After a long silence, she finally spoke, her voice trembling slightly, “If you truly wish to leave, I won’t stop you. But promise me one thing—don’t forget the sunlight that once shone upon us, even if the days ahead are filled with shadows.”

34. Guests Are Guests (Part Two)

After leaving the cave, seeing the director of the XX Research Institute, Zhou Zhi felt at ease. Damn, people like this with their integrity are the ones truly dedicated to research. Glancing at the chief engineer standing nearby, Zhou Zhi narrowed his eyes with a smile before inviting the director inside. The chief engineer watched the people entering and was so angry he could barely keep his nose straight. “Zhou Zhi, don’t go too far!” But with the heavy doors shut, no one inside could hear his complaints.

“Why didn’t you invite him in?” Director Sun was puzzled. After being berated by the chief engineer earlier, he had considered turning back, but he just couldn’t let it go without taking a look. Whether it was an alien, a robot, or a mech, it appeared in a form he had never seen before. As a researcher, not seeing the results of research always left him with a sense of regret.

“That person didn't come to cooperate, but to take over,” Zhou Zhi replied with a light laugh. “Director Sun—” Zhou Zhi hadn’t finished speaking before Director Sun suddenly dashed out with surprising speed. Zhou Zhi watched Sun’s energetic pace and stroked his chin. Who says all researchers are weak? Just look at Yuchi Ankang, then at Director Sun—he must be sixty, yet he’s still moving like the wind.

Eight soldiers had come with Director Sun, four of whom followed into the cave. Now, all of them stared wide-eyed in astonishment. The figure before them was real—not just a picture. All that talk on the forums about photoshopped fakes was just sour grapes. “Can we take a closer look?” the four asked Zhou Zhi in excitement. Zhou Zhi shrugged, and the four immediately stepped up to the model. They wanted to touch it but didn’t dare, their arms repeatedly raising and lowering in hesitation.

“Could I meet the people working on this project?” Director Sun circled the model a few times like a child before remembering his purpose. “Does it really move?”

“Yes, here’s a video from the test. Since it’s just a model and not the real thing, its functions and appearance are quite simple.” Zhou Zhi had someone show Director Sun the video recorded that day and sent for Yuchi Ankang.

“My God!” Even as a model, its movements clearly demonstrated both attack and defense. Anyone could see that.

When Director Sun saw two men and a woman approaching from the distance, he didn’t for a moment think they were the researchers. In his mind, researchers should at least be somewhat older, if not his own age. But when Zhou Zhi introduced one of them as the developer of the mech, Director Sun was visibly shocked.

“Brother Zhou is flattering me. To be honest, this is not really a mech—at best it’s an advanced, human-controlled robot. A real mech would synchronize its movements with the pilot inside, not be controlled by buttons,” Yuchi Ankang said modestly. “And its exterior is far from perfect.”

“You’re being too humble. This is already outstanding. No one has achieved anything like this so far.” Director Sun’s eyes shone with a new idea. “Mr. Yuchi, may I stay on as your assistant?”

“Director Sun!” the four soldiers cried out in alarm. How could this be?

“We’re in great need of people right now, Director Sun. If you don’t mind, you’re more than welcome. Actually, more than personnel, we lack materials. What we have right now is barely enough to make the lower half of a mech for an adult male,” Yuchi Ankang said frankly. Zhu Anfu and Zhou Zhi both found Director Sun trustworthy, and this was a favor they could easily grant. However, from now on, things like food supplies couldn’t be shared as freely.

“Director Sun, are you trying to scare me?” Zhou Zhi didn’t dislike him, but he was well aware of the situation in the factory. Right now, their quality of life was a hundred times better than the outside, all because of Yuchi Ankang. If outsiders really came in, he could control his own people, but not others. If Yuchi Ankang stopped providing food, things would get tough.

“Haha, young man, keep up the good work. As long as my department can supply what you need, we won’t refuse. I only hope that one day you’ll return your achievements to the country.” Director Sun could see Zhou Zhi’s hesitation and patted Yuchi Ankang’s hand. As long as they didn’t become enemies of the state, he could help smooth things over with the authorities.

“I’m not the one to decide that. You’ll have to discuss it with Brother Zhou,” Yuchi Ankang quickly passed the decision to Zhou Zhi.

Zhou Zhi scratched his head. “Director Sun, I still have dozens of mouths to feed here. If we give things away for free, what will everyone eat?”

