Chapter 131: The Invisible Weapon

"Holy crap!" Chen Hao’s jaw nearly hit the floor, his expression as exaggerated as the cartoons he watched as a child. "Are you serious?"

Chen Hao initially thought Guo Yunhai was joking, and he cast a skeptical glance at Zhuge Taxue. However, the longer he looked at her, the more he felt it might actually be true.

After all, judging by her style of dress, there wasn't a feminine bone in her body; she looked more like a tomboy. Short hair, ear studs, a leather choker, layered sleeves, and ripped jeans—she was the picture of a hip-hop enthusiast. Furthermore, Chen Hao was certain that in their dynamic, Zhuge Taxue was definitely the dominant one.

Even though she spoke like any other woman and didn't have a coarse voice, every gesture and movement she made was inherently masculine. Chen Hao was eighty percent sure of his assessment.

Noticing Chen Hao’s scrutiny, Zhuge Taxue tossed her head. "What? Got a problem with homosexuals?"

Chen Hao quickly waved his hands. "No, no, no! Not at all. I don't have a shred of prejudice or discrimination. I'm just feeling a sense of regret for the vast majority of men... Given that our country already has a skewed gender ratio, and considering how beautiful you are, Taxue, I imagine quite a few men are going to be shedding tears over this!"

"Ahem!" Unable to endure this vapid conversation, Guo Yunhai interrupted. "Save the flattery for later. Let's get down to business.

"Let’s drop the subject of whether or not I’m going to arrest you. I’m only curious about one thing now. You said those security guards were attacked by some invisible, transparent entities? Do you know what their method of attack was?"

"You've hit the nail on the head, which is exactly the issue I'm most concerned about," Chen Hao said, praising Guo Yunhai’s question. "Before I answer, let me ask you something. Based on what I've told you, what kind of weapons do you think they would use?"

Guo Yunhai thought for a moment before offering his view. "Advanced, high-tech weaponry, I would assume?"

"Why?" asked Zhuge Taxue.

Guo Yunhai looked at her and explained, "I arrived at this conclusion by considering several factors. First, there's the building in the forest. Although Chen Hao didn't explicitly say the enemies emerged from that structure, I assume they must be connected to it.

"Even if Chen Hao didn't say it—or perhaps didn't know the origin of the enemies—I suspect that because these unknown foes possess the ability to turn invisible, the security guards wouldn't have been able to detect them even if they did emerge from that building.

"Looking at the design of the building in Chen Hao's sketch, it clearly doesn't belong to any architectural style known to us. It looks more like the fantastical, sci-fi structures seen in movies. Therefore, I suspect the builders of this structure belong to a group possessing technology far beyond our own.

"Connecting this to the fact that a single building has drawn the attention of so many nations and organizations for years without yielding any research breakthroughs, I suspect it might not even belong to Earth.

"It could be a special structure left behind by an extraordinary prehistoric civilization that, for some reason, appeared on the surface. Or, it could be that extraterrestrial visitors came to Earth and left their base behind.

"Regardless of which scenario it is, it proves the technological level of this structure far exceeds our own. So, it should be expected that enemies emerging from it would possess advanced weaponry, right?"

Guo Yunhai took a sip of tea and continued, "If my previous reasoning is just personal speculation without a solid logical foundation, then this next point is more substantial: the fact that these enemies can turn invisible.

"Among all known life forms on Earth, we've never heard of any creature capable of true invisibility. Whether it's a chameleon or an octopus, they can only mimic their surroundings and change their skin color; they cannot achieve true invisibility.

"The most advanced human stealth technology is limited to stealth fighters and optical camouflage. Stealth fighters only use special coatings to disappear from radar; they remain visible to the naked eye.

"And as for optical camouflage, as I explained before, it functions similarly to chameleons and octopuses and cannot achieve total invisibility. Furthermore, it is easily damaged in combat. It serves as a tool for scouting and infiltration, not for open battle.

