Chapter 64
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Chapter 64: High-Tech Equipment
Zhu Huai’s eyes lit up. “I’ve always wanted to ask, what technology did you use to reveal our stealth devices when we crash-landed? Is there such portable identification equipment?”
Mo Chuan laughed and patted her shoulder. “Of course there is. Come on, I’ll take you to see.”
As they left the cave villa, she explained the plans. The expert had a travel schedule in the afternoon, which is why she had come to see them this morning. Mo Chuan glanced at Luo Yu as they walked, “I know you have a return simulation later, but don’t worry; we’ll be back early.”
While chatting, they reached the entrance of the cliff dwelling and boarded the aircraft that Mo Chuan had parked outside, flying south together.
The expert lived on the alluvial plain downstream of Jiang Shui, south of Di Qiu. They first flew to the upper reaches of Jiang Shui, then turned eastward to the downstream. The Jiang Shui at this season was magnificent, with the canyons on either side rising steeply, and mist slowly drifting through the peaks. They passed through the clouds, inhaling the slightly moist air, feeling refreshed.
Emerging from the canyon, they flew over an expansive plain of lush grasslands, where they could see wild horses running freely in the distance.
After a while, the aircraft began to descend gently, and they landed in front of a stone building. As they stepped out, the hangar robot approached them. “Hello, everyone. Master Shan Yi is waiting for you.”
Zhu Huai murmured softly, “That title sounds impressive.”
Although her voice was low, Mo Chuan still heard her. She turned and smiled, “She loves being called that; she thinks it sounds profound.”
As they arrived at the stone house, the structure shared the same glowing barrier as the cliff dwelling. A butler robot stood waiting. Seeing them arrive, it raised its hand, saying, “Please, come in.”
They followed the butler robot inside, where they were greeted by a circular hall. Rows of bionic wings hung neatly on the stone walls. Mo Chuan seemed accustomed to the layout of the hall, having visited many times before, while Luo Yu and the others looked around in wonder.
The bionic wings varied in size, shape, and color, appearing to be prototypes of different models. The lighting in the hall wasn’t very bright, creating the illusion that they had stepped into a giant bat cave.
On their way, Mo Chuan had introduced today’s visiting expert, Shan Yi—a seasoned bionic wing designer. Besides wing suits, she had also developed various self-defense and detection gear. From the tone of Mo Chuan, it seemed that Shan Yi had some cutting-edge technology that had yet to be widely used.
“Hey, are you here already? Wait for me a moment!” a voice called from the basement of the stone house.
“Hmm,” Mo Chuan replied, leading the three casually through the entrance hall. They walked with ease to the leisure room inside, where she invited them to sit down and order drinks. Turning toward the basement, she continued, “No rush, we’ll wait for you.”
They spent some time in the bright leisure room, sipping their drinks, when footsteps approached from the direction of the voice. Luo Yu looked up to see a tall figure walking toward them. The person wore a deep blue sleeveless jumpsuit and was striding excitedly, carrying a small black box.
As Shan Yi neared, Luo Yu and her companions stood up to greet her, while Mo Chuan remained seated, sipping her tea with a smile. “What good stuff did you prepare for us?”
Shan Yi smiled and beckoned the three to sit down, then sat next to Mo Chuan, placing the box on the round table in the center. She instructed the assistant robot, trailing behind her, to stand to the side. The three then noticed that the robot had several large dust bags hanging from it, similar to the dust bags used to store the wing suits inside their cliff dwelling—these bags probably contained bionic wings.
“You’ll see shortly,” Shan Yi said, raising an eyebrow at Mo Chuan before turning to the three. “I know about your situation. I’ve been remotely listening to the assembly meetings and those at the time travel center. I heard you decided to return together. That takes courage.”
Mo Chuan nodded at the three of them. “The matter of reincarnation has been confirmed. Over the past couple of days, I analyzed the data brought back by the exploration team, and their social structure indeed matches Ji Shu’s predictions. Therefore, it is understandable that they decided to return to try to alter the situation. Resetting time must feel quite unpleasant.”
Shan Yi asked curiously, “What happens during a reset?”
“I don’t know,” Mo Chuan answered succinctly. “Each reincarnation has an unobservable phase lasting between one to three thousand years. From the end of the previous cycle to the setup of the next one, the time channel remains completely closed. Thus, it’s difficult to know precisely when each cycle begins. Estimations can vary by hundreds or even thousands of years.”
Upon hearing this, Shan Yi pondered, and Mo Chuan smilingly urged, “Alright, I’ll go into more detail another time. Let’s see what you’ve prepared for these three friends from external time-space.”
Shan Yi snapped back to attention, opening the small box on the table, and beamed at Luo Yu and her companions. “These are a few items I’m very satisfied with from the past two years. Some aren’t much use here, so I finished them, played around a bit, and now they’re perfect for you to keep handy.”
Luo Yu and the others gathered around to watch as Shan Yi pulled one item after another out of the box, neatly arranging them on the soft surface of the table. There were vision goggles, facial masks, some unidentifiable objects that looked like they had specific wearing positions.
