Chapter 553: Initial Success

"Then get rid of him as soon as possible. These past two days, not only are the industries under your name in panic, but even within the Wieldonstein family, there's widespread unease."

Regarding that Fenrir the Demon Wolf, Consulley had no concerns: "This is also a show of force, to further establish your position in the Wieldonstein family. I've already halted the plan to relocate the company's headquarters to Manhattan, so in Atlanta, the Wieldonstein family must be the king here. Now that the forces behind Fenrir have aligned with Philip I, it's undoubtedly a provocation against us. Only the most resolute and ruthless counterattack can deter."

"Don't underestimate him, Andre. Fenrir is still plotting murders. I've already clashed with him once, and it's indeed difficult to capture him. There are also people within the Magic Tower Council secretly aiding him. So now, if you have a way to eliminate him, do it as quickly as possible."

After he finished speaking, the magical projection dissipated into electric light.

"Fenrir the Demon Wolf? Are you sure you're okay, Amo? The mythical equipment he wields is troublesome. Even with 'Dusk Night Monarch' Delphinia Ederick, you might not be able to find him as desired. The FBI and CIA have similar capabilities, like the Astral Agents we've seen before."

Angela had already frowned: "This is truly endless trouble."

"Atlanta has always been turbulent beneath the surface. I'm now like a big stone thrown into the water. How could I expect smooth sailing all the way?"

Li Mochen chuckled, his eyes revealing a cold gleam: "Besides, this is just a minor nuisance to me. Ange, just focus on your own matters. I'll handle my own situation. By the way, about the marriage—"

Angela blushed again: "But isn't this too early? We're not even eighteen yet."

"Theoretically, with the guardian's consent, sixteen is allowed."

Li Mochen said nonchalantly; in his original world, many married at fourteen or fifteen.

"As long as we have the intention, legal issues are easy to resolve, aren't they?"

"This is too sudden."

Angela complained but didn't refuse: "Let me think it over. I'll give you an answer in a couple of days."

Then she dashed out as if fleeing for her life, hurriedly leaving the magic tower. Her flustered figure made Li Mochen unable to suppress his laughter, bursting into hearty chuckles.

But after laughing for a while, he took out a mobile phone from his void ring.

He had originally planned to deal with the matter of Fenrir the Demon Wolf immediately upon his return. He fully agreed with Consulley's warning.

The number Li Mochen dialed belonged to Zoe Dowlington, head of the FBI Atlanta field office's external operations department.

—It was worth noting that, due to certain legal requirements, the mobile phone he was using now was not his usual one. Even his voice had been altered.

"Mr. Dowlington, yes! Yes! I've returned to Atlanta. Regarding the transaction I mentioned two days ago, have you considered it clearly, Mr. Dowlington? The components of 'Dragon's Might' are useless in the FBI's hands, aren't they? I think my offer is quite sincere: seven billion gold shields for the non-critical parts."

"Mr. Wieldonstein, I still say this is evidence; it's not quite proper."

Zoe Dowlington's voice was cold but carried a hint of respect, completely different from his attitude when meeting Li Mochen half a year ago: "I'd really like to agree, but there are many obstacles. Your request puts me in a difficult position; I might have to ref—"

Li Mochen chuckled, interrupting him: "But it's still procedurally feasible, isn't it? There have been many precedents. I can handle the court and the Vanderlik family; I'll persuade them. And as a price, I'll be responsible for handing over Fenrir the Demon Wolf to the FBI."

"The problem is, even without Dragon's Might, you're already at odds with Fenrir, aren't you?"

Zoe Dowlington said with little interest: "He's targeting you, and it seems to be a fight to the death. You have no choice."

"Wow, Mr. Dowlington, that's not a friendly remark. But shouldn't a murderer like him be the government's responsibility?"

Li Mochen sneered: "Do you want me to say something unpleasant? I know many people are involved in this. So please tell your friends: we've found out that some people in the FBI helped Fenrir get early parole. Also, by tomorrow at the latest, detailed information about Fenrir and his recent cases will appear in the newspapers. You should know the power of the Rising Sun Media and the Wieldonstein Group's PR department, right?"

Zoe Dowlington fell silent for a long time. When he spoke again, his tone was urgent: "This is inappropriate, against the rules. Mr. Wieldonstein, I believe you won't do it; you should know the consequences."

"I will."

Li Mochen continued to sneer, his tone icy: "My esteemed Ms. Drew was nearly killed by Fenrir this time, yet the government remains indifferent, with no results so far. You can't expect me to swallow my anger! As for the consequences, I don't need to care, Dowlington. The Wieldonstein family is not the Vanderlik family, which currently only has three demigod-level combatants."

