One day later, Okinawa, Naha.
Xia Lei and Long Bing checked-in to a beach resort.
They did not have the same disguises as they had in Tokyo. Xia Lei had changed their masks. Long Bing and himself had been a older in Tokyo, but here in Okinawa, they were in their early twenties, much younger than their original ages. It looked like they were two university students deeply in love, and that they had sneaked out for a holiday.
The military base was close to the beach resort. The tall barbed fences, American fighter jets parked in the hangar, and the air defence missile launch towers gave one the overall impression of an imposing coldness.
An F22 stealth fighter took off from the runway, heading south. It was quick, and soon disappeared from their sight, leaving a trail of white.
Long Bing clung on to Xia Lei. “This sort of plane was newly a.s.signed to the Okinawa base. It’s to boost their Asia-Pacific position.”
Xia Lei did not keep track of political affairs, and was not interested. However, this still made him uncomfortable. “When I was a student, I was quite weak and was often bullied. It’s probably the same between countries too. The weaker ones get bullied, and the stronger ones will be arrogant and not reason with the weaker ones, all for profit.”
Long Bing sighed. “What else can be done? This plane is currently the most advanced fighter on Earth. None of our fighter planes can measure up to it. I think this is why the higher-ups are treating the Alloy X project so importantly. If that alloy’s used on our planes, we’ll be able to build excellent planes too. If we have planes like the F22 or the F35, no other country will be able to stand in the way of China.”
It was a very complicated matter to build a fighter plane, and all the science that went into its construction was also quite deep, but the most fundamental of all was the materials. If they did not have good materials, then the scientists of China would not be able to make planes better than the F22 and the F35. Without good materials, they could only make things which were pa.s.sable, but could not be compared to the European or American fighter planes.
“The Chinese Dream… Ah, if we are to realise the Chinese Dream, then the strengthening of the China military is not to be left out. I can’t build planes, but I will put in my best effort, and make the Alloy X project a success. I will let our new fighter planes fly,” said Xia Lei.
“You can’t make planes but you can make guns. The XL2500 and Gust have made an international impact. The nation has also awarded you the t.i.tle of ‘Father of Rifles’, the highest honour. You know what’s most attractive about you to me?” said Long Bing.
Xia Lei looked surrept.i.tiously down at his little soldier.
Long Bing punched him lightly in his chest and said sheepishly, “What are you thinking about?”
Xia Lei laughed. “What is it then? I don’t know.”
“It’s when you hold a gun and kill the enemy,” said Long Bing. She smiled. “It’s very s.e.xy. Every time I see you kill an enemy, I get a little…”
“A little…?”
Long Bing rolled her eyes at Xia Lei. “Excited. You HAD to make me say it.”
Xia Lei looked at her. “There’s still some time before our mission starts. How about we…”
Before he could finish, Long Bing pounced on him and stopped him from talking with her lips and tongue.
She wanted love, she got love. She wanted to do it, and she did it. This was Long Bing’s style.
The curtains were drawn, and the room filled with the small sounds of lovemaking.
Xia Lei and Long Bing walked out of the hotel after dinner. Both of them were carrying backpacks, and SLR cameras, walking along a small road behind the beach.
The weather in Okinawa was quite special, reaching over 20 degree even though it was winter time. This warmth, and this beautiful scenery made one become unwilling to just sit in the room as watch the telly. The roads and beaches were filled with people at play. There were also several young people like Xia Lei and Long Bing, carrying backpacks and taking pictures with their cameras. This served as a sort of cover for Xia Lei and Long Bing too.
Xia Lei moved his backpack to his front after walking for a bit. He opened the zipper as he walked, watching the compa.s.s as went, and going where it pointed.
After ten minutes of walking, there were fewer and fewer tourists, and they were getting closer to the Naha military base. A few hundred metres away, Xia Lei could see the huge soldiers standing at the gate to the American base. They were armed and dangerous.
Long Bing could not see the soldiers clearly like Xia Lei did, but she knew where he was looking. She wrinkled her brows. “It can’t actually be in the base, could it? How are we going to dig for the treasure if it’s there?”
Xia Lei had a headache too. “I hope it’s not in there. I wouldn’t know what to do either if it were.”
The American military base in Okinawa was actually a sort of safeguard against the rise of China, and their rigour in maintaining this safeguard could not be underestimated. Trying to dig for treasure in the American base would be like going to dig a grave in front of the White House for your own corpse.
They walked on for a bit more, and the compa.s.s suddenly pointed in another direction – to the sea.
This change made Xia Lei let out a breath of relief. He pulled Long Bing hand, leading her away from the road which went to the military base, and to the beach.
Long Bing saw the change in direction on the compa.s.s too, and she let out a silent breath of relief. “Is it leading us into the sea?”
“I don’t know,” said Xia Lei. “But even if it’s in the sea, it’s still better than being in the military base. It’s much simpler if it’s in the sea. We can just rent a boat and some diving equipment. There won’t be anyone to disturb us either.”
