Chapter 964: Fight Back When Provoked

With the radar systems of two consecutive military bases destroyed, the M Country military was in a complete state of panic.

The telephone bells in the command center rang incessantly, the overlapping sounds piercing everyone's ears like a death warrant.

High-ranking generals paced back and forth, their shouting and table-thumping loud enough to nearly blow the roof off.

Yet, at this critical juncture, FBI Bureau Chief Fuli vanished into thin air.

Neither hide nor hair could be found, and the entire intelligence system was in total chaos; everyone from top to bottom was searching for him, yet there was absolutely no lead.

The Big Boss in the White House was completely frantic; he quickly summoned his core staff to discuss a way to resolve the current predicament, while he himself boarded the airborne command post known as the Doomsday Plane, taking off and standing by, terrified that a missile might fly in from some hidden corner at any second.

Secretary of National Defense General William, sweating profusely, summoned everyone, and the conference room was in an uproar.

Finally, William slammed the table, chased everyone out, and left only CIA Bureau Chief Tenite behind to talk behind closed doors.

William wiped the sweat from his face and got straight to the point: "You are an old hand at the CIA, tell me honestly, does Fuli's disappearance have anything to do with that He Jian? Is He Jian really not Shadow? If these military base radars were truly blown up by him, this is an act of war—we must immediately send aircraft carriers to East Asia!"

Tenite knew clearly in his heart—Fuli most likely offended He Jian and brought this disaster upon himself. But how could he dare say that directly? If he jumped to the forefront and truly pointed the finger at He Jian, he might end up just like Fuli one day, with neither hide nor hair to be found. His mind raced, and he decided to divert the focus.

"Mr. William, in my opinion, this is nine times out of ten a retaliatory attack launched by Babylon," Tenite analyzed unhurriedly. "Huaxia has no reason to do this."

William knitted his brows, his gaze like a blade: "How can you be so sure? What leads have you obtained?"

Tenite leaned back in his chair, his tone resolute: "Have you forgotten about our aircraft carriers being bombed a few years ago? The people capable of such a major feat must be that group from the Shadow Organization. Currently, we are winning victory after victory on the Babylon battlefield, and that group can't take it anymore; they are desperate and have sent people from the Shadow Organization out to cause destruction again. How many times have we seen this routine?"

William was silent for a few seconds, tapped his fingers on the table, and then threw out an even more piercing question: "But before Fuli disappeared, he told me that the one called He Jian is very likely a member of the Shadow Organization."

Tenite sneered inwardly—I am the head of an overseas intelligence agency, do you think I don't know that? But are those people from Shadow someone you can just provoke? You people are pig-headed; every time you provoke Shadow, you suffer heavy losses, yet in the end, you can't even get a decent handle on them. Why bother?

"General, I really don't see it that way." Tenite put on a posture of speaking from the heart. "He Jian's identity is well known; he is an official member of the Huaxia World Trade delegation. If it weren't for that underground fighting match, he and Fuli would have had nothing to do with each other. Moreover, that match—it was our people who took the initiative to organize it, and He Jian was a passive participant from start to finish. Most importantly, the Huaxia delegation came here this time with sincere intentions to discuss trade agreements with us. He has no motive, let alone any reason to deal such a lethal blow to our military bases..."

William's expression changed several times, and he gritted his teeth, finally telling the truth: "There is one thing I didn't tell you—before Fuli disappeared, he had entrusted the military to use missiles to shoot down the plane the Huaxia delegation was traveling on while they were flying over the Pacific Ocean."

Upon hearing this, Tenite sprang up from his chair, his face deathly pale: "General! You have gone too far with this! If word leaks out and the Huaxia people find out, it will be a catastrophe that tears the sky apart!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the office door was violently pushed open from the outside, and an Adjutant rushed in, panicked and reporting, his voice cracking: "The long-range surveillance radar base deployed by Japan in the West Pacific... has also been blown up!"

William slammed his hand on the table, making the documents on it jump: "Outrageous! I will notify the Secretary of State immediately, summon the Huaxia Ambassador at once, and question them face to face!"

Tenite reached out and stopped him, his tone as cold as ice: "General, let me ask you one thing—do you have evidence? You can't possibly say that because we wanted to hit their plane, the bombing of the military base radar was their act of self-defense, right?"

William opened his mouth, then sat back down abruptly. His pent-up rage was stuck in his chest, but it felt like punching cotton, leaving him flushed with frustration.

