Chapter 42: Setting a Trap!

At eight o'clock in the morning, Ye Cang climbed out of bed right on time.

After clearing his head, he took out that old-fashioned mobile phone and dialed the only number inside.

Almost instantly, the call was connected.

"Little Cang, is something the matter? Is the funding insufficient? Or is someone giving you a hard time?" that person asked.

After listening, Ye Cang stated the purpose of his call directly.

"The Nantianmen Project was fully completed late last night and is ready to take off at any time," Ye Cang said.

"Please give your instructions!"

Once these words were spoken, the breathing on the other end of the phone became noticeably heavy, and nearly a full minute passed.

Only then did that person speak.

"Little Cang, are you sure? Don't go teasing this old man for no reason!"

"It's only been half a year; the speed at which your Nantianmen Project was completed doesn't seem right!"

Ye Cang smiled.

"Look at what you're saying, how could I tease you? A gentleman's word is his bond!"

"The Luan Bird is ready to take off at any time; now it's just waiting for you to choose the time! As long as you give the order, it can take off immediately, even right now!"

"Good, good, good!" Three "goods" came from the other end of the phone in succession. "Since that's the case, I won't waste any more words, Little Cang!"

"There's no time like the present; let the Luan Bird take off at 9 o'clock tonight! I'll come find you then."

"Understood."

After Ye Cang agreed, the call was hung up.

Ye Cang washed up briefly, ate breakfast, and then headed straight ten thousand meters underground.

Of course, he wasn't going to calculate data today, but to deploy two maintenance robots onto the Luan Bird to provide escort and protection.

Time slipped away bit by bit, and in the blink of an eye, it was 6 o'clock in the evening.

At this moment, Ye Cang was conducting a final inspection of the Luan Bird with his two maintenance robots to ensure everything was foolproof.

The maintenance robots checked very quickly, finishing the inspection in half an hour.

Ye Cang then went outside the base to wait for that person's arrival.

Around 7 o'clock in the evening.

A black sedan pulled up in front of Ye Cang.

The car door opened, and two bodyguards in black suits stepped out first. After confirming the surroundings were safe, a very elderly man stepped out of the car.

Seeing this, Ye Cang hurried forward to support him.

"You've arrived," Ye Cang said with a well-behaved expression.

The old man looked at Ye Cang supporting him, reached out, and tapped him lightly on the head.

"Little Cang, how come you're so well-behaved and sensible in front of me, but like a troublemaker in front of others?" the old man said.

"A while ago, Lao Huang told me that you brat are unforgiving and full of bad intentions!"

Hearing the old man bring this up, Ye Cang blinked his eyes, then said with an innocent look: "That can't be blamed on me!"

"You see, Du Kaao brought Huang Lao to find me, wanting me to cancel the Nantianmen Project. How could I possibly agree? I just retorted a couple of times."

"I didn't expect that someone his age would be such a sore loser and go tell on me."

Ye Cang's words made the old man laugh.

"Hahaha, you, you always have a reason for everything. No wonder Lao Huang and Little Du are no match for you."

"Alright, take me to see the Luan Bird!"

Ye Cang nodded and led the old man into the Underground Base.

Standing before the Luan Bird, the old man looked up, squinted his eyes to examine it carefully, and then nodded with great satisfaction.

"Not bad, it really has the aura of a Luan Bird; it doesn't disgrace the name at all."

Ye Cang didn't speak, but instead led the old man and other researchers onto the Luan Bird.

After a brief tour of the Luan Bird's interior, including the White Emperor and Xuan Nü fighter jets, as well as the Chengying Tactical Unmanned Mecha, they arrived at the Central Control Room.

At this time, it was 8:30.

Only half an hour remained until the Luan Bird's takeoff.

"Zhizi, raise the platform, scan the surrounding situation, is it ready for takeoff?"

Ye Cang said to the central console.

The next second, Zhizi's voice sounded from the central console.

"Scanning surrounding situation, scan complete, issue detected."

The phrase "issue detected" made Ye Cang's face turn black instantly.

They had checked inside and out countless times just now, almost digging three feet deep; there were no issues then, but now that *he* had arrived, an issue had appeared.

Isn't this just trying to sabotage me!

"What's going on, Zhizi!" Ye Cang asked, suppressing his anger.

"Someone is filming," Zhizi said, and as she spoke, real-time surveillance appeared on the central console screen.

On the screen, two figures with obscured faces could be seen setting up a tripod, holding pens and writing things down, while muttering something in their mouths.

Judging by their lip movements, it didn't look like Huaxia language.

This scene made Ye Cang's expression even darker.

If he remembered correctly, this area had already been designated a restricted zone, and no one was allowed to enter, so why were there other people here at this time!

Just as Ye Cang's fury was about to erupt, the old man suddenly patted him on the shoulder.

"Little Cang, stay calm; anger cannot solve problems," the old man said, his eyes slightly narrowed and his tone somewhat cold.

"Leave this matter to me, old man; you just focus on taking off as planned!"

After speaking, the old man turned and whispered a few words to the bodyguard beside him, and the bodyguard left immediately after hearing them.

As for Ye Cang, he took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"Zhizi, bring the Luan Bird up to the surface."

Following Ye Cang's order, a massive tremor suddenly occurred, and immediately after, everyone felt a strong sense of gravitational force.

The old man looked outside with curiosity.

He saw that the Luan Bird was rising upward at this moment, as if something were lifting it from below.

A moment later, the Luan Bird arrived at the surface.

The time was exactly nine o'clock.

The Luan Bird started up right on time, and a cloud of dust and smoke rose up.

The next second, the massive Luan Bird, trailing blue flames, officially took off.

At this moment, everyone was looking out the windows of the Luan Bird.

Half an hour later, the Luan Bird broke through the atmosphere and entered outer space.

At the same time.

Over at the Taotie command ship.

A Taotie soldier suddenly said, "Report! We just captured footage of something on Earth that seems to have flown up."

"But after running a scan, we didn't find anything; I don't know if it was an illusion or..."

Having said this, the Taotie soldier did not continue.

After hearing the soldier's report, the Taotie Commander-in-Chief Pang Chan immediately ordered the Taotie soldier to pull up the footage from just a moment ago.

On the recording, a black shadow could be seen flashing by, then disappearing without a trace.

Pang Chan watched this segment of the recording four or five times in a row.

Only then did he ask, "Are you sure nothing was detected, and you only saw this black shadow?"

The Taotie soldier nodded immediately.

"Yes, Commander-in-Chief!"

Looking at the screen, Pang Chan pondered for a moment, and ultimately, he reached this conclusion.

The black shadow captured just now was most likely a satellite sent up from Earth.