The system is four years ahead of schedule, but Weird is still a cub.

Everyone present was aware that their own country was facing various intractable and bizarre threats.

At this moment, the Great Celestial Empire not only showed them its toughest "fist," but also offered them its sweetest "carrot."

The subtext couldn't be clearer—do you want to solve your own family's problems? Do you want to acquire the world's most advanced anti-trick technology?

Then let's be honest and follow the rules we've set.

I can not only decide whether you can come to my doorstep to "fish," I can also decide whether or not I can sell you the best "bait" in the world.

In short—

My rules are the rules!

As the meeting ended and the dejected delegations from various countries left, Zhao Xinhong stood alone in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the familiar land outside. After a long while, he finally let out a long sigh of relief.

Throughout the entire process, Shen Ge's name did not appear in any official documents.

However, his identity as "the world's number one double agent" was imprinted in the minds of all high-ranking officials around the world through this bloodless "war".

He was no longer just a powerful warrior.

He has become a human-shaped ultimate strategic deterrent capable of influencing the global strategic landscape!
Because of his existence, the Great Celestial Empire unsurprisingly stands at the top of the world.

With the signing of the "East China Sea Treaty," a new international order led by the Great Celestial Empire was quietly established in the Western Pacific.

The past clamor and confrontation have all been transformed into an agreement on the negotiating table.

Shen Ge remained in Dajing for the time being, serving as the chief advisor to the "Special Response Force" and guiding the follow-up work of "Operation Dawn".

His prestige in the Dajing Special Operations Department reached an unprecedented peak due to this series of thunderous measures.

Now, both the unruly Long Zhenguo and the steady and composed Zhao Xinhong show this young man genuine respect from the bottom of their hearts.

Dajing Special Operations Department, Heavy Mech Training Ground.

"boom!"

A "Azure Dragon" class mech was slammed to the ground with tremendous force, producing a dull thud.

Yu Tiexiong stood proudly beside the fallen mech, his living alloy arm, gleaming with metallic luster, still emitting wisps of white steam.

That's right, he also underwent the modification of a living alloy arm.

Due to his physique, he had the highest compatibility among all the modified warriors participating in the program, and was also among the first to return to combat.

At the edge of the training field, Shen Ge leaned against a military off-road vehicle, casually drinking water.

"The technique for generating power is still too rough."

He spoke calmly, his voice not loud, but clearly reaching the ears of every team member in the arena: "You are just using the brute force brought by the activator, instead of 'controlling' it. The operation of the strange energy should be as natural as breathing, not as rough as turning on a tap."

As soon as he finished speaking, he casually flicked the mineral water bottle in his hand forward.

The ordinary plastic bottle traced a seemingly slow parabola through the air.

However, when the veteran with the missing arm instinctively reached out to catch it, an unparalleled and terrifying force came from the bottle!

"Boom!"

The veteran, along with his several-ton power armor, was knocked back seven or eight steps by this small water bottle before he could barely regain his balance.

His incredibly sturdy living alloy arm was trembling slightly, and a tearing pain shot through his hand.

The whole audience was silent.

Everyone stared at Shen Ge in disbelief, as if they were looking at a monster.

Is this... the strength of the top pair of secret agents in the Great Celestial Empire?

Shen Ge was training the latest batch of soldiers who had used the activator at the training ground. Someone was filming the training, preparing to give it as a "bonus" to the "contractors" who supported the Great Celestial Empire.

Meanwhile, at a secret border crossing, a delicate transaction is underway.

Representatives from the United States and Europe, after paying a high price, including exchanging several of their privately held anti-cheat technologies, finally obtained the first batch of "Strain Inhibitor Type I" and the precious "Wriggling Nest" biological material.

They transported these items back to their home country as if they had found a treasure. On the one hand, they immediately put them into use to alleviate the new and bizarre crisis that was causing them great distress at home; on the other hand, they organized top scientists to begin a frantic reverse engineering project.

However, they soon discovered that the underlying logic and biological coding of these creations from the East were completely beyond their comprehension.

