156: Chapter 156 A Stormy Night, A Ghost Crashes into an Iron Wall

At two o'clock in the morning, a sudden rainstorm hit Jiangcheng.

The eight-thousand-mu high-tech industrial zone in the north of the city was completely swallowed by the black curtain of rain, with visibility less than ten meters.

Three hundred meters outside the factory perimeter lay muddy wasteland.

"Viper" squad leader Davis lay in the standing water, his muscles tense. Behind him followed twelve fully armed top-tier mercenaries, draped in optical camouflage rain ponchos, blending perfectly into the night.

Davis raised his hand and made a tactical gesture.

The team stopped advancing. The hacker team member pulled a portable terminal from a waterproof backpack, quickly connected a severed data cable, and his fingers flew across the keyboard.

"Captain. Done." The hacker lowered his voice and spoke into the throat microphone, "These Chinese nouveau riche are still using three-year-old, outdated civilian security networks. I've already looped the footage from the four outer cameras with recorded data. The security guards in their monitoring room are just watching empty air right now."

Davis grinned. He spat out a mouthful of muddy rainwater.

"Just because some nouveau riche have a little stinking money, they think they can build an impenetrable fortress," Davis said, his voice full of disdain. "They didn't even install two infrared thermal imagers. In a factory area like this, we could walk right through it with our eyes closed."

The demolition expert behind him pulled a tactical alloy cutter from his tactical vest.

With two muffled clicks.

The high-voltage barbed wire fence leading to the core area was brutally torn open, leaving a large gap.

"Don't dawdle." Davis raised his assault rifle equipped with a silencer, "That Lu kid's head is worth tens of millions of dollars. Boss Anderson is crazy about killing him. Let's get the money and get out. This crappy place has too much mud; it's dirtying my high-end military boots."

"Captain. This money is too easy to earn." The assault trooper chuckled, "I thought the other side could push the Morgan group to the brink, and that he'd have hundreds of private armed guards around him. Turns out it's just a bunch of crappy tin factory buildings."

"Shut up, all of you. Maintain silent formation." Davis swept a cold glance over his subordinates, "Walk along the base of the factory walls. The target is in the office area on the fourth floor directly ahead."

Twelve dark shadows passed through the gap in the wire fence one by one. Their boot soles pressed into the soft mud, deliberately slowing down the contact area, making not a single sound. They were like a pack of wolves prowling in the dark, convinced they held the power of life and death.

At the same time. Factory Director's office.

The cold air from the air conditioner made the blinds sway gently.

Lu Chen sat on a peeling swivel chair. Only a dim yellow desk lamp was lit on the table. His gaze was locked on the dark red "Anti-Gravity Propulsion Engine Blueprint" on the desk.

The office door was unlocked.

With a soft bang, the wooden door was pushed open.

Da Biao walked in with big strides. He casually took off his dripping black anti-stab vest and tossed it onto the carpet in the corner. He wasn't holding that half-length alloy baton; instead, he was clutching a half-eaten red apple in his hand.

"Big Brother." Da Biao took a bite of the apple, chewing with a crunch, "Old Zhou has settled things over there. The fifty thousand new brothers just received their relocation allowance, ate and drank their fill, and are all snoring away in the prefab houses. Not a single one is causing trouble."

Lu Chen turned a page of the blueprint. His gaze didn't shift.

"As long as they aren't causing trouble, that's fine. Work starts sharp at eight tomorrow. We need to lay the foundation quickly," Lu Chen said indifferently.

"Absolutely. If they take the money and don't work their tails off, I, Da Biao, will be the first to break their legs." Da Biao leaned against the edge of the desk, "However, a dozen foreign bugs have run in from outside. In the middle of the night, dressed quite neatly, and heading straight for our building."

In the shadows of the sofa, the tough man with the rank of Colonel on his shoulder slowly stood up.

The Colonel didn't pick up on Da Biao's comment. He walked straight to the desk and handed the military tactical tablet in his hand to Lu Chen.

What was displayed on the tablet screen wasn't ordinary CCTV footage at all. It was a top-tier military phased-array radar thermal imaging overhead view.

Twelve glaring red dots were arranged in a tactical formation, inching their way through the muddy ground of the factory area.

The Colonel pointed at the red dots on the screen.

"Factory Director Lu. Twelve armed personnel. Their identity characteristics match the tactical movements of overseas professional mercenaries." The Colonel's tone was devoid of any fluctuation, just like reporting the weather forecast, "They think they've cut off the outermost security cameras. In fact, that was a layer of civilian camouflage we specifically left behind. From the moment they cut the first piece of barbed wire, the micro-vibration sensors underground have had their weight, heart rate, and carried weapon payload clearly identified."

Da Biao threw the apple core into the trash can. He grinned happily.

"These idiots think this is a farmers' market where they can just walk in whenever they want." Da Biao crossed his arms over his chest, "How about I take a few hundred brothers out now, and we each take a shovel and chop them up to fill the foundation?"

The Colonel turned his head and glanced at Da Biao.

"Brother Da Biao, there's no need to trouble you." The Colonel put his hands behind his back, "The highest command has issued a death order. The eight-thousand-mu plot in the north of the city is a special national military exclusion zone. Those who trespass with heavy firepower without authorization do not need a trial. Execute on the spot."

