Chapter 945: Sacrifice of an Old Friend

With Lute dead, it was as if a hornet's nest had been poked.

His female Secretary was quite straightforward; determined to prove her innocence, she went straight to the police station to turn herself in, intending to explain the matter exactly as it happened.

Yet no one expected that this seemingly simple murder case would, in the blink of an eye, alert both the CIA and the FBI.

Once the investigation unfolded, the conclusion was set—all the judges spoke in unison, insisting that it was this female Secretary who had committed the murder.

The so-called evidence relied entirely on the testimony of a neighbor next door: that late night, a fierce argument had erupted in Lute's villa, the commotion so loud it could be heard clearly across the entire garden. Not long after, the neighbor saw a woman sneak out of the villa before dawn, disappearing into the morning mist.

The female Secretary was unwilling to accept this scapegoating; she immediately spent a large sum to hire top-tier defense lawyers, submitting an appeal written with detailed logic and sufficient evidence.

But the judges were completely unmoved, directly rejecting the appeal and upholding the original verdict.

The root cause of ending up in such a predicament was that the female Secretary could not produce evidence of a second person entering or leaving the villa that night from beginning to end.

What was even more fatal was that Lute, in order to meet her alone that night, had personally turned off all surveillance cameras in the villa and sent all his personal Bodyguards away, turning the entire villa into an isolated island cut off from the world.

The female Secretary felt more wronged than Dou E, yet she had nowhere to turn for help.

In truth, the fact that this case could be settled with such a result had the fingerprints of the CIA and FBI hidden everywhere behind it.

These people had long hated Lute. Relying on the backing of the Black Stone Group, this man placed his own consortium's interests before the national interests of M Country in everything, crossing the red line time and time again. Over time, the veteran agents saw him as a thorn in their side. This time, they wanted to nail him to the pillar of shame for being killed while having an affair.

Beyond that, these intelligence agency people also had their own calculations recently; they knew the Black Stone Group wanted to retaliate against He Yuzhu, but they were unwilling to participate—no one was unafraid of being implicated.

In the days that followed, He Yuzhu lived very comfortably.

Without the endless overt and covert attacks, and no longer in danger of midnight terrors, he would wake up to three hot meals every day, and after eating his fill, he would fall right back to sleep. He completely let himself go, living a carefree life.

The wedding of Ma Rui and Yang Jing was held in grand fashion, with a hall full of guests gathered, and a major concern in He Yushui's heart was finally put to rest.

This time, Liu Wei was exceptionally sensible; she requested leave in advance to return to her hometown alone, where she safely gave birth to the child by herself.

Ma Rui felt guilty and specifically sent someone to purchase a top-tier luxury villa in the local area to send to her, as a way to make up for his shortcomings.

Liu Wei recovered her health in her hometown and rested for a long time before slowly setting off to return to the capital to resume her duties at the company.

In the blink of an eye, time reached the middle of 2000.

The Y2K bug crisis caused a huge stir, with television and newspapers reporting on it daily, yet in the end, it didn't stir up any waves at all; it was purely a false alarm.

But right at this juncture, M Country, no longer checked or restrained by the Soviet Union, became completely inflated.

They hadn't gained much advantage from their two previous military campaigns against Babylon, but with two brand-new aircraft carriers officially entering service, they inexplicably regained their confidence, considering themselves invincible.

In the Red Sea, three aircraft carriers once again pressed toward the border; fighter jets roared, tearing through the sky, and bombs poured down like raindrops onto the land of Babylon.

He Yuzhu hadn't even had time to lament the impermanence of the world when an urgent email suddenly popped up in his private inbox—Sadake had sacrificed his life.

On the night the M Military air-raided Baghdad, a heavy bomb fell with a boom, burying his old friend beneath the ruins of broken walls and rubble.

He Yuzhu stared at the computer screen, stunned for several seconds; his eyes suddenly grew sore, and his chest felt so tight he couldn't breathe.

He had long had a premonition that Sadake would eventually die on the battlefield, but when the bad news truly arrived, it was still too fast for anyone to be prepared.

