113: Chapter 114 The Mercenaries' Hardcore Security Line! Smashing Through a Budget-Funded Underground "Truman Show"

On the morning of the sixth day of the Lunar New Year.

The streets and alleys of Magic City were still filled with the lingering atmosphere of the New Year.

However, this abandoned military industrial zone located deep within Sheshan in Songjiang District still exuded an isolated, chilling coldness.

Driving his black Mercedes-Benz G55, Shen Du followed the hidden paved asphalt road straight toward the outer perimeter of the underground base.

Just as his vehicle was still dozens of meters away from the abandoned factory's towering anti-climb wall,

from several blind spots along the roadside that had seemed completely ordinary,

several grim-faced, burly figures suddenly emerged silently.

They blocked the path forward decisively and professionally.

These burly men were all dressed in unmarked tactical vests, their muscles bulging tightly against their clothes.

Their eyes gleamed with a wariness and ferocity forged from surviving mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

One of the Asian mercenaries, sporting a buzzcut, stepped forward quickly.

With his right hand subtly resting on the rubber baton at his waist, he warned in a deep voice through the car window in slightly stiff Chinese:

"Sir, the area ahead is a private laboratory and an absolute restricted zone. No outsiders are permitted to enter.

Have you lost your way, or do you have some other purpose here?"

Although Shen Du was driving a top-spec G-Wagon, which anyone could tell belonged to someone wealthy and powerful,

this security guard with a mercenary background still did not back down in the slightest.

His attitude was as unyielding as an unfeeling wall of iron.

Faced with this direct interrogation and intrusion,

not only was there no anger on Shen Du's face, but he even nodded imperceptibly, a flash of satisfaction crossing his deep eyes.

That kid Xu Hao really was reliable.

The foreign "watchdogs" he had hired at great expense were highly disciplined, refusing to let their guard down just because of a luxury car.

This money was well spent.

Shen Du rolled down the window, making no attempt to put on bossy airs with the mercenary.

He simply raised his chin slightly and said calmly,

"I came in a hurry and forgot to give advance notice.

Call Xu Hao on your walkie-talkie and have him come out himself. He knows who I am."

Hearing the name of the base's general manager, "Xu Hao," the Asian mercenary's eyes flickered slightly.

Without wasting any words,

he immediately pressed the walkie-talkie mounted on his shoulder and quickly reported the situation outside and the license plate number in concise English.

In just over ten seconds, Xu Hao's urgent and stern confirmation command came through the walkie-talkie.

The Asian mercenary's expression shifted instantly, and he immediately released his grip on his waist.

Standing up straight, he turned to his companions behind him, raised his right hand high, and announced loudly,

"Stand down!

This is the boss's car. Everyone, memorize this license plate number!"

As the command was issued,

several mercenaries who had been hidden on guard duty quickly emerged and stepped back to both sides of the road.

*Clang~*

Accompanied by a heavy grinding sound of mechanical gears,

the two heavy explosion-proof iron gates ahead slowly slid open to either side.

The wide tires rolled over the smooth asphalt road inside the factory compound.

When Shen Du actually drove inside these high walls,

and got a clear look at the scene before him through the car window,

even this president, who was well-accustomed to grand spectacles, couldn't help but show a look of astonishment in his eyes.

In the reference photos Shen Du had initially seen, this place was supposed to be an overgrown, dilapidated, and abandoned wasteland.

But now, only a little over a month had passed!

Not only had the once-dead factory clearing been cleaned spotlessly,

but it had even been extravagantly planned to include several small running tracks and leisure areas.

Looking around, there were actually dozens of people bustling about within these high walls on the ground level.

What Shen Du found even more absurd

was that next to the original red-brick dormitory building,

a standalone convenience store had materialized out of thin air, complete with an eye-catching sign and shelves fully stocked with a dazzling array of goods visible through the glass!

"President Shen!

Over here! The environment here is pretty good, isn't it?"

Just as Shen Du was filled with doubt, the glass door of the convenience store was pushed open.

Xu Hao, who had been stationed here for over a month, was wearing a bright, fashionable down jacket.

Clutching a half-finished can of iced cola, he waved excitedly at the newly parked G-Wagon.

Shen Du pushed open the car door and stepped out. Looking at this incongruous "living area," he raised an eyebrow and asked,

"Did you build me a resort in the middle of these deep mountains?

I can understand the mercenaries outside, but what's with these dozens of extra people in the courtyard?"

Xu Hao let out a bitter laugh and sighed. As he led Shen Du around the factory compound, he began to vent his grievances:

"President Shen, you have no idea.

These 'national treasure'-level lords are so damn hard to please!"

"Right now, in the entire factory compound, besides those dozen or so top-tier mercenaries responsible for the perimeter and core corridor defense,

the remaining dozens of people are all part of a logistics support team I poached from the city with high salaries.

And they're here solely to cater to those six 'tech maniacs' in the basement!"

Xu Hao pointed to a few small buildings nearby, listing the geeks' bizarre demands like counting family treasures:

"Just for cooking, we have six private chefs covering top cuisines from five or six different countries.

And that's not all. That American guy named Arthur is worried about getting fat, so he insisted I get him a professional fitness trainer to lift weights with him.

That Russian ice queen, Yelena, insists on finding someone to drink with on weekends.

I had no choice but to pay top dollar to hire two Russian companions with bottomless pits for stomachs to drink vodka with her.

And that fat Swedish guy gets furious whenever he gets stuck in a game, so someone has to play console games with him to let off steam..."

In the end, Xu Hao pointed to the brightly lit convenience store nearby, a helpless look on his face.

"As for this supermarket, it wasn't even in the original plans.

Those guys spent too much time in the basement and found it too boring.

They protested to me, saying they felt like they were in prison, and insisted on experiencing the 'daily routine of going out shopping' to spark their inspiration."

"I had no choice. They're the bosses!

I had to bring in several truckloads of various imported snacks and daily necessities overnight,

and set up a fake unmanned supermarket where I occasionally work part-time as a cashier, just to play along with them!"

Shen Du listened, dumbfounded.

So that was what was going on.

For the sake of these six people, Xu Hao had literally thrown money around to create a "Truman Show" in the middle of this isolated wilderness!

After listening to Xu Hao's extensive venting,

Shen Du was not displeased in the slightest by these seemingly "absurd" expenses.

Instead, he felt a heartfelt admiration for the vice president before him, who was acting as both a mother and a father to these people.

He knew all too well how soul-crushing it was to manage this group of arrogant, extreme-tempered "monsters."

For Xu Hao to be able to do this in these desolate mountains,

using sheer money and effort to forge a perfect closed-loop ecosystem where they could focus on research and development without suffering mental breakdowns—

this monumental logistical coordination capability was absolutely peerless.