Where would Kestin be hiding?
Xia Lei’s gaze burned through the entire factory area, leaving no area out of sight other than places the X-ray vision could not penetrate. He was done with the second check around the factory in under a minute.
Kestin was nowhere to be found.
Perhaps the man had figured out to hide somewhere undetectable by the X-ray vision but that didn’t sound plausible. But if he wasn’t at the factory facilities, where would he be?
Following that, Xia Lei gave up on his search and resumed his journey to the warehouse.
He itched to destroy Kestin but there were more important matters to settle- Xia Lei needed to save the hostages and find out more about the rare metal from them.
As soon as Xia Lei emerged from the side of the warehouse, the two CIA agents guarding its entrance immediately noticed his presence.
“Hey! What are you doing here?” One of the agents asked him defensively.
Almost all of the Special Force soldiers were sent out to battle. The presence of one singular Delta Force soldier at the warehouse was more than enough to raise the agents’ suspicion.
Xia Lei walked forward in silence.
“Hold it!” The field agent who questioned Xia Lei reached for his pistol.
Without warning, a dagger was lodged in the agent’s vest. Eyes wide, he turned around, only to see his comrade staring at him emotionlessly while gripping the handle of the dagger. That was, sadly, the last thing the CIA agent saw.
The other agent who had killed off his colleague dragged the limp body away from the warehouse entrance. After that, he came back, pulled the door open and entered the warehouse.
“Oi! What are you doing here?” In the warehouse, another CIA field agent shouted at him.
The agent offered no answer as he made a beeline for the distribution box. He pulled the lid off and grabbed the lever.
“Hey! What are you doing?!” The questioning agent quickly ran over in an attempt to stop him. They were familiar with each other, hence the lack of weaponized violence.
Ignoring his words, the man pulled the lever and allowed darkness to envelop the warehouse.
“What the fuck?! Pull the lever up!” In the dark, someone cussed.
Poof poof poof…
And so began a massacre. Bullets were released in the dark, each with the intent to harvest a soul.
That was the end of the CIA agents’ lives. The abrupt darkness had not allowed their eyes to adapt to it fast, bringing them to their death as Xia Lei barged in and began to fire relentlessly!
One minute later, the lights in the warehouse were back.
All CIA agents inside were lying in a pool of their own blood. No one seemed to be alive.
Watching the lifeless pile of bleeding agents, the Chinese employees held in the warehouse felt unprecedented fear. They had a feeling that this was their end. As they feared that this unnamed slaughterman was about to kill them all, they suddenly heard him speak in Chinese.
“Fret not. I’m here to save you,” said Xia Lei.
That elicited a relieved sigh from all the hostages. Some doubled over to the ground while some used their sleeves to wipe off their cold sweats. In that short amount of time, the Chinese employees had felt like they took a trip to Hell’s Gate and back.
“Can we leave this place?” Among the crowd, someone asked.
Xia Lei replied, “Not at the moment. There are still a lot of American Special Force soldiers and Boko Haram armed members outside. If you head out now, they’ll surely kill you.”
A round of discussion ensued between the hostages.
Xia Lei urged, “Hey, pipe it down. If you wanna live, you need to work with me.”
Suddenly, the chatter died down. There was nothing more important than survival.
Following that, Xia Lei asked, “Who is the person in charge here?”
Weirdly, no answer came.
Xia Lei pondered for a moment and reconstructed his question. “Who is Shentu Weiying?”
A slim, sweet-looking young lady stood up, nerves clearly on edge. Xia Lei was surprised. Didn’t Shentu Tianyin mention that Shentu Weiying was her seventh uncle? If it was an uncle, shouldn’t he expect a man? Why did a woman stand up instead?
At that moment, the woman said, “I’m his secretary. Director Ying isn’t here.”
Oh, so she was Shentu Weiying’s secretary.
Xia Lei pressed, “Then where is he now?”
She answered, “He… I think he’s in the mines now.”
Xia Lei’s heart thumped. “Why are you all here while he’s at the mines?”
“He…” She stopped herself mid-sentence.
One of the older employees suddenly stood and fumed, “He betrayed the country! We discovered a rare metal and the American came rushing over after hearing about it. We’ve been beaten up but he was the only one exempted from brutality. Of course he’s at the mines showing the rare metal to the Americans!”
The Shentu family really was crawling with betrayers. In the past, there was Shentu Yi and now Shentu Weiying. The former had betrayed Shentu Tianyin and the latter had committed treason, Shentu Weiying had betrayed national interest.
“Sir, what is your name?” Xia Lei went over and asked politely.
“Wu Keyong.” The old man introduced, “I’m a geologist and the one who discovered the rare metal. I was also the one who shipped the samples back to China.”
“Can you tell me more about the rare metal?” Xia Lei stopped before Wu Keyong. He stared at the older man, eyes shifting subtly.
