The day after encountering the herdsman, Chen Nuo and Sally finally reached their destination.
Chen Nuo didn't bother to ask or rember the na of this village. The locals' complicated language and naming system seed unnecessary for him to understand in depth.
However, to his relief, as they approached the village, Chen Nuo spotted the tallest building from afar…
A radio signal base station prominently placed on the rooftop!
·
The village was not as backward as expected.
The village was quite sizable, with so houses made of earth and stone.
And...cars.
Although the roads were narrow and rough, cars and horse-drawn carts mingled together on the streets.
Many people were even walking barefoot in the mud...cattle and sheep road the streets unchecked...
Moreover, Chen Nuo spotted a store!
The only thing that seed to disrupt the village's peaceful atmosphere was a few corpses hanging by the roadside!
But judging by the numb and calm attitudes of the passing pedestrians, it seed they were accustod to this kind of scene.
Well, how does that saying go: "The banner atop the city walls changes often."
·
Chen Nuo led Sally into the store.
The store was shabby and run-down, with disorganized items on the shelves, giving a mixed vibe of a small shop and a bargain store, and...a feeling of being back in the dostic 1980s.
However, to Chen Nuo's delight, he saw a corded telephone on the counter!!!
The owner was a man with a large beard — it seed that no n here were clean-shaven.
Chen Nuo had Sally act as a translator and quickly reached an agreent with the owner regarding the price and terms for using the phone.
Although the owner's phone was not a public one for external use, it was for personal use. But...Chen Nuo had a few dollar bills with him!
In 1999, making an international long-distance call in this war-torn country was an extrely difficult task.
There was no possibility of simply dialing the area code to connect directly,
it required multiple transfers, over and over again...
The cost started accumulating during the transfer process.
Chen Nuo had lost count of the number of transfers, and as he waited, more than ten minutes had passed.
Finally, he managed to make the call he eagerly anticipated.
Because of the multiple transfers, there was significant line interference, and the sound quality was very poor with a buzzing noise.
Nevertheless, the mont the call went through, Chen Nuo breathed a sigh of relief because he heard a familiar voice.
"Motherfucker's cookie, whoever you are, quickly state your purpose, I'm very busy now!!"
From the phone, ca the coarse voice of the Son of the Sun, carrying a hint of panting.
From the other party's impatient tone and state, Chen Nuo deduced that this old bastard was probably engaged in so television-inappropriate activity.
With interference on the line and ti pressing, Chen Nuo interrupted the Son of the Sun's cursing.
"Motherfucker's cookie! Goz, shut up! Now listen to , the importance of this matter is absolutely beyond your imagination!! I'm talking now, don't interrupt!!
First, I know Corot's whereabouts!! Yes, your longti friend Corot!! The old friend of your Noah's Ark Organization, Controller Corot! Simultaneously, the old lover of Bai Jing, Corot!!
Ever since he disappeared many years ago, he's been missing, and you have always wanted to find him, haven't you?
So co find ! I know his exact whereabouts!
By the way, it's best not to go through the Octopus Monster Company for this, it's best not to entrust anyone else, co yourself!
And, hurry! Be quick! Because I'm in danger now, if you're late and I encounter any danger or accident first, if I die by any chance, then you'll never find Corot in your entire life!"
Chen Nuo spouted all of this into the receiver in one breath, and the Son of the Sun on the other end was already in silence!
From the phone, the sound of the old man's heavy panting could be heard, evidently indicating that he was in a very agitated state.
"You...really..."
"Motherfucker, I told you not to interrupt!", Chen Nuo cursed, "It's extrely difficult to make a call here, extrely difficult!! The call could drop at any mont, now I'm giving you the address, I'm in.........."
Next, Chen Nuo repeated his country, region, location, and the village's na to the Son of the Sun twice, confirming that the old man on the other end had morized it.
Only then did Chen Nuo exhale a sigh of relief, "Now, ditch the woman in your bed—whoever she is! Then, put on your clothes, rush out the door, and co find , Goz!"
The Son of the Sun's tone was solemn, "…24 hours! I will reach the place you ntioned within 24 hours at most!
Before then, you better take care of yourself, if you're in any danger, it's best to find a mouse hole to hide in and wait for to rescue you! Before I arrive, don't do anything stupid."
The call ended there.
·
Chen Nuo still had confidence in Goz.
Although the Son of the Sun was a coarse old bastard, he had at least one character trait.
This old guy highly valued loyalty and greatly cherished friendships.
After tossing the dollar bills to the owner, Chen Nuo grabbed a pack of cigarettes from the shelf and exchanged so of his M currency for local currency with the owner, then he and Sally left the rundown little store.
Standing by the roadside, Chen Nuo looked at the village's dilapidated roads, pondering on ways to spend the night here.
