Chapter 204: Union

In the southern part of Manhattan, New York, just a short distance from the world-renowned Wall Street, a massive explosion occurred on the third floor of a building two nights ago.

Residents in the vicinity reported hearing intermittent explosions from the first to third floors of the building, with many witnessing flames surging into the night sky.

Given the building’s proximity to Wall Street, a global hub for financial transactions, and the rarity of such large-scale explosions in New York City, the incident attracted considerable media attention.

Although the fire has since been extinguished, the charred outer facade of the building and the surrounding area, littered with shattered glass and debris, present a stark and jarring sight.

Many reporters speculated that the explosion might be the work of terrorists, but the New York government adamantly denied such claims, instead asserting that the incident was purely accidental. This explanation, however, was met with skepticism by the public.

Fortunately, the explosion occurred late at night, and apart from a few night-shift security personnel, there were no other occupants in the building. As a result, casualties were limited.

Now, three days after the explosion, workers were on-site clearing away glass shards and debris. Despite the passage of time, reporters were still gathered outside the cordoned-off area, capturing footage of the aftermath.

Amid the crowd of onlookers, a man in his forties silently observed the heavily damaged second and third floors of the building.

Half an hour later, he quietly left the scene and entered a nearby restaurant.

After placing a random order with the waiter, he sat by the window, his gaze fixed on the ruined building outside. A while later, he took out his phone and called an airline.

Upon arriving at Atlanta’s airport, the middle-aged man did not check into a hotel. Instead, he took a car to a cemetery on the northern outskirts of the city.

Once there, he booked a room at a nearby inn.

Around 9 PM, the man was watching the news on TV in his room when a knock came at the door.

When he opened it, a heavily made-up woman with a curvaceous figure stood outside, batting her eyelashes at him seductively.

“Would you like some… extra services, sir?” she asked.

“No, thank you,” he replied.

“Don’t say no so quickly,” she teased, grabbing his hand and pressing it against her ample chest. “Feel the goods first.”

The man calmly withdrew his hand, his expression indifferent. “Sorry, I’m not interested.”

Seeing that he was genuinely uninterested, the woman left disappointed, muttering a curse under her breath as she walked away.

The man chuckled softly, closed the door, and resumed watching TV.

At around 11 PM, the middle-aged man left the inn and quietly made his way to the cemetery.

The cemetery was vast, surrounded by lush greenery, and its distance from the main road made it exceptionally quiet.

At night, the cemetery resembled a scene straight out of a horror movie. In the near-total darkness, it was the kind of place that could make anyone’s hair stand on end.

After entering the cemetery, the man walked while counting the tombstones.

Upon reaching the 67th tombstone, he stopped and carefully examined the name inscribed on it.

Then, he moved to the back of the tombstone, took a small trowel from his pocket, and began digging into the grass.

He dug carefully, seemingly worried about damaging the grass. When he reached a depth of 30 centimeters, the trowel seemed to hit something.  

After digging a little further, he unearthed a small iron box. The box wasn’t locked, and upon opening it, he found a small package wrapped in a plastic bag.  

Without even looking at it, he placed the package in his pocket, put the iron box back in its original spot, and covered the hole with soil, trying to restore the grass to its original state.  

Back in his inn room, he took out the item from his pocket. Unwrapping the plastic bag, he discovered a folded map inside.  

The map was clearly marked, and after examining it carefully, he took out a lighter and set the map ablaze.  

As the map turned to ashes, the man felt a slight sense of relief. It seemed that both of them were still alive.  

“Chang’an, when do you think the master will arrive?” Lei Li asked, clearing his throat.  

Chang’an walked to his bedside. “Don’t worry. I left the map at the designated contact point. He should find it soon. How are you feeling today?”  

“A little better than yesterday, but it still hurts like hell.”  

“I’ll bring you more painkillers in a moment.”  

“Damn it, I didn’t expect those guys to act so quickly. If I hadn’t escaped in time, I’d be dead by now.”  

“Luckily, the master warned us in advance. Otherwise, we might have been wiped out.”  

At that moment, a peculiar knocking rhythm came from the front door.  

Chang’an quickly took out a handgun and held it tightly, raising his voice. “Who’s there?”  

A male voice replied from outside, “Sir, a suspicious man is at the door. But his knocking matches the pattern you told us about.”  

“What does he look like?”  

“He’s a man in his forties, appears to be Asian.”  

Chang’an exchanged a look with Lei Li, then said, “Let him in.”  

“Understood.”  

The door to the old house creaked open silently, and the middle-aged man who had been waiting outside for a while stepped in.  

A young male voice suddenly spoke in the pitch-black hall, “Please follow me.”  

The middle-aged man sensed at least five guns pointed at him from the darkness. Any sudden movement would mean being riddled with bullets.  

He followed the young man up to the second floor and into one of the rooms.  

In the dim light, Chang’an recognized the man’s face and couldn’t hide his surprise. “Sir, you’re finally here.”  

