Laud, Yemen, May 10, 2011, 23:30
Xu Chuan held a tablet, video calling Liu He, who had already arrived in Yemen.
The image was not particularly clear, and there was a slight delay due to signal issues, making Liu He’s usually handsome face appear a bit distorted.
“How are your preparations coming along?”
“Most of the personnel have arrived. I contacted Adams’s people, and they are quite familiar with the rebels. They’ve agreed to clear a path for us. We’ll depart first thing tomorrow, but we need to pay a toll. The consulate has already approved it.”
“We’ll cover the toll. You must prioritize safety and try to avoid conflicts with other factions. However, if anyone causes trouble, don’t hold back. The technical department needs your cooperation to test this new type of smart terminal you have.”
“Understood.”
“Keep in touch at all times.”
The video call ended, and Xu Chuan picked up his binoculars to look at the brightly lit Green Valley Energy Company nearby.
---
In the waters off Somalia, on a cargo ship laden with containers, Koko Hekmatyar, with long silver hair, leaned against the ship’s railing, speaking into a satellite phone. “Alright, I’ll get there as soon as possible.”
“Koko,” a woman with a white bandage eye patch over her right eye walked over, her devilish figure subtly visible beneath her black camisole.
“Falme, gather everyone. We’re going to Yemen,” Koko said loudly.
“So, Umbrella’s people are going to have a big operation in Yemen,” Rem, with graying hair, said, holding a wine glass.
“Yes, but compared to that, I’m more concerned about the cargo ship that sank in the Bering Strait, the ‘Frigate Bird.’ British intelligence says it was sunk by two MiG-29s,” Koko said with a cold smile, looking at the laptop in front of her. “And before that, the British SAS forcibly boarded and inspected it.”
Rem frowned. “Are the Russians crazy? Even if it was a ship full of weapons, they wouldn’t just sink it directly, would they?”
“I don’t know, but it definitely wasn’t household appliances on board,” Koko pushed the laptop away and leaned back into the sofa. “I have a very bad feeling.”
Djibouti, Umbrella Branch Office. What was called an ‘office’ was actually a massive abandoned factory building. The entire space was divided into several areas. The central area looked the most modern, with several server racks standing by, surrounded by a dozen computers for various purposes. Berkhoff sat in the very center, busy with something.
In the northwest corner of the factory building was a makeshift living area, with several cots, a few simple metal cabinets, and an oversized long table. Seven or eight people were gathered there, and Michael was conversing with one of them.
Nikita walked over. “No time for you to adjust to the time difference,” she said, distributing documents to the people gathered around.
“This mission’s target is Khalid Alasad,” Nikita paused and looked at them. “This mission has no employer. You all know the feud between our big boss and Alasad. His exact words were that this time, he must be killed.”
“We tried before, but we could never find Alasad’s exact location. Now that he’s caused such a big stir in Yemen, finding his whereabouts should be much easier,” a middle-aged man with graying hair, over 190 cm tall, stood up with the documents.
“Exactly, the more you do, the more mistakes you make,” Michael said, flipping through the documents for everyone to see. “We might have already caught his tail.”
“William Boson has been using his position for smuggling activities for years, from ordinary minerals to uranium ore, all within his business scope. This time, he’s gone too far. We contacted HCLI and Adams, and their intelligence channels have confirmed that William Boson not only smuggled yellowcake for a certain faction this time but is also helping them connect with sellers who possess dirty bomb manufacturing technology.”
“Bell has already gone there. Alasad is highly likely to show up for such an important transaction,” Nikita added.
---
Inside Green Valley Energy Company, the evacuation order had been issued. Local staff who could leave had already gone. Most of those remaining were foreign employees, all waiting for the evacuation convoy provided by the Yemeni Government. And waiting was absolutely the most anxiety-inducing thing in the world.
“President Deng, everything has been sorted, but everyone is nearing their limit. If the Government Army doesn’t arrive soon, it’s going to get chaotic,” in the office, Deng Mei’s secretary reported quietly.
Deng Mei rubbed her forehead. “I can’t do anything either. We can only wait now. Fortunately, our workers were all transferred to Aden earlier.”
Xu Chuan, dressed in a blue cleaner’s uniform, which he bought at a high price of 200 US dollars from a local employee, pulled the brim of his blue baseball cap low and easily blended into the chaotic Green Valley Energy building. The building’s exterior walls extensively used glass, making its appearance quite modern. The office area was not large, but it appeared relatively empty because most people had already evacuated.
Xu Chuan walked nonchalantly through the office area and saw a familiar figure approaching from afar. “Don’t worry about anything else, we’re leaving immediately.” It was William Boson and several of his bodyguards.
