Chapter 25: The Big Black Guy at Washington Airport

  Body - Three

  The sunset shone through the airplane window and onto my body, making the Flying Eagle badge in my hand gleam dazzlingly. I stared directly at the Flying Eagle badge against the strong light, and my tired visual nerves made everything within my line of sight start to blur even more. Amidst the blurriness, Jason's tall and dark silhouette was vaguely visible. I didn't expect Jason to die so suddenly. Perhaps the war had already numbed me to life and death, but I feared the departure of one comrade after another, leaving me alone to struggle on in solitude. Outside the cabin window stretched an endless blue sky; my gaze turned to the distance, where the azure ocean lay beyond the sea of clouds...

  "Hey... brother, do you want a cup of coffee?" Just as I was immersed in my nostalgia for Jason, the question from a dark-skinned young man sitting next to me interrupted my thoughts.

  "Hmm... what?" I asked again, lost in thought and not having caught his question. The dark-skinned young man smiled and said: "I asked if you need a cup of coffee." "No... no need, thank you!" I thanked him. The dark-skinned young man said: "You seem to have something on your mind, I've seen that from the moment we got off the plane, you haven't said a word. If you don't mind, we can chat and talk about what's bothering you, maybe it'll make you feel better." As I looked at the dark-skinned young man, I felt that his appearance and speech were somewhat similar to Jason's, and I couldn't help but develop some goodwill towards him from the bottom of my heart.

  I said to him in a light tone, "Actually, it's nothing. Thank you." The dark-skinned young man said, "No need to thank me, are you Chinese?" "Yes!" I replied, and asked him back, "How did you know?" He smiled and said, "Guessing." "Oh, guessed pretty accurately," I said to him. After finishing speaking, I fell into silence again. The dark-skinned young man seemed to see that I was not in the mood for talking and politely stopped chatting, taking out a magazine to flip through on his own.

  After a while, I asked the dark-skinned young man: "Excuse me, how much longer until we arrive in Washington?" The dark-skinned young man put down the magazine he was holding and looked at his watch, saying: "It'll be about three more hours or so." "Oh!" I nodded. The dark-skinned young man asked: "Are you going to Washington to visit relatives or friends?" I thought for a moment before responding: "Friends." At this time, the flight attendant pushed the meal cart over and said: "Sir, what would you like for dinner?" She politely asked me. I looked at the meal cart and said: "Four vegetarian pancakes and a bottle of mineral water, please!" "Okay! Enjoy your meal! And how about you, sir? What can I get for you?" The flight attendant placed the food I ordered on the small table in front of my seat, then asked the dark-skinned young man sitting next to me. The dark-skinned young man said: "One serving of beef sauce noodles, two slices of pumpkin pie, thank you!" "Mmm! Okay, just a minute." The flight attendant placed his ordered dinner in the warmer for a minute before taking it out and placing the steaming hot food on the table in front of the dark-skinned young man, smiling as she said: "Enjoy your meal!"

  After dinner, the dark-skinned young man said to me with a bored expression: "Sitting around is no fun, let's play a game!" I looked at his childlike innocent face and smiled, saying: "You're really interesting, what kind of game do you want to play?" The dark-skinned young man said: "Of course two men would play fighting games, let me check what good fighting games there are." As he spoke, he took out a pair of electronic 3D glasses from under the seat and put them on, then pressed a button on the seat and started browsing.

  The dark-skinned young man quickly selected the game he wanted to play, handed me the glasses and said, "This is it, what do you think?" I took the glasses with a puzzled expression and put them on. Suddenly, a real fighting scene appeared in front of my eyes. The dark-skinned young man had chosen a game called "Ultimate Fist Master", which had more than 20 selectable fighters with different shapes.

  I took off my glasses and asked him, "There's such advanced gaming equipment on the plane? How do you play this?" The dark-skinned young man smiled and said, "Of course there is. You've never played before?" I shook my head with a smile. He continued, "This game is very simple. Just press the green button on your seat." I found the green button and pressed it lightly, and a tactile device immediately rose from the armrest of my seat. The dark-skinned young man said, "Put on the headphones and glasses, then hold this tactile sensor with your hand, and just follow the prompts."

