516-520

Chapter 516: Developments in the Resident Evil Dimension

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Chen Chen did not know about the door that was found on Mars in the dimension of Doom.

After getting everything he wanted, he thought of leaving.

After all, every time something entered or exited the portal opened by the USB drive, it consumed energy. After a month of going in and out, the energy in the USB drive was also nearly exhausted.

Thus, after withdrawing all the Black Knights, he decisively closed the USB drive.

He originally had another idea and that was to bring researchers from the other world over to work for himself.

Still, after thinking about it, he finally dispelled the unreliable idea.

After all, after bringing them over, the secret of the USB flash drive would be revealed. Unless this group of researchers stayed out of contact with the outside world for the rest of their lives, sooner or later they would know the truth — that they were not in an alien world, but another human civilization.

Moreover, if they were not allowed to contact the outside world and were just imprisoned in the Spire like prisoners, then that was also a problem. After all, humans were social animals and long-term depression would inevitably lead to a mental breakdown. At that time, these researchers would not only be unable to bring any benefits to Chen Chen but on the contrary, became a cumbersome burden.

Therefore, Chen Chen discarded that thought.

However, Chen Chen did not mean to give up on this dimension directly but instead planned to open this portal again if possible. As early as when he entered Elysium's dimension, Chen Chen had figured out most of the rules of the second form of the U disk. One of them was —

The opening of the portal could be repeated to an extent, allowing temporary closure. As long as another channel was not opened, the previous channel could be retained.

Unless necessary, Chen Chen would not open a channel to another dimension. Then, the next time he opened Doom, the USB drive's channel would still be connected to this world and the time flow of that world would be equal to reality's.

Chen Chen believed that there was room for further cooperation between him and Doom's dimension.

After returning to reality, they worked as quickly as possible in the Spire Experimental Base. Within half a month, the three Ark teleportation equipment were completed, to the point where experiments could be carried out. The test subjects were naturally Delta-level personnel detained inside the Spire.

To perform the tests, Little X first used the Gantz sphere to teleport these Ark materials to the ground, then set up the three Arks in three hidden places, and renamed the three Arks as: teleporter Watchman 1, Watchman 2, and Watchman 3.

In this way, even if their appearance was changed and they were revealed to outsiders, at most those people would only be surprised that this kind of teleportation was a bit similar to the one in the story of the movie Doom, but they would not think there was any connection between the two.

Moreover, to test the factors of distance and speed, of the three teleporters, one was erected in the Spire Experimental Base and the remaining two were temporarily erected in the Congo tropical rain forest a thousand kilometers away and in the Pacific Ocean 10,000 kilometers away.

A total of 100 Delta-level personnel were used in this experiment. The final teleportation success rate was stable at 100% and the teleportation time had been maintained at about 0.01 seconds.

This was the smallest unit of time that the instrument could detect.

In other words, the teleportation speed of these three Arks was the same as that shown in the data, which was 99.9999% the speed of light.

In that case, it would take only about 20 minutes to teleport from Earth to Mars.

Nonetheless, X-112 had obtained the data from the Ark Experimental Base in the world of Doom earlier on. From this data, it could be seen that if it was interplanetary teleportation, a focus coordinate system was required every time. After all, the space between the planets was in constant motion.

If the focus was misaligned, it was very likely that the situation in the movie would occur — a man's upper body reached the destination, but his lower body flew toward the vast unending universe.

In addition, the teleporter also relied on electricity for teleportation. Each teleportation also consumed a huge amount of electricity. Fortunately, Chen Chen did not possess much else but had plenty of electricity and it was supported by a nuclear fusion reactor. Chen Chen did not need to be concerned about energy.

After finishing the experiment, the next thing Chen Chen needed to consider was how to place the two Blacklight teleporters on the moon and Mars.

Due to this, Blacklight Biotechnology, while concealing this from the Earth Federation, must use the Ares to transport a batch of industrial robots to the back of the moon, where they could excavate a new underground base. Then, they could start mining helium-3 without any reservations.

This helium-3 was an isotope of the element helium. It was different from ordinary helium in that it contained two protons and one neutron.

Its greatest value was that it could undergo nuclear fusion reactions with hydrogen isotopes. Helium-3 was fuel for nuclear fusion power generation. The energy produced by nuclear fusion reactions with helium-3 was greater than that of traditional deuterium-tritium reactions. During the traditional deuterium-tritium reaction, the generation of nuclear fusion energy also produced a large number of high-energy neutrons and these neutrons could cause radioactive damage to nuclear reactors.

On the contrary, if helium-3 were used as fuel, high-energy protons rather than neutrons were mainly produced. Helium-3 was not only non-radioactive but the reaction process was also easy to control. Therefore, helium-3 was a kind of ideal nuclear fusion fuel that was clean, efficient, and safe.

If the energy return rate of coal was 16, then the energy return rate of the nuclear fission power station built by Chen Chen was 20, and the energy return rate of helium-3 nuclear fusion was as high as 270.

According to calculations, the construction of a 2-million-kilowatt helium-3 nuclear fusion power station consumed only 200 kilograms of helium-3 every year. If helium-3 nuclear fusion power generation was used by the entire world, the total annual power generation would only consume 100 tons of helium-3.

In other words, the helium-3 in lunar soil could supply the earth's energy needs for thousands of years.

However, the reserves of helium-3 on the earth were small and difficult to exploit and artificial synthesis was expensive. However, there was a large amount of natural helium-3 in the lunar soil. According to calculations, the total resource of helium-3 on the moon was estimated to be 1 million to 5 million tons.

Therefore, during Blacklight Biotechnology's nuclear fusion project in cooperation with the four continents when the CUERB Project was launched, they had started to lay out lunar scientific research stations for the helium-3 resources on the moon.

The other teleporter was about to be placed at the North Pole of Mars. After all, the South Pole had been occupied by the new scientific expedition team. Building an underground base at the North Pole of Mars, in addition to being used to study Mars, was more of a precaution for the future to Chen Chen, in case of any changes on the earth, at which he could still transfer his property to Mars.

Still, these all need to be laid out slowly, not something that could be done overnight.

However, when Chen Chen was planning to avoid the eyes of the Earth Federation and establish a secret base, new updates came from the four major continents.

On the other side of the Rosen bridge, in the dimension opened in the Indian Ocean, they unexpectedly found a group of survivors.

Fate was truly toying with Chen Chen. After he had unknowingly opened the Rosen bridge, to prevent the four major continents from discovering that the world on the other side was the Resident Evil dimension, he deliberately added some difficulties, so that the four continents would not be able to know the truth for at least a few years. However, who would have expected that when the drones patrolled once again, they came across a group of people who were still barely holding on.

After hearing the news, Chen Chen did not know for a moment whether he should cry or laugh, but because of this discovery, the Lilith Assembly initiated by the four continents was about to begin.

Chen Chen thought for a while and finally went to the meeting room as before. He chose a location at random and then the environmental holographic simulator located in the four corners of the room quickly started up. Chen Chen only felt his vision blurring and when he could see again, he was once again in that meeting room.

Five indistinct figures were sitting around the conference table, each with its own number, from 01 to 05.

This highest-level meeting of the Blacklight Foundation was the so-called "Lilith Assembly".

It was named this because in the Jewish Bible, Adam's first wife was Lilith. Currently, the artifact of human foreknowledge was the quantum computer "Adam". Therefore, this meeting that was also used to safeguard and prevent human beings from becoming extinct was called the Lilith Assembly.

