Chapter 454: The State's Sharpest Weapons Must Not Be Shown to Others

Does that mean I need to silence the captain… Yu Dazhang muttered in his heart.

Walking off the plane, what greeted him was a stretch of darkness, with only the headlights of a vehicle drawing closer in the distance.

Soon, a military-green jeep stopped in front of him.

"Get in."

Li Mingzhao in the driver's seat beckoned to him.

Once in the vehicle, Yu Dazhang couldn't help but ask:

"Boss, are we still in the country?"

"What kind of question is that." Li Mingzhao replied irritably:

"If it were an overseas mission, I'd definitely have briefed you in advance."

Fifteen minutes later.

The jeep stopped in front of a two-story building.

"We're here. Get some rest tonight."

After getting out, Li Mingzhao walked through the main gate first.

Yu Dazhang followed behind him, appearing casual but actually observing the surroundings.

Not far off, a few buildings loomed faintly; further out, shadows of people flickered, as if someone was on patrol.

Taking a deep breath, Yu Dazhang felt the cold air rush into his chest.

The temperature here was at least five degrees lower than in Songhai, especially at night—the temperature had probably already dropped below zero.

Yu Dazhang had grown up in the north to begin with, and now with his layer of fat, this kind of cold didn't feel particularly special to him.

Stepping inside the building, he was immediately met with a wave of warmth rushing at him.

Central heating… looking at the radiator along the corridor, Yu Dazhang could now confirm that wherever he was had to be some region in the north of the country.

Following Li Mingzhao to a room on the second floor, he pushed the door open and went in—there was only a bed and a dining table inside.

"Conditions are a bit rough." Li Mingzhao said with a smile:

"But I believe you can handle it."

Looking at the room, which was at most ten square meters, Yu Dazhang felt a little homesick.

At least the bedding was new… he consoled himself.

The next day.

After getting up and washing, Yu Dazhang went downstairs.

This time he finally got a clear look at the surroundings.

Where he was now was a residential compound, with a total of five two-story buildings, the perimeter guarded by armed police, and sentries posted at the main gate.

Why are they all two-story buildings?

It was the first time Yu Dazhang had seen such a strange layout.

If they just built a six-story building, it would save time and effort, and the personnel would be housed more centrally—by every measure, it would be far better than a two-story building.

Unless…

For concealment!

And low floors also make evacuation easier—if something sudden happens, the people inside can get away quickly.

Even jumping down from the second floor wouldn't cause much injury, at most a sprained ankle.

Yu Dazhang looked further into the distance.

Why is it all mountains on every side?

The mountains were bare, with only a few scattered pines showing a touch of green, dotted here and there.

On one of the mountains, a signal tower stood upright.

If there's a base station, why is there no signal?

Last night Yu Dazhang had already discovered his phone was offline—he couldn't even get a call out.

What kind of place is this, exactly?

Looking at the heavily guarded main gate in the distance, Yu Dazhang felt as if he were inside a tightly defended prison.

At this level of security, not even a bird could fly in, let alone a person.

Just as he was observing whether there were any gaps here, Li Mingzhao walked out of another building.

"Over here."

He beckoned to Yu Dazhang:

"Time for breakfast."

The two then went to a dining hall and sat down at a table.

"Can you tell me now?" Yu Dazhang asked, looking at him:

"Where exactly is this?"

He had expected Li Mingzhao to keep beating around the bush, but to his surprise, the other man answered without the slightest hesitation:

"The Northeast Electronic Science and Technology Research Institute, also called the Microelectronics Research Institute."

Never heard of it… Yu Dazhang rifled through his memory and had no impression of either name at all.

But just from the names, it sounded pretty high-end.

"What exactly do you research there?" Yu Dazhang asked again.

He knew he shouldn't ask, but he just couldn't help his curiosity.

"I don't know either."

Li Mingzhao seemed to have long anticipated Yu Dazhang's question. He lowered his voice slightly and answered mysteriously: "Those two names are just what it's called to the outside world. The real name here is Institute Fifty-Three."

