Chapter Forty-Three: Kidnapping

The pink soul crystal was quite large. Zhang Hao picked it up and said, "Here!"

Mi Feng took the soul crystal and brought out a jade box, placing it inside. Microscopic machines at the bottom of the box began cutting and separating the crystal, producing fifteen spherical soul crystals, each two centimeters in diameter. The cut-off fragments were quickly pulverized by the microscopic machines; they were important raw materials, too.

He took out a nanomachine sphere about the size of an egg and quickly used it to encase the fifteen soul crystal spheres, forming five bracelets. Each bracelet had three soul crystal spheres. Only then did he hand them to Zhang Hao.

"Pick one and wear it on your wrist. If your body is destroyed, your soul can quickly enter the soul crystal in the bracelet. As long as one of your three guards is still alive, you won't die as long as they bring the bracelet back. The reason there are three crystals is that two are spares. Soul crystals are actually quite fragile."

Protected by the nanomachines, the bracelet had changed color. It was dark gold and inconspicuous, and you couldn't tell what material it was made of.

Zhang Hao was delighted. He hadn't expected something like this to be possible. After thinking it over, he realized it was truly ingenious.

The soul and body were never meant to be separated, but the soul crystal provided a medium that made it possible to extract the soul. Replacing the body with a robot eliminated the body's weaknesses, but there were still serious hidden risks. Though the body was extremely fragile, it was too closely connected to the soul. Without the nourishment of a body, the soul would gradually lose its emotions. No one could bear that and still live as a person.

No matter how weak the body was, it had to exist. Otherwise, you would end up like Mi Feng, and that would be truly miserable. Zhang Hao still didn't know how Mi Feng had solved this problem.

If the body wasn't dealt with, the eventual outcome wouldn't be good. That was what happened because Mi Feng hadn't taken the issue seriously at first—or perhaps by the time he realized the truth, it was already too late.

The phone rang, much to Zhang Hao's surprise. How long had it been since he'd received a call from the outside world?

"Help! General Manager Zhang, help!"

Zhang Hao was startled. "Manager Wu, what's wrong? Where are you?" He looked at Mi Feng. He refused to believe Mi Feng didn't know about this.

But Mi Feng shook his head, indicating that he didn't know.

"Don't panic. Take your time and explain clearly. Where are you now?"

"I-I'm in Africa! Rabia!"

"We want ransom! There are five of us. One million each!"

Mi Feng reached out and took the phone. "Who kidnapped you? Let them speak!"

A trace of coldness appeared on Mi Feng's face. Then, a heavily accented voice came through the phone.

"One million each! Five people, five million!"

Cries of alarm came through the phone as well, along with a stream of unintelligible local speech.

Mi Feng said, "Give us a month to raise the money! Five million is no small sum. We can't come up with it right away. We need time to raise the funds!"

"No! No! You have at most one week. Otherwise, you'll never see them again!"

"Three weeks! We'll do our best to raise the money within three weeks!"

"Two weeks! If we don't see the money after two weeks, they die!"

"Fine, two weeks! Give me the account number!"

"Cash only, no transfers! Two weeks is plenty of time for you to get to Africa! Contact us on this number."

Zhang Hao said, "Don't mistreat them, or that money will become a bounty for hunting you down!"

Click. The other side hung up.

Zhang Hao's face turned ashen. This was the first time he had ever encountered anything like this.

"Has the light gate in Africa been built?"

Mi Feng shook his head. "We didn't have time. We only built light gates in America and Europe."

"Then we'll go to Europe first, and from there to Africa. But we won't be able to get through security."

"We don't need to go through security. We have our own private plane. I'll arrange it."

Zhang Hao said, "I'll go back to the bridgehead and switch into a robot!" Fighting with his human body would be foolish. Of course he'd go as a robot. He'd fought on the Slaughter Planet once before, and with a robot body, he truly wasn't afraid of anyone.

Mi Feng nodded. "All right. Go to the bridgehead first!"

Several cars drove into Ning City Airport. A private jet was ready, and airport staff guided the cars straight to the side of the plane.

Five burly men got out and quickly boarded. Two of them were carrying large suitcases.

A moment later, the plane taxied onto the runway. It accelerated and took off.

It was a medium-sized jet with only two controlled pilots and no cabin crew. The five men sat down aboard the plane and waited until it was flying smoothly before unfastening their seat belts.

Mi Feng said, "All right, we should get there in about a day. This time, I don't plan to show any mercy. Everyone involved in this kidnapping will be wiped out..." He looked at Zhang Hao. Zhang Hao was the only one here with the authority to object.

Zhang Hao nodded. "I have no objections!"

Mi Feng nodded with satisfaction. This was the sort of person he had chosen. Zhang Hao usually seemed like a shut-in, but the fact that he'd been so quick to switch into a robot showed he was fiercely protective of his own. Mi Feng liked people like that.

Zhang Hao asked, "Have you prepared the money?"

Zhang Sanhu opened a suitcase. Inside were stacks of green hundred-dollar bills. "We prepared five million."

Although Zhang Hao had been a billionaire for a long time, this was the first time he'd actually seen five million in cash. It filled a huge suitcase—probably too heavy for an ordinary person to carry. He could only think, what a lot of money!

In truth, the money was only meant to get them close to the other side. Mi Feng and the others hadn't even brought any weapons. Their bodies were the most powerful weapons they had. Robots were quite fragile compared to mechs, but compared to humans, they were far stronger.

The plane landed at the capital airport of Enjaraba, a neighboring country of Rabia. Things were a little more orderly there. Two cars were already waiting when they got off the plane. The five men climbed in without a word and drove toward the border.

They reached the border the next day. There, they switched to a truck, with Zhang Yihu taking the wheel while the others sat in the cargo bed. Since they were all robots, they didn't get tired or hungry. As they entered Rabia, the situation grew noticeably tense. The dirt road was incredibly bumpy, and fortunately they had an off-road truck; an ordinary one wouldn't have made it through.

Half an hour later, they saw a checkpoint up ahead. Two pickup trucks were parked there, each with a Machine Gun mounted on it. About a dozen men held battered submachine guns, so rusted they were mottled with corrosion. Many wore scraps of cloth tied around themselves. When they spotted the truck approaching, they all got excited as if they'd been injected with adrenaline, and both Machine Guns took aim at it.

Zhang Hao found it strange. He was extremely calm now, almost cold. His soul didn't tremble at all. He wondered if it was because this body was a machine. He wasn't wrong: it was because he'd changed bodies. And he knew that this body might not even be harmed by Machine Guns, let alone artillery shells.

If he were tied down and hit with an armor-piercing shell, perhaps the robot could be damaged, but that was impossible. Not only could he move, he was incredibly fast.

Suddenly, a Machine Gun fired a burst, striking the dirt road in front of the truck.