He Yuzhu had originally intended to stop there and live out his remaining years in peace, but M Country kept pressing forward, refusing to let him have any quiet.

Without a word, he packed his bags and headed straight for Babylon.

On the day of the funeral, the wind and sand filled the sky, making it impossible to open one's eyes; the world was a dim, hazy yellow.

He specifically used a disguise, blending into the crowd of mourners, watching from afar as the coffin was slowly lowered into the ground, his fists clenched tight inside his sleeves.

Just as he was preparing to slip away from the cemetery while it was crowded, his peripheral vision suddenly caught three cars speeding toward them from a distance, moving extremely fast, with the gathered crowd as their target.

His heart tightened suddenly, and he realized in an instant—they were human bombs carrying explosives.

He Yuzhu flashed behind a large tree, took out a sniper rifle from his Personal Space, pressed the stock firmly against his shoulder, and pressed his eyes against the scope.

"Bang—bang—bang—"

The three gunshots almost merged into one line, and the drivers of the three cars died on the spot.

The out-of-control cars did not stop, continuing to swerve as they crashed toward the crowd.

He Yuzhu gritted his teeth and pulled the trigger repeatedly, the bullets accurately piercing the front tires of the cars.

The speed of the cars dropped sharply, and they suddenly skidded dozens of meters away.

"Boom—boom—"

Deafening explosions rang out one after another, flames soared into the sky, and billowing black smoke surged everywhere.

Fortunately, the three cars failed to charge into the heart of the crowd; although many people were knocked over by the blast wave or scratched by flying debris, the overall casualties were not severe.

The people who had come to attend the funeral screamed and fled in all directions, the sounds of crying and chaotic footsteps weaving together.

That night, He Yuzhu met the new person in charge who had succeeded Sadake.

Jia Fa was a man who didn't smile, but the arrogance he carried made He Yuzhu feel repulsed from the bottom of his heart.

Jia Fa always felt he was superior, treating He Yuzhu entirely as his subordinate, throwing out a pile of harsh demands one after another, while not saying a word about support funds.

He Yuzhu did not tear off the mask of civility with him on the spot.

His journey to the Middle East this time was never for the so-called big picture of Babylon, but purely out of gratitude for the friendship Sadake had shown him in the past.

He knew in his heart that this was the last time he would help Babylon.

To be honest, he was never willing to get involved in Babylon's disputes; his initial intervention was merely because their interests overlapped, and his continued help later was entirely for Sadake's sake. This time, he would still avenge his old friend, but as for the future, there would be no more talk of cooperation.

For the next full month, five M Country military bases within the Middle East were hit one after another.

Every time He Yuzhu attacked a base, he would film complete evidence footage of the entire process and mail the tapes to Bandao Television to be broadcast publicly.

In an instant, M Country's international reputation was completely ruined, and in every country that hosted M Military bases, anti-government forces became restless, wanting them to get out.

To appease those countries, M Country hurriedly held press conferences everywhere to fabricate lies, even bringing out previously taken photos of the bases in good condition, attempting to cover up the truth.

Not long after, the M Military Carrier Strike Group docked at the port of Singapore was suddenly hit hard in the middle of the night: two cruisers, one frigate, and the Truman aircraft carrier, which had only recently entered service, all sank to the bottom of the sea.

This time, M Country was truly desperate; like a completely enraged beast, they not only mobilized the two Carrier Strike Groups deployed in East Asia but also urgently dispatched an aircraft carrier that had not yet been fully repaired to the war zone to participate.

This time, M Country was determined to fight Babylon to the death, and the air raids and bombings became more intense with each passing day.

M Country used various media outlets to issue harsh threats: if they lost one more aircraft carrier, they would use a Nuclear Weapon on Babylon.

Babylon's new leader, Jia Fa, immediately sent He Yuzhu a sternly worded letter, the gist of which was that all of He Yuzhu's future actions must be reported to him in advance, and that it was absolutely not appropriate to attack M Military aircraft carriers at this moment.