031 Base, Core Research Building
“Ridiculous! This is absolutely ridiculous!”
A furious roar nearly lifted the roof off the chief engineer’s office.
Liu Jianguo, the chief radar engineer of Base 031, was trembling with rage.
He clutched a crumpled piece of scrap paper in his hand, gripping it so tightly it looked like he wanted to swallow it whole.
“Where the hell is Xiao Zhan? Get that bastard over here right now!”
Liu Jianguo had a fiery temper to begin with; years of harsh winds and sand in the northwest had turned even the most refined scholar into a walking firecracker.
Pointing at the young soldier who had delivered the paper, he barked, spittle flying everywhere:
“You bring me this trash—paper that’s too stiff to even wipe your ass with—and expect me to take it seriously? What nonsense about increasing radar detection range fivefold… Does he think radar is like green onions growing on the Gobi Desert, that you can just pull them taller whenever you want?!”
The young soldier shrank his neck nervously and snapped to attention with a salute.
“Report, Chief Engineer Liu! Captain Xiao said this was found on that… that female spy during the operation. He asked you to take a look. He also said if it’s fake, he’ll execute her on the spot.”
“Execute my ass!”
Liu Jianguo snorted coldly and glanced down at the scrap paper again.
This time, the anger in his cloudy eyes suddenly froze.
It was an extremely crude circuit diagram.
But to an expert like Liu Jianguo, several of the annotated parameters not only touched on cutting-edge international theories of band interference, they even provided a solution to a formula he had been unable to crack despite racking his brain.
“This… this…”
His hands trembled as he pulled reading glasses from his chest pocket and put them on. He practically leaned over the desk, his nose nearly touching the paper.
“Brilliant… absolutely brilliant!”
“This phased array layout… reduces power loss by at least 40%! Genius! What kind of mind came up with something like this?!”
Liu Jianguo suddenly looked up and grabbed the young soldier by the collar with surprising strength.
“Where is the person who drew this? Where are they?!”
The soldier felt dizzy from being shaken. “In… in the infirmary…”
“Quick! Get a car! No—I’ll run there myself!”
Liu Jianguo shoved the soldier aside. He didn’t even notice the enamel mug knocked off his desk. Carefully, he tucked the precious scrap paper into a folder and clutched it tightly to his chest.
“Fivefold increase? If this actually works, we could see the color of those foreigners’ underwear across the ocean!”
As he dashed out like a madman, the old professor laughed wildly.
“Xiao Zhan, if you dare lay a finger on this living Buddha, I’ll crack your skull open with a radar antenna!”
…
Infirmary, Special Care Ward
Su Yun woke up from hunger.
It wasn’t the kind of hunger that came from an empty stomach—it felt like every single cell in her body was screaming in exhaustion.
The quantum laboratory was frantically draining the last of her energy just to maintain standby mode.
“Warning! Blood sugar at critical level. Please replenish with high-calorie food immediately.”
Su Yun struggled to open her eyes. Her eyelashes felt as heavy as if weights were hanging from them.
It took a while for her vision to focus before she could make out the water stains circling the ceiling.
“You’re awake?”
A low, impatient voice exploded beside her ear.
Su Yun turned her head.
Xiao Zhan sat by the bedside on a wooden chair.
He was idly playing with the “fire poker” confiscated from her, staring at her face as if trying to bore a hole through it.
It was an interrogation stance.
“Start talking.”
He tossed the tube onto the bedside table. “Name, origin, background. And who sent you? Where did you get this thing?”
The man’s presence was overwhelming. The small ward was filled with the scent of gunpowder and raw masculine aggression radiating from him.
An ordinary girl would probably have burst into tears by now.
But Su Yun simply blinked.
Her mind was full of braised pork, twice-cooked pork, and steamed pork with preserved vegetables.
“Hey.”
She spoke, her voice hoarse and soft like a kitten that hadn’t been weaned. “Bodyguard.”
A vein twitched on Xiao Zhan’s brow.
Bodyguard?
This crazy woman really had the nerve.
“I’m Xiao Zhan, captain of the Special Operations Unit of Base 031.”
He leaned forward, his tall figure casting a shadow over her. His tone turned icy. “Not your bodyguard. And don’t try to get close to me. If you’re a spy, I have a hundred ways to make you talk.”
“Oh.”
Su Yun responded half-heartedly.
She braced herself against the bed, trying to sit up.
But her body was too weak. Halfway up, her arms gave out, and she fell back onto the pillow with a heavy thud.
Pain shot through her back like it was splitting apart.
Her already pale face turned almost translucent from low blood sugar.
“I’m hungry.”
Lying there, she stared straight at Xiao Zhan, her tone completely matter-of-fact. “I want meat. Fatty meat. Not lean.”
Xiao Zhan laughed in anger.
He’d seen stubborn ones, and he’d seen those who played dumb—but never someone who ordered food at death’s door.
“This is a military restricted zone, not a state-run restaurant!”
He stood up abruptly, his 1.9-meter frame towering like an iron pillar. “Answer the questions properly! Otherwise, forget meat—you won’t even get rice soup!”
“Grrr—”
Her stomach betrayed her with a loud growl.
Then, without warning, tears welled up in her beautiful almond-shaped eyes.
Large droplets rolled down her cheeks, soaking the pillow instantly.
Su Yun remained expressionless, her gaze still cold, even carrying the pride of a top expert.
But the tears just wouldn’t stop.
This damn tear-prone body!
“You…” Xiao Zhan’s anger instantly felt like it had been doused with ice water.
He hated it when women cried.
It gave him a headache and made him want to kill someone.
“Stop crying!”
He barked, veins bulging on his forehead. “I haven’t even started torture yet!”
Su Yun sniffled. Her delicate face flushed with a sickly redness, making her look even more pitiful.
She pointed at him, her finger trembling. “I want meat. If you don’t give me any… I’ll… I’ll cry myself to death.”
The threat was childish to the point of absurdity.
But paired with her nonstop tears and deathly pale complexion, it somehow carried more impact than that pulse tube.
Xiao Zhan froze in place, fists clenched so tightly they cracked.
He couldn’t hit her, couldn’t scold her—raising his voice seemed like it might send her into shock.
This wasn’t a spy.
This was an ancestor he had to serve!
“Fine.”
He forced the word out through gritted teeth, his expression as fierce as if he were about to storm a bunker. “You want meat? Wait here!”
He turned sharply, creating a gust of wind, and strode toward the door.
At the doorway, he stopped and glared back at her.
“Hold those tears back! If you’re still crying when I get back, I’ll throw you out to feed the wolves!”
“Bang!”
The door slammed shut.
Lying on the bed, Su Yun listened to his heavy footsteps fading away and let out a long breath.
She raised her hand and calmly wiped away her tears, a hint of cunning flashing in her eyes.
As expected.
He looked fierce—but deep down, he was easy to handle.