Chapter 205: Steel & Synergy

The quiet hum of the ventilation system was punctuated by the metallic clink of tools. Inside the small medical bay, the sterile scent of rubbing alcohol mixed with the sharp, industrial tang of lubricant and heated solder.

Ah Hua sat upright on the edge of his cot, his shoulders squared, staring intently at a digital pad resting on the bedside table. On the screen was a detailed schematic: a heavy-duty, modular mechanical forearm constructed from matte-black composite plating, fitted with reinforced hydraulic pistons and high-torque joint servos designed to clamp directly onto his remaining elbow structure.

"The frame itself is simple," Jiang Feng explained, leaning over the table with a stylus in hand, gesturing toward the internal wiring diagram. "We anchor the socket casing securely over the cauterized stump using high-density silicone liners and tension bands. The artificial joint will interface directly with your upper arm muscle twitches using localized neural sensors. It won’t give you back human feeling, Ah Hua, but it will let you lock a heavy weapon frame back into place with absolute stability."

Dr. Zhou adjusted her glasses, nodding in agreement. "The tissue is healing remarkably fast, thanks to Lin Qing’s clean cauterization. There’s no infection, and the muscle tone in your upper arm is strong. If we can assemble this harness within the week, you can begin physical therapy immediately."

Ah Hua ran his left hand over the digital display, his thumb tracing the bold, aggressive lines of the mechanical forearm. For the first time since the siege, the heavy, somber gloom hanging over his face visibly lifted. His jaw set into a familiar, resolute line.

"How soon can you build it?" Ah Hua asked, his raspy voice carrying a sharp edge of renewed purpose. "I don’t plan on sitting in this cot watching the monitoring screens while everyone else holds the perimeter."

Jiang Feng crossed his arms, letting out a quiet breath. "The casing and neural sensors are already prepped in the workshop. The problem is the load-bearing joint servos. Standard steel will shear under the recoil of a heavy belt-fed machine gun. We need high-tensile titanium alloys and high-grade shock-dampening relays."

"And the only place nearby that has those specific components intact is the old surface maintenance shed across the upper gorge", Dr Zhou added.

Lin Qing stepped into the doorway, having overheard the conversation from the corridor. "The maintenance shed outside the primary perimeter?"

"That’s the one," Dr Zhou replied, turning to face her. "It was used as a heavy equipment staging area when the Research Center was first expanded underground. If those components are still in the storage crates, I can have Ah Hua’s combat harness fully operational in a short amount of time."

Lin Qing looked at Ah Hua, seeing the unspoken plea in the big soilder’s eyes. She gave a single, decisive nod. "We’ll secure the material today."

---

Before organizing the surface run, Lin Qing descended to the makeshift indoor training facility. The vast, high-ceilinged room was cold and silent.

Standing in the center of the reinforced concrete floor were four small figures: Han Ye, Gu An, Su Xiao, and Xiao Mei. They wore clean, dark jumpsuits, standing in a neat, disciplined line with their shoulders back.

Lin Qing walked up to them, stopping a few paces away. Han Zheng stood beside her, his arms folded over his broad chest as he observed the children.

"During the breach yesterday," Lin Qing began, her voice calm and authoritative, echoing off the high walls, "you four didn’t just survive. You effectively locked down an active threat without any of you getting hurt. You proved that your awakenings, when coordinated, are a formidable defensive asset."

Gu An straightened her posture, a subtle flash of pride crossing her face, while Su Xiao and Xiao Mei listened intently. Han Ye remained motionless, his dark eyes calm and unreadable.

"Starting today," Lin Qing continued, "you are officially designated as ’Squad Zero’—the Research Center’s reserve defense unit. You are no longer just children being protected inside these walls; you are an active part of this base’s security structure."

She turned her gaze directly to Han Ye. "Han Ye, you will act as the squad leader during engagements. Your shadow control provides the primary battlefield control and mobility anchoring. Gu An will manage point defense with her forcefield. Su Xiao will handle medium-range kinetic suppression with telekinesis. Xiao Mei will control area lockdown with frost."

Han Ye stepped forward, giving a small, precise nod. "Understood, mother."