At this time, everyone in the meeting room was obviously in high spirits. 01 said, "I believe all of you have received the latest progress in the exploration of the other dimension. That dimension turned out to be a world where humanity has been destroyed. This is the biggest discovery since we started exploring it!"

"So, how did we discover that?"

Chen Chen asked absently, "As far as I know, isn't that dimension already occupied by that kind of weird infectious meme?"

"We used a high-altitude reconnaissance plane."

01 immediately explained, "To better explore the entire world, we mobilized a batch of military reconnaissance planes on all continents. These reconnaissance planes explored the world around the clock, even as far as tens of thousands of kilometers away. The results were shocking. It was discovered that the Flower of Flesh meme didn't occupy the entire world on the other side, but only a small part of it.

"Once we arrived at the European Continent on the other side..."

03 followed up. "In the European Continent over there, we found countless building remains and even found various familiar cities and buildings such as the collapsed Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, and innumerable landmark buildings that only exist in our reality. It's only then that we're sure that the world on the opposite side is also the same Earth!"

Chen Chen sighed secretly, then asked, "What then?"

"Then, we also found that there were traces of human corpses in the wreckage of those cities, so we took the risk and spent a few days using a helicopter to cross tens of thousands of kilometers again, crossing the blockade of the Flower of Flesh, and arrived in the city where human bodies had been found."

03 then said, "Then, we were shocked to find that those corpses turned out to be zombies that only exist in movies!"

"Zombies?"

Chen Chen's voice was rather astonished. "Are you kidding me?"

"No, although it's indeed unbelievable, what I'm saying is the truth."

03 took a deep breath and spoke again, "Those zombies are in a strange dormant state on ordinary days. In this state, their physiological activities are reduced to a level close to zero. They were passive and quiet until the helicopter had landed, then they were awakened by the noise and rushed toward our foundation soldiers, but were quickly shot dead on the spot.

"However, we subsequently obtained samples of these zombies and analyzed them, finding that there was a special virus in their bodies. This virus is surprisingly similar to the Ebola virus, the Blacklight virus, and other filoviruses. This virus has turned them into the aggressive living dead who like to eat human flesh!"

With that said, a sheet of information appeared in front of everyone out of thin air. Chen Chen scrolled through it casually, only to see that it was an experiment report about the virus.

"This thing is like..."

Chen Chen said softly, "It's like a movie. What's the name of that movie?"

"Resident Evil!"

, who had not spoken all this while, suddenly voiced out, turning his blurred face to 01. "The Resident Evil movie from 2002 is a Hollywood movie shot in Northern America. Am I right, Supervisor 01?"

"02, what do you mean?"

01 suddenly became a little unhappy. "Are you suspecting me?"

"Of course not. I just want to ask you, why would a movie shot in Northern America appear in reality?"

's tone was full of inquiry. "Did those of you in Northern America know about the existence of this dimension for a long time, so you made this movie on purpose? And the location on the other side of the passage is also in Oregon, Northern America. Are these all coincidences?"

"Have we gone mad, resulting in such baffling behavior?"

01 was a little miffed. "Although I don't understand why this happened, Northern America has nothing to do with this dimension. Whether you believe it or not, that's the truth!"

"This isn't the time to blame each other."

Chen Chen immediately quelled the sparks flying between the two of them and he asked, "This isn't the time for internal conflicts. After all, the situation on the other side may be more complicated than we thought. What we need to do now is to unite and explore the other world together, right? Supervisors?"

"Yes, 05 is right, we should work together."

04 agreed to the compromise.

Seeing this, 01 and 02 did not continue to argue.

"Next, we also explored the surrounding areas of the city and as a result, outside a village, we found a piece of cropland that wasn't neglected."

03 continued to explain, "So our task force soldiers surmised that there were people living there and this turned out to be the case. Indeed, we found five human survivors in that village."

"Very good..."

Chen Chen nodded and exclaimed, "This is indeed a massive discovery. The world on the other side of the passage isn't only the same Earth but also has the same human beings and the same civilization. This is simply a miracle!"

Chapter 517: The President's Visit

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Name?"

"Danny Brolin..."

"Age."

"... I'm probably... Over fifty."

"Why do you say that, don't you know your own age?"

"Heh heh... I only remember that when the outbreak crisis occurred, I was twenty years old. Now at least thirty years have passed, but does time have any meaning for us survivors?"

"Where are you from?"

"I'm a Scot and my hometown is Linlithgow, Scotland..."

"What's your relationship with the other four people?"

"Jennifer and the others? They are my wives. We originally wanted a few children but after a previous wife of mine became pregnant, the baby was infected with the ubiquitous T-virus in the womb, and in the end, the baby tore apart her belly... From then on, we didn't plan to have children anymore. Even when anyone gets pregnant, it'll be quickly aborted..."

"I heard your wife Jennifer say that she used to have a husband, but you killed him?"

"Yes, all men were protecting themselves. To prevent him from killing me, I killed him first..."

"Then seize his wife?"

"She came willingly because without me, she wouldn't survive outside for three months."

"And the same happened with the other wives?"

"No, one of them is my original wife..."

"You mentioned the T-virus before, what is that?"

"It's the stuff that resulted in those who are neither dead nor alive in the outside world. We call them zombies. Human civilization was destroyed by them. The T-virus caused most humans to become that kind of zombies. Only a few people survived and were hunted by those zombies..."

"They don't seem to be in large numbers?"

"Hehe... After so many years, most of the wounded zombies have decayed but humans are about to disappear completely too, right?"

"Where did the T-virus that you mentioned come from?"

"Umbrella, of course, it came from Umbrella, that d*mn b*stard corporation. This news was reported on TV before the zombie virus spread, so everyone knows where the T-virus came from. ..."

...

One day later, Chen Chen was sitting in his office on the top floor of the Blacklight Building in the Eco Science City when he received the first-hand interrogation video from the Blacklight Foundation.

In the video, a researcher wearing a white lab coat was sitting at a desk in an empty and airtight interrogation room. Opposite him was a white man with a large bushy beard and an old face, whose eyes were still fierce.

Then there was a lengthy conversation between the two, over three hours in total, covering the man's past and present, and other trivial matters.

After that, it was the remaining four women. From the interrogation of these women, it was learned that this man named Brolin had killed at least eight survivors, all of whom were men. He seemed to have intentionally killed those of the same sex to prevent his opponents from competing with him for women.

Chen Chen just skimmed the video randomly and moved the progress bar to the end.

Now, the four continents had determined that the real identity of this dimension was the movie Resident Evil and the T-virus had also been acquired by them.

Chen Chen was not too concerned with this because the T-virus had long been something rudimentary to Chen Chen. It was most useful for making organic biological weapons because the T-virus could only be used on living embryos. If it was used on adult life forms, they would only have one outcome — to become a zombie.

If one wanted to customize the T-virus to fit one's genes like Chen Chen, one would need — first, a massive amount of funds, second, superb biotechnology, and third, a super artificial intelligence to analyze virus proteins.

These three conditions were like three insurmountable obstacles, eliminating the possibility of human development of the T-virus. At present, there was no biological laboratory in the world that had these three capabilities at the same time.

Therefore, for at least 30 years, Chen Chen would not be worried about the four major continents using the T-virus in any harebrained schemes. Moreover, 30 years later, Chen Chen would grow stronger and then he would not need to care about the T-virus being mastered by the Earth Federation.

