Huo Shaoheng’s glare sent a chill through the men. Zhao Liangze used all his strength to prevent his knees from shaking, and was scared that he would become tongue tied as soon as he opened his mouth. He could only look at Yin Shixiong and speak slowly. “B-B-Big Xiong, you tell him.”
Yin Shixiong had always been articulate, but facing Huo Shaoheng in that moment—the oppressive aura of his Chief—he couldn’t find a single tactful thing to say. So, he opted to speak the truth as knew it.
“Reporting to Chief!” Yin Shixiong snapped his heels in attention and then continued. “Gu Nianzhi went to Dufeng Mountain Resort Villa for her graduation trip and encountered distress! She and Special Operations Forces personnel, Little Li are m.i.a at the moment!” Yin Shixiong stood in rigid military stance with both palms flat on his trouser seams, head high as he finished his report.
Huo Shaoheng rose and slowly brought his hands behind his back. His eyes were like bottomless wells, but an intense light flashed in them like a lone fire burning in the night sky. The power that branched out from him left one with the impression that those who came close to him would be reduced to ashes. He calmly looked ahead for a while, before extending his hand to open his laptop, his fingers tapping on the keyboard. His voice was low. “Activate satellite tracking.”
Zhao Liangze’s eyes lit up and the lump that had been stuck in his throat for the past half an hour finally found went down as he cried, “How did I forget about that? Chief, please grant me, Lieutenant Colonel Zhao Liangze, permission to activate Special Satellite 2!”
Huo Shaoheng nodded without looking at him: he had already opened Special Satellite 2’s tracking system on his computer. Zhao Liangze ran out of Huo Shaoheng’s office to a small inner room within the mechanical room. He sat before the large central control computer and rubbed his hands together, then quickly entered in strings of passwords before using his fingerprint and eye recognition to generate a secure, temporary password.
In Huo Shaoheng’s office, Yin Shixiong was too afraid to move and remained before Huo Shaoheng’s the desk. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead and along his neck, dripping down his collar and merging with the sweat on his back.
Huo Shaoheng’s head was lowered as he bent over his computer and activated a hidden program. Five minutes later, in the airspace 30,000 kilometers above Blue Planet, a satellite named Special Satellite 2 completed an orbital adjustment and locked onto the location as programmed: the Dufeng Mountain Resort Villa.
…
“We found them!” Zhao Liangze cried out from in the mechanical room. “We have both Nianzhi’s and Little Li’s locations! They’re still in Dufeng Mountain Resort Villa—wait, Little Li’s location seems to be outside the resort…”
Zhao Liangze’s fingers entered a series of commands in order to triangulate Little Li’s exact location. Huo Shaoheng was in the study. He ran the computer program running Special Satellite 2, and commanded the army personnelle to collaborate and plan for infiltration and retrieval. After a few more commands, Special Satellite 2 was locked onto its target. Huo Shaoheng leaned back and motioned at Yin Shixiong to explain the entire situation.
“When the students made plans to have their graduation trip at Dufeng Mountain Resort Villa, I checked the location first and determined that it was a secure and clean establishment; only then did I give Gu Nianzhi the ‘ok’. I sent Little Li with her too, so I never thought…” Yin Shixiong mumbled, his head dropping. “Chief, I’m so very sorry. My carelessness warrants disciplinary action, as is only right.”
Although no one had told him the details, Yin Shixiong knew that Gu Nianzhi had gotten into trouble just two months ago and that it had been Chen Lie who saved her. At that time also, Yin Shixiong had not foreseen the danger that she had eventually gotten caught up in. Now, something similar was happening again, and Yin Shixiong fully blamed himself for being so sloppy and negligent.
Huo Shaoheng looked up and slowly shook his head.
“Big Xiong, don’t say things like, ‘I never thought,’ as a soldier under my command. In war, there’s no time for you to say the words, ‘I never thought.’ There’s no time for you to backtrack, or berate yourself over minor setbacks or regrets. You must embrace the tenets of precision, accuracy, and efficiency in every thing you do and in every move you make.”
Because anyone who thinks like that will already be long dead in the midst battle. Huo Shaoheng thought grimly.
Yin Shixiong’s head lowered further. Deep in his heart, he confronted the reason for his mistakes: the truth was, he had never regarded taking care of Gu Nianzhi as an important military duty. His overconfident and erroneous mindset, however, had put Gu Nianzhi in harm’s way again. It had tainted his integrity as not only as a soldier, but as Gu Ninazhi’s extended guardian as well.
“Punishment is inevitable…but this isn’t over yet. Whether you can make amends and rectify this situation depends on you.” Huo Shaoheng levelled Yin Shixiong and pointed at the door. “So, get out and get to it.”
“Yes, Chief!” Yin Shixiong snapped his legs together and saluted before running out. After he left, he immediately contacted the C City Special Forces Auxiliary Branch.
“What’s the situation at Dufeng Mountain Resort Villa?”
The officer on the other end promptly responded. “Reporting to Lieutenant Colonel Yin Shixiong! The police headquarters have deployed a special unit—100 riot police— with Deputy Commissioner Liu leading the operation and full support of the entire police force. They have also mobilized a helicopter and have contacted the garrison’s special forces team for good measure!”
Yin Shixiong questioned him in detail for a long time before ending the call. Even the special forces with the garrison troops were on standby, meaning that the situation at Dufeng Mountain Resort Villa was worse than he had thought.
Yin Shixiong set aside his pride and burst into Huo Shaoheng’s study to plead with him. “Reporting to Chief! Special Operations Forces Lieutenant Colonel Yin Shixiong is requesting to support the operation by Dufeng Mountain Police!”
Huo Shaoheng nodded slowly, his gaze lightly scanning over Yin Shixiong’s face. Seems like things are worse than Yin Shixiong thought. He closed his laptop and rose from his seat. “Have someone prepare the car and bring Little Ze. I’ll be going too.”
“What?” Yin Shixiong grew even more anxious. “Chief, you can’t go! It’s too dangerous there! The number of criminals is unknown and we aren’t familiar with the topography.”
Huo Shaoheng didn’t say a word, but stared him down. It was enough to shut Yin Shixiong up. He gave a military salute. “Yes sir! I’ll go prepare everything right away!”
Huo Shaoheng walked to his bedroom, opened his closet, and put on his custom military uniform. He wore knee length boots with bulletproof knee guards and custom made bullet proof clothing covering his torso and legs. Even his helmet was bulletproof. He had two Browning pistols at his hips and carried an American M16A semi-automatic assault rifle. His face was calm as he walked out. Huo Shaoheng held the rank of Major General, so he had at least eight guards with him during outings. But, because he managed the Special Operations Forces, which was completely different from the Field Army, he required privacy and secrecy, rather than publicity. So this time, he went out with only his guard and driver, Fan Jian.
Yin Shixiong sat in the front as usual, while Zhao Liangze carried a pile of electronic equipment and sat next to Huo Shaoheng in the back. They rode in a Humvee.
“What plate should we use?” Fan Jian started the engine with his right hand and opened the side compartment of the side door with his left hand to reveal an array of license plates. They could be used and changed at anytime.
“Use the garrison plate.” Yin Shixiong glanced at Huo Shaoheng and saw him close his eyes. He interpreted the Major’s silence as approval.