Chapter 1: The Captive

North Country, Maine.

It was winter, and the biting cold wind cut through to the bone.

"Clack... clack... clack..."

Outside the base, a man clad in military uniform couldn't help but stamp his feet, his iron-clad boots making clacking sounds against the ground.

"This blasted weather, and here we are, standing guard. I tell you, this base is unnecessary."

He grumbled, but straightened up immediately upon seeing a military officer leading a patrol coming their way, his gaze fixed ahead.

"They've transferred another battalion here recently, wonder what's the deal."

Another soldier standing beside him remarked.

"Ah, just kill 'em all, why bother? What's the use of studying those creatures anyway? Do they really think the martial arts of those Eastern yellow-skinned monkeys are of any use?"

As the patrol officer moved farther away, he lit a cigarette.

"We put in so much effort to capture them, how could they bear to kill them? And you don't know, they sent a whole regiment, even tanks were deployed. We almost didn't make it out."

"Hey, Kuri, don't listen to rumors. We've seen those Secret Blood Warriors on the battlefield before. I say, we should've just killed them outright. It would've been much better than wasting national resources and military power like this."

Kuri, as he was called, fell silent, lighting up a cigarette himself. Smoke rose, obscuring his eyes, making it difficult for others to see the expression in his eyes.

As the cold wind blew and the smoke dissipated, he looked into the distance with a hint of nostalgia, as if recalling something. "But we can't say that. That man is the... God of War from the East."

Inside the base, there was a stark contrast to the simplicity outside. The walls of the corridor gleamed with a dim sheen, solid steel!

Between the seams of the floorboards were pinhole cameras, complementing the cameras on the ceiling to form a surveillance system with no blind spots, which was also why women in the base never wore skirts.

At the end of the corridor was a small room, but it looked like a vault.

The door of the room was made of 550mm stainless steel, with 108 combination locks and intricate mechanical lock holes. The keys and passwords were held respectively by General Anthony and his deputy.

There were no windows in the room, only a cold light bulb on the ceiling, casting a chilly atmosphere.

There were multiple small holes on the walls, connected to a high-tech air circulation system inside to ensure the survival of the captive. When necessary, these holes could supply something more deadly than air.

The floor was seamless, but upon closer inspection, there were imperceptible patterns on it. These were embedded pressure-sensitive chips. When not deactivated, if there was a force exceeding 1N, the floor would activate a 10KV high-voltage current, turning any organic material into charcoal in an instant.

In the center of the room, on a platform, was an "iron coffin". Titanium was split into precise components, combined with extremely tough compounds, and designed and assembled by outstanding mechanical engineering masters to tightly lock a person inside.

The precise mechanical conduction design ensured that every part inside the "iron coffin" received uniform force, theoretically capable of withstanding a force of up to 215,000N in every direction!

In the "iron coffin," various precise instruments were interspersed, with syringes embedded in the prisoner's body to provide minimal nutrition to sustain their life signs.

The face was left exposed with nostrils for breathing, while the eyes remained uncovered to prevent the prisoner from going insane due to prolonged darkness.

And those pitch-black eyes were now silently staring at the tightly closed door, hollow as if a snowfield, even more desolate than the winter outside.

Lu Chen had forgotten how long he had been imprisoned. Was it a year, or two?

He didn't feel lonely, just bored.

Times had indeed changed. He could no longer find opponents who could match him punch for punch. The people standing in front of him would only wield firearms, commanding armored vehicles to surround him, along with an air force that he couldn't reach even if he jumped, hunting him down.

On the battlefield, he charged alongside his comrades, able to storm into enemy territory and wreak havoc, with the path littered with the blood of his comrades... Only he could reach the destination.

This feeling... was utterly miserable.

"Creak..."

The heavy round door was pushed open, and Lu Chen looked up to see a woman he had never seen before, who didn't look like a researcher here.

She was dressed in a dark khaki Burberry trench coat, her Christian Louboutin high heels making a tapping sound as she walked. Her golden hair was casually scattered, adorned with light blue earrings that were stunning. Her expression was indifferent, and she looked very capable.

"Please allow us to be alone for a while."

The woman said to General Anthony behind her, using the word "please," but her demeanor was like a queen giving orders to her subjects.

"You have five minutes."

General Anthony nodded, but he still didn't leave.

The woman glanced at him silently, and the atmosphere became tense.

"Your earrings and the chain below are also metal products."

General Anthony's tone was humble.

The woman stared at General Anthony, and in just a few seconds, she made the general, who had been on the battlefield dozens of times, break out in a cold sweat.

But rules were rules.

After an invisible confrontation, the woman finally compromised, taking off her earrings and, with a click, unzipped her coat.

With a jingle, she threw them on the ground outside and pressed the electric control button to slowly close the door.

As the door was about to disappear from the gap, General Anthony saw the woman glance at him sideways, as if saying, "I've noted this."

Luckily, the woman was wearing a long coat, so closing it didn't seem improper. She took out a notebook and a specially made ballpoint pen, looking at the legendary figure locked inside the iron coffin.

"Lu Chen?"

This time she spoke fluent Chinese.

Silent and wordless, Lu Chen didn't want to speak, unable to speak even if he wanted to because of being locked up.

"Time is short, so listen to me."

The woman didn't mind and continued, "I'm not a qualified negotiator, and I don't like beating around the bush. I'm here to deliver a message. Recently, some people with extraordinary powers have appeared in the country, and they're difficult to handle. His Excellency, the President, wants to mobilize you. Apart from necessary control, you can have minimal freedom. What do you think?"

Realizing that Lu Chen couldn't respond, she took a step forward. "If you agree, blink once. If you disagree, blink twice."

However, Lu Chen's eyes remained fixed ahead, without any movement. The woman stood in front of him, looking at his hollow gaze, knowing that he wasn't looking at her.

Is he broken?

He was supposed to be a seasoned God of War, but now it seemed he was just an eighteen-year-old boy. After experiencing two years of this form of imprisonment, he probably had gone mad long ago.

A wasted trip.

She thought so, but inexplicably wanted to take a closer look at the eyes of this young man. Was there really nothing hidden in those pitch-black eyes?

"Click... click..."

Suddenly, Lu Chen, who had been calm all along, erupted into action. The iron coffin, crafted by a master of mechanics, made a grating noise, shaking the entire room.

The sudden change caught the woman off guard for a moment, and she quickly retreated, dropping everything she was holding. The alarm sounded like a buzzing bee, alerting everyone in the base.

In the security room, everyone was on high alert. If it weren't for the woman's identity in the small room, they would have already activated the floor switch again to electrify it!

Lu Chen's outburst lasted only a moment, and the next moment, he calmed down again. He truly couldn't break free from this iron coffin with brute force.

The woman watched Lu Chen in shock until she saw him blink twice, indicating his stance.

After regaining her composure, she carefully picked up the notebook and pen, gesturing upward, indicating that it was over.

Moments later, the round door opened again, and she walked out with a cold expression.

The door closed again, as if nothing had happened.

Lu Chen lowered his eyebrows and looked at a inconspicuous spot under the cold light, where there was a tiny silicone bead...