Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The weather was fine in Utah in November. The sun was shining on the reddish-brown Rocky Mountains. The empty and distant layers of mountains overlapped the vast wilderness of a great yellow sand desert. From time to time, fighter jets took off from Ovi Air Force Base leaving long wisps of white smoke trails that lingered in the blue, transparent sky. There was a heavy fragrance of lily in the air. Utah wasn’t a very busy place, and Little Rock Canyon was not a place with lots of people, but because Laris, the commander of the Pacific Fleet, was visiting today, the somewhat desolate little town suddenly grew with excitement. The entrance of the highway, which used to be empty and quiet, was now filled with police cars with flashing lights blocking all the highway exits, waiting for Laris’ fleet to pass.
He Zhichu and Ye Xuan were sitting in the custom bulletproof Cadillac and were waiting for the driver to turn around to bypass the intersection to get onto Route 95. Just then, a series of gunshots suddenly rang out. A bomb that had been thrown from an unknown direction crashed down into the motorcycle cavalcade in front of Laris’ fleet. Thick, black smoke instantly erupted and was especially jarring and glaring against the light blue sky.
“Reporting! Admiral Laris’ fleet was attacked! Admiral Laris’ fleet was attacked! Admiral Laris’ fleet was attacked!” The correspondent in Admiral Laris’ fleet desperately screamed through the direct line connecting to the office of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. The US Joint Chiefs of Staff was a group composed of the top leaders within the US military. The chairman of the institution was only second to the President of the United States, so the chairman was the second in command of the US military while the president was commander-in-chief. However, everyone knew that the president’s position in the military was only a nominal title. The real team of leaders of the US military was the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. Admiral Laris was the commander of the US Pacific Fleet and was also one of the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, so his position was absolutely high-ranking within the US military, and he also enjoyed the highest level of security privileges. His fleet being attacked meant that someone was attacking Admiral Laris, which also meant a declaration of war against the entire United States of America! Regardless of whether the attack was carried out by an individual organization or a state organization, there was only course of action for the US military—to completely annihilate it! To annihilate it at any cost!
Suddenly, all the military in the entire city of Little Rock Canyon was mobilized. Countless fighter jets, bombers, and armored helicopters were instantly taking off from Ovi Air Force Base. A “flying ban” was promulgated over the entire city’s airspace, so no airplanes were allowed to take off aside from military aircraft from Ovi Air Force Base. Whether it was civilian aviation or military aircraft with permits, nothing else was allowed to lift off. The soldiers wearing balaclavas immediately jumped out from the rear compartments of the two military trucks behind Laris’ fleet. They carried guns and maintained constant vigilance as they stepped closer and closer to the cars ahead. The gunshots and bomb that attacked Laris’ fleet had apparently come from that direction.
“Get out of the car! Raise your hands! Lay down against the car door!” The US soldiers wearing balaclavas violently grabbed every single person from the cars. Some people attempted to reason with them, but these US soldiers didn’t seem to have an ounce of patience, so they simply pointed their guns at those people’s heads and shot once! Before long, a few people had died under those guns. The remaining people didn’t dare to “reason with” the soldiers, so they did exactly as told and didn’t dare to resist again.
In the beginning, He Zhichu and Ye Xuan remained in the car without moving and merely waited for this sudden and random commotion to pass before detouring. It wasn’t until they saw the riled up US soldiers stomping their way over that the corners of He Zhichu’s eyes subtly twitched. His car had excellent soundproofing and bulletproofing capabilities, so although they didn’t hear the gunshots, they could still feel the power of the bomb through the vibrations of the thick, heavy vehicle chassis. He Zhichu squinted. He knew something was wrong, and just as he took out his phone to call Little A, he discovered he was getting a call from him instead. “Mr. He! There is an expert among the enemy!”
He Zhichu replied gravely, “Cut the crap! What happened?!”
“There was the sound of gunfire just now, and the news already confirmed that Admiral Laris’ fleet was attacked by terrorists. Now the US military has fully launched an emergency contingency plan and requested that everyone quickly evacuate. The military is pursuing the death of the attackers!” Little A’s voice was very low, so his anger was apparent.
“It couldn’t have been you guys?” He Zhichu couldn’t help asking the question, and although the possibility was very low, what if Little A had enlisted a group of idiot team members?
“Of course not! Our men just got in position, and the angle of gunshots and bombs wasn’t from our direction at all! Now there is a flight ban over the entire city of Little Rock Canyon, so the permit we requested for our armored helicopters is completely useless!” Little A cursed. “WTF!” Before he ended the call, he said, “We’re going to get on the road now. Mr. He, get out of the car quickly! I see that they’re heading in your direction!”
The Bluetooth headset went silent, and He Zhichu looked out the window expressionlessly. Groups of fully armed soldiers wearing balaclavas were conducting searches car by car and were about to head over in their direction. “Robbers acting like cops!” He Zhichu sneered once and pulled out the small briefcase under his seat that housed the XM-230 magnetic storm grenade gun. He threw a pistol at Ye Xuan. “Take this to protect yourself.”
Ye Xuan stiffened. “What on earth is going on? We didn’t do it, so why are we running?”
“Can’t you tell? This is a trap. The enemy is using this chaos to make sure we get killed.” He Zhichu stated it simply. Looking down, his hands quickly assembled the magnetic storm grenade gun. One minute later, assembly of the gun was completed. “Get out of the car.” He Zhichu took off his suit jacket and put it back on reversed, so it turned into a hunting suit. There were also a few more balaclavas in the small suitcase, so He Zhichu put one on to cover his head and face. It was the same one used by the soldiers in Laris’ fleet, and he also threw one to Ye Xuan. “Put it on.”