“That was thoughtless of me. If you trust me, I can help mediate and make sure you have enough to eat and use. Captain Zhou, you must also understand the country’s difficulties. These are troubled times—foreign powers are watching us, and things are chaotic at home. The state is struggling too.”

“Just look at the chief engineer outside. I remember a month ago he was quite thin, but now I almost didn’t recognize him,” Zhou Zhi replied, seemingly changing the subject but actually hinting at abuses of power among those in charge. “Director Sun, I’m no philanthropist. I was forced into this factory, not by choice.”

Thinking of the people outside, Director Sun’s face darkened further. He wanted to say it was just a few individuals, but he had no face to utter the words. He himself could afford not to care about these things, but the young people before him were different. With a sigh, he said, “I’ll do my best to help.”

“Thank you!” This gratitude was heartfelt. No matter who it was for, inside the cave their phones had no signal, and even if they did, whom could they contact? They couldn’t reach their families and had no idea where they were. In his heart, he already believed they had been abandoned.

“I promise—I’ll take responsibility for everything if you don’t want to step forward. If only for you young people, working so hard in such harsh conditions to develop something to protect humanity.” After Director Sun left, Zhou Zhi immediately gathered his people for a meeting. He didn’t know what good news Director Sun might bring, but one thing was certain: their workload was about to increase.

“Let me be clear—the principle behind the model we’ve built is very simple. If it’s dismantled and studied for a few days, anyone could figure it out. Its attack and defense are both weak; it isn’t a real mech, just a model,” Yuchi Ankang told the group. They were not scientists, but real soldiers. If the day came, they would be the ones to charge out and face monsters, or even zombies.

“That can’t be. It looks pretty sturdy to me,” someone murmured in the background.

“Real mechs come in many types—attack, defense, combined, rescue, and even transport. Their speed is beyond anything our model can achieve. They can read human thermal signatures, meaning only truly exceptional people can operate real mechs and make them move,” Yuchi Ankang explained, describing the next research goal. “Movement is only the first step. To make them truly suitable for completing tasks, they must undergo constant training.”

“We’re not afraid of hardship, as long as we can defend our home and country!” The soldiers all stood up, declaring their resolve in unison. After shouting, their young eyes welled with tears. They didn’t know where their families were. Defend the country? They’d already been abandoned by it. If not for the mechs, would the country even remember them? How long had they been living here, and had anyone come looking for them?

“We are a family. The day the cave doors open and we walk out, we’ll still be a family,” Zhu Anfu declared, clenching his fist. He knew too well what it meant to lose family—he was lucky, at least able to say goodbye to his parents. The soldiers were less fortunate, not even seeing their loved ones one last time.

Yes, they were a family. Even if they weren’t defending the country, they would protect each other—Chef Yuchi, Brother Zhu, and Lady Jin were all people they must keep safe. The soldiers straightened their backs, feeling a renewed sense of purpose. Without Chef Yuchi, how could they be so well-fed now, eating meat at every meal? Yuchi could easily have kept the food for just the three of them, but instead, he cooked for all, rising early to prepare meals and working on the mechs, bearing the heaviest burden.

If Yuchi Ankang knew the nickname the soldiers had given him in private, he would certainly be embarrassed.

“Yuchi, do you think we should recruit more people?” Zhou Zhi hesitated a long time before speaking. Even if they did, it had to be someone absolutely trustworthy. He couldn’t take risks, but he also couldn’t let the soldiers work endlessly.

“If more materials arrive, we’ll need more people. But I don’t suggest recruiting more soldiers. The ones we have won’t be doing manual labor anymore. They can supervise and teach, but their main job is protection, not labor. In other words, we need to shift the soldiers from labor to their true profession. The factory must expand, with separate, isolated sections so that no one knows what the others are working on, to prevent ill intentions,” Yuchi Ankang outlined his thoughts. “I need a proper laboratory to study human sensory systems and weapons development. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the big guy outside has no weapons.”

Yuchi Ankang stood, and with a wave of his hand, a laptop appeared as if from nowhere. He powered it up and navigated to the section on mech weaponry. “These are real mech weapons—they can fire energy beams, bullets, and use any suitable weapon. For example, if you’re a master with a staff, with a mech you’d wield a custom staff to greatly enhance your combat ability.”

The soldiers didn’t understand everything, but watching the array of dazzling weapons in the video, they couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like if one day they could pilot a mech and wield those weapons themselves.

“Are the weapons stored inside the mech, or are they always visible?” Whether it was the model outside or Wang Fei’s little sphere, none of the mechs they’d seen were armed.