After putting their things down, the two of them didn’t even bother taking a sip of water and went directly to the central control room located on the sixth floor of the office building.
At the entrance of the central control room, Zhou Qiyuan and the gendarmerie were fully armed and awaiting their arrival. Seeing Huo Shaoheng, they stepped forward and then stood up. “Everyone stand up! Salute!” Zhou Qiyuan commanded loudly and suddenly raised his right hand. Everyone obeyed the order and gave Huo Shaoheng a military salute.
Gu Nianzhi stopped in her tracks and did not follow him. Instead, she stood in the corner and waited for Huo Shaoheng to deal with them. Huo Shaoheng raised his hand, walked over, and glanced around. “How is the situation? Where are the 27 staff members who were taken away by the Secret Service?”
Zhou Qiyuan replied, “General Ji has sent them back, and they are now writing reports in the dormitory.”
Huo Shaoheng was momentarily speechless. “Writing reports?” As he spoke, Huo Shaoheng put his hand on the fingerprint sensor in the central control room to unlock it.
“General Ji said that their actions were not decisive enough, and they should have had the entire Secret Service under control, but they only obtained control of the Secret Service’s office building.”
Huo Shaoheng was dumbstruck and paused for a bit before turning back to Zhou Qiyuan and saying, “Go tell them that they have special tasks.”
“Yes, sir!” Zhou Qiyuan nodded but then whispered to Huo Shaoheng timidly, “But is it safe to let them enter this central control room when the United States possesses their personal data?”
Huo Shaoheng turned around to stare at Zhou Qiyuan impassively, then said calmly, “The United States also possesses my personal data. Are you implying that I can’t enter this central control room as well?”
That would have been crossing the line. After Zhou Qiyuan quivered inside, he shook his head profusely while saying, “Sir, I don’t mean that, but the military has military discipline. Since we are confidential units, the discipline requirements are more strict. If I have said something wrong, please punish me.”
With his hands behind his back, Huo Shaoheng lowered his eyes and pondered before saying, “You are merely acting according to regulations, so I can’t say that you’re wrong. But these 27 individuals were in special situations, and they were betrayed by traitors before they were sold out to the Americans. So according to your standards, we not only punish traitors, but also comrades who were framed by traitors?”
Zhou Qiyuan replied quickly, “After the field agents lost their jobs, they were all transferred from the Special Operations Forces, so I merely applied the old rules.”
Huo Shaoheng nodded. “I know, so I want to make other arrangements for these 27 people. Since they have heavy responsibilities, and they aren’t ordinary servicemen, you go and ask them if they are willing to never step outside the country again, no matter what the reason, and to never leave their job or ever retire. If so, then they can return to their previous positions. If they do not want to, go through the procedures to have them transferred to another department.”
Zhou Qiyuan’s eyes lit up in approval, and he quickly said, “That sounds good. I will prepare a voluntary form. If they’re willing to agree to the conditions and sign a legally authorized voluntary form, then they will be able to return. If they don’t want to, they won’t need to sign it.”
“You have thought about this thoroughly.” Huo Shaoheng patted Zhou Qiyuan’s shoulder in approval. “Come on, I have lots of work waiting for people to do.”
Zhou Qiyuan left half of the gendarmerie to provide security for Huo Shaoheng and took the other half to the quarantine quarters where those 27 servicemen had been living. When he was around the corner, Zhou Qiyuan saw Gu Nianzhi and nodded to her. “I see expert Gu is here as well.”
Gu Nianzhi was now a specially-appointed expert of the Special Operations Forces, especially for the computer division, and had been recommended by Zhao Liangze and Huo Shaoheng.
Gu Nianzhi didn’t know what had happened since those 27 people were taken away by Assistant Minister Feng. Then due to the whole chaotic ordeal surrounding the hostage situation and the Secret Service ending up under the control of the military, media reports were suppressed, and there was no mention of the crisis on the internet, either. She had been so busy preparing for the reception of the German delegation to China that she had missed the crisis altogether.
Zhou Qiyuan thought about it for a while and felt that this matter was directly related to Gu Nianzhi, so he said to her, “Because of the ‘Pink Piggy’ incident, 27 of our personnel were taken away by Hong Kangquan’s people in the Secret Service. They tortured those 27 men to find out who the ‘Pink Piggy’ was.”
Gu Nianzhi was horrified. Her big eyes widened at once as she blurted out, “What?! How could Hong Kangquan even do such a thing?”
She despised Hong Kangquan because he pressured Huo Shaoheng to go to the United States to rescue Tan Guiren, not only putting Huo Shaoheng in danger and almost costing him his life, but he also endangered her in Germany and almost ended her romantic relationship with Huo Shaoheng.
She had always thought that she had been the only one in danger and never realized that there were so many other people in danger because of her. She winced when she tried to imagine the torture they endured. Gu Nianzhi’s eyes grew red.
Zhou Qiyuan had to console her. “Don’t worry. You can rest assured that our comrades in the Special Operations Forces have undergone countless tests. Those in the secret service were no match for them. But you’re right. Hong Kangquan is indeed a treacherous villain that is a slave to the Americans.”
Gu Nianzhi was on the verge of crying, but Zhou Qiyuan’s words couldn’t help but make her want to laugh. Wiping the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand, Gu Nianzhi said, “Then I will not keep you from your work any longer.”
