Chapter 3633: Thoroughly Eliminate the Hidden Threat

Kikuchi Kohei had no objection or resistance to Wu Bolin's request.

He had no independent thought, and immediately said respectfully: "To die for the True Person is my honor; please rest assured, True Person, I will guarantee with my life that your secret will not be leaked!"

Wu Bolin nodded in satisfaction.

Then he said to Kikuchi Kohei: "Now, just follow your plan to cover my retreat!"

"Very well, True Person!"

Kikuchi Kohei hesitated not, and immediately said via the internal walkie-talkie: "Other vehicles, immediately take position behind me to provide cover!"

With the order given, the other several vehicles hurried to the rear of this vehicle; at this time, the U. S. military's pincer attack was still steadily advancing.

Kikuchi Kohei said to Wu Bolin: "True Person, the closer they get, the larger the radar blind spot created by these few vehicles of ours will be; when they catch up a bit more, you can then escape!"

Wu Bolin gave a slight nod, sighed lightly: "Human greed is never satisfied — like a snake trying to swallow an elephant, or stealing a chicken only to lose the rice used to lure it; this time we not only lost the Wu Han Palace, but the Antarctic exploration will also be forced to terminate."

At this time, the U. S. military convoy was still in pursuit.

Although the U. S. military vehicles were all military vehicles, they were not designed for polar research, so even at full throttle they could not close the distance with the Japanese Antarctic expedition's snow vehicles; seeing that pursuit was futile, the U. S. military directly shouted over the public channel: "Japanese Antarctic expedition vehicles, if you do not stop immediately, we will open fire on you!"

Having spoken, a series of dozens of gunshots rang out in rapid succession, and the U. S. military's machine guns exploded a long string of ice pits in front of the snow vehicles.

The machine gun's power was not great; even light armor could easily withstand it, but the problem was that the snow vehicles had no armor at all; if truly hit, one shot could blast a large hole, and the people inside would likely not escape death or injury.

Kikuchi Kohei, with a solemn expression, said to Wu Bolin: "True Person, these American bastards actually opened fire on us; if you do not leave quickly, should you be accidentally injured by them, that would be troublesome."

Although Wu Bolin knew modern weapons were powerful, seeing this weapon fired for the first time still startled him with its speed and lethality.

Those dozens of gunshots just now were almost all fired within one second; moreover, the sound of the guns had just reached us when the shell craters immediately appeared ahead, with hardly a blink of an eye between them, indicating that the shell speed was nearly the same as the speed of sound.

If he were to strike with full force, he could indeed achieve such speed, but to sustain it continuously would be utterly impossible, so his heart was filled with awe and apprehension toward modern weapons.

He asked Kikuchi Kohei: "What should we do now? If I escape now, will I be chased and shot by them?"

Kikuchi Kohei pondered for a moment, then said: "True Person, do not rush; wait until they close in on us, then seize the opportunity to leave. Their attention will surely be focused on us, so they should not notice you."

Wu Bolin knew that at this moment there was no better option; he could only try.

As the U. S. military vehicles drew ever closer to the Antarctic expedition's snow vehicles, Wu Bolin's heart leapt to his throat, his entire spiritual energy mobilized and infused throughout his body, constantly ready for flight.

The U. S. naval gunfire had achieved a good deterrent effect, and his mind eased somewhat; thus they accelerated their speed, preparing to capture these Japanese Antarctic expedition members.

Just as they approached the Japanese snow vehicle convoy, no one noticed a figure darting from the front of the vehicle at extreme speed, racing far away and swiftly vanishing into the darkness.

The detection equipment on the U. S. military vehicles, having been blocked by the Japanese snow vehicles, failed to capture this.

As they approached the snow vehicle convoy, they immediately dispatched live-armed soldiers to surround the snow vehicles completely, and shouted for the Japanese Antarctic expedition members to surrender immediately.

Initially, aside from Kikuchi Kohei, the other Japanese Antarctic expedition members were not prepared to surrender at all, for in their subconscious they were all loyal to Wu Bolin.

Fortunately, Wu Bolin did not understand Japanese, so all his orders were conveyed through Kikuchi Kohei; in other words, although these Japanese Antarctic expedition members were loyal to Wu Bolin, they all obeyed Kikuchi Kohei.

Thus Kikuchi Kohei immediately issued the order via internal communication: "Everyone must surrender unconditionally!"

After saying this, he himself led the way by opening the snow vehicle door, raising both hands high as he stepped down.

The first to surrender, Kikuchi Kohei, was immediately apprehended by the U. S. military; the other Japanese Antarctic expedition members were likewise, without exception, all seized by the U. S. military.

At this time, Watanabe Gorō also stepped down from the vehicle, gazing at these captured Japanese Antarctic expedition members with anguish and indignation, he questioned: "The state spent so much money sending you to Antarctica for scientific research; why do you betray the nation?"

Kikuchi Kohei said fearlessly: "But we have not betrayed the nation; they merely obeyed me, and everything was my arrangement!"

Watanabe Gorō, even before arriving, had reviewed the files of all the Antarctic expedition members many times, remembering each person clearly, so he immediately questioned Kikuchi Kohei: "Bakayarō Kikuchi! What exactly are you and your compatriots secretly exploring in Antarctica behind the nation's back?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he was immediately subdued by U. S. military soldiers and had his mouth covered.

The U. S. military also realized that this group's behavior was abnormal; there must be some unspeakable secret, so they thought to hurry and send these people to McMurdo Scientific Station for intensive interrogation, so that whatever hidden truth there might be, they would be the first to know, and not let Watanabe Gorō get ahead of them.

Watanabe Gorō, as a senior official of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, was directly gagged by two soldiers and shoved back into the armored vehicle; although he was deeply displeased, at this moment he had no recourse, not even a way to protest.

Immediately afterward, Kikuchi Kohei and these Antarctic expedition members were all escorted into the U. S. military's armored transport vehicles; the transport vehicles split into two routes: one carrying Kikuchi Kohei and his group toward McMurdo Station, the other carrying Watanabe Gorō toward the Japanese scientific station.

Watanabe Gorō had no choice but to accept the U. S. military's firm arrangement.

At the moment the two parties began to go their separate ways, Wu Bolin had already burst out several kilometers in one breath; this extreme-speed sprint relied entirely on his spiritual energy, but this also caused the consumption rate of his spiritual energy to continuously increase.

Yet Wu Bolin dared not pause for even a moment.

Because the U. S. military had ambushed them from the east, pursuing them westward, so to avoid radar detection, he also fled westward at full speed for ten kilometers, only then turning southward.

The reason for heading south was that to the east lay U. S. forces, to the west was the necessary route to McMurdo Station, and to the north was the frozen coastline; thus fleeing south was naturally the best choice.

At the same time, Ye Chen had Menmenzi help inquire into the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's movements; upon learning that they had secretly coordinated with the U. S. military and begun apprehending the traitorous Antarctic expedition members, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The U. S. military's strong intervention in Antarctica thoroughly disrupted Wu Bolin's entire plan; not only could he and the three women now be safer, but it could also severely undermine Wu Bolin's original plan.

As long as I avoid encountering him from now on, this hidden danger will be completely eliminated!