31: Chapter 31 was dumbfounded. This wasn't security; it was practically cheating!

The night sky over Jinghua City seemed exceptionally clear tonight.

There were no stars, only a few thin, wispy clouds hanging miserably in the sky.

Fifty meters underground, in the National Security Bureau's Safe House No. 1.

Jiang Chen sat cross-legged on that special aviation gel sofa, which was allegedly custom-made to prevent him from developing bedsores, holding half a watermelon and digging out the center with a spoon.

"Chief, it's already been three days."

Jiang Chen stuffed a spoonful of watermelon into his mouth and mumbled incoherently.

"Have those foreign friends outside who want to kill me given up? Why is there no movement at all? Did we pocket the bounty, and they decided this job isn't worth it?"

Lei Keming sat opposite him, wiping down a meticulously maintained, gleaming Type 92 pistol.

Hearing this, he didn't even lift his eyelids.

"Give up?"

Lei Keming sneered, a mockery like an old hunter hearing a rabbit run into a tree.

"In the Eagle's dictionary, the word 'give up' never exists. Especially when they feel their hegemony is threatened, they are more persistent than mad dogs."

"The reason it's quiet is because it's the calm before the storm."

Lei Keming blew on the muzzle of his gun.

"According to intelligence, last night, the special operations forces at the Eagle's Okinawa base were frequently mobilized. Furthermore, a batch of supplies codenamed 'Swarm' was transported into our embassy in Jinghua City through diplomatic immunity channels."

"Swarm?" Jiang Chen was stunned for a moment. "For beekeeping?"

"For killing."

Lei Keming put down the gun, his expression becoming serious.

"Those are micro-suicide drones secretly developed by Lockheed Martin. They are only the size of a sparrow, fly completely silently, and carry high-explosive directional mines. Once they lock onto a target, they can blow you into a pile of minced meat within 0.1 seconds. And..."

"Buzz—"

Before he could finish speaking.

In the safe house, which had been so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, a sudden, extremely faint, yet densely hair-raising buzzing sound emerged.

It was like the annoying mosquitoes of summer, but not just one—a thousand of them.

Lei Keming's expression changed abruptly.

He sprang up from the sofa, moving as fast as a cheetah, slammed the main light switch off, and tackled Jiang Chen to the ground simultaneously.

"Enemy attack! Get down!"

In the darkness, Jiang Chen only felt a sharp pain in his eardrums.

The buzzing sound didn't come from outside the door, but from the ventilation duct!

"Sizzle—"

The ventilation duct opening, only the size of a coin, was suddenly melted through by a red laser.

Immediately after.

Countless mechanical insects, only the size of a thumb, jet-black all over, and flickering with a faint blue light, poured in from that gap like a black whirlwind.

"Damn it! They hacked into the fresh air system!"

Lei Keming roared and drew his gun to fire furiously.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Gunfire exploded in the darkness.

Lei Keming's marksmanship was terrifyingly accurate; every shot blew up a mechanical insect.

But in the face of that dense swarm, this firepower was merely a drop in the bucket.

The mechanical insects seemed to be equipped with the most advanced facial recognition system.

They ignored Lei Keming entirely and, like sharks having smelled blood, traced eerie arcs in the air, diving straight for Jiang Chen, who was lying on the ground.

"Jiang Chen! Roll into the bedroom! Quick!"

Lei Keming threw away the empty magazine, not even having time to reload, and threw himself forward, wanting to use his body to shield Jiang Chen.

Although he knew these high-explosive directional mines were enough to send both him and Jiang Chen to heaven, this was instinct.

However.

Just at the moment when the hundreds of mechanical insects were about to collide with Jiang Chen.

Just as Jiang Chen was so scared he closed his eyes, thinking he was about to vomit up all the soft rice he'd eaten in his life.

A light.

A soft, warm, faint golden halo suddenly lit up from Jiang Chen's chest.

It was the "Dragon Skin Mandarin Duck Sachet" that Ji Linglong had given him.