Tenite lowered his voice and said earnestly: "If He Jian is truly Shadow, then we must not act rashly. If this person is truly determined to deal with us, given the methods he has displayed—if he were to attack our nuclear facilities..."

Hearing this, William's body stiffened slightly, and he slowly leaned back into his chair.

He rested his forehead in his hands and fell into a long silence.

Although this man was a bit impulsive, he was not stupid—Tenite's words were like a basin of ice water poured over his head, forcing him to think more deeply.

If He Jian was truly Shadow, they had been pushing him all along... yet Huaxia had never taken things to the extreme, clearly leaving room for maneuver.

William thought for a long time, then suddenly stood up and paced back and forth in the conference room, his leather shoes making dull sounds on the floor.

He turned his head abruptly, his eyes revealing a sense of unwillingness: "On the grounds of security, we cannot let the Huaxia delegation leave. Even if we don't shoot them down, we must intercept them for investigation."

Seeing that he couldn't convince this stubborn man who insisted on courting disaster, Tenite sighed helplessly: "But... the Huaxia delegation has already flown out of our national borders, wouldn't that be inappropriate?"

William gritted his teeth: "They have been flying for five and a half hours, they have indeed flown out of our country... but they haven't flown out of the Pacific Ocean yet!"

"Do you mean to send Fighter Jets to intercept?" Tenite asked.

William nodded, a flash of ruthlessness in his eyes: "If they don't cooperate, shoot them down... and finally pin the label of terrorists on them."

Tenite smiled helplessly, a smile filled with a bit of mockery and a bit of resignation: "Since the General has already decided, we will do our utmost to cooperate."

Meanwhile, on the plane ten thousand meters in the air.

After He Yuzhu blew up the radar systems of three military bases, he had intended to strike while the iron was hot and take out Apra Harbor as well.

But when he actually traveled over to take a look—the harbor was empty, and all the warships had fled to the Pacific Ocean.

He had no choice but to blow up a large ammunition depot and quickly return to the plane.

As he stepped out of the restroom, he looked up and saw Director Li pacing back and forth in the aisle, as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

The moment Director Li saw him, he grabbed his arm without a word and dragged him into the small storage room used by the flight attendants.

Once the door was closed, the cramped space was piled high with blankets and beverage crates; the two stood face to face, struggling even to turn around.

Beads of sweat rolled down Director Li's forehead one after another, his voice low and urgent: "Factory Director He, I just received emergency news from the embassy and the country via satellite phone—it says three radar stations in M Country have been blown up! Those people are completely insane now and might just flip the table and start a war over this at any moment! You told me at the time that they were going to make a move on our plane—was it true or false?"

He Yuzhu was silent for two seconds, then said: "Director Li, I have gone through everything from beginning to end, and all signs indicate—they are indeed going to make a move. Lao Li, the situation is critical; this plane must make an emergency landing at Henderson Airport on the Midway Atoll reef. I have investigated; there is almost no garrison on that island, and we have a window of just over an hour... all forty-some people on this plane are counting on your decision."

Director Li's Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he quickly calculated the various possibilities in his mind, sweat continuing to bead on his forehead.

He Yuzhu continued to persuade him, his tone unhurried yet every word carrying immense weight: "Director Li, every signal we send now could be intercepted by them. Please make a decision quickly—if we drag this out any longer, even I won't be able to protect the forty-some lives on this plane."

The storage room was so quiet that one could hear the roar of the airflow passing outside the cabin.

"Fine, I trust you!" Director Li turned and rushed into the cockpit in two or three strides, "Captain Sun! Change course! Target—Midway Atoll, Henderson Military Airport! Emergency landing!"

Captain Sun was stunned for a moment, then looked back at Director Li's expression—the determination in those eyes made the veteran pilot instantly understand the gravity of the situation.

He didn't ask another word; without hesitation, he began having his deputy check the runway data and basic conditions of that airport.

He pushed the control stick forward decisively, the plane tilted slightly, and the engines roared as they turned toward the new heading.

The clouds outside the window were scorched a dark red by the setting sun, as if the sky were bleeding.

He Yuzhu looked at the surging sea of clouds outside the window and slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.

He knew better than anyone that, from here on out, he would encounter all sorts of dangers while protecting these forty people. However, he was not afraid; taking life and death lightly and fighting back when provoked had always been his principle of conduct.