Chapter 45: Mysterious High Technology (Part 1)

Volume 1 “Year of Calamity”

An Sheng and his group were quite fortunate – all the construction machinery in the compound remained operational. Most importantly, there was a garage on the first floor of the two-story building containing a small oil tanker truck with at least half a tank of diesel remaining. After brief preparations, the entire vehicle convoy reappeared on the Ring Road outside Huan’an County Town, ready to enter the town proper.

An Sheng led the way driving a bulldozer at the front, while Xun Lili and Nie Chong provided rear guard in the Armored Assault Vehicle. The motorcade entered the county town in grand formation. This marked the first time since the catastrophe that An Sheng’s group had dared to enter a zombie-infested urban area so openly. Their audacity was largely thanks to An Sheng’s earlier actions.

Two months prior, during a rescue operation, An Sheng had carried Xun Lili on his back while holding a loudspeaker equipped with backup power, deliberately leading tens of thousands of zombies on a chase covering over ten kilometers. Taking advantage of the corpse horde’s slow movement, An Sheng had moved in stops and starts before finally reaching a town outside the county. There, he secured the Air Raid Siren-blasting loudspeaker atop the tallest building and connected several scavenged car batteries in series. An Sheng estimated the combined batteries could power the loudspeaker for at least ten hours, possibly longer. While his initial intention was merely to reduce threats along Nie Chong’s escape route, when An Sheng later returned to Huan’an County Town via the road, he discovered that almost all mobile zombies had been drawn to that town.

Typically, zombies without targets would wander within limited ranges unlikely to bring them back to the county town. Therefore, the zombies lured away by An Sheng would most probably never return. This explained why the Fortress had designated Huan’an as a future supply point. Of course, the primary reason remained the weapons and ammunition stored in the Reserve Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment’s arsenal.

An Sheng drove the bulldozer recklessly through the county streets – though this wasn’t entirely his fault, as he was operating the massive machine for the first time with frankly abysmal skills. Had this not been the post-apocalyptic world where damaged property required no compensation, An Sheng’s driving style would have bankrupted his family business even if his deceased father had revived it.

The situation within Huan’an County Town unfolded exactly as anticipated – zombies had virtually disappeared from the streets. However, buildings were another matter entirely, likely containing numerous zombies trapped inside. But who cared? As long as the monsters didn’t interfere with their supply search, the group paid them no mind.Just as the convoy was approaching the central area of the county town, An Sheng noticed a massive metallic object with an extraordinary appearance blocking the narrow street. Part of it lay in the middle of the road, while another section had plowed through the street and collapsed a storefront along the roadside. This metallic behemoth had an extremely peculiar, almost sci-fi design, resembling some kind of high-tech aircraft from a futuristic movie.

Why was this conclusion drawn? Because, judging from the scene, this metallic giant had clearly fallen from a high altitude. The buildings in its path had been carved into a long trench, with the farthest point being a dozen-story high-rise—evidently the first structure it had collided with, as only the rooftop portion had been destroyed. Anyone with basic common sense would recognize this steel giant as a crashed aircraft.

But this raised another question. Since it was confirmed to be a crashed aircraft, its bizarre shape inevitably evoked associations with “high technology”! The thing completely defied aerodynamics, essentially resembling an elegantly curved rectangular metal box. How could such an object even fly? If one had to recall where they’d seen something similar, it could only be in sci-fi films and television shows.

“Nie Chong, have you ever seen anything like this?” An Sheng stared in astonishment at the UFO-like aircraft, thinking he’d believe without hesitation if someone claimed it was an alien spaceship—since in his understanding, Earth possessed no comparable technology.

“Where would I have seen this?! Could this be an alien spacecraft? Was this catastrophe actually a biochemical war launched by extraterrestrial civilization to conquer Earth?” Nie Chong equally marveled while studying the massive metal shell.

“You two, come quick! There’s an emblem here, and a serial number!”

Xun Lili’s voice came from behind the crashed aircraft. Hearing this, An Sheng and Nie Chong immediately rushed over to investigate. When Nie Chong saw the emblem, he froze completely, his eyes filled with nothing but shock and disbelief!

Noticing his reaction, An Sheng cautiously inquired, “Do you recognize this emblem?”

“If I’m not mistaken, this is the exclusive emblem of the Western Special Operations Base!” Though Nie Chong had identified the emblem, he still found it utterly unbelievable.

If the emblem was correct, then this crashed high-tech aircraft might very well be military property. But when had the military acquired such advanced equipment? As officers from the Northern Theater Command’s Combined Arms Brigade—currently the most elite integrated combat unit equipped with the military’s most advanced weapons—they had never seen or even dared imagine such aircraft.

“There’s a hole here! Wow! Oh my god—is this a robot?!”Xun Lili’s voice came through again, but the sheer volume of information contained in her words once again made An Sheng and Nie Chong’s jaws drop. Inside the breached cavity, humanoid steel machines lay scattered in disarray, most severely damaged with nearly all having broken limbs. However, this wasn’t the most shocking part. Further inside, a person clad in full-coverage armor lay half-reclined – but only half. Their lower body had completely vanished, leaving only the upper torso lying there, clearly no longer breathing.

The interior of the large metal shell was poorly lit. An Sheng turned on his flashlight and approached the half-open helmet of the bisected armored figure. The person’s facial expression was extremely contorted, undoubtedly having experienced tremendous agony before death – hardly surprising, given that half their body was missing.

