Hong Kangquan wore the diving mask that Ito had given him as he descended into the sea. As he sunk underwater, he looked up at the bright moonlight in the dark blue sky.
No matter how many miles apart people were, every person in the world shared this one moon.
He wondered about the first person who’d ever seen the moon. How much had humans progressed since then?
Every person in every generation lived a different life, yet from a viewpoint so high up in the sky, everything must appear to stay the same from decade to decade.
He would probably never again see the blue sky or the moon above this part of the world, right? Hong Kangquan sighed. With a heavy heart, he gradually sank below the sea’s surface.
Since it was late at night, the bottom of the sea was dark. Occasionally, he saw flashing lights coming from the surface. It was the moonlight shining on the rippling waves.
Ito made some final confirmations with the Intelligence Department of Tokyo, Japan.
Before going into sea with Hong Kangquan, Ito had persuaded him to hand over the first phase of the quantum communication satellite technology. He sent it to the Intelligence Department of Tokyo, which then transmitted it to scientists specializing in quantum communication satellites. After multiple verifications, they confirmed that it was indeed the first phase of the quantum communication satellite technology they wanted. This allowed them to resolve the technical difficulties they had been experiencing for many years as a result of their lack of access to advanced technology.
Only after obtaining the highly coveted first phase of the quantum communication satellite technology did the Japanese decide that they must rescue Hong Kangquan at all costs.
Seeing that Hong Kangquan had sunk below sea level, Ito hung up the phone, put on his diving mask, and sank into the water as well.
They were wearing the latest military diving suits developed by Japan. They not only had a variety of weapons to defend themselves with, but they also had advanced scuba equipment with enough oxygen to last them two days and two nights. The most crucial aspect of the apparatus was the small booster on the back.
This booster allowed them to quickly sneak under the water and swim 12 nautical miles into the ocean to the exclusive economic zone.
After the two descended into the water, they activated the booster. A series of bubbles and ripples appeared above the water’s surface as they swam forward like fish.
Ito had a tracking device on his body. It guided them forward and provided a convenient way for the Japanese SAT Special Task Force to contact them.
Using the booster, the two could indeed swim very fast. Since both of them were already well-trained agents, they swam even faster than professional athletes.
No matter how fast they swam, humans swimming in the water could not outpace the cars speeding along on land.
12 nautical miles was approximately equal to 22 kilometers on land. With the help of the booster, they could reach a speed of four kilometers per hour. That is to say, unless something went wrong along the way, they would need several hours to swim 12 nautical miles.
By that time, it would be nearly dawn.
Although their hope and optimism were beautiful, their reality was harsh and cruel. The two of them could not bear being underwater after only half an hour. Even with their oxygen supply, the pressure on the bottom of the sea was too much for their bodies to tolerate. They desperately wanted to ascend to the surface to breathe.
They dove back into the water, then floated to the surface after another half an hour.
Hong Kangquan emerged from beneath the surface and saw the vast ocean ahead of him. He had no idea where he was. All he could do was follow Ito mindlessly.
Two hours later, they surfaced again. Ito received a signal from the Japanese SAT Special Task Force.
“Ito, verify your position. Do not dive into the water again, we will send a boat to pick you up.”
Ito was shocked. “You guys drove Japanese warships into Chinese territorial waters?! You’re crazy!” Although Ito was by no means a coward, he was stunned by the stupidity of the Japanese SAT Special Task Force. “Go back! Go back right now! You guys are waging a war!”
“Hahahaha…” The Japanese SAT Special Task Force’s Colonel Naganobu Sada burst out laughing through the headset. “Why would we possibly come over with a warship? Ito-kun you are so funny!”
After confirming that it was not a Japanese warship coming to pick them up, Ito felt relieved. “Well, where are you guys? I’m marking my position now.”
Ito turned on the locator so that Naganobu Sada and the others could find them.
For fifteen minutes, they heard the rumbling roar of motor engines getting closer and closer to them. Ito squinted. Using infrared night vision goggles, he spotted a fishing boat from the Huaxia Empire.
It was a very quiet diesel-powered fishing boat, no different from the fishing boats that went in and out of the C City commercial port every day. The side of the ship had the word “Fuxing” engraved on it…
Naganobu Sada confirmed Ito’s position from the fishing boat he was on and slowly ordered the boat to slow down.
Ito waited for them to drop a rope ladder. When they did, Ito and Hong Kangquan pulled the rope ladder closer, then grasped it to climb up into the boat.
As soon as they were on the boat, the two of them collapsed on the deck from extreme exhaustion. They couldn’t get up for a long time.
Hong Kangquan rested for a while. Eventually, feeling that his strength was slowly returning, he propped himself up. As soon as he turned his head to look around, he saw a few people hidden in the ship’s shadows, tied up in ropes and positioned strangely in the corner.
Ito sat up and saw the bizarre figures as well. Frowning, he asked SAT’s Naganobu Sada in Japanese, “…Who are those people?”
“Those? The crewmen of this ship.” Naganobu Sada pursed his lips in disdain. “I meant to give them money and have them let us take the boats to save you. We would have been saved and they would have made a fortune. Unfortunately, those ungrateful idiots tried to call the police, so we had no choice but to get rid of them.”
