Eunuch, do you really know these martial arts?

Inside the medical cabin, the smell of disinfectant mingled with the rhythmic ticking of medical equipment.

Jiang Nian opened his eyes, his eyes adjusting to the soft light. The sharp pain and overwhelming weakness throughout his body immediately pulled him back to reality. He tried to move his fingers, and a tearing pain shot through his back and calves, causing him to groan.

"do not move."

A gentle yet undeniably powerful female voice rang out. Dr. Lin, the medical director in a white coat, was standing by the bed, quickly checking the sensor readings on his body. "The penetrating wound in your back is only two centimeters from your spine, your left calf muscle is torn, your ribs are fractured, and with the severe blood loss and the intrusion of various unknown chemicals, it's a miracle that you were brought back alive."

Jiang Nian opened her mouth, but her throat was dry and she couldn't make a sound.

Dr. Lin held the straw to his lips and let him sip some warm water before continuing, "Chief Bai and General Zhao have been waiting for you to wake up."

Before he finished speaking, the hatch slid open, and Bai Yongxu and General Zhao strode in. Both men wore expressions of undisguised exhaustion, but their eyes burned with a burning intensity.

"How are you feeling?" Bai Yongxu walked to the bedside, his voice low and concerned.

"I won't die." Jiang Nian's voice was hoarse. "The data?"

"We got it!" General Zhao answered excitedly. "The beacon you deployed has transmitted crucial data! We've pinpointed the possible location of Guixu from a radius of fifty kilometers to within five kilometers! It's right in the middle of the Mariana Trench!"

Bai Yongxu chimed in, his gaze sharp: "You've done a great service, Jiang Nian. This intelligence is priceless."

Jiang Nian breathed a slight sigh of relief, his tense mind relaxing a little, only to be immediately overwhelmed by excruciating pain again. He paused for a few seconds before continuing to ask, "Catalyst?"

“We are analyzing it.” Bai Yongxu’s expression turned serious. “The residue we obtained from the cryogenic chamber of the Poseidon, as well as the chemical samples from your body that you brought back, are preliminarily identified as a highly complex bioactive agent. Its mechanism of action is unclear, but it is definitely related to the core experiments of Guixu.”

General Zhao slammed his fist on the metal cabinet beside him, making a dull thud: "These lunatics! What the hell are they up to underwater!"

"And another thing," Jiang Nian said, trying to recall the few words he had overheard in the docking bay, "Dr. Chen mentioned the Sleepers."

“The Sleeper.” Bai Yongxu chewed on the word, his brow furrowed. “This is the second time it’s appeared. Han Dong also vaguely mentioned it during his mental breakdown, calling it taboo.” He looked at Jiang Nian. “What do you think it is? A person? Or something?”

Jiang Nian shook his head, the movement aggravating his wound and causing cold sweat to bead on his forehead: "I don't know. But something that can instill fear in someone like Butcher is no ordinary being. It's very likely inside the Ruins of Return."

A brief silence fell over the medical pod, broken only by the hum of the machines.

“Your body needs time to recover,” Bai Yongxu finally spoke, his tone leaving no room for doubt. “The next reconnaissance and action plan.”

“I’ll participate.” Jiang Nian interrupted him, her eyes calm but firm. “No one knows the situation there better than me. My injury doesn’t affect my brain.”

Bai Yongxu and General Zhao exchanged a glance, both seeing the complexity in each other's eyes. They knew Jiang Nian's value and were also aware of his current state.

“This is not the time to be reckless, Jiang Nian,” General Zhao said in a heavy tone. “We have obtained the precise coordinates, and for the next reconnaissance mission, we can use the Haitong series of deepest-sea submersibles.”

"Can the underwater vehicle evade their defenses?" Jiang Nian countered. "That man in black can easily interfere with or even detect our bionic technology. The defense level of Guixu is only higher. What we get from remote reconnaissance is likely just what they want us to see."

His words silenced the two men once more. Jiang Nian was telling the truth. The organization's technological prowess and counter-surveillance capabilities had repeatedly exceeded their expectations.

"How long will it take you to regain your basic mobility?" Bai Yongxu asked after a moment's thought.

Dr. Lin immediately replied, "Given his current injuries and the progress of toxin removal from his body, it will take at least two weeks before he can engage in light activities, and at least a month to fully recover his combat strength, assuming everything goes smoothly."

