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Goro Watanabe’s Voice and the End of Wu Bolin’s Journey
The distance is now less than five kilometers.
Suddenly, Wu Bolin sensed something strange. His cultivator’s instincts screamed. He sensed a subtle vibration in the air, the vibration of giant diesel engines revving up simultaneously.
“Stop!” Wu Bolin shouted. “There are at least eight vehicles approaching us!”
Kohei Kikuchi was confused. He looked out at the empty expanse of snow.
“Really? From the outside everything looks normal, Masato.”
“No,” Wu Bolin’s face stiffened. “I feel really unwell. It feels like… I’m being stared at by a giant eye.”
“You mean… we’re locked in?” Kikuchi asked in a panic.
“Yes. Locked by enemy weapons.”
Kikuchi immediately turned pale. “Our vehicles are civilian vehicles. If they’re locked on by fighter radar, we’re doomed. We can’t escape.”
“Quick! Full speed back!” Wu Bolin ordered. “Turn south! We have to get out of their range!”
The snowmobile driver swerved frantically, spinning the vehicle on the slippery ice, trying to escape in the opposite direction.
Pincer Attack
Seeing the target trying to escape, the US troops no longer hid.
From behind the icy hills, a line of armored vehicles appeared simultaneously like ghosts. Strykers and reconnaissance vehicles charged in a pincer movement, encircling Wu Bolin from left and right.
Wu Bolin’s snowmobile radio hissed loudly. A military warning sounded.
“Attention, Japanese research team! We are the United States military. Immediately shut down your engines and stop for inspection! Or we will open fire!”
Kikuchi was shaking violently.
“It’s the US military, Masato! They’re threatening to shoot!”
Wu Bolin gritted his teeth in anger. “Damn it! They want to trap us like boiled dumplings!”
“Tell them!” Wu Bolin ordered. “We’re just a regular expedition team. We don’t want any trouble, but we have the right to refuse inspection!”
Kikuchi immediately grabbed the microphone and spoke in English nervously.
“Sir, we are researchers from Showa Station, Japan. We are on an official scientific mission. You have no right to inspect us!”
Voices from the Past
There was a moment of silence on the radio. Then, another voice spoke. One spoke in fluent, angry Japanese.
“Damn you! I’m Goro Watanabe from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan!”
The voice exploded like thunder in Kikuchi’s ears.
“The Ministry never issued a large-scale exploration mission this winter! Who exactly ordered you?! Do you know that you are now suspected of high treason?!”
Kohei Kikuchi’s face turned as white as a sheet.
He looked at Wu Bolin with a look of despair.
“Teacher… that’s Vice Minister Watanabe. Even an official as high up as him came directly here.”
Kikuchi swallowed. “The Japanese already know everything. They’re watching our every move.”
At that moment, Wu Bolin came to his senses.
His hopes of returning to Wu Han Palace were dashed.
Japan has already discovered the problem at its secret base. They won’t stop until they uncover it all.
Their initial plan to infiltrate and blend in with the Japanese researchers also failed miserably. Since the Japanese themselves were hunting them, their chances of escaping undetected were slim to none.
Wu Bolin stared at the expanse of ice now filled with enemy combat vehicles. Cold sweat ran down his back.
He asked Kikuchi in a low voice, full of despair.
“Kikuchi… if I run away alone now… can I still escape?”