Giovanna was on the other end of the phone.
“Boss, are you still at the hospital?” asked Giovanna.
Xia Lei answered, “Yes, I’m at the Army Hospital.”
“We’re at the entrance but they won’t let us in. Can you come out? We’ve brought you very important news,” uttered Giovanna.
“I’ll be there right away.” Xia Lei kept his satellite phone away and returned to the ward. His gaze swept through all four of his nursing wives while feelings of guilt crept through his heart. Still, he heaved deeply and said, “Giovanna and the knights are looking for me. They said they brought me important information. I need to go meet them.”
“Be careful.” The same line had escaped their lips in unison.
Xia Lei was moved. He nodded and took his leave. Truthfully, he really did not wish to leave his family. This was a wondrous moment for him and his family. Sadly, reality was often unforgiving and cruel. Xia Lei was running out of time and there were still so many things that he wished to achieve, each task harder than the previous. How could he afford to linger another moment to relish in the sweetness of life?
Exiting the Army Hospital. Xia Lei immediately spotted the Haval H9 off-road vehicle driven by Giovanna and the girls. It was a cheap locally produced vehicle. Despite that, its specs were almost as good as imported off-road vehicles worth more than six hundred thousand RMB. The female knights certainly had more than enough to purchase better cars but they were raised to be frugal.
A few steps shy of reaching its door, Theresa, who was seated in the back seat, had already propped the door open for Xia Lei. She beamed brightly at him, “Congratulations, you’re a father now.”
“Thank you.” Xia Lei returned the smile. He climbed into the vehicle and shot the direct question. “So what have you gotten on Zhu Xuanyue?”
Giovanna answered, “Our brothers and sisters have managed to locate her.”
“Where is she?” Xia Lei was on the edge of his seat now.
Giovanna instructed, “Theresa, please show Boss the information.”
Theresa obediently lifted the laptop bag beside her and brought out a laptop. She booted the device and placed it on Xia Lei’s knees.
A media player window was already waiting for him. The video playing had shown him a filthy run-down apartment block where a few weirdly-dressed black men were seen loitering about with their tattoos on display. The environment had obviously indicated that this was the slums.
The videographer approached the apartment building, camera shaking with each step. The camera was hidden in one of his buttons, told by his moving arms and lack of face exposure. In one of his palms was a black case with unknown contents.
The man came to its entrance. Standing on both sides of the door were two youngsters that tried to sell him some drugs. He ignored them and barged into the building and began to climb the stairs.
Xia Lei’s eyes left the screen momentarily. “Is the videographer a member of our Relief Society?”
Rosa answered helpfully, “No, he’s actually a CIA agent.”
“A CIA agent?” Xia Lei was surprised to hear that.
Stella explained, “The CIA is trying to track down Zhu Xuanyue as well. After all, America is their turf. They have a solid and huge intelligence network that covers most of America’s surveillance system. The simplest way to find Zhu Xuanyue is to start with the CIA’s database.”
Zhu Xuanyue needed to feed on humans and she just so happened to be in America. If that was the case, mysterious death cases that involved brain degeneration must’ve been on the rise recently. It was only natural for the CIA to establish a case on this. The female knights and their contacts were smart enough to realize this.
“This is a recording from a CIA agent, right? How did you even get this thing?” Xia Lei blinked slowly.
Giovanna chuckled. “Boss, you should continue watching. Your questions will be answered in this video.”
Xia Lei returned his full attention back to the screen.
The videographer made it to the fifth floor and entered a corridor. The long walkway was littered with all sorts of graffiti. Some were works filled with violence and slurs, while others were downright sinister. It was full of skulls and a Grim Reaper with its signature scythe. There were also crude drawings that depicted sex. All in all, the walls were an eyesore.
In front one of the rooms was a young, attractive Black woman with thick makeup. The skimpy white bikini that seemed to do nothing to hide her bits showed off her body to the camera.
The man wordlessly passed by the room. The woman waved at him languidly, trying to invite him inside to be serviced. He waved her away and continued walking. Pissed off, the woman flashed her middle finger at him and cussed. The man gave no response, not even stopping to spare her another glance.
Xia Lei’s eyes were captured by a particular graffiti on the wall.
The scribbled contents were of an indecipherable language. It did not seem like one he was very familiar with for it was the language used in the Bronze Book. His brain immediately went into overdrive, trying to comprehend the odd letters.
It was promptly translated to, Uncle Xia is the worst. You ganged up on me with that bastard! Go to hell! I don’t want to see you anymore!
That was obviously written by Zhu Xuanyue.
While the strange letters were captured by the CIA agent, no one in America could decipher it. The female knights too could see those words but they couldn’t comprehend it at all.
