After Crossing Over, I Marked the Empress

Chapter 212 : Wife's Arrival!

At dawn, the sky broke.

Soft sunlight poured down from the heavens, awakening the sleeping jungle and bringing a vibrant air of life.

The roar of massive propellers shattered the tranquility of the camp area.

The air pressure from the whirling blades caused the air to vibrate with a hum, also tightening the heartstrings of all who lived there.

When people recognized the sound as coming from armed helicopters, their first reaction was to think troops had come to carry out an elimination plan.

Such occurrences weren't rare in this jungle of sin.

However, most of the time, the action teams were primarily ground forces.

Air forces were too conspicuous, not conducive to covert operations.

Additionally, in this area of dense mountains and forests, there were many natural magnetic field disturbances. Compared to the more mobile ground teams, flying equipment seemed somewhat redundant.

Unless they had obtained precise positioning in advance.

As teams large and small rushed out of their dwellings, intending to slip into the jungle to lie low,

Some well-informed individuals told everyone that the suddenly arriving helicopters were here to pick up the Yin Country team.

This statement immediately caused a stir.

"What the hell! Scared me half to death! Those Yin Country bastards are always playing tricks from dawn to dusk. If they're so great, why don't they just fly straight up to heaven!"

"Ah, who can disagree! I was sleeping off a hangover, planning to sleep all day, but they woke me up."

"I wonder who that old man who arrived at the camp yesterday is? He can even mobilize armed helicopters to come assist."

"Who cares what big shot he is, anyway, none of those Yin Country folks are any good!"

"Let's disperse and go back to sleep. Running around for nothing so early in the morning, what rotten luck!"

Takeda Tatsuya naturally couldn't hear the discussions among these people.

At this moment, he was going to meet Kitahara Tei, accompanied by his disciple Stone Elephant.

Several miles outside the settlement, on a grassy field, two helicopters had just found suitable landing spots.

The closer one was an armed helicopter that could carry ten people.

Further away was a transport helicopter, capable of carrying over twenty people.

Kitahara Tei disembarked from the armed helicopter with two delegation members, standing grimly in place, waiting for Takeda Tatsuya to come pay his respects.

He wore thin-framed glasses on his nose bridge and a button-sized bone conduction earpiece behind his left ear.

Overall, there was nothing that seemed unusual.

In fact, his every move was being monitored by Empress's team, not too far from this location.

At this moment, Gu Junwan, who was watching Takeda Tatsuya through special conduction equipment, suddenly felt her heart seize.

In the multi-angle monitoring, she still hadn't caught a glimpse of Shen Han.

At this moment, the anger and worry long suppressed in the depths of Gu Junwan's heart grew wildly like thorny poisonous vines.

While piercing her heart with fresh blood, it also gave rise to a terrifying aura of destruction.

After composing herself slightly, she pressed the communication button connected to Kitahara Tei's earpiece: "Ask him where the hostage is."

The bone conduction earpiece vibrated slightly, and the Federation Empress's icy voice drilled directly into his ear.

That voice was clear as a mountain stream, but to Kitahara Tei, it was more terrifying than any sound in this world.

"Where is the prisoner you mentioned on the phone? Why wasn't she brought here?"

Hearing these words, Takeda Tatsuya's footsteps involuntarily halted.

He thought for a moment, then spoke: "The prisoner fell into the waterfall yesterday. We couldn't find her."

"Minister Kitahara, has something happened on the outside? I tried contacting headquarters with the satellite phone, but no one answered on the other end."

Hearing this, Kitahara Tei felt deeply pained.

Their entire action team had already been secretly abandoned by the bigwigs at headquarters, of course they wouldn't answer the phone anymore.

Of course, Kitahara Tei wouldn't disclose this information to the person before him.

Now he had no choice but to act according to the Federation Empress's wishes.

For the questions Takeda Tatsuya raised, he had already received prepared responses from Empress.

Therefore, he could explain without appearing flustered.

While the two were conversing, a kilometer away in the transport helicopter area, more than twenty Yin Country soldiers were lined up waiting to board.

The side hatch of the transport seemed to have a small problem and couldn't open immediately.

Only the sound of the hatch's transmission occasionally appeared, suggesting that the receiving personnel inside the cabin were adjusting the hydraulic rocker arm.

On Kitahara Tei's side, following Gu Junwan's instructions, he began ordering Takeda Tatsuya to board.

Takeda Tatsuya didn't move.

The next second, his disciple standing beside him suddenly drew a weapon, first shooting dead the two nearby delegation members, then without hesitation pointing the gun at the terrified Kitahara Tei, whose legs had gone soft.

The other party's immediate inquiry about the prisoner and the long-unopened cabin door all conveyed a dangerous signal.

For Takeda, who was skilled at setting traps for others, the flaws were too obvious.

"Minister Kitahara, you've disappointed me greatly." Takeda Tatsuya's voice sounded faintly.

Simultaneously, the fired bullet had already pierced Kitahara Tei's throat.

The sudden gunshot was like a battle-opening bugle call.

After being ordered to kill the three men, Stone Elephant immediately carried his teacher on his back and turned to sprint towards the camp.

