860: Chapter 855 Who are you?

"Sir, according to regulations, we need to verify your identification documents. The process usually takes twenty-four hours."

Hans wore a fake smile, but his hand was stealthily reaching for the alarm button under the desk.

He wanted to stall for time.

If he could just hold out for these two hours, the contents inside would either be handled by the Bank or sold off to the highest-bidding vultures waiting outside.

Shen Yan seemed to see right through his intentions, leaning slightly forward and bracing both hands on the tabletop.

"Hans Mueller, the account you keep for your mistress in Liechtenstein—has it recently received another transfer from Moscow?"

Shen Yan's voice was soft, so quiet that only the two of them could hear it.

Hans's pupils instantly contracted to the size of pinpricks; it was a physiological reaction to extreme fear.

The hand reaching for the alarm froze mid-air, retracting as if struck by an electric shock.

"You... who are you?"

Hans's voice began to tremble, and a fine layer of cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

Shen Yan straightened up, put his gloves back on, and even helped Hans adjust his crooked bowtie.

"Who I am is unimportant. What is important is that if you don't lead the way, by this time tomorrow, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority will receive a detailed report regarding your money laundering."

This was an insignificant piece of intelligence gifted by the system, but at this moment, it became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

Hans took a deep breath, and the arrogance on his face instantly crumbled, replaced by an almost fawning subservience.

"Please follow me, sir. This way, please."

He bent down and made a standard gesture of invitation, even though the back of his shirt was already soaked with cold sweat.

Chen Guangke, standing behind them, pursed his lips and moved his hand away from the holster at his waist.

He had initially thought they would have to resort to force, but he hadn't expected their boss to scare this seemingly difficult foreigner into acting like a quail with just a few words.

This was the true method of a capitalist—killing without drawing blood.

The group walked through a long corridor and entered a hidden brass elevator.

The elevator plummeted rapidly, and the floor display showed negative numbers.

Sublevel Four.

This was the deepest part of all Zurich, and the place holding the most secrets.

The air became cold and damp, as if even time had solidified here.

The elevator doors opened to reveal a deep, dark passage illuminated only by emergency lights. On both sides stood rows of metal cabinet doors resembling coffins.

"You few, guard the elevator entrance."

Shen Yan waved his hand at the mercenaries.

"No matter who comes down, if it's not me, send them back. If they refuse to go back, give them a little push."

The leader, Scarface, grinned, revealing a mouthful of smoke-stained yellow teeth, and pulled out a Glock equipped with a silencer from his bag, cocking it with a 'kacha' sound.

"Understood, Boss. Not even a fly can get through here."

Shen Yan, accompanied by Chen Guangke and Lin Zhiyuan, followed Hans to the end of the passage.

There was a dusty, independent safe door, engraved with the number that haunted countless agents: 7734.

Hans, with trembling hands, took out two strangely shaped keys, inserted them into the locks, and then entered a long string of complex passwords.

The sound of hydraulic transmission was exceptionally jarring in the dead silence of the basement.

The heavy, circular steel door slowly opened, and a wave of stale, musty odor rushed out.

Lin Zhiyuan seemed electrified; his trembling stopped, and he rushed in carrying the case.

The inside was empty. There were no piles of US dollars as expected, nor any blinding gold.

There was only a pale blue crystal, the size of a fist, inserted into a black pedestal in the exact center of the room.

It didn't look like a piece of high-tech equipment; rather, it resembled an unpolished sapphire rough.

But within the crystal, countless red light spots seemed to be slowly drifting, like living blood.

"This... this is..."

Lin Zhiyuan threw the briefcase onto the floor and shakily took out a pair of specialized monocular glasses to put them on.

He leaned close to the crystal, holding his breath.

"Perfect geometric structure... this refractive index... this is not craftsmanship from Earth!"

Lin Zhiyuan's voice became sharp due to extreme excitement.

He was like a lecher who had just seen an unparalleled beauty—wanting to touch but daring not to.

Shen Yan stood at the doorway, looking at the crystal emitting a faint glow in the darkness, while the system prompts in his mind flashed wildly.

[Ding! Target item detected: 'Red Queen' Core Memory Unit.]

[Danger Alert: The outer layer of this memory unit is equipped with a self-destruct logic lock. Forcible removal will cause the core code to fuse.]

[Solution: The last segment of Volkov's brainwave frequency during his final moments must be entered as the secret key within thirty seconds.]

Shen Yan stepped forward without hesitation.

"Dr. Lin, prepare for data migration."

Lin Zhiyuan paused, looking at the complex circuitry surrounding the crystal, sweat pouring down his face.

"Boss, that's impossible! This thing is connected to an independent underground power source. Pulling it out rashly will destroy the data. I need at least three hours to crack its protection mechanism!"

"There aren't three hours."

Shen Yan glanced at the watch on his wrist.

"Those vultures outside will probably lose patience and rush down in about five minutes."

"Besides, this thing doesn't need cracking."

Shen Yan extended a finger, hovering it above the crystal.

He tapped lightly in the air a few times, murmuring a string of Russian numbers that no one in this timeline could understand.

It was the birthday of Volkov's daughter, the only softness in the heart of the mathematical genius.

As the last syllable fell, the once-calm crystal suddenly erupted in a dazzling red light.

The red light spots moving inside instantly boiled, like an awakened ant colony.

There was a light 'kādā' sound.

The buckle at the bottom of the crystal automatically sprang open.

Lin Zhiyuan watched, dumbfounded, his glasses nearly falling off his face.

This was the top-tier encryption technology from the Cold War era, yet the Boss handled it as easily as opening his own front door?

"Stop spacing out, pack it up."

Shen Yan's voice brought Lin Zhiyuan back to his senses.

He fumbled open the silver briefcase, revealing the complex cooling slot and data interface inside.

He carefully picked up the crystal with specialized tweezers and placed it into the slot.

Sizzzz—

The moment the interface aligned, the screen on the briefcase lit up with a cascade of green code.

"Data integrity 10%... performing logic encapsulation..."

Lin Zhiyuan stared at the data on the screen, his face flushed with excitement.

"Boss, this is a miracle! This algorithmic architecture is at least fifty years ahead of our current AI technology!"

"This isn't just code; this is a soul!"

Shen Yan ignored Lin Zhiyuan's excessive praise.

He looked at the box containing the 'Red Queen,' and the heavy weight that had been hanging in his heart finally lifted halfway.

It was like finally holding a real gun instead of just waving a fire poker to scare people.

Just then, a dull thudding sound echoed from the entrance of the passage.