Chapter Seventy-Five: Attention, Everyone!
Lin Fan gazed at Zhao Guochen, whose face was filled with anxiety.
“Swish!”
A crisp military salute!
Behind him, the members of the First Squad of the God-Slayer Regiment looked at Zhao Guochen with respect, saluting in unison with Lin Fan.
“Cut it out with that nonsense,” Zhao Guochen urged as he tightened the screws on the reinforcing steel bars. “Get on the speedboats, quickly!”
“When you return to Great Xia, I’ll treat you to Dan Dan noodles,” Lin Fan called out with a smile, waving his hand. “Let’s go!”
Lin Fan climbed onto one of the speedboats.
The squad members of the God-Slayer Regiment quickly followed, boarding their vessels.
Engines roared!
Spray burst from the backs of the speedboats, but due to the steel bars holding them fast, the three vessels couldn’t move forward.
“They’re a bit rusted... Almost done!” Zhao Guochen sweated as he strained with the wrench, trying to loosen the screws.
The screws, soaked in seawater for so long, had rusted—an unexpected complication that Zhao Guochen hadn’t anticipated in his evacuation plan.
He couldn’t be blamed for overlooking it; he was meticulous, preparing not just a safe house but also such a flawless escape route.
Rusty screws—just a trivial detail on any ordinary day.
But in this line of work,
Any overlooked detail could render all preparations meaningless!
Just then—
“Boom!”
Engine sounds suddenly surged from the road they had come by!
In the darkness, a dozen military jeeps charged forward like enraged beasts, their engines growling.
“Snap!”
Beams of spotlights shone directly onto Zhao Guochen, who was still twisting the screws. The jeeps, marked with the emblem of the Free State, halted a hundred meters away. Dozens of heavily armed Free State soldiers in tactical gear immediately jumped out.
“What are you doing!”
“The Premier has issued an order—Free State’s coastline is sealed, no entry or exit!”
“Leave the coastline! Warning! Leave the coastline or we will…”
Blocked by the reefs, the Free State soldiers couldn’t see Lin Fan and the others sitting on the speedboats; they could only see Zhao Guochen standing there, twisting the screws.
“Damn…” Lin Fan’s expression darkened as he gripped his short blade, preparing to disembark.
“Don’t be rash… I… almost got it…” Zhao Guochen’s face flushed with effort.
At that moment,
A Free State soldier shouted, “Sir, this guy seems to be unscrewing the bolts, and there’s the sound of speedboat engines behind the rocks!”
With those words,
Even an idiot could tell—the man twisting the screws was letting someone escape.
The squad leader’s face turned grim. He immediately raised his radio. “Squad 032, support requested at Reef Beach, support requested! Suspected fugitives preparing to escape.”
Within ten minutes at most,
Hundreds of patrol teams would arrive!
But that wasn’t enough.
The squad leader raised his loudspeaker and shouted, “Stop immediately and surrender, or we will use force! First warning! Second warning!”
Even so,
Zhao Guochen remained on the reef, bent over, working the bolts.
“Sniper!”
The Free State squad leader shouted, “Open fire! Take him alive!”
“Bang!”
The black muzzle flashed.
The gunshot shattered the silence of the night; the bullet spun from the barrel, tearing through the air!
“Bang!”
Zhao Guochen, wrench in hand, was struck in the shoulder—blood spurted instantly!
“Ah!”
He howled in pain, but gritted his teeth and clung to the wrench.
Just as Lin Fan was about to leap out, Zhao Guochen suddenly smiled.
“Don’t be rash!” Zhao Guochen said with a smile, “I almost have it…”
“The captain always taught me, cough, pay attention to details… How did I forget screws could rust…” he muttered quietly.
The loudspeaker blared again with the shouts of the Free State soldiers.
“Stop immediately, stop immediately!”
“If you do not stop, we will use lethal force!”
“Three, two…”
“Ah!!!” Zhao Guochen roared.
“Click!”
The wrench jerked—the rusted screw finally came loose, and the three speedboats shot forward!
Meanwhile.
“Damn it!” The Free State squad leader snarled, “He let them escape right under our noses. Quick—catch him!”
The soldiers rushed toward Zhao Guochen, who stood atop the reef.
Zhao Guochen watched the three speedboats speeding away. In that final moment, he saluted fiercely with his still-mobile left arm!
His gaze seemed to pierce through the barrier of the sea, seeing a prosperous homeland, crimson flags waving.
Perhaps it was because he hadn’t saluted in a long time, or perhaps it was the first time he saluted with his left arm—the gesture was not standard.
But none of that mattered now.
Zhao Guochen turned to face the soldiers charging at him, drawing a small pistol from his breast pocket.
“Careful, he’s armed!”
“Drop your weapon!”
“Drop it now!”
The soldiers, suddenly facing a deadly threat, aimed their rifles at Zhao Guochen.
But, in full view of all, Zhao Guochen pressed the muzzle against his temple.
For someone in his line of work, once exposed, dying on the spot was the best outcome!
Otherwise, endless torture would follow.
He feared he wouldn’t withstand such torment!
People of Great Xia would rather die standing than live kneeling!
How many unsung heroes have quietly died for Great Xia?
“Damn it, he’s trying to kill himself—stop him!” shouted the Free State squad leader.
After a lifetime of restraint, at the moment his identity was exposed, Zhao Guochen faced the Free State soldiers and burst out laughing.
“I, Zhao Guochen, never thought myself a hero.”
“I only wish, in the next life, to be a son of Great Xia again!”
“To fight, and die, for Great Xia!”
Damn it, I really wish I could have just one bite of Dan Dan noodles.
Zhao Guochen closed his eyes, about to pull the trigger.
“If only I’d listened to the captain—paid attention to details, checked the screws properly… To die because of a screw…”
“Snap!”
The muzzle flashed.
Zhao Guochen opened his eyes in confusion, despair filling his gaze.
At the very last moment, a hand slapped away his pistol!
Zhao Guochen stared blankly behind him, and in the next instant, was stunned.
Six figures stood behind him.
The entire First Squad of the God-Slayer Regiment was there!
The young man gripped his gun hand firmly.
For a moment, Zhao Guochen was overcome with emotion, but then his face turned grim.
“Why didn’t you leave!” Zhao Guochen demanded angrily of the six before him. “Why didn’t you go!!”
The young man released his hand, smiling as he patted Zhao Guochen’s shoulder. “I said I’d share a bowl of Dan Dan noodles with you.”
“But before that,
I want to see you return alive to Great Xia.”
“Swish!”
The short blade flashed!
Lin Fan drew his knife, stepped before Zhao Guochen, and faced the armed soldiers with a cold, resolute expression. “First Squad of the God-Slayer Regiment—all present!”