After all, the old man said it would take him 24 hours to get here — even though the Son of the Sun was a Controller, he didn't have spatial abilities, he couldn't just slice through space like an arbitrary door, arriving at the destination in one step.
There were no inns in the village—in fact, during the 90s in this war-torn and impoverished country, inns weren't a thing in most villages and towns. They only existed in slightly larger cities.
Chen Nuo calculated, and took Sally to the village's pressure well to pay for so water - the guardianship had indeed changed hands to the anti-M forces.
Chen Nuo discreetly paid for the water with local currency and left with Sally.
Tonight, it's better to find a wild spot outside the village to spend the night, if not just start a fire and wrap in a blanket for the night.
Once the Son of the Sun arrives tomorrow, he can be untouchable in this place.
·
Being in a mortal state, Chen Yanluo didn't notice that the mont he left the small store, a gaze from the opposite side of the road, under a roof, was fixed on him!
The Mother Clone, with a headscarf wrapped around the head, face covered with cloth, clothed in a tattered leather jacket, was squatting under the roof.
Its eyes watched Chen Nuo's departing figure, then its lips curled slightly.
Subsequently, the Mother Clone stood up but did not follow Chen Nuo, instead left in the opposite direction.
·
Chen Nuo led Sally out of the village, finding a spot at the foot of a hillside to settle.
This place had signs of human habitation, with two or three scattered households living under the hillside. After a glance, Chen Nuo determined they were from the impoverished class.
One could see their tents were quite worn, and even the few sheep they kept were very thin.
As soon as Chen Nuo and Sally arrived, the locals seed wary, with a herdsman stepping out from a tent, casting unfriendly glances from a distance.
Not wanting to cause trouble, Chen Nuo simply led Sally a bit further away. Only then did the herdsman relax their guard and retreat back into the tent.
The place where Chen Nuo and Sally chose to rest had very barren land, with little vegetation on the sandy soil, though at least it was sheltered from the wind.
Considering there were less than twenty-four hours, Chen Nuo planned to hold on a bit longer.
After wrapping little Sally in a blanket, Chen Nuo started a fire, cooked a bit of at for the two of them to share.
Even with the sun not yet set, Chen Nuo was already quite fatigued, so he simply leaned against Sally, engaging in so aimless conversation.
Sally's English wasn't good, and their communication was laborious, but this incessant chatter seed to have a sowhat hypnotic effect.
Finally, before the sun had set, Sally had already drooped her eyelids, clearly too exhausted to stay awake. Chen Nuo also felt a wave of drowsiness but insisted on adding more branches and firewood to the campfire before lying down.
He didn't know how long he had dozed off when a noise in the distance suddenly made him open his eyes and sit up abruptly!
The assertive chanical sound of helicopter rotors cut through the air with a nacing tone.
Chen Nuo quickly widened his eyes, squinting into the darkness to search the direction of the noise.
It was the sound of helicopter rotors, and from his experience, Chen Nuo could tell that there were at least three helicopters!
Judging by the sound, they were heading straight for the village!
He quickly glanced at the bonfire beside him—the fire was almost out, with just a bit of embers left, but Chen Nuo still kicked a pile of sand to extinguish it completely.
Then Chen Nuo went over to wake up Sally.
The helicopter's searchlights were already shining on the ground, slowing down and finally hovering in the air over the road due north of the village.
Chen Nuo pulled Sally quickly to the back of the slope, watching tensely.
One helicopter hovered there, while the others spread out, heading in two different directions towards the village.
Chen Nuo frowned and imdiately figured out that they seed to be surrounding the village.
Could it be... a military operation?
He had heard yesterday that the village was captured by anti-governnt forces, so was this an official military force trying to reclaim lost territory today?
Chen Nuo secretly felt like swearing.
Once a battle broke out, this place would beco dangerous. After all, bullets do not have eyes, and if he stayed here waiting for the Son of the Sun, who knew what trouble might arise.
But leaving wasn't an option either. After all, the Son of the Sun was his biggest hope of leaving this dangerous area.
While pondering, Chen Nuo saw clearly that the helicopter hovering over the northern road of the village had already lowered its ropes.
Then, swiftly, several soldiers dressed in black combat uniforms descended from the sky with adept rope-lowering moves. Once they hit the ground, they quickly ford a combat team, each taking their battle position expertly.
Holding automatic rifles and dressed in full combat gear—Chen Nuo suddenly realized that these people definitely weren't from the local official forces.
This impoverished place that couldn't even support its own—a place like this couldn't possibly afford such an elite combat military unit among any official forces?
·
The commotion naturally alerted the ard forces in the village. Soon, soldiers carrying guns rushed out.
Gunfire rang out in the darkness, and after a few bursts of bullets, two or three n with turbans fell to the ground quickly from the village.
The combat team that descended the ropes swiftly stord into the village with assault combat formations...