“What happened?” Lei Yin asked after removing his disguise of synthetic skin and wig. He glanced at Lei Li, who was lying on the bed with a bandaged thigh, then turned to Chang’an.  

“It was the men in black. They attacked our base again, and this time, they had even more people. Fortunately, you warned us last week that they might strike again, so the casualties weren’t severe. But we’ve lost contact with other branches.”  

“Why did they do this? Was it for the data?”  

Chang’an replied, “Most likely. We don’t know how they found out, but one copy of the data was indeed stored in Little Lei’s shell company.”  

Lei Yin turned to Lei Li. “How were you injured?”  

Lei Li’s face darkened with anger at the question. He spoke through gritted teeth, “One day, I’ll strip those bastards of everything they own. I was in a meeting at the company when those guys stormed in and started killing everyone. I was injured during the attack, and when they chased me, I had no choice but to blow up the gas line in the first-floor restaurant to take out as many of them as I could.” 

Lei Yin glanced at him sideways. “A meeting? At this hour? Don’t tell me it was some kind of sham meeting.”

Lei Li responded irritably, “It was an official meeting, master. Can you stop viewing me with such a biased perspective?”

“I can’t help it. Your credibility is too low.” After a moment of thought, Lei Yin asked Chang’an, “Didn’t you already negotiate terms with them last time? Why did they still come after you?”

“I don’t know why either. This attack is unusual; they seem more reckless than before.”

Lei Yin said in a low voice, “This might be the real beginning of an all-out war.”

Hearing this, both Lei Li and Chang’an felt a weight in their hearts. They were well aware of the force behind the men in black, and it was something no street gang could challenge.

Lei Yin continued, “This is their territory, which puts us at a disadvantage. We need to leave the country as soon as possible. If we’re somewhere else, their power won’t be so bold as to go head-to-head with us. If they use underhanded methods, that’s our specialty, so we have nothing to fear. However, there are some among them you’ll need to be cautious of.” Lei Yin recounted the situation with Sasako.

Hearing that the woman could nearly match Lei Yin in combat, Lei Li asked in surprise, “Is she really that powerful?”

“Yes. She’s the strongest esper I’ve ever seen. I hope there aren’t many people like her; otherwise, this war will be tough. Don’t overthink it for now. The most important thing is for you to recover from your injuries. When things calm down a bit, we’ll leave. Have you prepared the things I asked you to store in advance?”

Lei Li nodded. “They’re already stored. This abandoned old villa is one of the storage points.”

After the encounter with Sasako a week ago, Lei Yin had a premonition that those people might attempt to strike at Lei Li and the others again; otherwise, they wouldn’t have sent her to investigate him. Thus, he instructed Lei Li to secretly stash away weapons, cash, and canned food in several locations as a precaution. He hadn’t expected them to come so soon.

So, during the days when Lei Li was recovering, Chang’an and Lei Yin stayed with him, sometimes taking turns to check on the situation outside.

By the third day, Lei Li could barely get out of bed and walk. Seeing that his injuries were gradually healing, his mood improved significantly.

That evening, as everyone was eating, Lei Yin suddenly felt uneasy. With his extraordinary sense of danger, he put down the can he was holding and stood up.

“Master, what’s wrong?” Lei Li asked.

“I’m going to take a look outside.” Without another word, Lei Yin covered his face and jumped out of the window.

Once outside, Lei Yin carefully surveyed his surroundings as he made his way toward Chang’an’s position.

Seeing Chang’an standing alert on a tree, Lei Yin lightly jumped up and asked, “How is it? Any signs of trouble?”

“Everything seems normal.”

“Be extra cautious. I have a bad feeling. Contact the team on duty ahead and check their status.”

“Understood.” Chang’an trusted Lei Yin’s instincts without question and immediately used the walkie-talkie to contact the two patrolling members up front.

After a moment, he responded, “Sir, the team on duty hasn’t reported anything unusual.”

“I hope I’m just being paranoid.”

“Sir, what should we do next?”

 Lei Yin thought for a moment and said, “There’s nothing to think about. As long as we can leave here, Black Dragon will set up its headquarters elsewhere and minimize contact with this place. If that doesn’t work, we’ll disband Black Dragon and break it into smaller units.”

“If we disband Black Dragon, Lei Li will definitely be the first to oppose it.”

“You’re different from me; you only have one life, and once it’s over, it’s over. This isn’t a matter of pride. The priority is to protect your lives. As long as you survive now, you’ll have a chance for revenge in the future.”

“I understand, sir.”

Suddenly, Lei Yin’s expression changed to one of severe concern. Chang’an, the first to notice, immediately asked, “Sir, what’s wrong?”

“Damn it. We’ve been sold out. We need to go back and get Little Black out of here. A group of people is coming. I’ll cover your escape.” With that, he jumped down from the tree while holding his submachine gun.

Chang’an, who had partnered with him for years and knew the seriousness of the situation, didn’t speak another word and immediately followed, running towards the old villa.

