Chapter 532

Chapter 532: Area 51

“Girlfriend?” Professor Yan patted Lin Mo on the shoulder as they placed their luggage in the overhead compartment together.

“Maybe!” Lin Mo replied, unsure. The laws in this country seemed to allow only monogamy, and straddling two boats usually didn’t end well.

Two buses carrying the Chinese delegation of aviation experts departed the airport under the protection of armed personnel from the embassy and American agents.

Given the importance of these technical experts to China, the American side took extra precautions. In addition to police cars clearing the way, soldiers set up security posts at some street corners to maintain vigilance.

The convoy delivered them to a five-star hotel in Los Angeles, where they temporarily settled in. The next day, at ten o’clock, the Chinese team boarded a bus and followed the vehicles guided by the Americans.

On the way, they joined several more buses. The flags on the windshields indicated that the convoy included teams from Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, South Korea’s Aerospace Industries, India’s Hindustan Aeronautics, Pakistan’s Aviation Industry, and Australia’s aerospace sector. Along with the AVIC team from China, it nearly formed an Asian and Oceanian aviation alliance, with some companies still having client relationships with Boeing.

While the two buses for the Chinese experts were nearly full, the other manufacturers had at least four buses packed with technicians.

“Are we at a disadvantage? There are so many of them!” one expert asked Director Zhao, the leader of the Chinese delegation from AVIC.

“Hmph!” Director Zhao snorted and glanced back, saying, “What good is having a lot of people? One of us is worth ten of them.”

“Yeah, yeah! I can take them all on my own!” Lin Mo, sitting in the bus, nodded in agreement with Director Zhao’s assessment.

The experts broke into a sweat; no matter how many people they brought, it wouldn’t be enough to stop a single aerial bomb. It felt unfair to have a pilot saying this.

The convoy left Los Angeles, heading northeast. After several hours, they passed through a barren desert, and a city faintly appeared in the distance.

Although the convoy was equipped with special electromagnetic shielding devices, all electronics were disrupted. Phones and laptops wouldn’t work at all, not even turning on. However, Lin Mo’s watch still connected to satellites and used GPS to determine their location.

The convoy had crossed from California into Nevada, and satellite positioning indicated they were near Las Vegas.

Although he didn’t know where Boeing’s “specter” factory was, the fact that they were traveling by land instead of air, along with the electromagnetic shielding, suggested that not just Boeing but the American government was reluctant to let them know the location of the “specter” factory.

However, the convoy did not enter Las Vegas but instead bypassed the city, continuing north along Highway 95.

“Where are the Americans taking us?”

Professor Yan, sitting next to Lin Mo, expressed doubts about the route arranged by the Americans.

“Is there going to be a problem?” one technician from Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group asked Director Zhao, who sat in the front seat.

The bus for the Chinese experts had been provided by the Americans, but the driver was a military officer from the Chinese embassy. Before boarding, Chinese security personnel had conducted a safety check to eliminate any risks of explosives.

“Don’t worry; the Americans wouldn’t dare. If they wanted to take out all the aviation experts in the world, even if they’re powerful, they’d be finished too,” Director Zhao shook his head, pulling out a box the size of his fist from his bag. He smiled, pressed the power button, and a faint electromagnetic noise began to emit at a very high frequency, quickly rising to a level inaudible to human ears.

“Hey, what are you doing?” one expert sitting next to Zhao curiously asked.

“A domestically produced signal jammer. Since the Americans are blocking us, we should be prepared too, to prevent them from eavesdropping on our conversations. This little device can jam all frequencies within a fifty-meter radius, which is sufficient.”

Director Zhao smiled, showing off.

Fifty meters would also conveniently cover the bus carrying the other Chinese experts behind them.

“Why go through all that trouble?” Lin Mo stood up from his seat, adjusting his watch. With Professor Yan and the others watching, he pointed it at different corners of the bus, and immediately, a smell of burning plastic filled the air.

“Fire! Fire!”

“There’s smoke; which circuit has shorted?”

“Shh! Quiet!”

The experts inside the bus began to panic but were quickly hushed by someone who recognized what was happening.

“Major Lin, what are you doing?”

An expert began to ask questions, clearly connecting Lin Mo’s earlier actions with the mysterious smell of burning.