Silence returned to the receiver. Li Mochen glanced at the time on his phone and then slightly softened his tone: "It's now nine in the evening. I'll give you twelve hours. Give me an answer as soon as possible. Otherwise, I'll have to choose another external operations department head to complete this transaction. Of course, if you help me make this happen, I and the Wieldonstein family will remember your favor."

"Yes, Mr. Dowlington. You only have twelve hours. I can't sit by and watch that madman continue killing my employees. But if I get the key components of Dragon's Might and the accessories don't reach me, then you and those behind you will be my enemies!"

...

Ten minutes after that call ended, Li Mochen met with Nanette Drew.

Ms. Drew had been recuperating at Sword Manor since the assassination. When Li Mochen saw her, she was lying naked in a culture tank, connected to dozens of tubes.

Li Mochen felt quite awkward, but Ms. Drew didn't mind and insisted on meeting him.

"Don't worry, Ms. Drew. Within three days at most, I'll give you an explanation."

At the start of the meeting, Li Mochen gave a strong assurance: "I will definitely cut off Fenrir's head—"

But Ms. Drew wasn't interested and directly interrupted him: "Of course, I know your abilities, Boss, and I have no doubt. I asked you to come now because I want to say that this assassination was actually within my expectations. I knew they had their eyes on me. If I continued to expand my influence in the media world, they would eventually target me."

Li Mochen raised an eyebrow: "The National Progress Association? I heard they pushed you out of the Abraham Post? I guess there must be some conflict of interest between you? Over some reports that shouldn't have been published?"

"Actually, for a woman ambitious in politics, only a fool would offend them! I'd rather attack the president and his staff than offend that powerful organization composed of many major families. The former can bring me fame; the latter only brings disaster."

Ms. Drew shrugged in the culture tank: "I have no conflict of interest with them, nor have I published any unfavorable reports about them. Even if they paid the price, I could write whatever they wanted. The real reason they drove me out of the Abraham Post is that they believed I possessed a secret that could threaten all members of the Progress Association. And in fact, I do."

"A secret? Can you tell me in detail?"

Li Mochen's eyebrows rose, showing an attentive expression.

"Of course! I invited you here precisely to talk about this."

Ms. Drew said solemnly: "Boss, you should know about the 'Beast Blood' potion, right? I know you've encountered it before."

"Beast Blood? Yes, and it left a deep impression."

Li Mochen nodded slightly; he had witnessed one of his classmates turn into a half-human, half-crocodile monster.

"That was a potion being developed by the Progress Association, about three years ago. The American New Continent Magic Association observed that near our coordinates in the Astral Plane, a primitive world with a relatively undeveloped civilization was approaching us. The distance between them was very close, and they were mutually attracting, with the possibility of merging. So various forces in this world began exploring that world in advance. The American Progress Association was one of them. Many American families, using this white-supremacist association as a platform, began exploring and developing that barbaric world, with considerable results. The prototype of the Beast Blood potion came from that barbaric world, officially named 'World Three' by the American government. The people there could use special drugs to gain the power of giant beasts. Without training, they could transform into giant beasts and gain immense power."

Ms. Drew explained the background leisurely: "They conducted a large number of illegal human experiments. Initially, they collected stowaways and missing people of color and blacks as test subjects. After some results, they deliberately spread the unfinished potion to increase test subjects. Then one day, someone with a conscience left a lot of information about the Beast Blood potion at my doorstep."

Ms. Drew showed a helpless expression: "The problem was that the guy wasn't careful enough, and the Progress Association eventually found clues and suspected me."

"But you chose not to expose it, right?"

Li Mochen felt a stir in his heart but still had doubts: "Then you could have just handed over the materials. From what I know of them, they wouldn't have done anything to you, and might even have given you some compensation."

"That's the trouble. I still had a bit of conscience at the time."

Nanette Drew sighed, her expression complex: "I knew I couldn't expose this matter; I couldn't withstand the pressure from a behemoth like the Progress Association. The spread of the Beast Blood potion was definitely tacitly approved by the military, the CIA, and even some high-ranking figures in the presidential mansion. So I gave the materials to someone who could reveal the truth. The rest is predictable. I pretended to know nothing about it. The Progress Association only suspected me without solid evidence. They feared my influence and connections, so they didn't dare to eliminate me rashly, but they also didn't want to take risks, so they simply kicked me out of the Abraham Post."