Lu Chen's finger tapped lightly on a pipeline junction on the anti-gravity blueprint.

He pulled out the transparent plastic lighter from his pocket. Click. A spark flashed.

He leaned in with the cigarette butt and lit it. Lu Chen exhaled a plume of bluish-white smoke. The smoke slowly dissipated in the halo of the desk lamp.

"If you military folks are taking over security, I won't interfere." Lu Chen raised his eyelids and glanced at the Colonel, "I only have one request."

"Please speak, Factory Director Lu." The Colonel stood straight.

"Don't make too much noise. Don't use artillery or heavy weapons; if you blow the ground full of craters, my bulldozers will have to fill them back in tomorrow, wasting time." Lu Chen tossed the lighter onto the desk, "The workers have to work at eight tomorrow morning. Clean up the scene properly. Don't leave any blood; it's bad luck."

The Colonel brought his feet together sharply. His leather boots struck heavily, emitting a powerful, muffled sound.

An absolutely standard military salute.

"Understood. I guarantee there won't be a single trace left. Not even a scrap of flesh will dirty your foundation."

The Colonel turned around, grabbed the tactical helmet from the corner of the table, put it on his head, and walked out of the office with big strides.

The rain was getting heavier.

Davis led his squad to behind a pile of scrap material less than one hundred meters from the main office building.

He raised his fist. The squad immediately dispersed and took cover.

"Hacker. Confirm the target room again." Davis issued instructions in the communication channel, "Demolition expert, prepare the plastic explosives. We'll go up via the drainage pipes on the outside of the building. Blow the glass and storm in directly. Quick and decisive."

The hacker huddled behind a pile of discarded steel pipes. He stared at the screen, his fingers tapping rapidly on the waterproof keyboard.

"Captain. The third room on the left of the fourth floor. The light is on." The hacker reported.

Suddenly, the hacker let out an "eh".

"What's going on? Don't be jumpy." Davis frowned. He felt a sense of inexplicable irritability.

"Captain. My terminal signal is cut." The hacker frantically typed on the keyboard, his face turning paler and paler, "No. It's not cut. Something has hacked back into my system through the network port. My motherboard temperature is skyrocketing."

The terminal in the hacker's hand began to emit a burnt smell. The screen went completely dead.

Davis's heart sank sharply.

"Switch to the backup frequency. Contact the extraction point immediately." Davis roared in a low voice.

The hacker switched to a palm-sized communicator and pressed a few buttons.

"The backup frequency is also dead. Full-band jamming." The hacker looked up at Davis, his eyes filled with extreme fear, "Captain. This level of regional electronic suppression can only be achieved by a regular army's electronic warfare vehicle. How could a crappy electronics factory have something like this!"

Davis gripped the gun handle tightly.

His keen war instincts made him sense deadly danger. It was too quiet around them. Except for the sound of the pouring rain, even the usual insect chirps and distant dog barks had all disappeared.

This was definitely not the atmosphere of a private enterprise with lax security.

It felt like a mouse strutting into a dead end filled with mousetraps.

"Retreat! Mission aborted! Return the way we came immediately!" Davis ordered decisively.

The twelve mercenaries turned around quickly, preparing to retreat into the darkness.

Just at the moment they turned around.

Click. Click. Click.

Deep within the rain curtain. From all directions, a uniform, synchronized sound of mechanical bolts being pulled echoed simultaneously. The sound was not chaotic; instead, it exuded a terrifying sense of oppressive discipline.

It was the sound of hundreds of fully automatic assault rifles being loaded at the same time.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

Countless high-power military searchlights lit up instantly. The blinding beams of light pierced through the black rain curtain, weaving into an airtight net of light, illuminating the muddy ground where Davis and his twelve men stood, brighter than high noon.

Davis closed his eyes instinctively. He frantically raised the rifle in his hand and aimed forward.

He couldn't see anything. The strong light stung his eyes.

But he clearly saw what was on his team members.

Dense red laser targeting dots. On every member's forehead, throat, and heart, at least thirty infrared light spots were converged.

Davis looked down. His own chest was also completely covered by dozens of red dots.

They were locked on tight. There was no room to even move a pinky finger.

In the darkness. A dark green heavy armored vehicle slowly crushed the discarded steel pipes blocking the way and drove out.

The thick, pitch-black gun barrel was aimed squarely at Davis's head.

The Colonel, wearing a bulletproof vest, stood on top of the armored vehicle. He let the rain wash over his rigid, stern face.

The Colonel raised the megaphone in his hand.

"Drop your weapons. Hands on your heads. Kneel." The Colonel's voice exploded in the rainy night, devoid of any emotion.

Davis was trembling all over. He gritted his teeth, his fingers locked tightly on the edge of the trigger.

"We are foreign nationals. You have no right to use regular armed forces to detain us. I want to contact the embassy!" Davis shouted at the top of his lungs.

The Colonel lowered the megaphone. He looked at Davis below as if he were a dead man.

The Colonel slowly raised his right hand. His palm hovered in mid-air.