Wu Keyong began, “We found the rare metal in Cave 13. It’s located within the mountain and is about five hundred metres deep. I’m not sure how much of the rare metal is in there because the geological structure inside is very complex. If you could give me more time, perhaps I might be able to find out more on it. It’s just that everything has happened so suddenly…”
Before he could even finish, Xia Lei had already gotten what he needed from Wu Keyong’s brain.
The extracted information began to form a reel in Xia Lei’s mind. In that reel of memories, Xia Lei had become Wu Keyong. There was a mining track ahead that stretched on until it hit the very bottom of the tunnel. There was a gigantic black boulder that blocked off the path. Its surface was rough and filled with craters, making it look like a meteorite.
But… that was ridiculously impossible. Like Wu Keyong had said, Cave 13 was at least five hundred metres lower than ground level. How was it possible for a meteorite to fall into a cave this deep? From the looks of it, it should have the impact force capable of destroying the planet!
“Back then, I thought it was just a meteorite but that is scientifically impossible. That’s why I decided to devise a way and break a piece from it…” Wu Keyong was still explaining.
At that point, Xia Lei had lost interest. He then placed his gaze on Shentu Weiying’s secretary and allowed his energy field to wrap her up. He infiltrated her mind and new information began pouring into his brain. He saw how Shentu Weiying looked in person. He was a man approaching his forties. The man looked well-kept and had on a pair of black glasses, he seemed sophisticated.
Xia Lei even managed to dive into some of her memories. In an office, she was bobbing her head up and down diligently underneath Shentu Weiying’s desk while the man was on the phone. It was also in this phone call that Shentu Weiying let loose information on the rare metal found in the Alliance Mine to the Americans, told by the mentioned terms like a green card, fifty million USD and all sorts of exchange terms.
After ending the call, Shentu Weiying pulled the secretary up and pressed her on the desk. He flipped her skirt up…
As the man gyrated his hips, he told her, “The Americans will send someone over tomorrow. You need to trick Wu Keyong and everyone else in the lab to the material warehouse and I’ll handle the rest.”
The secretary moaned out in ecstasy. “Will you bring me to America?”
Shentu Weiying replied, “Of course. I’m doing this for us. That Shentu Tianyin bitch can go to hell. I’m here throwing my spine out and yet she’s the one earning big bucks from this. Her assets are already beyond hundreds of billions while I’m miles away from even reaching ten million!”
“I’ll make sure to bring Wu Keyong and everyone in the lab to the warehouse, okay?” The female secretary attempted to appease the man within her.
Shentu Weiying continued to move. “I’m also expecting Shentu Tianyin to come sooner or later. The rare metal is a strategic interest, it’s bound to make bank. If she comes, remember to make her some tea and lace her drink with the liquid I gave you. Hehe.”
“I’ll do as you say. Ah~”
Xia Lei shook his mind free of their rendezvous. It was then a cold smirk appeared on his lips. “Mister Wu, I think I’ve got it from here. There’s no need to continue.” Then he turned around and instructed, “If you think you can fight, pick up some weapons and come with me. Make sure to close the warehouse doors behind you.”
No one dared to move.
Great courage was required to willingly go against a mass of armed CIA agents, Special Force soldiers and terrorists. And this great courage was not something everyone possessed.
Xia Lei said, “Do you wish to live? If you do, pick up a gun and fight for your lives. Should you wish to give up, I too will respect your choice. However, I can confidently tell you that the Americans will still kill you in the end and then place the blame on the Boko Haram armed group. Your fate is yours to decide.”
“Fuck it! Since I’m going to die anyway, I might as well bring a few with me to hell!” One of the younger employees picked up a pistol.
Following that, many began to pick up the weapons scattered around the warehouse.
Xia Lei faced the female secretary. “You’re coming with me.”
“W...Where to?” She seemed nervous.
Xia Lei answered, “Bring me to Cave 13.”
“No! Absolutely no! I’m not coming with you.” She quickly rejected him.
Xia Lei pulled her over harshly and began to stride towards the warehouse door.
“Hey! What are you doing?! Let me go! You’re hurting me!” Furious by the action, she began hitting Xia Lei’s shoulder but her strength was no different from a mosquito bite to Xia Lei.
No one stood up to intervene. They were all alone in this harsh environment.
The female secretary was still going strong even as they were out of the warehouse. Xia Lei’s expression immediately went icy. “Keep this act up and I’ll kill you. Don’t you dare think that I’m clueless about your deal with Shentu Weiying.”
“You…” She was taken aback. How did he learn of the secret between her and Shentu Weiying?
“Move.” Xia Lei’s voice was cold too.
“No!” She began to toss around. “You don’t know anything! Why do I need to listen to you?! Do you even have evidence?! If you have evidence, go on and charge me at court! Go on!”
“So you think I won’t kill you?”
“Kill me if you dare! You barbarian!”
With a wave of his arm, a silver glint flashed across her neck.
Blood began pouring out of her neck. She clamped a hand over the cut in horror, fell to the ground and convulsed.
Xia Lei spared her one last look with nonchalance before making his way over to the office block.
There were a dozen CIA special agents in the office block and the man was adamant on cleaning this place through before going to Cave 13.