Chapter 454 The Undercurrents of Bio-Warriors

"Dean He, the anti-gravity prototype has been loaded onto the ship and will be powered on for testing this afternoon."

Ma Yuejin pushed open the door, leaning half his body in with a smile on his face. Before he could finish speaking, Yang Xiaobing squeezed in from behind, bumping into Ma Yuejin's arm with his shoulder, causing him to stumble.

"Director He, something has happened in Nevada."

Ma Yuejin swallowed back the words he was about to say, glaring at Yang Xiaobing. "Let me finish what I have to say first—"

Yang Xiaobing ignored him, the telegram in his hand crumpled, the scar on his face taut and pale. He slammed the telegram on the table.

He Yuzhu put down his teacup. The bottom of the cup hit the table with a dull thud.

"explain."

"The US is building a new base in the Nevada desert, codenamed 'Oasis.' It's twice the size of the one in Antarctica, with at least three underground levels." Yang Xiaobing pulled two satellite photos from his briefcase and placed them side by side on the table. One of Antarctica, one of Nevada. The ventilation vents, antenna arrays, and underground entrances on both sides were designed by the same person.

Ma Yuejin leaned closer, looking down at the photos, forgetting his earlier dissatisfaction. "Have the Americans brought their Antarctic methods to their doorstep?"

He Yuzhu picked up the photo of Nevada and looked at it for a few seconds. The ventilation vents of the buildings were arranged in two rows, like rows of open mouths. He put the photo down.

"Didn't Congress cut their budget?" His voice was a little lower than usual.

Yang Xiaobing swallowed hard. "The cuts are for the official accounts. The money for the underground projects goes through shady budgets, so there's no need for auditing. The Antarctic base is ostensibly withdrawn, and as soon as the equipment and personnel are transferred here, construction starts."

Ma Yuejin chimed in from the side, "Black budget? Isn't that just siphoning money from other projects? These people really know how to exploit loopholes."

He Yuzhu didn't reply. He stood up and walked to the window. The wind and sand from the Gobi Desert lashed against the glass, making a rustling sound. He stood there with his back to them for a few seconds.

"Intelligence says they're developing a third generation of bio-warriors." Yang Xiaobing turned to the second page of the telegram. "The first two generations relied on drugs for enhancement, but this generation might require implanting chips to control the weapons directly with brainwaves."

He Yuzhu turned around. The light from the window shone in from behind him, his face was in shadow, and his expression was not visible.

"They won't give up. Neither will we."

Old Sun came in from the corridor, holding a document in his hand. Hearing this, he paused for a moment.

"Director He, should we report this matter?"

He Yuzhu walked back to the table and tapped a ventilation vent at the Nevada base with his finger. "Report. Only report to the supervising leader and intelligence department; do not expand the scope."

Old Sun took notes in his notebook.

"What about the ordinary people?" Old Sun pressed. "What if the news leaks out—"

"The news won't leak out," He Yuzhu interrupted him. "The scope of those who know will be limited to the existing personnel. If the general public knows that the Americans are developing biological warriors, they can't help except for being afraid. Panic is harder to deal with than the enemy."

Old Sun closed the notebook and asked no more questions.

He Yuzhu turned to Yang Xiaobing. "Raise border surveillance to a higher level. In Xinjiang, Tibet, Yunnan, and Guangxi, at all ports and outposts, immediately take control of any suspicious individuals entering the country, especially those from the United States, Canada, and Australia."

Yang Xiaobing nodded. "What about Zhou Zhiyuan?"

"Let him expand his observation range from South America to North America. Chile is close to the United States, and his business partners can obtain intelligence from the US. We'll cover the channel fees, as long as the intelligence is accurate."

Yang Xiaobing closed his notebook and turned to leave. At the door, he stopped and glanced back at Ma Yuejin. "What did you just say? The anti-gravity prototype has been loaded onto the ship?"

Ma Yuejin paused for a moment, then slapped his thigh. "Right! You interrupted me halfway through!" He turned to He Yuzhu, "Dean He, the prototype has been installed in the Kunlun, and it will be powered on for testing at 3 PM this afternoon. Qian Zhiyuan is waiting in the factory."

He Yuzhu glanced at the clock on the wall. The hands pointed to 2:20.

"Walk."

He took off the military overcoat from the wall, draped it over his shoulders, and pushed open the door. The motion-activated lights in the corridor turned on, and the three men walked one after the other towards the final assembly plant.

The factory doors were wide open, letting in a blast of cold air mixed with the smell of welding and the white mist of liquid nitrogen. The keel of the Kunlun lay horizontally on its supports, its 400-meter-long hull gleaming coldly under the lights. An anti-gravity prototype was embedded in a circular opening in the middle of the hull, a hundred small coils stacked into a cylinder, their surface covered with silvery-white insulating felt. Several workers were tightening the last few bolts, the sound of electric wrenches echoing in the empty factory, each beat like a heartbeat.

Qian Zhiyuan squatted next to the prototype, holding a laptop in his hands, the screen displaying temperature data. Seeing He Yuzhu approach, he stood up and took off his goggles.

"The cooling systems for all coils are working, and the liquid nitrogen circulation is normal. The power cables and control signal lines are all connected, and the system has been tested and debugged on the Galaxy-6 side as well."

