1033 a.s.sembly
Gu Nianzhi’s heart dropped. She thought to herself about how it wasn’t a surprise that the CIA wanted to find the Pink Piggy. With the things she’d done, there were probably groups of people from Germany and the United States who hated the Pink Piggy to the bone.
But she was surprised as to how He Zhichu knew about intelligence from the CIA.
Gu Nianzhi glanced at Huo Shaoheng, who was currently staring at her without blinking. She quietly said into the phone, “…How did you know about that?”
He Zhichu irritably stood up from his desk and headed towards the door. He said gravely, “With the big ruckus happening tonight, you couldn’t have a.s.sumed I’d be sleeping the entire time!”
He had just reminded Gu Nianzhi about Prolog earlier that day, then Gu Nianzhi had called him in the middle of the night to tell him that she’d found the bug. How could he fall asleep?
After tossing and turning on the bed many times, he finally got up and went online to see the subsequent development.
In other words, He Zhichu had been observing the night’s cyberwar.
Gu Nianzhi didn’t respond for a moment.
There were actually many night owls that didn’t sleep late at night.
“But even if you knew about this incident, how on earth did you know about… the news?”
Gu Nianzhi didn’t say the word “CIA” in front of everyone else because she didn’t want to cause He Zhichu any trouble.
“This incident has become very serious, so while typical people may not know about it, all the specialized departments that should know about it do know about it.” He Zhichu coughed. “As for how I knew about information from the CIA, you should already know that I have a fairly good relations.h.i.+p with the US Military. Okay then, where are you right now? This is a very serious situation and you can’t let your guard down.”
Gu Nianzhi pouted her lips. “I’m not even afraid of them. They can arrest me if they want to!”
He Zhcihu inhaled painfully. “Nianzhi, don’t be childish. I’m telling you that there is no Reinitz to let you off in the CIA. Angering Americans will surely cause more trouble than you’re used to.”
“What did I do wrong? They were obviously the ones to initiate it!” Gu Nianzhi became angry. “I was using self-defense! Do you understand self-defense?!”
“Nianzhi, the Americans won’t care if you were using self-defense. If you endanger their national security and interests, they offer courtesy followed by war.”
Gu Nianzhi sneered as she shook her head. “Americans? Courtesy followed by war? As if they understand that?”
“Of course.” He Zhichu paced around the room in frustration. “Doesn’t the United States do this all the time? First, they’ll have the CIA work in secret. If they can’t achieve their goals in secret, they will pa.s.s it off to the Department of State to exert more pressure. If the Department of State can’t achieve the goal either, then the Department of Defense will step in… This is their courtesy followed by war.”
Gu Nianzhi had nothing to say to that. Glancing at Huo Shaoheng once again, she replied, “I’ll have Huo Shao speak with you.” She then pa.s.sed the phone to Huo Shaoheng.
Huo Shaoheng accepted Gu Nianzhi’s phone. Before he could even speak, he heard He Zhichu’s cold and aloof voice over the phone. “Huo Shaoheng, how many times have you dragged Nianzhi into danger already?”
If Huo Shaoheng hadn’t asked Gu Nainzhi for help with his problem, how could the Pink Piggy possibly have offended the CIA?
At a time like this, Huo Shaoheng was unable to debate with He Zhichu about who posed a larger threat to Gu Nianzhi.
He attempted to stay calm as he replied steadily, “I need your help right now. Hurry and come pick Nianzhi up.” As he spoke, he glanced at his watch and estimated the speed at which Hong Kangquan’s men from the Secret Service would be arriving. He asked, “Can you rush here in 15 minutes?”
Huo Shaoheng gave him an address near the Special Operations Forces headquarters base and asked He Zhichu to pick Gu Nianzhi up there.
He Zhichu stiffened. “What is it?”
“We don’t have that much time left. If you say anything more, we will only have 14 minutes.”
According to Huo Shaoheng’s calculations, Hong Kangqyan’s Secret Service personnel would need at least 20 minutes to arrive at their base.
So He Zhichu needed to pick up Gu Nianzhi before those people arrived. He Zhichu understood this, so he didn’t ask anything more. He immediately picked up his car keys. “I’ll be there in 14 minutes.”
Huo Shaoheng knew that He Zhichu’s car wasn’t a normal one. Such a speed was possible, but unfortunately, he hadn’t yet found the opportunity to test it…
“I’ll have Nianzhi wait for you there.” As Huo Shaoheng spoke, he walked to the door to call Fan Jian over. “Take Miss Gu outside and watch her get in the other car before coming back to report to me. If…” Huo Shaoheng paused for a moment. “If you don’t see her getting in the car, you must bring her back. Understand?”
“Roger, chief!” Fan Jian saluted before grabbing Gu Nianzhi’s arm and walking out.
Gu Nianzhi kept looking back at Huo Shaoheng, but she could only see his strapping figure in the hallway becoming more distant…
“Miss Gu, the elevator is here. We’re going up.” Fan Jian’s expression was very solemn.
The Central Control Room was on the 6th floor of the bas.e.m.e.nt, so they needed to take an elevator going up to leave.
By the time Gu Nianzhi followed Fan Jian into the elevator, Huo Shaoheng had already closed the main entrance to the Central Control Room. He remarked sternly to the other 27 personnel inside the room, “This is an emergency situation. Miss Gu never came here tonight, nor do any of you know who the Pink Piggy is.”
Everyone nodded in silence. Although they didn’t know what had happened, it didn’t appear to be anything good.
