Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
There were a total of more than 12,000 fighter jets in the United States, and just by the number alone, it proudly ranked as first place on the entire Blue Planet. But because they were distributed among the three armies of sea, land, and air, they were divided evenly so every military service was equipped with roughly 4,000 to 5,000 fighter jets. Ovi Air Force Base probably had several hundred fighter jets, and because this base was inland, it was not equipped with that many fighter jets, nor were these the latest models. This time, an F-22 Raptor had flown here, and although it wasn’t the latest US fighter jet model, it was still the most powerful fighter jet among existing service aircraft. It was a fifth-generation twin-engine stealth fighter jet and was also known to have absolute airspace superiority. Of course, the so-called stealth was relative to radars, but not to the human eye. Stealth fighter jets invisible to the human eye had yet to be invented. This type of fighter jet was quite large in size and the strong winds it created when flying in low altitudes could sway cars on the road. Luckily, He Zhichu had asked Little A to prepare bulletproof vehicles that were large in size and heavy in weight, so the appearance of the F-22 Raptor didn’t result in the tragedy of people falling and cars flipping.
Hearing the sound of the fighter jet, Little A turned icy. “Mr. He, what do you want to do?”
He Zhichu watched the quickly approaching fighter jet and knew this wouldn’t be a Japanese person masquerading. So he merely lifted a finger and said to Little A, “Relay a message to him and say that I’m in the car. If they approach any closer, we will shoot their fighter jet down.”
“You want to report your name?” Little A knew of He Zhichu’s status in the US military and political worlds, and the board of directors of the Whitewater Security Company had reminded him. “Didn’t you want to keep that confidential?”
He Zhichu never intended to keep his whereabouts confidential the entire time. The confidentiality he wanted to keep was to give the enemy an illusion. If the enemy had long known he had arrived, then they wouldn’t have deployed the plans they currently had. He came here to pick up Ye Xuan and had actually also wanted to see what kind of trump cards the enemy had and also if they were what he imagined they were…Now that Ye Xuan already came out and the enemy had even deployed a fighter jet, wouldn’t it be a death wish if he kept this confidential? “Right. I want to see exactly how arrogant that Admiral Laris really is…” There was a trace of sneer and sarcasm on the corners of He Zhichu’s lips. He held his magnetic storm grenade gun with one hand and aimed it at the quickly approaching F-22 Raptor fighter jet. With one hand resting on his knee, he tapped quietly and beat to the rhythm of the music playing inside the car.
He Zhichu’s calm and nonchalance also made everyone else relax. Little A picked up the communicator to give it a try and discovered that communications had recovered, so he gave an order to his pilot in the armored helicopter. “Fly over there and relay a message to that fighter jet. Tell them that Mr. He is in here and ask what business they have with us.”
Whitewater Security Company’s Blackhawk armored helicopter quickly took off from the foothills and approached the F-22 Raptor midair. The pilot relayed a message through the air communication channel. “This is Blackhawk! This is Blackhawk! We are the security personnel for Mr. He Zhichu and belong to the Whitewater Security Company. Please allow us to pass! Please allow us to pass!”
The pilots in the F-22 Raptor were US Air Force soldiers. They were ordered to pursue and kill the “terrorist” who had attacked Admiral Laris and had originally received an order to “execute summarily.” However, the other party was being escorted by a Blackhawk armored helicopter that also belonged to Whitewater Security Company, which was known to even active-duty soldiers. They couldn’t help but hesitate. Whitewater Security Company employed many veterans as security personnel, so they were famous among active military personnel. Also, Whitewater Security Company had a military background, and a major shareholder of the company was former vice president Niche. With such a background, could these be “terrorists”? The pilots in the F-22 Raptor fighter jet relayed this news back to the base to determine its authentication and also requested further instructions. Ovi Air Force Base received the news and was a bit shocked too, so they followed procedure by relaying the news to Admiral Laris, who was directing locally, as well as the office of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington.
…
“What? Did you hear it clearly? Was it He Zhichu?” Admiral Laris’s impassive expression cracked for a moment as soon as he heard He Zhichu’s name. His pupils dilated and his hands shook as he went to get a cup of coffee to hold in his hands and hide his shock.
“The other party said so, but the people are inside the car, so our pilots didn’t personally see it.” Laris’s subordinate reported to him in detail. “But according to the Little Rock police station’s records, as well as information sent from the courts, Whitewater Security Company indeed applied for security permits a few days ago and requested to bring wartime weaponry and armed helicopters into the city of Little Rock to protect their important client. The courts confirmed that He Zhichu so happened to have concluded a lawsuit in court yesterday. He Zhichu’s client was acquitted, and he wanted to take him away from the city of Little Rock.”
Laris’s left cheek twitched twice, and his fingers rubbed a round gold coin until he finally slammed it on the table and said rigidly, “Then say we are sorry to offend and to have them to get out of the car to accept military control. We are currently pursuing terrorists and would rather make mistakes than let a terrorist off!”
