1068 Familiar Sigh
At the same time, not only was the breaking news being broadcast on the Huaxia Empire’s TV networks, but all of Blue Star’s TV stations had halted normal programming and inserted this news broadcast about the astronomical wonder that appeared in the Huaxia Empire’s skies.
The United States, European Union, South America, and even Africa, Oceania, and other countries in Asia started broadcasting this breaking news, and soon all of their TV stations were being completely dominated by the story.
This breaking news shocked the world. Numerous astronomers grabbed their phones and immediately booked flights to C City of the Huaxia Empire, eager to investigate this phenomenon. Why on earth was there an aurora in this place?!
Intelligence agencies in various countries started getting active as well. Out of all of them, the CIA of the United States was the most stunned and was the most caught off guard. “…Why would such a high-energy magnetic storm appear in the Huaxia Empire?! You people are useless garbage! The labor and management committees have spent so much money on your activities in the Huaxia Empire. Where did you spend all your money? What did you all squander it on?!” Major General Hillent, director of the CIA, was furious and was swearing up and down at his subordinates in the office. He smashed his keyboard and coffee cup in his fury but still didn’t feel like his rage was quenched. He glared at his men, then pointed at them accusingly and asked, “Spill it! Where did all the funds go?! What did you imbeciles spend them on?!”
His men looked at each other awkwardly and said anxiously, “Since the establishment of the Special Operation Forces of the Huaxia Empire, their intelligence agency became divided. Our previous moles are having trouble infiltrating their intelligence agency…”
“Even so, we have spent so much money! Billions of dollars have been spent over so many years, yet still no results?!” Major General Hillent glowered at them furiously, his face contorted with rage. “Even if you couldn’t infiltrate the Special Operation Forces, you still could’ve spent the money somewhere useful! Don’t you dare let me find out that any of you embezzled the money!”
“Sir! There has been no embezzlement whatsoever!” His men anxiously reputed the notion. “Look at the Huaxia Empire’s Weibo! Many of the turncoats on there are receiving funding from us! It costs us a lot of money every month!”
“Yeah yeah! The cost of labor in the Huaxia Empire has been rapidly rising recently, so the expenditure is also rapidly rising!”
Major General Hillent frowned. “You mean, you guys spent all the money on these Weibo bloggers from the Huaxia Empire? The turncoats you guys developed are all on Weibo?”
The subordinate raised his hands. “Most of them are here. They make easier informants.”
Major General Hillent was momentarily speechless. After a while, he stood up rapidly, flipped over his desk, and kicked it. Then he gritted his teeth and scolded them. “You all are a bunch of useless sh*t! Those informants on Weibo are all full of bullsh*t! Stop wasting our funds on them, and spend the money on people who actually have access to confidential data! I want to know exactly why the aurora appeared in the Huaxia Empire! If you all still have no clue after three days, then you will all be fired and replaced!”
A few of his subordinates were cowed into nodding and hurriedly left his office in a nervous sweat. After they left, Major General Hillent wiped his face and tried his best to suppress his anger and calm himself. He looked at the old-fas.h.i.+oned telephone on the desk, groaned for a while, then reached for the phone and dialed the secret laboratory’s phone number.
Last time, the laboratory from the secret base had almost been completely destroyed by the “Pink Piggy.” Now, he wanted to know how the restoration process was going. The phone rang three times before someone finally answered it. It was Mr. X, the head of the secret laboratory. “Hillent?”
Major General Hillent nodded. “Yes, it’s me.” His voice sounded gentle and calm. The fury he had been experiencing moments before had seemingly vanished from his voice without leaving a single trace, as if he were another person.
“What’s the matter?”
“Did you hear the news about an aurora appearing in the Huaxia Empire?”
Mr. X, the person in charge, remained silent for a long time before finally saying, “I have heard. How could I not have heard?” The last sentence sounded sour and bitter.
Major General Hillent sneered. “Mr. X, do you have any explanation for this? As far as I know, auroras don’t appear outside the North and South Poles.”
“That’s correct,” Mr. X, the head of the secret laboratory, answered blankly, “but there are exceptions. In theory, as long as the magnetic storm reaches a certain threshold, auroras can appear pretty much anywhere.”
“What do you mean by that? Did a high-energy magnetic storm really appear in the Huaxia Empire?”
