Chapter 178: Operatives and Dark Angel

"Mass production?"

After hearing the White Empress's brief analysis, Sui Bian asked.

"The key to mass production is the cold fusion reactor," the White Empress replied. "Because of you, sir, the company has fully mastered cold fusion reactor technology; its cost is equivalent to four of the company's third‑generation hydrogen batteries."

In other words, the resources to produce one set of CMC‑400 Power Armor can produce four sets of group‑level MTF‑exclusive (cheap) TPS Power Armor.

"Still within an acceptable range," Sui Bian muttered.

The elite marine corps uses the CMC‑400, while the Raiders use the heavy CMC‑660, and the Bad Bat cavalry also enriches Umbrella's Power Armor lineup.

As for the technology of the exchanged heavy engineering tank, Goliath mech, Banshee fighter and other ground and aerial vehicles, Sui Bian thinks they need to be "re‑forged."

After all, StarCraft is a competitive real‑time strategy game; these vehicles need to consider balance, but extending that balance into his real world makes it somewhat pointless.

Immediately, Sui Bian said to the White Empress: "Notify the Raccoon City Armory to produce two sets of CMC‑400 Power Armor for testing, and after the company has more concrete data, consider mass production."

"Very well, sir."

"Also, notify Director Wang Zhaofeng of the Tri‑Party Research Team, and have them fully master the company's latest ground and aerial vehicles."

"Understood."

After responding, the White Empress dispersed all holographic screens and silently handled the task Sui Bian had given her.

Having issued the instructions, Sui Bian now considered that among the ancillary rewards brought by the Gryphon, there also included equipment for the Ghost operatives.

The equipment is secondary; the main focus is the Ghost operative unit, which is composed of humans with high Spiritual Energy potential.

And Umbrella, since its founding, has collected blood samples and bodily data from nearly three billion people.

After initially dealing with the blood demon Greffin, Sui Bian ordered the Red and White Empresses to filter the samples and data, and deployed intelligence agents worldwide to covertly investigate people with "extraordinary talents."

Preemptively search for and monitor Spiritual Users.

However, such individuals are extremely rare, and the majority of this tiny fraction are children aged 11 to 15, most of whom are orphans.

But unlike abandoned orphans, these are children whose families suffered major tragedies, causing their parents to die tragically, making them orphans.

Fire incidents and car accidents account for the largest share.

Clearly, it was the sudden loss of control of their unique Spiritual Energy that caused their parents' tragic deaths.

"How many Spiritual User orphans live under the company's surveillance?" Sui Bian asked the White Empress.

"There are thirty‑seven in total," the White Empress replied.

"Thirty‑seven..." Sui Bian raised his left hand, lightly pinched his jaw while gazing at the virtual window scenery, pondered for a moment, then said to the White Empress:

"Deploy nearby intelligence agents to immediately contact the orphanage, transfer the Spiritual User orphans to Minos Island, and I will personally meet them thereafter."

"Very well, sir," the White Empress began arranging.

Sui Bian thought that, since the Ghost operative equipment had been exchanged, he would establish a force to completely replace the USS.

But the prerequisite is that he must interact with these thirty‑seven orphans to ensure they are not inversely corrupted by Spiritual Energy.

After briefing the White Empress, Sui Bian rose from his office chair and walked toward the automatic doors.

Seeing this, the Red and White Empresses instinctively followed Sui Bian.

"Swish—." The automatic doors slid open to the right, allowing them onto the corridor outside the office, then they proceeded toward the southern side of the corridor.

Soon, they arrived at the central plaza of the senior staff office area.

The plaza was spacious, featuring green vegetation and an artificial flowing lake, with a holographic virtual display overhead.

At that moment, the virtual display presented a gentle sunny afternoon scene for the relaxing employees in the plaza.

Not only does this area have a park‑like plaza, other sections of Luna Base also have similar plazas; after all, living in a fully sealed environment, employees need such spaces to balance body and mind.

At the southern end of the plaza stood four side‑by‑side gates.

Behind each gate was a large lift capable of holding fifty people at once, allowing staff to travel to upper or lower zones.

Approaching gate number "3", Sui Bian saw from a distance what appeared to be five "giants" waiting for him.

Four of the shorter ones were Astates dressed in custom‑made military uniforms.

The Astates without the Thor Hammer III were robust yet proportionate, and looked quite dashing in their black uniforms.

The other giant, also in a custom uniform and standing a meter and a half taller than the Astates, was one of the ten OriginalBodies.

This OriginalBody's appearance and bearing resembled Robert, but it was much taller than Robert, reaching an awe‑inspiring 4.3 meters, second only to Rus at 4.4 meters,

When this OriginalBody saw Sui Bian approach, it immediately led the four Astates forward and said in a deep voice, "Father."

"Hmm," Sui Bian nodded lightly and replied, "Come with me to the shipyard, Leon."

"Understood."

The OriginalBody named Leon was solemn, preparing to ride the lift with Sui Bian to the orbital train station above.

Leon and his Dark Angel squad did not need to be stationed on the Griffin‑class; instead they stayed beside Sui Bian, serving as bodyguards.

Originally, the four Alpha units responsible for "bodyguards" and "assistants" were replaced by the Red and White Empresses, who possessed conceptual prosthetics, as well as Leon and the Dark Angel squad.

Those four Alphas seemed somewhat like "decorations" beside Sui Bian, but after going to Minos Island, they could fulfill their greatest purpose.

As for the nearby employees waiting for the lift, although a few still showed curiosity toward the OriginalBodies and Astates, most had become accustomed to the presence of these giants.

Then, Leon and the Dark Angel guards escorted Sui Bian and two AIs, taking the lift to the upper‑area station, where the group boarded the dedicated train bound for the shipyard.

In fact, the moment Sui Bian left the office, the White Empress commandeered an unmanned dedicated train to switch tracks, timing it against other operating trains; when they arrived at the station, they caught the just‑arriving dedicated train.

Moreover, the so‑called dedicated train was not only Sui Bian's; its interior was spacious, with enlarged seats, ample enough for OriginalBodies and Astates to sit.

The train traversed the enclosed tunnel, bypassing intermediate stations for several minutes, and finally arrived at the central area of Luna Base.

After disembarking, the group arrived at an aerial corridor.

From here one could overlook three side‑by‑side shipyards and, above the corridor, a massive gate large enough for three Griffin‑class vessels to pass, beyond which lay the lunar surface.

At that moment, in the central shipyard, the Gryphon, with its folding wings and appearing slightly smaller than a Griffin‑class, was docked there.

(End of Chapter)