Chapter 629 - 13: The Transformation Project
After Chen Zhou mentioned Ivan’s father, the old fellow who controlled the situation immediately changed his expression.
When Chen Zhou tentatively brought up some insider information about Unit 10003 and several major projects led by Aleksey Savin, Ivan became even more anxious and fearful.
It was clear that Ivan had a significant shadow in his heart regarding Unit 10003 and the Former Soviet Union.
From this angle of analysis, Chen Zhou deduced that Ivan probably wasn’t an official personnel.
After all, his father almost got into mortal danger because of his deep involvement with the Soviet Army General Staff and General Mikhail.
Ivan couldn’t possibly have too deep a collusion with the Russian authorities if he had any memory at all.
Moreover, since the Soviet Union had disintegrated, many of its past secrets were buried in the dust of history, with the changing of personnel and the turbulent global landscape, even if Unit 10003 continued to exist today, it couldn’t possibly have the same dominance it once had.
Otherwise, Chen Zhou might have been invited for a chat as soon as he got off the plane and certainly wouldn’t still be sitting here testing Ivan instead.
...
Seeing the conversation becoming more sensitive, Ivan, unable to discern Chen Zhou’s true nature, dared not continue discussing these hidden past matters with this enigmatic young man in public, and could only order his thugs to disperse and then politely left Chen Zhou a business card, inviting him to visit his private zoo in the suburbs for a detailed conversation.
He admitted openly that he approached Chen Zhou with no malice.
It’s just that a secret modification plan by Unit 10003 left a permanent scar on him and other participants in the experiment, causing them significant inconvenience in their lives.
For many years, Ivan and the experiment’s survivors have been seeking some kind of change, which is also why he sought out Chen Zhou.
Of course, Ivan still concealed most of the details between the lines, and to figure out the truth, either one would have to further explore at the zoo or rely on conjecture.
Chen Zhou only knew that Ivan’s physical capabilities, at least in terms of cardiac strength and hearing, were above average, yet he couldn’t discern what exactly was inconvenient for this old fellow, nor what kind of trauma they bore.
Seeing Ivan withdraw his thugs and display some sincerity, Chen Zhou outwardly didn’t seem to mind too much, but internally he had already decided to leave Russia the next morning.
After all, this was Ivan’s main base, and he couldn’t rest easy with whatever he planned to do here.
As for personally visiting the zoo, that was entirely out of the question; if Ivan harbored ill intentions and killed him inside the zoo, he could be chopped up and fed to the lions and tigers on the spot.
As the saying goes, a wise man doesn’t stand under a collapsing wall. To take such a great risk to investigate something that wasn’t closely related to him, Chen Zhou could never agree.
...
That night, fearing that Ivan might realize he was deceiving him and might launch a night raid on the hotel to kidnap him forcibly, Chen Zhou barely slept a wink.
The next morning, he made a preemptive call to the embassy to report his impending return home, asking them to keep an eye on the flight departure time.
Although the hotline staff at the embassy didn’t know why Chen Zhou needed to call about leaving Russia, they still dutifully noted down his flight time.
After all, embassies have consular responsibilities, which include protecting citizens’ rights and legal interests abroad and handling emergencies.
Chen Zhou’s report, though slightly puzzling, still fell within the embassy’s duties.
...
The reason for notifying the embassy was that Chen Zhou feared that Ivan might cause trouble mid-way, intercepting his flight, or even forcibly abducting him on the way to the airport.
Although the current information implied that Ivan might not have such substantial power, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Once he reported, if anything happened to him, the personal dispute could potentially escalate into a diplomatic incident, and creating such a conflict between countries would require Ivan to think twice.
Besides notifying the embassy, Chen Zhou also considered more severe accidents—
Such as the plane being hit by a missile and crashing directly.
However, upon further reflection, Ivan currently had no reason to kill him, and the crash of a civilian airliner would be an event of global significance. Even if there was a blood feud, Ivan wouldn’t dare to risk universal condemnation to do such a thing.
...
Just as Chen Zhou expected, Ivan’s capabilities were limited to obtaining the passenger list; his control over Moscow wasn’t strong.
In this area, he could only be considered a slightly larger local power, with little connection to the authorities, unable to affect flights.
By the following afternoon, Chen Zhou arrived at the Jingbei airport and then gave Ivan a call—
If there’s anything, come to Jingbei to discuss. There are no KGB here, and not many people even speak Russian. Whatever you want to know, I’ll tell you everything I know.
Chen Zhou initially thought Ivan would give up the pursuit after learning he had left Moscow, but to his surprise, less than a week after he made the call, Ivan had traveled all the way to Jingbei—
The inconvenience caused by the secret modification plan seemed far more severe than he initially imagined for Ivan.
...
Upon arriving in Jingbei, in the presidential suite of the hotel selected by Chen Zhou, Ivan cautiously checked for any cameras and recording devices before gradually exchanging information with Chen Zhou.
Just as Chen Zhou had guessed, Unit 10003 in this world wasn’t just an organization that deceived for funds and made empty promises; during the U.S.-Russia rivalry, it indeed made significant contributions.
Of course, the pain caused by Unit 10003 and the consequences of its human experiments were far disproportionate to those insignificant contributions.