Chapter 61 Departure

  "A stone! Is it the one that Old Lady Wang lost? No, this one isn't that big. There can't be only one stone like this in the world!" My mind was racing with thoughts, my eyes fixed tightly on the stone. I never expected that the magical stone that Old Lady Wang and Sheng Li were searching for would actually be in Tian Wenliang's hand."

  Tian Wenliang looked at me thoughtfully, snapped his fingers, and the locked door was opened. A ground crew member slowly walked in with a small safe in hand.

  Tian Wenliang somehow produced a key from somewhere, inserted it into the safe, and then pressed an eight-digit number to open it.

  We stretched our necks one by one to take a look, and saw Tian Wenliang carefully taking out a peculiarly-shaped compass from the safe, with an especially large needle.

  The bottom of the compass can be opened, Tian Wenliang puts the stone in it and fixes it.

  The needle... began to deviate towards the northwest direction gradually.

  "This stone is called a forget-me-not, although it looks no different from an ordinary stone on the outside, its weight is astonishing, even exceeding that of gold, and it has a peculiar magnetic field." Tian Wenliang looked at the trembling needle of the compass and explained: "This compass has been specially modified to use the stone's own magnetic field as a guide, so it can point out the general direction where other stones are located. So we just need to follow the direction of the compass to find the location shown in the video."

  Seeing us still looking confused, Tian Wenliang shook his head and patiently explained: "This stone, since we got it, has been through many years of experimentation. We found that it has some incredible abilities, such as... if you use this stone to hit someone's head, after they wake up from being knocked out, they will forget everything that happened within the past 24 hours."

  "Impossible, you think this is the owner of the Still Pearl Tower? You're treating me like a three-year-old kid." Barza put his hands on his hips, not believing Tian Wenliang's nonsense at all.

  Tian Wenliang gave him a white eye and pouted: "I'm just stating facts, I don't want you to believe it."

  "Oblivion Stone... the stone of forgetting." I muttered to myself, having tempered my mind with the strange aura of the Golden Flower Wheel, and gained an acceptance of some supernatural phenomena and irrational objects that far surpassed that of ordinary people.

  "Let go of sorrow and abandon melancholy. The legendary 'Forgetfulness Water' of the ancients is nothing more than this." Cai Lingchen spoke for the first time, his voice very pleasant to hear.

  We still have a lot of unanswered questions. Firstly, Tian Wenliang said he didn't know the location of the statue, so how did he know there were large stones stored there? Secondly, the purpose of the underground expedition was to explore all the secrets there, but you haven't been there, so how do you know there are secrets? Or are the secrets there worth your trouble?

  Tian Wenliang's words seem to be many, but in fact they are all evasive and avoid the main issue. He didn't say anything true at all. Moreover, I'm sure that someone from the secret service must have been to the location where that person is! We're definitely not the first wave of people, and it's possible we won't be the last either. This is a common practice within the special agent system, letting some cannon fodder go for reconnaissance, and then summarizing all the information in the end.

  Here, the twists and turns, even I, a rookie, want to get it. I don't believe the other five people don't have this idea. Everyone is very tactful and doesn't break the silence, no one is stupid enough to pursue the truth. We are agents, after all, we are just high-ranking soldiers who act on orders. The superior tells you what to do, you have to do it, knowing why you're doing it is because the superior thinks highly of you, if they don't tell you, you shouldn't get emotional either.

  "When will the plane be ready?" Tian Wenliang asked the ground crew beside him.

  He gave a military salute and said respectfully: "At most two hours!"

  Tian Wenliang glanced at his watch, 7:20 in the evening. He frowned and ordered, "No way, we must depart at 8:30 sharp! If we're late by one minute, military law will be enforced!"

  "Yes, sir!" The ground crew replied loudly.

  Next, Tian Wenliang held onto his compass and went off to rest by himself.

  The other five people whispered to each other and slowly walked into the rest room. Anyway, they arrived early and had already made contact with each other. There was really nothing to collect, as the equipment was all provided by Tian Wenliang. I didn't join them. Firstly, I wasn't familiar with them and didn't need to get close to them now. Secondly, I thought of something more important that needed to be done at the moment.

  The ground crew rushed to repair the transport plane in order to complete Tian Wenliang's death order, and had no energy to care about where we were wandering.

