Chapter 14: Of One Root!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"If I remember correctly, you aren't a member of the Black Star Unit," said the man seated
before Zhang Heng. He was well-built and had a series of facial scars that lent him a streak of
menace.
The room Zhang Heng was in was cramped and enclosed. It appeared to be an interrogation
room of some police station. It had been three days since their unit was ambushed at Town H.
The ambush was definitely well-organized, because it had surprised even Ying, the expert in
ambush warfare. Everyone was killed other than Ying who, despite suffering a stomach bullet
wound, managed to slip away through the sewers, and Zhang Heng, who was captured after
getting shot in the arm.
In the past three days, to Zhang Heng's surprise and relief, there was no application of torture.
As a matter of fact, he even received treatment for his bullet wound. They had extracted the
slug and even gave him antibiotics. It was only on the third day that he was brought to this
interrogation room before this man who revealed himself as the leader of a rebel army of a few
thousand. The man whom the rest referred to as Chou.
Taking in deep breaths to steady himself, Zhang Heng replied, "I, I have nothing to tell you
because I have not even heard of the Black Star Unit…"
This gave Chou a pause before he laughed out loud. He addressed Zhang Heng without a hint of
ire in his voice. "Oh, sorry, I forgot you're here. The statement wasn't addressed to you; I was
merely talking to myself there. I'm pretty sure you have nothing to do with the Black Star Unit. I
would have known if you were one them, although I suppose they could have recruited new
members recently… But I doubt you're even military, so don't worry."
Caught off guard by Chou's comment, Zhang Heng blurted out, "But aren't you here to
interrogate me?"
Smiling, Chou answered, "Interrogate you? Now, why would I do that… I believe that everything
you know I already know. For example, I know where you're from. A Tennessean base housing a
spaceship, right?"
Zhang Heng was visibly perturbed by the man's casual dropping of confidential information. He
could barely mount a response.
Seeing Zhang Heng's flabbergasted response, Chou chuckled, "Don't look so scared. I have no
intention to harm you. In fact, you're not here to be interrogated at all, and that information
about your base… It's really not that hard to deduce. Your people have been trekking all over the
world drafting able-bodied civilians and bright minds. Even if we're in the middle of anarchy,
obvious activities like that aren't really that hard to miss. And with all of this information, it
doesn't take a genius to put two and two together, which again tells me that you aren't a Black
Star member, because they wouldn't need me to spell out something this obvious for them."
Fearing the answer, Zhang Heng hesitated for a while before finally asking, "If that's the case,
then why am I here?"
Instead of answering, Chou retrieved a photograph from his pocket and dumped it on the table
between them. Zhang Heng could feel tears pricking his eyes as his sight fell on the
photograph. It was a portrait of his family, a memento from better times. A family of three was
smiling brightly at the camera. There was his mother, who unfortunately had died in the earlier
days of the riot, and his father, whose location was still unknown. The sight of his parents
pierced a shard of grief through his heart.
"Where did you get this photo? It has never left my father's wallet!" he demanded hurriedly.
Chou explained, "That's right. I heard about your team's objective, so while you’re in here, I
gathered all my resources to help you finish what you started. I'm sorry to say, but this man in
the photo died three months ago in an outbreak. Due to the rarity of his size during these times
and the fact that he had a gun on him, he made quite an unforgettable impression on one of my
men, so when I issued the search details, he came forth and I took this picture from him. Keep
it, it's yours after all."
Afraid Chou might renege on his words, Zhang Heng hastily stored the treasured photo and
then said, "If you're expecting me to repay your kindness, then I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint
you. I have no say within the Black Star Unit… But making a case to take a few more people
along, that I could still do. That's your purpose after all, isn't it?"
Chou snickered at the suggestion before ominously adding, "You, my friend, are sorely
mistaken… I have no interest in getting aboard that ship. I agree that it might be a different
story if the ship was found by somebody else, but the thought of having to exist in the same
space as that hypocrite… I'd rather die… So, I don't need your help; I just need you to stay put
and be good bait. If I know that son of a bitch, and I think I do, he'll order his men to come save
you soon, so you just sit still until then…
And then, my revenge against the Black Star Unit will be complete…"
The time was already nine in the morning when Yao Yuan awakened from his sleep.
Guang Zhen's unit had departed for China seven hours ago. With the best firearms and bulletproof
vests, as well as satellite triangulation and hovercraft technology, there were simply no
forces left on earth that could stand a chance against them. That much was certain.
But a sliver of apprehension remained lodged in Yao Yuan's mind. It had to do with the person
he had just dreamed of… The traitorous Black Star that he had eliminated way back when the
squad was training on one of the space stations… But why would he dream of him now…
Added to that was the out-of-body feeling that he had first experienced when they initially
breached the base. That feeling had gotten more and more pronounceable in the recent
months… They all seemed tied to that episode on the space station…
where Zhang Heng was held. It was a deserted skyscraper in the middle of the city next
to a police station.
