Chapter 519: First Intimate Contact

"Hey!" Old Li slammed the table in anger, "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing, I just remembered something happy—my son's birthday today."

"Did you even watch the video they sent?" Old Li blew his beard and glared, these three idiots don't even understand what this means.

"No video was sent." Someone laughed, "Old Li, is it really true, or are you just dreaming again?"

"What dream!" Old Li said, "I repeat, I'm not joking, and I'm not dreaming."

A few faces turned slightly serious, they said earnestly: "Really not joking?"

"Of course not!" Old Li said, "Bring someone here!"

A staff member hurriedly ran in from outside.

"Why wasn't the video delivered?" Old Li demanded harshly.

The staff member looked dazed, sweat pouring down his face, completely unaware of what had happened.

"Here, don't rush, let me check first." A voice came over, another research technician from the committee approached.

"How is it! The gate to the new world—has it really opened!" Old Li, upon meeting a colleague who could truly communicate, spoke with fervent excitement.

"Indeed."

The visitor was a woman with a cold expression, her face as if the whole world owed her ten million.

She had a striking figure, long legs, looking more like a public relations specialist than a researcher.

As Afu Na herself would say, dressing up like this could boost her subordinates' work efficiency to two hundred percent.

Although Afu Na is already over forty this year.

But just from her appearance, you couldn't tell.

The two walked toward the meeting room, Afu Na pulled out a USB drive and connected it to the computer inside.

This computer contains a large amount of important data, naturally not connected to the internet, not even the building's internal network.

The USB drive contains a video.

Flames, smoke, tragic cries, and blurred figures moving through the "battlefield."

The figure in the footage, compared to the Hand of God, resembles more the strongest single soldier on the wasteland.

Immense power, lightning-fast reflexes, and astonishing combat style.

The Hands of God fall one after another, and finally the screen reveals a smiling face, with white long hair slightly fluttering in the firelight.

"Augmented human!"

Old Li said, "He has no battle armor on him, and even if he did, it could never reach the height of our Hand of God! Yet this is only possible if—he himself is an augmented human!"

On the wasteland, mechanical technology has already reached a considerable level.

Even battle armor of the Hand of God's level has already been developed and fully deployed in combat.

But in biological and genetic technology, progress has always been extremely slow and difficult.

Even with the blessing of the Heavenly God, the current maximum achievement is just "Afu Na."

This woman developed an anti-aging drug; long-term use can preserve youth, but that's all it does.

Achievements that could enhance human physique, turning humans into "little supermen," have always existed only in imagination.

Projects like mechanical prosthetics have also progressed extremely slowly, with results far falling short of expectations.

To Old Li, Tang Luo's appearance is like suddenly opening the gate to a new world.

"He is the Heavenly God's blessing!" Old Li exclaimed excitedly, "Send people—send all the Hand of God, we must capture him alive!"

"It might be a trap." Someone frowned and said.

Too strange.

A person enters the City of Gaze, then immediately clashes with their Heavenly God's blessing, displaying inhuman combat power.

There must be a conspiracy behind this.

"Even if it's a trap, we must step into it!" Old Li declared firmly, "Moreover, technologically, we've always been ahead—we haven't even made good progress in 'human enhancement' or 'genetic warriors,' other factions, I don't think they could produce someone like this, even if by luck they succeeded, would they use him as bait?"

"So, he might not be human." Someone said in a low voice.

Old Li startled, his face growing even more excited: "God Buddha? You're saying he's a God Buddha?!"

Heavenly God's blessing, aside from a few committee members and an extremely small number of people, everyone assumes the Heavenly God's blessing is closely tied to God Buddha.

But actually?

Other powers, such as the Great Sun Institute, Yellow Robe Society, Crimson Lotus Society—these, the true situation is unknown even to the Heavenly God's blessing, hidden in the mist.

The Heavenly God's blessing's own situation, the committee is very clear about.

God Buddha, is actually quite far from them.

The only thing certain is that a God Buddha truly existing, highly similar to humans, is real—whether from some passed-down visual materials or relics, they all indicate this fact.

But God Buddha is supreme and exalted, far removed from the mortal wasteland.

In the Heavenly God's blessing, God Buddha bestows blessings through the means of entering dreams.

Including Old Li and Afu Na, some important research personnel, in their dreams, appear the blurred image of God Buddha.

Conducting on-demand playback, letting them suddenly comprehend, sometimes even directly infusing profound technology.

Likewise, they also make demands of them.

Transporting some items, to that pilgrimage site (relics).

The pilgrimage site, is a possible residence of God Buddha, bearing different names, a place humans can approach but cannot set foot upon.

Even committee members have never truly entered the interior of the pilgrimage site, to behold the true face of God Buddha.

Perhaps in places like the Yellow Robe Society, the relationship between humans and God Buddha might be more "intimate."

