Chapter 396: Rune Alloy

In a underground base hall in the capital of Huáguó, a middle-aged soldier in general's uniform stood beside a black gaming pod, gazing at a massive screen mounted across the hall.

On the screen, two young soldiers clad in thin silver armor were fighting barehanded.

Their movements clearly bore the imprint of the Four Beasts Art; under the silver armor's enhancement, their bodies moved with astonishing speed, vanishing and reappearing dozens of zhang away in an instant.

Each punch they threw emitted a piercing roar, as if carrying the force of ten thousand jūn.

Whoever was struck by the other's fist flew backward over ten meters, cratering the sandy ground.

Yet protected by their armor, both soldiers quickly rose again and charged back at each other, like two beasts utterly unaware of fatigue.

At that moment, the black gaming pod's indicator light flashed on, its lid slowly opening outward, and another man sat up and stepped out.

It was Dr. Chen, who had previously met Wang Yu inside the game.

"How was it? Is he Number One?" the middle-aged general asked, his voice low, glancing at Dr. Chen.

He was the base's other commander, General Xu.

"Based on my assessment, over ninety-nine percent—it's definitely Number One," Dr. Chen replied.

"So that means he truly is Number One?" General Xu's face showed a flicker of surprise.

"The exoskeleton combat suit made from 'Rune Alloy' appears highly effective—it's at least half as heavy as the old super-titanium alloy suits, far more agile," Dr. Chen said, not immediately answering General Xu, his gaze lingering on the massive screen for a moment before a hint of satisfaction surfaced on his face.

"Yes, and it's more than that.

This newly developed Rune Alloy has more than double the elasticity and toughness of the old alloy materials; with it, combat suits can now be worn effortlessly by those who have mastered the Four Beasts Art and deployed in real combat.

The several volumes of Rune Catalogs that Number One brought back from the Setan world were an unexpected treasure—just imprinting a few of the runes recorded within onto ordinary alloys has caused a revolutionary transformation in their properties.

The development and research of this Rune Alloy have now been classified as a Level-One secret by higher authorities, its importance even surpassing that of the Four Beasts Art.

After all, the most critical requirement for manufacturing mechs is high-performance metal materials; this Rune Alloy holds immense potential and may well surpass the alloy formulas provided by that place," General Xu said gravely.

"Indeed—if these Rune Alloys can be applied to the mechs our country is responsible for, their performance will leap dramatically. No wonder higher authorities value them so highly.

It seems Number One's importance must be further elevated. If necessary, deploy the God of War team—station them beside Number One to ensure his personal safety," Dr. Chen said, gazing thoughtfully at the young soldiers still fighting on the screen.

"Deploy the God of War team? Doctor, even if he truly is Number One, there's no need to mobilize that unit.

The God of War team is the most elite force assigned to our base; as long as they're here, we needn't fear Western psychics attempting to disrupt our facility.

Number One is important and his identity is unique, but we've already obtained Setan world data—so long as we merely prevent Western nations from extracting Rune and Four Beasts Art information from him, there's no need to deploy this unit. We can easily assign Psychic Guard Corps or the newly formed Four Fiends team." General Xu reacted with alarm, immediately objecting.

"No, General Xu. Number One's importance has now surpassed even what it was before.

I just learned from him that after our base was attacked last time, his consciousness crossed back into the Setan world again—and he achieved Foundation Establishment. Moreover, upon returning this time, he brought back actual spiritual power," Dr. Chen calmly explained.

"Impossible. The Setan passage has been sealed—how could his consciousness cross back again?

Could this be a trick? Could Western nations have sent someone to impersonate Number One?" General Xu paused, then mused.

"No.

This Number One not only wields a Four Beasts Art resonance diagram superior to our base's version, but clearly understands Setan world magic—he demonstrated several techniques from the data right before me, and even summoned wind and rain within the virtual space of 'Star River.'

Remember, 'Star River' is hailed across future Blue Star as the Second Real World—if he can accomplish something within that virtual space, he can certainly accomplish it in the real world. There is no doubt about this," Dr. Chen affirmed.

"Then this man truly is Number One—but is deploying the God of War team truly necessary?

Our base's current research projects are at their most critical stage; we cannot afford even the slightest breach in security. If absolutely necessary, send the Psychic Squad and the Four Fiends team together—it's better than removing the God of War team from the base," General Xu replied thoughtfully.

"The strongest member of the Psychic Squad is only a B-rank psychic. The Four Fiends team, though possessing immense potential, is newly formed—both their equipment and coordination are merely adequate. If they encounter the British Commonwealth's Special Psychic Unit, they won't stand a chance.

Moreover, the West is the British Commonwealth's stronghold; only the God of War team can safely bring Number One back to our homeland," Dr. Chen shook his head.

General Xu listened, his brow deeply furrowed, sinking once more into thought.

Seeing this, Dr. Chen continued to persuade:

"The reason our research on artificial spiritual veins has stalled with little progress is because we have no samples of natural spiritual energy to study.

This time, Number One brought back genuine spiritual power—if we analyze it, we're certain to make breakthroughs in developing artificial spiritual veins.

Furthermore, since Number One was able to cross into the cultivation world last time without a passage, perhaps he can do so again in the future.

If so, we can continuously obtain more valuable data from the cultivation world, which will greatly aid us in surviving the coming Blue Star catastrophe."

"Alright, Doctor, you've convinced me. I'll personally sign the order to deploy the God of War team.

Frankly, I also believe it's vital to prevent Western nations from extracting Setan world secrets from Number One.

We're keeping this data tightly sealed precisely to prevent the future Blue Star Alliance from being entirely dominated by the British Commonwealth and other Western powers.

After all, aside from our Huáguó, nearly all other top-tier nations in the East are under Western influence.

Besides, it's not just us doing this—the British Commonwealth and other nations have always kept their psychic development strictly secret from us."

"Speaking of this, we owe you thanks, Doctor. Without your warning, our nation might still have been led by the nose by Western powers, never foreseeing how dire Huáguó's position in the Blue Star Alliance would become," General Xu finally decided, sighing as he thanked Dr. Chen.

"Though I come from that place and am not truly a citizen of Huáguó, I know that in the early stages, the British Commonwealth dominated the future Blue Star Alliance precisely through its powerful psychics.

As a result, the majority of Yellow-race people were treated as expendable cannon fodder.

Especially in the early days of the catastrophe, Huáguó's population was suddenly halved without warning.

This is precisely why the Blue Star Alliance later suffered severe manpower shortages, forcing them to rely on cloned soldiers just to maintain the front lines," Dr. Chen replied with utter calmness.