NOVEL WEB Chapter 60: The Underground Level of ME Corp
After returning to Fire Moth, Chen Ran first went to the First Research Institute, where Blanca was waiting for his physical data.
Every time he was measured, Chen Ran would always complain to Blanca: "I think no one knows my body better than Dr. Mobius now; my privacy is gone."
To this, Blanca only chuckled: "It's okay; the doctor doesn't mind this."
"So, even in Fire Moth, there is still no gender equality, right?"
He sighed, as if resigned to being a champion of equality.
Blanca smiled and said, "You don't need to worry about that."
"What do you mean?"
"The doctor originally handled the data related to you personally, but you should know that the doctor is a bit lazy, so for a while, it was other assistants studying your body and improving their knowledge," Blanca's eyes held a hint of teasing.
Chen Ran: "Other assistants? Blanca Senior, you can't be talking about…"
"That's right, including the two girls, Nuwa and Fuxi."
Upon hearing this news, Chen Ran felt utterly disheartened.
Nuwa and Fuxi were the two newcomers who had just joined Fire Moth last week.
Unlike Chen Ran and Kevin, who were victims of Honkai, they were able to join Fire Moth entirely because of the Shenzhou government.
The Third Honkai Eruption affected the entire East Asia, causing all countries in that region to tremble.
Shenzhou's Canghai City was affected, putting Shenzhou in a state of extreme unease. To quickly enhance Shenzhou's ability to respond to Honkai, the higher-ups sought out Fire Moth.
It was unclear what promises were made between the two parties, but the result was that Fuxi and Nuwa came to the First Research Institute.
Mobius wanted to refuse, as it was clear that these two would not be easy to manage.
However, when the Shenzhou representatives promised to fund the First Research Institute with 1.1 billion dollars annually in the names of Fuxi and Nuwa, Mobius's expression changed.
Who would turn down money?
Especially when this money would go directly into Mobius's account.
Even if it meant raising two useless girls, it was worth it.
In fact, Fuxi and Nuwa, who were highly anticipated by Shenzhou, were not useless; they were geniuses who had obtained degrees in the Mu Continent. According to Blanca's IQ tests, their memory and logical reasoning abilities were on par with the researchers within Fire Moth, lacking only experience.
Moreover, the Shenzhou people inserted into the research institute were not limited to Fuxi and Nuwa; almost every research institute had new faces from Shenzhou. Even when the Shenzhou representatives heard that Chen Ran was also from Shenzhou, they specifically sought him out, intending to win him over and bring him back to Shenzhou.
However, Mobius now treated Chen Ran as a treasure, so she naturally would not let that happen.
But because of this relationship, he was entrusted with taking good care of Fuxi and Nuwa.
And these two…
Not to mention their abilities, their personalities had given Chen Ran a rather unpleasant experience.
They were a bit naive.
"Forget it, I'll leave all this to 666 to handle."
Chen Ran did not mind being treated as a research subject without privacy, as it was only a matter of time.
In the research institute, only fools would still care about so-called dignity; after a Honkai event, anything other than survival was unimportant.
In comparison, he was more concerned about needing to conduct simulations.
After two weeks of training in the first team, combined with Mobius's drugs, he believed this simulation would go very smoothly.
After leaving the First Research Institute, he headed to the engineering department to deliver the weapon.
The weapon Vill-V provided him was not something he could use however he wanted; according to this magician, it still needed further iteration and upgrades.
To be honest, it was quite useful, but based on its current strength, this wind pressure gun would likely fall behind in future versions.
He looked at the girl in front of him and couldn't help but recall the enchanting scene in the depths.
Chen Ran instinctively pushed aside other emotions and said, "I've returned from the battlefield, fulfilling my duty without disgrace, and I didn't let this weapon down."
Vill-V raised an eyebrow: "I already know the data, but right now, compared to the weapon, I want you more."
Chen Ran suddenly made a vigilant gesture: "What are you going to make me test again?"
The girl in work clothes smiled brightly: "Don't worry, it won't take much time."
Chen Ran had been tormented by Vill-V for two days, leaving him completely drained.
