by <unknown>
Now that he abruptly heard this name again, John also felt a hint of apprehension as he recalled all this. This guy was overflowing with power and money, yet he would rather hide in plain sight for over a decade. He must not be up to any good…
All this flashed through his mind. When John recovered from his thoughts, the plane was descending toward Walvis Bay International Airport at this time.
After the luxury plane landed on the dedicated runway, waiting in front of John was a stretch car and a group of psionicists.
There were five people in total. The leader was a man whose aura was no inferior to Sarah's. Although the remaining four were slightly weaker, they were Beta-level or higher!
Seeing this group of people, John frowned slightly, thinking that this was truly the headquarters that had invented the L compound. Just among those who came to receive him, there were already five Beta-level psionicists, and they were also the best of that level.
"Mr. Oppenheimer."
The man heading them walked up, stretched out his hand, and shook hands with John with an imposing attitude. "I'm the head of the B.S.S., the Black Security Service. My name is Brando, Clark Brando."
"John Oppenheimer."
John replied casually. Facing this group of people, John could not help feeling a little proud because these people obtained psionic powers through the L compound, but he was different. His psionic energy was later awakened after he was infected with the fusion virus.
Solely in terms of status, John was the only pure psionicist.
It was like when a woman with a 36D bra size bumped into someone with artificial 36Ds in the washroom. When she observed those rock-hard melons that could not even bounce, she would naturally feel a sense of pride.
"Mr. Oppenheimer's psionic powers are very strong."
After a mere shake of the hands, Brando immediately smiled. "No wonder you can kill more than a dozen Beta-level psionicists overnight, yet they don't even know your identity."
"Your psionic powers aren't too bad either."
John replied coolly. He was not jealous of these people who gained psionic powers through the L compound because he knew that the average person could only receive at most three injections of L compound in their life. The first one had a mortality rate of 10%, the second one had 30%, and the third had 50%.
Furthermore, it was not that the more injections one received, the stronger one's superpowers became. The superpowers one awakened were random. There were strong and weak ones. If one was unlucky, one could still end up with only one feeble superpower despite getting three injections of a high fatality rate.
As for the fourth injection? Too bad, according to the known data, the death rate of the fourth injection of the L compound was 100%. The grass over the graves of those who received four injections had grown to more than three meters in height by now.
"Alright, you guys can stop fawning over each other here."
Sarah stepped forward. "The boss has been waiting for a long time. Let's go see him as soon as possible."
Hearing Sarah's words, Brando shrugged and flashed a helpless look at John. Then three people got on the stretch sedan and the other four got into another ordinary vehicle. After that, they drove in the direction of the Eco Science City.
John was no stranger to this world-famous city. After all, as long as one lived on this planet, one would know of this city built by the Blackwatch Corporation alone. The population of this city might not be large, but there was a common joke online: if one went to the streets of the Eco Science City to buy a pack of cigarettes, one would run into nine billionaires, a few of which were politicians of certain countries.
Although this was a bit exaggerated, it went to show the prosperous degree of the Eco Science City. Every day, rich people came here to seek the most superior treatment conditions and there were also international stars who came here to seek the top cosmetic surgery technology. This was the most prosperous city in the entire Earth Federation.
Looking at the traffic lights and billboards formed by countless holographic projections on the street and the sci-fi-style high-rise buildings on both sides of the road, John felt that he had entered a cyberpunk world. However, unlike the descriptions in science fiction movies and novels, there were no slums nor a dark side of the city because poor people and criminals were not qualified to enter here.
Looking at this unique city, John's eyes shone with marvel. Finally, he looked at the driving seat in front.
The driving seat was vacant. Generally speaking, even if it were using automatic driving, there should be a driver sitting in there as a backup to prevent unexpected situations.
"This is no ordinary automatic driving."
Brando seemed to notice John's doubts and could not help but chuckle. "However, the intelligence responsible for the driving isn't in the car, but in the city's smart management center."
"What's there?"
John curiously asked.
"It controls all the electronic intelligence in the city."
Brando replied, "There's a supercomputer that controls every vehicle in the city. The advantage of this is that there will never be a car accident. Not only that, except for private areas, all places in the city are controlled by cameras. There are no blind spots. Even the traffic lights on the road, the giant screen advertisements in the sky, and the electronic signs on the facade of every store are all managed through that center."
"It's amazing."
John could not help nodding.
With Brando taking the initiative to start a topic, John gradually relaxed significantly. During the conversation, the vehicle finally came to the ground floor of the Blackwatch headquarters.
"Click!"
As the car stopped in front of the gate, the door opened automatically, and John then slowly got out of the car.
He looked up and immediately saw this tall building. The entire building was so clean that there was no trace of dust. The floor was smooth and transparent as if the entire building was made of glass and crystal.
At this sight, John could not help recalling a game called Mirror's Edge Catalyst. The high-rise buildings in this city were almost the same as the backdrop of that game.