"However, the enemies encountered by the security guards clearly possess superior stealth capabilities. In my view, they must possess much more advanced stealth technology to achieve such perfection. If they possess such technology and strange architecture, their weapons should also be highly advanced, shouldn't they?"

Having said his piece, Guo Yunhai ignored whether Zhuge Taxue understood and turned his gaze to Chen Hao, waiting for his response.

"Clap, clap, clap!" Chen Hao applauded. "A brilliant analysis. If I didn't know the specific details, I would hold the exact same opinion."

Guo Yunhai wasn't satisfied. He just shrugged. "So, you're saying I'm wrong?"

Chen Hao scratched his neck. "I wouldn't say wrong. Your general line of thinking is sound. I also believe those enemies must possess highly advanced technology and combat methods to have nearly wiped out a group of security guards who were already quite capable by normal standards.

"But their weapons... to be honest, they confuse me. Logically, enemies with such advanced technology should have advanced weapons. At the very least, they shouldn't be using the physical, projectile-based firearms we are accustomed to. I imagined they would use something like the laser weapons from *Star Wars*."

"Are you saying their weapons are the same as humans'?" Guo Yunhai asked, incredulous.

Chen Hao shook his head immediately. "Not quite. If they used human firearms, wouldn't they be visible when firing? How could you call that invisible? Their weapons, like the entities themselves, are invisible."

Guo Yunhai slapped his forehead, finally realizing.

"But even though they are invisible, the wounds they left on the security guards were not the piercing wounds of bullets. They were large-scale, clean-cut wounds, as if they had been slashed by blades!" Chen Hao delivered the final answer.

"Hm? They use melee weapons?" Guo Yunhai was even more surprised.

Chen Hao shook his head. "I don't know if they are using melee weapons or some highly advanced form of energy-based weaponry. Because, just like the enemies themselves, their weapons are invisible, and I don't know their shape. All I know is the state of the bodies and the nature of the wounds. Every single guard was left with wounds that looked like they had been slashed by a blade. Not one was injured by a gun."

"This..." Guo Yunhai was at a loss for words. After a long silence, he said, "Could it be that if they used energy weapons, their stealth would be compromised? After all, any firearm produces tremendous energy, heat, and noise when fired. Perhaps their stealth tech can't fully contain those effects yet, so they chose melee weapons? Just like how our optical camouflage has its flaws?"

"That possibility cannot be ruled out," Chen Hao agreed. "It is indeed a very reasonable explanation. However, I have also considered another factor: perhaps the melee weapons they use are not the ordinary blades we imagine.

"After all, you've never seen a real-world blade that could easily cleave a grown man in two, have you? That requires more than just a sharp edge; it requires immense strength and high-level technique from the wielder. I suspect the weapons they use might very well be something like the lightsabers used by Jedi in *Star Wars*!"

"Just how obsessed are you with *Star Wars*?" Before Guo Yunhai could comment, Zhuge Taxue expressed her disdain. "In this short time, you’ve talked about laser guns and lightsabers—what is this, an advertisement? The more you talk, the more sci-fi it gets! Do you have any idea how much energy it would take for a lightsaber to cut through steel like butter and emit that blinding light, as seen in the movies?"

Chen Hao scratched his head, embarrassed. "I'm just discussing it with Yunhai! This situation is so unknown, it’s bound to pique one's curiosity. When it comes to the unknown, we need to make bold hypotheses and provide careful evidence!"

Zhuge Taxue rolled her eyes. "Give it a rest, Master Chen, the Great Scientist. From start to finish, this has all been your speculation; there’s zero evidence to prove any of it. I’m not saying you’re lying—I believe you about the attacks—but the idea of invisible enemies is just a bit too far-fetched. Instead of saying the guards were attacked by invisible life forms or robots, you might as well say they were attacked by some kind of invisible weapon!"

As soon as Zhuge Taxue finished her offhand comment, both Chen Hao and Guo Yunhai widened their eyes. "Invisible weapons... Holy crap! Taxue, you’re a genius!!!"