Chapter 3: Chapter 3
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Confirming that it was the right one, Chu Qiao placed the DVD into her pocket. She then found C4 explosives with extra firepower from the briefcase of the deceased and set it up in the room, turning on the trigger mechanism. The red light on top of the black box started to blink quickly.
Chu Qiao took one last look at the deceased in the room, confirming that they were dead. Then, she opened the door and walked out.
However, at that moment, a cold streak suddenly rushed closely across her neck!
Chu Qiao’s figure shortened abruptly, throwing her body onto the ground within seconds and rolling towards the back; barely evading the attack of a bullet. Bullets flashed by and the shooting did not stop. Chu Qiao kicked the door, closing it tightly with a loud bang. She was half kneeling on the floor. Hearing the deep breaths from outside, she knew very well that she was compromised.
Chu Qiao’s muscles were tensed and her breathing slow, both eyes staring straight at the door opposite her. She was not 003, a super agent from the active 9th division. In military school, she had learned about demolition, planning, exploiting a favorable environment, and how to achieve efficient, effective and large-scaled killings with highly accurate intelligence and limited manpower resources. However, at this moment, when the danger was just over three meters from her, she clearly knew that attacking head-on was not logical.
Her gaze slowly fell onto the sad man that died in his sleep.
With a loud bang, the main door was kicked open. A lady was standing right in front of it, looking at the two men hiding outside the guest room with a haughty expression.
Both of them were clearly not expecting her to walk out by herself, causing them to be momentarily dazed.
With a plop, Chu Qiao gently threw her dagger and AK onto the floor. She tilted her back foot and pushed out both her palms, showing a Taiji stance. Facing the men, she shouted a cold war cry and waved them forward. Obviously meaning: Together!
The two men holding high caliber submachine guns were furious. They dropped their guns and showed the stance of Japanese Taekwondo. With a deadly glare, they leaped with all their might and closed in on her in no time.
The small room felt like a gust of cold fishy stench had blown through it, rattling the curtains and dimming the lights. The murderous atmosphere seemed to rise from the ground, following the two men who bounded quickly towards Chu Qiao. Just by looking at their muscular bodies and ruthless moves, one could easily predict the outcome of this ignorant lady.
At this instant, the initial deep expression of the lady suddenly turned into a grin, her lips curling up coldly, showing a proud yet emotionless smile. As if it was a magic trick, a Japanese manufactured M609 small caliber shotgun appeared in her hands. The M609 was the best weapon of choice for close quarter battles. It would not pierce through, but would always blast heads off!
Only two muffled blasts were heard, the five seconds of killing did not even allow the men to cry out in pain. The close-range shot blasted their heads off, with their brains splattering all over Chu Qiao.
Chu Qiao kicked the men in the way hatefully, quickly opening the door to the bathroom. Although she had not included these two men in her predictions, the operation seemed to be going on without a hitch, allowing her to save twenty minutes of her originally planned time, giving her time to clean herself up a little.
After 15 minutes, a lady wearing a black suit of the military law department walked out of the restroom of the department. She walked along the corridors of the guest department on the second floor, smiling cheerfully at the 4th prison’s officials as they walked past her. In three minutes, she calmly opened the doors of the second level and walked out.
The gentle and cool evening breeze blew across her face, Chu Qiao was walking through the 4th prison’s main hall on the ground level. Everyone was busy at work, and all of them were the country’s elite soldiers. She raised her wrist. It was only ten seconds before the explosion.
Chu Qiao continued forward, her expression unchanging. As she walked, she grabbed a copy of yesterday’s newspapers from the newspaper stand at the side.
10, 9, 8…
“May 11th, another case of type A M1N1 disease has been diagnosed in Shang Jingl. At the moment, this is the 47th patient that has been diagnosed with such a disease. The port and some of the flights to and from our country have been stopped, our tourism industry has taken a huge toll, stock markets are plummeting with no signs of recovery…”
7, 6, 5…
“Xinhua News Agency reported: According to current numbers, country M has a total of 689 confirmed diagnostics of the type A M1N1 disease, the numbers of those suspected to have been infected by the disease have reached 1272, and the death count is 68 and is rising uncontrollably. Country Y has a total of 352 confirmed cases, 561 suspected infections, 97 deaths. Country A…”
4, 3…
“Choulian News Agency of country M reported: After the investigation of the researchers of country M, they suspect that this current type A M1N1 virus has been spread by country Z. Due to the massive earthquake in country Z, the stability of the atmosphere was disrupted, causing the virus to manifest. The actions taken to alleviate the effects of this earthquake by country Z’s government have not been quick nor effective, causing the disease to spread quickly. The government of country M has agreed to a short-term solution, which is to cease all trade with country Z, at the same time deporting country M’s citizens out of country Z, and declining entry to all country Z’s citizens. The parliament is now intensely debating this issue, it is believed that a solution will be implemented shortly.”
2, 1, 0!
Suddenly, the ground shook violently and eardrums were hit by a deafening explosion as red alarms blared piercingly. Thick smoke and fiery flames came into view. The 4th prison was shuddering terribly from the explosion.
The thick smoke stung their eyes shut. All the trained soldiers of the 4th prison picked up their weapons and rushed over to the scene of the explosion. Chu Qiao was caked in dust. With a look of shock on her face, she pulled back a man wearing a military uniform by his arm and asked loudly, “Comrade! What is going on?”
The man saw the tattered military law department’s suit and knew at once she did not belong to the 4th prison. Holding her up, he said, “Are you from the military law department? Come with me, let me bring you out.”
