Chapter 299: Camouflage

Sitting atop an all-terrain vehicle that looked very much like a four-wheeled beach motorcycle, Sun Cheng traveled quickly across the mountain forests and trails, stopping from time to time to raise his binoculars and observe the area ahead, his brow furrowing and then smoothing out.

The last time he returned to the real world, on a whim, he prepared to rebuild Base No. 1 in the real world; for convenience, Sun Cheng chose the suburbs of the Huxi District in Nandu, purchasing three abandoned mines from an enterprise named "Hongyuan Group."

The three mines were merely low, small hills no more than a hundred meters high, named "Huwangling," "Wuming Peak," and "Wangjiang Mountain," respectively.

Because the mountains were primarily limestone, and limestone is a widely used building material, Hongyuan Group had intended to quarry stone nearby when they acquired them from private hands at the time.

Although the total area of these three adjacent hills that Sun Cheng took over was only a little over twenty hectares—not even enough to be a fraction of Huxi Mountain—because the mountain bodies were relatively hard, they were actually very convenient for modification.

From the very beginning, he understood that placing Base No. 1 in Nandu was not a good choice.

Ever since President Yu Chen defeated Yuan Shikai in the early years of the Republic of China, and Nandu defeated Beidu to reclaim its status as the national administrative center lost for hundreds of years, this place had always been the seat of power for the new China; placing Base No. 1 within Nandu was extremely dangerous.

Public information queried from the internet alone showed that there was at least one mechanized division and two missile brigades of garrison troops within Nandu, and it was rumored online that an artillery unit of unknown size was also stationed in Nandu; furthermore, the Air Force had deployed at least two air divisions in several counties and cities within a two-hundred-kilometer radius of Nandu, which showed that Nandu was definitely not a safe place.

Yet, Nandu was located in the Yangtze River Delta, the most prosperous economic region in China, where any machinery or equipment ordered could basically be delivered to one's door within a day or two.

It was precisely this latter point that finally led Sun Cheng to make his decision; acting on the mentality that "the most dangerous place is also the safest," plus the fact that he had no intention of causing a scene in the real world, he bought the three adjacent small hills in the countryside of Huxi District and placed Base No. 1 within Nandu.

Thinking about it now, his considerations at the time were clearly still too rash.

"Rustle, rustle..."

A friction sound came from the low shrubbery nearby; without turning his head, Sun Cheng knew who was there.

He put away his binoculars and asked, "Hanwei, how many groups of Scout Robots have you activated? How many groups of unactivated inventory are left in the base?"

As soon as the words fell, the figure of a leopard-shaped Mechanical Beast, its entire body shimmering with a bright silver luster under the moonlight, immediately darted out from the low shrubbery that covered the mountain.

It was none other than Hanwei!

Hanwei walked slowly to a spot not far from his side and crouched down, its eyes flickering with intelligence: "Master, I have already awakened 434 groups of Scout Robots, covering most of the area within two kilometers around the base; there are currently one hundred and forty groups left in inventory!"

Nodding, this time after bringing the enhanced Vengeance and Hanwei back from the world of 【Transformers】, Sun Cheng had handed the security work of Base No. 1 over to Hanwei.

The two-kilometer radius around Base No. 1 already encompassed all three small hills, which were not large to begin with, and Hanwei had been nothing if not dutiful.

Only...

"Only two kilometers?"

Sun Cheng calculated silently in his heart, his gaze drifting involuntarily toward the sky where a bright moon hung high, and he felt a heavy weight in his heart.

"There are loopholes everywhere!"

After thinking for a moment, he instructed Hanwei: "Within the next half month, control all the industrial robots under your command, stop all external operations, and do not leave Base No. 1 for even a step. Also, as for those Scout Robots you released, except for those in hidden locations that don't need to be recalled, recall all the rest..."

"Recall..."

The light in Hanwei's eyes flickered quite obviously; it looked at Sun Cheng, and even its mechanical voice, which should have been devoid of emotional fluctuation, became hurried: "Master, recalling the Scout Robots will leave the security around the base full of loopholes!"

"Even with them, it's the same; the threat from the sky cannot be defended against either!"

Sun Cheng shook his head: "It's only temporary. I have purchased some things outside, and in the next half month, I will arrange for personnel to build some facilities around these three mountains. During this period, there will be a large number of humans entering and leaving here. You cannot be exposed for the time being..."

Ever since he was still at the company in the afternoon, he had been thinking about the matter of Base No. 1.

Sun Cheng thought about many things, including moving Base No. 1 to a more remote and uninhabited area, and including erecting walls, warning nets, and other facilities around it, totaling several plans.

In the end, he chose a new plan with extremely high feasibility.

Not to change the location of Base No. 1, but to choose to build and camouflage it here.

Huwangling, Wuming Peak, and Wangjiang Mountain had a total area of nearly twenty-seven hectares; these three small hills, which had nothing but limestone and not a single cash crop, had cost Sun Cheng quite a lot of money to buy from Hongyuan Group back then.

Although as long as something was associated with Nandu, even three inconspicuous abandoned small hills could be sold for a sky-high price, everything had to follow the objective laws of value; for example, besides selling these three hills to him, Hongyuan Group had also bundled in some of their building facilities at the foot of the mountain, as well as what was likely nearly ten thousand square meters of unbuilt land.

Since coming over in the afternoon, Sun Cheng had carefully inspected the place several times, and the plan for the modification and camouflage of the three small hills outside Base No. 1 was gradually taking shape in his heart.

He prepared to purchase a large amount of cement wall panels from a building materials company in Nandu City tomorrow, preferably the kind of tall and thick large cement walls of military specification, to fence in the entire perimeter of the three hills he owned.

This was a "defense line" he set up for Base No. 1 to block prying eyes from the outside; at least he wouldn't have to worry about nearby villagers wandering in again while idle and discovering the secret of Base No. 1.

Besides that, there was camouflage.

"... The signboard of the future 【Intelligent Machinery Laboratory】 of Cybertron Technology Company might just be the best camouflage for Base No. 1..."

The promotion of Cybertron Technology was proceeding step by step, and with the upcoming launch of hard drive products, barring any accidents, Cybertron Technology would soon usher in a wave of terrifying expansion.

By then, even if Shen Peiyuan at Nanjing University of Technology did not work diligently for him, Sun Cheng would find other ways to apply for the establishment of the 【Intelligent Machinery Laboratory】.

Originally, he had not considered this part before, and had not thought about the location or anything else for the 【Intelligent Machinery Laboratory】.

Now that he thought about it carefully, there was probably no better way to camouflage Base No. 1 than this.

"In the future, I will build the 【Intelligent Machinery Laboratory】 here and put it in the open, while the base develops in the shadows. This way, the procurement of equipment and raw materials won't be discovered..."