While they were still struggling to overcome the challenge of "strain inhibitor type I", the research of the Rongshi Special Policy Department made new progress.

"No! The 'regeneration' property of the 'Crawling Nest' is too chaotic!" He Youwei grabbed his already messy hair and paced back and forth in the laboratory.

"The 'decomposition' monster energy we currently extract from low-level monsters is too weak. Forcibly piecing the two together is like trying to tie a Tyrannosaurus Rex with a cotton thread; it will only break instantly!"

The development of "Sequence-X" has entered a theoretical bottleneck period.

They lack a sufficiently powerful source of "purification" or "decomposition" raw materials to counter the "Crawling Nest".

Meanwhile, in another separate laboratory, Li Xiang was leading another group, completely absorbed in the holographic images of "deep-sea man-made objects" that Shen Ge had brought back.

“Look here…and here…” He pointed to the non-human energy veins on the surface of the sphere, “Its energy circuits are not what we understand as ‘conduction,’ but more like a kind of ‘resonance’! This…this will completely overturn our existing engineering of supernatural energy!”

During this rare period of peace, Shen Ge took the time to compile some advanced combat experience and bizarre knowledge he had accumulated in the fragmented world into a book and handed it over to the Da Jing Special Strategy Department.

He then took a private plane and returned to Fuzhou.

The familiar base, the familiar streets, the familiar air.

He didn't disturb anyone and quietly returned to his and Cheng Shengnan's dormitory.

When Shen Ge pushed open the door and saw that familiar figure still frowning and pondering over an intelligence report, her heart finally found peace.

He stepped forward and gently embraced her from behind.

Cheng Shengnan's body stiffened slightly, then instantly relaxed, resting her head on his shoulder and inhaling the familiar scent.

"came back?"

"Yes, I'm back." Few words were spoken, yet they spoke volumes.

After more than half a month of peaceful days, just as Shen Ge was getting used to this "peace," Cheng Shengnan's information department encountered a troublesome matter.

“Something has happened. A senior sergeant who participated in Operation Dawn and was in charge of operating the new inhibitor spraying equipment has gone missing while on leave.”

"Missing?" Shen Ge frowned slightly. "Attacked by a strange force?"

“It doesn’t seem like it.” Cheng Shengnan shook his head. “There were no signs of a struggle at the scene, and no abnormal residual energy was detected. It’s like he… vanished into thin air. This person is crucial; he was one of the first to master the core operation techniques and dilution ratios of the ‘strain inhibitor’.”

A sense of foreboding instantly rose in Shen Ge's heart. This was not a random event; it was a precise and premeditated "targeted elimination" or... "kidnapping."

Conventional investigative methods quickly reached a stalemate.

The missing sergeant had a simple social network, no enemies, and no unusual behavior before his disappearance. All leads had been exhausted.

The atmosphere inside the Rongcheng Intelligence Analysis Center was oppressive.

"Could it be an inside job?" a young analyst suggested boldly.

“Impossible,” Cheng Shengnan immediately denied. “Anyone who has access to his vacation itinerary and personal information has very high privileges and has undergone the most rigorous screening. Moreover, if it were for technical purposes, directly stealing the data would be more effective than kidnapping an operator.”

She stared at the last image on the screen, which was cut off in a blind spot of the surveillance cameras at a street corner. After a moment of contemplation, she suddenly issued an order: "Captain Tu, contact your information warfare team."

Cheng Shengnan thought of starting with the "Dark Web," a lawless place existing in the shadows of the internet, a gathering place for information brokers, eccentrics, and all sorts of outlaws.

Strange organs, forbidden anti-terrorist techniques, even living test subjects—you can find anything there, as long as you can afford the price.

With the help of Tu Doupi and his information warfare team composed of top hackers, an invisible net was quietly cast over that lawless land.

Like the most patient hunters, they sift through, track, and discern information in a massive, encrypted, chaotic, and disordered stream.

Finally, after 36 hours of continuous work, they made a discovery.

"Found it!" Tu Doupi's eyes were bloodshot, but they gleamed with excitement. He projected a piece of deciphered information onto the main screen.

