novelsite Chapter 29 Dark Fire
Chapter 29 Dark Fire
As evening fell, leaden-gray clouds piled up in the sky over the eastern suburbs of Berlin, and a light drizzle enveloped the entire industrial area like mist. Wang Zhengyang stood by the window of the technology center's carriage, his fingertips rhythmically tapping on the smooth surface of his tablet computer—a habitual gesture when he was thinking.
Eight information windows simultaneously appeared on the screen: on the Gantt chart of the project progress, the red bar representing "armor installation" was stuck, which was the biggest bottleneck at present; in the list of material shortages, thirty-seven items, including composite armor and special seals, were marked in red; the transaction records of the Berlin underground market were being updated in real time - this was the data stream that he had intercepted and decrypted from the encrypted frequency band by infiltrating nearby base stations through his supernatural abilities.
The 0.43% Caldova gene engine pulsed at a stable frequency of seventy-two times per minute deep within his consciousness, granting him the ability to process multi-threaded information simultaneously. But at this moment, his brain was not processing metalworking parameters, but rather deducing a chess game with millisecond-level precision.
"Zhang Yiqiang's warehouse inventory was last checked the day before yesterday," he muttered to himself, a faint blue data stream flashing deep in his pupils. "Fifty-two square meters of composite armor plates, divided into twenty-five pieces, each measuring 2 x 1 meter, 34 millimeters thick, and weighing 81.5 kilograms each. Twenty pieces of military-grade bulletproof alloy, varying in size, averaging 45 kilograms each. Four boxes of special sealing components, thirty sets of night vision goggles, twenty tactical vests, fifteen helmets... and at least three boxes of unlabeled mysterious goods."
He pulled up the warehouse's floor plan, a 3D model he had reconstructed using his supernatural abilities after sneaking in through the drainage pipes late the night before. The warehouse's interior space was 120 square meters, 4.2 meters high, with three rows of shelves arranged in a "川" (river) shape. Armored plates and steel alloys were stacked at the innermost wall, where the floor had been specially reinforced.
"The total weight to be moved is approximately 4.8 tons," Wang Zhengyang's fingers flew across the virtual keyboard, bringing up the physics calculation interface. "The van's rated load capacity is five tons, but the actual safe load cannot exceed 4.5 tons. We need to discard some low-value goods and prioritize armor materials and alloys."
He switched to an electronic map of Berlin's eastern suburbs and marked four possible routes from Zhang Yiqiang's warehouse to the marshalling yard. The length of each route, road conditions, nighttime traffic flow, distribution of surveillance cameras, police patrol intervals... all the data were input into his self-built probability model as parameters.
The simulation starts running on the screen. The first route is the shortest, but it passes two traffic checkpoints, with a risk factor of 0.37. The second route detours through the industrial area, but there are three sections of severely damaged road surface that could easily attract the attention of trucks, with a risk factor of 0.42. The third route…
After three minutes of simulation, the fourth route won with a risk factor of 0.28—it was a freight route that had been abandoned for many years, the road surface was still in good condition, there were no residential areas along the way, and the only two surveillance cameras were already broken.
"But this route goes through a railway culvert," Wang Zhengyang zoomed in on the 3D image of the section. "The culvert has a height limit of 3.8 meters, and the cargo box of a freight car is 3.5 meters high, so theoretically it can pass. But rain may cause water to accumulate in the culvert, so we need to confirm this on-site."
He closed the map and pulled up another set of data: the Iron Hand's recent activity patterns. Wolf's men were currently confirmed to have twelve core members, equipped with four vehicles, two of which were modified off-road vehicles with some pursuit capabilities. Their modus operandi was usually to deploy two vehicles simultaneously, one responsible for the assault and the other for support and rearguard action.
"The police will be on duty between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. tomorrow night," Wang Zhengyang said, glancing at the darkening sky outside the window. "The Iron Hand Gang has an 87% chance of making their move during this time. Zhang Yiqiang has a deal at the South City Wharf tomorrow night and will take at least six of his core men with him. The probability of the warehouse guards being halved is 92%."
All the variables were arranged and combined in his mind, generating 164 possible development paths. Wang Zhengyang closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into the computational space, like a humanoid supercomputer, evaluating the benefits, risks, and subsequent chain reactions of each plan in milliseconds.
Seven minutes later, he opened his eyes, and the blue data stream deep in his pupils gradually faded. The conclusion had been reached.
The best solution: Use the Iron Hands to create chaos, take advantage of the confusion to steal armor materials and bulletproof glass, then set fire to the scene and frame the Iron Hands.
Key details: First, the move must be completed before the Iron Hand gang leaves, otherwise the site will be sealed off after the fire; second, enough evidence must be left pointing to the Iron Hand gang, but it must be ensured that the evidence is burned just right; third, a perfect alibi is required.
