novelraw Chapter 201 : The Game
Chapter 201 : The Game
Gu Junwan's hotel suite quickly transformed into a temporary command center.
Real-time feedback from various execution points converged here, where Empress deployed her troops.
Ultimately, one command after another was relayed to specific executors.
Shen Han, Fang Yue, and five other special operations team members waited in the living room of the old house, closely watching two projection screens before them.
The image on one screen was almost motionless, showing surveillance video transmitted by Sun Yu's classmate.
The camera was aimed at an exquisitely landscaped courtyard, with no people in sight, only slight swaying when wind moved the vegetation.
The other screen was divided into two areas.
These showed two action teams rapidly moving and rushing to the battlefield.
Both split-screens displayed first-person perspectives.
Though they only showed rapid movement, they conveyed a sense of real urgency to everyone.
Sun Yu sat in a position further back, staring at the projection screens without blinking.
He was the youngest among all present, but his fighting spirit was the most vigorous, wishing he could dive into the screen and rush along with the action team members.
On the screen, two teams of members leapt into the courtyard from the surveillance camera's blind spots.
In just one minute, they had completed a surprise search of all rooms.
But the results were disappointing - the entire villa was empty, without a trace of Takeda Tatsuya.
Seeing this, Shen Han's half-clenched fists immediately tightened.
Though her face remained calm, obvious anxiety appeared in her eyes.
Tomorrow was the official opening day of the auction. If Takeda Tatsuya had come for this, today would be his last chance to act.
Because the information of auction participants would not be made public.
Compared to stealing beforehand, the difficulty of robbery afterwards would obviously be much higher.
Takeda Tatsuya had left the villa with his disciple, and no one knew if they would return.
In the tense silence, Empress's voice resonated through the communication channel.
"Team 1, retreat outside the courtyard and set up concealed defenses. Team 2, immediately begin searching inside the house. Report any abnormalities immediately."
"Shen Han, don't act rashly. Currently, the warehouse storing the auction items is unknown. Searching without a clear target is like looking for a needle in a haystack."
"If the Yin Country spies' target is a certain auction item and they successfully steal it, the news will certainly leak within an hour."
"At that time, the auction house will immediately respond. With their background, they may be able to temporarily restrict border crossings."
"Then we can also obtain more clues and act after careful deliberation."
Usually, when issuing orders, Gu Junwan wouldn't provide too much explanation or elaboration.
Division of labor and cooperation was more efficient and could ensure the secrecy of the entire mission.
It was like different stages on an assembly line.
Each person only needed to complete the part in their hands. As for what all the parts would eventually assemble into, only the person holding the reins knew clearly.
The current situation was special and urgent. Gu Junwan had to make sure all participants clearly understood the ultimate goal of this operation.
This was to prevent anyone from getting their priorities mixed up if something unexpected happened.
After quickly assigning tasks in White Light City, Gu Junwan immediately arranged another important matter with Xu Zhao.
"Contact the Jiying Empire Governor's secretary immediately and have him arrange a call between me and His Excellency the Governor as soon as possible."
"Whether or not Takeda Tatsuya actively contacts the delegation, we must keep that Cabinet Minister who came with him pinned in place. We can't do this privately; we need to borrow the power of the local authorities."
Xu Zhao naturally understood the meaning behind her lady's words and could comprehend her various considerations.
This was, after all, a border city of the Jiying Empire, and the identity of the Yin Country Cabinet Minister was no ordinary matter.
If Empress took action against the Yin Country people without even giving notice, it would not only displease the Governor but might also give Yin Country a chance to turn the tables and provoke conflict between the two countries.
If they could gain the Governor's help, the subsequent matters would become much easier to handle.
However, there was a crucial question here: would the Jiying Empire's Governor be willing to cooperate?
This doubt would affect how Xu Zhao communicated with the secretary, so she directly asked the question.
While keeping an eye on the search operation on the screen, Gu Junwan patiently gave her assistant some guidance.
"The exchange of needs is the eternal essence of business."
"The Jiying Empire's Governor naturally doesn't want to intervene in the grudge between us and Yin Country, but if this matter could bring him benefits, or even solve some of his urgent problems, the situation would become different."
Gu Junwan didn't need to spell it out; Xu Zhao's mind had already made the connection.
What had always troubled the Jiying Empire was the high-efficiency energy system.
Now that the Free Federation had just reached an in-depth energy project cooperation with Ksenro, opening up the situation based on this was almost a certainty.
The reason Gu Junwan hadn't played this card from the beginning was that she knew the shrewd Governor would certainly raise his price.
If there weren't better options at this stage, she wouldn't easily let the other party have a piece of the pie.
No important clues were found in Takeda Tatsuya's rented villa.