Although the mandarin ducks were embroidered like two roasted ducks, and although the stitches were crooked, as if done by the hands of a Parkinson's patient.

But at this very moment.

It displayed the dignity of a top-tier defensive magical artifact produced by the Taichu Holy Land, made with Immortal-Binding Rope for thread and dragon skin for the base.

"Buzz—!"

The golden light didn't explode; instead, it rippled out like water, instantly forming a semi-transparent golden light shield with a diameter of three meters, tightly protecting Jiang Chen and Lei Keming inside.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The mechanical insects that hit the light shield were like hitting an invisible high-voltage electric wall.

There was no earth-shattering explosion.

Only a series of muffled thuds, like popcorn popping.

Those expensive micro-drones, representing the highest technological level of Blue Star, had their internal circuit boards instantly burned out by some domineering spiritual power the moment they touched the golden light, and the high-explosive charges were instantly suppressed into duds.

"Patter, patter, patter..."

The once ferocious killer swarm now fell to the ground in a clatter, like a black hail.

In just five seconds.

The battle was over.

The floor was covered in smoking scrap metal.

Jiang Chen lay on the ground and slowly opened his eyes.

He looked at the circle of still-faintly-glowing golden shield around him, then looked down at the ugly-cute sachet on his chest, and swallowed.

"This... is it over already?"

Lei Keming climbed up from the ground, picked up a mechanical insect that had turned into charcoal, and squeezed it hard with his fingers; the high-strength carbon fiber shell shattered directly into powder.

"It's over."

Lei Keming looked at Jiang Chen, his eyes complex, as if looking at a monster.

"How is this security? This is practically cheating. The Eagle side is probably smashing their keyboards right now."

Jiang Chen breathed a sigh of relief, climbed up from the ground, and dusted off his backside.

"No matter how many mosquitoes there are, they're still afraid of mosquito coils."

He picked up a mechanical insect that wasn't completely burned out, shook it at the camera, and revealed an extremely punchable smile on his face.

"Chief, this thing looks pretty refined, the camera is even Leica. How about we pack it up and send it to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology? Maybe we can reverse-engineer the Eagle's flight control system."

Lei Keming: "..."

You really know how to eat soft rice with a hard attitude.

"Clean up the scene!" Lei Keming roared into the walkie-talkie. "Sweep up all these remains for me! Not a single screw can be missing! This is a scientific research sample that the Eagle sent us from thousands of miles away!"

Crisis averted.

But Jiang Chen's heart didn't feel much lighter.

He sat back on the sofa and picked up his phone.

Although the attack just now didn't hurt him, it blew out his signal.

"Is it connected?" Jiang Chen asked.

"It's through," the technician shouted from the other end. "There was strong electromagnetic interference just now, but it's cleared now."

The screen flickered.

Ji Linglong's face appeared on the screen again.

The background was still that cave dwelling that had been blown into a mess, though she had simply tidied up a clean spot.

She was sitting on a large rock, holding a bottle of happy water in her hand, chugging it.

"Husband~"

Seeing Jiang Chen, Ji Linglong immediately put down the bottle, her face revealing that signature sweet smile.

"Why did the screen go black just now? Was the signal bad again?"

"Yeah, a few mosquitoes came by just now and interfered with the signal a bit."

Jiang Chen said nonchalantly, not wanting her to worry, "I've already swatted them to death."

"Mosquitoes?"

Ji Linglong tilted her head, appearing somewhat puzzled.

"The mosquitoes there can interfere with the Heavenly Dao signal? That must be a great demon. Husband is amazing, being able to swat even a demon to death."

She smiled very happily, her eyes curving into crescent moons.

But Jiang Chen didn't smile.

He stared fixedly at the screen.

The video clarity was very high now, high enough that even the trembling of Ji Linglong's eyelashes could be seen clearly.

Jiang Chen discovered that although she was smiling, her face was abnormally pale.

It was that kind of deathly pale look after excessive blood loss.