They chatted as they went, and the compa.s.s continued pointing to the sea. It trembled only a very little bit, not enough to indicate that the treasure was close by. Xia Lei was experienced and he could tell.
“Looks like we’ll really have to rent a boat.” Xia Lei zipped the backpack up. The sea was before him but there were no boats. They could not keep searching even though they knew the treasure was in the sea.
“Let’s go back. We can search on the internet and see if there’s any place we can rent boats, as soon as possible. Oh, and diving equipment. That’s a must,” said Long Bing.
Just then, some American soldiers approached all of a sudden. They were holding bottles of alcohol in their hands, and they were being loud and rowdy. Some of the group were saying obscene things, some singing, and noisy.
Xia Lei pulled Long Bing away.
A black soldier spotted Xia Lei and Long Bing and yelled, “Hey! Hold it!”
Xia Lei did not listen to him, and quickened his steps.
“f.u.c.k you!” The black soldier was enraged. He chased after them and cursed as he moved. “You two yellow-skinned c.h.i.n.ks. Didn’t you hear me telling you to stop? b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!”
The other soldiers caught up too, and quickly surrounded Xia Lei and Long Bing.
Xia Lei let of a silent cry of annoyance. He did NOT want this sort of situation to happen. He would have made a move if it were under normal circ.u.mstances, but he and Long Bing had something important to do, so they could not let any issues arise.
“f.u.c.k you!” The black soldier shoved Xia Lei.
He was strong, but he was nothing to Xia Lei. However, Xia Lei fell to the ground in an exaggerated fas.h.i.+on, and put a look of fright on his face. He said in j.a.panese, “Wh, What do you guys want?”
“Ha! So it’s a stupid little j.a.p.” A white soldier smiled and said in j.a.panese, “Play with us for a bit and we’ll let you go.”
Xia Lei looked nervous. “Don’t do anything hasty. You’ll be punished by the law!”
“s.h.i.+t!” Another white soldier kicked Xia Lei and said fiercely, “You’ve entered the military zone. The ones who should be punished are you two. We are well within our rights to arrest you, and send you to stand in American court. But it’s going to be okay if you service us. We’ll pretend we didn’t see you.”
“Haha, this j.a.panese chick is quite a looker,” said the black soldier. He stared greedily at Long Bing’s b.r.e.a.s.t.s.
Xia Lei kept the flames in his heart under control. “How about this – we give you money, and you guys let us go.”
“Money? Your money is also ours, haha!” The white soldier who could speak j.a.panese laughed merrily. He shot a look at his buddies.
Long Bing shot a look at Xia Lei at the same time too.
Xia Lei smiled wryly and nodded.
“Take them to that patch of forest over there. This boy is ripe and tender too. Give him to me.” The white soldier who could speak j.a.panese smiled nastily. So he had that sort of preference.
The soldiers dragged Xia Lei off the beach, and took Long Bing with them too. They shoved and dragged them towards the forest at the other side of the beach. The forest looked thick, quiet and deserted.
After entering the forest, the soldiers forced Xia Lei and Long Bing to walk a distance further in, then made them stop in a small clearing.
“Boy. Come over here and make me comfortable.” The white soldier who could speak j.a.panese undid his belt, and spoke aggressively to Xia Lei.
The black soldier walked eagerly towards Long Bing. “Hey, b.i.t.c.h. I’m a big guy. I wonder if you’ll be able to take me. Haha, don’t worry, I’ll make sure to give you lots of love.”
“Wait!” Xia Lei called for a stop. “I’ll give you guys one more chance. I’ll give you USD 5,000 to let us go.”
“USD 5,000?” The white guy who could speak j.a.panese paused, then laughed suddenly. “Looks like we got ourselves a piggy bank. You know what to do, eh, fellas?”
The soldiers exchanged looks, and they seemed to all agree on something. They were going to get rid of Xia Lei and Long Bing when they had their fill of fun, and take all of their money too. There was not going to be any need to worry about being reported.
There were hundreds of cases of women being raped by the American soldiers in Okinawa every year, but these cases were rarely prosecuted. This non-action also helped to contribute to the continued misbehaviour. Xia Lei and Long Bing had the bad luck to run into this sort of situation, and they did not want trouble, but trouble had come looking for them.
The soldiers seemed to have formed a pact. Xia Lei and Long Bing’s eyes met.
Long Bing shrugged. “Why try talking sense to these pigs? Just do what needs to be done. This place is not bad. It’s just a bit more troublesome to dig graves.”
“f.u.c.k. What did you just say?” The black soldier walked towards Long Bing, reaching out to grab her throat.
Long Bing suddenly grabbed the soldier’s wrist, and pushed it in the opposite direction of his joints as her other hand snaked towards his heart. A combat knife stuck out of the man’s heart when she stopped moving.