Chapter 86 Tonight, I will draw my sword for her!
The dazzling lights of the Beijing Hotel and the worldwide acclaim have nothing to do with the Lu Family Compound.
When Su Wanqing's name resounded throughout the world, her husband, Lu Zhanting, disappeared from everyone's sight.
He is not home.
It's not in the military region either.
In the western suburbs of Beijing, there is a secret military base that does not appear on any map, located 300 meters underground.
The air was filled with the chilling smell of disinfectant mixed with cold metal.
Lu Zhanting stood before the enormous electronic sand table, his black special forces uniform outlining his tall, imposing figure like a drawn sword. The camouflage paint on his face blurred his handsome features, revealing only his eyes, which were frighteningly calm.
Standing before him was an old man with a general's star on his shoulder, Old Master Yan.
"That's the situation." Old Master Yan's voice was low and heavy, like an old bell. "The comrades from the National Security Bureau started by investigating an outsider of the Global Health Group and uncovered this place. It's a logistics transit station, ostensibly belonging to a German pharmaceutical company."
On the sand table, a three-dimensional structural diagram of a warehouse glows faintly.
"We suspect this is one of their core strongholds in North China, storing data from all their illegal experiments, and even..."
Old Master Yan paused for a moment, and when he uttered those three words, his voice was filled with suppressed anger.
"Experimental subject".
"Based on the scattered intelligence we've intercepted, a batch of 'important supplies' will be transferred from here tonight. We don't have much time left."
Lu Zhanting's gaze was fixed on a red area on the sand table that was not marked on the architectural drawings.
That was in the basement of the warehouse.
"My mission," he said, his voice flat and devoid of any emotional fluctuation.
"Two." Old Master Yan held up two fingers.
"First, infiltrate, locate the core server, and copy all the data. I need to know just how many shady things these beasts have been up to right under our noses."
"Second, find that batch of 'supplies.' If they are alive, bring them back at all costs. If they are already... dead, destroy them on the spot, leaving no trace."
"The operation lasts three hours. After three hours, regardless of success or failure, you must withdraw. The outer perimeter troops will launch a strong attack to create chaos and cover your escape. But remember, your presence must remain undetected from beginning to end."
"You are shadows, you are ghosts."
This was a top-secret mission with no designation, no records, and no backup.
Success went unnoticed.
Failed, vanished without a trace.
"Understood." Lu Zhanting's reply was brief and forceful.
Old Master Yan looked at his most prized soldier, his eyes filled with complex emotions. "Zhan Ting, the news just arrived: Miller has conceded defeat. The girl... she won again."
Lu Zhanting's body stiffened for a moment.
His wife once again stood at the pinnacle of the world.
They also stood at the very center of the storm.
The "regenerative" power she displays will cause countless wolves lurking in the darkness to completely tear off their disguises and reveal their most greedy fangs.
Therefore, he had to come.
He had to strike first, before those jackals could, and in his own way, cut off the claws that were about to be extended towards her.
“This is not a good thing for her.” Lu Zhanting’s voice was soft, but it was filled with cold killing intent. “So, I want to see with my own eyes what kind of beasts our enemies really are.”
Old Master Yan remained silent, then patted his shoulder heavily.
"Go."
"be safe."
"The girl is waiting for you at home."
"yes."
Lu Zhanting turned around and strode into the bottomless dark passage ahead without pausing for a moment.
Three equally silent black figures followed him without a sound.
They are the nation's sharpest blade.
Tonight, the blade will be aimed at slaying the wolves.
...
Two o'clock in the morning.
The rain was torrential.
The icy rain lashed down on the abandoned industrial area in the western suburbs of Beijing, turning the world into a chaotic mess.
The target warehouse, like a steel behemoth, lay silently in the darkness.
Infrared sensors formed a deadly web around the warehouse, while high-voltage electric grids emitted a faint blue glow in the rain. There were at least twenty sentries, both visible and hidden.
Four dark figures glided along the shadows of the wall, the rain providing them with perfect camouflage.
Lu Zhanting raised his hand, making a simple gesture.
The team member codenamed "Ghost Hand" immediately stepped forward, took out a device the size of a matchbox, and stuck it to the wall. The surveillance footage in a corner of the warehouse froze silently.
Another team member, nicknamed "Butcher," used hydraulic shears to cut a gap in the electric fence without making a sound.
The four filed in.
Lu Zhanting walked at the front, his eyes filtering out all useless information in the darkness, precisely capturing every fatal detail.
He suddenly stopped and clenched his right fist behind his back.
The three team members instantly turned into statues, merging into the darkness.
Lu Zhanting's gaze fell on a patch of puddles three meters ahead.
The color of that puddle was slightly darker than the surrounding rainwater.
He picked up a pebble from the ground and flicked it with his finger.
The pebble traced an arc before falling into the puddle.
There was no splash.
