Chapter 76
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
You can buy coins here to unlock advanced chapters: https://gravitytales.com/coins-purchase-page/
Chapter 76: The Vanished Hoot
In the secret command center of the Special Operations Department, Yao Chi stared at the dark monitor in front of her. Just moments ago, the Hoot-12 had been rapidly flying along its scheduled route and was only ten minutes away from reaching the airspace above the Noah Launch Site when it disappeared in an instant.
She squinted slightly, calmly picked up the intercom, and asked, "Are there any abnormal reports near the location of the disappearance?"
After a while, the response came back: "No abnormalities detected." The monitor then transmitted the situation around the sea near the Hoot-12’s disappearance, showing no unusual sounds in the air and no significant waves on the surface of the sea.
If it wasn’t shot down, then it must have intentionally shut off communications. She pressed her lips into a thin line, watching the screen for a moment before saying, "Understood, continue monitoring the nearby situation."
This secret operation had been discussed privately with Zhu Long, so the resources that could be openly used were limited. The Hoot-12 was discreetly taken from an old hangar of the World Unity Organization, equipped with a medium-sized nuclear bomb specifically for this mission.
This arrangement was necessary because following the appointment of the new Strategic Commander at the Space Administration, adjustments needed to be made to the permissions of the international space station. According to the latest intelligence received by the Special Operations Department, the Euyun family had made significant preparations at the Noah Launch Site.
Additionally, the Space Administration observed that a large solar flare is likely to occur in three months, which will greatly impact the time channel and could potentially halt time travel for one to three years.
Based on these circumstances, both Yao Chi and Zhu Long agreed that the Euyun family’s new personnel would first demand a reassignment of space station permissions, making numerous concessions in other areas without rushing to pursue the actions of the previous leadership. This was highly likely because they planned to escape before the impending solar flare.
Surrounding this escape plan, the Euyun family would certainly leverage the Federation to initiate more secret operations targeting the Space Administration and various forces to secure a more favorable escape situation, posing a great threat to the entire world. However, due to concerns of balance, the Special Operations Department could not bring these matters to light to avoid provoking greater conflicts.
So when Yao Chi learned that Wen Jing was about to return, and recalling that she had a nuclear bomb at her disposal, she made this decision with Zhu Long to secretly undercut the Euyun family.
This task posed no difficulty for Wen Jing; Yao Chi was confident in her abilities and never doubted her loyalties. Given the backdrop of her return and dismissal, no one was more suitable for this secret operation than her. However, it seemed there were details in this matter that Yao Chi had overlooked.
Thinking this, she examined the dark monitor again. It had been ten minutes since the Hoot-12 just vanished, and according to the planned schedule, the nuclear bomb should have already landed at the Noah Launch Site by now.
Frowning, Yao Chi rose and walked to the window to look out at the pitch-black night. She wondered if Wen Jing had possibly changed her mind at the last moment, or if Wen Yang had discovered this plan and intervened. As she pondered, her secretary suddenly spoke from behind, "A nuclear explosion was just detected at the Noah Launch Site."
She quickly turned around to see that the data coming in indicated a violent disturbance right at the center of the Noah Launch Site. But before she could let out a sigh of relief, she quickly noticed something strange in the data. Normally, nuclear bombs detonate in mid-air before hitting the ground. However, this explosion had occurred close to the surface.
If the bomb originated from the Hoot-12, given the drop distance, the Hoot-12 would be unable to escape unscathed. Even if it weren’t knocked down by the shockwave, the pilot would be fully exposed to the radiation from high-energy particles and would perish on the spot. This was certainly not part of her plan; the drop coordinates she designed were not this reckless.
Yao Chi’s eyes narrowed as she stared at the data, the veins in her eyes bulging with tension. Her clenched fists trembled slightly, and she gritted her teeth, muttering, "Wen Jing, you better not be playing me."
At that moment, the drone relayed another image, capturing the afterglow of the nuclear explosion above the Noah Launch Site. The remote island, along with a small stretch of sky, was illuminated like daytime, and a small mushroom cloud with dark gold hues was dissipating, surrounded by visible layers of luminous rings.
"Honestly, this scene is quite beautiful. Did you look back just now?" Zhu Huai, wearing a wing suit, hovered above the sea ten kilometers from the Noah Launch Site and smiled as she greeted Luo Yu, who was coming towards her.
"I didn’t look." Luo Yu also wore the same wing suit, removed her helmet, took a breath through her purification mask, and gracefully spun around to face her. "I was busy checking my equipment. Can you check if my clothes are still intact?"
Zhu Huai laughed, "They are all fine, completely undamaged."
The suits they wore were thermal protective suits brought back from the Ponsuo Tribe, capable of resisting fire and shock waves. Although Luo Yu ejected from the Hoot-12 and rolled several times in the hot air stream, she didn’t feel the impact of the nuclear explosion on her body. The shock forces must have been neutralized upon contact with the protective material of her suit.
