As the electromagnetic interference gradually faded away, General Zhang, Professor Ji, and the others were still disappointed. Because as the picture became clearer and clearer, from the outside, the temple seemed to have not changed at all, and no one had appeared inside either.
Professor Ji looked at the temple gate displayed under the night-vision system, and suddenly said, “This satellite receiver is a specially made latest model, and its position is very good, directly facing the gate. I remember it should be able to rise and lower on its own, and it also has a strong spotlight… right?”
Another researcher was stunned for a moment, then quickly nodded and said, “Yes… Professor, if it is not damaged, it can be activated!”
“Good… try to remotely control the satellite receiver, adjust its height, turn on the strong spotlight, and shine it directly into the temple… observe the situation inside.”
“Yes… Professor!” Hearing the professor’s order, everyone felt their spirits lift again. A remote operator had already begun quickly typing on the computer in front of him, starting to try remote control of the satellite receiver…
While typing on the keyboard, the operator stared nervously at the computer. After more than ten seconds, he finally said with surprise, “Remote control successful… adjusting height…”
As he typed on the keyboard, everyone could see the entire picture on the large screen begin to move upward. After a few seconds, it finally reached the ideal height.
The operator turned to look at Professor Ji behind him. After seeing Professor Ji nod, he pressed the enter key on the keyboard.
A few seconds later, the transmitted picture suddenly lit up. Everyone could clearly see a beam of strong light illuminating the inside of the temple extremely brightly, but because of the focal length, it was not very clear.
The operator quickly moved his left hand across the keyboard, adjusting the focus, while his right hand began to pick up a joystick nearby and started controlling the direction of the camera and the strong light.
With the operator’s movements, the picture in front of them became clearer and clearer. And as the focus was adjusted and zoomed in, everyone could now see those huge statues inside the temple.
Seeing this, everyone could not help but hold their breath. Soon they would be able to see the position of the action team…
“Ah… this… what is going on?” General Zhang, who had stood up again nervously at some point, looked at the scene in the transmitted picture and said in astonishment…
At this time, everyone else looked about the same as General Zhang. Because under the filming of this high-quality lens, they could clearly see that inside the temple, there had not been much change. The main god statue was still the main god statue, and the other statues were still the same. The only difference was that the seven people from the action team were gone…
The only things left were the instruments on the ground, the weapons on the soldiers, and several worn military uniforms that looked as if they had been burned black…
Seeing this scene, everyone sighed in their hearts. Although they did not understand what kind of situation could have caused this, they were very clear that the entire action team had probably all died in the line of duty.
Professor Ji stared blankly for a while, looking at the laptop-like information connection device on the box inside, its screen already pitch black, and suddenly said in a deep voice, “Try to connect to that information connection device…”
The operator was stunned for a moment, then his face suddenly lit up with joy. If that information connection device happened to still be working, then they could try to connect to it. Once connected, they would be able to find all the final data inside.
However, unfortunately, in an energy burst of that intensity, no electronic device could still remain normal. The operator typed on the keyboard for a long time, then finally turned his head helplessly and looked at Professor Ji, saying, “Unable to connect. The information connection device gives no feedback at all. Several restart commands were sent with no response…”
Professor Ji nodded. This situation was not beyond his expectations. This attempt had only been made while holding onto a sliver of hope.
Yanjing… That red telephone finally rang. The old man called Eagle Eye took a light breath, then picked up the phone…
“It failed?” The old man called Eagle Eye slowly put the phone down, a trace of disappointment flashing in his eyes. After letting out a light sigh, he picked up the writing brush resting nearby, lightly dipped it in ink, and then began slowly writing characters on the rice paper…
Two hours later, the satellite receiver transmitted another set of images. The face of an old African native appeared in front of the camera, his face smeared with many pigments looking quite comical.
This old black man wore a colorful feather crown, had a long necklace of animal teeth hanging around his neck, and held a rough wooden cane in his hand. Standing in front of the satellite receiver, he pointed at the camera and angrily cursed a long stream of gibberish, then raised the cane in his hand…
“Bang…” Everyone stared dumbfounded as this comically dressed old native acted wildly at the camera, then the shape of a cane rapidly expanded in the lens, and after that everything vanished into smoke. The screen once again returned to a field of static…
This side was in such an uproar, but naturally Xu Ze, who was in Yanjing, was unaware of it. Tomorrow Star University would be on holiday, and Sun Lingfei would also return to Yanjing tomorrow evening, so he was naturally very happy.