He made a slashing motion across his throat.
Ito nodded and said contemptuously, “Those godd*mn nosy idiots! You know, if it hadn’t been for these abnormally nosy Huaxia civilians, we wouldn’t have had to run around like fugitives or dive into the sea to escape!”
“I heard that already. Ito-Kun worked hard!” SAT Special Task Force’s Naganobu Sada patted Ito’s shoulders. “But it’s all over now and you have returned to the arms of our Great Japanese Empire! The Emperor will give you the highest reward!”
Ito tried his best to suppress a proud and eager smile.
Naganobu Sada walked towards Hong Kangquan, squatted down, smiled, and said in standard Chinese, “Welcome, Mr. Hong, into the arms of our Great Japanese Empire! The Emperor will give you the highest reward!”
Hong Kangquan finally sat up with a conflicted expression on his face. He uttered a sound of contempt before saying, “Sir, if I am not mistaken, you are still in the territorial waters of the Huaxia Empire, right?”
“Wrong!” Naganobu Sada stood up with his hands on his hips and proudly said, “Everywhere the Japanese SAT Special Task Force steps foot is the land of the Great Japanese Imperial Empire! With us by your side, you will have all the security you will ever need!”
Hong Kangquan looked Naganobu Sada up and down. He saw that he was wearing a special military uniform unique to the special forces. His bulging chest and back showed that this was a military uniform suitable for amphibious operations.
His helmet was shaped like a scuba mask, making his appearance completely indiscernible. The MP5SD submachine gun strapped diagonally across his arm was a reduced miniature submachine gun, but it had the same amount of lethality as a full-sized gun.
With the Carlo PB whistle pistol and silencer on his waist, any prey he hunted could be killed silently and efficiently.
The military boots on his feet were also unique. They were thick and long and could be extended or shrunk when necessary. There were also several knives tied to his leg. The knives were so precise that they could cut through steel plates on tanks like they were made of mud.
These were the regular outfits of the special task force, and it was obvious that this was all American equipment.
Hong Kangquan looked at the soldiers standing behind Naganobu Sada, all in the same military uniforms, all armed with deadly guns, all wearing a telescope-like device on their heads, and all on high alert.
Hong Kangquan averted his gaze, feeling ambivalent inside.
He didn’t know the military strength of the Japanese, but he knew how strong Huo Shaoheng was… When Huo Shaoheng had initially joined the army, he’d stood out in the first year’s recruitment exercise by successfully defeating many veterans who had been enlisted in the army for many years. His military achievements were outstanding and almost all the military generals were excited by this talented star that harbored such great potential.
Yet such an outstanding soldier had suddenly disappeared without a trace.
He was selected by General Ji and given the chance to train as an apprentice under someone in Israel’s Mossad. When he returned to the army, he became a lieutenant colonel under Hong Kangquan. This was so invincible a man that he could single-handedly take down an enemy’s platoon. If you gave him two helpers to form a battle team, the three of them could wipe out entire squadrons.
But looking at the dozen or so Japanese, Hong Kangquan felt faint-hearted. He lightly coughed before asking, “What makes you so self-assured when there are merely a few dozen of you here?”
“A few dozen of us?” Hong Kangquan laughed and waved his hands. Dozens of heads popped out of the boat. From the few lights on the boat, a thick crowd of people could suddenly be seen. They had all been hiding.
“I have half of my servicemen here, more than 100 people, more than enough to kill half a regiment. You didn’t really think that the Huaxia Empire would send out an entire regiment just to catch you, right?” Naganobu Sada waved again and all the people went back into hiding.
Hong Kangquan nodded. “Alright then, it’s up to you.”
Naganobu Sada burst out laughing. “Unfortunately, they won’t have time to catch up! Preparations on their part would come in handy! Your Huaxia Empire… if we’re talking about the army, there might be some competition. But the navy… hahaha… Do you guys even have a navy? Don’t think that having an aircraft carrier is all that great. Will you fight in naval battles? Have you ever even played in naval battles?”
“After the Sino-Japanese War, there will be no navy in China!”
Naganobu Sada cackled more and more madly. Even the vigilant SAT task force members behind him started to laugh as well.
In terms of the Huaxia Empire, the Japanese had the utmost confidence that their navy reigned supreme over theirs.
Hong Kangquan’s face started twitching. He had no idea what expression to plaster on his face. He knew that the Huaxia Empire’s navy was no match against Japan’s. He should be happy because it meant that he would be saved instead of dying as a traitor.
But why did he still feel bitter inside?
Hong Kangquan lowered his head and went to sit alone in a corner, not paying further attention to the other people.
Naganobu Sada paid no further attention to him either, chatting with Ito in Japanese.
…
The moonlight was soft and the waves rippled on the sea.
Through the misty haze, Huo Shaoheng rode on a black speed boat, speeding along like an arrow just off the string.
“Sir! A fisherman called the police! He said that he and others were being taken held hostage by the Japanese! If we heard right, the fishermen who called the police… have been killed!”
The anxious voices of his intelligence analysts rang through Huo Shaoheng’s Bluetooth headset.
