Chapter 203: Countermeasures

Inside a cool-toned room.

He slowly injected the telomere repair agent from a syringe into a small white mouse, then placed it back in its cage.

After finishing the experiment, Li Qingye left the laboratory area and went to the decontamination zone. An assistant helped him remove his protective suit and helmet. He passed through layer after layer of sterilization facilities before finally emerging in a specially prepared reception room.

"What is it?"

Chen Jianxiong wore a self-reproachful expression. "Boss, I am truly sorry. Our plan to lure and capture Joshua has failed. Black Ship has discovered that we captured him, and the covers of Hamšík and our other sleeper agents have been blown."

Hearing this, Li Qingye raised an eyebrow. "Failed? Tell me the specific points of failure."

"There were no problems with the other stages of the entrapment process. However, while we were handling Joshua, the micro-alarm hidden inside his body was activated and sent out an alert signal."

Chen Jianxiong continued his report, "Jia Ling, who was disguised as Matt Marcus, discovered the micro-alarm hidden in his heart during an X-ray. They made a split-second decision to destroy all equipment and organic matter, then decapitated Joshua and retreated with Hamšík and the other sleeper agents."

"A micro-alarm? Like the ones we found in those two Knights before?" Li Qingye recalled instantly.

"Yes, that exact type of micro-alarm."

Li Qingye didn’t blame him. After all, the decision to initiate the plan to capture Joshua was one he had personally approved. Besides, he wasn’t in the habit of shifting blame onto his subordinates.

Moreover, even if the micro-alarm inside Joshua hadn’t been triggered in this accidental failure, the pawn that was Joshua wouldn’t have been usable for long anyway.

According to intelligence from the Foreign Affairs Division, a Black Ship Governor must periodically travel to a designated location to undergo a special review by Black Ship Headquarters.

The Foreign Affairs Division previously didn’t know the specifics of this review, but now Li Qingye had a good guess.

’It’s likely a data read from the micro-alarm’s storage. While they wouldn’t be able to see video footage, audio data would definitely be collected.’

Even if they had successfully converted Joshua, he would have been exposed the moment he returned to report for duty.

After all, the micro-alarm couldn’t be removed. And even if it could, such an act would be a dead giveaway.

Black Ship Headquarters aren’t fools. If a high-level agent dared to remove their internal micro-alarm, it would be a clear sign of intended betrayal.

"Alright, the responsibility for this one is mine. It’s not your fault," Li Qingye said, directly admitting his own mistake.

"Boss, you’re being too harsh on yourself. It was my..."

"Right is right, and wrong is wrong. There’s no need to gloss over mistakes. I am only human, after all," Li Qingye said, cutting off Chen Jianxiong’s self-criticism.

Chen Jianxiong felt an involuntary surge of gratitude.

Li Qingye wasn’t defeated by one failure. No one is perfect, and failure is a part of life. He calmly gave his next orders:

"Although this mistake led to a failed capture, it might be a blessing in disguise. The major world powers surely have similar little tricks up their sleeves. You all must be more vigilant in the future."

"Yes, sir. As soon as I return, I will organize a team to study how to deal with this type of adversary," Chen Jianxiong replied with great seriousness.

Li Qingye’s eyes narrowed slightly. "If direct control isn’t feasible, we can learn from Hydra. By coordinating from the inside and outside, we can slowly promote our own moles up the ranks. That is the most foolproof plan."

Of course, it was also the most time-consuming and labor-intensive plan.

Chen Jianxiong nodded. "A brilliant plan, Boss."

"Also, instruct the Latin America, North American, and European Regions to stir up some trouble. Don’t let America get too comfortable. Those pirates have too much time on their hands."

"Yes, sir."

Chen Jianxiong returned to the secret headquarters of the Foreign Affairs Division.

Meanwhile, Li Qingye resumed his research on telomere repair technology.

...

「Two days later.」

Chen Jianxiong was at a secret naval submarine base in the Mishan Islands of Luzon.

He watched Jia Ling (as Matt Marcus), Hamšík, and the others disembark from the submarine, along with a large case personally carried by Jia Ling.

"I’m sorry, Minister Chen! We failed," Jia Ling apologized, full of self-reproach.

Chen Jianxiong shook his head. "As long as everyone is safe. This wasn’t your fault, after all. Is the head in that case?"

Feeling slightly relieved, Jia Ling placed the special storage container on the table. "This is Joshua’s head."

Chen Jianxiong waved a hand and said, "I’ve already prepared an operating room. Let’s start the procedure and induction as soon as possible, before it loses viability."

Several medical-type New Human personnel quickly wheeled the case to a temporary operating room within the submarine base.

Inside the cold, sterile operating room.

Inside the cryogenic flash-freezer, Joshua’s head still possessed strong viability. Each of its cells was saturated with several types of special polysaccharide and fat molecules.

This cryopreservation technology was actually developed primarily for cryo-sleep pods.

However, the technology currently had no practical applications. Biologists and medical scientists at Homo Sapiens Company had conducted secret experiments using some white mice and human dregs.

Using this cellular agent, a compound of special polysaccharides and fats, did indeed allow for cryogenic hibernation. However, the maximum duration was only about three months. Beyond that time, the organism would likely enter a permanent sleep, or even die outright.

The polysaccharides came from tardigrades, while the fat molecules were from the Changbai Mountain Forest Frog.

In nature, many animals and plants possess the habit and ability to hibernate, but they do so only to cope with sudden environmental changes, not to pursue longevity as humans do.

Therefore, adapting the hibernation abilities of these organisms only allowed for short-term dormancy, not the decades-long hibernation that was the goal.

The technology used on Joshua’s head was precisely this kind of hibernation technique.

That was why his head had retained such a high degree of viability.

The medical personnel made an incision in the neck of the severed head and quickly attached a temporary artificial circulatory system, as well as temporary connectors for the capillaries and muscles.

The respiratory and digestive systems were unnecessary, as the artificial circulatory system already contained ample oxygen and nutrients.

As the artificial circulatory system slowly began to supply blood to Joshua’s brain, his cellular temperature rose rapidly.

However, because the blood contained a certain amount of anesthetic, Joshua did not regain consciousness at this time.

That’s right—Joshua was still conscious.

In recent years, the medical community had already performed head transplant surgeries. Therefore, a lone head, if handled properly, would not result in brain death.

The operation continued. Since only the head remained, a genetic modification procedure was impossible.

The medical team opted for a retro surgical approach: manually damaging Joshua’s prefrontal cortex. Thanks to technological advancements and Homo Sapiens Company’s in-depth research on the brain, they could precisely excise the emotion-regulating brain cells within the prefrontal cortex.

After inserting a bio-chip, they could begin to wake Joshua.

When Joshua regained consciousness, his gaze was vacant, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Intelligence officers quickly initiated an induction program to extract as much information as possible from his brain.

After all, a head preserved by this method could not be maintained for long. The upkeep costs were too high, and unexpected complications could arise at any moment.

Therefore, the Foreign Affairs Division could only treat Joshua’s head as a disposable item. Once the intelligence was squeezed out of it, it could be sent directly to the lab as a cadaver for study.

Outside, Chen Jianxiong and a dozen of his subordinates were browsing through the freshly extracted intelligence.

As expected of a Black Ship veteran, and given that he had worked in the West Asia Region for a long time, the intelligence extracted this time was extremely valuable.

Much of the information was new to the Foreign Affairs Division.