  Only I was left in the projection room. I quietly closed the door and opened the travel bag I had with me.

  "The film reel is broken, oh dear Buddha, I hope it can still be played." I carefully flattened the outer casing of the already damaged film reel and put it back into the projector, praying that it wouldn't disappoint me.

  Rustle rustle...

  It broke down before it even started working.

  I didn't give up either, I had already prepared myself mentally. I repositioned the film again and tried it three more times. On the fourth try, at first there was a big black and white screen, but finally, the picture came out.

  A bright enclosed space, a row of Japanese soldiers, inside a cage, a naked man crawling on the floor of the cage. Disheveled hair, back to me.

  The screen froze again.

  "Damn it, don't let people see this!" I cursed and hurriedly fixed the fallen strap. Just as I saw the beginning, it was even more frustrating than not being able to see it at all from the start.

  Five minutes later, the projector finally started running again.

  All that can be seen is the back of a person's head, with only one hand visible, holding an iron rod and scraping it against the bars of the cage. The man slowly turns his head, glaring at the camera with a resentful expression.

  My heart is racing, thank you Old Three! *The man is Old Three!

  All that was seen was him gnashing his teeth in anger, and before long, an unbelievable scene unfolded. From his back, a large hump protruded, similar to a camel's hump, which grew bigger and bigger until it reached the size of an adult human head.

  The surface of the sarcoma was covered with a network of blood vessels, as if there was a heart inside, beating up and down.

  At this time, the annoying film reel jammed again.

  I was so absorbed in watching that I anxiously fixed it for almost ten minutes before barely getting it done. I don't have that much time to waste.

  When the screen came out again, the content seemed to have made a leap. The tumor had disappeared and was replaced by a thin, blood-soaked human body, with its upper half emerging from Xie Lao San's back, waving its arms and struggling desperately to get out. And Xie Lao San, this maternal body, was screaming in agony, looking like a big man giving birth on his back.

  I felt a wave of nausea in my stomach, and what I saw before my eyes was simply a deformed monster.

  Suddenly, that body less than half the size of a normal person began to grow at a speed visible to the naked eye. It suddenly turned its head and looked at the camera with a familiar gaze, as if it was... looking at me?

  His face is exactly the same as Old Third Shuai's.

  "The little Japanese are cloning human bodies, and Old Three is one of their test subjects!" I said the conclusion I had been thinking about in my heart for a long time, and just thinking about the whole process sent chills down my spine.

  At this time, the camera direction suddenly changed, and the person holding the iron rod walked forward and appeared in the picture with his back to the camera. Judging from his back, he should be a man. He made some exaggerated gestures towards the cage, but it was unclear if he had spoken.

  A few seconds later, the man turned his face around, and for just a moment, I almost collapsed.

  This man... Good heavens, are you kidding me? It's actually Xie Lao San!

  I slammed my hand on the table: "Damn it, how many Xie Lao San are there in this world?!"

  The noise suddenly startled a passing security guard, who ran over and knocked on the door: "Who's inside?"

  I thought it was terrible and hastily tried to turn off the projector.

  The door was locked from the outside, that is to say, the staff pushed the door and came in. I stared at each other with that person, just then, with a loud noise, the projector suddenly caught fire.

  "What have you done?!" the ground staff shouted loudly.

  "I...I...didn't do anything...it...just caught fire on its own..." I was incoherent and didn't even know how to explain it.

  That person couldn't manage me, and hastily ran out to fetch water. A large basin of cold water was poured over the projector before the flames were finally extinguished.

  This commotion soon alarmed others, and five companions plus seven or eight ground crew members surrounded me.

  "What's going on?" Tian Wenliang walked over.

  "Report to the superior officer, he's a saboteur! He set fire to the projection room, I suspect he's a spy!" The firefighter said with a suspicious glance at me.

  I could only exchange glances, without any room for refutation. Who would have thought I'd be caught red-handed? At that time, I didn't have the composure to remain unperturbed after being caught in the act like I do now. Simply put, my skin wasn't thick enough; in other words, my professional bearing wasn't strong enough.

  Tian Wenliang didn't look at me, but instead reached out to the projector that had been burned halfway through. No one made a sound, and after a moment, Tian Wenliang rubbed his fingers together, sniffed them under his nose, furrowed his brow and said: "There's residual glycerin on the film that hasn't been completely incinerated, as well as a small amount of white phosphorus."

