Half a month later.
Arabino Range, Moscow, Russia.
A cargo train from China entered the station. Other than the passenger compartments, there were more than a dozen flat cars. The carriage was loaded with Type 99 Main Battle Tanks transported over from China. However, there was a carriage that was completely covered by a large military canvas. Though it was obvious what was under it, no one could identify the model of the tank.
On the flat cars were four armed military guards with live ammunition. They stood at their positions in an impressively straight posture, watching over the station vigilantly.
There were a few trains parked in the station. Similarly, all of them had carried tanks. There was the Arjun Tank from India, the Type 10 Tank from Japan and armies from many other countries like Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. The station was essentially a gathering place for tanks from all over the globe.
“We’re here, Comrade Xia Lei. Let’s exit the train,” said Huang He to Xia Lei. The general was very courteous to him.
“Sure, after you.” Xia Lei stood and followed Huang He.
The man was protected by a huge bunch of Northern Land Corps Special Forces. The soldiers carefully surrounded him as he left the compartment.
As soon as Xia Lei exited the train, he could spot the Arjun Tank and Type 10 Tank in a glance. These two tanks were the ones that ranked higher than China’s Type 99 Tank. It was inevitable that the Japanese and Indian media took the chance to sensationalize their victory while hinting mockery with their words. It was an unfortunate reality. While the Type 99 Tank had strong firepower, it lags far behind in terms of manoeuvrability, maintenance, and electronic equipment.
A hoard of Japanese had exited their train too. There were Japanese soldiers in their uniforms and casually dressed employees.
Abruptly, Xia Lei’s gaze found its way onto a woman among the Japanese group. The man soon found it difficult to tear his focus away.
The woman was dressed in a traditional kimono. Her face was skillfully powdered and her lips were shaped into a small cherry-like shape. Albeit so, those weren’t the factors that attracted Xia Lei’s attention. The man couldn’t look away as she was none other than Hattori Mei herself.
As he looked at her, Hattori Mei reciprocated the gesture. As soon as she noticed him, her attention too was solely focused on him.
Their eyes met and gave rise to a swell of complicated emotions within Xia Lei’s heart. Back in Paris, he had spent a lust-charged night with her. But they had become vicious enemies to one another in India. Xia Lei had even taken the life of her brother, Hattori Geppa. Their unplanned meeting triggered a flood of memories that seemed to stagger around longer than Xia Lei had anticipated.
At this moment, a tall man dressed in military uniform exited the carriage. Coming to Hattori Mei’s side, he blocked Xia Lei’s line of view. He had exchanged words with Hattori Mei and immediate;y swung his head to stare at Xia Lei.
The man was unmistakably Hattori Masao.
While Xia Lei awkwardly pondered as to why Hattori Mei was here, the sight of Hattori Masao seemed to have answered his query. Hattori Masao was a general of the Japanese Land Self-Defense Force. It would make sense for him to be here as Japan’s Type 10 Tank was involved in the tank biathlon.
“Hmph!” Huang He scoffed as he spared the Japanese a glance. “That’s General Hattori Masao of the Japanese Land Self-Defense Force. The man’s very intense, he’s considered a right-wing figure in Japan. He has made a lot of unfriendly remarks in the past.”
“I’m acquainted with him.” Xia Lei looked away.
“How did you know each other?” Huang He was genuinely surprised.
Xia Lei answered, “The last time we participated in the International Army Weapons Exhibition in Paris, he had visited the Thunder Horse Organization hall. His daughter is the personal assistant to Lockheed Martin’s Madam Folsom, she’s the one in the kimono.”
Huang He looked at Hattori Mei briefly. While Hattori Mei was an absolute beauty among mixed-raced females, Huang He wasn’t the least bit interested in her. An honest soldier like him had no interest in his competition.
The group of Japanese were also headed towards the main lobby of the station. Before long, the two parties came face to face at the entrance of the lobby.
The Japanese soldiers stared at the Chinese soldiers emotionlessly as the latter returned the gesture with stern expressions. Truthfully, such tension most certainly wouldn’t be seen among their civilians but it definitely existed between their soldiers. The Japanese had invaded China and trampled their people and soil. It was basically impossible for the soldiers to forget about the past. To make things worse, the Japanese military was still occupying an island of theirs. Blatantly put, Japan’s actions and decisions were hostile and both parties had viewed each other equally as potential enemies. How could one show joy in the face of a foe?
“So we meet again, Mister Xia.” Hattori Mei’s smile was coquettish. “It’s been a while since we met in Paris, why hadn’t you contacted me yet? Have you forgotten all about me?”
“You’re…?” Xia Lei pretended.
Hattori Mei wasn’t the least bit fazed at all. “You’re pretty good at acting. You may forget me but I’ll never forget you.”
He was a man who she had bedded a few times, there was no way she could ever forget about him. Plus, Xia Lei had stolen the Hattori clan’s AI technology and even killed her brother!
