At three o’clock in the afternoon, the sunshine was just right in the western area.
Inside the large factory, the sound of the assembly line echoed as unmanned transport machines shuttled between the buildings, carrying goods.
On a large empty space where no transport machines passed by, several modified racing cars gathered on the outskirts, and two men were in the middle of the empty space, discussing something.
One of the men was wearing a black tight short-sleeved shirt, with a handsome and resolute face, and he was the number one most wanted criminal on the military’s wanted list.
The other man was wearing a military green baseball cap, his face not clearly visible, but he was also on the military’s wanted list, a newly minted number two.
— To be precise, the so-called newly minted, just made it to the list ten minutes ago.
The crosshairs on the screen targeted the two men, and the operator wearing an earpiece pressed his thumb on the launch button: “Target acquired, requesting permission to fire.”
A reply of “Permission granted” came through the earpiece.
The next second, a small missile was fired from underneath the unmanned combat aircraft, swiftly flying towards the two men in the middle of the empty space.
“How can you ensure the energy station’s is no longer in the hands of the upper control?”
“You just need to capture the energy station, the rest…”
Midway through their conversation, a sound suddenly pierced the sky above. With rare human presence in the industrial zone and the factory’s operations not being particularly noisy, this kind of sound was especially piercing.
The two men immediately looked up, only to see a missile flying straight towards the ground. It was about to explode in less than two seconds.
Without hesitation, Klet quickly moved away from the center of the empty space.
Leizhe cursed under his breath and also put on a face mask, running towards the outskirts. However, before he could run far, the missile exploded behind him, and the shockwave instantly threw him against the outer wall of the factory.
Fortunately, he wasn’t directly hit by the missile, and he could withstand the impact.
He came down from the wall, shook his head to ease the discomfort in his ears, and asked loudly to Klet, who had run to the other side of the empty space, “are you the target?”
Klet had dodged quickly and wasn’t hit by the missile. He was about to reply “No,” but he saw the unmanned drone extending two gun barrels on its sides, and began shooting at him.
So it was coming after him?
Klet couldn’t help but feel a bit puzzled. How did the military know where he was?
At this moment, on the other side, Leizhe mounted a machine gun from the modified car and shouted loudly to Klet, “Lure it over here!”
The drone was flying low enough that it could be shot down with a machine gun. However, just as Leizhe finished speaking, the drone suddenly changed direction and started shooting at the convoy.
About ten people had to leave the modified car and take cover by the outer wall of the factory, away from the drone’s camera’s line of sight.
Klet, who was no longer being chased and shot at, turned around and started pursuing the drone, shooting at it with his pistol.
However, while chasing, Klet also noticed something. The drone’s target was very clear—Leizhe.
In other words, the mission of the drone was to eliminate both of them, and the operator must have realized that it was difficult to chase after Klet, so they focused on Laizhe.
But how did the military know that the two of them would meet here?
After ruling out all possibilities, Klet’s expression darkened, and he could only think of that golden-haired figure.
The drone launched another missile, hitting the steel frame beneath the cooling tower. The cooling tower collapsed and smashed onto the roof of the factory. Laizhe, who was hiding at the base of the factory wall, had to find a new cover.
Klet dodged the gunfire from the aircraft, zigzagging through the open space, and arrived behind the collapsed steel frame to meet with Laizhe. He had already run out of bullets, so he took out the last steel dagger.
“Lure the drone over here, and I’ll jump from the cooling tower,” Klet said.
Laizhe immediately understood Klet’s intention. “You’ve installed a mechanical prothesis?”
Klet didn’t say much. “Yeah.”
“Alright,” Laizhe said, “Do you need a weapon?”
“No need,” Klet shook the dagger in his hand and gestured to climb up the collapsed steel frame.
However, at that moment, Laizhe suddenly grabbed his wrist and looked directly at the weapon in his hand. “How do you have this dagger?”
Klet barely stopped his climbing motion and followed Laizhe’s gaze to the weapon in his hand. He said, “A friend gave it to me.”
“A friend?” Laizhe looked at Klet with a puzzled expression. “This is my captain’s dagger.”
Upon hearing this, Klet’s nerves tightened instantly. His heart started pounding like a steam train racing at full speed, even faster than when he was surrounded by ten desert wolves. He moved his lips and said, “Captain?”
“I used to be a member of the military action team. Due to some reasons, I joined the Nightingales,” Laizhe said. “The number on this dagger, 888714, is my captain’s number.”
On the hilt of the silver-black dagger, there was a small string of numbers engraved. It wouldn’t be noticed unless someone observed it closely.
Bullets fired by the drone hit the steel frame, making a crackling sound. Laizhe instinctively lowered his head, but Klet had no reaction. He grabbed Laizhe’s shoulder tightly and stared at him, asking, “Where is he?”
Laizhe showed a puzzled expression but sighed and replied, “He’s already dead.”
Upon hearing those words, Klet’s eyes widened, and his heart felt like it was being hit by a heavy hammer. It made him forget to breathe.
Laizhe continued, “Twenty years ago, we went on a mission to hunt down newborns. The situation was complicated at that time, and he sacrificed himself to protect me when we were under attack.”
Klet stared blankly and squeezed out a few words, “Twenty years ago?”
Laizhe confirmed, “Yes.
The person who crossed the inferno with him in the darkness, instructing him not to come back before he grew up, died shortly after they parted.
He had endured for twenty years, working hard to make himself stronger, just to grow up and come back to find that person, and yet… twenty years ago, that person died.