Gu Nianzhi’s ident.i.ty as the Pink Piggy had truly given everyone unlimited hope in their moment of despair. It allowed everyone to regain their confidence, so they weren’t defeated by the United States and managed to hold their last line of defense.
But now that they’d calmed down, they knew that this young girl would face catastrophe if news about her being the Pink Piggy leaked out.
They had all watched Gu Nanzhi grow up.
This orphaned girl had lived with the Special Operations Forces for six years. From a 12-year-old girl who had been involved in a serious car accident and was so frightened that she nearly lost her mind, to the talented and beautiful woman she’d grown up to be, they’d witnessed it all. They cared about her and treasured her like they were family.
After battling with her side by side though, Gu Nianzhi was now not only family to them, but also a comrade they must do everything to protect!
“Please don’t worry, Huo Shao. We understand the gravity of the situation.” The 27 personnel all expressed their determination. No one considered betraying a comrade for their own fame and fortune.
Everyone despised people who stabbed their comrades in the back.
Huo Shaoheng had established the Special Operations Forces single-handedly, so he naturally had his own team.
He couldn’t have possibly battled alone to achieve their current success.
At his side were many comrades who were willing to sacrifice their lives for him. By the same token, he would sacrifice his life for theirs.
Huo Shaoheng nodded, his expression relaxing slightly. “Very well. I believe you, so don’t disappoint me or disappoint Nianzhi, who made a great contribution to our nation. After this situation is over, I will personally report your work to General Ji and the Senate to give everyone the military merit and rewards you deserve. That includes Nianzhi as well.”
All 27 personnel in the room nodded in unison and replied, “…We will absolutely not disappoint our comrades!”
Huo Shaoheng returned to his seat and waved his hand. “Do what you need to do. Finish up the work on hand immediately and write a report.”
According to He Zhichu’s explanation, many forces were already aware of what had occurred that night. They had no choice but to defend themselves.
Huo Shaheng discreetly entered the surveillance system of the Central Control Room. He secretly cut off an hour of the entire building’s surveillance and saved all the footage of Gu Nianzhi in an encrypted file. He would wait for the incident to conclude before decoding it.
…
Fan Jian drove Gu Nianzhi out of the Special Operations Forces headquarters base and headed directly to the address given to him by Huo Shaoheng.
It was a night market in a busy business area. Although it was early in the morning, there were still busy crowds and it was extremely lively.
He Zhichu drove his silver Maserati to the meeting place and instantly saw Gu Nianzhi standing on the side of the road and looking around.
He slowly stopped the car in front of her and lowered the window. “Nianzhi, get in the car.”
Gu Nianzhi didn’t say anything before opening the door to get in. She quickly drove off with He Zhichu.
Fan Jian sat in the car until he saw Gu Nianzhi get into He Zhichu’s car and drive off before he turned around to return to the base.
He arrived only three minutes before Hong Kangquan and his men.
When the Secret Service vehicles Hong Kangquan brought with him had their permits examined at the entrance, Fan Jian’s car had just driven from the entrance to Huo Shaoheng’s official residence.
Hong Kangquan sat in his car and watched the pitch-black night sky expressionlessly.
This was the darkest moment before dawn. Soon after, he would make this place s.h.i.+ne brilliantly!
He had possessed the evidence for so long and finally had an opportunity to bring it out.
Huo Shaoheng… I’ll see how you try to weasel your way out of it this time!
Hong Kangquan stretched his fingers, his knuckles cracking loudly.
He’d released news that they were investigating the Pink Piggy, but he was actually hitting two birds with one stone.
At the Special Operations Forces entrance, the guard was currently examining their permits. After confirming that there were no errors, they were finally let in.
But the guard was unable to call the personnel inside in time. Hong Kangquan had already commanded his men to watch over this guard. “Don’t let him call the people inside.”
The guard saw Hong Kangquan present the authorization jointly signed by the Prime Minister and the Speaker, so he quickly stood ramrod straight and didn’t move again at all. But just as he fiercely snapped his heels together, he kicked the internal alarm system on the table leg…
This internal alarm system was unlike other loud and blaring alarms. It would only notify the core within the base–for example, Huo Shoheng, Yin s.h.i.+xiong, Zhao Liangze, and Zhou Qiyuan.
…
Hong Kangquan rushed all his Secret Service confidantes inside.
“Who’s there? Stand there! Pa.s.sword!”
From the darkness, several of the Special Operations Forces standing guard came out, fully armed. They aimed their guns at Hong Kangquan and his men.
Hong Kangquan slowly raised his arms to display in his hands and the authorization jointly signed by Speaker Long and Prime Minister Tan. He said gravely, “The Secret Service is acting on the command given by the Senate and Cabinet to conduct a random check on the Special Operations Forces. You may not obstruct official business!”
The soldiers were shocked for a second, then looked at each other to say, “Wait here, we will report it to our superiors.”
The guns they carried were the latest model of domestic semi-automatic submachine guns. These were much more powerful than the revolvers Hong Kangquan and his men brought.
The Secret Service personnel didn’t appear very happy.
“Captain, personnel from the Secret Service are here with an authorization jointly signed by the Speaker and the Prime Minister. Should we let them in? They don’t know the pa.s.sword.”
“I know, let them in.”
At that moment, Huo Shaoheng’s commands had already been pa.s.sed down to all the various units in the Special Operations Forces headquarters base.
Zhou Qiyuan was also a.s.sembling his Military Police team and was preparing to rush over.