Translator: _Min_ Editor: Caron_
On the morning of May 4th, Jiang Chen t Ms. Monica at the top floor office of Future Building. Although she was also in a black long skirt, compared to their last eting, she was so much thinner that her high cheek bones were even more visible.
It was evident that she had been under high stress which took a toll on her physically and emotionally.
Jiang Chen asked the assistant to change the coffee into hot cocoa.
Monica smiled and nodded to show her appreciation for the boss’ kindness.
Holding the hot cocoa in her hand, she cleared her thoughts and began to report on her work.
“Carn is still missing. We’ve tracked evidence of his whereabouts in the estates of Switzerland, Finland and other places, but we didn’t encounter him. However, when tracing his whereabouts, we intercepted a letter to the Krupp headquarters, which revealed very interesting information.”
“It’s this letter? There are still people who don’t know how to use e-mail in the 21st century.” Picking up the envelope that was already open on the desk, Jiang Chen grinned. “What do these numbers an?”
“A special password.” Monica nodded. “After deciphering it, we found out that this is a cargo transfer docunt.”
“What cargo?”
“The wreckage of the K1 kinetic skeleton, a small portion from Country F, mostly from Ukraine.”
Jiang Chen frowned.
The thing he worried about the most had still happened.
No war could end unscathed. Even with the most advanced technology, the Orbital Airborne Brigades of Celestial Trade still suffered more than 20 casualties.
As the most violent process between two civilizations, war was a thod of learning and influencing both sides. The most direct thod was the tools used to kill. Before the Spaniards landed in the Aricas, the indigenous people still used bows and spears, but in just over a decade, the tribes learned how to use the weapons of civilized people.
That was one of the reasons why Jiang Chen always used power armor and the Tiger II tank as secret weapons, and he never directly entered a battle.
“Did they make any progress?” Jiang Chen asked thoughtfully.
“They reversed engineered the K1 kinetic skeleton to a certain degree and created an exoskeleton code nad ‘Lightning’. But neither the load capacity nor the defensive capability is comparable to our model; it’s more bulky and heavy.”
“But these fakes have been able to defend against light weapons and improve the survivability of soldiers on the battlefield. Am I right?” Jiang Chen looked at Monica, who was hesitant, as he smiled nonchalantly.
“That’s the case.” Monica nodded. “The parts of the ‘Lightning’ exoskeleton produced by the Krupp Group have been delivered to Arrow and shipped to Ukraine for field testing.”
In fact, the military exoskeleton had been around for a decade, but it hadn’t been applied in the real world. With the introduction of Lightning, Jiang Chen could only sigh. Even without the wreckage of the K1 kinetic skeleton, they would sooner or later be able to design exoskeleton equipnt suitable for modern warfare. Celestial Trade only accelerated the tiline.
However, the product was ultimately a fake, and the gap couldn’t be closed in a short ti.
They couldn’t copy neural connection technology and material science research was difficult to reverse engineer. Even knowing the molecular configuration of the K1 kinetic skeleton polyethylene shell, that didn’t an they could replicate the design. The core technology was still controlled by Celestial Trade. As for the chanical chanism and functional design, they could freely copy it if they wished.
Jiang Chen’s fingers gently tapped on the table. After thinking for a mont, Jiang Chen told her. “After a few days, when you go back to Europe, see if you can get the design of the ‘Lightning’. It’d be best to get the weapon test report. We must know their progress at least. As for Carn… Keep an eye on his whereabouts, but don’t let him take all of our attention away.”
“A very challenging task, but I think I can try.” Monica smiled.
It was easier to steal information from Krupp Group than to chase an invisible person.
“I heard you had two things to report. The other thing is?” Jiang Chen then asked.
“When we traced Carn Rothschild, we discovered an underground factory by coincidence. From their products, we found this thing.” Then Monica took out a black ball from her jacket and gently placed it on Jiang Chen’s desk. “They call it the Golden Apple, although it has nothing to do gold. It’s said to be related to the legacy of the Third Reich in World War II, but we haven’t determined any connections.”
“That’s to be expected, because they don’t even know themselves.”
Looking at the Golden Apple, Jiang Chen’s expression was strange. He didn’t expect that after Carn got the Golden Apple from him, he started to produce it at “scale.” The Remnants of the Void told him personally that their connection with this tiline had been cut off.
Even if they produced more “radios”, the station had already closed down.
“I’m very curious… How did they produce this stuff?” Jiang Chen picked up the black ball and examined it carefully
Monica put down the hot cocoa in her hand and answered: “It’s believed that they used embryonic stem cell differentiation technology which contains extracts of primate brain tissue.”
Jiang Chen nodded and put the Golden Apple aside.
“Just leave this here with for now. You can stop the investigation of the Golden Apple for now. It doesn’t have any purpose.”
“But…”
Monica’s expression was hesitant. She felt that there might be so big hidden secret. It would be a pity if she missed any valuable information. However, Jiang Chen knew it was a bottomless pit without any return.
“Do as I say,” Jiang Chen ordered.
“Yes.” Monica bowed her head.
After knocking on the door, the assistant walked in and took away the coffee cup. When she asked if Monica would like another hot cocoa, Monica declined. She had reported all her work and she still need to report to her boss, Ayesha, on New Moon Island.
Jiang Chen entered deep thought as he watched Monica leave.
The EU integration movent was in full swing, and Carn’s whereabouts were still unknown. He couldn’t think of an idea that could track a person’s coordinates, even in the apocalypse.
Just then, Kelvin’s call interrupted his thoughts again.
After picking up, a smile finally ford on his face.
After listening to one piece of bad news and one not-so-bad news, one piece of good news had finally arrived.
The Stingray A-1 sent to the UFO a month ago successfully entered return orbit. Just like they had previously hypothesized, the UFO did co from an unknown higher civilization.
It was good news because, according to the astronauts who perford the mission, the UFO turned out to be wreckage or relic abandoned for many years.
And the most exciting thing was that he also brought back sothing interesting from that flying object.
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