One hour earlier, on a barren hilltop in the outskirts of Jerusalem.
The hill’s initial height was approximately five to six hundred metres tall. Sadly, its height was reduced by half after it imploded and caved in. On top of this hill were a large group of people that seemed to be engrossed in their work. They seemed to be searching for something.
Mossad and the FA Organization had agreed to form a collaborative investigation team. This place was no stranger to Kerns, who had visited this site countless times. However, this was all new to Yan Fo and Augustan.
“This is it.” Kerns gestured. “Our archaeologists had gone missing in this area along with two American archaeologists.”
Yan Fo studied the site for a moment and hummed. “Indeed, it is a large area. But with your capabilities, why haven’t you found the site where the AE capsules originated from? It’s been years.”
Kerns’ gaze s.h.i.+fted to the foot of the hill. An engineering team was slowly ascending the terrain. All the machinery used by the engineering team was military-grade. While a distance had separated him and the engineering team, Kerns could guess that they were from the Israeli military.
Yan Fo had gotten the answer to his question. It was at the foot of the hill.
Without an earthquake, the hill had toppled over without reason. This itself was an obvious clue. Yan Fo was only blurting out the question due to his disbelief.
Kerns replied, “I know what you’re thinking. We have explored this place more than ten times. Do you know why we weren’t able to find it still?”
Yan Fo’s gaze returned onto Kerns. “Mister Kerns, I would prefer that you tell it to me straight.”
Kerns frowned. “Mister Yan, this area has a unique magnetic field that rendered all of our equipment useless. It would point us to the wrong places and waste all our time and efforts. Once, our team had found another location. It was a hill too. Our equipment had told the explorers that the mountain had no cavity and that there was a triangular-shaped s.p.a.ce within. It felt magical.”
Augustan too averted his attention away from the approaching engineer team onto Kerns, interested. “So what happened?”
Kerns chortled dryly and shook his head. “It was a fluke. We dispatched ma.s.sive construction machines and an engineering team to excavate the mountain. We were working like construction workers that built roads and tunnels. It took us an entire year to tear the mountain apart but there was no triangular s.p.a.ce at all. After that, all equipment had returned to normal. The hill had offered us nothing but rocks and soil.”
Yan Fo and Augustan locked eyes. While Kerns explanation was weird and did not make any sense, they both found themselves believing it. Other than this, what else could explain Israel’s failure to locate the right site after so long?
What kind of magnetic field was it to be able to drive their equipment crazy and fool them around?
Oh, unfortunate Israelis. Imagine getting all excited that they’d found the location of a treasure and then beginning their lengthy excavation only to realize that they had been fooled. Not to mention, they had experienced this disappointment one too many times.
Kerns continued, “We’re fooled again and again. Each humiliation paired with gigantic losses. This is the answer to your question. Through these years, we had desperately hoped to find the right spot. But if we had resumed our efforts in that manner, we would’ve been able to fill in a new Israel in the vast Pacific Ocean.”
While his words were highly exaggerated, there was some truth to it.
“So without your equipment, we’ve already found the right spot. It’s beneath us, isn’t it?” Yan Fo made his own deduction.
“This hill had collapsed out of the blue. It may be the place we’re searching for but who can guarantee that? The magnetic field had fooled us time after time. There’s no way to guarantee success,” Kerns relented. It was obvious that the man himself was tired of lies. Despite the truth was possibly within reach, Kerns found it hard to convince himself that they were close.
“I have a feeling that this is it. Beneath us is where the AE capsules were found,” said Yan Fo.
Augustan voiced, “The mysterious magnetic field could be a.s.sociated with the hill body. Have you not investigated this hill?”
Kerns shook his head. “Never. But we know that there’s nothing here.”
There was a faint smirk of confidence on Augustan’s lips. “Then I’m sure that this is the hill that you’re searching for. I really wish to know what’s hidden inside. From your description, it’s almost like a mischievous child that loves to pull pranks. It’s just right below you and yet it decides to direct you elsewhere.”
“Ah, I sure do hope so.” Kerns s.h.i.+fted his posture. “This is also why we decided to dispatch a team of engineers for the excavation. We hope to find the truth this time.”
Yan Fo uttered, “Mister Kerns, how about we place a bet.”
“A bet?” Kerns frowned. “What do you want to place bets on?”
Yan Fo smiled. “I bet that I will find the answers one step ahead of you. The reward I ask for is to allow me entry into the site.”