Chen Nuo and Sally lay still on the ground, only able to hear sporadic gunfire now and then.
About a few minutes later, the gunfire in the village stopped.
Around the village, after the helicopters dropped several combat teams, they quickly ascended and left.
While Chen Nuo was puzzled, he saw lights appearing in the distance on the road.
A few seconds later, Chen Nuo determined that a convoy was fast approaching the village on the ground.
·
Several off-road vehicles and two multi-wheel transport vehicles sped to the village entrance and stopped.
A large number of soldiers in black combat uniforms jumped out of the vehicles and, following the commander's orders, began to flank both sides.
Chen Nuo's heart sank...
He realized that they intended to surround the village.
But the problem was, the flanking area was a bit subtle—it included the spot where Chen Nuo and Sally were currently located!
A team on the ground was advancing quickly, soon heading towards Chen Nuo's position.
He pulled Sally to turn and leave, but the movent was imdiately noticed by the soldiers, accompanied by shouts and bullets hitting the ground threateningly.
Chen Nuo had no choice but to stop with Sally.
A team of black-clad soldiers rushed in front, pointing guns at Chen Nuo and Sally, forcing them to retreat—towards the village.
Not only Chen Nuo, but even the two herdsman households at the bottom of the slope were forced out of their tents by the black-clad soldiers.
There were sounds of screaming and panic from the won, and angry shouts from the n, but all went quiet after a few blows from the rifle butts.
The won of the herdsman families clutched their children in fear, and the n, half angry and half fearful, stood barehanded in front of their wives and children...
Fortunately, these black-clad soldiers didn't seem to intend harm, but their gun muzzles made their aning clear: everyone was to gather in the village!
[They aren't going to conduct a massacre, are they?] Chen Nuo pondered internally.
At this mont, he was rely an ordinary person. Although he had a gun, one gun would be futile against so many professional soldiers.
Chen Nuo wisely put down his gun, handed it over, raised his hands, and backed towards the village with Sally.
The orders of these black-clad ard n were obviously to drive the nearby population into the village for concentration.
Chen Nuo and Sally blended in with more than a dozen herdsn being driven into the village.
The village's only open space was the little square where water was drawn.
There was a pressure well here, and seven or eight black-clad soldiers stood nearby.
More and more villagers were woken up and driven here, and the already small square was packed full.
Car lights and searchlights were turned on, the blinding light sweeping around, causing many to squint in order to shield their eyes.
Under the looming gun barrels, these black-clad ard n, although looking fierce, showed no signs of wanton slaughter. On the contrary, they appeared to be well-equipped and well-trained. In fact, they seed more like a private ard force, similar to professional rcenaries.
Generally speaking, in modern armies, such well-trained professional forces tend not to engage in large-scale massacres, whereas unscrupulous groups are prone to slaughter civilians.
Of course, there are exceptions, so Chen Nuo's nerves remained tense.
Finally, a few minutes later, Chen Nuo fully understood what was happening!
·
Beside the small square, a few fully ard black-clad soldiers, the sa assault team that had descended from the helicopter earlier, erged from an earthen building.
And they ford a standard defensive combat formation—with the one in the center unmistakably Chen Nuo's old acquaintance!
The Mother Clone!
The Mother Clone was already clad in a bulletproof vest, a helt on his head.
He erged from the building with the protection of several assault team mbers, glancing at the crowd in the square.
Under the suppression of more than twenty black-clad ard n, the villagers in the square exhibited absolute submission, with no one daring to resist—in fact, they themselves may have felt that resistance was unnecessary.
A person who was evidently the commander walked over to the Mother Clone, picked up an instrunt in his hand, looked carefully at the photo on it, then glanced at the Mother Clone's face twice before letting out a sigh of relief.
"Congratulations on finding . It looks like you've made a significant contribution this ti," the Mother Clone said coldly. "Now, as per your orders, you and everyone here will follow my command. Is that clear?"
"... No problem," the commander imdiately nodded. "From now on, here, you have the highest command. We also have four assault teams and two flight crews arriving here in twenty minutes, by then we'll have over a hundred troops at our disposal."
The commander paused, seeming a bit apologetic, quickly saying, "Apologies, we received the order too late. The company has mobilized as many field units from nearby as possible, but in this short ti, we could only gather this many... If more force is needed, we'll have to expand the mobilization area and activate so of the company's covert support units..."
The Mother Clone said blandly, "These are not your concerns now; you just need to execute my orders and ensure my safety."
The commander nodded imdiately, "Certainly!"
The Mother Clone smiled satisfactorily, then swiftly took a tactical flashlight from a black-clad soldier beside him, shining it on the crowd in the square.
The beam skimd over the people, and finally landed on Chen Nuo.
Chen Nuo sighed, a wry smile appearing on his face.
He understood what was happening.
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