He felt utterly weak, even to the point of trembling at the sight of Vill-V.
His legs felt a bit wobbly.
So why did the recoil from the weapon she designed have to be so strong?
Fortunately, the two days passed quickly, and he finally returned to the First Research Institute. After reviewing his latest physical data, he was ready for the simulation.
…
…
Once back in the simulation scene, Chen Ran instinctively let out a sigh of relief.
Previously, he had come here to investigate ME Corp, bringing Raiden Mei, Kiana, Wendy, and Bronya to engage in battle.
Due to the consumption of consciousness from using the Herrscher's authority, he had to exit the scene.
Although half a month had passed in reality, it felt like a long time to him.
Only when he saw Wendy's face could he snap back to reality.
"Hey, stop staring; you're making her shy."
Kiana teased: "By the way, you don't have any thoughts about the little girl, do you?"
At this moment, ME Corp was in ruins due to the battle. Sin had already escaped with Bronya, and everyone wanted to pursue them, but Chen Ran stopped them.
He helplessly said: "Yeah, at such a young age, she's so impressive; she will surely achieve great things when she grows up. Of course, I want to think about hugging her leg in advance."
He playfully winked at Wendy: "How about we grab a meal or catch a movie after the mission?"
To Chen Ran and Kiana's surprise, a hint of struggle appeared on Wendy's face.
After a long while, she asked, "Can we change the meal to ice cream?"
Kiana was dumbfounded: "No way."
"Little Wendy, don't be fooled."
Chen Ran winked: "It would be an honor."
He initially didn't understand, but now he probably realized. At this moment, Wendy was likely the type who was oblivious to the outside world, focused solely on the training ground.
She was only thinking about training and surpassing Durandal, completely unaware of the harsh realities of society.
Indeed, he was too wicked.
The overlooked Raiden Mei coughed: "I think we should still be focusing on the task at hand."
Chen Ran nodded in response: "Indeed."
He felt a bit regretful.
He had thought he could find some clues at ME Corp, which was why he rushed here. But if he had known that Cocolia and Bronya were here, he should have been better prepared.
But now, it's actually not too late.
For Chen Ran, not catching Cocolia was an unexpected turn of events, but for Cocolia, directly clashing with Schicksal was also an unexpected situation.
Although he didn't know why Raiden Mei was taken away before Cocolia injected her with the core, regardless of Cocolia's intentions, her ultimate goal was still Raiden Mei.
So, as long as they could protect Raiden Mei, everything would be fine.
However, to quickly end this scene, they still needed to find the key items.
Chen Ran wouldn't subconsciously drag out the scene just because Wendy was present.
He always knew when to do what.
Just as he was pondering where to find something suitable, Wendy suddenly spoke up, "There's a passage leading underground. Should we go in?"
"Underground?" Raiden Mei was taken aback. "ME Corp doesn't have a basement."
She had been to ME Corp before, but she had never heard of a basement existing.
Chen Ran replied, "Let's go down and take a look. This might be your father's secret."
…
…
The basement of ME Corp was vast.
Wendy, having learned estimation, quickly assessed that the area was at least four thousand square meters. And such a large space was entirely maintained by small robots.
Clearly, Raiden Ryoma had arranged this place to be so secretive, it must be an important location for ME Corp.
However, all the robots here were out of operation, likely indicating that Cocolia had already gotten here first.
Thinking of this, Chen Ran didn't hold out much hope.
"This should be the Titan production line of ME Corp, with materials piled up here. But the important task is still to find the expected location for the Honkai Energy reactor; everything else is not important."
He reminded Wendy while attempting to connect to the network.
After the last simulation ended, the system provided him with knowledge about computers, which was just what he needed.
This system seemed to know exactly what he lacked the most.
Kiana didn't know much about computers, so she was responsible for searching for special items within this place. Chen Ran instructed her to bring over anything that looked special.
Although Kiana didn't know much about Anti-Entropy at this time, she was quite lucky!
It was like drawing cards; she always managed to pull gold on a ten consecutive draw.
Wendy was also searching for items, but compared to Kiana's aimless wandering, she was much more focused.
Four thousand square meters was no small area; she had to make the most of her time.