Xu Chuan thought for a moment and walked towards them. As they passed each other, Xu Chuan pretended to look back, seemingly accidentally bumping into William Boson, and quickly stuck a tracker he held onto the inner hem of his outer jacket.
The bodyguards quickly moved closer, two of them already with their fingers on the triggers of their Vector submachine guns. “Sorry, sorry, it was unintentional,” Xu Chuan raised both hands, palms out, indicating he was harmless.
“Alright, don’t waste time,” William Boson didn’t even look Xu Chuan in the eye, hurrying with his bodyguards towards the elevator.
My lord, there’s more to this chapter ^.^,
Xu Chuan turned the corner, took out his phone, “Berkhoff, I’ve activated a tracker on William Boson. Have someone constantly monitor his location.”
“Alright, understood. Also, the surveillance system is under control. You don’t need to worry about it. From now on, your figure won’t appear on the surveillance system.”
Just then, two muffled gunshots came from outside the building, and then a security guard shouted, “The rebels have broken in, run!” The entire building erupted like an oil pan splashed with water. Xu Chuan looked up from the floor-to-ceiling window and saw an M923 truck had already crashed through the roadblock and entered, followed by five pickup trucks and trucks carrying dozens of armed personnel.
“Damn it,” Xu Chuan cursed under his breath. He put on his Bluetooth headset and quickly walked towards Deng Mei’s office nearby. A woman ran out in a hurry. Without a word, Xu Chuan fiercely covered her mouth with his left hand, dragged her back into the office, and kicked the door shut.
Deng Mei watched in panic as her secretary was dragged back by a cleaner, instinctively reaching for the phone to call security. Xu Chuan quickly pulled down his hat and shouted, “It’s me! Calm down, calm down!”
“Xiaochuan,” Deng Mei looked at Xu Chuan in surprise, walking out from behind her desk. “What are you doing here?” Looking at her secretary struggling in Xu Chuan’s hand, she added, “What are you doing? Let Li Fei go quickly, she can’t breathe.”
Xu Chuan looked at the woman in his hand, who was already a bit suffocated, and released her. “Alright, don’t worry about why I’m here for now. Change out of your high heels, grab your personal belongings, and follow me.”
Deng Mei knew it wasn’t the time to talk. She pulled her still gasping secretary, Li Fei, and followed Xu Chuan’s instructions, changing into flat shoes and grabbing their packed personal belongings.
“Okay, take out your phones and don’t carry them with you,” Xu Chuan watched as they took out their phones and placed them on the table before opening the door. He looked left and right. “Bend low, stick to the wall, and follow me.”
“Aren’t we going downstairs?” Li Fei, who had recovered her breath, asked, looking at Xu Chuan’s route. “Of course not.” Not far away, in the corner of the office area, there was a small, separate door. Xu Chuan pushed open the door. The cramped space was filled with various sundries, and two shelves overflowing with cleaning supplies completely blocked the entire storage room. Xu Chuan pushed the two women into the innermost corner, making them sit on the ground. Xu Chuan found a large padlock on a shelf. “Stay here and don’t move. I’ll lock the door from the outside. As long as you don’t make a sound, even if someone finds this place, they likely won’t open the door to check. I’ll come back for you. Also, you don’t have asthma or claustrophobia or anything, right?”
The two women looked at each other blankly and shook their heads. Xu Chuan raised an eyebrow. Several gunshots rang out, and the sound of chaotic footsteps was already downstairs. “Okay, absolutely no sound,” he said, turning off the light, walking out, and locking the door from the outside.
“President Deng, who was that?” Li Fei finally had a chance to rub her previously reddened cheek and asked in a low voice.
Deng Mei was about to answer, but the words caught in her throat. She gave Li Fei a sharp look. “Don’t speak.”
Li Fei’s heart skipped a beat. She slowly lowered her head, seemingly having asked the most inappropriate question, annoyed at herself for making such a basic mistake.
After locking the door, Xu Chuan first quickly ran back to Deng Mei’s office, stuffed their suitcases into a corner, and then swept the items on the desk onto the floor, making it look as if people had left in a panic. Berkhoff’s voice came through his earpiece, “Bell, you’d better hurry.”
Xu Chuan stood on a chair, pulled down the air conditioning vent grille above the desk, and was about to climb in when his eyes seemed to catch an item. He jumped down again, picked it up from the floor, and stuffed it into his pocket. The sound of footsteps grew closer. Xu Chuan didn’t delay any further. He used both hands to climb into the ventilation duct and then pulled the hanging vent grille back into place.