"Please come with me."
Brando and Sarah took the lead and entered the building. After passing through the vast hall, the three came to the front of a panoramic elevator, where the android in charge of the service had been waiting for a long time.
"Welcome, everyone."
This android woman with beautiful features wore a uniform. Instead of asking which floor the three of them were heading to, she directly pressed the button of the top floor and added. "Mr. Chen has been waiting for you for a long time."
Was he finally going to meet Chen Chen?
Looking at the pedestrians on the ground that were shrinking rapidly under his feet, John's feelings were rather complicated. He could not explain this sensation. Toward this legendary figure, he felt a little curious and a little proud.
He was curious about how this guy who founded Blackwatch Corporation by himself looked like. Even so, he felt a little proud —after all, he was the preeminent psionicist as evaluated by the Earth Federation and this Chen Chen was likely just an ordinary guy. Of those with real power, how many would dare to bet their lives on the mortality rate of the L compound, considering that their lives were as precious as gold?
With such complicated thoughts, the elevator soon reached the top. With a "ding", the elevator door opened quickly.
At the moment when the elevator door opened, John saw only a figure from the back. This man was sitting in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, silently looking at everything outside the window, seeming to be watching the teeming crowds at his feet.
Brando and Sarah walked out of the elevator first and then they lowered their heads slightly. Meanwhile, Brando said softly, "Boss, he's here."
Only then did the figure slowly turn around and John instinctively observed this person
. However, what he saw was a somewhat handsome man in his twenties.
Still, although the other person's looks were no better than John's, he emanated a strange presence, especially with those dark bottomless eyes. The moment John saw those eyes, he suddenly felt a quivering jolt in his heart!
In an instant, John seemed to see a shattered world. Those eyes were as cataclysmic as black holes. This man did nothing else other than glance at John, but still, John's soul shuddered.
"Hum —!"
Subconsciously, a scarlet light flared in John's pupils. He was about to use his self-defense methods almost immediately!
"John Oppenheimer?"
However, the other party suddenly spoke. In an instant, the invisible terror quickly dissipated and the world emerged again. John suddenly woke up but found that the man in front of him had returned to normal.
It was as if everything before was just an illusion…
"Mr. Chen."
John tucked away the horror in his heart, lowered his head slightly, and immediately responded.
"You did very well."
The man in front of him stood up straight, walked slowly in front of him, and seemed to be sizing him up. "An Alpha-level psionicist, considered by the media to be the strongest in the world. You killed five leaders of enemy forces in one night. You did very well indeed."
"Mr. Chen?"
John raised his head when he heard these words and tried to gauge Chen Chen as well. "I wonder if you have any orders in asking me here?"
"I have an agreement here."
The man smiled slightly. He turned around and handed a few thin sheets of a contract to John. "You should've joined God's Forbidden Zone back then, but because you didn't choose to join the B.S.S., you chose to stand before the public instead. But now that the ten-year contract has expired, you should've a new choice."
"I…"
John frowned slightly. To be honest, although he was also interested in joining God's Forbidden Zone, he did not want to leave his previous job.
This was because, in the past ten years, he had become accustomed to being an influential figure in the eyes of the public. He enjoyed the people's frenzy over him and the admiration and love they had for him. This feeling was intoxicating…
"Don't worry, the new contract won't make you leave the Superpower Combative Police Force."
The man in front of him seemed able to see through his thoughts and only continued to say, "This new contract is also for ten years, but the terms are much more generous than before. Your new position will be the vice president of Blackwatch's Northern American headquarters, second only to Liu Zhijian. At the same time, you'll formally enter God's Forbidden Zone, obtain Alpha-level authority, and enjoy the same benefits."
Hearing this, John's eyes lit up.
He immediately took the agreement and read the terms one by one.
Hearing that John was getting such favorable terms, even Brando and Sarah struggled a little with their emotions. John was flying up the ladder before their eyes.
"I'm willing to sign this agreement."
Soon, John raised his head again and the delight in his eyes was quickly concealed.
"Very well!"
The man burst out laughing when he heard these words. "John, are you willing to fight for the benefit of the company?"
Hearing these words, John's expression suddenly turned dignified. He took a deep breath, and then declared, "It's my duty to safeguard the interests of the company and I'll do my best to fight for the company!"
…
A few minutes later, Brando and Sarah led John away.
However, as soon as the elevator went down, it came up again and Little X walked out of the elevator. "Sir Godfather, John Oppenheimer has left the building. He revealed to Sarah that he'll leave today and return to New York."
Chen Chen nodded without speaking.
"Do you trust this person?"
Little X suddenly became a little curious. "Having given him such superior conditions, will he do his best for the company? Human nature is complicated. Even if you awed him earlier, what if he still betrays us?"
"Then you don't understand this."
Chen Chen shook his head and smiled. "Those tied to the chariot of our interests are naturally part of our team. This has nothing to do with trust. After all, as a shareholder, who would destroy the company they've invested in?"