  I followed the black-skinned guy's guidance, put on my glasses and headphones, and then placed my hands on the tactile sensor. The black-skinned guy said to me: "Choose a fighting character!" I looked at those characters with different shapes and chose a strong and tall big beard. The black-skinned guy asked me: "Have you chosen?" "Chosen!" I replied. "Good, let's practice our fists and feet first, see if they're agile, we'll start the game right away." He said to me. According to the text prompt on the screen, I controlled the fighting object to move my hands and feet. "Is it okay?" The black-skinned guy asked me.

  "Alright." I replied. "Let's get started!" The dark-skinned guy clicked the start button, and as the game officially began, the screen in front of me disappeared. Suddenly, a real fighting arena appeared before my eyes, built on a bustling street corner. I felt like I had transformed into the tall, bearded character I had chosen. The men and women surrounding the arena cheered and jumped up and down, and for a moment, I couldn't tell if I was in the game or in real life. I touched "myself" and found that there was even a slight tactile sensation.

  The dark-skinned young man chose a ninja as his fighting character. He let out a loud cry, leaped high into the air, and charged at me with his sword drawn. I hastily raised my warrior's staff to meet him. The two of us clashed, exchanging blows in a fluid motion. We played several rounds, and the dark-skinned young man emerged victorious every time. Afterwards, we played another game called "Deep in the Snake's Lair". After finishing the game, my heavy heart felt much better.

  I said to him, "The game is really fun, I had a great time playing it, you're amazing, I didn't win a single round against you." The dark-skinned guy smiled and said, "You're already very good for your first time, earlier I almost got beaten by you." As he spoke, he lightly punched my chest with his fist and said, "Games are just games, look at your strong physique, if it were in real life, I wouldn't be a match for you." I smiled faintly and said indifferently, "What's the difference between games and real life anyway? Sometimes I feel like I'm no different from the characters in the game, forever unable to escape other people's control." The dark-skinned guy said, "Brother, your thoughts seem really heavy, if you've encountered some difficulties, speak up, maybe I can help you." I said faintly, "Thanks, but I don't have anything, just a bit too sensitive and emotional."

  Unconsciously, the plane had already flown over Washington. Through the window, the bustling city was in sight, and the metropolis at midnight was still shining brightly. After getting off the plane, I said goodbye to the dark-skinned young man and walked out of the airport alone on Yongdao Road. At this moment, my mood is extremely complicated, really don't want to see Jason's body, until now, I still can't believe that Jason sacrificed this fact.

  "Mr. Bote..." Just as I was lost in thought, I heard a familiar voice calling out this unfamiliar name. "Bote" was the title Jason's family used to address me on the letter they sent to the US Embassy in Thailand. At that moment, when I heard someone call out this name, I quickly looked up and searched around, only to find a tall black man standing not far away, smiling at me. When I saw this tall black man, I was both angry and amused - this person was none other than Jason himself. With a serious expression, Jason walked up to me and said with feigned solemnity: "You must be Mr. Bote? I've come especially to pick you up. Welcome to Washington."

  "You...you..." I was so angry that I punched him in the chest. "You little brat, haha... weren't you supposed to be dead?!" Jason hugged me tightly and laughed, saying: "I'm not that easy to kill, mudfish, my good brother, it's great to see you again." I laughed and said: "If you're not dead, why did you have someone write a letter inviting me to your funeral? What kind of international joke is this?" "Hahaha... if I hadn't said I was dead, would you have come to America so quickly? Alright, let's not talk about that now. Let's go home first and chat slowly." Jason said with a smile.

  As I stepped out of the airport, I got into a luxurious black business car with Jason. After driving for half an hour, we arrived in the western suburbs of Washington, where many luxury villas were scattered. Jason's home was one of them. When I walked into Jason's house, I found that his home was more luxurious than I had imagined. I couldn't help but exclaim: "Jason, your home is really extravagant!" Jason smiled and said: "Thank you, toad, don't praise my home like that! I'll be embarrassed."

  I smiled and said, "Is this praise? You're a great guy." Jason said, "Yes, of course it's praise. This will be your home from now on too. Come, take a look at your room." As Jason spoke, he pulled me into a room. "How do you like it?" Jason asked me. I looked around the room and saw that the walls were covered with wallpaper featuring a grass pattern, and there was a beautiful ceiling light installed on the ceiling. The computer desk next to the bed had beautifully drawn lines and patterns on it, and on top of it sat an all-in-one computer and a bullet-shaped model.