They even managed to discern that the enemy had about three thousand people. After removing
the harmless ruffians and civilians that they had managed to sway to their side though, the
actual number of armed rebels had an expected maximum number of only eight hundred.
It was an easy mission, so Guang Zhen wasted no time because they needed to get to Zhang
Heng fast. In hostage rescue operations such as this, time was of essence.
"Move! Move! Move! Lieutenants and sergeants, get your units coordinated! Get moving!"
Guang Zhen ordered out of habit, in Chinese. When he realized that most of his team had
remained waiting for his order, he repeated it in English.
Almost instantly, fourteen hovercrafts sped into the building, their outer machinegun turrets
blazing. The outermost patrols were decimated under the hail of bullets, some even fracturing
into pieces. Soon after, a piercing alarm shot through the building.
Guang Zhen lifted his head and spotted a hovercraft landing on the roof. It was the scouts led by
Lee. Their point of entry was from above. In the hovercraft, as Guang Zhen loaded his gun and
checked his vest, he issued for landing and ordered his men to prepare to storm the building.
As the craft touched the ground, under his orders, his team spread out to secure the structure…
"Hahaha… Look at them! Walking step by step into my plan!" cackled Chou, who was watching
all this unfolding through a surveillance screen in the adjacent police station. With the
difference in technology available in mind, he knew that his men had no chance against Yao
Yuan's troops, so instead, he used this inequality to his advantage. Stationing the place with just
enough mobs to feed into the opponent's sense of triumph, the skyscraper was essentially a
giant trap luring Guang Zhen's troop in with a trail of small victories.
While noting his enemies' movements through the screen, he elaborated, with dripping
malevolence, "Here's a little trivia for you. I was a spy sent by the higher-ups to infiltrate the
Black Star Unit. Espionage like this was actually extremely common. It was to the government's
benefit to keep tabs on special ops units such as the Black Star Unit. In fact, before Yao Yuan
became the leader, there was a long history of spies in the squad. If you think about it, it was
actually a symbiotic relationship; the government was more willing to grant the squad with a
larger budget and more supplies if they knew what was truly happening… But Yao Yuan, that
bastard, when he found out, he wanted to silence me when we were training on the space
station, dismissing everything that I had done for the squad!
No thought went into his mind that I had a family to support, because unless necessary, who
would volunteer as a spy? But no, he never saw things from my perspective and gave me no
chance. If not for my luck, I would have been a floating carcass in space by now. But thanks to
him, everything I had was taken away from me. Because of political reasons, those politicians
were unable to tell my family I was actually a spy but instead spun some story about how I was
a foreign mole and had to be eliminated. I never heard from them after that. Those bloody
officials, they turned on me!"
Chou's narration had gotten to a point where he was almost yelling everything out, but he
caught himself here. After some time, he continued, in a tone that was contrastingly and eerily
calm, "But no worries; today I'll expose Yao Yuan for the hypocrite that he is. He always says
that nothing is more important than your comrades and mates. Well, what the hell am I? But
that's alright; I'll make mass graves out of his so-called comrades and let's see whether he'll use
the remaining time to avenge his supposed comrades or if he will escape like the coward that I
know he is…"
Chou slipped from within his uniform a tiny remote and then resumed his monologue as if he
didn't notice Zhang Heng, who was scared shitless beside him. "Guess what this is… It's
connected to explosives that I've collected over the past few months… And bingo! They have
been deployed throughout the building… With just a soft click, the place will be flattened in a
matter of seconds…" Chou turned to peer at the screen. "There're still a few units not within the
range, but soon… We'll have a fireworks display on our hands… Exciting, isn't it…"
Zhang Heng looked at the monitor in increasing despair as Guang Zhen's troops gradually filled
up the screen. Before long, they managed to secure the whole building.
Chou laughed manically, but right before his finger touched the remote button, a shadow
swooped in through the window behind Zhang Heng, sending pieces of glass flying everywhere.
As the person safely rolled into a soft landing, he unbuckled his gun and released a shot at
Chou. Years of training helped Chou dodge the shot by leaping back. He even managed to return
fire at the intruder.
"Yao Yuan! How dare you still show your face around me?!"
"It is you, Ning Bo Tao! You survived space?!"
"Yes, I survived, but unfortunately for you, today you won't!"
To Zhang Heng, it was a scene right out of the Matrix. Somehow, in between dodging bullets,
the two men still had time to fire at each other. It was as if they knew the trajectory of the
bullets before they were shot!
And the room thundered with relentless blasts of gunshots!
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