Zhou Qiyuan nodded to her and took the gendarmerie to execute Huo Shaoheng’s orders. Gu Nianzhi came to the door of the central control room and put her hand on the sensor at the door. The gate soon opened, which meant that she had authorized access. The gendarme who was hiding in the corner saw this and retreated.
Gu Nianzhi stepped into the central control room, which she was not unfamiliar with. The same old silver-gray stainless steel appliances, white walls, black top layer, and solid wood floors with insulation layers that were clean enough to be used as a mirror were all there. The post-modern style central control room was minimalist yet magnificent, and reminiscent of the vast universe, the deep sea, and the endless starry sky. Standing there even made her soul feel cleansed.
There were three floors and a control room that spanned hundreds of square meters, yet in the entire room only Huo Shaoheng was sitting there alone. There were several huge monitors in front of him, and the monitors were filled with densely-packed data.
Gu Nianzhi felt anxious inside. She came over to Huo Shaoheng, and sitting down beside him she whispered, “Huo Shao, it’s my fault.” When she found out that 27 people had been tortured because of her, she felt overwhelmed with guilt.
Huo Shaoheng turned back to see her guilty and wretched expression, and he raised his hand and touched her head. “It had nothing to do with you. Don’t be too hard on yourself.” He knew how Gu Nianzhi was. If others treated her well, she couldn’t bear not treating them at least ten times better. If she hadn’t felt extreme guilt over someone being tortured because of her, then that would be unlike her.
Gu Nianzhi shook her head. “How can it have nothing to do with me? If I had known that this would happen, then I shouldn’t have done it that day…” If she hadn’t revealed her identity that day, then perhaps these people wouldn’t have endured torture, right? But if she hadn’t revealed her identity that day, how could she have encouraged and cheered everyone on while they faced menacing cyber attacks from the United States? When you’re fighting, morale is of utmost importance.
Gu Nianzhi stood up at that moment and had revealed herself as the legendary hacker, the “Pink Piggy,” which raised everyone’s morale, and the damage they inflicted on the enemy was comparable to the nuclear bombs that fell on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan during World War II.
As a senior commander, Huo Shaoheng fully understood what she meant to do, but that understanding made it all the more distressing. He held Gu Nianzhi in his arms, told her to lean against his wide and sturdy chest, then told her firmly, “It’s not your fault. Hong Kangquan is the one at fault. Those traitors who have betrayed the interests of the country are the guilty ones. If those 27 people can’t withstand such tests, then how can they qualify as soldiers? Nianzhi, you have done a good job, way better than I expected. You’ve done nothing wrong.”
Gu Nianzhi’s tears flowed quietly. Not only were those tears of guilt and anguish, but also of gratitude for being understood by someone she loved so dearly. She hugged Huo Shaoheng tightly. He not only loved her but also understood her better than anyone else in the world. The two hugged each other quietly in the large central control room and drew strength from each other’s embrace. They provided warmth and fulfillment to each other.
After a while, Gu Nianzhi asked in a muffled voice, “Huo Shao, how many people do you think will return here?” Gu Nianzhi had overheard the conditions that Huo Shaoheng had laid out for those 27 people. The price to pay for their return was not small, and definitely not a price ordinary people were willing to pay.
Huo Shaoheng patted her back and said in a low voice, “Of course the more the better, but I won’t force them. If you force people to do a job of this nature, there will be big problems in the future.”
They would receive the honor they deserved in due time, but they also must be willing to put everything on the line for this job. The best state of affairs was when the military and the country stayed true to each other.
Gu Nianzhi sighed. “They are all the elites in your Special Operations Forces. This time, they truly are merely the victims.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Huo Shaoheng released her, grabbed the napkin on the table, and wiped her tears. “We have been prepared for circumstances like this. This is not the first time, nor will it be the last.”
Gu Nianzhi pursed her lips without refuting Huo Shaoheng. She personally hoped that such crises would occur as infrequently as possible.
“This matter won’t be resolved in a short while, so let’s work now.” Huo Shaoheng said and gave her authorized permission to enter the central control system and help him check the algorithm.
Gu Nianzhi also felt that those people would definitely need a few days to think it over, but before that, the Special Operations Forces could only rely on her and Huo Shaoheng. After all, there were only a few people who not only were authorized to enter the central control room but could also operate the computers and instruments as well.
This time, the United States had deprived them of their elite. It would be impossible for Huo Shaoheng not to feel upset. However, he didn’t say anything and silently shouldered all the burden alone. Even if the sky fell, he would stand between the heavens and the earth to help everyone stand up.
Gu Nianzhi stopped her racing thoughts, and after secretly glancing at Huo Shaoheng quietly, she got to work as well. They didn’t know how much time passed before the induction video in front of Huo Shaoheng finally turned on. Zhou Qiyuan appeared on the video. “Sir, everything has been taken care of. Please open the door.”
Huo Shaoheng glanced at his watch. Only half an hour had passed. “Everyone signed the volunteer form?”
“Yes, they all signed,” Zhou Qiyuan said solemnly. “They are also all here.”
Huo Shaoheng pushed the door button and walked towards the door with Gu Nianzhi. The gate opened, and tall soldiers wearing the Special Operations Forces black uniform appeared in front of them.
“Everyone stand up! Salute!”
Gu Nianzhi counted their numbers discreetly. There were 27 of them, not one less.