That was the bounty section of a highly encrypted dark web forum.

An anonymous bounty, paid in untraceable cryptocurrency, is prominently displayed at the top of the screen.

[Bounty Target: Seeking technical personnel, documents, or physical samples related to the production and use of "Strain Inhibitor-Type I" in China at a high price. Price negotiable, no upper limit.]

The reward notice was posted just three days before the officer went missing.

“They’re after our technology.” Cheng Shengnan’s eyes turned cold. “Those who can afford this price and have such a clear objective are definitely not ordinary rabble.”

"Follow this lead and investigate!" Cheng Shengnan ordered.

The investigation quickly made a breakthrough.

A shocking gray market transaction chain is slowly being unveiled.

The missing sergeant was kidnapped by a local "broker" in Rong City, part of this chain. He was then transported overseas through an underground transportation network controlled by a peculiar organization. The final buyer was found to have connections to those mysterious "polluters"!
On the intelligence center's map, a red arrow representing the trade route starts from Rong City and eventually points to a chaotic, lawless city in a Southeast Asian country.

Having grasped the key information of the transaction chain, Shen Ge decided to stop passively pursuing the investigation. Rather than waiting for the enemy to cut off the clues one by one, it would be better to take the initiative, lure them out, and wipe them out in one fell swoop.

“Tu Doupi,” Shen Ge said calmly, looking at the red route leading abroad on the screen, “register a new account on that dark web forum.”

Tu Doupi's eyes lit up, and he immediately understood Shen Ge's intention: "Captain Shen, what do you want to do...?"

“That’s right,” Shen Ge’s lips curled into a cold smile, “They want technology, don’t they? I’ll give them an even bigger ‘bait.’ Fishing, you know, that’s my specialty.”

Soon, on that encrypted dark web forum, a new user with the ID "Ouroboros" posted a transaction message that was enough to ignite the entire underworld:

[For Sale: Partial prototype design drawings of "Sequence-X", along with a sample of the core inhibitor. Seeking a serious buyer; highest bidder wins. Location: Abandoned warehouse at Pier 7, Sihanoukville, Cambodia. Time: Midnight, three days from now.]

Thanks to the "packaging" by Tu Doupi's information team and the cooperation of the entire Special Operations Department, the message was quickly "confirmed" by the other party.

Just one day later, someone contacted them.

After various back-and-forths, the two sides finally agreed to meet.

……

Three days later, Sihanoukville, Cambodia.

This port city, known for its sunshine and beaches, reveals a chaotic and dangerous side after nightfall.

In the dock area, the damp sea breeze carried the smells of fish and engine oil, and under the dim lights, all sorts of people moved about.

Pier 7, a huge, long-abandoned freight warehouse.

Inside the warehouse, a man stood in the center of an empty space. He was dressed in ordinary casual clothes, his hands in his pockets, as if he were just a tourist who had wandered into this place by mistake.

He has a shifty, rat-like face and doesn't look like a "good person" at all.

Soon, a number of people arrived around the warehouse, but none of them chose to show themselves directly; instead, they hid in various corners of the warehouse.

Until midnight, the huge, rusty iron door of the warehouse slowly opened with a screeching sound.

Two teams of strange soldiers armed with supernatural assault rifles entered first, scanning their surroundings warily.

After confirming that it was safe, a man wearing a gray trench coat, with a withered face and an inhuman indifference in his eyes, slowly walked in, surrounded by them.

"Where's the stuff?" The man looked at the shifty-eyed man in front of him, his voice hoarse, like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together.

The shifty-eyed man smiled and took out a small, portable, sealed container that shimmered with a faint silver light from his pocket.

"The stuff is here, but where's the money?" he asked, weighing the container in his hand.

"As long as the goods are confirmed to be genuine, money is not a problem." A glint of greed flashed in the man's eyes, and he winked at his subordinate's leader.

The burly, strange leader with a hideous scar on his face nodded, grinned, and revealed a mouthful of metal teeth.

He took a step forward and reached out to take the container from the man's hand. (End of Chapter)