"Two weeks." Bai Yongxu looked at Jiang Nian. "Two weeks later, based on the preliminary reconnaissance results, we will formulate the next plan. Until then, your only task is to cooperate with the treatment and recover your body. This is an order."

Jiang Nian knew this was the biggest concession Bai Yongxu could make, and nodded: "Okay."

"Get some rest." Bai Yongxu patted his uninjured shoulder and turned to leave the medical pod with General Zhao.

Over the next few days, Jiang Nian spent her time under strict medical monitoring. She spent most of her time in a state of semi-consciousness or drowsiness, her body slowly repairing itself under the influence of medication and her own powerful recovery abilities.

When he was feeling a little better, he would use an encrypted terminal to access the technical department's in-depth analysis reports on the beacon data.

The ocean basin is between 7,800 and 8,200 meters deep, and the seabed topography is extremely complex, with trenches and hydrothermal vent areas scattered throughout.

The artificial seismic source recorded by the beacon points to a massive underwater cliff at the edge of the basin.

“The geological structure here is very special,” a geological expert explained in a video call, pointing to a 3D model. “This cliff is mainly composed of high-density basalt, with a large number of cavities and cracks inside. Theoretically, it could easily accommodate a large artificial facility. Moreover, this type of rock has a natural shielding effect against various detection signals.”

"What about defense?" Jiang Nian asked, his voice clearer than a few days ago.

“Troublesome,” the technician in charge of defense analysis replied. “Through multispectral satellite remote sensing, we discovered that there are phenomena on the sea surface in this area that cannot be explained by natural phenomena, suggesting that there is a large, continuously operating underwater heat source. At the same time, the passive sonar array detected unnatural harmonic components in the background noise of this area, which is suspected to be an active sonar shielding layer.”

"So, if we get close, we're likely to be discovered immediately?" Jiang Nian frowned.

"The probability is over 80%," the technician admitted. "Their anti-submarine and reconnaissance network is very sophisticated. Unless we can find a blind spot in their network, or force them to open a door on their own initiative."

Jiang Nian seemed to be deep in thought.

The docking platform of the Poseidon is a door.

A few days later, Jiang Nian was able to get out of bed briefly with the help of medical staff. He refused to use a wheelchair and insisted on walking slowly on his own. Every step was accompanied by excruciating pain and cold sweat, but his eyes remained firm.

That afternoon, Bai Yongxu came to the medical ward again, his expression even more solemn than before.

“We’ve hit a bottleneck.” He cut to the chase, handing Jiang Nian a briefing. “The results of our biological analysis of the catalyst are in. It’s an extremely complex gene regulator that can greatly stimulate cell activity and may guide genes to express or mutate in a specific direction.”

Jiang Nian looked at the complex molecular formulas and obscure biological terms on the report, and finally his gaze fell on the words in the conclusion column: "Suspected to be related to the directed activation of the ancestral gene sequence."

“It’s the progenitor gene again.” Jiang Nian put down the briefing. “What do they want to do with this catalyst? Mass-produce so-called new humans?”

"I'm afraid it's not that simple." Bai Yongxu shook his head. "Lin Wanxing, under the continuous psychological offensive and limited drug assistance, has recently relented. She provided a crucial piece of information."

Jiang Nian looked up at Bai Yongxu. "She said that within the organization, the ultimate goal of Guixu is called the Cradle."

"cradle?"

“A cradle that nurtures new life.” Bai Yongxu said in a low voice, “but she didn’t know exactly what it referred to. She had only vaguely heard that a key was needed to activate the cradle, and that the Sleepers were the guardians of the cradle.”

These fragmented pieces of information piece together a more perplexing and unsettling picture.

"What about Han Dong and the butcher?" Jiang Nian asked.

“Han Dong’s mental state is extremely unstable, and the interrogation is progressing slowly.” Bai Yongxu sighed. “His willpower far exceeds our expectations, and conventional methods have limited effect. Moreover, he seems to have a kind of distorted awe of the sleepers, preferring to endure great pain rather than talk much.”

The clue seems to have been broken again.

“We don’t have much time left.” Jiang Nian looked out the window at the simulated sunlight inside the base. “The organization has failed in the Wind Catcher Project and lost the Poseidon, a vital supply line. They won’t sit idly by. They’ll either accelerate the plan or take more extreme measures.”

“We agree,” Bai Yongxu nodded. “Therefore, the initial reconnaissance operation two weeks from now must be carried out. But the biggest challenge is how to get close enough to bring back useful intelligence alive.”