The driver was flabbergasted but had a trace of luck in his heart, so he didn’t want to get out of the car at all. He waved at He Zhichu. “You guys go on. It doesn’t matter to me.”
Ye Xuan accepted the balaclava and held the gun as he followed He Zhichu out of the car in a crouch and quickly hid in the large mountains on the side of the highway. Ye Xuan and He Zhichu hid behind a large rock on the mountain and focused intently on their car under the mountain. Under the mountain, US soldiers wearing balaclavas formed several positions and were shielding themselves as they made way in their direction.
Inside the car, their driver raised both hands at the soldiers to indicate there were no criminals there, but a soldier wearing a balaclava carried his gun over and shot the driver! A round, bloody hole appeared on the driver’s forehead, and he fell over in the car with his eyes open, not understanding how such a thing could’ve happened. Then the soldier began fiercely firing his gun at the car, the bullets rattling against the metal. He even threw in a hand grenade at the end. There was a loud BOOM, and the Cadillac He Zhichu and Ye Xuan had just been in was blown up into a pile of scrap metal.
Ye Xuan’s jaw dropped in shock. He looked at He Zhichu then at the US soldiers who had attacked their car just now. He murmured, “What on earth are they trying to do?!”
“Someone on Laris’ side is writing the script and directing the story to use the earlier terrorist attack on their fleet to issue a death order of ‘killing anyone who resists.’ In order for the US military to secure the commander’s safety, they are able to do such things,” He Zhichu quietly explained. “Now you have to shut up and follow me.”
Ye Xuan nodded, not asking any other questions before following He Zhichu to a small mountain trail. Little A’s car was waiting on Route 95 on standby. The US military had blocked off the intersection to Route 95, so He Zhichu and Ye Xuan had to cross through the mountains if they wanted to get over there in order to bypass the checkpoint. Luckily, it wasn’t too far away, and while they didn’t dare walk on the mountain roads, the trails were still walkable. He Zhichu ran quickly ahead. Ye Xuan exercised often, so his body was fit and strong enough to keep up with He Zhichu’s pace.
However, the number of soldiers chasing them was increasing, and there were also helicopters circling in the sky that began to bellow messages. “…Everyone is to retreat to the entrance of Little Rock Canyon Highway. The military will be conducting full-scale bombing against the terrorists in the mountains, so we ask everyone to retreat to the entrance of the Little Rock Canyon Highway. The military will be conducting full-scale bombing against the terrorists in the mountains…”
The sleepy city of Little Rock Canyon silently stood between the mountain ranges and was facing the impact of its first small-scale local war since its establishment. The local TV station wanted to grab headlines, so it couldn’t wait to post this news, but soon after, the military quickly took over the news media organizations such as local TV stations, and no other news was reported. There were only sporadic posts on Twitter and Facebook made by a few people from Little Rock Canyon. They included some photos, but because there was no official confirmation, they weren’t circulated much.
…
BOOM! A plume of black smoke rose up between the mountains. The military set up a mortar base under the mountains and began clearing the targets in the mountains one by one. He Zhichu and Ye Xuan had just escaped a round of airstrikes when they saw the road ahead blown up into a huge crater. Luckily, they hadn’t driven, so it didn’t matter, even if the road ahead was cut off. But the military’s armored helicopters and fighter jets kept circling in the mountains and used heart-inductive sensor systems to search for human-shaped targets in the mountains They continuously tracked their positions and then sent them to the rear mortar units. Ye Xuan couldn’t take it anymore. He raised his gun and wanted nothing more than to shoot a full clip of bullets at the armored helicopters that were latching onto them like leeches!
He Zhichu clamped down his hand and smiled faintly. “Let me do it.” He raised the magnetic storm grenade gun and suddenly jumped up from the mountain pass they were hiding in and quickly ran forward.
Ye Xuan balled his hands into fists and also jumped out of the pass to quickly chase after He Zhichu. The armored helicopters and fighter jets sensed their changing direction and followed them. He Zhichu ran past a narrow cliff in the valley. The valley was like a pair of scissors, so as long as this point was blocked, it would make it hard for people trying to chase after them. With a quick movement, he jumped behind a large rock on the side of the valley and raised the magnetic storm grenade gun. He took aim at the closest fighter jet firing at them continuously with its machine guns. With a quiet pop, one magnetic storm bullet whooshed out like an arrow loosed from its bow, hitting the belly of the fighter jet. It looked like it had only pierced a small hole that wasn’t even clearly perceptible to the eye, but in one moment, the fighter jet was like a toy airplane stomped and flattened by a giant. It disintegrated in the air, and the pilots didn’t even have a chance to open their parachutes before they plummeted from the sky while still strapped in their seats! With one boom, countless particles of dust scattered in the air. This one magnetic storm bullet also disintegrated all the electromagnetic and radio short-wave communication systems within a ten-mile radius. The radar systems in the air force base, as well as the signals at the network base station, were completely blocked.
Suddenly, the place became a quarantined zone with electricity and internet completely cut off except for He Zhichu’s phone, which had an anti-blocking device installed. His phone signal was not affected. As he started to unlock his phone, he used the Bluetooth headset to contact Little A. “I’ll turn on my phone’s tracking system. Can you see my position?”
