Eunuch, do you really know these martial arts?

"Chaos system activated! Target changed direction! Relocating!"

The sonar operator's voice rose in pitch due to excitement.

Jiang Nian was rapidly pulled towards the bottom hatch of the submarine by the recovery cable, his body leaving a white trail in the seawater.

He could clearly feel the undercurrents stirred up by the metal monster below as it adjusted its direction; they were cold and full of malice.

"Speed ​​up! Go faster!" Zhang Hai shouted into the communication channel.

"It's already at maximum power!" The operator of the recycling system was sweating.

Just as Jiang Nian was about to be pulled into the hatch, the underwater vehicle seemed to lock onto a new target, and a faint blue light appeared on a certain part of its head.

It wasn't the light emitted by a weapon; it looked more like some kind of scanning or locking indicator.

"What is it going to do?!" Zhang Hai stared intently at the monitor screen.

In his last glance before entering the cabin, Jiang Nian saw the blue light through his mask. A subtle yet sharp discomfort instantly pierced his senses, like someone gently pricking his temple with an ice needle.

"boom!"

The hatch closed quickly behind him, the seawater was expelled, and the pressure returned to normal.

"Quick! Help him take off his gear!" Zhang Hai rushed into the preparation cabin.

Two support personnel immediately stepped forward and skillfully unlocked the seal on Jiang Nian's helmet. The moment the visor opened, Jiang Nian took a deep breath, his face turning slightly pale.

"How are you?" Zhang Hai helped him up.

"It's nothing." Jiang Nian shook his head and pressed his temples. "That blue light just now was a bit strange."

"Captain, report! Target has ceased pursuit! It is diving!"

The sonar operator reported, "Deepening, moving very fast, already out of effective detection range!"

Inside the command center, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's gone?"

Zhang Hai found it hard to believe.

“It looks so,” the sonar operator confirmed. “The sonar signal is decaying rapidly and can no longer be tracked.”

Zhang Hai looked at Jiang Nian with a complicated expression: "Did you successfully transmit your signal?"

"Fifteen seconds is up." Jiang Nian took off his heavy gloves and flexed his fingers. "But the last few seconds might be affected by interference."

"Where is the beacon group?"

"Confirming." The communications soldier quickly operated the control panel. "Signal received! All three beacons are confirmed anchored! They've succeeded!"

Suppressed cheers erupted in the command center.

Zhang Hai patted Jiang Nian on the shoulder heavily: "Well done!"

But Jiang Nian's brows remained furrowed. He walked to the monitoring console and pulled up the footage of the blue light that had just appeared.

"Screen this clip, encrypt it with the highest priority, and send it back to base. Also, package and send all the physiological monitoring data from my deep-sea suit."

"What do you feel?" Zhang Hai leaned closer.

"It's hard to say." Jiang Nian stared at the frozen image, the circle of blue light appearing eerie and quiet in the deep sea. "It's not an attack, it's more like a probe."

"Moreover, it's targeting me."

The communications soldier looked up: "Captain, urgent message from base!"

Zhang Hai took the earpiece, listened for a few seconds, and his expression became serious. He turned to Jiang Nian: "Chief Bai wants to speak with you directly."

Bai Yongxu stood in front of a huge electronic nautical chart, with Chief Zhao and several senior staff officers behind him.

On the nautical chart, the green dot representing the Explorer submarine is rapidly rising.

The light spot representing the unidentified underwater vehicle has disappeared.

"The signal has been transmitted back."

The technical supervisor strode in, “Consultant Jiang’s physiological data, the footage from the deep-sea suit recorder, and the raw data from the submarine’s sonar are all here.”

"Analyze immediately." Bai Yongxu said without turning his head.

Chief Zhao walked to his side and lowered his voice.

"Old Bai, the intelligence we just intercepted shows that the organization's activity in the South China Sea has tripled in the past 48 hours. They must have noticed something."

“It wasn’t a notice,” Bai Yongxu shook his head.

"It was prepared in advance. The underwater vehicle appeared at just the right time, as if it had been waiting there all along."

The large screen began playing footage of Jiang Nian's extravehicular activity.

When the scene showed the blue light ring, Bai Yongxu raised his hand: "Stop. Zoom in on that glowing part."

The image was magnified to its limit.

At the center of the eerie blue light, a complex honeycomb structure could be faintly seen.

"What is this?" Chief Zhao squinted.

"do not know."

Bai Yongxu said in a heavy tone, "But it's definitely not a conventional sonar or detection device."

"Technology department, compare the databases!"

A few minutes later, the technical director looked up, his voice filled with disbelief: "Sir, this structure is 62 percent similar to the design drawings of some unfinished device that we reconstructed from the wreckage of our Greenland subglacial base!"