Just then, Jiang Nian's personal encrypted communicator rang; it was Engineer Zhou from the technical department.

"Advisor Jiang, we've found the residual signal characteristics from when the men in black interfered with Mermaid One, which you previously asked us to analyze in detail!"

Jiang Nian immediately turned on speakerphone.

“We discovered that the interference was not a pure energy field, but more like a highly precise simulation of biological pheromones,” Engineer Zhou said quickly. “It does not have destructive power itself, but it can trigger a certain frequency inherent in the target’s body, causing it to become disordered.”

"Targeting a specific objective?" Jiang Nian grasped the key point.

"Yes! We compared the bioelectric background spectrum of Zero and ordinary people and found that both Zero and your spectrum contain an extremely weak but stable special harmonic peak, while ordinary people do not! The interference from the man in black is targeting this harmonic peak!"

Jiang Nian and Bai Yongxu exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.

"So that kind of interference only works on me and Zero?" Jiang Nian asked in a deep voice.

"Theoretically yes! Because it requires a specific receptor!" Engineer Zhou affirmed. "This further confirms that you and Person Zero do indeed share common genes!"

The man in black can recognize and interfere with this feature.

So, is Guixu's defense system also based on this kind of identification?
"Immediately simulate this special harmonic characteristic!" Jiang Nian ordered immediately. "Try using it to disguise our reconnaissance equipment! See if we can fool or bypass Guixu's defense identification!"

"Understood! We'll conduct simulations and tests immediately!" Engineer Zhou's voice was filled with excitement.

The communication ended, and the medical pod fell silent once more.

“If we can simulate this characteristic,” Bai Yongxu said slowly, his eyes gleaming, “does it mean that we might be able to create a fake key that allows us to approach safely?”

"The premise is that their identification system cannot distinguish subtle differences," Jiang Nian calmly added. "Moreover, this does not solve all the problems. The man in black and the Sleeper are still huge variables."

But in any case, this is a direction, a direction that may break the deadlock.

Over the next few days, the base's technical department worked tirelessly to simulate the unique harmonic characteristics based on Jiang Nian and Ling's bioelectric data.

Jiang Nian's recovery training became even more rigorous. He underwent extremely low-intensity adaptive training in the gravity training room, feeling his body recover bit by bit, while constantly rehearsing various possible situations and coping strategies in his mind.

A week later, Jiang Nian was able to walk and practice basic fighting moves independently for short periods of time. Although his strength was far from recovered, his agility had improved considerably.

News also came from the technical department.

"Advisor Jiang, Chief Bai! The Ghost's initial testing is complete!"

Engineer Zhou reported during the video conference, a tired but excited smile on his face, "We successfully simulated the special harmonic characteristics and loaded them onto the Ghost. In the laboratory simulation environment, the Ghost successfully fooled our rudimentary biosignal recognition system, which was built based on tissue reverse engineering!"

"Great!" Bai Yongxu couldn't help but praise.

“However,” Engineer Zhou’s tone turned cautious, “this is only a basic system. The defense level of the Guixu main body is definitely much higher. Moreover, we cannot simulate the resonance effect that may exist between the key and the lock, which seems to require a living being to activate.”

“That’s enough,” Jiang Nian said. “As long as we can get close, infiltrate, and transmit images and data back, it’s a success.”

"The preliminary reconnaissance operation plan has been completed." General Zhao pulled up the battle plan. "We will dispatch three groups of ghosts to approach the target sea area from different depths. They will silently infiltrate and attempt to penetrate the enemy's defense perimeter to conduct close-range reconnaissance and data collection on the cliff at the edge of the Demon Spine Basin."

"When will the operation take place?" Jiang Nian asked.

“48 hours later.” Bai Yongxu looked at Jiang Nian.

“I can participate in command and data analysis,” Jiang Nian said calmly. “I have firsthand experience of the environment there.”

Looking into Jiang Nian's determined eyes, Bai Yongxu finally nodded: "Okay. You can stay in the command center."

The 48 hours flew by in the midst of intense preparations.

The operation took place late at night.

The base command center was brightly lit.

On the huge main screen, a three-dimensional topographic map of the target area in the Mariana Trench is displayed.

Three tiny green dots, representing three groups of ghost scouts, are gliding from different directions toward the danger zone marked in red.

Jiang Nian, seated in a wheelchair, was granted access to the core area of ​​the command center. (End of Chapter)