Chapter 346: Longhan Hydropower Station

In Tianwo County, Guangxi, in the southern border region of China, as night fell, the armed police Warriors stationed around a certain massive construction site on the upper reaches of the Red River began their guard and patrol duties, following the same routine as they had at this time every day, organized by squadron along the mountain paths they had begun to grow familiar with.

"Squad Leader, why do you think the higher-ups transferred us to stay in this place for so long? What are they trying to do?"

Warrior Wang was a lively post-90s youth. A native of Anhui Province, he had realized since middle school that he wasn't cut out for academics. Coupled with a personality that was a bit too lively, his family feared he might one day fail to distinguish right from wrong and fall in with a crowd of good-for-nothing thugs, so they simply sent him to join the army last year after seeking his consent.

And you have to say, the military really does train a person well.

In less than a year since joining the army, Wang, who had been assigned to a certain unit of the Guangxi Armed Police, had been trained into a decent soldier.

After all, soldiers like them who had been in training for less than a year were rarely assigned to carry out a Task.

However, last month, the provincial Armed Police Corps received an emergency order and dispatched the armed police battalion where Wang was stationed to set up camp here at the Longhan Hydropower Station in Tianwo County.

Wang's Squad Leader was surnamed Chen and came from Jiangxi Province; he was a man who appeared stern but was actually very talkative.

Hearing Wang be the first to blurt out the question, he glared at Wang with annoyance. Once the team had all descended the hillside and reached the planned rest area, he lowered his voice to reprimand him: "Have you forgotten the military discipline? Don't ask about things you shouldn't!"

"What's there to keep secret in this dump? Isn't it just building a hydropower station..."

Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Wang muttered as he took off his military cap, shaking it in his hand to fan himself.

Guangxi was not like his hometown; although it was only January, the temperature already showed signs of the fourth or fifth month in the north.

Squad Leader Chen thought about it; it seemed the higher-ups really hadn't mentioned any confidentiality protocols.

Looking up, he saw the young Warriors resting around him all staring at him with eager eyes. Clearly, having been stationed here for over a month, everyone was likely bursting with curiosity by now.

He hesitated for a moment before lowering his voice and saying: "Actually, I'm not sure either, but I did hear the instructor mention before that the hydropower station might have run into some problems and is preparing to stop construction. In any case, you should have noticed recently that the workers have almost all been withdrawn."

And how!

The Longhan Hydropower Station had very low fame within the country; not to mention it was far inferior to Sanxia, even compared to other completed hydropower stations, its publicity was much smaller.

However, although its fame was small, that did not mean the investment scale of this hydropower station was small.

On the contrary, it was treated by China's decision-makers as a key project for the "Western Development" and "West-to-East Power Transmission," so since the planning and start of construction, the standards for the Longhan Hydropower Station were not a whit inferior to Sanxia.

Moreover, construction had been underway since 2001, making it the eighth year now. In June of last year, the first generating unit of the Longhan Hydropower Station had already begun power generation and testing. With it looking like it would take at most another year for this second-largest hydropower hub after Sanxia to be completely finished and put into use, the higher-ups suddenly stopped the final construction of the station and even withdrew a large number of engineering personnel and equipment.

It could be said that now, not only were the personnel in charge of the project unclear about the situation, but even these armed police Warriors who had been temporarily transferred to perform guard duty couldn't help but feel uneasy, with all sorts of wild thoughts bubbling up!

For example, many Warriors like Wang were secretly suspecting whether this hydropower station had some major design flaw, or if they had dug up something incredible while excavating the mountain.

Especially the latter theory, which now had a lot of currency among the armed police Warriors on duty.

It wasn't to blame Wang and the others for their wild imagination, because although the state had suddenly withdrawn the workers originally building the hydropower station, they hadn't actually sent them to other places. Instead, they were sent to several resettlement sites a few dozen kilometers away near the station, and in coordination with the engineering troops arriving in a steady stream, they began building several military facilities nearby—the kind that looked permanent at a glance.

Just as the patrolling armed police Warriors were chatting during their short break.

Suddenly, a dull thud of a heavy object falling from the sky came from not far away, appearing exceptionally striking in the dark night.

"There's a situation..."

Squad Leader Chen was a veteran of several years after all; he was the first to react and let out a low roar, "Assemble, watch and guard!"

Before he had even finished shouting, he grabbed the rifle he had just slung over his shoulder, dashed behind a large tree nearby, and carefully poked his head out to look over there.

With a rustle of footsteps, Wang and the other young Warriors who had received several months of military training hurriedly gathered together, not forgetting to follow suit and use the nearby trees as cover to shield themselves.

"It looks like something fell from the sky..." a Warrior from Pengcheng next to Wang whispered.

No sooner had he finished speaking than they heard a crisp sound, like tree branches being forcefully snapped, coming from the other side of the hillside about twenty or thirty meters away.

Along with that sound came a series of dull, heavy stomping noises, as if a giant were prowling through the mountain forest in the dark night, instantly making Squad Leader Chen and the others, whose nerves were already taut, feel a cold sweat break out all over.

Not long after, accompanied by two azure light orbs that appeared exceptionally piercing in the dark night like lanterns, and aided by the hazy moonlight cast upon the mountain forest by the moon hanging high in the sky, Squad Leader Chen, Wang, and the others finally saw clearly what that thing approaching them was.

A giant, a burly giant that looked to be at least six or seven meters tall, a tall metal giant whose entire body emitted a chilling gleam under the hazy moonlight.

"Holy crap, what the hell is this thing!"

Squad Leader Chen couldn't help but curse, his fingers gripping the rifle handle turning faintly white, though that pallor was clearly not as obvious as the color of his face at this moment.

"This... this is... a... mechanical warrior..." Warrior Wang's performance was even worse than his; experiencing such a bizarre event for the first time, he was clearly terrified, his voice even trembling uncontrollably.

The disturbance seemed to instantly attract the attention of the mechanical giant. Seeing him raising his hand to sweep aside a tree branch blocking his path, he immediately lowered his head upon hearing the sound to look at Squad Leader Chen and the others, who were hiding behind a tree a few meters away on guard.

It seemed two imperceptible beams of light scanned the Warriors, making their bodies stiffen so much that they didn't dare to move at all for a moment.

But the next moment, a cold, mechanical voice immediately rang out: "You should be soldiers of China. I am Frenzy, and I have a cooperative relationship with your country. This just saved me the trouble of continuing to search. Now, take me to the military base nearby."