Hattori Masao’s gaze on Xia Lei was unbearably chilly. He would never forget the death of his son, Hattori Geppa.
“I’m terribly sorry, I really don’t recognize you. Goodbye.” Xia Lei left the scene.
“Wait.” Hattori Mei quickened her steps to catch up to him. “What are you doing here?”
“I could ask the same.” Xia Lei turned to meet her eyes.
“I’m here to join the tank biathlon, of course.” She answered.
“I too am here to join the tank biathlon.” Xia Lei replied the same thing.
“Can we not do this?” Hattori Mei scowled. “Just lend me a minute, it won’t take long.”
“I don’t think there’s anything left for us to talk about,” said Xia Lei.
“I don’t think so. Come on, let’s talk. You won’t lose anything.” Hattori Mei was keen.
While Xia Lei was hesitating, Huang He immediately yelled after her. “Madam, what is with you? Mister Xia had expressed his intentions clearly, please respect him.”
Hattori Masao quickly retaliated, “Mister Huang He, is this how Chinese men treat a woman?”
Huang He glared at him sharply. “Depends on the woman.”
“How could you say something like that! You need to apologize!” One of the Land Self-Defense soldiers who could converse in Chinese quickly stood up for her. His tone was extremely unfriendly.
In that split second, the Chinese soldiers surrounded the scene.
The atmosphere immediately turned tense.
Xia Lei was helpless. It would be a big issue if a brawl were to take place now, he would be the trigger of it too. The man quickly interrupted the tension. “What are you guys doing? Please calm down.” With a change of his tone, he turned to Huang He. “General Huang, I’ll just talk to her, it won’t take long.”
Huang He nodded. “Very well, we’ll wait for you.”
A group of armed Special Forces swiftly went into their positions to wait for one Xia Lei. This was a majestic display only Xia Lei could have.
Hattori Mei began to walk straight, following along the station platform.
Xia Lei trailed behind her, silently activating his left eye to check for hidden threats. Soon enough, his findings had deemed her unarmed. The only abnormal thing on her was a butterfly-shaped absorbent material, to which his eyes felt like it got stabbed when he tried to see through it.
Hattori Mei resumed walking even though she had walked about twenty metres away. Xia Lei decided to stop walking. “Enough, this is far enough. What do you want to say? You’re free to say it now.”
It was only then that Hattori Mei halted her footsteps. She turned around to face Xia Lei. “I saw that your train had carried a tank covered in military canvas. What tank is it?”
“How am I supposed to know? It’s probably the Type 99 Tank,” answered Xia Lei nonchalantly.
“There’s no point trying to trick me. It may be covered but I can tell that its size is much bigger than the Type 99. It even seems to be larger than our Type 10 Tank. There’s no way it could be a Type 99, right?” Hattori Mei attempted to probe.
Xia Lei shrugged. “I’m not sure, I’ll ask them later.”
“Stop pretending. That is the tank produced by your Thunder Horse Organization, right? I’ve received intel that your side has been busy with producing a tank, its completion should fall around now if my estimations are correct.”
She could guess that the tank on the carriage was Thunder Horse’s new tank but Xia Lei was not surprised at all.
“Why ask questions you know the answers to?”
“Can you tell me more about your tank?”
Xia Lei scoffed. “Haha, I don’t think we’re on friendly terms here. We’re enemies. I wasn’t expecting you to be so casual, directly asking me for such confidential information. Why are you so confident?”
“Well, you owe me.”
“I owe you?”
“You slept with me in France and had the audacity to steal my family’s AI technology while I gained nothing from it. Don’t you think you owe me something? Plus, you killed my brother back in India and yet I hadn’t sought revenge from you. You really think you don’t owe me anything?”
Calmly, Xia Lei replied, “You should consider yourself lucky that I hadn’t killed you off in India. If something like that were to happen again, you can start arranging your funeral.”
Disdain flashed in her eyes but dissipated in the next second. “It’s alright if you don’t want to tell me anything, it’s only natural when you’re about to join the tank biathlon. I hope you brought all the tools you need. The tank you’re contesting against this time is not the Russian or Indian tanks, you’ll be facing Japan’s most advanced tank!”
“Japan’s most advanced tank? Hehehe…” Xia Lei cackled.
“Tanks are the kings of the land battle, they’re not as easy to make as guns. Just you wait, I’ll be sure to give you a taste of defeat.” Hattori Mei was beaming with confidence.
“You brought me here just to say this?”
Unexpectedly, Hattori Mei abruptly came closer. She lowered her voice. “There’s someone who wants to meet you.”
Xia Lei was perplexed. “Who?”
“You’ll know soon.” With that, Hattori Mei turned around and left.
Watching her leave, a disdainful smile soon found its way onto his lips. Though he had no idea who she was referring to, he wasn’t interested at all.
Did she really think that he was someone anyone could meet?
Absolutely not!