Only then did Little X nod.
There was a reason she was not at ease, because she was used to using the God chip to control humans. Nevertheless, with a psionicist like John, the God chip was useless.
This kind of chip could only restrain ordinary people and some low-level psionicists at present, but to John the Guardian, who had a near-invincible body, the God chip was no threat at all. Even the implantation could not be performed.
Unless the reality anchor was used to block all psionic powers within the radius of a few kilometers, then the God chip could be temporarily implanted.
However, once the reality anchor was removed, John's spirit form would swiftly recover. Taking out the God chip would be as simple as pulling out a thorn from his flesh.
That was why Little X was a little worried.
"The God chip isn't the only way to control people's hearts." Chen Chen corrected her.
Looking through the glass window at John who had already walked out of the building, Chen Chen could not help displaying a pensive look.
"Let's hope he'll be a good weapon…"
Chapter 607: Subspace Contamination |
After resolving the matter with John, Chen Chen turned his attention to the subspace navigation experiment.
Yesterday's subspace navigation experiment was still running, but the situation was not optimistic.
After sending the Delta-level experimenters to the Courage Voyager for the first time yesterday afternoon, the spacecraft had disappeared for three full hours after entering the subspace.
During these three hours, everybody tried every means but did not find a single trace of the spacecraft.
Just when they thought that the spacecraft was shipwrecked in the depths of subspace, the spacecraft appeared again.
However, the hull of the returning spacecraft had been corroded and was decayed. Not only that, nine of the ten experimenters on the spacecraft went mad and died while the ten Black Knights who were also on the spacecraft were unscathed.
It could be seen from the spacecraft's surveillance feed that the spacecraft originally entered the subspace with no issues, but when it wanted to return to reality, it seemed to become stuck.
The spacecraft was parked in the subspace, unable to return to reality at all for some unknown reason.
Not only that, the experimenters on the spacecraft also began to go crazy as if they had lost their minds. One by one they desperately bashed themselves on the door that detained them, not ceasing even when their heads were bleeding and their brains were splattering everywhere. They only stopped when they were fully dead!
Earlier when John came in, Chen Chen was looking at the report in his hand. At this time, the only surviving experimenter had been sent to the Spire Experimental Base 2 hidden under the north pole of Mars.
After more than ten years of development, the Spire 2 was starting to take shape. The underground space it had was no less than the Spire Experimental Base. Between the two, there was the Watchman teleporter as a connecting channel.
At this time, as Chen Chen flicked his finger, a screen suddenly appeared in front of him. It showed the scene of the surviving experimenter in custody. His hands, legs, and even tongue were all bound to prevent him from going crazy and dying like the other personnel.
Nonetheless, though he was completely trussed up, his eyes revealed an endless source of madness. The pupils were gone, leaving only the whites of the eyes. His forehead was bursting with veins and his physical condition was also in a high-risk state.
"This is all we can do."
Little X respond
ed, "If we don't restrain him, who knows what he might do?"
"Have you tried a tranquilizer?"
Chen Chen asked.
"I have."
Little X pursed her mouth. "It's useless. He'd fall into a coma after the injection, but he'd continue to descend into madness after he regained consciousness again."
Hearing this, Chen Chen could not help feeling a jolt. He lowered his head and looked at the palm of his hand. Suddenly, a palm-sized black stone slab appeared in a whirl.
"Prepare the Watchman teleporter. I'm going to Spire 2 again," Chen Chen suddenly said.
"Yes!"
Little X instantly understood and her eyes lit up. Indeed, the black slate could dispel the subspace countercurrent. If they used this black slate, it might have a miraculous effect.
Chen Chen did not tarry. He went directly to the Spire Experimental Base, then came to the Watchman teleporter and teleported himself away.
A few minutes later, when Chen Chen regained consciousness, he only felt that his whole body was light and floaty. At this time, he had arrived at Spire 2 on Mars.
The main control program of Spire 2 was one of the clones of Little X. It named itself "Nancy", but Chen Chen still liked to call it X-113 out of convention.
"Sir Commander, we welcome your visit."
X-113's sisterly voice sounded by his ears. Chen Chen looked to his side and suddenly saw a beautiful middle-aged woman with blonde hair and dark eyes.
Just like Little X, this was an exclusive body cultivated under the Black Knight system.
X-113 had her own preferences. In addition to naming herself, she also liked to cultivate an aesthetically pleasing body for herself.
Chen Chen nodded and directly ordered, "Take me to see that crazy guy. I have something to ask him."
"Yes."
Faced with the highest authority of Blacklight Biotechnology, X-113 naturally had no reason to refuse. She gestured in invitation and led Chen Chen to the depths of Spire 2.
More than ten minutes later, Chen Chen passed through a long and narrow passage and then took the elevator down again for over a hundred meters before reaching the bottom of Spire 2.
