Chapter 316: A Twist of Fate

Dim lights, with the darkness that permeated most of the surrounding area refusing to dissipate. This garage, as usual, was not magnificent, but it had the advantage of being safe and solid. Several cars were parked side by side, each a brand-new Mercedes-Benz classic design, the kind of good thing that had a price but no market.

Seeing the Führer’s personal secretary enter the garage, the three SS soldiers on duty in the guardhouse at the entrance immediately stood up, saluted at attention, and shouted the familiar slogan, “Heil Führer!”

“Heil Führer,” Akado’s driver, Depp, returned the salute casually. But Anna, who was following behind him, seemed to have a lot on her mind. She actually did not return the salute as usual but continued to walk forward absentmindedly.

Ever since she had walked into this garage, Anna had been a little uneasy. Although Akado’s driver, Depp, was by her side, she always felt that something big was about to happen. Sometimes, you have to admit that a woman’s intuition is very accurate. It is a kind of perceptual ability for things that cannot be proven by scientific principles.

Depp noticed that something was not quite right with Anna. He smiled and, while taking out the car keys, said, “The news from the front these past few days has all been of victory. General Rommel has already advanced to the vicinity of Oubela. Everything is going smoothly. You don’t need to be so suspicious.”

Anna frowned, scanned her surroundings, and, finding nothing unusual, also smiled. “The Führer’s safety is very important to me, so I must ensure the Führer’s absolute safety.”

She leaned against the car door, the heels of her military leather boots only twenty centimeters away from Paul, who was under the car. She looked at her watch and said, “It’s about time. Maybe I’m just being too sensitive. Let’s go to the main entrance and wait for the Führer to come out.”

“You can’t be blamed for these things,” Depp said with a smile, opening the car door. “You know, the Führer has recently been dealing with those Junker aristocrats who don’t know when to advance or retreat, so it’s better to be a little more careful about safety.”

Paul already had his pistol in his hand. His face was covered in sweat, and his heart seemed to be about to jump out of his throat. from his angle, he could see the two discarded, faulty pencil timers on the ground, but because of the car’s cover, Anna and Depp had not yet seen them.

In the end, Anna still lowered the hand that was resting on her own pistol. She got into the car and waited for Depp to start it. Soon, the engine roared to life, and the two of them moved slowly forward with the car, and Paul’s head was also exposed from the rear of the car.

The car quickly drove out of the underground garage, and only then did Paul dare to move his body. He quietly climbed up and retreated behind the pillar. He let out a long sigh of relief, stuffed the pistol back into his coat, and secretly swore that if there was another mission like this, he would not come, even if it killed him.

He began to pack his things. With a careless step, he kicked one of the faulty pencil timers away. Although it did not make a loud noise, the place where the pencil timer stopped was really not easy to retrieve.

Paul shook his head helplessly, carefully packed up the rest of his things, and was just about to get up and leave when he felt someone behind him. He turned his head sharply, and somehow the pistol was in his hand again. When his muzzle was pointed at the target, only then did he realize that it was Ghost, who had been worried about him and had crawled over to see the situation.

“You scared me to death!” Paul said in a low voice.

“Is the thing on the car?” Ghost asked in a low voice, pushing aside Paul’s muzzle with his finger.

“It’s installed under the car. Two explosive charges!” Paul nodded.

Ghost waved his hand. “Retreat!”

The two men, one after the other, crawled back into the ventilation opening, carefully installed the iron grille of the vent back in place, and tightened the screws. Then the two of them continued back the way they had come, preparing to leave this place quietly.

Meanwhile, Anna was silent in the car, but her heart was becoming more and more restless. She recalled the feeling in the garage just now. There was always a gloomy feeling of being watched. She suddenly remembered that she had not even checked the garage just now, nor had she confirmed if there was anyone under the car.

But as she was thinking, the car had already stopped at the main entrance of the Führer’s Residence. Akado, already wearing his coat, was walking out of the main entrance with a smile. Anna had no choice but to push open the car door, meet Akado as she usually did, escort him into the car, and then get in after him.

However, at this moment, three black German government-dedicated Mercedes-Benz cars drove over from the other side of the street. Heydrich, with his assistant, hurriedly got out of the car, passed the guards, and walked up to Akado.

“My Führer!” Heydrich saluted at attention.

Akado returned the salute with a smile. “Long live Germany. My dear General Heydrich, I was just about to set off for the Naval General Staff to hear the naval generals’ suggestions on the Norwegian campaign. What a coincidence that you have come at this time.”

