The police officers thought about it repeatedly and eventually decided to seek the opinion of their supervisor. The moment the call got connected, the supervisor immediately agreed to let Hong Kangquan make the call, much to everyone’s surprise. He even said things like, “No matter how severe the crime was, you are not allowed to not let someone hire a lawyer! This is a human right! A human right! Understand?”
Since their supervisor had given them the green light, the police officers had to carry out the order no matter how unsure they were feeling. The police officers took the cordless landline they were using for their shift into the little dark room and waited at the door.
Hong Kangquan breathed a sigh of relief and began dialing a series of numbers that was not in use and that would look ridiculous to any citizens of the Huaxia empire. For the past few days when he was on the run, he was in contact with this number that was “not in use.”
Initially, he had not wanted to take this track from the airport to escape. However, that person had told him that all the supercomputers from the Special Forces would be used to keep an eye on the election, and they would not have the spare manpower to check on his whereabouts. He had also guaranteed that he had already altered all of Hong Kangquan’s details in the central control system, and that those people from the Special Forces would never be able to find him. That was how he was convinced to take this route to escape.
That was why, when he was stopped at the screening and they asked to scan his eyes over and over again, he knew that he was in deep trouble. After all the speculation, had that person forgotten about eye screening?!
That shouldn’t be possible at all. That person would definitely have anticipated that. He was extremely intelligent when it came to technology. Huaxia Empire aside, even if he were in America, no one would be able to find out about him!
However, he was indeed captured. What had actually happened in between? Hong Kangquan was not convinced. He had to contact that person and find out what had happened. Therefore, the moment he got the phone, he didn’t even care about the security cameras in the room, he just dialed that number.
“Please dial a complete telephone number.”
“Please dial a complete telephone number.”
“Please dial a complete telephone number.”
…
The voice from the auto response system could be heard over and over again from the telephone, telling him that the number he had dialed was not correct and that he had to dial again. Beads of perspiration rolled down Hong Kangquan’s forehead. The shimmer of oil could be also seen as the seconds passed. He didn’t believe it. He did not believe it. He…
He had dialed continuously for ten minutes, and even the police officers who were looking at the security camera could not bear to watch anymore. They pushed the door open and raised their voices. “Mr. Hong, do you even know how to make a phone call? Telephone numbers are either seven or eight digits. What nonsense are you trying to dial?!” Four or five digits? Was he trying to call an internal number?
Hong Kangquan fell back onto his seat, and all his calmness from a moment ago disappeared. He mumbled as he held onto the phone and stammered, “I… I… Let me call… Let me call again…”
He didn’t care who was around him, and he dialed the number again. He got the same response: “Please dial a complete telephone number.” The gentle, accurate voice did not calm Hong Kangquan’s nerves, but instead acted like a bomb, destroying his emotions and self control. He was done for. He was done for this time! That person had given up on him.
The thing that Hong Kangquan had been falling back on all along was how easily this person was able to penetrate everything. He was always able to pull Hong Kangquan out of extremely difficult situations just in the nick of time. However, right now he was having the hardest time of his entire life. How could he not be around?!
With trembling hands, Hong Kangquan gritted his teeth and thought, “If the call is still unable to get through in five minutes, I’ll be left with no other option but to look for the Americans.” He had never intended to be a traitor to his own country. He was being pushed to his limits by these people!
Hong Kangquan held onto the phone and dialed the number again for the next five minutes. After being sure that the number was indeed unable to get through, he dialed another number. “Little Tang? This is Hong Kangquan. I need a lawyer. I need your help now.”
The person was taken aback for a while before replying swiftly, “I’m sorry, but I think you’ve got the wrong number.”
“I do not!” Hong Kangquan shouted before the person could hang up on him. “You either get me a lawyer, or we will stop collaborating immediately! Since I’m already having bad luck, you shall not have any peace on your end, either!”
The person seemed to have been scared by Hong Kangquan. He changed his tone and began comforting him. “Relax, calm down. Let me see if I have any contact numbers for lawyers.”
Five minutes after the phone call, a man wearing a suit and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses appeared in front of the little dark room that Hong Kangquan was locked up in. He faced the police officers calmly and said, “I am Mr. Hong’s lawyer, and I wish to speak to him.” With that, he handed them his business card.
Seeing that he was a lawyer from the biggest law firm in C City, the police officers opened the door promptly and allowed him in, and even closed the door behind him.
