A Post-Apocalyptic Journey to Another World

Time was of the essence, and not a moment could be wasted. Zhang Xi summoned the raccoon, ignoring its complaints about being trapped in his sea of ​​consciousness for so long without seeing the light of day. He led them to an abandoned county town over a hundred kilometers away, which had been conquered by the gray werewolves. The gray werewolves had eaten all the edible things shortly after conquering the town and left one after another. The bunker complex in the county town was one of the rendezvous points Zhang Xi had planned.

This was one of Zhang Xi's prepared strongholds, where he had even hidden some food, water, and medicine.

After settling them in, Zhang Xiyou immediately returned to his unit, where he was immediately notified to report to Gao Longzhi.

The assembly point was located in an indoor training ground, heavily guarded. Since the last incident of a surprise attack from behind, the secrecy of troop operations had become a serious concern. Previously, people assumed they were only dealing with beasts and monsters, so secrecy wasn't a priority. Now, it was gradually being discovered that the invading force was an alien civilization, and tactical secrecy was immediately implemented. After all, no one knew whether the adversary had the means to infiltrate humanity.

Upon arriving at the assembly point, Zhang Xi discovered that nearly a hundred soldiers had already gathered there. Judging from their aura, each of them was a warrior who had broken through the limits of human endurance. Among them were several people who had participated in the test with Zhang Xi and Xu Liang last time, including the female medic.

The soldiers lined up neatly in four columns, surrounded by a large number of scientific research and technical personnel. Gao Longzhi stood on a high platform and installed a strange-looking machine on Xue Gang, who was standing next to him. Subsequently, the technicians brought out many similar devices and began installing them on the soldiers.

Everyone looked on with curiosity, except for Zhang Xi, who remained calm. He knew about this thing in his previous life and had even worn it. Of course, he couldn't bear to buy it. The individual soldier exoskeleton system, like the nano vest, was also a product of Gao Longzhi. It was incredibly expensive, and the initial version was nuclear-powered, but nuclear power was extremely unstable and frequently caused accidents. Later, with significant progress in the development and utilization of elemental energy crystals, they adopted elemental energy crystals as their power source.

The power of this device varies depending on the materials used and the level of the elemental energy crystal driving it. Later, more advanced versions allow an ordinary person wearing it to directly engage in melee combat with orcs below the Silver rank, with a very high win rate. The system's central computer stores a vast amount of combat data, allowing it to adjust its battle strategy based on the opponent and even autonomously adjust the wearer's evasive maneuvers. Of course, the current versions are just early experimental products developed by Gao Long, intended for emergency use, and not quite as extreme.

After everyone was dressed, Gao Longzhi immediately emphasized, "Everyone, see that recessed red button on your left arm? Do not press it. It contains a stimulant I call 'Devil's Tears.' This stuff has serious side effects. After injection, you can gain tremendous strength, but at the cost of your life. One injection can make you a superhero for ten minutes, but after ten minutes you will be seriously injured, and even if you survive, you will be permanently disabled! I shouldn't have taken it out, but there is no better choice at this point. Whether you use it or not is up to you!"

Zhang Xi was overjoyed. Gao Longzhi had actually developed this so early! In his previous life, Gao Longzhi only introduced this stimulant to the military two years later, after people's physical condition had significantly improved and their recovery abilities had become stronger. What was now highly toxic to others was a minor side effect for Zhang Xi. The superior recovery ability he gained from the Hardened Man Potion, crafted from the blood and sweat of the Frost Troll, was the perfect counter to the side effects of Demon Tears.

With the help of the technicians, everyone began to adapt to the operation of the individual soldier exoskeleton system. One has to admire Gao Longzhi's talent here. The system is very user-friendly and easy to use. In less than an hour, everyone was able to use it flexibly.

Zhang Xi also tried it on and felt it out. While the system didn't significantly improve his reaction speed (he was already fast), it at least didn't hinder him, and it helped reduce stamina consumption. Even for someone at the peak of the Bronze level like him, it was a very helpful set of equipment. The only downside was the nuclear backpack on his back—it was too dangerous! If that thing exploded, it would be a serious matter. Even someone at the Gold level wouldn't be able to withstand it, let alone someone at the Bronze level!

Just as all the preparations were almost complete, the atmosphere in the venue became slightly unusual. Xue Gang gave Zhang Xi a wink, and the latter nodded. Suddenly, he rushed over and grabbed Gao Longzhi. Then, two tall soldiers rushed out, picked up Gao Longzhi, and ran together toward an armored vehicle that had been prepared.

Gao Longzhi was initially bewildered by the sudden turn of events, but he quickly realized what the soldiers were up to. He shouted, "What are you bastards doing? Let me go! I want to see Huo Mingde! Let me go!"

Zhang Xi, standing beside him, winked at the stingy old man and said, "Commander Huo knew you wouldn't want to leave, so he asked us to send you away!"

"Whether I leave or not is not important; what matters are the research data, the magic crystals, and my experimental results." Gao Longzhi struggled in vain, and could only utter this statement.

Zhang Xi said, "Don't worry, your deputy has already prepared your experimental data. It will go to Tianjing City with you!" After saying that, he pushed Gao Longzhi into the armored vehicle, took the access card from the man's jacket pocket, and two soldiers followed him in.

Gao Longzhi was still shouting angrily inside the car: "My deputy? Who is it? This traitor! And you, you little robber! Don't touch anything in my lab, especially those magic crystals! Let me out!"

Ignoring Gao Longzhi's shouts, the armored vehicle sped away, and the other researchers also picked up their bags and left with the escort convoy that had been prepared in advance.

In fact, Huo Mingde's orders were only to try to persuade Gao Longzhi to leave, and to use force only if that failed. But Zhang Xi volunteered for this task, which he had gotten from Xue Gang. So naturally, there was no question of persuasion; he was simply put on the car and taken away. After all, the old man was so stingy.

While everyone else was busy moving around, Zhang Xi leisurely arrived at Gao Longzhi's storage room. He had already memorized the password when Gao Longzhi took the nano vest last time. With his Bronze Domain eyesight, he could clearly see what Gao Longzhi entered from a distance. Now that he had the access card, everything in this room was his.

Before long, the "robber" walked out of the storage room satisfied. He had gained two more nano vests, fifty Devil's Tears, and dozens of silver-grade magic crystals. Of course, the few failed laser guns had already been put into Zhang Xi's possession.

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