The pebble was swallowed up silently.
Gravity-sensing landmines.
The backs of the three team members were instantly soaked with cold sweat. If they hadn't been with Lu Zhanting, they would all have been blown to pieces by this disguised trap.
Lu Zhanting did not choose to take a detour.
He pulled out two military daggers from his sides and, without hesitation, plunged them into the walls on either side.
The next second, he moved like a nimble ape, silently crossing the deadly area.
The three team members followed the procedure without incident.
They quickly arrived at the base of the main warehouse building.
The core server is located on the third basement level, and the only entrance is a freight elevator that requires both iris and voiceprint verification.
A direct assault is tantamount to suicide.
Lu Zhanting looked up at the top of the warehouse, which was more than ten meters high, letting the cold rain wash over his resolute jawline.
He gave instructions into the throat microphone using breathy voice.
Plan B.
The four people simultaneously threw out grappling hooks from their backpacks, which firmly gripped the ventilation ducts at the top.
They chose to descend from the sky.
The four men slid up to the top as if walking on flat ground, like geckos, and pried open the heavy gate.
A pungent smell of engine oil mixed with chemicals hit me.
Lu Zhanting was the first to slide down.
The warehouse was dimly lit, with rows of shelves reaching the ceiling, piled high with medicine boxes printed in German.
This place looks like just an ordinary warehouse.
Lu Zhanting gave a hand signal, and the four men formed a diamond-shaped combat formation, taking turns providing cover as they infiltrated deeper into the warehouse.
Their footsteps were as light as cats'.
The further you go in, the stronger the smell of chemicals in the air becomes.
At the end of a row of shelves, they found a hidden door disguised as a wall.
The "ghost hand" stepped forward, scanned the area with a miniature detector, and then shook its head.
There are no electronic alarms.
This is even more unusual than the blaring of alarms.
Lu Zhanting signaled everyone to be on alert, and then slowly pushed open the door.
Behind the door was an alloy corridor extending downwards, with eerie blue emergency lights on both sides casting the four people's shadows like ghosts.
The air temperature suddenly dropped.
This is the entrance to hell.
At the end of the passage was another, even heavier alloy door, with a complex electronic combination lock in the center.
"How long?" Lu Zhanting looked at the tactical watch on his wrist.
"Three minutes," Ghost Hand replied confidently, taking out a decoder and attaching it to the lock.
“I’ll give you one and a half cents.” Lu Zhanting’s voice left no room for argument.
"yes!"
The ghost hand's fingers blurred into afterimages, and data streams cascaded down the screen like a waterfall.
Lu Zhanting and two other team members stood back to back, their guns locked on three directions of the passage.
Time passed by, second by second.
In the deathly silent passage, only the faint electrical hum of the decoder could be heard.
Suddenly, Lu Zhanting's ears twitched almost imperceptibly.
He heard it.
Beyond the hum of electricity and the sound of rain outside, there was an extremely subtle, regular sound that didn't belong here.
Tick-tock.
Tick-tock.
His gaze suddenly sharpened, slowly sweeping across the entire passageway before finally settling on a vent in the ceiling.
The sound came from there.
Lu Zhanting's pupils contracted, and he silently made a gesture, mouthing the following to the other two team members:
"above."
The two team members' hearts tightened, and they slowly raised their guns.
Dense beads of sweat appeared on Ghost Hand's forehead as the progress bar finally reached 100%.
"It's open!"
The alloy doors slid open to both sides.
The sight behind the door made these special forces soldiers, who were used to life and death, gasp in shock.
A massive underground base that has only appeared in science fiction movies.
At the center is a supercomputer room covering hundreds of square meters, where countless servers gleam with dim light.
Surrounding the computer room was a ring of huge glass petri dishes.
What's soaking in the green nutrient solution isn't an organ or a specimen.
They were people covered in tubes!
There were men and women, old and young, and even a few children. Their eyes were closed, their faces were contorted, and their bodies twitched unconsciously in the nutrient solution, as if they were enduring hellish pain.
This is not a data center.
This is a living hell on earth!
"Damn it!" The team member codenamed "Butcher" had bloodshot eyes and his teeth were grinding together.
Lu Zhanting's eyes were extremely cold.
"Ghost Hand, data. Butcher, Lynx, check the petri dish, prepare for rescue." He decisively ordered, "Quickly!"
"yes!"
Ghost Hand immediately rushed towards the main server in the server room.
Lu Zhanting didn't move.
He remained in the gun-holding posture, his gaze like an icicle, fixed on the ventilation shaft above his head.
He could sense it.
That thing is still there.
Under observation.
Waiting.
The murderous intent in the air was almost tangible.
Suddenly, the baffle of the vent fell down silently.
A dark shadow shot out from above like a venomous snake emerging from its hole, heading straight for the ghostly hand that was copying data!
That speed surpassed the limits of human cognition!