  He glared at me: "This tape is a trap. It self-destructs after you've watched it. Where did you get it?"

  Tian Wenliang had already jumped ship when the corpse exploded, and I didn't bother to tell him about the experience of mistakenly entering the isolated island base. Now, I still don't plan to reveal all the secrets to him, being cautious, and suddenly having an idea, my lips moved slightly: "In Jin... Hua..."

  Tian Wenliang suddenly stood up, coughing loudly, interrupting me from saying the last word. In a deep voice, he said: "Hmph, I'll settle accounts with you later, you little brat, how dare you still hide things from me."

  As I spoke, the crowd dispersed and I secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking about how to muddle through later. In the end, I decided to push all the secrets onto Oni no Tsukuriban, anyway, it's not like Tanaka Bunroku can catch him, dead men tell no tales.

  Time flies so fast after all this fuss.

  At last, at 8:20, the seven of us gathered in front of a transport plane.

  The mission has finally begun.

  "Alright, everyone get ready, we're departing immediately." Tian Wenliang said in a serious tone.

  "Didn't you say there was one more?" Xie Qi asked aloud.

  Tian Wenliang smiled and pointed behind us, saying in a flattering tone: "Honorable guests always appear at the last moment, haha, look, they're here!"

  We all turned around to welcome him, and I really want to know who is the eighth person that Tian Wenliang attaches so much importance to.

  We first saw an ordinary ground staff member slowly walking towards us, could it be him? We were all shocked, he had been hiding in the ground staff from early on, whether it was his temperament or appearance, he was as ordinary as can be, and just this point made us pay even more attention, this kind of person is a top-notch killer, hidden among the crowd, fundamentally undetectable. Ah, the eighth person turned out to be an expert.

  But he didn't walk for a few steps before suddenly stopping in his tracks. He stepped aside and let someone pass, then blew a clear whistle behind him.

  What? Is there someone else?

  A lithe figure rushed over in a second.

  The smiles on our six faces froze instantly.

  Woof... Woof woof woof...

  A purebred German Blackback Hound the size of a grown man, accelerating, flashed past over our heads, we only felt the wind whistling, and were left with shock in our hearts.

  Hei Bei pounced on Tian Wenliang, licking his smiling face with all his might, his thick tail wagging back and forth, making a loud whooshing sound, probably getting hit by the tail was no different from being whipped.

  "Lao Tian, you said the eighth companion, it wouldn't be... a dog, would it?" I still held onto my last thread of hope.

  Tian Wenliang nodded, shattering my fantasy, and smiled slyly: "It's called Hei Tan, a divine dog. You'll understand later. By the way, Hei Tan is not only your companion but also your superior, the deputy leader of this Earth Eye operation! Hmph, what are you staring at? Don't you salute it?"

  The five of us looked at each other, under Tian Wenliang's displeased gaze, and could only helplessly say in a weak and scattered tone: "Hello, Officer Hei Tan!"

  "Woof!" The black-backed hound responded loudly to us.

  Bao Erzhai winked at us and whispered: "Brothers, the reserve rations have been taken care of, I'll show you later."

  Finally, all seven people and one dog arrived, and they stopped nagging. Everyone rushed onto the plane.

  Xie Qi and Xie Ba were two brothers who worked as flight crew members.

  The rest of us sat in two rows facing each other, staring at each other. Eight large backpacks were neatly stacked in the middle, and it seemed that Hei Tan also had one, sitting upright in front of the backpacks, with its tongue hanging down, looking like a nose-up-to-the-sky expression.

  "Hmph, this dog doesn't seem like it's its first time on a plane, I'm a rookie." I suddenly felt that I was less worldly than a dog.

  Tian Wenliang looked at the compass in his hand and shouted loudly towards the driver's cabin: "Depart!"

  Vroom... Vroom... Vroom...... Whirring propellers spinning at high speed.

  The transport plane took off. One minute later, we flew out of the runway of the mountain cave airport and roared northwest towards the mainland.

  "I hope this mission goes smoothly." I muttered a sentence, but at this moment, my mood was as uneasy as when I first boarded the Golden China ship.