Back when they were running remote-control experiments, Parfice Zade had already told Zhu Ming straight up: with electromagnetic signals all scrambled these days, even using Obscura-Tech communication can barely keep up short-range contact. Besides, this machine was never really built for remote control anyway. So if you want to unlock its full potential, there’s only one way—turn yourself into a cyborg.
The base under the Huangpu River made heavy use of Obscura-Tech. To the untrained eye, this stuff looked just like regular products—like someone wasted their time reinventing the wheel. But once the Black Veil rolled in, it was clear who was on top. When the subway ground to a halt, this base could still mostly run like normal. The Black Veil made everything else go haywire, but the Obscura-Tech materials and gadgets inside the base stayed exactly the same.
Honestly, not even Dave and the other researchers expected Obscura-Tech devices to work this well. In this bizarre, unpredictable environment, what used to feel like a cold, sterile bunker suddenly turned into the warmest, safest place you could imagine.
At the very least, in this brightly lit base, you could still feel a hint of modern human civilization.
Let’s skip all the petty details and chit-chat, cut out the drama and inner monologues, and fast-forward past all the stuff that would make this story drag on forever. Here’s what went down:
Ten minutes later, Zhu Ming was wheeled into a sterile operating room. Stripped bare, he was strapped onto the surgical table, even his forehead locked in place with a metal ring. He darted his eyes around and saw Dave and Parfice Zade approaching. Both of them wore latex gloves and gave him that classic scientist-staring-at-a-lab-rat look.
Honestly, that look was kind of terrifying.
But right now, he didn’t really have a choice.
After external scans and a self-check from his internal nanocore, his limbs were a lost cause, and even his organs had ruptures and punctures. Even though the nanobot swarm could repair some damage, this body wasn’t making it through the night—not unless he ditched a few organs along the way.
“How far are you going to take this?” Zhu Ming’s feelings right now were... complicated. He tried to look at his hands and feet, but couldn’t see a thing. There was just no way to describe how he felt. “Which organs are you swapping out?”
"Well..." Dave hesitated, trying to find a polite way to say it, but Parfice Zade cut him off, blunt as ever: "Stop hoping for a miracle. Your body is way too weak. A psychic could bypass your NanoArmor and attack you directly, leaving you wishing you were dead. Gear is just borrowed power—you need to reinvent yourself from the inside out! Forget organs, you won’t even keep your skull or eyeballs!"
Dave quickly explained, "Mr. Zhu Ming, the plan is to transplant your entire brain into a specially designed container, then hook you up directly to the RoboCop Exosuit. No worries, the data shows you’re a great match for the suit, so rejection shouldn’t be a problem." As he spoke, he drew a line on Zhu Ming’s forehead with a special pen—probably marking where they'd make the incision.
"Oh, and," Dave added casually, "to keep your mind sharp, we can’t use any anesthesia for this procedure."
"Just the brain, huh..." Zhu Ming felt a little out of it, suddenly thinking of that old "brain in a vat" scenario. A wave of deep sadness washed over him, and he looked at Parfice Zade, pleading: "Can’t you... let me keep something?"
"Keep what? You mean your family jewels?" Parfice Zade looked at Zhu Ming’s naked body like he was just another lab animal: "Half-full bottles never reach the top—if you really want, I can give you a stainless steel replacement. You want it?"
"Half-full bottles never reach the top..." Zhu Ming muttered, finally letting out a resigned sigh. "Alright, just do it."
"Now that’s more like it." Parfice Zade also took out a pen and drew a few lines on Zhu Ming’s cheekbones and nasolabial folds. Her voice was still icy, but what she said next surprised Zhu Ming: "Dave, keep this face. Transplant the original onto the Biochemical Base body."
"That’s going to make things a lot harder..."
"Do it my way."
"Yes, ma'am."
A face is the most important element in a person's self-identity. Parfice Zade’s move gave Zhu Ming a huge psychological comfort. She crushed his hopes to rock bottom, then gave him a little slack. That emotional whiplash left Zhu Ming feeling unexpectedly grateful. He stared at Parfice Zade, dumbfounded: "You..."
"Enough talk. Let’s get started!"
Vrrr— The electric saw spun at full speed. Blood splattered, screams echoed. Parfice Zade went to work—ruthless, precise, and merciless. In her red eyes, there was nothing but iron will—no pity, no sympathy.
Thirty minutes later, Parfice Zade walked out of the operating room. She peeled off her rubber gloves, her isolation gown speckled with blood, looking like she’d just come from a slaughterhouse. At the door, a researcher approached to report the latest updates.
"How’s it going?"