He Yuzhu squatted down, reached under the insulation felt, and touched the metal casing of the coil. It was ice-cold. He stood up.

"Has Professor Wang installed the shock absorption platform?"

"It's installed. Four actuators, each with a force of 200 kilograms, which can reduce vibration by 90%." Qian Zhiyuan pointed to the four metal boxes under the prototype, each about the size of a suitcase.

He Yuzhu looked at the actuators and remained silent for a few seconds. "Before turning on the power, check all the connections one more time."

Ma Yuejin took a multimeter out of his toolbox, squatted down next to the coil, and began tightening the bolt. As he tightened it, he muttered to himself, "I've already checked it twice..."

"Then check it a third time." He Yuzhu didn't look at him, his gaze fixed on the prototype.

The factory fell silent. Only the clicking of the electric wrench and the clattering of Ma Yuejin inspecting the connectors could be heard. Qian Zhiyuan stared at his laptop, his lips pressed into a thin line. Yang Xiaobing stood by the doorway, leaning against the frame, arms crossed, his eyes fixed on the distant keel.

He Yuzhu walked to the prototype, his hands in the pockets of his military overcoat. He glanced down at his watch.

2:45.

Fifteen minutes left.

Ma Yuejin stood up and dusted off his knees. "The joints are all tight, no problem."

Qian Zhiyuan looked up. "The liquid nitrogen supply is enough for two hours of continuous operation. The monitoring room is ready, and the data logger is on."

He Yuzhu nodded. "Power on at 3:00 sharp. Everyone evacuate to the monitoring room."

He turned and walked towards the factory entrance. After a few steps, he stopped and glanced back at the keel. The 400-meter-long hull lay on the support frame, with the anti-gravity prototype embedded in its belly, like an unborn child.

He stepped out of the factory. The wind and sand lashed his face like shards of broken glass, making his skin numb. He squinted and turned up the collar of his military overcoat.

Yang Xiaobing followed him out. "Director He, should we leak information about what's happening in Nevada to the Soviets through some channels?"

He Yuzhu stopped. He thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"Don't reveal it. Let them investigate themselves. The Soviet intelligence isn't stupid; if you put clues in front of them, they'll become suspicious. They'll only believe it if they discover it themselves."

Yang Xiaobing didn't say anything more.

He Yuzhu walked into the monitoring room. The large screen on the wall was lit up, divided into sixteen smaller screens, displaying the cameras from various angles of the factory. The largest screen in the center was directly facing the anti-gravity prototype.

Qian Zhiyuan, Ma Yuejin, and Lao Sun all sat down at the control panel. Ma Yuejin held the power switch knob in his hand, his fingers resting on it.

He Yuzhu glanced at the digital clock on the wall.

It's exactly three o'clock.

"power ups."

Ma Yuejin took a deep breath and pushed the knob up.

The coil emitted a low hum. The lights in the monitoring room dimmed briefly, then flickered back on. The data on the screen began to fluctuate.

Current ramp-up. Five amperes. Ten amperes. Fifteen amperes.

The curve on the vibration sensor started to jitter.

Ma Yuejin's voice was a little strained. "Twenty amperes. Five Tesla in magnetic field."

He Yuzhu stared at the screen. "Continue."

Thirty amperes. Forty amperes.

The coil's buzzing became sharp, like metal rubbing together. On the screen, the vibration curve of the damping platform jumped violently, but did not exceed the safety limit.

Forty-five amperes.

Professor Wang's voice came through the walkie-talkie: "The shock absorption platform is working normally, and all four actuators are online."

Fifty amperes.

The data on the screen stopped at a single number—the magnetic field at the center of the coil, ten Tesla. The Kunlun ship remained completely still.

Qian Zhiyuan turned his head and looked at He Yuzhu.

"Dean He, it has reached the design value."

Ma Yuejin withdrew his hand from the knob. His fingers were trembling.

He Yuzhu didn't speak, staring at the vibration curve on the screen. The curve was still jumping, but the amplitude wasn't large. He waited a few seconds. Then he waited a few more seconds.

"Maintain this current and run continuously for ten minutes."

He leaned back in his chair, his fingers interlaced and resting on his abdomen.

The data on the screen moved smoothly. The buzzing stopped.

Ma Yuejin whispered, "It's done."

He Yuzhu didn't reply. He turned his head and glanced out the window. The sandstorm on the Gobi Desert had subsided somewhat, and the outline of the distant launch tower became clearer.

Ten minutes later, the power was cut off. The buzzing stopped. The monitoring room was so quiet that you could hear the hum of the air conditioner.

He Yuzhu stood up.

"Make three copies of the data. One copy to be kept in the archives, one copy to Qian Zhiyuan's office, and one copy to my office."

He walked to the door and stopped.

"Tomorrow, we'll conduct a 50-kilogram suspension test."

I pushed open the door, and the lights in the hallway came on.

Behind him, Ma Yuejin's voice came: "Fifty kilograms? How big of an iron block would that be..."

Qian Zhiyuan said, "No need for iron blocks, just put people in."

Ma Yuejin was taken aback. "Release them? Who dares to stand there?"

"you."