Li Mochen already understood what Ms. Drew wanted to say: "You're worried about implicating me, Ms. Drew?"

"Yes!"

Nanette Drew looked at Li Mochen with apology: "I'm worried that in your battle with Philip I, the enemy isn't just Philip I. They've already intervened. I know that behind Fenrir the Demon Wolf, there must be their shadow."

Li Mochen's eyes narrowed slightly, then he said nonchalantly: "Then do you still have copies of those research materials? Can you give me one?"

He thought it was fortunate that his preparations were sufficient; otherwise, he would likely be caught off guard.

In his current state, at full power, he could handle even three or five weak gods without issue. Especially after obtaining the complete Dragon's Might, with his current sixty thousand merits, he could even strike against mid- to high-level gods.

Presumably, the Progress Association couldn't invest that much power in this battle. After all, it was a coalition of dozens of families, unlikely to act in unison.

However, the biochemical armor prepared for Ms. Drew must be completed as soon as possible.

Although Li Mochen wasn't afraid of the National Progress Association, it was indeed not an opponent he could deal with in a short time. So before making those families fear the Wieldonstein family, he had to provide adequate security for Nanette Drew.

...

"It's not possible, Boss. It'll take at least another month. This is for Ms. Drew's safety."

After obtaining the materials from Nanette Drew, Li Mochen hurried through a fixed portal to the Rising Sun Biopharmaceutical First Experimental Base in the Manhattan suburbs.

But Professor Gu Hong's reply disappointed him slightly: "These biological armors have been starved for too long. Without sufficient suppression, the host will definitely be devoured by them. And Ms. Drew, though a level 15 mage, has spent very little time on personal cultivation, relying more on external forces to reach this level. So delivering it now carries great risk. You don't want her to be consumed by her own biological armor, do you?"

"Can't you speed it up a bit? OK, OK, I won't rush you."

Li Mochen didn't insist, then handed two CDs and a large stack of documents to Professor Gu Hong: "These are all the experimental data on the Beast Blood potion. It seems the potion is quite mature. To some extent, it's our competitor. Have some specialists look into it to see if there's any technology we can use. Then set up a project team to improve and develop based on this."

—Although the Progress Association's testing of the Beast Blood potion was inhumane, with deaths conservatively estimated at over a million, the potion itself was still highly valuable.

He had glanced at it; the ultimate goal of the National Progress Association was to mass-produce legendary-level warriors with this potion, and they were quite close to that goal.

The only problem was the control of the 'Beast Blood warriors.' Once their power exceeded level 8, their thinking would tend toward beasts, even complete beastification or madness. That was what the Progress Association's research team had been testing.

Li Mochen considered them competitors because he was also targeting the Department of Defense's contracts. There was undoubtedly some conflict between them.

"Let me see—"

Professor Gu Hong quickly flipped through the documents and then exclaimed: "These major families really live up to their reputation. How enviable, being able to experiment on human lives without restraint."

Li Mochen shot him a strange look, and the latter immediately spread his hands: "I'm joking! Sorry, people like us might have weaker moral senses, but we still have to keep our bottom line. I deeply detest their actions."

Li Mochen was half-convinced, suspecting the professor was just humoring him.

But personal moral issues were none of his concern; at most, he would have someone keep an eye on them to prevent them from going astray.

At that moment, Professor Gu Hong had already steered the conversation back on track: "BOSS, there are many things here that I'm very interested in. Some of the technology can be integrated into the biological armor. Using the armor to harness the power of those savage beasts could solve the problems we're facing, but we don't have the time to research them right now. The institute's development of the 'Warrior A-Type Biological Armor' is nearing its end, with only final debugging, finalization, and mass production design left. However, we can recruit some reliable, specialized personnel from outside to conduct preliminary research. But first, I need to know how much funding you're prepared to invest? Let me give you a heads-up: for a major project of this scale, if the initial startup funds are less than seven billion gold shields, it won't even make a splash."

"Recruitment of personnel for the research base can begin ahead of schedule. Within a week at most, I'll transfer one billion gold shields to this account."

After saying this, Li Mochen's expression shifted slightly: "You said the development of the 'Warrior A-Type Biological Armor' is nearing its end?"

"That's right? BOSS, didn't you read the report we sent out?"

Professor Gu Hong looked at him with surprise: "I mean the one from ten days ago?"

Li Mochen hadn't read it. In the first few days of those ten, he had been in Rochelle Canyon. The following days, he had been sailing across the Pacific and the Lightless Sea.

"Alright!"