In contrast, Raiden Mei had no specific task.
She just stood there, looking around, somewhat lost.
It was evident that her father, Raiden Ryoma, had hidden many things from her, even causing her impression of him to begin to change.
At that moment, Raiden Mei's gaze fell upon a cabinet.
Her eyes widened slightly in surprise as she saw a katana inside through the transparent acrylic.
The girl's eyes revealed a hint of contemplation as her body unconsciously moved forward.
The cabinet had no obvious opening, tightly sealed. But as soon as Raiden Mei touched the cabinet with her palm, a synthesized voice suddenly announced, "Information entry successful."
"Identity confirmed, Raiden Mei."
"Verification passed, opening now."
The cabinet opened.
Chen Ran, Kiana, and Wendy all paused their actions, watching as Raiden Mei took out the weapon from inside the cabinet.
"Plasma Kagehide."
She saw the design document next to the weapon.
And on it, there was only a brief description: The pinnacle masterpiece designed by ME Corp.
Wendy couldn't help but exclaim, "This weapon looks amazing, even better than what I use."
It's worth noting that Wendy was currently an A-rank Valkyrie from the Eastern Branch, using armor that was the third generation standard Valkyrie Armor released by Schicksal, which was already quite advanced.
Although there were rumors of fourth-generation armor from headquarters, it was still just a rumor.
But Wendy felt that even wearing the third-generation Valkyrie Armor, she had to be extremely cautious in the face of this sword.
The strength of a Valkyrie comes from training and equipment, and she felt a bit envious.
Chen Ran smiled, "No worries, when we get back, I'll get you a good one."
After all, he had spent some time with Vill-V. Although he wasn't as skilled in weapon design as Vill-V, it wasn't impossible given sufficient materials.
Wendy's eyes sparkled with anticipation, "Great, great!"
Kiana, on the other hand, seemed to be deep in thought, "Strange, with such a good weapon, why wasn't it taken away?"
"Could it be that they couldn't find this place?"
Kiana's question stumped everyone's minds.
Chen Ran frowned, "To be honest, I don't understand either."
Plasma Kagehide was the highest level weapon designed by Raiden Ryoma, and its value was self-evident.
Since the robots here had stopped, it indicated that Cocolia must have come down, but why was this nearly hidden Plasma Kagehide left behind?
If one were to say Cocolia had a good heart, no one would believe it.
Either Cocolia hadn't had the time to come here, and the person who stopped the robots was Raiden Ryoma.
Or it was Cocolia's deliberate choice.
His mind flashed with many thoughts, but he couldn't grasp the thread of logic.
"Forget it, let's not delve too deeply into it; at least this is a good thing." Chen Ran paused and said, "I just checked the internal network of ME Corp, and there's nothing significant."
"Cocolia hasn't had the chance to set things up yet; this time we've startled the snake in the grass. Let's head back."
…
…
In Europe, Schicksal Headquarters.
Rita stood in front of an office, pressing the doorbell.
A mature man's voice came from inside, "Come in."
It was Otto sitting in the conference room, looking relaxed. "What's the matter?"
"The intelligence personnel from the Eastern Branch have sent news regarding k423 and Raiden Mei."
Rita paused and said, "k423's behavior is all normal, and Raiden Mei also shows no obvious symptoms of discomfort. However, due to our intelligence personnel being overly sensitive, the Nagazora City plan is likely to fail."
Otto narrowed his eyes.
Anti-Entropy needed to carry out the 'Divine Authority Plan,' which also required obtaining an artificial Herrscher.
Raiden Ryoma wanted his daughter to survive, Cocolia needed ample experimental data, and Otto also needed a control experiment as a supplement to the Sirin plan.
In other words, it was the tacit understanding between Schicksal and Anti-Entropy that led to the tragedy of Nagazora City.
But now, this plan had been disrupted by an outsider.
After a long pause, Otto spoke.
"The plan will proceed as usual; we need not intervene. The people from Anti-Entropy will have their own ideas."
"After all, no one has stipulated that a Herrscher must be a specific person. Schicksal is not lacking in partners, nor in opportunities for cooperation."
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