"Today’s drill is about energy efficiency and synergy," Lin Qing instructed, gesturing toward the training targets set up across the room. "In a real fight, overlapping your powers carelessly will drain your stamina in minutes. I want to see sequential deployment. Gu An shields first, Xiao Mei locks the ground, Su Xiao displaces the targets, and Han Ye secures the flank."

For the next half an hour, Lin Qing and Han Zheng walked the children through disciplined drills. Under Lin Qing’s sharp guidance, the kids refined their timing, learning to call out energy limits and swap positions seamlessly without wasting a single movement.

---

By late afternoon, the biting mountain wind was howling outside the heavy surface blast gates.

Lu Feng, Marcus, and Guo Jiong stepped out into the gorge. They wore thermal tactical suits over their body armor, carrying assault rifles equipped with high-powered scopes.

"Keep your eyes on the high ridges," Lu Feng ordered through the comms channel, his voice crisp and clear over the radio static. "Visibility is dropping fast with the mountain fog rolling in."

The team moved in a tight tactical V-formation across the narrow access bridge spanning the gorge. Their destination, the surface maintenance shed, was a low-profile structure built directly into the base of a towering, sheer granite cliff face three hundred yards outside the main perimeter wall.

Due to the overhang of the massive rock face, the maintenance shed sat in a natural visual dead zone—an area completely obscured from the base’s high-altitude camera towers and automated thermal optics modules mounted on the upper command deck.

"Reaching the dead zone," Marcus reported, sweeping his rifle barrel left and right as they approached the rusted corrugated steel doors of the shed. "Surveillance feed is blind here. Stay sharp."

Guo Jiong pulled a heavy hydraulic crowbar from his back frame, wedging the wedge into the frozen seam of the sliding door. With a heavy grunt, he leveraged his physical strength, snapping the rusted lock pin with a sharp ’CRACK’.

The door slid open with a screech of grinding metal, revealing the dark, dust-covered interior of the maintenance depot. Rows of wooden crates, heavy machinery parts, and industrial shelving stood frozen in time.

"Dr Zhou said the titanium relays are in the blue storage lockers at the back," Lu Feng said, stepping inside with his weapon raised, his flashlight cutting through the thick gloom. "Marcus, secure the perimeter outside. Guo Jiong, grab the crates."

"Got it," Guo Jiong said, rushing toward the rear shelving unit with a heavy duffel bag.

While Guo Jiong began hauling the heavy metal component boxes from the shelves, Lu Feng walked around the outer perimeter of the interior wall, inspecting the structural integrity of the mountain rock backing the shed.

As his flashlight beam swept across the far corner where the corrugated steel met the raw granite cliff, Lu Feng suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.

"What is it, Captain?" Marcus asked over the comms from the doorway.

Lu Feng didn’t answer immediately. He raised his left hand, signaling for silence, and stepped closer to the shadowed rock face.

Deep in the dark recess behind the rear storage rack, hidden completely from the entrance and tucked deep inside the surveillance blind spot, the solid granite cliff face was violently scarred.

Three massive, parallel claw gouges were carved clean into the dense stone. Each groove was over four inches deep, tearing through solid rock like soft clay, stretching over six feet vertically down the wall. The edges of the rock fractures were fresh, unweathered by snow, and dusted with a faint, crystalline residue that glowed with a dull, sickening blue hue under the flashlight’s beam.

Lu Feng reached out with his gloved hand, gently running his fingers along the edge of the deepest gouge. The sheer force required to tear through solid granite of that density was beyond anything a standard crawler or even a yellow-core variant possessed.

This wasn’t the work of a mindless beast crashing through a vent. This was a deliberate, calculating mark left by an entity that had stood inside this blind spot, observing the base’s perimeter layout from the shadows without tripping a single alarm.

Guo Jiong walked over, holding two heavy steel cases filled with titanium relays. "Captain, I got the parts for Ah Hua’s—"

Guo Jiong froze as his eyes followed the beam of Lu Feng’s flashlight onto the scarred rock wall. The blood visibly drained from his face. "What the hell made those?"

Lu Feng lowered his hand, his expression hardening into a cold, grim one.

"Pack the gear," Lu Feng commanded softly, his voice dead calm as he stepped back toward the entrance. "We’re returning to the command hub immediately."