His subordinates and the Ovi Air Force Base shared a look and nodded. They saluted at Admiral Laris. “Roger, Mr. Admiral!”
…
He Zhichu sat in the car for a while and unlocked his phone to send Gu Nianzhi a text. “Ye Xuan has already been acquitted, and I will bring him back to the Huaxia Empire. Don’t worry about us.” As soon as he put away his phone, he heard Little A, sitting across from him, jump and slam his head loudly against the roof of the car. Little A rubbed his head and cursed into the phone. All the swear words blurted out, and he brandished his fists to say, “Do they want to die? Get out of the car and accept military control? They think we’re idiots? Does Laris, that old bastard, have a death wish or something?”
He Zhichu understood now. His expression was surprised, yet he also looked like he already expected this. He gave Little A a conflicted look. “They want us to get out of the car and accept military control?” This idea wasn’t bad, but as soon as they got out of the car to accept military control, He Zhichu knew that he was sure to be safe himself. However, Ye Xuan would be sure to “die accidentally…” His purpose in coming to the United States was to bring Ye Xuan back to the Huaxia Empire, so he would be an idiot if he accepted the so-called conditions. But Laris was using the dirty trick of “being attacked” from his side, so it was certainly not easy to resolve. He Zhichu closed his eyes and thought about it for a while before saying, “Tell them that I believe Admiral Laris’s attack is very likely a trap, and the goal is actually to target me, but not Admiral Laris. For the sake of my own safety, I am unable to trust Admiral Laris. I ask him to contact the Joint Chiefs of Staff and ask them to send someone to escort me to Salt Lake City.”
Little A choked and slammed his fist into the seat. “Ok! We’ll bring this old bastard’s unspeakable intentions out in the open and see if he is still shameless enough to ask us to accept military control!” Little A gave this message to the Blackhawk armored helicopter pilot so he could relay it to the other fighter jet pilot, as well as send a message to his senior executives at Whitewater Security Company. He Zhichu had paid quite an amount of commission this time, so Little A didn’t want to mess it up and make his company suffer losses. If the company suffered losses, then he wouldn’t be able to get his commission.
…
Admiral Laris heard his subordinate relay He Zhichu’s words and nearly lost his composure from the anger. His chest puffed, and he used all his self-control to stop his urge to curse as well. “…He Zhichu said that? What proof does he have?” Admiral Laris gritted the words out from between his teeth and brandished his fists. “My vehicle fleet has been attacked, so how can it turn into targeting him? Just how crazy can he be to say such a thing!”
Laris’s subordinates and the head of the Air Force Base were awkward and didn’t know what to say at all. Was Mr. Admiral arguing with Mr. He about who the terrorist’s real target was? Why were they making it sound like it was a great honor or something…”…Mr. Admiral, what do you say we should do? How about we let them go? Aren’t the terrorists in the mountains? We should continue to search the mountains then,” the head of the Air Force Base suggested cautiously. He also didn’t understand why pursuing terrorists led them to end up pursuing He Zhichu’s name. This head of the Air Force Base also held the rank of major general, so he was quite familiar with He Zhichu’s famous name within the US military. Would the esteemed guest of the Joint Chiefs of Staff be a terrorist? Even if he was, was it necessary to use such inferior weapons and means to deal with Admiral Laris?
When Admiral Laris heard the implied meaning behind the words of the head of the Air Force Base, he swallowed his anger and asked, “Are you questioning my decision?”
“I don’t dare to!” The head of the Air Force Base snapped his heels together to salute loudly. “I will, of course, follow the orders of Mr. Admiral!”
“Ok.” Laris nodded with a slightly eased expression, “Send someone to invite Mr. He over and speak. Tell him that these are emergency decisions, and this is a critical moment, so we are sorry to offend. Once we arrest the terrorists, I’ll personally go to his home to formally apologize.”
…
Laris’s words were relayed to He Zhichu, but He Zhichu didn’t ask someone else to send a response back but instead used the microphone to directly speak to the US military pilot. “I am He Zhichu. Laris wants to formally apologize? Very well, then have him commit seppuku right here. Not committing seppuku would be unsatisfactory to demonstrate his security. We have already notified Washington, and I still have business, so I won’t play this game of cops and robbers with him. Goodbye.” As He Zhichu was saying this, he also indicated to Little A, “Command your subordinates to leave this place immediately.” This Admiral Laris had the typical characteristics of a right-winged Japanese person: stubbornness and arrogance, as well as the attitude of “those who obey me shall flourish and dissenters shall die.” Unfortunately, He Zhichu didn’t accept his methods.
Little A obtained permission from his company’s top management, as well as support from He Zhichu, so he suddenly used his bit of license to boost his bravado and especially enjoyed the pleasure of going up against Admiral Laris. “Attention all personnel! Attention all personnel! Leave Little Rock immediately! Destination, Salt Lake City International Airport. Attendance will be taken in four hours!”
