30: Chapter 30 This drug, even the Pentagon didn't know about it.

Hua Federation, Jingzhou First Military Region General Hospital, VIP Ward.

General Liu Zhenbang, who two days ago was in the ICU with respiratory failure due to lung infection and had received three critical illness notices, was now wearing a loose patient gown, practicing a slow set of Tai Chi in his ward.

His breathing was steady and strong, completely unlike a seventy-something-year-old man who had just returned from the brink of death.

At the entrance, Chief Physician Director Wang and several experts, along with General Liu's secretary Xiao Zhang, all craned their necks, their expressions as if they had seen a ghost.

"Director Wang, this... this isn't scientific!" A young associate chief physician pushed up his glasses and whispered, "The lung CT scan from the day before yesterday showed fibrosis exceeding 60%. This morning's re-examination... those lesions, they... they healed themselves?"

Director Wang's lips trembled, unable to speak. He had been practicing medicine for thirty years and had seen all sorts of major events, but the scene before him completely overturned his medical views. It wasn't 'improvement,' it was 'reconstruction.'

"Cough."

In the ward, General Liu finished his boxing, exhaling a long, turbid breath, and turned to look at the group of people standing like wooden stakes at the door.

"What are you all standing there for? Come in."

Director Wang and his entourage quickly filed in.

"Old Chief, how are you feeling?" Director Wang asked first, holding a freshly printed blood report in his hand.

"Very good." General Liu sat on the sofa and poured himself a cup of water from the teapot. "I feel like I can go back to the army and make those brats run another five kilometers."

Secretary Xiao Zhang quickly stepped forward: "Commander, the doctor said you still need to rest."

"Rest my ass." General Liu glared at him. "It's the medicine, that new medicine worked. What was it called again?"

Xiao Zhang immediately replied: "Reporting, Commander, the painkiller is called 'ruisu,' and the one for intravenous drip to repair lung damage is called 'healing factor.' Both are imported from the U Federation, with emergency approval."

"U Federation..." General Liu's hand, holding the teacup, paused in mid-air. His eyes instantly changed from those of a recovering old man back to the general who strategized before a sand table.

The atmosphere in the room changed instantly.

Even the most oblivious doctors present felt the chilling aura that permeated the air.

"Xiao Zhang," General Liu's voice deepened, "I want all the information on this medicine, including the original research company, clinical data, and approval process, on my desk within an hour. Also, immediately contact the General Staff Department and Department Two, tell them I said there's an urgent situation that needs assessment."

"Yes, sir!" Xiao Zhang snapped to attention and quickly left.

Director Wang opened his mouth, wanting to give medical advice about the patient needing rest, but looking at General Liu's stern and imposing face, he couldn't utter a single word.

He suddenly understood that this matter had gone beyond the scope of medicine.

...

Three hours later.

A highly classified underground conference room somewhere in the Hua Federation.

Around the massive circular conference table sat only a handful of people, but each of them bore general's stars or held crucial positions in the intelligence system.

General Liu Zhenbang sat in the main seat, having changed into a crisp military uniform, looking energetic.

"That's the situation." A refined middle-aged man with gold-rimmed glasses pointed at the data report on the large screen. He was the director of Department Two of the General Staff Department, Qian Feng. "ruisu, its analgesic efficacy is five times that of fentanyl and over twenty times that of morphine, with no addiction. healing factor can promote tissue cell regeneration at 14 to 15 times the normal rate. General Liu's lung fibrosis reversal is the most direct evidence."

The conference room fell silent.

Everyone present was an expert; they clearly understood what these numbers meant.

A major general sitting in the corner couldn't help but speak: "If... if this drug is equipped in the military, then our soldiers' survival rate on the battlefield..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but everyone understood.

If shot, as long as it's not instantly fatal, one injection could quickly stop bleeding and heal, allowing a return to the battlefield. How could such a war be fought? This was practically turning ordinary soldiers into super warriors from movies!

"The most critical question arises." Director Qian Feng slid the touchpad, and an encrypted file appeared on the screen. "This drug comes from a small company in the U Federation called 'Maple Leaf Bio.' But..."

He emphasized his tone: "Our highest-level informants embedded in The Pentagon and the CIA, codenamed 'Nightingale' and 'Thrush,' simultaneously reported back—the U Federation's military and intelligence systems have no record of any project for 'ruisu' or 'healing factor.'"

"What?" General Liu frowned deeply. "Their own military doesn't even know?"

"Yes." Director Qian Feng's expression was also full of confusion. "The Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), their most cutting-edge biological projects are just some exoskeletons and high-energy nutrient agents. Compared to this, they're like something from the Stone Age."

