“Mister Ton, there’s a footprint here.” Jack found an obvious footprint on the riverside of the forest and crouched beside the footprint. “It seemed like this footprint was left recently.”
“Nice work,” praised Ton. “You have been working very hard and executed every task I gave you perfectly. But can you tell me why he disguised as you and infiltrated Lockheed Martin?”
Jack shook his head. “I’m quite confused as well. Based on the surveillance images from some of the surveillance cameras, it seemed like he was just walking around the place. Nothing more.”
“It’s impossible that he would have taken such a high risk just to walk around Lockheed Martin,” said Ton. “He must have his reasons. He fled when we found out about him just now.”
“Mister Ton, what could be his purpose?” asked Jack.
Ton looked at the opposite side of the river, “I can’t figure it out yet. This is so bizarre. One thing for sure, he can’t escape from us. By the way, do you have any idea who he might be?”
Jack tried his best to recall. “I’m not quite sure, but I can think of someone...”
Ton sneered. “Costa. He’s the only one who would have had the chance to copy your identity card, isn’t it? Seems like we have the same candidate in our mind.”
“Hmph! I knew it. I knew that he had other purposes when he approached my sister. He will suffer once I catch him! I swear!” Jack’s eyes were filled with rage.
One of the armed men from Lockheed Martin went down into the river. The water of the riverbank was already covering his waist. Perhaps he would be immersed completely when he went to the centre of the river.
“Mister Ton, this river is too deep. We need to find some other ways to cross the river. His legs must be very strong to jump over such a wide river,” whined the man in the river.
Ton raised his assault rifle and pulled the trigger, shooting at a tree beside the river.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
All of the bullets hit the trunk on the tree and sawdust was flying everywhere. The damaged trunk was on the brink of collapsing. Without Ton’s order, Jack walked towards the tree and shoved the tree down with both of his hands.
The trunk fell and formed a log bridge, allowing them to cross the river.
“Let’s go catch this bastard!” Ton was the first man who crossed the river.
A large group of armed men then followed behind him.
Meanwhile, there were four military helicopters flying in the sky. An RQ-4 Global Hawk even appeared at a higher altitude. The RQ-4 Global Hawk was a surveillance aircraft used by America to investigate their enemies. Everyone involved in the operation knew that catching the invader would be as easy as pie with the help of the RQ-4 Global Hawk sent from Lockheed Martin.
In the meantime, Xia Lei stopped hurriedly in the dense forest and looked up to the sky. He saw four of the military helicopters well before their engine reached his ears. He also spotted the RQ-4 Global Hawk that was flying higher and towards his direction.
“Fuck! An RQ-4 Global Hawk? Isn’t that a little overkill?” he cursed them as he laid on the ground and covered his body with the branches and dead leaves beside him swiftly.
The four military helicopters were very close to him when he was just completely covered with branches and dead leaves.
Xia Lei observed the sky with his X-ray vision as he heard a loud engine sound from the sky. When he saw the four military helicopters fly by, he felt like his heart had clenched to the point of him having a heart attack. He could not help this anxiety he had.
Four of the military helicopters flew past him and parted to different places to continue searching. A minute later, the RQ-4 Global Hawk flew towards his current location.
Xia Lei was staring at the RQ-4 Global Hawk with his X-ray vision, thinking that the RQ-4 Global Hawk was more powerful than the four military helicopters combined. His consequences would be disastrous if he was caught by it!
Eventually, the RQ-4 Global Hawk flew past him too. It always managed to spot its targets on the ground, from a pistol to hidden tanks and ammunition. No military equipment could not escape from it. Yet, it was not able to spot a person hidden under dead leaves and branches.
He got up from the pile after the RQ-4 Global Hawk flew away. He continued moving forward but stopped after a while and thought, “In front of me is a denser forest. There are four military helicopters and an RQ-4 Global Hawk hunting me right now. I can never outrun them even with my full speed. The RQ-4 Global Hawk might spot me as long as I move. Then, four of the military helicopters will surround me from four different directions once I’m spotted. All of them are equipped with cannons and even air-to-ground missiles. I would be dead before I know it.”
Xia Lei turned and headed back to Lockheed Martin when he thought of that.
All the areas being searched by four of the military helicopters and the RQ-4 Global Hawk would not be searched thoroughly by the armed men on the ground. They would only follow the guides provided by the four military helicopters and the RQ-4 Global Hawk to search in the deeper areas of the forest. So, it was a brilliant idea to go back to Lockheed Martin now.
