Chapter 273: Cooperation Mechanism·Special Forces Transformation

Zhao Jianguo stood at the laboratory door, still gripping the tablet that had just been turned off. The screen went dark, but his fingers didn't loosen. The image of that thin line hanging in the virtual sky kept turning in his mind. He looked up at the sky beyond the courtyard wall—gray and hazy, without a trace.

He turned and walked into the room; the triplets were already gathered around the table. Zhao Xing fiddled with a data interface, Zhao Chen sat in his wheelchair staring at the monitor, and Zhao Yang held a pen drawing something on paper. No one spoke.

"We need to find someone to help." Zhao Jianguo spoke.

Zhao Xing looked up, "Who?"

"The Special Forces Captain from before."

Zhao Chen's finger paused, "Isn't that the one who pointed a gun at us to take us away?"

"It's him." Zhao Jianguo nodded, "But things are different now. We might hold off once, but not necessarily a second time. That line isn't a joke."

Zhao Yang put down his pen, "Will he believe us?"

"Not necessarily." Zhao Jianguo said, "But he now understands better than anyone that some matters exceed ordinary handling."

As his words fell, a knocking came from outside the door—three knocks, neither light nor heavy.

Zhao Jianguo glanced at the children, then walked over and opened the door.

The Special Forces Captain stood outside, wearing his regular uniform, no hat, his shoulder holster empty. He held a silver case in his hand, its surface marked with a few scratches.

"I'm not late, am I?" he said.

Zhao Jianguo didn't step aside, "You're alone?"

"Just me. I left my weapons in the car." He set the case on the ground and spread his hands, "A search is fine too."

Zhao Jianguo looked at him for two seconds, then stepped aside to let him in.

The Special Forces Captain walked to the table, opened the case. Inside were two devices, their housings matte black, with a ring of blue light on the front shaped like a wrist guard.

"This is the Spacetime Emotion Stabilizer 2.0." He said, "It's half the size of the previous generation, with double the power. It can automatically detect biological fluctuations and adjust neural frequencies. You'll know once you try it."

Zhao Xing stared at the device, "Last time you used this, it was to suppress us."

"Last time it was an order." The Special Forces Captain lowered his head, "Now it's a request."

"A request?"

"I want to change the Special Forces from a supervisory unit into a technical support detachment." He lifted his head, "The higher-ups have already approved a pilot. The first site is right here."

The room fell silent.

Zhao Chen turned his wheelchair toward the equipment, "Aren't you afraid we're a danger source?"

"Afraid." The Special Forces Captain said, "But I'm more afraid we'll react too late and miss what we truly need to guard against."

Zhao Yang reached out and touched one of the devices. The blue light flashed briefly, emitting a slight vibration.

"Is it reading my hand?" she asked.

"It's biometric identification." The Special Forces Captain explained, "After confirming the user's identity, it automatically adapts to brainwave frequency. It's especially useful for your highly sensitive group."

Zhao Jianguo looked at Zhao Xing, "What do you think?"

Zhao Xing said nothing, picked up one, and strapped it to his wrist. The blue light blinked a few times, then became a steady band. He closed his eyes for two seconds; when he opened them, his brow relaxed.

"My head doesn't hurt anymore." He said.

Zhao Chen immediately pulled up the monitor on his wheelchair. The data stream fluctuated, and the neural pressure value dropped by thirty-seven percent.

"It works." He said.

Zhao Yang also put on the other one. She shook her wrist, "It feels like someone lightly patting the back of my head."

The Special Forces Captain's mouth twitched, "The original design was just to let people relax."

Zhao Jianguo stared at him, "What are the conditions?"

"A monthly routine check." The Special Forces Captain said, "You must undergo official evaluation. Data upload system, filed for record."

"No." Zhao Jianguo flatly refused, "The data can't leave the Siheyuan."

"Then a compromise." The Special Forces Captain said, "The checks can be done, but supervised by your people. The data stays local; we can only see real-time readings."

Zhao Jianguo neither nodded nor shook his head, "How did you suddenly change your attitude?"

"Not sudden." The Special Forces Captain pulled a photo from his pocket and placed it on the table.

The photo showed a wasteland, the sky red, the ground cracked. Three blurry small figures stood in the middle, their backs to the camera.

"This is the surveillance footage from three days ago in the Western Experimental Zone." He said, "The equipment caught an abnormal signal, traced it back, and finally located it near your home."

Zhao Xing stared at the photo, "Is that… us?"

"I don't know if it's you." The Special Forces Captain put the photo away, "But the signal's characteristics match your biofield. The higher-ups reassessed the risk model; their conclusion is: you're not the problem itself, possibly the key to solving it."

No one in the room responded.

Zhao Chen lifted his head, "If it really was us who went to that kind of place, why do we have no memory?"

"I don't know." The Special Forces Captain said, "But one thing is clear—someone wants to use you to open another channel. All we can do now is keep you safe while figuring out what actually happened."

Zhao Jianguo fell silent for a moment, "I can agree to cooperate. But three conditions: first, all equipment entering must be registered; second, any testing must have our personnel present; third, if any overstep is detected, the agreement is terminated immediately."

The Special Forces Captain looked at him and extended his hand, "Deal."

Zhao Jianguo shook his hand.

At that very moment, the blue light on Zhao Xing's wrist flickered. A golden light emerged from the void, visible only to him.