Next, what the four continents had to do was develop the Resident Evil dimension. Although that world had been lost for more than 30 years and most of the fragments of human civilization had decayed, there were still many things that could be obtained.

In particular, the land and mineral resources of that world were like a large inheritance left by one's ancestors that was suddenly acquired by an ordinary person. After acquiring a parallel world, the four continents expressed joy at the prospect of profit, like old farmers in the autumn harvest.

Nonetheless, since this was under the Blacklight Foundation too, Chen Chen naturally had a share in this as well.

Chen Chen did not care much about this. He was not like the other polities that needed resources to feed the people and increase their GDP. If the four continents were like four huge families, then Blacklight Biotechnology was a solitary figure who could feed one whole family without going hungry.

What Chen Chen cared about was humanity in general and himself. This was not because Chen Chen was highly principled but because Blacklight Biotechnology existed based on human civilization in the first place. If human civilization was gone, then Blacklight Biotechnology would also lose the point of its existence.

Plus, Chen Chen's purpose had always been very clear, that was longevity, but longevity alone was meaningless. The reality was not like a novel. There were no so-called martial arts in this world, whereby one person could suppress an entire world, and so on. Humans themselves were social animals. Thus, Chen Chen hoped that his parents and relatives could accompany him for a long time.

They represented the point of Chen Chen's longevity.

After human beings had achieved a long lifespan, a series of changes in the moral cognition system was likely to occur, but this was also a manifestation of the diversity in human civilization.

Just like in ancient times, people often said that "there are three ways to be unfilial; having no sons is the worst." This was in line with the social and national conditions in ancient times because the ancients had a short life span. Only by increasing the fertility rate could the continuation of civilization be guaranteed.

However, in modern times, due to the changes in social civilization, humans were now beginning to see examples of DINK1, cohabitations, and even homosexual unions. Coupled with the civilianization of age-reversal treatment programs, human life expectancy had increased dramatically and future generations were no longer the most important thing to human beings. This was also in line with the conditions of modern societies and nations.

As another example, if Chen Chen developed a virtual world that was comparable to the real world, where humans could do everything they wanted to do, then once a large number of humans had joined, it would inevitably lead to the loss of real-world interests and also produce a group of opposing and resisting voices, criticizing this virtual world game, criticizing those who play the game for being distracted by trivial hedonism. Institutions similar to "Yuzhang Normal University" would even appear, and so on.

This was a normal phenomenon. However, if that virtual world was further refined and connected with real currency systems while at the same time, when one's consciousness joined in, one's real body would be better protected and one's lifespan would be prolonged, then gradually, the virtual world would transform from being something cursed by thousands of people, into one of the new social norms.

Even in the future, human beings might be divided into two camps by default. One was developing in reality and the other was developing in the virtual world. None was superior or inferior. Between the two, just like how some people chose humanities while others chose science; some people chose scientific research after graduation, and others chose to grow in the entertainment industry.

This was just another shift in the moral cognition system.

There was an old saying: a saint moves with the world and thus never becomes exhausted no matter the situation.

Long ago, Chen Chen proposed three major strategies for the development of Blacklight Biotechnology: biomedicine, the aerospace industry, and the Internet. Among them, biomedicine represented the continuation of human civilization and it was the path of human evolution. If he gained control of this field, he would gain control of humanity's present.

In addition, the aerospace industry represented humanity's future. This was not a future of a few decades, but a future of over a thousand years!

As for the Internet, it corresponded to reality and represented humanity's spirit. It could even become an indispensable way to transform real-world class conflicts, stabilize the social order, and create an alternate social system!

At this time, in the aerospace industry and in biomedicine, Blacklight Biotechnology had been at the forefront of the Earth Federation and had become the bellwether. Regarding the Internet, Chen Chen had proposed a plan of four sub-eras —

The first of these was the VR sub-era and this sub-era was led by the "V.1 Haptic Shock Chair" released that year. In the following years, the haptic shock chair would reach the V.2 generation and the accompanying brain-control technology and display technology would also be more developed and closer to reality.

The second era was the era when artificial intelligence had entered civilian use. Chen Chen's plan for this had just started this year and the bionic personal butler named "Little Ai" had entered thousands of households.

It could be said that since the release of "Little Ai", the babysitter market and some simple labor markets had suffered heavy losses and public opinion also had a mixed reception to the bionic personal butler. Some people thought that these androids created the phenomenon of the uncanny valley. Some people were worried about the intelligence explosion that might occur in a hundred years and others were concerned about their own interests, protesting all day, trying to force Blacklight Biotechnology to cancel the research and development of bionic technology.

Toward all this, Chen Chen was naturally dismissive. Human science and technology must always be improved and the advancement of science and technology would lead to the elimination of any old industry. This was an irreversible fact, just like the wheels of history rolling forward. These oppositions were like an ant trying to stop an elephant and they would inevitably end up being crushed.

According to an ancient saying, this was called the general trend.

As for the third and fourth stages of the four sub-eras plan, they would not be able to progress until after decades, when the second era was completely stabilized and widely accepted.

These thoughts were circling each other and they flashed through Chen Chen's mind, but when Chen Chen was secretly reflecting on his future plans, the elevator door opened again with a "ding". At the same time, Little X walked into Chen Chen's office.

"Sir Godfather, Zurama has secretly come to the lobby of the building and he wants to see you now."

"Zurama?"

Chen Chen raised his eyebrows, then smiled coldly. "Bring him in."

With that, Chen Chen leaned back on the leather seat behind him, silently waiting for the other party's arrival.

Little X nodded and returned to the elevator again.

Two minutes later, a middle-aged black man with a radiant face who looked to be in his forties appeared in Chen Chen's office.

Zurama used to look a bit like Morgan Freeman, that was, the old man who finally got the USB drive in the movie Lucy. Now although he had become younger after recuperation, he looked all the more like Morgan Freeman.

Watching the other man's arrival, Chen Chen did not even stand up. He just asked lazily, "Mr. President, how come you have the time to grace us with your presence?"

"Alright, it's been so many years. You don't have to act politely with me anymore."

Zurama smiled helplessly. He sat directly in the chair opposite Chen Chen's desk as if he had done this a thousand times. Little X on the side immediately brought a set of teacups and poured a kind of brewed tea into it.

Smelling the refreshing fragrance of the tea, Zurama could not help but close his eyes, a little captivated. Naturally, any tea that could make its way into Chen Chen's office would not be some nameless common tea.

After many visits to Chen Chen's office, Zurama gradually fell in love with the tea culture in China.

Next, it was Zurama's tea-tasting time.

Chen Chen did not bother Zurama. He just drank his tea in silence and waited for Zurama to make his request.

That was right. With Chen Chen's support Zurama was elected as the fourth President of Namibia at the end of 2025 without any doubt.

The President of Namibia was the head of state, the head of government, and commander-in-chief of the armed forces in the Republic of Namibia. Each term of office was 5 years and each presidency could not exceed two terms. Now, it was only the first term for Zurama.

After Zurama, supported by Blacklight Biotechnology, was elected president, it could be said that the relationship between Namibia and Blacklight Biotechnology had become closer, practically ushering in the second honeymoon period.