Shan Yi gradually introduced each item to them. There were perspective goggles that could identify stealth devices, optical masks for disguise, multifunctional detectors that could detect the source of nearby dangers and their intensity, and various supportive jump and strength-enhancing wrist and elbow guards, along with arterial oxygen patches to wear around the neck. The three of them were dazzled, exclaiming in amazement.
Zhu Huai picked up a very thin optical mask and, under Shan Yi’s guidance, wore it on her head. Following the instructions provided, she scanned Ying Zhao’s face with it. In just ten seconds, she perfectly replicated Ying Zhao’s features onto her own face.
Luo Yu and Ying Zhao leaned closer to marvel, noticing that even the spots and fine details were precisely copied. Ying Zhao touched Zhu Huai’s face with a hand, finding the material of the mask was quite special, giving the feel of real skin. Shan Yi then explained the material used for the mask. Despite being lightweight, it was highly resilient; it wouldn’t get heavily damaged. If a knife pierced it, it would only leave a small cut, not affecting the disguise effect, making it appear as if the person had actually been cut. The mask could only be removed manually by the user, preventing accidental rips that would expose the disguise.
As Zhu Huai inspected herself using a mirror, she gasped, “This is top configuration for disguise! Back in school, I worked on a project related to a mask; the material gave me the biggest headaches. The final product only vaguely passed at ten meters; if someone got closer, the disguise would fail. I heard the Federation has similar secret development projects, but nothing comes close to this level of detail.”
Shan Yi beamed with pride. “I developed this over thirty-seven versions to achieve this effect. It includes a full facial three-dimensional scan, even the irises! Impressive, right?”
“Why did you decide to create such equipment?” Luo Yu asked curiously.
Shan Yi shrugged. “Just out of curiosity. I wondered if a human face could be completely copied. This belongs to the derivative technology of precise facial recognition. I originally researched animal face recognition, but eventually veered off course and found it very interesting, so I made it. However, there’s no real application scenario for it here. I’ve worn it a couple of times just to scare my mom, haha.”
Once she demonstrated the other items, Shan Yi finally turned to the robot standing nearby, giving it a pat. “Those were just small gadgets; the real stars are what’s hanging here—the lightweight combat wings I just developed.”
As she spoke, the robot opened one of the dust bags and pulled out a black bionic wing. It looked much lighter compared to the falcon wings they had in their cave villa.
“This model combines the features of the falcon and crow wings, and the bionic feather material has been upgraded. Overall, it’s half the weight of the standard version and can support aerial rolls. Most importantly, it can withstand forty percent damage during flight.”
Mo Chuan perked up with interest. “Forty percent? That’s impressive. Is that for one side or both together?”
“Of course, both together! If each side took forty percent damage, how could it still fly? What are you thinking?” Shan Yi frowned slightly.
Mo Chuan lowered her head with a smile. “I believe with your skill, you could manage flying even with forty percent damage on one side. The exploration team should head back to historical time periods again soon, and if they conduct an out-of-capsule investigation, they can wear these. With this, there’s nothing to fear, whether it’s a dragon or some strange bird.”
Shan Yi’s furrowed brow relaxed at her compliment. “Fine, I’ll research it more. For now, this model is already good enough! When is the exploration team’s next departure?”
Mo Chuan thought for a bit. “The exact timing hasn’t been set yet. Whether they can conduct an out-of-capsule study also requires a group decision; we’ll see. If you have extras, I’d like to reserve two.”
Shan Yi waved her hand grandly. “I made seven sets. It’s enough, so don’t worry!” With that, she stood up, excitedly leading everyone outside to try the lightweight combat wings.
Luo Yu took a running leap on the flat ground outside the stone house, swiftly taking off. Indeed, this wing was much lighter than the one she wore previously, hovering more steadily and accelerating faster; aerial rolls were easy to control as well.
Afterward, they all donned the wings to experience them personally. Shan Yi also put on a pair, demonstrating a few functions in the air. They joyfully flew several circles over the open grasslands before landing in front of the stone house.
As noon approached, Shan Yi mentioned that she needed to head to the seaside for an event later, so she was going to take a quick nap before leaving, kindly inviting them to stay for lunch.
Knowing her habits, Mo Chuan said she wouldn’t linger, and the three thanked Shan Yi, taking the gear she had gifted them before boarding the returning aircraft with Mo Chuan.
Not long after, they returned to the helipad next to the ninth cliff dwelling. Once the aircraft landed, Mo Chuan cheerfully told the three, “I’ll stay here for a bit, have a snack, and when Lei Ming arrives, I’ll go with her to the control room to check on your return simulation.”
The hangar robot, accompanied by two engineering assistant robots, set up a large cooling tent on the edge of the helipad for them.
The group enjoyed some snacks while discussing their plans for after the return, until Lei Ming, dressed in wing gear, landed gracefully not far from them like a large bird. They smiled and got up to welcome her.