His body suddenly felt drained of strength. Klet had to use his hand to support himself on the steel frame to reduce the dizziness.
“Hey, are you okay?” Laizhe noticed Klet’s abnormality and asked, “How do you have my captain’s dagger?”
Klet moved his lips and found his throat dry, unable to produce any sound.
Kleet made another effort and finally asked the question he cared about the most, “What’s his name?”
Laizhe replied, “Shen Siwei.”
Intense bullets shot over again, with the closest one hitting Laizhe’s face. He cursed and knew that he couldn’t rely on Klet, so he used the communicator to communicate with his subordinates, “Raise the cannon and take it down!”
Behind them were the sounds of intense fire and scattered dirt. However, Klet felt like he was in a different world, sitting alone under the steel frame, staring blankly at the dagger.
Shen Siwei.
klet moved his lips silently.
The dagger in his hand had been with klet for twenty years. Whenever he was about to give up, he would remember the words that person said to him. He had adapted to a life of solitude and learned to stay strong, but the hero in his heart, the person who protected him, was no longer around…
After some time, the gunfire on the open ground finally ceased.
Leizhe came to the steel frame carrying a high-speed rifle and found klet sitting on the ground, leaning against the steel frame and smoking.
If Leizhe didn’t know what had happened here just now, he would have thought that klet came specifically to the industrial area to watch the sunset.
The two hadn’t become close enough to talk about personal matters, and now was clearly not the right time.
“The military might send someone later.” Leizhe reminded, “We’ll talk later.”
Having waited a long time without any instructions from Moran, Shen Siwei aimlessly wandered the city and eventually returned to klet’s house.
klet should be meeting with the Nightingale, and indeed, there was no one at home.
Shen Siwei comfortably took a bath, changed into clean clothes, and then casually turned on the TV, continuing to watch the unfinished SpongeBob SquarePants.
It had to be said that watching cartoons during leisure time was quite interesting.
Just as Shen Siwei was getting into the show, Moran’s call suddenly came through his communicator.
[it looks like it’s time to go back].
Shen Siwei waved to pause the cartoon and answered the communicator, “It’s me.”
“Evacuate the west district, City Z, immediately.” Moran’s calm voice came through, “The military will launch an attack in an hour.”
Shen Siwei had already anticipated that Moran would ask him to return, but he never expected the military would launch an attack.
Moran explained, “We just raided the industrial area, but we couldn’t eliminate klet and the Nightingale leader.”
Before Moran could continue, Shen Siwei interrupted him, “A raid??”
“I’ve been monitoring the Nightingale organization and happened to discover that group meeting with klet.” Moran said, “Since you said Nightingale wants to assassinate the Mag people, it’s only natural to put them on the wanted list. With a group of criminals like that gathering, would we miss such a good opportunity?”
Moran’s logic was flawless, and Shen Siwei couldn’t argue. He took a deep breath, suppressed his anxiety, and asked, “But why bomb the entire city?”
“We’ve already investigated the situation at the power station, and anyone who knows about it can’t be left alive.” Moran paused for a moment, “Especially klet.”
“But we don’t know how he repaired the deep-sea power station.” Shen Siwei unintentionally speaking on klet’s behalf.
“Now that we know the problem is in the deep sea, what use is there in keeping klet?” Moran retorted, “The military will investigate the deep sea.”
“But there are still many civilians in this city.” Shen Siwei said coldly.
“You can’t guarantee how many people know about the deep-sea power station.” Moran said,
“So you’re willing to sacrifice innocent civilians?!”
Here we go again, just like twenty years ago.
The mission of the task force was only to hunt down newborns, but Moran didn’t care and killed Sara.
“So civilian lives mean nothing to you?”
“Shen Siwei,” Moran’s voice lowered as he called Shen Siwei by his name, “Understand your position. Do you know the impact it would have on the Life Tree if the deep-sea power station’s existence is exposed?”
If the top level and the core power station in the deep sea operated normally, and the Mag people continued to rule the lower levels under the pretext of energy conservation, the civilians would rebel.
Shen Siwei, at any cost, did not want to see turmoil in the Life Tree because it was his mother who, in the very beginning, accepted the task from the Mag ancestors and led the design of the Life Tree.
From a young age, he volunteered to join the military, not for anything else but to protect his mother’s efforts.
But now his values were being put to the test.
The construction of the Life Tree was meant to provide a better living environment for humanity. If it required sacrificing civilian lives, then what was the point of guarding the Life Tree?
Recalling the civilian couple he met in the hallway, Shen Siwei quickly made a decision.
Last time, he failed to prevent the hunting down of newborns.
But this time, he still had a chance.
“Understood,” Shen Siwei said expressionlessly, “I will leave.”
After hanging up the communicator, Shen Siwei didn’t leave klet’s house. Instead, he dialed klet’s communication ID.
The long ringing tone irritated Shen Siwei even more, but the tone continued for a while, and in the end, nobody answered.
He dialed again, and this time, klet actually hung up the call.
“What the…” He suddenly realized that klet must have thought he had leaked information about the ambush because of Moran. Coupled with the series of events before, it was understandable that klet didn’t answer his calls.
But now wasn’t the time to be stubborn,
Shen Siwei patiently dialed again, and this time, klet finally picked up the phone, his hoarse voice tinged with impatience. “What is it?”
“The military is about to launch an attack” Shen Siwei said, “Hurry back!”
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