"This is impossible!" Another general slammed the table. "The U Federation developed such a heaven-defying thing, and instead of immediately keeping it under wraps as a top military secret, they sell it to us as an ordinary commodity? Have they lost their minds?"

"Unless..." General Liu slowly began, speaking each word distinctly, "This isn't a commodity. This is bait, or rather, a test."

Everyone's gaze focused on him.

"They are testing our reaction and also showing us a power we cannot comprehend." General Liu's finger gently tapped on the table. "An obscure small company possesses black technology that even The Pentagon doesn't have. The waters behind this are very deep."

Director Qian Feng nodded: "We have already had people from the embassy in the U Federation make contact. The contact person is Song Yun, one of our own, operating under the guise of a diplomat. She has already sent a formal meeting invitation to the other company."

"How did they respond?"

"Four words." Director Qian Feng's expression was somewhat odd. "We are all ears."

Another silence fell over the conference room.

Those four words conveyed an indescribable arrogance and confidence.

"Interesting." General Liu's lips, instead, curved upwards slightly. "It seems that behind this small Maple Leaf Bio, stands an extraordinary figure."

He looked at Qian Feng: "Tell Song Yun not to probe, but to get straight to the point. What we want is simple: technology, formula, or cooperation. Conditions are negotiable. Additionally, initiate the highest level of reverse infiltration. I want to know whose chess piece this 'Maple Leaf Bio' truly is!"

...

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, at the Umbrella Corporation headquarters.

Chen Feng had just hung up a call.

The call was forwarded by Tony, from the Hua Federation Embassy in the U Federation, a woman named Song Yun.

Her voice was formal, but Chen Feng could hear the urgency hidden beneath her words. She didn't beat around the bush, directly expressing the Hua Federation's official high concern for the "supra-expected effects" shown by "ruisu" and "healing factor" in clinical applications, and hoped to hold a high-level meeting for subsequent in-depth cooperation.

"Supra-expected effects?"

Chen Feng leaned back in his boss's chair, looking at the red and white Umbrella logo he had just drawn, his mind perfectly clear.

What he gave the Hua Federation was undiluted stock solution. How could the effects not be "supra-expected"? For ordinary people, it was to cure diseases and save lives. For a national machine, it was "black technology" capable of causing a strategic earthquake.

That was precisely the effect he wanted.

To directly confront a capital behemoth like Maida Group, he was still a bit short. But if a sovereign nation stood behind him, even if it was just nominal cooperation, the nature of the situation would be completely different.

No matter how powerful Maida was, would they dare to openly wage war against an enterprise supported by a world-class power? They would have to weigh the consequences.

This was the "Umbrella" Chen Feng wanted.

"Boss, what did they say? Are they going to give us money?" Tony excitedly leaned closer. In his opinion, connecting with a national-level entity was like having his ancestors' graves emit green smoke (a sign of great fortune).

"Money is a small matter," Chen Feng said indifferently.

"Ah? Then what's a big matter?"

Chen Feng didn't answer him, instead picking up the internal phone on his desk and connecting to Samantha's laboratory.

"Dr. Samantha, how are the new experimental subjects?"

Samantha's slightly tired but incredibly excited voice came through the communicator: "Reporting, Boss! Their vital signs are very stable! Especially the leader named Jason, his physical constitution is a treasure! I injected him with 0.1 milliliters of diluted T-Virus original strain, and there was no rejection reaction! The gene sequence is very stable, simply... a perfect host!"

"Very good." Chen Feng's eyes lit up. "Increase the dosage, raise the concentration to 0.3. I want to see his body's limits. Also, prepare Plan B."

"Plan B?" Samantha was stunned for a moment, then reacted, "Boss, do you mean... to transform them into 'Tyrants'?"

"No." Chen Feng shook his head, speaking word by word, "I want you to create a new model, based on Jason's genes."

"Tyrants are too strong, but lack intelligence; they are just hammers that follow orders. What I want is a 'Hunter' that can think independently, execute complex tasks, and... be absolutely loyal."

Samantha on the other end of the phone fell silent.

She knew that Chen Feng was opening a door even crazier and more dangerous than the "Tyrant" project.

After hanging up, Chen Feng stood up and walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window.

Lane Black of Maida Group thought sending a team of mercenaries could solve the problem. The big figures of the Hua Federation thought they were the chess players, trying to figure out whose chess piece he was.

They were all wrong.

From the moment he obtained the system, he was no one's chess piece.

He was the chess player.