bioinnovel Chapter 114 Level Up While You're at It
Chapter 114 Level Up While You're at It
The special forces soldiers moved with professionalism and speed, and the black body bags closed like zippers, packing up and taking away those "Night Demon" members who were so arrogant just minutes before.
Li Jianguo stood in the center of the messy laboratory, his chest heaving violently. He looked at the "Ark Reactor" that was being measured by a group of fully armed experts like an ancestor, and then at Bai Che who was fiddling with holographic glasses. He felt his throat go dry.
The order to block information has been issued, and the entire park is now like an ant trapped in an iron bucket, unable to even let a mosquito fly out.
"Bai Che, do you know what this thing means?" Li Jianguo's voice was low, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth. "If Old Zhou wasn't mistaken, you not only rubbed your temples together, you also installed it on... a self-defense device?"
"For self-defense, a higher power is reasonable." Bai Che didn't even look up, his slender fingers tapping lightly in the air, as if playing a silent piano piece. "Director Li, calm down. The physical debris has been swept away, but there are still some digital tails left, which I need to cut off."
"What tail?" Li Jianguo asked subconsciously.
A cold, emotionless smile curled at the corner of Bai Che's lips, his eyes behind his glasses reflecting a line of scarlet code.
"Since someone dares to hand over a knife across the ocean, I have to let him know that network cables can sometimes conduct electricity."
On the retinal projection, the red progress bar representing the tracking progress finally jumped to the final 100%.
……
Queens, New York, USA.
Under a gloomy sky, a cold drizzle was falling. In the basement of an unassuming red brick building in Block 47, the air was filled with the smell of musty paper and expensive whiskey.
Anderson, like a rat scalded by boiling water, frantically stuffed bundles of US dollars and several fake passports with different names from the safe into his black travel bag.
His hands were shaking so badly that he almost dropped his passport on the ground several times.
Just five minutes ago, the face of that young man from the East appeared in his private encrypted channel, his eyes looking at him as if he were looking at a dead man.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
Anderson cursed as he ripped out every visible wire. He violently unplugged the computer power cord, the router, and even the smart coffee machine.
As long as I'm offline, no one can find me.
This was his survival creed, honed over twenty years in the underworld. In this digital age, physical isolation is the ultimate form of invisibility. Even if that Eastern devil possessed extraordinary abilities, could he possibly crawl over on thin air?
"Bang!"
He zipped up his travel bag, grabbed the Glock pistol from the table, tucked it into his waistband, and turned to rush toward the blast-proof electronic door leading to the garage.
Once he gets into that old-fashioned carburetor Mustang without any electronic components, no one can stop him.
Anderson rushed to the door and pressed the mechanical unlock button on the wall.
Nothing happens.
The mechanical locking tongue, which should have made a "click" sound, was now as silent as a stone.
"What's going on? This is an independent power supply!" Anderson's forehead veins bulged as he frantically pounded on the buttons and even slammed his shoulder against the heavy steel door.
Not moving.
Just then, a strange red light suddenly shone in the basement.
It wasn't an alarm light, but rather all the devices equipped with the smart home system—the thermostat, the smart light strip, and even the robot vacuum cleaner with the camera—simultaneously lit up with red status lights.
"Sizzle—"
The central air conditioning vents suddenly roared, and cold air shot out like knives. The numbers on the temperature control panel on the wall jumped wildly, instantly locking onto the "lowest temperature".
The once warm basement turned into an icebox in just a dozen seconds.
Immediately afterwards, the Bluetooth speaker, which Anderson had already unplugged and was now powered only by its built-in battery, suddenly turned on automatically.
There wasn't any scary music playing.
Instead, a clear, slightly teasing male Chinese voice came through, which, after being translated in real time by translation software, became a stiff, cold, electronic synthesized voice.
"Mr. Anderson, according to the second law of thermodynamics, the increase in entropy within a closed system is irreversible. Since you like hiding in the hole so much, I'll help you seal the 'hole' shut."
The sound fluctuated in volume, seemingly coming from all directions.
"Who?! Show yourself!"
Anderson drew his gun in terror and fired three shots at the speaker.
"Bang bang bang!"
Plastic fragments exploded, and the sound abruptly stopped.
But before he could catch his breath, the old-fashioned satellite phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated.
It was a modified Nokia phone specifically designed for escape. Theoretically, it had no intelligent operating system, only the most basic call function.
But at that moment, the two-inch black and white screen lit up instantly, and the battery icon turned into a constantly flashing red skull.