Shen Han sat silently with her tactical squad in front of the projection screen, like swords waiting to be unsheathed.
This period of waiting in place seemed particularly long for each of them.
Sun Yu's excitement hadn't diminished one bit due to the current impasse.
On the contrary, he felt his blood flowing faster throughout his body.
In the previous shared communications, he heard that all reporting members' titles included the words "Your Majesty."
He belatedly realized that he was participating in such a high-level operation!
That was the famous current Empress of the Free Federation!
This bragging right could last him a century, couldn't it?
Compared to her son, whose heart was about to soar into the clouds, Yan Lin appeared much calmer.
To be precise, her inner turmoil only came from the changes in the situation, not from the identities of those around her.
Many years ago, she already knew that Tang Yucai's wife was the Federation's Empress.
Since Shen Han was that person's son-in-law, it wasn't surprising at all that the current Empress was the overall commander of this operation.
Of course, she hadn't disclosed Tang Yucai's true identity to others.
That son of hers, grinning stupidly on the side, still hadn't figured out the relationships between the people here.
At the same moment.
Tens of kilometers away on a country road, a box truck was speeding along.
Takeda Tatsuya lay flat on a small air mattress inside the truck, eyes tightly closed, face pale, looking as if he might expire at any moment.
His disciple knelt beside the air mattress, attentively caring for him.
Every few minutes, the disciple would feed a small spoonful of special nutrient solution into his lips to help him recover his spirit sooner.
Using his ability too much during this period had left Takeda Tatsuya particularly weak.
Today, after controlling the warehouse manager to steal several valuable auction items, he had fallen into a coma.
Besides the middle-aged disciple, seven soldiers were also executing the mission with him.
After killing the warehouse manager, they drove the pre-prepared vehicle, winding their way towards the distant mountains.
Upon waking up in the shaking truck, Takeda Tatsuya's first words were: How long was I unconscious?
His disciple immediately answered, "Two hours and fifteen minutes!"
"Teacher, we're already approaching the edge of the Tengyun Mountains. You can rest a bit longer."
Though the disciple's words carried genuine concern, Takeda Tatsuya felt anger rising in his heart.
He tried to sit up, supporting himself on his arms, and said in a deep voice, "Why didn't you wake me earlier?"
The disciple stammered, unable to speak, and could only carefully support his teacher, letting him lean against the truck wall.
Takeda Tatsuya didn't expect an answer from him.
After composing himself, he immediately asked a nearby soldier, "What reaction has there been from the auction house during this time? Have we encountered any interceptions on the road?"
"Report, sir, we haven't encountered any interceptions on this route we chose."
"According to reports from spies in the city, half an hour ago, White Light City's airport, train station, and two highways suddenly implemented temporary traffic control, probably aimed at us."
After hearing the soldier's report, Takeda Tatsuya nodded, his taut nerves relaxing a bit.
After drinking an appropriate amount of nutrient solution, he continued speaking, "Go ahead and send out the processed video. The auction house has gone to such lengths for us, so we should return the courtesy."
Following the order, the soldier immediately took out a smart device nearby and released information on various active social media platforms in White Light City through overseas servers.
In just ten minutes, news of a certain auction company stealing from itself went viral.
Based on the video exposed online, netizens analyzed the approximate location of the stolen warehouse.
In an instant, countless busybodies and media reporters sprang into action, cursing while enthusiastically joining this misguided 'celebration'.
Customers who had traveled from afar to Solan for the auction were also shocked and angered, calling one after another to question whether the auction house's news was true.
Under the heavy pressure, the auction house suddenly changed from victim to 'firefighter', needing to both clarify their position and handle urgent public relations.
Their frantic busyness left them overwhelmed, immediately reducing the efficiency of their response with the police.
Among all the forces paying attention to this chaos, only Gu Junwan's team wasn't led by the rhythm of the overwhelming information.
Not long after the theft video appeared, the Free Federation's information officer had already traced the source and locked onto the geographical location of the device that uploaded the video.
The position was still moving, now appearing as a small red dot on the virtual sand table in the light screen.
The information officer's voice sounded in the communication channel: "Your Majesty, the device holder's location has left White Light City. They are now at the edge of the Tengyun Mountains!"
"That mountain range has no base stations. Once they enter, we won't be able to locate them through information exchange!"
After these words fell, Gu Junwan didn't immediately issue orders.
This wasn't the Free Federation; she couldn't immediately mobilize various resources for pursuit.
Moreover, even if Shen Han immediately led the team there, they would have no way to search in the vast mountains without a signal.
At this moment, Sun Yu, who had been sitting in the back without speaking, suddenly spoke loudly: "There's a hidden medicine trail in that place! It leads directly across the border. They must be taking that route."
"If we go chase them on motorcycles now, we might still make it!"