“Oh, a batch of artworks was just sent back from the French front today. It is one of the precious cultural relics collected from France according to the ‘Art Berlin Project’,” Heydrich said with a smile. “Last time Mr. Krupp was chatting with me, he mentioned that the Führer seemed to be very fond of the works created by a painter named van Gogh, so as soon as I got this ‘The Starry Night,’ painted by Mr. van Gogh in 1889, I couldn’t wait to send it to you, Führer.”

“Is that so?” Akado was taken aback for a moment. Back in the day, he had never had the capital to play with such elegant things. Now, to have others present the famous paintings of later generations with both hands—this feeling finally made him experience the superiority of a transmigrator once again.

At this time, van Gogh’s paintings were not as valuable as they would be in later generations, so they had not been excessively sought after or protected. So this painting had been collected by the SS and was now being presented to Akado in person to win the Führer’s favor.

Transmigrators generally have this kind of antique mentality. For example, if you transmigrate to the Song Dynasty, you have to get a piece of Emperor Huizong’s calligraphy, or get your hands on the Along the River During the Qingming Festival scroll to enjoy. Akado was no exception. He felt that although his artistic cells were not as rich as Hitler’s, he was at least a refined new-generation German Führer.

“Thank you, Heydrich! I like it very much. I can just hang it on the wall of the living room,” Akado said with a smile. “Open it. Let me see.”

“Führer, it’s already time to depart,” Cindra reminded him from the side.

“Open it. I’ll just take a casual look,” Akado said with a smile. “Indulging once in a while won’t affect anything, will it?”

As they were speaking, all the cars at the entrance had their engines running. The temperature of the entire car’s undercarriage was therefore not low, especially the position where the two bombs were placed. Because it was close to the car’s drive shaft, the temperature was even higher.

Because the temperature was higher than expected, the chemical reaction inside the pencil timers used at this time was even more violent. The chemical substances inside were constantly undergoing a displacement reaction, and the iron wire used to fix the firing device was getting thinner and thinner.

Heydrich waved his hand, and two SS soldiers carried the painting up the steps and, in front of Akado, pulled down the covering cloth. Akado was instantly attracted by the painting before him. He reached out his hand, wanting to caress the colorful canvas, but just as his fingertips were about to touch the painting, he remembered that doing so was a very impolite act. So he moved his hand down and placed it on the frame.

“Depp! Come over here!” Akado beckoned with a smile and called to the driver in the car at the bottom of the stairs. “Come and help me with something.”

Depp nodded, pushed open the car door, got out, and came to Akado’s side. He bowed his head and asked, “My Führer, is there anything I can do for you?”

“I called you over because I want you to take them inside and tell them to hang the painting in…” Akado was halfway through speaking when the Mercedes-Benz parked at the entrance exploded with a loud “boom.” The entire car was overturned on the ground by the violent explosion, and the scattered fragments instantly cut down a swath of the surrounding SS soldiers who were on guard.

A piece of shattered glass flew directly toward Akado’s position. And Akado, who had been out of battle for a long time, was also stunned by the tragic scene before him. He instinctively wanted to bend down to dodge but found that his speed seemed to be not as fast as it had been in his military years.

Seeing this piece of glass rushing straight for his face, Akado was already mentally prepared to be reincarnated again, but a black shadow just appeared in front of him. It was not until blood spattered on Akado’s face that he saw clearly that it was Anna who had thrown herself forward without regard for her own safety.

The piece of glass had pierced Anna’s shoulder. Because its trajectory had changed, it had flown past Akado’s cheek. Following that, the blast wave had blown the two soldiers holding the painting in front of him to the ground, and Akado had also fallen to the ground with the solid wood painting.

“My God! The Führer! The Führer has been attacked!” an officer in the distance was so scared that the cigarette in his mouth fell to the ground. He quickly shouted loudly, “Guards! Guards! Quick! Be on alert! Alert!”

“No one is to approach this area! If anyone tries to break through, kill them on the spot!” another officer also commanded. The surrounding SS soldiers all quickly got up and began to guard the area with their guns at the ready.

The buzzing in Akado’s ears had not yet dissipated. He struggled to get up but found that he was being pressed down by several people, and it seemed to be a problem to even move. He moved his arm, pushed aside the blood-covered Depp, and only then did he discover that Anna was lying on top of him, bright red blood flowing from her shoulder.

“Medic! Someone! Get a doctor!” Akado screamed, his voice heart-wrenching. “Help! Someone come and help!”

As he struggled to sit up, he supported Anna with his hand and cried out like a cuckoo weeping blood, “Anna! Wake up! Anna! Someone! Quick, come and help!”

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