high.”

Lu Cang then displayed other discovered monsters, all with the same feature: animal exteriors, bodies completely modified.

“For some reason, these monsters haven’t left the cement factory, as if something forbids them. Drone data detected no life signs; biosensors and thermal imaging found nothing.”

“Undetectable?” Zhang Sanxian was finally moved.

Lu Cang nodded gravely. “Exactly. These monsters are undetectable. We tried hundreds of detection methods, none worked. Previous teams disappeared, attacked without warning.”

Disappeared—plainly, killed.

Everyone was shaken, including Zhu Lan.

If they couldn’t be detected, they had only their eyes to rely on.

The monsters discovered so far were all much faster than humans, enhanced bodies and animal instincts—one encounter could mean heavy casualties.

“But don’t worry too much.” Lu Cang saw their expressions and changed the tone to reassure.

“You’re ‘Black Scorpion,’ China’s most elite special forces. The authorities won’t send you to die needlessly. Haven’t you noticed your gear is different?”

Zhang Sanxian paused. “I see.”

Lu Cang nodded in satisfaction. “You’ve been given the country’s most advanced individual equipment. Not finalized exoskeletons, but their defense far surpasses regular body armor, and they enhance your physical attributes—strength, speed, defense, all in the short term. Mr. Zhu, I believe you understand this point?”

Zhu Lan smiled wryly. Upon entering, he’d noticed the special forces wore exoskeletons. At first, he suspected, but after Kong Yan sent the data, he was stunned.

The exoskeletons’ functions were somewhat like those in the game ‘Crysis,’ though not as powerful. What left Zhu Lan speechless was that the strength enhancement came from his own gene enhancement serum.

Perhaps the research wasn’t complete, but the authorities had found another way—the exoskeletons combined bioelectricity and gene enhancement serum. Inside each suit was a small vial; if needed, it could be injected, and bioelectric stimulation would activate the serum’s effects in less than a second.

ps: Yesterday, I went to several job interviews. None were satisfactory—low pay, tough work. After a month, I’d barely have enough for medicine and food. I’ll keep looking for work.