But in the Heavenly God's blessing, it is thus.

God Buddha is a real existence, yet again a blurred, powerful image.

"Do you think that's possible?" someone looked at Afuna.

"Perhaps?" Afuna said, "Before actual contact, no one can determine."

"Since they're gods and buddhas, why are we still capturing them?"

"Capture! Why not capture!" Old Li said, "Quick, quick, quick!"

His eyes held only fanaticism, no respect; he only craved knowledge of gods and buddhas, and held not the slightest awe for gods and buddhas themselves.

Even if there was, it was merely the ignorant's bit of respect for the knowing.

The propaganda of faith bestowed by the Heavenly God was for better rule, not from the heart.

At least the upper echelons weren't.

Order after order was swiftly issued, executed with extremely high efficiency.

The residents of the Watching City began to be evacuated, clearing the battlefield; one God's Hand after another was deployed, armed helicopters and drones completely blockaded the sky.

On the ground were the newly developed "Mechanical Combat Insects," remotely controlled, infiltrating, invading, sabotaging, and assassinating.

Cooperating with the God's Hands continuously thrown into the battlefield, they could exert extremely strong effects.

All of it was to capture this suspected "god and buddha," the white-haired man called Xuanzang.

The entire battlefield was shrouded in pungent white smoke; even an elephant couldn't last a minute before collapsing on the spot.

Visibility was less than two meters.

The God's Hands were naturally unaffected by any of it.

So they could clearly perceive their surrounding comrades falling one after another, like mules and horses collapsing under a bullet storm.

Such a scene, the God's Hands could be said to be very familiar with, only this time the ones falling were themselves.

"Where? Where's the person!"

"Eleven o'clock direction!"

"Damn it! 065 is down!"

Because a live capture order was issued, weapons with high-intensity lethality were all replaced.

Stun guns, the battle armor itself, steel cable nets — these were the God's Hands' current weapons.

Although the opponent looked very strong, heaven knows if he could withstand bullets, and his speed was astonishingly fast; the God's Hands also had no confidence to say if I aim for his right leg I absolutely won't hit his left leg.

If the opponent couldn't withstand bullet damage and died, the God's Hands would be buried with him.

Such combat was undoubtedly quite stifling.

Fortunately the opponent had limits.

Under investment regardless of loss, the battle lasted a full four hours, when the sky had completely darkened.

The steel cable net finally caught that white-haired man; powerful electricity paralyzed him, and he couldn't break free.

The surrounding God's Hands swarmed up, pressing him completely beneath a pile of bodies.

Fifteen minutes later.

A God's Hand battle armor was placed, locked onto a small cart resembling one for restraining mental patients, and pushed into a white room with one-way glass.

The one wearing the battle armor was none other than Tang Luo.

The head position didn't have a helmet, but a strange metal mask covering the lower half of his face, leaving his mouth able to open only a tiny bit.

Ordinary straitjackets or restraint devices would definitely not have too good an effect on this person.

Heavenly God's Gift also wouldn't develop restraint devices targeting the human body yet effective enough to suppress tanks.

Under such circumstances, the locked God's Hand battle armor became the best "straitjacket."

Currently it seems the effect is okay.

At least the opponent has no obvious resistance movements.

The Gatling gun the opponent used was long since taken away by relevant departments.

On the other side of the glass, Old Li and the others all frowned looking at the reports in their hands.

That Gatling gun was completely an ordinary Gatling gun, maintained somewhat poorly... not the special construct they initially thought.

It seems being able to shred God's Hand battle armor really is the opponent's own ability.

"Mr. Xuanzang, hello."

Gazing at each other, nodding slightly, Afuna began her first contact with this "alien kind."

The cameras and recording personnel nearby would faithfully record everything, to become extremely precious data in the future.

"Hello to you all." Tang Luo's voice came through the mask, somewhat muffled.

"Sorry to meet in such a way." Afuna said, "But please understand, after all you caused us quite large losses."

"Have you seen gods and buddhas, do you know where they are?" Tang Luo went straight to the point.

Several people looked at each other; was this probing or what?

"Seen." After a moment of silence, Afuna said, "Gods and buddhas sprinkle glory upon their people; we are the fortunate ones."

This didn't really count as speaking; she had indeed seen them — in dreams.

"That's great, can you take me to find them?" Tang Luo said with a smile.

Afuna asked: "Rude to ask, but who exactly is Mr. Xuanzang, where do you come from, and what is your purpose?"

"This poor monk is the Victorious Fighting Buddha."

"From the distant Unknowable Land, come here to seek old friends of the past."

Speaking no falsehoods, Tang Xuanzang, every sentence true.

"He admitted it!"

The Committee members' hearts shook, gazes sweeping across each other.

In an instant they brain-supplemented a hundred-thousand-word "Gods and Buddhas Grudges and Romance History."

The first intimate contact with gods and Buddhas!