“Of course, what else do you think? Did you think it was a movie or something?” Mr. X, the person in charge of the secret laboratory, was irritated and displeased. “But I don’t believe they have the necessary skills! They must have stolen from us! As soon as our system for recording experiment data is breached by the ‘Pink Piggy,’ the Huaxia Empire experiences such a high-energy magnetic storm? Don’t you think it’s too much of a coincidence?”
Major General Hillent was both overjoyed and stunned. “You mean, we have this technology as well?!”
“Yeah, what’s so hard about it…” Mr. X dragged on, then started to gloat. “We have a lot of advanced technologies that are way ahead of the Blue Planet’s, but we choose not to disclose them to the public.”
“Mr. X, you are truly impressive!” Major General Hillent laughed and was now in an exuberant mood. “That’s very rea.s.suring! As for the Huaxia Empire, you’re meaning to say that they lack the ability and technological advancement to develop such innovative technologies?”
Due to the magnetic storm data that he obtained, he was very worried that the Huaxia Empire would make some sort of technological breakthrough that would eliminate the final obstacles preventing them from creating the ultimate magnetic storm weapon, such as a magnetic storm gun that could paralyze a city’s power system. In the United States, this high-performance magnetic storm gun was still only in its experimental stage in the laboratory and was not ready for use by the US army’s special forces.
Mr. X shook his head haughtily. “That would be impossible! If we don’t even have the ability to rely on our own technology, how could they do it?!” America was the greatest nation on the Blue Planet. If they couldn’t do something, other countries certainly would not be able to. If other countries were indeed able to do so, it must have been because they had stolen America’s technology!
The CIA’s Major General Hillent nodded with satisfaction. “I’m relieved to hear that. As long as I have your word, I will make sure that the Huaxia Empire pays for their theft!”
…
In the banquet hall of the Huaxia Empire’s parliament building, the banquet had finally come to an end. At this time, the large screen on the wall suddenly turned on, broadcasting this breaking news concerning City C’s aurora. “Auroras that normally only appear in the North and South Poles suddenly appeared over the city…”
Half an hour had pa.s.sed between the initial appearance of the aurora and the current news broadcast, so now the ins and outs of the matter had become more specific. News reporters from major TV stations came to the scene carrying heavy equipment, and they busily snapped pictures of the aurora in the night sky while interviewing the people at the scene.
In the live broadcast room of the TV station, an anchor was on the line with well-dressed professors and listened to them explain how this phenomenon occurred. Gu Nianzhi and Reinitz also watched the big screen together. When she saw that same familiar intersection in City C appear on the big screen, Gu Nianzhi felt her heart leap in her chest. She had lived in City C for six years and knew that intersection by heart. That intersection was the starting point of her memory, and her entire life seemed to have started at that place. She had no memory of anything before that.
On the big screen, reporters were interviewing pedestrians at the scene. “We saw a car suddenly catch fire there, and then someone came and blocked the entire place. Then there was a power outage, and there was no cell phone reception. We also couldn’t connect to the internet. At that time, n.o.body knew what exactly had happened until we saw the aurora in the sky.” A few girls animatedly told the reporters about what they saw with their own eyes and were ecstatic to be interviewed by reporters on live TV.
Gu Nianzhi’s eyes gradually widened. She slowly stood up with a blank expression in her eyes. Her fists were clenched so tightly that the blue veins on the back of her hands bulged.
Reinitz noticed the ghastly expression on her face. He saw how she tensed up, how her face paled, and how she started trembling. He was greatly worried now, and he gently patted her on her shoulders. “What’s the matter? Are you frightened?”
Gu Nianzhi’s whole body shook, and it took all of her energy to restrain herself from losing it. But how could she remain calm after seeing that!? When she saw the burning van appear on the big screen, she almost screamed! The place the van was parked was almost the exact same place her car was parked seven years ago!
She still remembered when the explosion happened, how Huo Shaoheng held her tightly against his chest, and how she caught sight of those same skysc.r.a.pers and skyline behind him.
The sight was too disturbing for her. Her memory of the event was as clear as a picture since it had been deeply imprinted in her mind, and it manifested itself in the form of nightmares. Seeing the sight on the screen was like her biggest nightmare being played out all over again right in front of her.
Fear swept across her body. She couldn’t help but tremble, her teeth rattling. Reinitz saw how the blood in her face faded away and how she was ghostly pale. He touched her hand with the back of his hand and discovered that her hand was as cold as a corpse’s. However, he merely thought she felt cold due to the weather, so he took off his military jacket and put it on Gu Nianzhi.