Not only that, but Blacklight Biotechnology had also brought about unprecedented prosperity in Namibia. Both its economy and culture had surpassed the Rainbow Nation and reached the top of Africa. In particular, Blacklight Biotechnology's poverty alleviation activities had raised millions of Namibians from poverty to the level of being well-off.

The only problem was that the current Namibian regime had long been reduced to a figurehead by Blacklight Biotechnology...

However, Chen Chen had no political ambitions. Strictly speaking, he even looked down on Namibia. He controlled this country only to better develop Blacklight Biotechnology. Therefore, Chen Chen and Namibia were basically in a strange state of balance. No one wanted to break this balance.

About ten minutes later, Zurama sighed after finishing the tea in the cup and said, "Chen Chen, this time I'm here with a request from the Parliament. You know as well, with the development of Namibia over the years, our national strength has been increasing day by day. Both the general industry and the tourism industry have repeatedly set new bars and more people have chosen to join the Namibian nationality...

"We know that these are thanks to your Blacklight Biotechnology, but with the development of the country, our electric power system has gradually become unable to keep up, so..."

At this point, Zurama could not help but pause, then said brightly, "We want to ask Blacklight Biotechnology to invest in several nuclear power plants to help alleviate the problem of our country's aging electric power system..."

Hearing the other party's request, Chen Chen frowned because he naturally understood that the nuclear power plants in question were not the previous traditional nuclear fission power stations, but the recently announced CUERB Project, which was the nuclear fusion reactor project.

If it were not for the nuclear fusion reactor, the Namibian government would not have dropped in as if by coincidence and made a request for the establishment of nuclear power plants.

This old geezer was truly being bold in his requests...

Chapter 518: Seize the Opportunity

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"There's more we can discuss concerning the power plants, it just depends on how sincere your party is going to be."

Chen Chen replied without a second thought, "The CUERB Project is the combined effort of Blackwatch and the four major continents to define the new era. So far, we've certainly met our goal of commercialized power generation, but you'll still have to pay the appropriate price for it."

"We give you money and you sell us the electricity, isn't that enough already?"

Zurama was astonished to hear this. After all, this should be no different from how it was eight years ago when Chen Chen operated in Namibia.

"Of course not, it seems like Mr. President Zurama and the Congress still haven't fully understood the situation..."

Chen Chen stretched his arms out with his hands balled into a fist. He raised one finger and remarked with a gentle smirk, "First, nuclear fusion is a new stem of technology which power generation efficiency is nowhere near the same as that of traditional thermal power stations and nuclear fission power stations. If we rate the efficiency of a traditional thermal power plant at 1 and the efficiency of a nuclear fission power plant at 2, then the efficiency of a nuclear fusion power plant would measure up to 100! Furthermore, the nuclear fusion power plants generate energy at a higher efficiency while taking up less real estate.

Chen Chen raised a second finger. "Second, the new reactors will substitute the use of traditional uranium fuel and use deuterium to trigger a thermonuclear reaction with helium-3. This reaction will only generate non-radiated protons and therefore, will not result in any volume of radiation. This is a completely clean energy source that doesn't cause any harm to the environment."

Chen Chen went on to his third point with his third finger raised. "Third, the thermonuclear reaction takes place in an ultra-high pressure and ultra-high vacuum environment. This means that any chemical malfunction will cause the reaction to be terminated in a window of fewer than 0.01 seconds. The safety level of the nuclear fusion power plants greatly surpasses that of nuclear fission and traditional thermal power plants due to this risk control factor!

"Fourth, extraction of helium-3 is extremely costly since the resource cannot be found on Earth and can only be obtained from the moon. As it is, only Blackwatch and the four major continents are capable of providing this resource. Even if Blackwatch intends to sell it at a discounted price, the four major continents wouldn't agree to such an agreement.

"Fifth, one of the primary goals of the four major continents over the next decade is to upgrade their power generation infrastructure. All traditional firepower and nuclear fission power plants will be obsolete within ten years, so what does this signify? This means that it's highly unlikely for any other continents or countries to be included in the first round of restructuring. It'd take at least a decade from now until it's their turn..."

With all these points provided, Chen Chen had all five fingers out. "To sum it all up, the nuclear fusion power generation is a generation-defining technology and will be immensely valuable over the next decade. Any country that can obtain it in advance will be gaining a decade's headstart on any other countries. This is why you'll have to pay more if you want Namibia to obtain this technology, otherwise, the other major continents will not be pleased with Blackwatch for offering such an asset."

Zurama was silenced by this string of explanations from Chen Chen.

"There's no need for you to do this."

Noting Zurama's silence, Chen Chen suddenly revealed a mischievous smirk. "Namibia is sparsely populated and there's not much demand for electricity. It's no big deal even if you wait for a decade. You'll also have the alternative of buying electricity from your neighbors since by that point, electricity will become the least valuable thing in the world... "

"Least valuable?"

Zurama was appalled to hear this. He looked at Chen Chen with strange delight. "Is that true?"

"Of course."

Chen Chen suddenly got up and paced around the office, then he took a deep breath and said, "Mr. President, let me picture this for you. I'm sure you know of wireless charging technology?"

After Zurama responded with a quick nod, Chen Chen went on. "Wireless charging technology has been discovered as early as the end of the nineteenth century. Its original inventor was the famous physicist Nikola Tesla. In simple terms, this technology is an amplified version of electromagnetic wave communication. The downside is that a significant chunk of energy dissipates in the form of electromagnetic waves during the process.

"However, once we've achieved standardized nuclear fusion power, this energy dissipation becomes irrelevant. Once nuclear fusion power stations are fully implemented, we can begin incorporating large-scale wireless charging technology. This can even be used to power an entire city for free..."

Chen Chen took another deep breath and held his arms out to present the grand idea. "Can you imagine that? In the near future, society will only be using devices with wireless charging technology. Mobile phones no longer need to be charged, cars no longer need to be refueled, even aircraft... All vehicles are powered by an ever-present source of electricity."

"The streets will be lined with holographic 3D neon lights, the sky is an open canvas for us to fill with beautiful holographic visuals. Everything is driven by electricity which is present everywhere, just like air!

"And the important thing to note is that everything is driven by clean electricity. There are no more fossil fuels used as energy sources, so no more pollution and carbon emissions. The natural environment will be restored to the state it was in before the industrial revolution..."

Zurama did his best to conceal his sour smile upon hearing all this. If everything Chen Chen claimed was true, then it was all the more reason to not wait for a decade but to obtain nuclear fusion power as soon as possible. The earlier this technology could be complicated, the earlier the country could usher in the new era and obtain an unprecedented opportunity for further developments.

Zurama quickly realized that this was Chen Chen's roundabout approach at tempting him. This was Chen Chen's approach of taking a step back to move forward. However, this realization did not change the fact that the advantages stated were truly unbelievable and he would be a fool to refuse this offer.

With this in mind, Zurama finally let out a drawn-out sigh. He had made up his mind and raised his head. "Chen Chen, I understand that you mean well, but I've already made up my mind to make Namibia an electrical empire before any of the others. Tell me, what do I have to pay to attain all this?"

Chen Chen kept up the act and pretended to be disheartened by this insistence. "Mr. President, since you've made up your mind then I suppose I'll lay my offer outright. The three-year tax exemption period has passed and the five-year halved-tax period is nearly over as well. I believe this is as good a time as any to propose an extension of the tax exemption period."

"Several years?"

Zurama asked in a low voice.