The cabin door that had been malfunctioning suddenly opened smoothly.

However, what awaited the Yin Country soldiers was not reception personnel, but a cabin full of fully armed special forces!

Except for the last three Yin Country soldiers who escaped in the chaos following Takeda Tatsuya's direction, the rest all fell under the firepower of the Federation warriors.

At the jungle command post.

Gu Junwan, dressed in a white military uniform, immediately ordered a full advance.

While controlling the camp, they would organize a search and rescue operation. Even if they had to turn this area upside down, they would find Shen Han.

The military aircraft carrying Empress's team was hidden behind the ridge to the side of the camp.

Now taking off simultaneously, it seemed to darken the sky.

In the command cabin, Gu Junwan's face was as cold as water.

Since she had ordered takeoff earlier, she hadn't spoken again.

All accompanying personnel could feel the Empress's extremely poor mood.

An indescribable low pressure spread throughout the entire flight cabin, filling every corner, the air so thick it was almost suffocating.

At this moment, even Xu Zhao, who had followed Gu Junwan for many years, didn't dare to speak an extra word.

Jiang Xinyue, bearing immense pressure, walked to the Empress's seat and crouched down.

She lowered her brows, staring at a corner of the leather chair, and said in an extremely gentle tone: "Your Majesty, I request to personally interrogate Takeda Tatsuya later. Rest assured, Captain Shen must have escaped on her own. I will definitely obtain the most precise intelligence for you."

Jiang Xinyue's ability to eavesdrop on the thoughts of ability users was already known to Gu Junwan during their visit to Ksenrode.

Now, hearing what she said, the Empress's expression finally eased slightly.

The Empress raised her delicate chin slightly and uttered three words in a low voice: "Keep him alive."

Xu Zhao immediately began relaying orders, telling the frontline pursuing warriors that they must capture Takeda Tatsuya alive.

The outcome of this confrontation could be said to be without suspense.

The only differences lay in how long the Empress's anger would last and to what degree it would burn.

Gu Junwan sat upright in her chair, once again falling into silence.

The killing intent in her eyes grew increasingly intense, as if about to materialize, while her heart gradually sank, seeming to fall into a bottomless ice cave.

For the first time in her life, she felt disgust towards her identity as Empress.

This heavy shackle bound her, preventing her from venting her emotions externally or acting in ways unbefitting her status.

Because she represented not just herself, but the face and will of the entire Free Federation.

Even though her heart felt as if cut by a knife due to once again losing news of Shen Han, she couldn't show her pain on the surface.

She desperately wanted to immediately grab Takeda Tatsuya for interrogation, yet feared that the news she would hear wasn't what she wanted.

Complex and contradictory emotions tore at her wildly, her mind aching unbearably as if pierced by needles.

She didn't know if her mother had ever encountered a similar situation. She felt she was about to break down.

……

The suddenly erupting battle threw the just-calmed settlement into chaos once again.

None of those living here were pushovers to be trifled with.

Upon hearing the dense gunfire, people immediately took up arms, preparing to attack anything that tried to approach them.

Fortunately, the trend towards an all-out brawl didn't last long before Federation soldiers shouted in the international common language: "Our enemies are only the Yin Country team! Uninvolved personnel please evacuate quickly!"

The shouts, amplified by loudspeakers, rolled out in all directions.

Those who were about to rush out for a fight shrank back, hurriedly retreating to their rooms with their guns.

They didn't immediately relax their vigilance until confirming that those assault troops were indeed consistent in word and deed. Only then did their highly strung hearts settle down.

The words repeated several times by the Federation soldiers were also heard by Shen Han.

Her face immediately showed obvious delight, her clear black and white eyes shining brightly in the dimly lit room.

She knew it must be the team her wife had mobilized!

It was very likely that her wife had also come with the team!

Earlier, when she had just regained consciousness from her coma, besides requesting food and weapons, she had also expressed the need to make a phone call.

But it couldn't be realized.

Because in these deep mountains and dense forests without any base stations, only satellite phones could contact the outside world.

Forces possessing satellite phones were pitifully few, and suddenly going to borrow one would easily expose Shen Han's existence.

Thus, she couldn't transmit her information out.

Now, knowing her people had already arrived here, she was desperate to run out and rendezvous with the soldiers.

But she suppressed this impulse. What she should do now was to prevent that old fox from slipping away again.

Shen Han took the assault rifle handed to her by the middle-aged man beside her and sincerely said: "Thank you for everything you've done for me. After this is over, I can take you away, giving you the chance to start a new life on another free land."

These Ksenrode uncle and nephew had offended powerful people, and after fighting them to mutual destruction, they hid in this distant and ancient place. They weren't inherently evil people.

Seemingly not expecting the other to pinpoint what they most desired in their hearts with one sentence,

The uncle's eyes lit up, then he took out another rifle from the wardrobe and asked: "Do you need a guide who's very familiar with this place?"

Shen Han grinned: "I need one desperately!"

"If you can help me find those Yin Country stragglers, I'll apply for a nice three-bedroom apartment for you later."