Chapter 265: 265, The once-concealed secret

In the 108 Barriers, pedestrians on the street hurry to and fro, for here the bustling scenes have long vanished, replaced by an air of desolation.

Some of the roadside noodle shops have already closed early, while jewelry stores see long queues of people eager to purchase gold bars, yet the price of gold within the Barriers climbs steeply.

Military vehicles often race down the roads, as if to mock the lack of war’s intensity.

The Barriers have begun enforcing a curfew; after 10 PM, all pedestrians are locked away in the Order Bureau, no amount of personal connections can secure their release.

In the past, the people of the Barriers relied on “personal connections”—a minor offense could be smoothed over with a friendly word to an acquaintance.

But now, those dragged into the Order Bureau may not emerge until the war ends.

“Connections” have suddenly become useless.

Before the curfew takes effect, a lean girl wearing a duck-bill cap arrives at the door of a hardware store. Her hair, not long enough to reach her shoulders, frames a slender, graceful neck barely visible between her hairline and jaw. Her athletic wear fits snugly, and when she lifts her arms, the fabric traces the delicate curve of her waist.

She knocks six times on the rolling shutter, pauses for two seconds, then delivers a heavier knock.

The shutter is lifted halfway with a clang, and the girl ducks inside.

The shop owner, balding and smiling, asks, “You’re from the north?”

“Yeah,” the girl replies, “reporting in.”

“Nothing unusual—just heard the Shenji Battalion encountered an accident with the Qingshi side, and on the way back, they were ambushed by a mysterious sniper…”

The owner’s words are cut short by the girl: “I know. Switch it.”

The owner, taken aback but saying nothing more, continues, “Also, yesterday a private army wiped out the Qingshi Special Operations Camp at Tantou Mountain. It’s caused quite a stir. After all, everyone knows the combat prowess of private armies—who’d have thought they could defeat Qingshi’s elite? That’s all. The Li Clan’s defensive map hasn’t been secured yet, but once I get it, I’ll send it over promptly.”

Half of the girl’s face is shadowed by her cap. She suddenly says, “No need to mention the defensive map—I’m not involved in this war. I need your help finding a boy named Ren Xiaosu.”

“Understood,” the owner whispers, “Any leads?”

The girl pauses: “Where there’s an anomaly, there’s where to look.”

“An anomaly?” the owner says, “Nothing unusual lately.”

“No, wait,” the girl seems to recall something: “Get me the roster of the private army’s combat personnel.”

The owner freezes. Does this girl suspect Ren Xiaosu is among them? Simply because the private army’s victory over the Special Operations Camp seems suspicious?

What kind of person is this boy to warrant such attention?

At this moment, within Li’s 613 Research Institute, a middle-aged man in a white lab coat exits the lab, saying, “Bring in a batch of samples.”

The beautiful secretary immediately calls the specimen storage room, and the manager checks the delivery time before handing over a hundred bottles of nanobot samples.

One bottle bears a note: “After testing on personnel with zero synchronization rate, the nanobots exhibited anomalies.”

On the other side, in the nanobot recycling plant, several operators face the corpses of nanowarriors, preparing to extract the nanobots within. They will then unlock and reprogram these machines.

A massive mechanical arm is maneuvered above the corpse, its operator long since numbed by the daily task.

Outsiders may not know what experiments Li has conducted, but the workers perform the same grim routine daily, indifferent to the origins or fate of the bodies.

Their concern is whether the night’s haul will be too heavy, delaying their departure.

Of course, their work involves top-secret protocols; after work, they retreat to sealed dormitories under armed guard.

Still, it’s better than facing the corpses—at least they can enjoy free beer and watch videotapes, making life less dreary.

At this moment, the mechanical arm hums and plunges vertically toward the corpse on the stainless steel table, a needle-like tube piercing the skin.

The operator presses a button, but freezes: “Why didn’t the extraction work?”

A colleague calmly says, “Maybe there’s a problem. Try again.”

“Alright,” the operator retries, but still no response: “Should we switch to manual? I need authorization for manual operation.”

A middle-aged man approaches, inputs a password, and says, “Try the C2 remote connection program.”

The arm remains motionless. The man frowns: “Still not working? Only the C1 remote program left, but I don’t have C1 clearance. I’d need to apply to the Chairmen’s Council.”

But the operator suddenly halts: “Boss, nothing works. The nanobots in his body… they’re gone!”

…

An armored truck rumbles northward along the mountain path, Li Qingzheng, radiating confidence, shouts from the driver’s seat: “Still, it’s Xiaosu who’s impressive! How did you go from nothing to becoming a major in Li’s regular army overnight? The future’s yours! You don’t know—the gap between Li’s regular army and private forces is like heaven and earth!”

Ren Xiaosu glares from the side: “Stop the chatter. Let me drive for a bit…”

“No way. There are soldiers in the back, and cliffs on either side,” Li Qingzheng refuses his own captain outright. He’s genuinely afraid of accidents—on flat roads, letting Ren Xiaosu drive is fine, but on mountain paths, he dares not let him touch the wheel, even if he’s been promoted to captain.

Life’s too precious!

The private army has upgraded from muskets to automatic rifles; their numbers dwindled to 511 after the battle, but now everyone is armed, with ample ammunition, even four heavy machine guns.

Though their gear still lags behind Li’s regular army—no RPGs, for instance—it’s far superior to other private forces.

Li Qingzheng strokes the steering wheel, chuckling: “Until today, I finally feel like a real soldier! Thinking back, I never imagined we’d annihilate Qingshi’s Special Operations Camp!”