A scorching heat traveled through the fabric to my thighs.
"Fuck!"
Anderson yelled and frantically pulled out his phone, intending to throw it away.
But it's too late.
Fuxi isn't invading the system; it's forcing the battery management chip into overload mode through underlying hardware protocols. Simply put, it's short-circuiting the positive and negative terminals.
"Sizzle—Bang!"
The moment the phone slipped from his hand, the lithium battery burst under the strain.
A blinding spark burst open beside his hand, but it didn't sever his finger. However, the flying chemicals and the intense heat instantly scorched his palm black.
"ah--!"
Anderson screamed and collapsed to the ground.
He looked up, only to see a scene that filled him with even greater despair.
Directly opposite the basement, the 100-inch 8K screen used to monitor global stock markets slowly lit up without being plugged in (it was actually connected to a backup UPS power supply).
There is no image on the screen.
Only a pitch-black background and two huge pixelated fonts dripping with blood:
**GAME OVER**
The image flashed and the screen split in two.
The left-hand split screen shows the surveillance view of the street corner. More than a dozen FBI anti-terrorism armored vehicles with flashing lights have blocked off the entire block, and snipers are taking up high ground.
The right-hand split screen shows an email that is being automatically sent to multiple recipients.
The recipient list included the private email addresses of the godfathers of New York's five major Mafia families, as well as several South American drug lords. The email attachments contained not only Anderson's precise GPS coordinates but also detailed accounts of the enormous commissions he had embezzled from these gangs over the past decade as a middleman.
"No...no! You can't do that!"
Anderson stared at the emails showing "sent successfully" and completely broke down.
Compared to FBI prisons, those mafia-run facilities would let him experience what true hell is like before he dies.
This young man from the East not only locked his door with technology, but also used the knife of information to cut off all his ways of making a living in both the legitimate and criminal worlds!
He wants to make himself the prey of the whole world!
"boom!"
With a loud bang, the blast door was violently blasted open by the SWAT officers outside using a breaching hammer.
"FBI! Don't move! Get down!"
The blinding beam of the tactical flashlight instantly struck Anderson's face.
Under normal circumstances, this shrewd middleman would have tried to resist or hire a lawyer.
But at that moment, looking at the human police officers rushing in, Anderson let out a cry of relief.
He raised his right hand, which was charred black from the explosion, and scrambled toward the SWAT team, his posture as humble as a dog seeing its master.
"Arrest me! Arrest me now! Take me away!"
"That's a demon! That's God's punishment! Don't let him find me! Please take me to jail!"
He roared hysterically, tears streaming down his face, as if some man-eating beast was lurking in this luxurious basement.
This scene, captured once again by the body camera on the SWAT officer's chest, traveled halfway around the world via wireless network and appeared in that dark underground laboratory.
……
"Done."
Bai Che snapped his fingers, and the holographic projection in mid-air instantly vanished.
The bounty poster, which had been hanging on the dark web for less than 24 hours and was valued at $200 million, turned gray instantly after the poster's account funds were completely wiped out by this operation, and was then marked with a conspicuous "VOID" label.
"After-sales service is over. Now no one should be foolish enough to bother us while we're doing our experiments."
Bai Che took off his glasses, casually put them in his pocket, rubbed his slightly sore wrists, and spoke in a relaxed tone as if he had just finished playing a game of Candy Crush.
The entire laboratory was deathly silent.
Apart from the faint sounds of special forces soldiers carrying equipment in the distance, there was only the sound of Li Jianguo's rapid breathing.
The old general stared at Bai Che, his eyes filled with an extremely complex expression.
If the earth-shattering "repulsive impact" just now demonstrated this young man's destructive physical strength, then the "remote killing" over the past few minutes has completely exposed his software hegemony in the online world, where he holds the power of life and death like a god.
Is this the war of the new era?
No need for gunfire, no need for troops, just a few keystrokes can make a seasoned underworld tycoon kneel and beg for mercy thousands of miles away.
"You..." Li Jianguo opened his mouth, but all his words turned into a bitter laugh. "You brat, if anyone messes with you in the future, will even the smart toilet in the house rebel?"
"Director Li, you're joking. I have professional ethics," Bai Che said righteously. "Unless they tamper with my power switch first."
Su Wanqing, who was standing to the side, finally relaxed from her tense state.
She looked at the man in front of her. He still had that lazy and casual look, and he was still wearing that ordinary white shirt, but in her eyes, his figure had become taller and more unfamiliar than ever before.