“Is it really necessary to ask? An electromagnetic pulse weapon! Oh my!”

An expert involved in weaponry immediately recognized the anomaly and made an accurate deduction, adding, “Directed energy, it must be a focused attack mode. There may be a diffraction curve equation; otherwise, it could hurt other things.”

The greatest advantage of a focused attack is that only the locked point would be damaged, while other areas, and even obstructions, would remain unharmed. The effect is somewhat similar to a focused geometric effect of a scalpel.

Everyone’s eyes brightened at once; one among them actually possessed such equipment! How had it made it through airport security? The security checks at Los Angeles Airport were even more stringent than those back in their home country.

Some experts even suspected that Major Lin was merely posing as a technical expert while secretly accompanying them as a military officer for protection.

“Alright, now everyone can relax.”

Lin Mo was not new to this. At the Paris airshow, he had directly swept through a large portion of the exhibition area filled with espionage equipment. These microelectronic integrated circuits could not withstand such a strong surge of directed induced current.

“Goodness, you really have hidden skills.”

A few old acquaintances of Lin Mo exclaimed. That thing on Lin Mo’s wrist, which looked like a watch, turned out to be so powerful.

Only Professor Yan understood that such equipment was insignificant to Lin Mo’s department. A smile appeared on his face as he gave Lin Mo a thumbs up. It seemed wise for AVIC to include Lin Mo on the list of participants, as he could provide additional protection alongside other technical experts.

“Our coordinates are…” Lin Mo casually reported a set of coordinates, causing a change in expression among a few members of the expert team. As aviation professionals, their knowledge of maps was far superior to others. Some specialists even surpassed pilots in this regard; knowing the latitude and longitude was enough for them to pinpoint their exact location, even down to the specific city.

“Where does Boeing want to take us?” Leader Director Zhao furrowed his brows. Although the Americans had previously assured them that they would take them to a safe location to observe the test flight of Boeing’s F/A-XX fighter jet, they had not disclosed the exact location ahead of time, citing national security, but ensured everyone’s personal safety.

If not for the consideration that Americans would not dare to offend globally by capturing aviation professionals from various countries, Director Zhao would suspect that the Americans were up to some conspiracy.

This ordinary semi-military, semi-commercial secret demonstration had an unexpectedly high level of confidentiality.

“If I’m not mistaken, our target is Area 51.” Lin Mo’s watch displayed the satellite positioning trajectory since their departure from the airport. Only after clearing the spy devices the Americans had routinely hidden in the vehicle did he dare to say it boldly.

To keep their route confidential, the Americans’ electromagnetic shielding could not block the GPS location inherent in the gold giant dragon because the Americans had also reserved a few necessary communication channels, which happened to be utilized by the gold coins.

Area 51?

The experts sighed in relief.

Area 51 is a region in Lincoln County, Nevada, located about 130 kilometers northwest of Las Vegas. It is used by the American military to secretly develop and test new airborne vehicles, and is known for its high level of confidentiality. It is currently used for the exchange demonstrations of sixth-generation fighter jets, which is not surprising.

In fact, as Lin Mo spoke, everyone saw the warning signs and Area 51 markings appearing outside the bus windows two hours later, reminding intruders to stay away and not take photos.

The convoy traveled along Groom Lake Road, which leads to one of the most secret military restricted areas known as Area 51.

There may still be other secret bases unknown to the public, but the Americans clearly did not want to easily disclose them to the outside world, just like the location of the Chinese Night Special Forces.

All around lay desolate landscapes, with few plants in sight. After passing through two fenced wire walls, there were no guard posts at every ten steps or lookout points at every five steps. There were no massive security facilities or high-voltage power grids present, so it seemed anyone could approach this mysterious Area 51.

Though it appeared unremarkable and similar to most desolate uninhabited areas, countless sensors lay buried here, working with radar stations to monitor every inch of land. Any unauthorized intruder would be expelled and investigated by armed helicopters and ground forces, and could even be registered for a covert background check.

Like most locations of secret intelligence agencies around the world, digital cameras were ineffective here; no matter how the shutter was pressed, only a black screen would result.

In summary, this place was incredibly mysterious and full of legends.