This was reverse psychology at its best. I shall head towards the base camp of my enemy!
He ran at his maximum speed when he fled just now. But he slowed his speed down and walked cautiously when he was heading towards Lockheed Martin. He understood that based on his speed, the armed men from Lockheed Martin would need a certain period to reach his current location. He might encounter them if he was running at full speed towards Lockheed Martin. He did not have any weapons with him. All he had was a sabre which he hid in his backpack previously.
Even though there was only one path, Xia Lei chose a new path that deviated from the original path. He had no choice but to do that to evade the men from Lockheed Martin, even though he had to walk longer.
Sometimes he could hear birds chirping or the howling of the beast in the quiet forest. He listened closely even to these boring voices as he could not afford to make any careless mistakes. He handled his traces meticulously too, by not stepping on the branches or dead leaves on the ground if he could jump over it. If somehow there were traces left inevitably, he would use the branches and dead leaves to cover them.
After a distance, there was a conversation going on in the forest in front.
“Is this guy a bird or something?”
“He’s still not caught even though four of the military helicopters and an RQ-4 Global Hawk were sent to search for him. Is it possible for a person to outrun a plane?”
“No, this is really strange.”
Xia Lei held his breath when he heard the conversation. At the same time, he used his X-ray vision on his left eye and tried his best to spy on them.
Unexpectedly, he spotted Jack.
Jack was with Ton initially, but he did not see Ton there. It seemed like Jack and Ton separated after they crossed the river.
Xia Lei’s sight focused on Jack’s lips the moment he saw Jack.
“There’s absolutely no one in this world who can outrun a plane. There’s only one possibility in this circumstance. He must be hiding somewhere. Perhaps we are very close to him now,” said Jack to an armed man.
“I’m really curious. Once we catch him, I am going to see if he does have four legs. I would make sure to break all of his legs even if he’s got four of them,” uttered the armed man.
“Let’s search separately and make sure to stay in touch with Mr Ton,” Jack ordered.
“Sure. You are the smartest man I ever met Jack,” praised the leader of the armed men.
“Kapi, all of your men won’t be treated shabbily too if I get any reward,” Jack promised.
The group of armed men turned from a straight line formation into a circular sector-shaped formation and parted.
Meanwhile, Xia Lei furrowed his brows as he was thinking about Jack. Jack may not have the same IQ as Albert Einstein, and he may not be an outstanding scientist to invent some crazy shit, but he definitely has huge potential to be a spy or a special agent. Jack was going to be trouble for him!
Xia Lei had the urge to kill him and nothing could stop him from doing so. Yet, Jack was with a large group of armed men from Lockheed Martin. All of them were well-trained and well-equipped retired special forces. They even may have better attainment compared to the active America special forces. All he had was a sabre. There was nothing he could do.
It was very tempting for Xia Lei to kill Jack but he managed to resist the thought. He continued moving laterally and carefully, remembering to cover his traces on the ground while his sight was focused on Jack.
In the meantime, Jack took out his phone and made a call while the other armed men were searching Xia Lei in a circular sector-shaped formation.
“Hey, Caitlin. Where are you now? It’s me, your brother! Is Costa with you right now? It’s very important to me. Tell me now!”
Xia Lei could not hear the voice from the phone, but he knew that Caitlin would tell Jack the truth.
Undoubtedly, Jack was angry. “What did you say? He’s not with you? And he gave you a hundred thousand dollars? Hmph! I knew it. I knew he’s a scammer. That’s why he approached you. Listen to me, call him right now. NOW! Don’t you understand? He’s a spy! He’s using you and he never loved you! Call him now. Give him any excuse so he’ll pick you up. You must make the call right now. Hello? HELLO!”
It seemed like Caitlin hung up the phone.
“Fuck!” Jack raised his phone up and seemed like he wanted to smash it against a rock.
“How dare he use his own sister to hunt me down? Apparently, Caitlin did not want to cooperate with her ambitious brother. Well, now I will avenge myself by using your sister and teach you a lesson...” Xia Lei sneered, as he prepared to teach Jack his biggest and last lesson ever!
Xia Lei avoided the area filled with the armed men successfully and left gradually.
Once again, the river appeared right in front of him. This time, he didn’t jump over the river. Instead, he went into the river and flowed all the way west, along with the freezing current.