  "Not bad, really not bad! Jason, did you design all of this?" I asked with a smile. Jason said: "Of course, I think you and I are both from the army, so I catered to your taste, decorating the room like this, it's pretty good, right?" I patted Jason on the shoulder and said seriously: "Yeah, it's good, quite good."

  After everything was arranged, Jason and I sat in the room chatting. Jason said: "Muddy, do you know that the Chinese side has issued a wanted notice for you on the 'United Front Web'?" "I know, I saw it too. It's all because of Liu Hui, the one who infiltrated our army's vanguard," I said calmly. Jason asked: "Liu Hui, is he the traitor who joined the Gilitar organization and infiltrated your army's vanguard that you mentioned before?" I nodded: "That's right, but what you may not know is that he has long since ceased to be Liu Hui, but rather Bando Long, a trusted follower of Umi, the leader of the cult."

  Jason was taken aback by what I said and asked in a hurry, "What do you mean?" I said, "The cult organization has a technique that can swap people's minds. After Bantian Long was seriously injured, they used the swapping device to swap his mind into Liu Hui's body." Jason exclaimed, "What? They actually have such technology! Wouldn't that allow people to achieve immortality through this technology? How terrifying!" I said, "Yes, what a frightening technology it is. If it spreads unchecked, who can know for sure who the person standing in front of them really is?" Jason sighed, "The advanced technology possessed by the Guta cult organization is too unimaginable. No wonder various countries have tried every means to destroy and disintegrate them but to no avail." I said coldly, "Possessing advanced technology probably isn't the real reason for their longevity. If certain countries and organizations didn't covet their advanced technology and secretly collude with them, the Guta cult organization would have ceased to exist long ago."

  Jason said, "Actually, some of the practices you mentioned in certain countries are also understandable. Who doesn't want to strengthen their country's technology and national defense?" I said coldly, "Yes, but don't you think that indirectly condoning anti-human behavior by evil cult organizations just to obtain their advanced technology is a paradox in itself?" Jason thought for a moment and said, "Maybe what you're saying is right, but Mudfish, we're just ordinary soldiers. We can't control the overall situation of world military affairs. Let's not think too much about it and just do our own jobs well."

  I nodded and said, "Jason, you're right. To the world, we are all insignificant dust. Maybe just doing our own things well is enough. Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. Tell me about yourself, when did you return to the country?" Jason said, "More than half a month ago, after parting with you at the Seabury War Hospital, I was again thrown into battle. However, during the second round of military strikes against the cult, the coalition forces made strategic adjustments and reduced the radius of attack. It was at this time that I was recalled back to the country and began my special operations work."

  Jason asked me again, "Muddy loach, the war situation has changed now. What's your plan for the future?" I smiled self-deprecatingly and said, "What else can I do? I'm carrying a huge 'black pot' on my back, I'm a wanted criminal, let's take it one step at a time. But I'll keep fighting to the end." Jason asked, "Muddy loach, are you willing to stay in America with me and work as a special agent? With your abilities, there won't be any problem." "Working as an American special agent..." I thought for a moment and said, "I'm at a dead end now. When I wrote to you before, it was also hoping to get your help. Working as an American special agent... is fine too, as long as we're fighting against the same enemy. But there's one thing I must make clear: I need to be able to come and go freely. If possible in the future, I still want to return to China."

  Jason said, "That's no problem at all, I know that mudfish is the most patriotic soldier in the Liberation Army." "Alright, it's a deal!" I laughed and held out one fist. Jason also held out his fist and bumped mine, saying: "It's a deal! Tomorrow I'll take you to see my aunt." "Aunt?" I asked Jason: "What does your aunt do?" Jason pretended to be mysterious and said: "This can't be said, it's a secret!" I calmly said: "You're being paranoid, if you don't want to say it then forget it!" Jason smiled slyly and said: "Mudfish, let me tell you, my aunt is the head of the Foreign Intelligence Bureau!"

  Unconsciously, we had chatted till midnight. Jason looked at his watch and said: "It's getting late, I'll go get some supper, eat it and rest early." After finishing speaking, Jason walked out of the room. A little while later, Jason came back with two portions of supper and a bottle of wine. Jason said: "Come on, let's have a drink, to welcome you." I told Jason: "Let's not drink tonight, aren't you taking me to see your aunt tomorrow? Don't delay important things because of drinking." Jason said: "A little won't hurt!" "No way! Let it go for today, we'll have plenty of chances to drink in the future." I said firmly. Jason thought for a moment and said: "Okay, stubborn you..."