“Li Guoan!” Nie Chong exclaimed in shock once more.

“You know him?” An Sheng was equally astonished, as everything indicated that the advanced technology they were witnessing all originated from the military, all products of Earth.

Nie Chong rubbed his eyes in disbelief, then widened them to carefully examine the face again. Only after confirming beyond doubt did he say to An Sheng with utter amazement: “This person is Li Guoan, last year’s champion in the national special forces competition. I participated in that competition too, though I didn’t rank. I only saw him on the awards platform.”

“So that means all this advanced technology we’re seeing is military equipment! Damn, when did our country’s technology become this incredible? They’ve kept this completely hidden!”

With such amazing weapons and equipment, if the country had revealed them earlier, that self-proclaimed world military leader America would probably have been scared into going back to farming.

“I don’t know either, but it must be military stuff for sure. However, I’ve never seen any of this before – never even dared to imagine it!” Nie Chong similarly erupted with coarse language.

While the Yushan Fortress search team was studying the advanced military equipment before them, in the distant northwest within a mountain range called Kunlun, inside a massive military base hollowed out from an entire mountain, an elderly man wearing form-fitting training clothes with three gold stars on his shoulders was listening to an officer in similar attire report.

“Commander, a medium anti-gravity multi-purpose combat airship has lost contact in the City B area of Province L. The particle high-frequency signal booster onboard has been deactivated for unknown reasons. Preliminary assessment indicates possible attack by unknown creatures.”

“What was the combat capability onboard?” the elderly general asked, squinting as he searched for City B’s location on the holographic electronic map before him.

“Reporting, Commander. This medium anti-gravity airship carried eighteen all-terrain intelligent combat mechanical soldiers and one special operations team equipped with DX full-coverage exoskeleton armor! Their mission was to establish a high-frequency particle signal base station in the capital of Province H, but they lost contact before completing the mission.” The officer remained meticulously professional, though his tone revealed clear sorrow, as if there was something else he found difficult to say.After a moment of hesitation, the officer slowly said, “Lieutenant Colonel Li Guoan is also aboard the airship.”

The old man’s hand, which had been tapping the holographic screen, trembled slightly before he quickly withdrew it. In just an instant, the old general regained his composure, but no one noticed that his recently withdrawn palm was subtly shaking.

“Shall we dispatch troops for rescue reconnaissance? Awaiting your instructions!” The officer snapped to attention, delivering a crisp military salute to the old general. Even a fool could tell he was using this method to plead with the old general to send rescue forces for the missing airship.

“If Guoan’s special operations team has lost contact, it means that area harbors Mutants at Lord Level or above, or Advanced Purifiers. Are you not aware that our current strength cannot contend with such high-level life forms? Do you want to send your soldiers to their deaths? Answer me!”

The old man’s voice was filled with authority, each word radiating an undeniable Aura.

“But, Commander Li, Guoan is your—”

“Silence! Say no more! Order: Cease all reconnaissance operations across Province L. Establish unmanned observation posts along the periphery of Province L to monitor any Mutants stepping beyond the boundaries around the clock!”

“Yes, Commander!” The officer saluted sharply again. He knew exactly how much sorrow this old man was enduring while issuing this command.

The old man was named Li Yinfeng, the current commander-in-chief of the Western Theater Command. And Li Guoan, whom An Sheng and the others had discovered in the airship, was this old man’s only son.

After the officer left, the old man seemed to age over a decade in an instant. His previously ramrod-straight chest now appeared hunched. He gently wiped away a tear at the corner of his eye and slowly sat down in the chair behind him, remaining dazed for a long time. It wasn’t until a clear “beep” sounded from an instrument in front of him that the old man was jolted out of his stupor.

Commander Li straightened his chest again and pressed the green button on the instrument. A holographic projection of an elderly man with white hair, dressed in silver protective clothing, appeared before him.

“Old Li, I’ve heard about Guoan. My condolences.”

The old man in silver protective clothing was surnamed Zhou, the director of the National Academy of Sciences and a close friend of Commander Li.

Commander Li let out a soft sigh and said slowly, “In these chaotic times, who can remain untouched? Guoan gave his life for the nation—he died a worthy death, and I am proud of him. But Old Zhou, how is your research progressing? When can the high-level combat weapons from ‘Kunlun’ be deployed to our troops? Lord Level Infected Bodies have already appeared. We’re running out of time. Also, the Purifiers have been increasingly active lately, and many of our soldiers have fallen to them. We urgently need more powerful strength now.”

“I know, Old Li. The technological advancements recorded in ‘Kunlun’ are at least a thousand years ahead of our modern human technology. We’ve deciphered less than one percent so far. Please inform Number One that I will ensure we obtain the power to counterattack within five months!”At the mere mention of “Kunlun,” Director Zhou’s eyes blazed with a fiery passion—the kind typically seen only in the young. Who would have thought an elderly man could still possess such vigor?

Hearing Director Zhou’s words, Commander Li grew equally stirred. After being cooped up in the underground base for so long, they had finally managed to secure some of Kunlun’s technology. Initially, they had planned to use these advanced high-tech weapons to reclaim the lost cities, but it turned out they weren’t the only ones growing stronger—the Mutants were evolving too. And then there were those so-called Purifiers, each one a truly Heaven-Defying existence. If they didn’t acquire more powerful technological weapons soon, humanity would be utterly annihilated by these creatures. Five months—just five more months—and humanity’s great counterattack would begin!