Is this the world he's been hiding all along?
Is this what he calls "a little invention"?
Su Wanqing took a deep breath and walked to Bai Che's side. She didn't speak, but simply reached out her hand, her fingertips trembling almost imperceptibly, and gently touched the now-extinguished reactor shell on Bai Che's chest.
The metal felt slightly cool, but it didn't have that unsettling radiant sensation I'd felt before.
On the contrary, in this basement where she had experienced life-or-death moments, this small ring gave her an indescribable sense of security.
"Are you alright?" Bai Che took her hand in his, his palm dry and warm.
"It's nothing." Su Wanqing shook her head, her eyes slightly red, but she forced a calm smile that should be appropriate for a senior student and future CEO. "I just feel... I might have to enroll in a physics tutoring class, otherwise I won't even know how to use the gift you gave me in the future."
As she spoke, she pointed to the hexagonal pendant around her neck that had saved her life.
Bai Che chuckled. He then took off the "portable arc reactor" that was attached to his chest with a magnetic attachment.
This action instantly startled several experts who were scanning for radiation levels, causing them to take three steps back. Li Jianguo's eyelids twitched uncontrollably.
That's a nuclear reactor!
That's a monster filled with plasma at hundreds of millions of degrees!
You're holding it like it's a brick?!
Bai Che weighed the heavy palladium element core in his hand, as if he were tossing an ordinary tennis ball.
"Director Li, don't be so nervous. The confinement magnetic field is very stable; it's just like a large power bank."
Li Jianguo's lips twitched as he stared intently at the "power bank," his voice hoarse: "Bai Gong, Bai Zuzong, this thing of yours... must be sealed immediately. If this thing gets out, the world order will change."
"It needs to be addressed."
Bai Che nodded, seemingly agreeing with Li Jianguo's statement.
He turned around, glanced at the destroyed ventilation ducts above his head, then at the devastated laboratory, and a signature Versailles smile, the kind that makes people grit their teeth in hatred, appeared on his face.
"I fired a few shots just now to swat a few flies. Although it only used 0.1% of the energy, the feeling of having to be so careful with my money to save electricity is really annoying."
Bai Che sighed, toying with the nuclear fusion core in his hand, his tone wistful:
"Director Li, senior, look, this thing is small, but its output power is actually a bit excessive. If it hadn't been controlled properly just now, half of Hefei might have experienced a power outage."
"Using it only as a self-defense weapon or to power machine tools is indeed a waste of its potential. It's like using a J-20 to deliver packages, which is too wasteful."
Li Jianguo sensed something was amiss in the conversation and a sense of foreboding arose within him: "What do you want to do?"
Bai Che raised his head, and a light called "ambition" shone in his clear eyes.
He waved the miniature sun in his hand and said in a relaxed tone, as if discussing what to have for dinner:
"Since everyone thinks this thing is dangerous and that electricity is too expensive, then in order to avoid future power outages and not have to worry about running out of energy..."
"How about we collaborate and upgrade the national power grid while we're at it?"
"I don't have any other requests, just to replace all those coal-fired power plants with these. That way, whether we're charging our phones, operating machine tools, or building a space carrier or something, we won't have to worry about power outages anymore, don't you think?"
"Clatter".
The military-grade, drop-resistant tactical walkie-talkie in Li Jianguo's hand slipped from his grasp once again and crashed heavily to the floor.
This time, he really didn't hold on tight.
Upgrading... the State Grid?!
This kid calls this "just doing it on the spur of the moment"?!
The surrounding experts were dumbfounded, their mouths agape as if they had heard something unbelievable. But looking at the ring that shimmered with a ghostly blue halo, they felt as if a fire was stuck in their throats, burning hot.
Phase out thermal power plants?
Unlimited energy?
If someone else had said that, they would have spat at him and called him crazy.
But the person in front of me just used this thing to blast a top mercenary squad into dust.
Su Wanqing couldn't help but chuckle when she saw Bai Che's "I'm just offering a small suggestion" expression.
The last bit of fear she had of the unknown vanished at that moment.
This is the Bai Che she knows.
Speaking the most terrifying words in the calmest tone.
"It seems," Su Wanqing said softly, her gaze fixed intently on the man beside her, "that our new company's business scope will be changed from 'smart home' to 'saving the planet'?"
Bai Che shrugged: "You could say that. After all, electricity is indeed quite expensive on Earth."