Chapter 233: The Wind Rises

At the same time Homo Sapiens Company began mobilizing its forces.

On the northwestern border of Hongsawaddy.

A mountain peak over a thousand meters above sea level appeared lush and green on the surface, but it hid a secret.

A fully deployed Green Umbrella System made the mountain, named Xiangshan, look indistinguishable from an ordinary forested peak.

But inside, the mountain had been hollowed out to create a cluster of bases. In the internal documents of the Ministry of Defense, it was designated "Xiangshan Fortress."

Xiangshan Fortress was only 11.4 kilometers from the border between Tianzhu and Hongsawaddy, and it was the third-highest peak within a hundred-kilometer radius.

Besides the camouflaged trees of the Green Umbrella System, the summit also had a dozen or so special "large trees," which were actually specially modified magnetic field and pheromone radars.

Its high altitude allowed Xiangshan Fortress’s magnetic field radar to cover the mid-to-high altitudes of the entire Assam State, as well as an ultra-low-altitude area with a radius of about 260 kilometers.

However, due to the numerous mountains and river valleys nearby, some areas had terrain-induced blind spots.

Fortunately, Xiangshan Fortress was not Hongsawaddy’s only radar station on its western border; a network of 18 radar stations of various sizes had been secretly established.

Connected by an internal fiber-optic network, they formed a highly comprehensive three-dimensional surveillance map.

At that moment, inside the underground command center of Xiangshan Fortress.

Base Commander Mang Tieniu, several leaders from the local Foreign Affairs Division, and the recently arrived Yang Mengjiao stood around a holographic map.

Mang Tieniu pointed to a highland area in the eastern part of Meghalaya State. "This is Xilong Airport. It currently hosts five fighter squadrons, along with bombers, electronic reconnaissance aircraft, transport planes, and so on."

"Over here is Sujia City, on the easternmost side of Assam State and the closest to us. A mountain division and a motorized rapid-response regiment are stationed there..."

"This is Darjeeling City in the Siliguri Corridor. It has a mountain division and some airfields..."

Yang Mengjiao listened quietly to Mang Tieniu’s briefing.

After briefing her on the situation in Assam and the surrounding areas, Mang Tieniu went on to describe their own side’s situation.

"On the surface, we only have five township roads connecting to Assam State. But in reality, we’ve built three concealed major roads that reach the vicinity of the northwestern border, with only about two to three kilometers of mountain forest left to clear. Additionally, one underground tunnel has already penetrated about 8.6 kilometers into their territory."

Yang Mengjiao asked, "How long will it take to open them up?"

"As long as things on the other side stabilize, we can open the supply lines within half a month. Otherwise, the people of Tianzhu will discover us."

"I understand." Yang Mengjiao turned and gave some orders to a few of her subordinates.

Soon, some inconspicuous hornets flew toward Assam State and other areas.

「After several days of silence.」

Stirrings of unrest began to surface in the turbulent regions of Assam, but they didn’t attract much attention.

In a forested mountain area about seven kilometers from Xilong Airport.

There was a small mountain village with 34 households.

Seka, who had long since become a New Human employee, had spent over half a year turning the entire village into his territory. He then secretly transferred some of the old, weak, sick, and disabled to Hongsawaddy.

The remaining 81 able-bodied young adults, joined by several hundred New Human employees and Soldiers from Hongsawaddy, used various new technologies to transform the small village into a secret base.

On the surface, it was a dilapidated little village, but underneath, it had become a fully-equipped base.

The hollowed-out underground space was large enough to accommodate 2,000 employees for long-term living.

In Assam and other areas, there were over three hundred such remote mountain villages that Homo Sapiens Company had secretly "invested" in.

Moreover, the New Human employees could perfectly disguise their appearance and language. Coupled with the fact that entire villages were "specially recruited" together, there was no risk of leaks.

As a result, the Foreign Affairs Division had been conducting secret commercial and investment activities here for over two years, and the local people of Tianzhu had still not noticed anything was wrong.

Seka was dressed in the plain cloth attire of a mountaineer, helping harvest corn on a slope, when a young man suddenly ran over with agile movements.

"Big brother, a letter came from Mother," the young man called out in the local dialect.

Seka put down his sickle, a flash of excitement in his eyes, and hurried back with the young man.

In the seemingly ordinary village, a few roguish-looking young men were lounging in the shade of a tree, chatting idly.

These men glanced at Seka but acted as if they hadn’t seen him hurrying back into the village. In reality, they were all sentries.

Back in his house, Seka opened the wooden cellar door in the woodshed, revealing a long, dark staircase leading down. He pressed his palm against a red brick on the side wall.

Instantly, the walls of the staircase tunnel emitted a faint, pale yellow glow. The light came from bioluminescent lichen attached to the walls, powered by replaceable biomass blocks hidden in a compartment within the wall.

If biomass blocks weren’t available, a mixture of pig, cow, and sheep manure with withered branches, dead leaves, and mud, plus some inorganic salt powder, could serve as a temporary substitute.

After descending the ten-meter-plus staircase, he arrived in a basement two meters high and about a dozen square meters in area. Jars and cans were stacked here, mostly containing salt, fertilizer, and cement.

He walked to one of the walls and once again reached out, pressing his hand against it. A biosensor in the wall read Seka’s genetic sequence.

A faint CLICK came from the mechanical lock inside the wall as a dozen bio-kinetic bolt mechanisms rapidly retracted their high-strength alloy bolts.

A methane pneumatic support strut hidden beneath the wall-door began to rapidly release methane from a Crystal Sponge. The released methane gas, difficult to compress, forced the two-ton granite wall-door upward, revealing a passageway.

The passageway beyond was also filled with a bright yellow glow. After Seka stepped inside, the wall-door settled back into its original position.

The walls on both sides of the passage were carved with one-meter-cubed niches. The bioluminescent lichen inside these niches was denser, emitting a light as bright as the sun outside.

The lower half of each niche was a transparent water tank containing a large amount of genetically recombined cyanobacteria, which tirelessly absorbed carbon dioxide and released oxygen.

These transgenic cyanobacteria maintained the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the entire underground space, ensuring it could self-sustain its own oxygen-carbon cycle without needing ventilation from the outside world.

After several minutes of winding through the passages, Seka and the young messenger arrived in another underground room.

They opened their personal lockers, took off their plain clothes and put them inside, then picked up a set of leather-like garments and put them on.

The black, leather-like suit, which looked loose and baggy, seemed to come alive after being put on, automatically tightening to fit their bodies.

He then put on a black vest and cargo pants, a utility belt for auxiliary equipment, and equipped himself with a dagger and a pistol. In an instant, Seka transformed from an ordinary village youth into a combatant.

He went to his office.

The communications team leader handed him a memory-storage earpiece.

After inserting it into his ear, Seka closed his eyes to read its contents. A moment later, he opened them, a smile spreading across his face.

"Headquarters wants us to move immediately. Our mission is to eliminate the threat at Xilong Airport."

"Is it finally starting?" a brawny, bronze-skinned man asked, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

Seka ordered his adjutant, "Notify everyone to assemble at 8 p.m."

"Yes, sir," the adjutant replied with a sharp salute.