Kerns snorted coldly. “Mister Yan, I know you mean to obtain answers from that prisoner. I really don’t see how you’ll succeed. That fella probably has the highest pain tolerance I’ve ever encountered. No matter how much torture we put him through, he wouldn’t say a word. Since you’re so confident that you’ll get something off him… I’ll entertain you on this bet. The reward I ask for is that you leave Israel and never come back.”
Yan Fo chuckled. “That is far. It’s a deal.”
Doot doot doot… Doot doot doot…
At this moment, Kerns’ phone vibrated.
Kerns quickly answered it. “h.e.l.lo, speaking… What?!”
The man’s loud exclamation made Yan Fo and Augustan look at each other. The feeling of dread started to wash over them.
“How the h.e.l.l did that happen?! You bunch of f.u.c.ktards!” Kerns’ veins popped as he roared into the device. “Chase after them! Immediately! You don’t have enough manpower? f.u.c.k you! Do you not know how to contact the Rapid Response Team? Call them over! Inform the police and have them lock the entire Jerusalem up! I’m coming back now. You better have the targets locked before I’m back or… You know what’s coming.”
Though Kerns had not mentioned the prisoner, Yan Fo and Augustan seemed to have understood what happened. The two of them had rushed over to Israel from America with a mission entrusted by the CIA’s leader, Williams, and the White House. But before the two could even do anything remotely useful, the most important prisoner was brought away!
“I guess you can tell what happened, right?” Ending the call, Kerns’ expression was solemn. His eyes were positively on fire.
“Then what are you waiting for? We need to rush back.” Yan Fo was more on edge than Kerns.
“What’s the point of getting jumpy at this rate? Our helicopter is on its way. We can get to Jerusalem within eight minutes.” Kerns looked into the direction of Jerusalem city. While the incoming helicopter was nowhere in sight, he had faith that the Rapid Response Team was already coming to get them.
Driving back was not as fast as travelling by air. Yan Fo gave up on urging Kerns. The Asian male tried to probe, “Who do you think is behind this?”
Kerns shook his head. “We have no confirmed suspect. The suspect had entered the base through the ancient drainage system. It’s top-secret information. The suspect was not alone and they came with a detailed plan. Someone had disrupted our optical fibres and another had hired Arabians around the Gaza Strip to create chaos to disperse our attention. The person behind the rescue effort had snuck in through the ancient waste system, rescued the prisoner and killed Harde along with another field agent.”
Yan Fo furrowed his brows at that. “We had just left the place and that person had managed to execute an operation of that scale. Which means that we’ve been monitored and we didn’t notice it at all!”
Augustan supplied, “To spy on the Mossad Jerusalem base and us and then infiltrate the base. This is a feat that even the Bermuda Force or the Russian KGB is incapable of. Who else is capable of this? Who do you think could be the mastermind behind this operation?”
Yan Fo froze slightly. “Wait, I think who you’re talking about. This operation does feel like something he would do but…”
Augustan confirmed, “But he’s dead.”
Kerns looked at Yan Fo and then s.h.i.+fted his gaze onto Augustan. “Are you talking about… Xia Lei?”
The mutual silence of Yan Fo and Augustan confirmed his thoughts.
Yeah, Xia Lei.
A man who dared to sneak into America with a single pistol and infiltrate Lockheed Martin’s headquarters to steal intellectual property. A man who dared to follow up the operation by killing most of FA’s best-armed members at the borders of Mexico and steal away Predator B. America felt like a territory without borders to him.
If there were feats that couldn’t be accomplished by the Bermuda Force or the Russian KGB but still found itself resolved. Well, you could suspect that Xia Lei was behind it.
If there were espionage missions that the CIA and Mossad couldn’t complete and yet found itself as a real-life success… You could suspect that Xia Lei was behind it as well.
Xia Lei was the king in the world of espionage.
“Impossible!” Kerns ran a hand through his hair. “We’ve got intel that Xia Lei was verified to be a.s.sa.s.sinated by the CIA!”
Yan Fo could only huff out a peal of breathy laughter. “That b.a.s.t.a.r.d is skilled at trickery. Anything relevant to him must be taken with a grain of salt. Looks like it’s time for a visit to China.”
A helicopter hovered over them. It was two minutes later than Kerns had expected. Apparently, Israel’s Rapid Response Team was slow sometimes.