Chapter 546: Laser Tunnel, Gold Safe
Translator: Timothy Editor: GlobeGlotter
Ye Mo wanted to kill the eight men on the island but decided against it, choosing instead to follow their ship to avoid alarming the enemy. By nightfall, he realized the ship was remarkably fast, exceeding the speed of most cars despite its size and unlikelihood of comparison to jet skis.
Landing on the fishing boat’s corner, Ye Mo discovered cannons and missiles. He was most surprised by the engine’s near silence; only the waves were audible. This, he surmised, was cutting-edge Black Sun Empire technology. If this was not even a warship, their actual vessels must surpass even those of the U.S. He pondered transferring this technology to Luo Yue.
Lost in thought, Ye Mo accompanied the boat throughout the night. The next day, it entered a narrow port on a private island. His spirit sense revealed guards and extensive buildings, green mountains, lakes, and beachfront entertainment facilities—a luxury resort.
As the ship docked at a simple port, Ye Mo focused his attention. Four Japanese men guarded the pier: two openly, two concealed. This made no difference to his spirit sense. A cargo truck waited; two more Japanese men disembarked as the boat arrived.
They swiftly loaded the gold onto the truck, which immediately departed. The entire operation was silent, suggesting experience. After the boat left, Ye Mo killed the four remaining crewmen and guards, then followed the truck inland.
The truck entered a valley revealing a hidden complex of mansions and large laboratories concealed by trees. Security was tight. This was indeed a Black Sun Empire base; he wondered if all their scientists resided here. The truck stopped outside what appeared to be a vault, where Ye Mo also halted. Cameras and automated weapons were ubiquitous.
To remain unseen, Ye Mo ingested an essence chi pill to maintain his invisibility. Four armed guards were inside the vault. After verifying the driver’s documents and cargo, they withdrew. Ye Mo’s spirit sense detected a laser-secured tunnel beyond the vault door.
Astonished by the thorough security, Ye Mo doubted he could breach it. Overcoming the lasers seemed difficult with his current abilities. However, he didn’t need the tunnel. While other places might boast meters of steel, it posed no challenge.
Once the guards retreated and the vault door opened, the lasers disappeared. The truck entered, revealing thousands of wooden crates—three or four thousand, he estimated—containing five to six hundred tons of gold.
He was stunned by the Black Sun Empire's wealth. Why hoard so much gold instead of converting it to money? While valuable, the gold was only worth tens of billions of USD, insignificant for modern scientific research.
After the truck departed, Ye Mo remained inside the vault. Its steel walls proved too thick for his spirit sense to penetrate. He selected a steel plate and began cutting with his flying sword.
After thirty centimeters, sparks appeared, but the flying sword continued unimpeded. A meter later, a hole appeared. The sparks, he realized, were from an electrified layer. Piercing it with conductive tools would be fatal, but his flying sword, a super-resistor, passed through without incident. The lack of metal contact prevented the alarm.
Exiting the vault, Ye Mo found himself in a small room, confronting a man stunned by his emergence. Before the man could trigger the alarm, Ye Mo incinerated him with a fireball.
The room contained surveillance equipment. On the main monitor, Ye Mo spotted a faint shadow—his own. Even invisibility hadn't completely shielded him. He wasn't sure if his invisibility was weak or the camera was advanced.
Finding no hard drive, only monitors, Ye Mo cut the wires and decided on a different approach: eliminating everyone. His storage ring was too small to carry the gold.
He searched for the control center. Unable to understand Japanese, he killed several men before finding someone who spoke Chinese.
Impatient, Ye Mo considered killing everyone if necessary. Without an airport, he doubted the scientists were there. At worst, he’d acquired considerable wealth.
Just as he contemplated his options, a large man, flanked by two guards, approached. Ye Mo killed the guards and seized the man, asking his usual question: “Do you speak Chinese?”