According to the rules, they were unable to listen in when the lawyer was seeing his client. Even so, they didn’t mind much because there were security cameras in the room.
However, the moment the lawyer entered the room, he took a device that was almost the same size as an iPad and placed it on the table in front of Hong Kangquan. At the same time, he raised his hand and stopped Hong Kangquan from talking. The moment Hong Kangquan saw that device, he shut his mouth. Thirty seconds later, that device emitted a light blue flash and stopped all the security cameras in the room from recording. The scene was stopped at when the lawyer had just entered the room.
The people who were watching the room from outside only noticed that something was amiss after a good while. During the five minutes before they realized that something was amiss, the person who looked like a lawyer opened his mouth to speak. “I have already paused all the security cameras in this room. We have five minutes. Let’s make it quick. Minister Hong Kangquan? We, the Japanese, all look up to people like you. If you’re able to work with us, we will be able to guarantee your safety out of this country. We will get you safely to Japan, and you’ll be able to spend the rest of your life in luxury in either Tokyo or Kyoto.”
That person had spoken in Chinese with a heavy Japanese accent. After he was done, he looked at Hong Kangquan and continued, “You may choose to live in Hokkaido as well. There are many beautiful places there.”
Hong Kangquan felt like he had been punched in the face, and his face scrunched up. He had never expected that when he called a secret number for the American CIA in the Huaxia Empire, that the person who would come would be Japanese!
What could he do? Must he lean towards the Japanese now? If he were to collaborate with the Americans, Hong Kangquan could still defend himself and say that he was being backed into a corner. However, if he had to go with the Japanese, Hong Kangquan really could not bring himself to cross that hurdle in his heart.
He wanted power and authority, but he had never ever intended to betray the benefits of his own country. He knew that the person whom he had been in constant contact with—the one with the number that was “not in use”—was not an American. Even though he was extremely familiar with what was going on in America, he was really not related to them in any manner.
Of course, Hong Kangquan was also extremely sure that that person was not Japanese, either. This was because that person had never looked out for anything about Japan and never encouraged him to have any beneficial relationships with Japan. He had always thought that that person was also a citizen of the Huaxia Empire. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have worked with him for such a long time.
However, this time around he had called America, but a Japanese person had come. He was indeed curious. Hong Kangquan pondered for a moment before asking in a low voice, “How did you know about this number? I know I…”
“You knew you had dialed the American CIA’s contact number but did not know why it was me who came here. Is that correct, Minister Hong?” That person pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses and had a look of pride on his demure face. “You don’t need to know how we knew about it. We just did. We might be interested in what you have with you, and therefore, we are here.”
Hong Kangquan’s eyes narrowed. It was true that he had brought along some highly confidential secrets with him when he went on the run. Had he not done that, how could he get in touch with different countries? What leverage would he have in order for them to rescue him?
He was only shocked that the Americans knew what he had taken. Now that he thought about it, he felt a shiver running down his spine. Only the owner of that “not in use” number knew what he had brought along with him.
Now, the Japanese had found out about it. Could that person really be Japanese? Had he been wrong about that person all along?! However, that person had skills that superseded what the Huaxia Empire had by many orders of magnitude. If he was Japanese, then why didn’t he just give those technologies and knowledge to Japan?
That was not possible at all! Hong Kangquan rejected this thought. This person who looked like a lawyer saw that Hong Kangquan was not talking and looked at his watch. “We are left with one minute, Minister Hong. If you’re not going to talk, our deal ends here. The moment their security camera resumes working, I will take my leave.”
With that, the man reminded Hong Kangquan again, ” According to our information, the Special Forces from your country seems to have invested a great deal to arrest you this time. If you truly wish to escape, please make up your mind quickly. If you’re still being fickle, even the elites from America’s CIA will not be able to save you, much less us.”
With that, Hong Kangquan didn’t think anymore. He faced the man immediately and replied, “Technology of the quantum network satellite phase one. In return for it, you have to guarantee my safety getting away from here. When we arrive in Japan, I’ll give you the technology for phase two.”
The other man’s eyes sparkled. “You really have phase one and two of the experiment of the quantum network satellite?!” He was elated and surprised. That was the exact experiment that they, the Japanese, had put in so much time and effort researching but hadn’t been able to complete successfully for a really long time!