【Establish official cooperation, unlock 【Military Technology Specialization】】

He blinked, and the golden light vanished.

"What happened?" Zhao Yang asked.

"Nothing." Zhao Xing lowered his gaze to the equipment, "It seems to have upgraded."

The Special Forces Captain took out a notebook, "I'll submit a formal agreement draft within a week. Keep these two for testing; if there are any problems, contact me anytime."

"Contact method?" Zhao Jianguo asked.

The Special Forces Captain smiled, tore off a page, wrote down a few numbers, and handed it over.

Zhao Jianguo took it, glanced at it, and slipped it into his pocket.

"You three." The Special Forces Captain turned toward the triplets, "Wear the equipment, don't take it off. If something feels off, immediately press the side button—it will trigger an emergency signal."

Zhao Yang raised his hand, "Can it be modified? I want to add a bell."

"A bell?"

"A little louder, to remind me." She laughed.

The Special Forces Captain also laughed, "As long as you don't change the core module, do whatever you want."

Zhao Chen touched the equipment's casing, "Your previous gear was so heavy—how did you suddenly make something this light?"

"We didn't do it." The Special Forces Captain said, "We referenced the data stream from the day you fixed the wiring. The energy distribution pattern derived from reverse analysis is what reduced the size."

Zhao Xing blinked, "You used our data?"

"Unauthorized." The Special Forces Captain admitted frankly, "But we can sort out the paperwork now. This is also one of my purposes for coming today."

Zhao Jianguo stared at him, "You've had your eye on us for a long time."

"All along." The Special Forces Captain nodded, "Just now, we're interacting in a different way."

Zhao Yang turned the device on his wrist in a circle, blue light reflected on his face.

"I think he doesn't have ill intentions." She said.

"I think so too." Zhao Chen said, "But we still need to keep an eye on it."

Zhao Jianguo walked to the window and opened a gap. Outside there was no one, the courtyard was empty. But he knew that from today on, some things would be different.

The Special Forces Captain packed up his box, preparing to leave, "By the way, tomorrow the logistics team will deliver two sets of backup power supplies. Your place loses power too often—it's unsafe."

"Who said we have to use them?" Zhao Jianguo turned back.

"I'll send them even if you don't use them." The Special Forces Captain grinned, "It's compensation. I broke three of your doors earlier and still haven't paid for them."

"You still remember that?"

"I remember every scratch." He shouldered the box, "After all, we'll be colleagues from now on."

The door closed.

The room grew quiet.

Zhao Yang raised his wrist and waved it at his brothers, "Am I a Special Forces team member now?"

"No." Zhao Xing said, "But it might be soon."

Zhao Chen activated the wheelchair, connected the new equipment. A string of code popped up on the screen—its structure was clear, with no hidden layers.

"Clean." He said.

Zhao Jianguo took out the slip of paper with the number from his pocket, glanced at it twice, and slipped it into his notebook.

"Let them test their sincerity." He said.

Zhao Xing stood where he was, suddenly raised his hand to touch his forehead. That familiar sense of pressure vanished. He took a deep breath, his breathing smooth.

Zhao Yang leaned over, "Are you okay?"

"Fine." He said.

Zhao Chen's monitor suddenly popped up a prompt: 【Detected external signal probing—automatically blocked.】

The three of them looked up at the same time.

Zhao Jianguo immediately walked over, "Source?"

"Unknown." Zhao Chen enlarged the diagram, "But the path is the same as last time—it's cutting in from the power grid."

"This time it was blocked." Zhao Yang pointed at the blue light, "Did it do that?"

Zhao Chen nodded, "The stabilizer actively set up a protective layer. As soon as they touched it, it bounced back."

Zhao Jianguo looked at the equipment on the table, "They weren't lying. This thing really works."

Zhao Xing walked to the wall, opened the main control panel. He entered a string of commands, connecting the new equipment to the home network.

System Prompt: 【Military protocol module activated, defense level raised to T4.】

He relaxed his hand.

The whole room's lights flickered once, then returned to normal.

Zhao Yang slumped over the desk, "I'm tired."

"Go to sleep." Zhao Jianguo said, "We have more to do tomorrow."

"What?"

"Wait for them to deliver the power supplies and see if they're genuine."

Zhao Chen shook his head with a smile, "You still don't believe."

"I believe half." Zhao Jianguo said, "The other half depends on what they do."

Zhao Yang stood up, yawned, and the blue light on his wrist flickered with the motion.

She walked to the door, then suddenly stopped, "Brother, do you think they'll issue us uniforms?"

Zhao Xing looked at her, "No."

"Just asking."

She pushed the door open and walked out.

Zhao Chen followed him out, the wheelchair scraping the floor, making a faint sound.

Zhao Jianguo stood where he was, looking at Zhao Xing, "You're not going to sleep?"

Zhao Xing shook his head, "I want to look at the data a bit more."

Zhao Jianguo didn't say anything else and went out.

Only Zhao Xing remained in the room.

He sat back at the desk, called up the stabilizer's operational log. The page scrolled, and an anomaly record popped up.

【Detected a weak resonance signal, frequency match 87.3%.】

He frowned, magnified that segment of the waveform.

The waveform undulated, like some kind of rhythm.

He instinctively raised his wrist, pressed the button on the device's side.

The blue light suddenly turned red.

A short beep sounded.

Zhao Xing stared at the screen, fingers not loosening.