"Not good," the researcher replied honestly. "Even Obscura-Tech devices using neutrino communication are completely cut off from the outside world. Visually, it looks like the Black Veil is thinning out—the air’s clearer, visibility’s up, seems like the fog’s fading. But after running every test we’ve got, it’s actually the opposite. No matter what we try, none of our Obscura-Tech products can affect the Black Veil at all."
All bad news. But Parfice Zade just raised an eyebrow: "Our side? So, someone else has a way to mess with the Black Veil?"
"Exactly. It’s wild, but China’s Demon Revealing Plan produced a high-powered emitter that’s the only thing so far that can mess with the Black Veil." The researcher was clearly frustrated but had to admit: "This time, they beat us to the punch."
Meanwhile, somewhere else in the city...
"Whew~~~ That was close, real close! Good guys never last, but troublemakers live forever. I really thought I was done for, but I actually made it through." Cobra exaggerated his tone and threw in some sarcastic quips: "Who would’ve thought, right? Almost got taken out by my own team—backstabbed, literally! Hey, do you think if one of them bit me, I’d turn into one of those freaks too?"
"Sir, please don’t joke like that!" The attendant was still dressed as a waiter, but now he had an ammo belt strapped on and a gun in his hand. "Sir, what do we do about this?" He pointed his gun at a humanoid creature twitching on the ground.
That humanoid used to be a regular person—one of Cobra’s own men. But just now, his skin suddenly crawled with black markings and he started convulsing, lunging at Cobra. The attendant reacted fast, fired a few shots, and broke the guy’s limbs, dropping him to the floor.
"What do we do? With a specimen this good, of course we study it first!" Cobra didn’t seem scared at all—danger and infection just weren’t on his radar. He crouched down, eyes gleaming, poking and prodding the creature: "Oh ho, look! The features are all blurred, the nose and eyes have turned into lumps of flesh. The body’s changed shape, muscles and bones are all rearranged. High muscle tone, lots of explosive power, but poor control—keeps twitching even when it’s just moving around. Now, what’s inside? Time to cut it open and see!"
Under the attendant’s pained stare, Cobra casually pulled out a scalpel and started slicing open the creature.
"When it’s wounded, it leaks black-red fluid—probably its blood. The organs inside have mutated too, shrunk down, turned darker, and some weird tissue fills the gaps. Okay, initial observations done. Now let’s check its breathing, digestion, circulation, immunity..."
Cobra was in full mad scientist mode—every time he muttered something, he yanked a few parts out of the "thing." Slimy bits flew everywhere, and even the trained attendant felt nauseated. The rest of the crew instinctively stepped back a couple of paces.
"No matter what kind of injury it takes, this thing never makes a sound. I’ve been hacking away and it doesn’t even scream. Either these things are hardcore beyond belief, or they’re born mute. Last point—contagion." Cobra’s eyes suddenly lit up as he glanced at the attendant.
The attendant recoiled in horror: "Hey, I just saved your life!"
"Tch, no sense of sacrifice at all. Well, guess we’ll have to mark that as ‘unknown’ and wait for more data." Cobra wiped the black-red goo off his hands and stood up, summarizing: "Anyway, these things are still a lot like humans—hurt them, they bleed; kill them, they die. Their weak spots aren’t much different from ours."
"Sir, more of those things are coming—evacuate now!" One of the crew called out nervously as, from the thick fog, a crowd of twitching dark figures started closing in, hands outstretched, mouths open. Just a quick glance showed there were a lot of them.
"Tch, they’ve got no eyes or nose, but they can still track us this close?" Cobra grumbled. "Tell everyone—strategic retreat!"
"Yes, sir!" The attendant replied, quickly packing up while glancing at the gear with awe. "I never thought the Demon Revealing Mirror could actually disperse the Black Veil—this is a game changer! Sir, how does it work? Can we use it to fix this crisis?"
That’s right—they were in a small park. Inside one of the statues, a special device from the Demon Revealing Plan had been installed. The plan’s gear came in two flavors: first, the high-powered emitter, codenamed "Demon Revealing Mirror"—super energy-hungry and basically immobile. Second, the cool Specter Ring Cobra flashed last time, which is portable.
And it was the Demon Revealing Mirror’s radiation that pushed back the Black Veil—working even better than Xiao Jingzhe’s Holy Light aura! The whole park was suddenly clear, and everyone felt way safer.
"No clue how it works, but as for solving the crisis... Well, who knows how many Demon Revealing Mirrors are actually activated across the city? Even if they all were, for refugees, it’s hard to say if these things are a blessing or a curse." Cobra adjusted his glasses, a wicked grin spreading across his face, making the attendant shiver. "Ever heard the story of the Three Little Pigs? Remember, the Big Bad Wolf’s already here—but plenty of folks would rather play dumb pig than face the truth..."