The two of them hovered in the air, silently watching the direction of the Noah Launch Site. Nearby, a patrol boat had already been deployed, and from their position, they could see boats and helicopters racing towards that area, their lights twinkling.
The Noah Launch Site was completely destroyed; not only were the surface facilities flattened, but the underground bunker that could have withstood a nuclear bomb had also turned into a massive pit.
Luo Yu gazed at the dark, lonely island and recalled the destroyed laboratory of the Northern Continent, involuntarily clenching her fist.
While traveling here, she had obtained particularly sensitive intelligence from Zhu Long that a young leader from the Euyun family was currently inspecting the base for their "time migration plan," and this leader was also the main planner behind the bombing of the laboratory in the Northern Continent, having suggested disguising the operation as a government plane drop.
However, there was an extremely strong underground fortress beneath the Noah Launch Site. If the nuclear bomb was deployed according to the planned coordinates, the people sleeping in that bunker should still survive.
This made Luo Yu very unhappy. Now that she was here, how could she allow such a person to live under the nuclear bomb?
To penetrate the fortress’s protective layer, only ground-level deployment of the nuclear bomb equipped on the Hoot-12 could achieve that.
After shutting down communications, she and Zhu Huai split up. Zhu Huai would carry a jammer and eject from the vessel near the base to create a scanning shield for the Hoot-12, while Luo Yu would pilot the fighter to avoid the artificial patrols and swoop down to drop the nuclear bomb directly into the center of the base before quickly ejecting.
Simultaneously, the Hoot-12 and the nuclear bomb would strike the base directly, turning into ash and leaving no traces of intrusion—an absolutely perfect plan.
Luo Yu crossed her arms, observing the large pit in the air. She guessed Yao Chi was probably fuming right now because Yao Chi had intended to use the young negotiator from the Euyun family as leverage to negotiate with the Federation, which was why she wanted the bomb deployed at a height that wouldn’t damage the fortress. Yao Chi aimed to ruin the Euyun family’s escape plan while keeping the Federation at bay to maintain the precariously unstable situation.
This was the consistent strategy of the World Unity Organization. Over the years, to promote global integration against the backdrop of dwindling resources, various agencies within the organization diligently worked on patching up issues just to avoid humanity’s potential self-destruction through mutual extermination.
Luo Yu could understand this approach, but she did not agree with it. Given the current situation, maintaining this false peace on the brink of danger was no longer meaningful. Only by addressing and eradicating these toxic sources could the humans of their time achieve survival and usher in a truly new era.
At that moment, more helicopter sounds filled the air. They looked back to see it was likely a response from the Federation’s maritime anti-terrorism center, and this location was no longer suitable for staying. The two exchanged glances and turned to fly northwards.
They circled in the air before arriving at a support point located at the back of the maritime anti-terrorism center. From above, they could see many people scurrying around on the ground, likely responding to the news and deploying teams for rescue.
Luo Yu observed for a while and then quietly descended with Zhu Huai into a shadowed area at the support point, making their way to the back of the hangar along the drainage ditch.
They held their helmets in hand, donned facial masks for disguise, and watched the nearby personnel bustling about, preparing to search for a suitable "host." Then, they spotted two male pilots rushing past, their heights close to theirs.
Luo Yu quickly stepped forward, blocking the two and swiftly capturing one of their faces with her mask. She pointed behind them, and the two pilots noticed that her attire wasn’t the support point’s team uniform and were puzzled.
The man whose face she had scanned grew somewhat alert and was about to ask, but his companion glanced back along the direction of Luo Yu’s finger, allowing Zhu Huai to capture his face.
Having completed these actions, they swiftly dragged the two into the shadow behind the hangar, and before they could utter a sound, they twisted their necks, silencing them instantly and disposing of the bodies in the drainage ditch.
Next, they adjusted the colors of the team uniforms worn by these two men, changing their protective suits to match. Although there were subtle differences in standards, in the current chaotic conditions at the support point, it was easy to slip by unnoticed.
Once they finished this, Zhu Huai pulled out a jammer from her pocket and turned off the shield they had activated when they landed. The monitoring cameras above their heads flickered back to life. Donning the faces of the two male pilots, they swaggered into the hangar, ready to choose an aircraft for their next destination.
At this time, a batch of personnel had already been deployed from the support point, leaving very few fighters in the hangar. As they entered the hangar doors, before they could select a plane, they were stopped by a bearded man.
Without even looking directly at them, he merely pointed to an older model of a fighter jet that looked somewhat battered and spoke with a heavy accent from the eastern federation, "Hey, you two, why are you moving so slowly? Get on that one, quickly!"
