Zhao Ya, upon hearing Lu Yao had arrived, took leave from work and went home, even buying a lot of groceries to make a full table of food and opened several bottles of fine wine, not finding it a hassle at all.
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Overwhelmed by her hospitality, Lu Yao took his seat and said with a smile, "I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused you."
"Don't you ever mention that," Zhao Ya robustly filled a full cup of white wine, "I was scared to death back then and didn't properly thank you, which I really should have. Here's to you—I'll drink first in gratitude!"
With that, she drank heartily.
"Yi Nuo is my life, without you, it would have been all over for me, I'm going to drink another one to you!"
Zhao Ya was truly grateful and poured herself another cup to drink.
The couple, being genuine in nature, were extremely grateful for Lu Yao's rescue of their daughter and kept urging him to eat more and offering toasts.
After a warm dinner, Lu Yao brought up his question to Zhao Ya:
"Zhao Jie, do you work at the Mechanical Design Institute? I have something I'd like to design."
Lu Yao took out his phone and showed her many pictures from games, specifically the "Power Armor" from the Fallout and Warhammer series.
Zhao Ya seemed puzzled, "Isn't this from a game? What are you..."
Lu Yao explained, "I have a friend who is a COS enthusiast and needs a very realistic prop for competing and filming web dramas. So, I'd like to design a metal battle armor that completely covers the user."
After skimming through the game images again, Zhao Ya said:
"It's similar to individual exoskeletons. Our country's exoskeletons are already capable of helping female soldiers lift 150-kilogram cannonballs. But powering them has always been a big issue—what kind of power system do you plan to use?"
Lu Yao waved his hand grandly, "I don't need a power system, there's a special 'traction tool'."
The one thing martial artists never lack is strength; they are the best power source!
"No power system?" Zhao Ya thought for a moment and remarked, "In that case, it should be easy to make."
Lu Yao nodded, "That's great, then I'll entrust your institute with the design."
Zhao Ya sincerely suggested when she heard his request, "Our institute charges a lot, at least 300,000. You can find a design company outside, a few tens of thousands will be more than enough."
She wanted to save Lu Yao some money. The "Mechanical Design Institute" provided the most professional technical services to all sectors of society, and their fees were quite steep.
But the last thing Lu Yao lacked was money; he only cared about efficiency and quality. "Thanks for the kind gesture, Zhao Jie, but I trust the larger institutions capable of handling international orders more,"
Lu Yao shrugged and muttered to himself, "This might be some sort of sinister contraption for making opium."
So, he said, "No worries, as long as it's decrypted, that's good enough. Thanks a lot, Brother Li."
After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Lu Yao excused himself to leave. Li Jin and his wife wanted to keep him for a couple more days, but he really had pressing matters to attend to.
He still needed to acquire even more powerful weapons!
~~~~~~~~
While Lu Yao was fussing with this hard drive, far away in Guadala City of the Inca Nation, in a classically styled luxury villa, the long-absent Zhang Xin was basking in the sunlight by a spacious swimming pool.
All around the villa, countless security personnel wearing bulletproof vests and carrying automatic rifles patrolled vigilantly;
In the pool, several bikini-clad beauties frolicked;
At Zhang Xin's feet lay a massive white tiger. Lazing about, every so often, it would open its mouth wide in a yawn, showcasing fearsome fangs like daggers.
Moments later, a Black Hawk helicopter approached from the distance and landed on the villa's helipad.
A white man with a briefcase jumped out. He wore sunglasses that obscured his eyes, but through the opening of his black suit collar, a bulletproof vest was visible.
Zhang Xin stood up and greeted with a smile, "Hello, Andre."
The white man named Andre responded coldly, "Regarding the destruction of the He Kingdom factory, it has been confirmed that the attacker came for you. Take a look at this footage. Do you have anything to say?"
Upon finishing his words, Andre took out a tablet and hit play. On the screen appeared an action movie scene—Lu Yao wearing an Ultraman mask and gunning down a drug manufacturing facility with dual firearms.
"This is a segment of surveillance footage, Mr. Zhang Xin, you need to think carefully—have you offended any 'professionals'?"
Zhang Xin shrugged and said, "The number of people I've offended is simply too many; any one of them might send such professionals. Has the equation not been found yet?"
Andre removed his sunglasses, revealing an eye that had been blinded. "Not a single trace. If we don't find it soon, we're going to miss out on a great revolution."
Zhang Xin's delicate face grew dark with clouds. The lost equation was an inadvertent research result obtained from the He Kingdom factory—it was the process of refining Crystal Opium without cathinone!
This technological breakthrough was revolutionary, equivalent to turning water into oil! It would surely cause a storm in the entire Blue Star opium world, no less significant than the second industrial revolution!
But now... the equation had suddenly gone missing! And it was thoroughly lost! To maintain secrecy, it was stored without internet access.
Zhang Xin picked up the tablet, staring at the image of "Ultraman," feeling oddly familiar with the figure.
The very man Zhang Xin found familiar, Lu Yao, was currently worrying over acquiring high-powered weapons.