The underground drain canal passed the wooden building and continued forward. The terrain ahead had a drop. The further it extended, the deeper the distance between the drain and upper ground. Reaching a position parallel to the building, Xia Lei could no longer use his X-ray vision to spy above ground. There was no light shining through the gaps ahead.
Fear was inevitable in a constricted place like this. One could not help themselves away from thoughts about potential unforeseeable doom. What if there was water coming his way? What if the ground collapsed and caved into the drain? Xia Lei was not spared from such terrifying worries, but it didn’t take long for him to adjust his mental space.
He continued to crawl forward, choosing to stop in the middle of the same wooden building. There, he took out a fluorescent stick from his bag and twisted it lightly. The motion immediately allowed a weak glow to chase away the dark. With some form of light, his vision was no longer limited.
There was a sewage culvert that was connected to the drain system from the direction of the wooden building. The branching piqued Xia Lei’s interest, to which he decided to follow along its path.
It was fortunate that the drain pipes were extremely dry and void of sewage. The lack of smell made the entire crawl bearable.
The glow of the fluorescent stick extended ahead. There was a drop, paired with a simple steel ladder along its concrete wall that led towards a cover above. However, the opening was completely sealed off by the cover, which had not allowed any light to project through.
Xia Lei climbed into the open space, finally able to stand up straight.
Upon inspection, the distance between the bottom and the concrete cover was about two metres tall. Xia Lei activated his left eye once again and let his X-ray vision penetrate through the cover. All he saw was the blue sky and a part of the building’s roof. The area around the cover were patches of grass. There was no one in sight.
With caution, Xia Lei gripped the steel ladder and ascended. The man then borrowed the strength of his back to lift the cover up lightly. A gap appeared. Studying his environment through the small gap, his left eye passed through a bunch of weed to a window on the wooden building. Though the glass panels were shut and its curtains were drawn, Xia Lei’s X-ray vision had allowed him to find his target. Ton.
However, Ton wasn’t alone. There was an Asian man inside the same room.
The Asian man sat opposite Ton. He looked about in his thirties and was completely bald. He had a long face and had decorated his ear lobes with a dainty earring. Not to mention, his lips were painted with lipstick. The man exuded a form of femininity, choosing to wear black long sleeves, gold leather shoes and a generous adorning of statement necklaces.
The man had reminded Xia Lei of Qin Xiang but Qin Xiang was better looking than he was.
“Could he be the man the four armed men were talking about? Is he Mister Yan?” Xia Lei questioned silently.
He drew his military knife and lodged the handle into the gap. It relieved his back from the cover lifting while maintaining an appropriate gap.
In the room, the Asian man was deep in discussion with Ton.
“Mister Ton.” The man spoke up, “You know what we want. Satisfy our needs and we’ll create your gun.”
“I’m here to settle two things.” Ton explained, “Firstly, to deliver the drone to you. I’m sure the aircraft will be arriving here very soon. Secondly, to finish off the discussion with the FA Organization.”
“Very well, where would you like to start?”
“I have an amnesty order signed by the president and a bill that will be proposed during the congress. The passing of this bill will legalize the FA Organization and allow it to be recognized by America and its allies.”
“Splendid, please hand it over,” said the Asian man.
Ton stopped him. “But there’s a requirement.”
“To kill off Xia Lei, right?” The man continued, “There’s no need to mention it. There’s no need for you to show distrust in our determination to get rid of him.”
Ton stared at him. “No, it’s not about that.”
“Huh? Then what could it be?”
Ton replied, “We’d like to know who the leader of the FA is.”
The other man was taken aback but he declined with a shake of his head soon after. “Sorry, that can’t be done.”
“Why?”
“Think about bin Laden, think about Gaddafi. Those were significant figures that your party has gotten rid of. The leader wouldn’t wish to end up like them. They wouldn’t want to receive a precision-guided missile as a gift someday,” explained the Asian man.
“Mister Yan, you should be clear that this is our condition.”
Oh, so he was Mister Yan.
“Anything but that.” Mister Yan’s tone was stern. “If you cannot agree to this, then we must cancel off our deal.”
Ton shrugged. “Alright then, guess I’ll switch it up. Tell me, what is your backup plan like?”
“For that, we’ll hijack a plane and reenact the tragedy that scarred all of America,” revealed Mister Yan.
Ton chuckled. “Oh, so that’s the plane. I must admit I’m relieved to hear that. Your Plan A and Plan B are unique. Is there a Plan C?”
Mister Yan returned Ton a slight smile and said nothing else.
Under the cover, Xia Lei shook with anger. Though the disaster Mister Yan had uttered was not specified, Xia Lei could guess that he meant the 911 incident. The FA Organization was actually planning to recreate the terrorist attack on him!
“Hijack a plane and crash it into the Thunder Horse Military Factory? If I let you live any longer, you will poison this world!” Xia Lei’s glare was piercingly scary.
In the room, Ton opened his work bag and passed two sets of documents to Mister Yan.