Professor Gu Hong's expression turned helpless: "I thought as much. I wanted to give you a surprise, but your reaction was very limited. It seems you really are a busy man. Still, it's better to report on-site for a more直观 picture. BOSS, please follow me!"

He led Li Mochen to an extremely spacious area at the lowest level of the base. Through tempered glass, they could see a warrior covered in a strange black armor, fighting two level-twelve African fire lions. The armor looked like it was made of leather jacket material, but it was very tough and had relatively strong fire resistance. The two African fire lions clawed at it twice, and the armor was only slightly damaged, then quickly restored to its original state. The flames they spat couldn't even scorch the surface of the armor.

"As you can see, this armor allows a level-six magic energy warrior to match the combat power of a level-twelve African fire lion. Its fire resistance is also very strong, capable of withstanding temperatures up to 1000 degrees Celsius. Beyond that, you're dealing with magic energy mages of level thirteen or higher."

Professor Gu Hong explained as he led Li Mochen forward. To their side was another sealed laboratory. Inside was an extremely cold environment, where a middle-aged man sat wearing a black armor of the same design. He was surrounded by ice and snow, almost frozen solid in the ice.

However, Li Mochen could sense the man's steady heart rate—he had fallen asleep, his body in a very normal state, indicating that the environment he was in was very comfortable. Yet the thermometer placed outside the lab showed a staggering minus 220 degrees Celsius.

"We're currently conducting experiments in various extreme environments. The 'Warrior A-Type Biological Armor' has performed surprisingly well. Apart from a certain fear of alkaline substances, it has almost no obvious weaknesses—"

Professor Gu Hong continued: "Look, here's the toxin resistance test. The results from several tests have been excellent. It can completely seal off the warrior from the outside world and provide oxygen for fifteen minutes. Hmm, it's not without weaknesses. Our combat assistance system still can't keep up, at least not to the level of the Moshlans'. So the host's combat skills will be somewhat lacking, but we'll keep improving."

At this point, he looked at Li Mochen with a hint of pride: "In fact, we can already hold a press conference and announce this research result."

"Let's wait a bit longer. Wait until the product passes all test items and is truly finalized. We also need to mass-produce some units for our armed forces to trial. We're not in a rush for this moment. After all, this is a kind of armor with life and self-awareness. The more conservative and cautious the verification process, the better."

Li Mochen, however, was thinking about first wiping out Philip I and his group. He knew that this groundbreaking product would attract covetous eyes from all sides.

Announcing all this too early would only bring him unnecessary enemies.

"Speaking of which, I read your research log about twenty days ago. It seemed like the armor's autonomous system had a problem, causing all previous efforts to be wasted? How did it go so fast?"

"It's because we've recently made new progress in researching the Moshlan biological armor's autonomous system. We've deciphered some of their biological signals and reverse-engineered their autonomous system. Of course, it's not a complete version. But by copying part of it, we can achieve control over the 'Warrior A-Type Biological Armor.'"

Professor Gu Hong smiled: "So we expect that the development of the 'Vanguard A-Type Biological Armor' will also be completed within a month. In fact, most of the technology for biological armor below the legendary level has already been mastered by America. The final problem has always been the 'autonomy' aspect of the biological armor, causing many experimental institutions to fail on the brink of success. Now, we're essentially standing on their shoulders, integrating their technologies."

Li Mochen raised his eyebrows again, a look of anticipation on his face.

The Vanguard-type armor and the Warrior-type armor were parallel projects at the Xuri Biological Laboratory. The latter targeted level-11 magic energy professionals, while the 'Vanguard' was for level-15, intended to be used as the spearhead in warfare.

"And the cost? How much does it cost?"

"Lower than you can imagine. Even the Vanguard is expected to cost only one-third of a demon-refining battle armor, and the more we produce, the cheaper it gets."

Gu Hong's lips curled up again, his spirit excited: "But the competition between the two isn't significant. Our biological armor can be compatible with various magic-powered armors. When embedded with the corresponding combat assistance system, it can achieve a 1+1>2 effect. BOSS, it's almost a perfect product. It will drive all magic energy professionals wild."

"In any case, hurry up—"

Li Mochen's words were cut short mid-sentence.

He saw his driver and bodyguard Song Aiguo walking toward him from the opposite side, carrying a portable phone.

"BOSS, there's another incident in Atlanta. Three minutes ago, Ms. Li Mei of Xuri Electric Retail Company was assassinated. The body double we prepared for Ms. Li Mei died. She herself was slightly injured and has been taken to Sword Manor."

Li Mochen's brows shot up, and the anger in his eyes almost burst forth from his pupils.