"Why don't we make it a permanent agreement."

Chen Chen answered without a pause and cracked a smile, "I believe this is a reasonable offer?"

"You..."

Zurama's mouth was agape. His first thought was to lash out in anger, but his rational mind quickly held himself back from doing that. He remained planted to his chair while he gritted his teeth and mentioned, "Don't you think this offer is too unreasonable?"

"Unreasonable?"

Chen Chen shrugged and remarked indifferently, "No, I don't think it's unreasonable at all. After all, I'm sure you can see how this can make Namibia the country with the highest per capita income."

"But the Congress will not agree with this..."

Zurama was still reluctant to accept these terms. He appeared deeply troubled by this. "It wouldn't change a thing even if you have influence over the majority of the Congress... My reputation will be driven to the ground!"

"No, they'll agree with these terms as well."

Chen Chen smiled. "President Zurama, set your sights. Do you think all Namibia is capable of is becoming the most developed country in Africa? Have you ever thought about what you can achieve with this decade headstart? How far can Namibia go? Have you ever imagined a day where Namibia becomes the most powerful country only below the four major continents? If you want to develop your country, you must pay a price."

Zurama felt an inexplicable shudder all over when he heard this bold proclamation from Chen Chen. His eyes were filled with astonishment as he looked at Chen Chen.

"Is it... Possible?"

"I've never guaranteed anything."

Seeing this, Chen Chen shook his head and put away his smile as he noted blankly, "Blackwatch isn't interested in politics. You'll have to answer that question yourself.

"All I'm doing is giving you an opportunity to strengthen your country."

Zurama fell silent again upon hearing this.

Half an hour later, Zurama left Chen Chen's office just as he came. He exited the Blacklight building without anyone noticing.

After watching him leave, Chen Chen sat back in his chair. There were several layers underneath the smile on his face.

"Sir Godfather, is this necessary?"

Little X asked curiously, "We already have finalized an agreement to lower the tax in Namibia as much as possible since a long time ago. Besides, money has lost most of its importance to us at this point, we should be focusing more on technology and assets now."

Chen Chen turned around in his chair to face Little X. "We've already squeezed most of whatever resource we could get out of Namibia, this is the only thing left for us to take.

"I already had plans to implement nuclear fusion power plants in Namibia, this tax exemption was just an excuse. After all, the stronger Namibia is, the more beneficial it is to the development of Blacklight Biotechnology, isn't it?"

"Oh!"

Little X chuckled widely. "I see, we'd be fools to not take advantage of this opportunity, I understand now!"

Chen Chen nodded faintly. He then got up from his seat and approached the windows. "That's who it is. Namibia is going to get nuclear fusion power plants sooner or later anyway, but why not strike a better deal out of it?"

Chen Chen looked outside the window and gazed at Eco Science City which cityscape spanned into the horizon. "I've already planned this out. Eco Science City will be the world's first super city with unlimited power. At the same time, we'll formulate a set of rules that fully benefits us. Only by doing this can we attain better opportunities in the future!

"After all, the person who makes the rules will be the one who comes out on top.

"X, make the preparations and tell the electronic technology research department to get ready to start a new project. We want to build the world's first driverless car that can receive wireless charge with minimal energy dissipation. Once the city with unlimited power becomes a reality, there'll be plenty more succeeding technology to complement it, therefore, we have to apply for the patent for the new electromagnetic induction technology, do you understand?"

"Understood."

Little X nodded and answered with an eager smile, "This is the exact thing I've prepared the electronic technology research department for all this time."

...

A few hours later, Eco Science City had issued a new policy.

The policy was issued in several media which included email, website announcement, and application push notification to all residents in the city as well as those visiting.

"Announcement: Honored ladies and gentlemen, this is the Eco Science City Committee. After more than a month of research and discussion involving the city committee and officials as well as the executive of Blacklight Biotechnology, we'd like to announce that over the next few years, Eco Science City will be implementing major restructuring to usher in the new era. We apologize for any inconvenience caused to your daily activities over this period. If you have any questions, please send a text to XXXXX to inquire or log in to the official website of Blacklight Biotechnology or you can call us at..."

This announcement piqued the interest of many people and once again spurred discussions online. They theorized on what sort of major restructuring the Eco Science City also dubbed as the Pearl of Africa would be undergoing that would take several years.

Many scientists, professors, and experts all over the world immediately logged on to Blacklight Biotechnology's official forum and began posting the theories that they had.

As the discussions gained traction, some of them eventually produced well-formulated speculations...

Heart-rending: [Eco Science City can be said to be the world's most technologically advanced cities while also being one of the youngest cities. The city has only been established six years and has grown its population from an initial ten thousand to more than a million at this point. It's nothing short of a modern miracle. The reason why such a city can reach this height is inseparable from it leading the world in overall technology and the biomedicine sector. Therefore, I don't think it's bold to assume that Eco Science City will continue to improve and maintain this trajectory that we've seen so far...]

Attack': [I'm willing to bet that all of this has something to do with the recently completed CUERB Project. Why else would Blacklight Biotechnology make such a major announcement in Eco Science City right after the CUERB Project completion?]

Burlk_heart: [Does this even need to be said, anyone would have seen this coming!]

Memorial: [So you're saying that this restructuring must've something to do with nuclear fusion power? However, there's still a little doubt in my mind because even if they were to implement nuclear fusion technology. Isn't the usual approach to build a nuclear fusion power station in the outskirts? Why should it involve the inner sectors of the city?]

Zonk: [You're too short-sighted. First of all, you have to understand what the nuclear fusion power station represents. If you can understand all of this, you'll understand why Eco Science City is undergoing a major transformation...]

Memorial: [What are you trying to say? Don't lead us on.]

The people involved in scientific communities in Earth Federation started to weigh more interest in these recent developments. The new statement issued by Blacklight Biotechnology over the next few days on their website further cemented their many speculations. The announcement was that Blacklight Biotechnology would be stepping into the field of transportation and electromagnetics and create its very own electrical vehicles.

News of this announcement had the world in an uproar.

Chapter 519: New Addition

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Midnight, inside an abandoned factory somewhere in the suburbs of New York.

The warehouse was derelict, barely a skeleton of its former self. Its entrance was like the mouth of a giant beast whereas its belly was completely dark and empty.

Standing in front of the factory were five men having a hushed conversation among themselves. They each had large, visible tattoos and wore glittering gold chains, nose rings, and other flashy jewelry, the standard attire of hippies.

Amid the suffocating darkness, what stood out most was the faint kindle of cigarettes.

"Clark, what time did you say those people from the William family are arriving, it's almost two o'clock..."

One of the young men with a nose ring asked with much irritation.

"Soon. This is the time we've agreed to meet, they'll be here anytime soon."

Another man with a large golden chain who was leaning against a Harley motorcycle and smiled, revealing a large golden tooth. "Hey Robert, what's the rush? Did you get a new girlfriend?"

"Of course not..."

The young man with the nose ring they called Robert scratched his head in embarrassment. "It's just that my girlfriend is waiting for me to eat with her."

"Girlfriend? You have Ophelia from West Street?"

The man with the golden chain laughed and said with snark in his voice, "I remember her a** smelled like dried cheese aged several hundred days too much. You better break up with her..."

"F***, what are you saying, how do you know that?"

Robert was immediately appalled.

"Alright, put your game face on, they're here..."