It wasn’t hard to feel Zhu Xuanyue’s wrath from her written message. She had misunderstood that Xia Lei had planned her attack with the black-robed man!
Allowing that to sink in, Xia Lei’s heart was overwhelmed by a complicated feeling. On one hand, he was glad and relieved that she was alright. But on the other hand, he felt upset about the blatant misunderstanding. How could he possibly plan something like that? His life was threatened by the black-robed man too!
The videographer continued to head straight, finally stopping at the very last unit along the corridor.
Two men guarded the door. They were built as big as gorillas. On their necks was a shiny gold chain necklace. Their wrists were decorated by equally luxurious watches. The rings that wrapped their fingers were thick as hell too.
The graffiti on the door was a menacing ‘Hell’s Gate’.
Xia Lei frowned lightly. “What the hell is she up to?”
The two men at the door searched the agent’s body. Finding nothing suspicious, they allowed him in.
The space hidden behind the door was wide. Along with eerie decorations made out of bones plastered all about the walls were red paint splatters that looked like blood. The walls and floors were black, giving off a suffocating unwelcoming feeling to its visitors. A few men pointed their pistol at the videographer’s head.
The man continued to walk straight until a woman seated at an office desk had entered the camera’s view.
Xia Lei stared at the screen intensely.
That was Zhu Xuanyue!
Her face was still the same. However, the way she held her gaze was vastly different. In the past, her eyes were always radiating with innocence but now all that was reflected was a dark cold abyss of evil.
As the agent approached her desk, Zhu Xuanyue stood. Her voice sent chills down Xia Lei’s spine. “Did you bring what I asked for?”
“Yes.” The man settled the black case on the desk and opened it.
Inside of it was a silver card and a silver-coloured uniform.
Xia Lei’s right eye quickly zoomed in on the silver card, vaguely catching the numbers ‘51’ and the name ‘Sophia’. The picture on the ID card was Zhu Xuanyue’s picture, her expressions uncharacteristically solemn.
Xia Lei’s heart thumped. “That card looks like the access card to Area 51. Is she trying to get inside? With her powers, she’s totally capable of barging in with ease. Why does she even need an access card?”
In the video, the man turned the case around so it faced Zhu Xuanyue. “We’ve already tested it. There should be no issue with this card. This thing will allow you to enter Area 51 without suspicion. Where’s my money?”
Zhu Xuanyue abruptly reached forward and grabbed his neck.
The man’s eyes went slack. Within three seconds, his eyes rolled back.
Zhu Xuanyue finally released her grip and allowed the man to slump onto the ground. “Drag him out.”
The two strong men quickly heeded her orders. They picked the man up and brought him to the door. The camera lens was pointed to the ceiling, capturing a white drawing in the process.
Xia Lei’s brain shook as soon as he caught the drawing. It was the painting of a door in white, a door made out of light! This drawing was no stranger to him. Xia Lei had seen this when he tried to use the X-ray vision on the crystal skull!
Peering into the crystal skull had made him hallucinate that he was in his own realm. When he continued to walk straight, the white light door was presented to him at the end of the path!
Zhu Xuanyue was no longer in the video, but her voice rang out near the end of the recording. “My warriors, let’s go take a stroll in Nevada.”
The gunners screamed and cheered. It was utter chaos.
And that was the end of the video.
Xia Lei stared soullessly at the darkened screen, not daring to move a single muscle.
“Boss?” Giovanna’s arm reached over to poke at Xia Lei’s shoulder. “Is everything alright?”
Xia Lei finally snapped out of it. “It’s nothing, I’m good. Did they get this off the agent’s body?”
Giovanna responded with a curt nod. “Yes. Zhu Xuanyue had discarded the body at a cemetery and one of our brothers had happened to be a graveyard keeper. He found the secret hidden in his body and brought it to us.”
Rosa reported, “Sa’im too is trying to track her but he had found nothing. From what we understand, Zhu Xuanyue is in the middle of forming her own armed force. Anyone who tries to spy on her will be annihilated. She named her armed force the Black Moon Force.”
“The Black Moon Force?” Xia Lei let it roll off the tip of his tongue as chills ran down his spine.
“Yeah, it’s a very weird name,” commented Rosa.
“Boss, what do you plan to do next?” Giovanna stared at him.
Xia Lei shook his head. “I’ve no clue.”
He hadn’t thought of any plans. From this video, he realized that the situation was bad. Zhu Xuanyue was no longer the innocent little girl she used to be. She had metamorphosed into a devil through and through!
Zhu Xuanyue had plans to enter Area 51. Xia Lei urged to see her and understand her intentions. But Zhu Xuanyue had changed. He wasn’t sure if she would attack him or not!
Doot doot doot… Doot doot doot…
At this moment, his satellite phone rang again.