Wang Zhengyang stood up and walked to the tool cabinet in the corner of the carriage. He opened the bottom hidden compartment, which contained not tools, but various modified and treated special equipment: a prototype electromagnetic pulse generator—a gift from Weber, which, after being optimized by his superpower, had its effective range increased from five meters to fifteen meters; several miniature cameras, their shells treated with his superpower, their surface textures randomly scrambled to eliminate traceable mold characteristics; a simple voice-changing device; and three sets of disguise clothing for different identities.
He took out one of the outfits—a dark blue logistics company uniform with a name tag that read "Hermann Express," a mid-sized logistics company in Berlin. The uniform was ordinary and would blend into the crowd unnoticed. But he used his supernatural abilities to subtly modify the outfit: he mixed a specific proportion of metallic particles into the fibers to interfere with the feature extraction of facial recognition systems; he added concealed shoulder pads to alter the body's silhouette; and he sewed temporary height-increasing pads into the inside of the trouser legs for use when needed.
Next is the means of transportation. There's a white van in Zhang Yiqiang's warehouse backyard, license plate number BK-L 482, eight years old, with a diesel engine and a five-ton payload. But this vehicle has a GPS tracking device, which must be dealt with beforehand.
Wang Zhengyang pulled up a photo of the truck—one he had taken with a miniature camera during his last infiltration. GPS antennas are usually mounted on the roof or inside the windshield. Judging from the photo, this truck's GPS antenna is located at the base of the right rearview mirror, appearing as a small black square.
"I need to paralyze it remotely," he muttered to himself, "but the distance is too far, and the range of my powers isn't enough."
He opened another toolbox, which contained gadgets he had made in his spare time over the past few days. He took out a device about the size of a cigarette box. The outer shell was made of ordinary plastic, but the internal circuit board was soldered by him. At its core was a miniature EMP generator, with enough power to burn out sensitive circuits within a one-meter radius.
"With the enhancement of my superpower, the effective range can be extended to three meters," Wang Zhengyang said, weighing the device in his hand. "It can be attached to the exterior wall of a building near the truck and triggered remotely. That should be enough."
Next is the transportation plan. Four and a half tons of goods would normally take him at least three hours to move alone, which wasn't feasible due to time constraints. He would have to utilize his special ability, but not the multi-threaded operation of simultaneously controlling hundreds of items—that would be too resource-intensive and prone to going out of control.
"We need auxiliary tools," he said, quickly drawing on his tablet. "There are manual forklifts in the warehouse, with a load capacity of one ton, but they are noisy. Hydraulic pallet trucks are quieter, but they move slowly."
He designed a simple modification: adding a special energy guiding structure to the metal frame of the hydraulic pallet truck. This way, when pushing the truck, he could use special energy to reduce friction, stabilize the load, and reduce bumps and noise.
The design can be completed in ten minutes, and machining the parts will take half an hour. There's enough time.
Wang Zhengyang looked at Lin Luoer at the other end of the technology center. The girl was hunched over a computer, drawing a layout diagram. Her ponytail hung down her shoulder, and she looked as focused as a middle school student solving a math problem.
"Lin Luo'er," he walked over, his voice softening, "I might have to go out for a bit—the materials supplier needs me to check on the goods. They close at nine o'clock tonight."
Lin Luo'er put down the tweezers and rubbed her eyes: "Going alone so late? How about I go with you?"
"No need," Wang Zhengyang said gently but firmly, "It's more important for you to stay here and collect data. Besides..."
He paused, looking at the clear signs of fatigue on Lin Luo'er's face: "You've been working for ten hours straight. You need to rest tonight, not run around with me."
Lin Luo'er opened her mouth to retort, but Wang Zhengyang had already turned and walked back to his worktable. Looking at his back, she felt a mix of emotions—a warm feeling of being cared for, a worry about his overwork, and a... inexplicable impulse to get closer to him.
She shook her head, suppressing these distracting thoughts, and refocused on the solder joints under the microscope.
Wang Zhengyang sat back down at his workbench and began working on the EMP device and the modified transport vehicle parts for tonight. His hands moved over the metal parts, his superpower acting like an invisible carving knife, precisely altering the microstructure of the materials. The process was almost silent, with only the occasional faint blue glow on the metal surface indicating that his superpower was at work.
At 7 p.m., all preparations were complete. Wang Zhengyang packed up the equipment, changed into ordinary work clothes, and slung his tool bag over his shoulder.
"I'm off," he said to Lin Luoer.
"I understand," Lin Luo'er nodded, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Please... come back soon."
Wang Zhengyang glanced at her, nodded, and said nothing.
As he walked out of the technology center, it was still raining. He opened an ordinary black umbrella and disappeared into the deepening twilight.