While Robert seemed to have realized something, a dark blonde-haired man who had been silent all this while interrupted their conversation. They all turned toward a junction leading to the factory and saw several spots of light approaching them from the darkness.

Before long, two black vehicles arrived at the field in front of the abandoned factory and stopped in front of the hippie's bikes. Several large men wearing suits stepped out of the vehicle.

"Justin, you're late..."

The man with the dark blonde hair stepped forward, leading his pack of hippies.

"There's been some accident on the way here, but it's settled."

A pale-faced young man poked his head out of the car window. He took a briefcase and dangled it outside the car. "The stuff is here, where's the money?"

"Over here."

The man with the dark blonde hair gave a signal. Immediately after, the young man with the nose ring came over with a slightly smaller briefcase. The briefcase was set on top of the engine hood and opened with a "click".

There was a thick wad of cash inside the briefcase.

"Excellent."

The pale young man proceeded to exit the vehicle and went to Robert. He set down his briefcase and revealed pouches of white crystals in transparent packaging inside it.

"Robert, check the goods."

The dark blonde-haired man glanced at the contents of the briefcase and instructed his subordinate.

Robert nodded and selected one of the pouches at random. He ripped it open and put a tiny amount inside his mouth to give it a quick taste, then he turned to the dark blonde-haired man and nodded.

"Boss, it's the real deal..."

With that, Robert repackaged the contents of the briefcase and prepared to carry the briefcase.

"Hold on!"

The pale young man stopped him and smiled. "What's the rush? We haven't checked the money haven't we?"

Robert made a "go ahead" gesture upon hearing this mention.

After the pale young man gave a signal, a bald man in a suit stepped forward and took out bundles of cash from the briefcase, and started counting quickly.

"Young Master, the sum is correct..."

The bald man nodded in the direction of the pale young man.

"Good."

Both parties were silently relieved at how smoothly things were processing. The atmosphere that was once heavy eased down significantly.

After both parties had packed up the briefcase, the leaders of both sides came in front of each other. The dark blonde-haired man shook the hands of the pale young man. "Justin, pleasure working with you!"

"Pleasure working with you as well, biker..."

After they bid farewell, both parties split up and went on their way.

Just as they were about to leave, a gigantic drone suddenly appeared in the sky above. Shrouded in the dense darkness of the night, four heavy objects thumped onto the ground with all their weight.

"Thump, thump, thump, thump..."

The four objects each landed in separate locations. As soon as they heard the mighty fall, their faces turned!

"It's the bionic combat police!"

Somebody shouted. Everyone reached for their guns and unloaded into the darkness without a word between them!

"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!"

The sound of gunshots rumbled in the air like fireworks going off. The flashes produced from the muzzle of the guns gave off just enough light to provide a glimpse of the jet-black armored soldiers in the darkness. All the bullets were good for was grazing against their armor and producing faint sparks!

"This is the BHB Combative Police Force. Everyone listen up, you've violated article 54 of the Federation. Put down your weapons immediately, raise your hands above your head, and surrender!"

A mighty, audacious voice announced from the darkness. These people did not care for what was said as they continued shooting while retreating to their bikes and cars in an attempt to get away from the scene!

Upon noting their reaction, the BHB Combative Police officer leading the charge turned to the other three officers. "Our opponents refuse to surrender. Use electric shock weapons and crush their resistance!"

"Yes!"

The other three officers responded at once. They pulled a bolt attached to the ludicrously large guns they wielded to convert the ammunition to non-lethal rounds. They immediately began firing into the crowd of criminals!

"Swoosh!"

The bald man in a suit who was in charge of driving first felt something gently prickling into the back of his neck. It was immediately followed by a numbing sensation slowly spreading out. Within seconds, waves of electricity made their way over his entire body and he was trembling uncontrollably all over!

"Ah!"

The young man with the nose ring who had just hopped on his bike felt the same numbing sensation around his chest region. He turned the throttle of the bike with all his might but lost control within a second and collapsed onto the ground with all his weight, his body unmoving!

It was a one-sided conflict where one side could not put so much as a scratch on their opponents no matter what weapons they used. Meanwhile, the other side possessed one-hit-kill electric shock weapons. With this significant power gap between the two, the ground was soon covered with people trembling violently...

"This is the BHB Combative Police Force, all suspects are apprehended. Logistics team may arrive at the scene now."

The leading officer informed as he tweaked his helmet. The bulletproof helmet automatically retracted to reveal a handsome, chiseled face of a Caucasian male. "I repeat, suspects are apprehended. Logistics team may arrive at the scene now!"

As soon as the officer gave this notice, several reporters with large cameras in hand suddenly swarmed out of nowhere into the field in front of the abandoned factory. This was quickly followed by a large group of police officers with handcuffs. They kneeled over the group of criminals and had them all cuffed within minutes.

The reporters took countless pictures, their fingers glued to the shutter button the entire time. Most of their attention was directed at the four majestic armored officers on the field. A young woman whose face was painted with awe and reverence put a microphone in front of the leading armored officer and asked enthusiastically, "Mr. Brooke, your group has once again shut down another criminal activity, is there anything you'd like to say?"

"Of course, there are countless things I want to tell these criminals."

The armored officer declared with his back upright and with a heavy tone, "There's no such thing as crimes that remains undetected in this world. So long as criminals are out there, we'll continue to fight evil restlessly. This is our destiny!"

"Oh my God, this is so cool!"

The lady reporter almost shrieked in excitement and could barely contain herself from jumping up and down. "I cannot believe that even these heavily armed criminals would so easily crumble to the iron fists of justice. Mr. Brooke, would you say that this is a dangerous line of work?"

"There's always some dangers involved."

Brooke smiled quickly, adding another layer of charm to his already mesmerizing aura. "But it's well worth the risk. We care deeply about each citizen in the world and are willing to shed our last drop of blood for them for this is the purpose of our BHB Combative Police Force's existence. We'll bring an end to all ongoing criminal activities and preserve the civil rights and financial well-being of all citizens of the Earth Federation. It's our due responsibility!"

A group of reporters swarmed around Brooke. It was the same for the other three officers. However, the member with the most reporters trailing after the BHB leader Brooke was not the veterans Hodge or Blake, but a new face...

"Mr. Lane, as the new member of the task force, what are your thoughts on today's mission?"

"Mr. Lane, do you feel nervous on your debut mission today?"

"Mr. Lane, I'm a reporter from ABC, could you tell me what your current role in the team is?"

Despite being surrounded by nearly ten reporters and bombarded with questions, Lane seemed hardly fazed by all this and kept a calm expression, "I don't feel nervous at all, I'd say I'm at the internship stage, a sort of student if you will. Captain Brooke is the best teacher I could ask for... As for what I think about the mission, I think that my seniors are very experienced and there's a lot I can learn from them, thank you, everyone..."

Even after everyone continued issuing charming, positive statements, there were still no signs of the constant camera flashes stopping anytime soon. It was easy to make out the popularity level of each member based on the attention they received and it was evident that Captain Brooke was the most popular. After all, Brooke was both the captain of the team as well as the face of the task force.

The new member, Lane, was the youngest of them all, and he also participated in the Blacklight Biotechnology show, Call of Duty. The young man who started from the ground up saw his popularity surge over time and quickly took the spot of the second most popular member in the task force.

The third in line was Blake, who was both optimistic and cheerful by nature. Since he was a black man, he had become the symbol of pride of his fellow people all over the world.