The soldier that was busily helping out a colleague from another department was totally unaware that the person that he was supporting was the real culprit behind the explosion. On top of that, she was responsible for the deaths of more than ten of his comrades from the military law department.
Following the chaotic crowd rushing out of the ground level main hall, as they rushed forward, both of them crashed into a man that was frantically running into the hall.
“Ah! Sorry for that! Ah, it’s Colonel Li!” the man apologized while supporting his colleague.
“What happened inside?” Li Yang furrowed his brows and asked. As he glanced sideways, his eyes widened at the sight of Chu Qiao. He pointed at her and his jaw dropped with shock, “Chu…”
“You are here to look for me, right? There is an explosion inside, we should talk outside.”
Chu Qiao frantically cut Li Yang short. After hearing that, the soldier hurriedly said, “Then I won’t send you guys out. I don’t even know what’s going on inside. I have to go back and take a look.”
Li Yang nodded. As the soldier walked further, he pulled Chu Qiao close and asked with a deep voice, “What happened? Why did the military court want to put you on trial? How did you get out?”
“The M1N1 virus is not a disaster, it is a man-made catastrophe. M, R, Y, F and 10 other senior officials from western countries are a part of this, even some officials in our country who are reckless with greed are also involved. When we captured team X, the ‘hostages’ captured were not even real hostages, they were disease specialists who were hiding within each country’s military research centers. They wanted to spread this disease throughout the world and cripple the country’s economy. At the last moment, they would then introduce the antibiotics to prevent and treat the M1N1 virus through a listed company, reaping enormous profits. My guys obtained the evidence of their criminal activities. Here it is,” Chu Qiao explained while pulling out the DVD from her pocket and passing it to him. She continued, When Xiao Shi went to Tokyo last time to kill the senior commander of team X, the thing she brought back in the end was the evidence that was obtained by trading it with the life of one of my contacts. It is a pity Xiao Shi died on the streets of Tokyo, causing this matter to remain unresolved. One of the culprits behind this type A M1N1 virus is team X, an organ reseller on the surface, but people who have been secretly researching this deadly contagious virus. They sent spies into our country, working undercover, with the protection of the country’s treasonous senior leadership. They faked themselves as colleagues from the military law department, entering the 4th prison and stealing my evidence, but I have eliminated them all.”
Li Yang gasped in shock and said unbelievably, “You are saying, the one that killed Xiao Shi, was…”
“Yes!” Chu Qiao nodded and said without a doubt, “The man who gave the order to give up 003 is the enemy spy hiding undercover in the senior leadership, and it was also him who ordered me to be detained in the 4th prison, stealing my evidence and trying to cover up their heinous deeds.”
Li Yang was still in a deep shock, his brows locked together and fury radiating from his dark gaze. He said in a low voice, “Country M’s artillery experts are still heading over to Shang Jing today to visit and learn. Jing Hua Army’s Advisor Qian and I did so much preparation work, I can’t believe they…”
“What did you say?” Chu Qiao raised her voice suddenly.
Li Yang paused and asked, “What?”
“Are you saying that country M’s artillery experts are coming to Shang Jing?”
Li Yang nodded and replied, “Yes, they arrived last night.”
Chu Qiao’s face went white and she started patting him down, searching for something, “Did you bring the GPS to locate the military’s arsenal?”
“Why are you looking for that?”
Chu Qiao raged and snapped, “Did you bring it?”
“How would I bring such a thing with me?” Li Yang hurriedly said as he saw Chu Qiao’s nervous expression, “Come with me, I know where to get it.”
Both of them hopped into an electric car, tearing away from the bustling yard in no time.
After two minutes, when she saw the red blinking dot continuously on the GPS, her mind blanked out.
“What is going on? Why would the courtroom have a bomb?”
Chu Qiao stood up quickly looking for a suitable weapon within the warehouse. As she hurried her steps, she said, “Country M has no trust in Team X from country R, they were afraid that they would not succeed, causing everything to be spilled to the public. That’s why they set a GPS triggered bomb within the courtroom. Once time is up, the bomb will detonate. When that happens, the whole of 4th prison will be leveled and destroyed, along with me and the evidence.”
“Then what should we do? I will inform the bomb disposal unit immediately. At the same time, I’ll request backup from the special forces, to control the ambassadors from country M.”
“There is no time,” Chu Qiao said with a grieved expression, “Prepare a helicopter for me now to disperse the crowd. What you have to do is hand this evidence over to Commander Hua. The lives of Xiao Shi, the 14 supernatural beings from the 11th division, and the people who are about to die from this virus are in your hands. You cannot afford to make a mistake.”
After realizing the huge responsibility that fell on his shoulders, he was dumbstruck. Afar, smoke billowed and the crowd moved along restlessly. He saw the determined look in her eyes on her worn face. His heart aching, he was shocked. After a while, he mustered his determination and replied, “I will definitely succeed, Chu Qiao, be safe.”
“You too.”
Finishing, she sprinted out of the warehouse without looking back at the prison cell from which she escaped through countless hardships.
After ten minutes, a chopper took off from the parade square of 4th prison.
It pulled up above the prison, sped away from it, and flew into the desolate countryside.
Sitting in the car heading towards the commander, Li Yang held the GPS bomb locator, watching as the little dot, which represented the 4th level courtroom, moved slowly towards the parade square, through the buildings, and flew into Shang Jing’s countryside in no time.
Suddenly, a deafening explosion was heard from the sky. The red dot on the GPS vanished, turning it into a dark empty screen.
Sitting in the car, Li Yang did not look back. In the dark tears streamed down his face uncontrollably.
The night in Shang Jing turned completely silent.