The effeminate Asian man had only flipped through the pages for a mere ten minutes before placing it down onto the table. He asked, “When is the drone coming?”
Ton checked the time on his wristwatch. “Probably in another two to three hours or so.”
“Will it fly over or...”
“There’s no landing track for it here so we’ll be transporting it by car. You’ve got experts to assemble it, right?”
“Don’t underestimate us. Even if you gave us a nuclear bomb, we can find a way to trigger it.”
“Surely you jest,” commented Ton.
Mister Yan retorted, “This is not a joke, Mister Ton. We’ve got experts and we’ll be assembling the drone in Chinese territory.”
“You’re sending it straight to China?”
“Of course, we’re not going to be sending it elsewhere,” answered Mister Yan.
Xia Lei plucked the military knife from under the cover and returned to the drain canal through the sewage culvert. Then, he made a quick crawl back to his entry point.
No one had noticed his reemergence into the woods.
Returning to the forest, Xia Lei dashed towards the spot where he had hidden the Yamaha bike. Time was of the essence. He needed to utilize every second well for he had only one chance at this!
Hopping onto the bike, he rode off in the opposite direction where he had come from. The lush forest whistled by him rapidly, the wilderness empty of human presence. The roadside scenery was a complete blur, Xia Lei weaved through traffic as fast as a bullet train. The vehicle roared on for a while until a village had appeared ahead at a distance.
Ten minutes later, Xia Lei and his Yamaha 600CC bike had appeared at that village.
A Caucasian couple enjoying a leisure stroll by the river bank stared at Xia Lei and his intimidating bike curiously. His appearance had given him a delinquent appearance, and this place had never seen anything like him before.
Xia Lei hopped off the bike and headed straight towards the couple.
Immediately, their gazes were cautious. The young blond male came to stand in front of his girlfriend, wary that this stranger might have half a mind to harm his lover.
Xia Lei paused a few steps away from them. He took off his helmet and graced the couple with his attractive Asian features. He flashed them a smile. “Hello. It’s alright, I’m not here to hurt you.”
Noticing that the stranger was Asian seemed to calm the young couple down. To them, Asians did not appear threatening.
“What do you want?” The blond questioned.
Xia Lei answered, “Well, you see… I’ve got a terminal disease and I’m running out of time very soon. I wish to entertain myself before an untimely death.”
The young Caucasian woman replied, “You came to the wrong place. There’s nothing fun to do around here. This is a very rural area.”
Xia Lei continued to explain, “No, I don’t mean drugs and women. I’m not even looking for alcohol. The entertainment I yearn for is rather unconventional.”
“I hope you’ll find what you want,” said the blond man. His words seemed to be hinting that it was about time for Xia Lei to leave them alone.
Xia Lei pressed on. “I’m filthy rich and I’ve got money that you could only dream of. If you entertain me, I’ll pay you handsomely. How does that sound?”
The young couple looked at each other in confusion. The blond asked, “What do you mean? “
Xia Lei answered, “It’s very simple. I’ll pay you ten thousand dollars for you to go to a spot designated by me and…” Words were left unsaid, replaced by a lewd gesture. Xia Lei clenched his left fist and jammed his right finger into the tight fleshy space.
The universal motion had hinted at them strongly, anyone of a certain age would’ve known what it meant.
“You…” The blond gaped in shock. “You want us to do that?”
There was a sheepish smile on Xia Lei’s face. “I’m into voyeurism, especially outdoor voyeurism. What do you think? Will you be willing to take on the deal? I’ll pay you ten thousand dollars.”
Though ten thousand dollars wasn’t a gigantic sum to normal Americans, the lure of a handsome pay was most definitely alluring to anyone.
The couple whispered among themselves hushedly before the young woman nodded her head.
The blond asked for further clarification. “Will the designated spot be far away?”
“Not at all, it’s about one kilometre from here. I can drive you there,” offered Xia Lei.
The young woman voiced, “We’ll like to receive a deposit first.”
Xia Lei retrieved his wallet and dug out five thousand dollars. The man placed it on the floor. “Here is five thousand dollars. I’ll pay you the other half after the deed is done.”
The blond picked up the deposit excitedly. “Of course, no problem.”
Xia Lei specified, “I’ve got a request though. Once we get there, you both need to wait at the roadside for a bit. I’ll hand you a phone. You can get to fucking as soon as you received my call. You must make sure to fuck in the middle of the road, okay? Don’t stop even if there are cars honking at you. You must carry on until you’re finished.”
“Huh? We can’t stop even with cars in front of us? What if they refuse to stop?” The blond man was perplexed and weirded out.
Xia Lei convinced him further. “Don’t worry, nothing bad will happen. Just do as I say and I’ll add on an additional reward of another ten thousand dollars. You both will get ten thousand each. It’s more than enough for you to buy a decent car.”
“Haha! You’re such a generous man.” This time, the young Caucasian woman replied before her boyfriend could. “We’re willing to do it. Please bring us there.”
Xia Lei stepped aside and gestured an invitation. “Here, hop on board.”