"Greenland?" Chief Zhao exclaimed in surprise. "Is that part of Project Ice Marrow?"

“It could be worse.” Bai Yongxu stared at the screen. “If the ice marrow from Greenland is used to study gene coverage, then this could be an application.”

The communications station lit up with a green light, and the operator reported, "Sir, Advisor Jiang's line is connected."

"Get in."

Jiang Nian's voice came through the speaker, carrying the slight distortion characteristic of deep-sea communications.

"Chief Bai, I request an immediate analysis of the effects of that blue light on me. My perception fluctuated abnormally at the moment it was emitted."

“It’s all arranged,” Bai Yongxu said quickly. “How are you feeling now?”

"It's normal for now. But the fluctuation is very special. It's not a physical attack, but more like a resonance in frequency."

Jiang Nian paused for a moment, then said, "I suspect it's testing for something."

"Detecting that specific harmonic in your body?"

"It's very possible."

The command center fell into a brief silence.

If that unidentified aircraft was indeed detecting Jiang Nian's genetic characteristics, it would mean that the organization had mastered the technology for remote identification.

This poses a huge threat to Jiang Nian's safety and the entire plan.

"Captain Zhang."

Bai Yongxu switched channels, "Where are you now?"

"We are currently ascending to a depth of 400 meters and are expected to reach a safe communication depth in seven minutes," Zhang Hai replied.

"Change course and proceed to the backup rendezvous point at the rocky beach."

"I will send the naval aviation team to pick up Jiang Nian and send him back to the base for a full check-up as quickly as possible."

"understand!"

Bai Yongxu turned to Chief Zhao: "Notify the medical department to prepare the highest-level isolation and examination room."

"After Jiang Nian returns, I need to see the complete biological test report within twelve hours."

"Yes!"

“In addition,” Bai Yongxu added, lowering his voice, “has there been any progress in the intelligence analysis regarding Project Cradle and the Sleepers?”

Chief Zhao shook his head: "The interrogation of Han Dong and the Butcher is still the same old story; they lose control of their emotions as soon as these key terms are mentioned. Lin Wanxing is cooperating, but she has limited information."

"But what?"

"While sifting through data from the Poseidon wreckage, intelligence agencies discovered some encrypted fragments of the navigation log."

"Decoding shows that the Poseidon has traveled to a certain area of ​​international waters in the South China Sea three times in the past two years, but there is no record of it loading or unloading cargo."

Bai Yongxu's eyes sharpened: "Coordinates?" "They've already been marked."

Commander Zhao pointed to a point on the nautical chart, "It's less than a hundred nautical miles from the sea area where Jiang Nian is carrying out his mission today."

"too close."

Bai Yongxu stared at that spot. "This is no coincidence."

“The organization must have a fixed base in the South China Sea, which may be an underwater platform or a facility disguised as something else.”

He took a deep breath: "When Jiang Nian comes back, we need to reassess the entire plan."

"Their strategy is more sophisticated than we imagined."

At the same time, underwater in a certain area of ​​the South China Sea.

The underwater vehicle that had once pursued Jiang Nian was now quietly hovering in the seawater at a depth of 800 meters.

Its shell is covered with a camouflage coating that blends almost seamlessly into the underwater environment, with only the honeycomb structure around its head retaining a faint blue glow.

Inside the aircraft is a cramped cabin that can only accommodate one person.

……

Film and television base, the set of "Lifeline".

2:05 PM.

Director Zhang Yi checked his watch for the third time, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper: "Jiang Nian hasn't arrived yet?"

The assistant director jogged over and whispered, "Director Zhang, Xiaomin said that Teacher Jiang suddenly had a migraine and is resting at the hotel. She may be a little late."

"Migraine?" Zhang Yi was taken aback. "You were perfectly fine this morning?"

"They said it started suddenly and the pain was severe, so they've already called a doctor."

The assistant director wiped his sweat. "Xiaomin asked if we could adjust the shooting order and shoot other scenes first?"

Zhang Yi remained silent for a few seconds, looked around at the actors and staff who were already in place, and sighed.

"Alright. Notify Lin Wan and Chen Xiao to film their scene at the nurses' station first. All of Jiang Nian's scenes will be postponed."

"Okay, I'll arrange it right away."

The film set quickly sprang into action. Upon hearing the news, Lin Wan asked the assistant director with concern, "Is Teacher Jiang alright? Should we go check on her?"

Xiaomin said no need, and told Teacher Jiang to get some rest.

The assistant director waved his hand, "You guys prepare your own scenes first."