"careful!"
Lu Zhanting's roar and the gunshot rang out almost simultaneously!
"puff!"
The bullet, fitted with a silencer, emitted a dull tearing sound.
The shadowy figure contorted in mid-air in a way that defied physics, avoiding the vital organ of the heart, but the bullet still blasted a bloody hole in its shoulder.
The dark figure let out a non-human roar and crashed heavily to the ground.
Only then did everyone realize that it was a "person".
His limbs were in a bizarre, reversed joint shape, and his fingernails were jet black, gleaming with a metallic sheen. His face was completely bloodless, and his eyes were a beast-like crimson.
A living bio-weapon that has undergone inhuman modification!
"roar!"
The excruciating pain fueled its ferocity; it roared and lunged at the ghostly hand once more.
"court death!"
The butcher and the lynx fired at the same time, and the bullets instantly created a cloud of blood mist on its body.
But it seemed to feel no pain, charging forward madly through the hail of bullets.
Just as its claws were about to touch the ghostly hand, a figure slashed in like a ghost.
It's Lu Zhanting.
He actually abandoned his rifle and instead took out a military knife.
Instead of retreating, he advanced, his body suddenly sinking down, and he crawled under the monster's raised armpit at an unbelievable angle.
In the instant they passed each other, the military knife in his hand drew a cold and exquisite arc.
Pfft!
The monster's throat was cleanly and efficiently cut open.
The immense force propelled it forward several steps, causing it to fall heavily to its knees. Blood gushed from its neck, and its crimson eyes, fixed on Lu Zhanting, slowly dimmed.
"Captain, data complete!" Ghost Hand shouted hoarsely as he pulled out the hard drive.
Lu Zhanting's nerves remained on edge.
The gunshots had alerted the entire base.
The next second, a piercing alarm blared down the street!
"withdraw!"
The butcher and the lynx rushed to the petri dish, trying to shut down the system, only to find that all control panels were locked.
"Captain, no! The inside is locked down!"
Lu Zhanting glanced at his watch; there were less than ten minutes left before the evacuation time.
I can't take it with me.
A flicker of pain crossed his eyes, which was quickly replaced by an iron will.
"Install the explosives," he uttered through gritted teeth.
Instead of letting them live as guinea pigs, it's better to personally deliver them from this fate.
"yes!"
With red eyes, the butcher and the lynx placed the high-energy explosives on the load-bearing pillar.
At that very moment, the base's alloy gate slid open once more.
Standing at the entrance was a squad of fully armed mercenaries, led by a man wearing a white lab coat and gold-rimmed glasses.
He looked at the messy laboratory and the experimental subjects lying in pools of blood, and a hint of approving smile appeared on his face.
“Battalion Commander Lu Zhanting, I have long heard of your great name.” The man smiled and said in fluent Chinese, “I never expected that our first meeting would be in my laboratory.”
Lu Zhanting's pupils suddenly contracted.
Lin Huaiyuan, Executive President of Global Health Group, Asia Region.
The information Su Wanqing gave him included a photo of this person.
"The game ends here." Lin Huaiyuan pushed up his glasses, his eyes mocking. "Hand over the hard drive, and I might consider leaving you with a complete corpse."
Behind him, dozens of dark gun barrels had already locked onto four people.
His answer was Lu Zhanting's cold voice.
"Detonate."
And a bullet whistling out.
The moment Lin Huaiyuan finished speaking, Lu Zhanting had already moved!
He lunged at the server next to him, but the muzzle of his gun wasn't aimed at Lin Huaiyuan; instead, it was at the flashlight above his head!
Snap!
The light bulb exploded, plunging the entire space into absolute darkness.
"Fire! Kill them!" Lin Huaiyuan's terrified scream rang out in the darkness.
Dense flames instantly tore through the darkness, and bullets sparked blindingly as they struck the alloy wall.
Boom—!!!
A deafening roar came from deep within the base.
The shockwave from the explosion knocked over countless mercenaries, and the glass petri dishes shattered instantly, with green nutrient solution mixed with mangled limbs and blood flowing all over the ground.
Taking advantage of the apocalyptic chaos, Lu Zhanting led three team members and charged out through the emergency passage on the other side!
Behind them, buildings continued to collapse and flames engulfed everything.
This sinful underground kingdom is being completely buried.
Four figures burst from the ground and re-entered the torrential rain.
In the distance, sirens blared loudly.
Lu Zhanting turned around and glanced at the night sky reddened by the firelight, his face expressionless.
He gripped the still-warm portable hard drive tightly in his hand.
What's inside is enough to shake the world.
From this night forward, his relationship with Global Health Group is one of irreconcilable conflict.
The man turned around, the cold rain washing over his angular face.
His gaze pierced through the rain and looked towards the capital.
There, he would protect the treasures with his life.
For her, I would even be at odds with the world.
What does it matter?
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