In just this short while, there were already three names… Yu Dazhang felt Li Mingzhao was stringing him along.

Before he could ask anything else, Li Mingzhao added:

"See the armed police outside? That's the reorganized Internal Security force."

As he spoke, he gestured upward with his finger:

"The guards at the gate are security personnel sent down from up there."

Watching his gesture, Yu Dazhang felt his temple throbbing.

He had still heard of the armed police Internal Security — considered the special forces among the armed police.

The elite of the elite.

To deploy such a unit, and only for outer perimeter guard duty.

If word of this got out, no one would believe it.

Security personnel were even more formidable.

The moment Li Mingzhao gestured, Yu Dazhang guessed where they'd come from.

Security personnel sent down from there — each and every one could be called a one-in-ten-thousand expert, yet here they were reduced to minding the gate.

Seeing Yu Dazhang looking at him with clear, steady eyes, Li Mingzhao smiled:

"What exactly is being researched here, there's no need for us to guess. You only need to know — this is a state secret."

"Not just you and me, even the top leaders of the Ministry of State Security have no right to inquire."

The secrecy level had reached the national tier… Yu Dazhang suddenly understood why this place was held in such high regard.

Nowadays, what do the great powers compete over?

Is it military strength?

Not entirely.

Russia and Ukraine have been fighting for so many years — have you ever seen them go in with fixed bayonets?

Forget hand-to-hand combat, even the number of times they shoot at each other with guns is few and far between.

The most common sight is drones dropping bombs.

That's three-dimensional striking two-dimensional.

When technological level reaches a certain height, the mode of combat is bound to be one of crushing dominance.

Therefore, technological level is a nation's true trump card, and naturally the highest level of secrecy.

A nation's sharpest weapons must not be shown to others.

After breakfast, Yu Dazhang proposed going to visit Ye Lin.

That was also the main reason he had come here.

The two then drove to another area, where the guards were visibly even more stringent.

The entire area was almost ringed by armed police.

In a small building marked with a red cross, Yu Dazhang followed Li Mingzhao into a single-patient room.

"You!!"

The moment he saw Ye Lin, Yu Dazhang nearly popped his eyeballs out.

He had assumed Ye Lin was Suffering heavily, having only just escaped mortal danger.

He never expected that the woman on the hospital bed merely had a strip of gauze wrapped around her arm and a band-aid stuck to her forehead.

When Yu Dazhang walked in, she was leaning against the headboard, flipping through a magazine.

"Weren't you shot?!"

Stepping closer, Yu Dazhang looked at the hospital gown on Ye Lin and clenched his teeth.

Damn, the uniform temptation strikes again!

Ye Lin in a hospital gown gave off a completely different feeling.

Compared to before, she was even more delicately charming, carrying a fragile beauty that made one want to cherish and protect her.

"I was shot."

Ye Lin lifted her arm slightly:

"My situation is pretty much the same as yours before — the bullet hit my left arm, but didn't damage the bone."

Seeing Yu Dazhang staring at her unblinkingly, she gave a faint smile:

"There's also a wound on my leg, not very convenient, so I won't show you."

Who wants to see — what kind of person do you take me for… Yu Dazhang turned his head toward the culprit and demanded:

"This is what you call shot and at death's door?"

"Hold on a minute!" Li Mingzhao retorted:

"I said shot, but I never said at death's door."

Seems like he really didn't say that… Yu Dazhang, unconvinced, asked again:

"Then why did you say she was temporarily out of mortal danger?"

The meaning of that was plainly implying Ye Lin had just been pulled back from the brink.

Any normal person hearing that would inevitably think along those lines.

Li Mingzhao laughed:

"I was telling the truth — Ye Lin really is out of mortal danger."

It's over, he fell for it… Yu Dazhang never imagined that Li Mingzhao, a team leader of the Ministry of State Security, would play such a petty trick.

If it had been even slightly more sophisticated, he wouldn't have taken the bait.

Now look — leaving isn't even an option.

(End of this chapter)