Chen Xiao leaned closer, somewhat uneasy: "Sister Wan, is Teacher Jiang angry because I didn't perform well in that scene yesterday?"

"You're overthinking it," Lin Wan said with a smile, patting him on the shoulder.

"Teacher Jiang isn't that kind of person. She must be genuinely feeling unwell."

"Let's film properly and not delay the schedule."

"Yes!" Chen Xiao nodded vigorously.

In the hotel room, Xiaomin stood by the window, looking at the encrypted message sent by Ajie on her phone screen: "I have picked up Teacher Jiang and am on my way back. I expect to arrive in three hours."

She replied, "Received. Things are stable on set. Be careful."

Xiaomin put away her phone, went to the bathroom, washed her face with cold water, and looked at herself in the mirror.

The worry in his eyes was well hidden, leaving only the professionalism and composure befitting an assistant.

She stepped out of the room and whispered to another special agent from the base who was guarding the door.

"I'll go to the set and keep an eye on things; you stay here."

"If anyone comes to visit, say what we've agreed upon."

"clear."

Xiaomin took a deep breath, composed herself, and walked out of the hotel.

Her steps were steady, and her face showed just the right amount of concern for her boss's health, yet she remained calm.

Filming has already begun on set. The scenes between Lin Wan and Chen Xiao are progressing smoothly.

Director Zhang Yi sat behind the monitor, his attention focused on the screen, but he would occasionally glance at the entrance to the film set.

Xiaomin quietly walked behind the director and whispered, "Director Zhang."

Zhang Yi turned to look at her: "How is Jiang Nian?"

"The doctor came to see me and said it was a tension headache caused by fatigue, and I need to rest."

Xiaomin said sincerely, "Teacher Jiang is very sorry for the delay in filming. He said he would try to come over tonight to reshoot the scenes if things get better."

"Your health is important."

Zhang Yi waved his hand, "Let him get some rest. There's no rush for tonight's scenes; we can film them tomorrow."

"Thank you for your understanding, Director." Xiaomin bowed and stepped aside.

She found a corner to sit down, opened her tablet, and appeared to be dealing with work emails.

In reality, it receives real-time information from the base through an encrypted window.

A new message popped up: "The medical team is in place. Chief Bai instructed: Advisor Jiang will proceed directly to in-depth examination procedures upon arrival, and all data will be classified as top secret."

Xiaomin quickly replied, "Understood. I'll handle things with the production crew."

She looked up at Lin Wan and Chen Xiao, who were performing.

The lights on set were bright, the actors' lines were clear and powerful, and everything seemed normal.

But only she knew that at this moment, hundreds of kilometers away in the deep sea, and in that base hidden in the mountains, something that could change everything was happening.

This scene was far more dangerous than the performance in front of the camera.

Three hours later, at Xuanwu Base.

When Jiang Nian stepped off the helicopter, the medical team's mobile stretcher was already waiting on the helipad.

He didn't refuse and lay down on it.

"Go directly to the medical center."

The doctor leading the team told the stretcher bearers, "Chief Bai is waiting."

After passing through layers of security checks and sealed doors, Jiang Nian was pushed into an examination room made entirely of silver metal.

He was surrounded by a variety of medical devices he had never seen before, emitting low, rumbling sounds as they operated.

Bai Yongxu and Chief Zhao stood in front of the observation window. When he saw him come in, Bai Yongxu pressed the call button: "How are you feeling?"

"good."

Jiang Nian sat up and let the medical staff connect various monitoring probes to him.

"My head is a little dizzy, and that feeling hasn't completely gone away yet."

"Describe it in detail."

Bai Yongxu signaled to the recorder to get ready.

Jiang Nian closed her eyes and recalled: "The moment the blue light came on, it wasn't pain, but a feeling of resonance."

"It was like a part of my body was gently touched, and then my whole body trembled slightly. It was very brief, less than a second, but the feeling was very clear."

"Are there any abnormalities in the physiological monitoring data?" Bai Yongxu asked the doctor.

"My heart rate and blood pressure fluctuated slightly at that moment, but quickly returned to normal."

The doctor looked at the screen and said, "The EEG shows transient disturbances in alpha waves, consistent with mild neural interference. More detailed data requires a deep scan."

“Let’s begin then,” Bai Yongxu said.

Jiang Nian was guided to lie down inside a circular scanner.

The machine started up, emitting a soft hum, and beams of scanning light of different wavelengths swept across his body.

Looking out the window, the technical experts stared intently at the scrolling data stream on the screen.

"Genome sequencing is in progress, and no exogenous gene fragments have been found."

"Neurotransmitter levels are normal." (End of Chapter)