War of Intelligent Machines

Chapter 12: Disappearing Without a Trace

Chapter 12: Disappearing Without a Trace

It turned out that Freedom Island was initiated by some anarchists from North Mei State. They pooled their money to build an artificial floating island in the Pacific Ocean and invited some radical anarchists to live there. The entire island was in a state of complete anarchy, where everyone lived freely without any restrictions.

Most of the food on the island was grown and harvested by the residents themselves or caught from the sea. Only some industrial products needed to be purchased from the mainland, which they paid for with the money earned from selling fish.

In the afternoon, after eating a piece of bread made by the middle-aged woman, Jiang Yuecheng felt sleepy and fell asleep in her tent.

As he slept, he suddenly heard the distant roar of machinery approaching. He became anxious, fearing that the people who had captured him were coming again. He quickly turned over and looked out of the tent.

He saw a vertical take-off and landing jet fighter landing not far from their tent. The cockpit opened, and three fully armed soldiers jumped out of the aircraft and ran toward him.

"Are they coming to capture me?"

Terrified, before he could think of a way to escape, a soldier had already reached him, picked him up with one hand, slung him over his shoulder, and walked away.

In no time, the three soldiers took him onto the fighter jet, which roared and took off immediately after the hatch was closed.

"Don't be afraid, we're here to rescue you," one soldier said, showing Jiang Yuecheng the emblem on his arm.

Jiang Yuecheng looked at it and felt relieved.

It turned out that since Jiang Yuecheng's incident, the authorities had been closely monitoring all of Jiang Yu's communications, including her satellite messages.

Thus, when Jiang Yuecheng sent a satellite message to his mother from Freedom Island that morning, the authorities immediately knew and dispatched a special forces unit from the Southern Command to rescue him.

The aircraft had taken off from the Yonggan Island base in southern Xinjiang and took less than two hours to rescue Jiang Yuecheng.

Jiang Yu, of course, knew that her son had been rescued as soon as possible, and her heart, which had been hanging in suspense, was finally at ease.

She was glad that she had not impulsively handed over the Forbidden Fruit Project, as the consequences would have been unimaginable, and her son might have been killed.

At the military hospital on Yonggan Island, the director used a remote medical system to invite five military medical experts to remotely consult on Jiang Yuecheng's condition. They found that, apart from his left arm, the rest of his body functions were not severely damaged.

However, most of the tissue in his left arm was necrotic and needed immediate amputation. Additionally, he had pneumonia caused by water inhalation, which required some treatment but was not serious.

The director reported the consultation results to the higher-ups. When Jiang Yu learned that her son's arm needed to be amputated, she almost fainted from grief.

Already feeling guilty for not being able to take care of her son in person, she was devastated to find out that he had been kidn*pped and maimed because of her.

She believed that all of this was her fault, falling into deep self-blame and heartache.

To avoid delaying her son's treatment, she signed the electronic surgery confirmation form sent by the director, holding back her sorrow.

So, the hospital director personally performed the amputation surgery on Jiang Yuecheng.

To facilitate the future installation of a prosthetic limb, the director retained about one-third of the upper arm bone. This portion would later support the prosthetic socket. The director meticulously treated the severed end of the bone and nerve bundles to ensure their vitality for future prosthetic installation.

For Jiang Yuecheng's safety, the organization decided to temporarily change his name and identity, isolating him from the world. The military would cover all living expenses during this period.

From that point on, Jiang Yuecheng disappeared from the world. His new name, given by Jiang Yu, was Xu Yuecheng. His father, Xu Dongming, although not married to Jiang Yu, still maintained contact with her.

To facilitate Xu Yuecheng's education, he was temporarily housed in the teacher's dormitory at Yonggan Island Middle School. Since all the children at the school were from the military base and none were boarding students, he enjoyed the same treatment as the teachers.

To ensure safe communication with her son without being tracked, Jiang Yu commissioned a special encrypted communication device with a self-destruct feature. Whenever she needed to contact her son, she used this device, making it impossible for enemies to trace.

For confidentiality, Jiang Yu only informed her mother of her son's situation but did not reveal his exact location.

Jiang Hui was naturally unhappy about not being able to contact her grandson, but being a former military officer herself, she understood the need for secrecy and the importance of safety.

After settling her son, Jiang Yu immediately began preparing a prosthetic limb for him. Delaying the process could lead to the degradation of severed nerves and bone ends, affecting the prosthetic's effectiveness.

She also gathered materials on shoulder muscle exercises for disabled individuals to help her son strengthen his residual limb muscles and prevent rapid muscle atrophy.

Xu Yuecheng initially struggled to adapt to Yonggan Island Middle School's curriculum, which differed from that of Cang'er City. However, he quickly overcame this challenge within a month.

With more free time, he rekindled his old hobby of assembling combat robots. This time, he tried something new by assembling a wrestling sparring robot.

These robots are designed for wrestlers to practice throws repetitively, helping athletes master their techniques. Normally, these robots do not have offensive capabilities. Xu Yuecheng spent money on this type of robot because, according to robot forums, upgrading it with a more powerful CPU and a motion-learning software module would enable it to learn new moves and gain offensive abilities.

With proper training, the robot could spar with its owner, allowing both to improve together.

To teach the robot new moves, Xu Yuecheng purchased a set of wrestling tutorials and diligently practiced daily. Once he mastered the moves, he taught them to the robot. When the robot was adequately trained, they sparred together, keeping Xu Yuecheng busy and engaged.

Despite having only one hand, Xu Yuecheng, being resourceful and intelligent, always found ways to overcome challenges.

One weekend, while sparring with his robot on the school playground, two curious soldiers from the base approached to watch. One of the soldiers asked if he could spar with the robot. Eager to see how well he had trained the robot, Xu Yuecheng agreed.