Therefore, he had made preparations early, ready to go to the airport tomorrow to pick up his beloved…
“Deputy Director, the director wants you to come over…” Xu Ze was checking the year-end review forms on the computer when Yang Jie knocked on the door and came in to say.
“The director is looking for me?” Xu Ze raised his eyebrows in confusion, then stood up and headed toward the director’s office. He was rather puzzled why Lin Beijia was looking for him at this time.
Xu Ze knocked on the door. After hearing Lin Beijia say “Come in” from inside, Xu Ze pushed the door open and walked in.
“Xu Ze… you’re here. Please sit!” Lin Beijia smiled and gestured to Xu Ze. After Xu Ze sat down in the chair opposite him, Lin Beijia said with a faint smile, “Xu Ze… I asked you to come because there is something I want to discuss with you…”
“What is it? Director, please tell me…” Xu Ze said in confusion.
Lin Beijia nodded, then handed over a document and said, “We have a comrade from the Third Intelligence Bureau who was arrested in Japan by their Defense Agency. He was carrying important intelligence, but failed to send it out in time, and he also knows part of the list of Third Bureau comrades in Japan. So he is extremely important to our country…”
“We have already found the place where he is being held, and we also sent several senior agents to rescue him, but they failed…” Lin Beijia looked at Xu Ze, who was carefully flipping through the materials, and continued, “In desperation, we later also sent several elites from Wolf Fang to try to rescue him… but after entering, all those soldiers were easily sniped and killed by the other side… We suspect the involvement of certain special Japanese forces…”
Xu Ze looked up at Lin Beijia, then put the materials back on the table and said, “Director, what do you mean?”
Lin Beijia looked at Xu Ze, then nodded and said, “This is not my idea. It is the minister’s idea… We cannot find a suitable person now, and the people who have gone over recently are all being watched very closely by the Intelligence Headquarters of the Japanese Defense Agency…”
“And right now, the president of Japan’s Akita Corporation has sent people to our country to look for a skilled acupuncturist to go treat his paralyzed legs… We can take the opportunity to send someone over… The minister said your acupuncture skills are very good, and your abilities are not comparable to those special elites we have now. You may even be stronger than ordinary independent cultivators… At the same time, you have experience dealing with certain special Japanese forces… If you can go over, you would be the most suitable…”
Having said this, Lin Beijia paused again and said, “The minister said to leave it to your own judgment. If you are confident, then go… If you are not fully confident, we cannot let you take the risk…”
“You also need to consider this carefully, because to the country, you are more important than those comrades of the Third Bureau over there… So only if you are confident can you go. Without absolute confidence, we cannot risk losing you!”
Then Lin Beijia looked at Xu Ze seriously and said, “Think about it yourself. You can answer me later… But remember, you must be confident before you go! You are very important to the country…”
Hearing Lin Beijia’s words, Xu Ze smiled bitterly and shook his head. He let out a light sigh, then said, “Since I am the most suitable, then of course I should go… Even the minister mentioned me, which shows this intelligence really is very important… Then I will make the trip…”
“You need to know the danger of this mission. If you cannot guarantee your own safety with confidence, we will not agree to let you go!” Lin Beijia was not clear why Minister Yang trusted Xu Ze so much, but he still continued to remind Xu Ze.
“I am confident… Even if I do not succeed, I can guarantee that I will return safely…” Xu Ze smiled lightly, then said, “Actually, my girlfriend is returning to Yanjing tomorrow. I really do not want to go, but even Minister Yang mentioned me… Can I not go?”
Looking at Xu Ze, who appeared helpless but was actually very relaxed and casual, a trace of surprise flashed through Lin Beijia’s eyes. Then he looked at Xu Ze solemnly and said, “Are you sure? You need to know this is not something to joke about. If the Special Operations Director of our General Staff falls into someone else’s hands, that would be a huge joke…”
“Of course…” Xu Ze shrugged, then restrained the casual expression on his face and looked at Lin Beijia solemnly, saying, “I am confident I can complete the mission…”
Seeing Xu Ze’s solemn expression, Lin Beijia no longer doubted him. He nodded and said, “That is best. You also know that if that comrade were not too important, we would not possibly send you…”
“According to the materials, you did not study Japanese in school before, so we will arrange three days for you to cram and become familiar with Japanese. You need to reach a level where you can handle some simple daily expressions…”
Hearing Lin Beijia’s words, Xu Ze smiled and shook his head, saying, “No need. I know Japanese. Arrange for me to go as soon as possible… I still want to rush back for the New Year…”
“What? You know Japanese too?” Lin Beijia looked astonished. After quite a while, he smiled bitterly and said, “It seems this mission really can only be yours!”