The least popular of them was the shy young man named Hodge. Only two reporters were hounding him with questions that mostly revolved around what he thought about his colleagues.

After the show was complete, the four of them got into their designated vehicles and returned to the police station.

The BHB Combative Police Force originally only operated in Namibia. Due to a later agreement between Blacklight Biotechnology and Northern America, the BHB Combative Police Force soon announced its integration into the New York City police force to oversee the social structure of the world-renowned city.

Blacklight Biotechnology had been dedicating its efforts to enacting more celebrity police, which gave rise to many more bionic police teams all over the world. However, the most reputable of them all remained to be the BHB Combative Police Force.

These days, the name of the BHB Combative Police Force had gained almost a legendary status. They were akin to the real-life version of Avengers where all of its members were labeled as real-life superheroes.

After returning to their base, Lane finally allowed himself a moment of relief. He went to a designated room to have his bionic prosthetics replaced. When he emerged, the fully mechanical armor was taken off and replaced with only a pair of ordinary bionic prosthetic legs.

"Not bad, rookie!"

Blake was chewing on areca palms as he strutted out of the changing room and patted Lane's head with his bionic arms. "I made a bet with Hodge that you were going to screw things up somehow and we're going to have to clean up your mess. I didn't expect you to execute the mission perfectly."

"Of course."

Lane sounded slightly distracted in his reply while he turned to look in Brooke's direction. He saw Brooke heading straight for the canteen after emerging from the changing room.

"Don't pay any mind to him."

Blake noticed Lane constantly staring at Brooke. He suddenly lowered his voice into a whisper, "Wanna know something? I suspect that there's something wrong with this guy. Ever since he divorced his wife three years ago, he's been living a solitary life. I never see him heading to bars or clubs to look for girls. People like this are the ones you have to be on the lookout for. Who knows what goes on in that mind of his when he stares at you..."

"Hold on, didn't we sign an agreement?"

Lane ignored the strange speculations and addressed the other topic instead. "We all signed agreements and should be prohibited from going to places like bars or clubs..."

"That's true, but nothing is stopping you from sneaking into one..."

Blake responded in a mischievous tone, "Let me give you a pro tip, rookie. You only need to wrap yourself in a large shirt, put on a wig, and sunglasses. That way, nobody will see your bionic prosthetic or recognize you. Then, you can head out to bars and have all the fun you want..."

"What do you think, wanna go with me? But let me say this first, if you want me to take you then you're going to have to pay..."

Lane hardly knew how to respond to something like this. He only muttered some blank statements and excused himself before heading toward the dormitory.

The facilities of the BHB Combative Police Force were modeled after common five-star luxury hotels. This meant everyone had a designated suite and their suites were all connected to the same hall.

Lane came to the entrance of his suite and spied around to make sure the other members were not present. He quickly took out a fingerprint sampling print from his pocket and pasted it on his index finger.

Then, Lane quickly walked away from his door and went to Brooke's instead.

It was none other than Brooke's fingerprint on the sampling print. Lane had been working with Brooke for a week now so it was not surprising for him to have obtained the unguarded Brooke's fingerprint sample.

Lane's goal was to install cameras and wiretap Brooke's dormitory, to find evidence to sabotage him.

The reason he would sell out his teammate was his motivation for joining the BHB Combative Police Force in the first place...

"Phew..."

Lane took a deep breath to contain his nerves. He took slow and steady paces toward Captain Brooke's suite and pressed the sampled fingerprint onto the button...

Chapter 520: Operation

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Beep!"

"Click!"

After Lane placed his finger against the fingerprint reader, the red indicator light turned green and the door opened with a swift "click"...

With that, he quickly scuttled inside and closed the door behind him as soon as he entered.

Upon entering, he noted that the interior of Brooke's room was a mirror copy of his own as well. There were two rooms and the entrance led straight to the living room.

Since it was midnight, the room was pitch-black. The windows that were left open allowed faint traces of light from outside to slip inside, which offered just enough light for Lane to see the shape of the room.

There was a black leather couch in the living room with a glass coffee table set in front of it. On top of the coffee table was a large ashtray as well as two laptops.

The ashtray was nearly filled to the brim with cigarette butts.

Brooke had always liked smoking. This was intel that he had gathered for some time.

Lane moved past the living room and went for the dining room. He quickly noted that the dining table was wiped clean. This level of tidiness was almost unnatural.

Lane knew that Brooke never let the maids enter the room. He always cleaned the room by himself. Someone who always stuck to a schedule and kept his room in an orderly manner was a terrifying person...

After that, he looked at the two bedrooms. One of the bedrooms did not have a bed and instead had it substituted with two bookcases filled with books. There was a wide variety of books which ranged from politics magazines to scientific articles, to historical documentation.

At last, he went to the master bedroom. As soon as he pushed open the bedroom door, he was greeted with the faint smell of cigarette smoke. The bedroom was a little messy with clothes and socks were thrown over the ground. Even the bedding was thrown onto the ground and the pillows were slightly yellow.

Even with this brazen display, it was still much better than the condition of most bachelor's bedrooms.

Lane went around in the bedroom, taking caution to not touch anything for fear of Brooke noticing somebody had entered his room. He planted a bug underneath Brooke's bed then surveyed the room again before finally deciding to take apart the bed lamp and install a mini camera in the base of the lamp.

Lane's movements were extremely agile. It was clear that he had prepared for this day for some time.

A rice grain-sized hole was drilled on the right side of the base of the table lamp. The hole was facing the bed and was just large enough for the camera inside to capture the view outside.

After the work was done, he quickly restored everything to its condition before he entered. Then, he went to the living room again. This time, he propped up the leather couch and ripped off a small section on the bottom of the leather couch to install another bug.

Right after he planted the bug, he suddenly heard a swift "beep" coming from the direction of the entrance!

Lane was horrified. He immediately went straight for the bathroom and closed the room as stealthily as he could!

He was able to respond so swiftly because this was something that he had accounted for as well. Since their suites were designed similarly, that meant the design of the bathroom should be identical as well. He could prop himself on the ceiling of the bathroom with his arms and legs pushed against the walls.

This way, Brooke would not notice Lane as long as he did not raise his head upon entering the bathroom.

After entering the bathroom, Lane immediately acted according to his plan and hid on the ceiling, and silently waited.

"Tap, tap, tap..."

The heavy thuds of footsteps slowly approached and went past the bathroom entrance.

Lane held his breath and waited silently.

When Brooke previously entered his room, he paused for a brief moment.

Brooke stopped because the first thing he noticed was a tiny bamboo stick that had been snapped in half lying on the ground.

Brooke immediately sharpened his senses.

After he closed the door, he went for the living room and turned on the lights first.

The room was in the same condition as when he left his room. There were no signs of anything being trifled with.

Brooke suddenly turned around and barged into the bathroom.

After surveying the bathroom left and right, he saw that it was empty.

After that, he went to inspect the library as well as the bedroom and once again did not detect anything suspicious.

The sharpness in his eyes slowly faded away. After closing the lights in the living room, he returned to the bedroom.

When Lane heard the receding footsteps, he breathed a silent sigh of relief. He slowly inched down the ceiling of the bathroom and put his ears against the door to listen for any further movements.

Time slowly passed by. After nearly two hours, Lane tip-toed out of the bathroom and to the entrance.