Less than three minutes later, there was the sound of fast-moving footsteps coming from the depths of the forest. Soon, more than twenty shadowy figures emerged, moving quickly towards the villa under the cover of darkness.

At that moment, a strange noise suddenly rang out, followed almost simultaneously by a muffled groan from within the forest. A short while later, there was another muffled, painful scream.

The black-clad men had realized that traps or mechanisms were set up nearby and stopped in their tracks, moving forward cautiously and slowly.

Seeing them stop, Lei Yin didn’t want to waste any more time and immediately turned to run towards the villa.

Following the pre-arranged escape route, Lei Yin encountered Chang’an and Lei Li, who was being carried by one of the dark group members. Alongside them were five other members considered trusted lieutenants.

After regrouping, Lei Yin led them forward at a run.

Not long after, the sound of a propeller overhead reached their ears. Looking up, they saw two helicopters equipped with high-powered spotlights flying in their direction.

“Damn it, even helicopters are out now. Are we fighting a war in Vietnam?” Lei Li cursed loudly.

Lei Yin knew that the helicopters must be equipped with thermal detection devices; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to find their position so accurately in the dark.

“Who has a rocket launcher?” Lei Yin asked, knowing that staying in this situation wasn’t a solution and that he wanted to bring down the helicopters.

“There’s one at the villa, but we left too hurriedly and forgot to grab it,” Lei Li said, regret flashing in his eyes.

Suddenly, a burst of bullets came from one of the helicopters, hitting the tree trunks and the ground in front of them.

“Quick, find cover!” Lei Yin shouted, pulling the young man carrying Lei Li to hide behind a nearby large tree.

The earlier burst of gunfire seemed like a signal, as just moments after they had hidden, the bullets continued to rain down from the helicopters, forcing everyone to stay perfectly still while the powerful spotlights swept over their surroundings.

At that moment, a loudspeaker from one of the helicopters blared, “If you surrender and drop your weapons, we won’t hurt you. I’m counting to thirty. If you don’t surrender by then, we’ll shoot you on the spot. One, two, three…”

“Master, what do we do now?” Lei Li asked.

“We have to take down these two helicopters. They’re just buying time, and if those other people surround us, escaping will be impossible. Stay here and don’t move. I’ll try something.” With that, Lei Yin pulled out a hand grenade and, with incredible speed, jumped out.

As soon as he jumped out, bullets began sweeping their position.

Lei Yin dodged the incoming gunfire with astonishing agility, using the periphery of his vision to estimate the helicopters’ altitude. At that moment, Chang’an understood Lei Yin’s intention. He signaled to one of the members and jumped out to assist Lei Yin in firing at the helicopters.

When the other helicopter saw someone else jump out, it immediately opened fire in retaliation.

The member on the side fired his submachine gun at the helicopter targeting Lei Yin. Although the helicopter was too high for a direct hit and only the base could be targeted, the gunner quickly switched from shooting at Lei Yin, who posed little threat, to the member, aiming to neutralize him.

That was precisely the opportunity Lei Yin was waiting for. He pulled the pin on the hand grenade and threw it towards the helicopter. Not stopping there, he also drew his handgun and aimed carefully.

Just as the grenade was about to hit the helicopter’s outer window, Lei Yin fired a shot at it.

The bullet hit the grenade dead on, causing it to explode mid-air. The powerful blast shattered the glass, and a wave of flames surged into the cockpit. Within three seconds, the helicopter spun out of control and crashed to the ground, erupting in a violent explosion a second after impact.

The gunner of the second helicopter froze, completely bewildered by what had just happened, momentarily forgetting to shoot at Chang’an.

At that moment, he suddenly saw a dark object hurtling toward him. Instinctively, he tried to bat it away with his hand, but just as he did, there was a gunshot, and the dark object exploded into a massive fireball. He screamed as a wave of heat surged toward him.

After seeing the second helicopter crash and explode, Lei Yin shouted to the others nearby, “Get out of here, now!”

Hearing his command, the group reacted quickly and followed the person in front, running as fast as they could.

Three minutes later, over thirty black-clad figures in tight-fitting clothing arrived at the scene. Seeing the two helicopters burning in the flames, the leading muscular man pulled out a phone and dialed a number.

“The operation failed. They escaped.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a furious voice shouted from the other end, “You useless fools! With so many of you and two helicopters, you still let them get away? It’s a waste of our money keeping you around.”

The man’s eyes flashed with anger, but he spoke in a very polite tone, “They likely had heavy weapons, like a rocket launcher. We lost both helicopters.”

The voice on the phone continued to curse, “I don’t care how you do it, but as long as Lei Li is alive, the rest of you can do whatever you want. Remember, if Lei Li dies, you all die with him.”

“I understand.”

After hanging up, the man punched the tree next to him.

“Thud!” The impact made a deep dent in the tree trunk, which was thicker than his waist.

“Everyone, follow me.” After calming his rage slightly, he led the other black-clad figures down the path to continue their pursuit.