He held his breath and slowly wedged the door open until there was just enough gap for him to hop outside, then he promptly shut the door.

After this, he took another deep breath to compose himself. After shooting one last glance at the door, he quickly went back to his room.

Unbeknownst to Lane, as soon as he returned to his room, Brooke's door opened slowly. Brooke peeked outside from the tiny gap of the door and glared at Lane's room for what seemed like forever. After that, the door shut with a swift "click"...

Over the next few days, Lane would connect to the listening devices planted in the room whenever he could. However, his findings were rather disappointing since neither the listening device nor the spy cameras could find anything worthwhile. Brooke only lived a regular, disciplined life like a retiree.

Every morning, Brooke would have his breakfast in the dining hall, then head to the gym. By noontime, he would return to his suite to shower and browse online to look at whatever current affairs were trending. This usually lasted until nighttime where he would have dinner and return to his bedroom and read on the bed, then fall asleep usually around ten.

The only times where he would break this fixed routine was when the BHB Combative Police Force had a mission.

However, the BHB Combative Police Force usually did not issue a lot of missions. Unless it was some sort of criminal activity that had a significant impact on social order, otherwise, the police would not bother the BHB Combative Police Force. This meant that they were only dispatched on missions on average every four days.

For some reason that Lane could not put his finger into, Brooke always executed these assigned missions flawlessly and behaved by the book. He had never made the occasional mistakes that Lane remembered he used to make nor did he use the public relations team of Blacklight Biotechnology to cover up whatever slip-ups there were. What was presented before Lane was a picture-perfect superhero, the embodiment of true justice!

As the days of surveillance went on, Lane found himself getting agitated. After nearly a month without any significant discoveries made, he started to doubt himself and wonder if he had been mistaken about Brooke all this time. Perhaps Brooke was a true superhero after all.

Compared to Brooke, the other two members, Blake and Hodge, were a closer representation of an ordinary person. Especially Blake who regularly expressed his interest in engaging with his fans and always brought back a different woman every night and lived the high life.

Outside of work, Hodge behaved just as much as anyone would expect. He was a shy and gentle boy who did not do much other than spending time with his beloved wife and did not meddle in business he knew he should not.

After more than a month of this, Lane knew that the batteries in his devices were about to be drained completely. Just as he was debating whether he should swap out the batteries, his hard work had finally paid off. He finally spied a secret call.

It was a call Brooke received while he was doing his usual Internet browsing in the living room. His ring tone was the tune of nostalgic old jazz, then Lane caught Brooke's deep monotone voice from the listening device:

"Hey, the police set up a big operation tonight so don't go to Grimm Street for the exchange. Change to Bartlett in the suburbs instead. I'll inform them of the change of venue using other channels...

"The time remains unchanged, midnight two o'clock.

"Yes, things are more tense than usual recently. If you don't want any trouble, then do as I say, got it?

"If you don't do as I say, I can always consider finding someone new to replace you, don't challenge me..."

After that, the call ended.

Lane's expression was a mixture of surprise and joy as he began jumping up and down excitedly. He knew it, Brooke could not be the picture-perfect hero he made himself out to be!

"Does this mean that Brooke has been covering for the criminal gangs?"

Lane recorded the conversation and kept repeating it, trying to obtain more information from the short conversation.

It was clear enough that Brooke was utilizing his network in the police force to tip the gangs of any sudden developments. This message alone should be able to sabotage his persona. This was also evidence to be used in court to ensure he may never come back from this scandal!

Lane was growing more excited with every passing second as he thought of this. He quickly booted up his computer and searched for the keyword "New York City Bartlett".

After half an hour of thorough investigation, he finally found the place. The so-called Bartlett turned out to be the suburban area in Queens, New York City, a neighborhood primarily inhabited by black people. Bartlett was one of the unlisted illegal bars in the area.

After digging up all this information, Lane knew it was time to act. He made a phone call. "Ms. Austin, I'd like to apply for a patrol mission in New York City tonight."

"Tonight? I'm afraid there's no time. You guys have a press conference at the police station tomorrow. There's a rehearsal for it tonight."

Austin was the manager of the BHB Combative Police Force. She was the designated lawyer of Blacklight Biotechnology, primarily tasked with cleaning up their mess.

"Sorry, please understand, I need to do this tonight."

Lane quickly explained that he had finally found a lead so he could not let this chance go. "Could you make a formal request with the higher-ups, please?"

"This..."

Austin, who was seated in front of her computer in the office, stuttered and hesitated. She frowned and was about to turn down the request, but she suddenly received an email notification.

Austin opened the email and was mildly surprised by what she saw. "Uh, Lane. I'm not sure why you want to go on a solo patrol tonight, but I just received an email from the higher-ups that the press tomorrow is canceled."

"That's great news, Miss Austin."

Lane was relieved to hear this. He then hung up and went to change into his prosthetics.

Several minutes later, he stepped out of the changing room. He was now clad in his all-black armor. The young man's face was colored with determination.

"Hey rookie, where are you going?"

As soon as he stepped out, Blake suddenly appeared and asked suspiciously, "What is this, you finally changed your mind? You want to hit the bars now? You don't need the combat suit for that now do you?"

"No, I'm just uh, heading out on a mission."

Lane did not say much to the unreliable Blake and quickly went to the elevator.

After taking the elevator to the garage, he picked a motorcycle that was designated for carrying out police missions which color matched the armor he was wearing. He drove it to the gate.

A "beep" sounded from the gate in front, followed by an electronic voice which announced, "Combat armor number 0004, vehicle number 331, designated mission: patrol mission, officer Pedro Leon, permission granted..."

The gate opened slowly.

Lane's hand firmly grasping the throttle gave it a quick twist and charged out of the BHB Combative Police Force station...

...

It was midnight.

Lane was fully decked out in a suit of intimidating mechanical armor as he stood on the rooftop of a building.

This was the western suburbs of Queens and a short distance further ahead was a nameless neighborhood where the unlisted bar called Bartlett was located.

This black neighborhood also had an unrecognized name – Martin Luther King Avenue.

Martin Luther King was a black civil rights activist who once gave a famous speech – "I Have a Dream". After leading the American Civil Rights Movement, he was regarded as a leader by blacks all over the United States. Many black communities had since then petitioned to rename their neighborhood's main street after the great Martin Luther King.

By the end of it, Martin Luther King Avenue had become what was the equivalent of a social phenomenon in European and Northern American metropolises.

While it would be unfair to say that all gathering places in black communities were associated with crimes, drugs, gangs, and violence, it did occur in a significant portion for them. This place was one such example since even though it was midnight, many people could be seen coming and going around the dark corners.

When it came to communities like these, even the police would not dare trespass unless they had intel on the locals or whatever gangs were operating inside them. During the nighttime, more than half of the district became lawless lands, fertile for the growth of crime...

When Lane saw the activities occurring along the sidewalk, his first thought was a common joke in Northern America: a white man called his black friend and said, "Hey I think I got lost in Martin Luther King Avenue, what do I do?"

The black friend responded without a second thought – "run".

Lane shook his head to put these thoughts out of his mind. In the past, he would never come to a place like this simply because it was too dangerous, but now that he had become a bionic police officer, there was no longer a need for him to be afraid.

After that, he glanced at the watch and saw that it was almost the appointed time. He headed back down to the ground floor and got onto his bike which he parked in a secluded location.

The motor engine was started and he headed to Martin Luther King Avenue...