novelraw Chapter 214
Chapter 214
Beneath the azure sky, an airplane pierced through the thick clouds like a giant silver bird.
Sun Xuelin pulled the brim of his hat down further. Pinching a folded map of S City, USA, he leaned close to Pei Zhengnian, who was resting with his eyes closed, and kept his voice extremely low.
"Boss, we land in half an hour."
"Director Yan Ming had someone pass on a message. The Americans added two teams of plainclothes agents today, specifically targeting Asians."
"Our transit papers were issued under the guise of an East German trade delegation. We need to handle this carefully."
Pei Zhengnian slowly opened his eyes. There wasn't the slightest ripple of emotion in his deep, dark gaze.
He wore a dark gray Lenin suit, the cuffs worn slightly shiny from use, and carried a thick Mechanical Engineering Handbook tucked inside his jacket.
Looking down through the porthole, the outline of S City gradually became clear through the gaps in the clouds.
"Notify all teams. After disembarking, we proceed with Plan Three."
Pei Zhengnian's voice was as steady as tempered ice.
Sun Xuelin nodded in acknowledgment, turned, and walked briskly toward the rear of the cabin.
Pei Zhengnian closed his eyes again, his mind rapidly sorting through the mission details.
Professor Liu, China's top military weapons research and development expert, had been invited to the US three years ago under the pretext of an academic exchange. He had been under house arrest ever since. Although he had submitted applications to return to his home country, the US had repeatedly stalled, using the excuse that his project was incomplete.
The US had finally relented this time, but it was actually just a stalling tactic. According to intelligence from Yan Ming, the Americans had secretly issued an order: if they could not stop Professor Liu from returning to China, they were to eliminate him permanently.
Professor Liu was the primary rescue target of this mission. There were also several other professors whom Pei Zhengnian and his team needed to bring back together.
Bringing so many people back all at once would be no easy feat.
Breaking up into smaller units would make the operation much easier.
Pei Zhengnian had already figured out exactly how to do it.
They would work in pairs, each pair escorting one professor out.
Taking an airplane made for too big of a target.
Traveling by ship would be much more discreet.
As long as they sailed past the US coastline, there would be people waiting to receive them.
The ship meant to transport them out had been readied the very moment Pei Zhengnian and his men set foot on American soil.
The longer they stayed, the greater the variables.
As for rescuing Professor Liu, Pei Zhengnian and Sun Xuelin would handle the extraction themselves.
It was the most difficult task of all.
However, Pei Zhengnian was confident.
...
The plane finally landed, gliding onto the tarmac and coming to a halt.
They had arrived.
The moment he reached the cabin door, Pei Zhengnian keenly caught wind of something unusual.
Two men were standing by the customs channel.
Wearing black trench coats with silver badges pinned to their collars, they held notebooks in their hands and occasionally looked up to scan the passengers.
These two were undoubtedly plainclothes agents from the FBI.
Pei Zhengnian discreetly nudged Sun Xuelin beside him, using his eyes to signal him to look to the left.
Sun Xuelin understood immediately. He intentionally stumbled, dropping his canvas bag to the floor. As he bent down to pick it up, he slipped a piece of paper reading "East German Delegation" to the customs officer nearby. This was the pre-arranged signal Yan Ming had set up.
The two men followed the crowd to the customs counter. The uniformed officer flipped through their documents, checked a roster, and looked up to ask,
"What project are you here in S City to discuss?"
"The procurement of machine tool equipment."
Pei Zhengnian replied in fluent English, a polite smile playing on his lips.
"Our factory needs to import a batch of precision machine tools, and we have an intention to cooperate with the General Corporation in your country."
As he spoke, he pulled a printed letter of intent for cooperation from his bag.
The official seal on it was forged, but it was crafted well enough to pass for the real thing.
The customs officer verified it for quite a while before finally stamping their papers and letting them through.
As they walked out of the channel, Pei Zhengnian caught a glimpse of the two plainclothes agents still staring at them from the corner of his eye. He sneered inwardly.
Fortunately, Yan Ming had come prepared and arranged the "East German Delegation" cover in advance, otherwise, this checkpoint would have been truly difficult to pass.
Of course, the others also used various methods and disguises to make it through customs.
A black sedan was parked outside. The man in the driver's seat poked his head out and flashed a three-finger hand gesture at Pei Zhengnian.
He was one of Yan Ming's subordinates.
Pei Zhengnian and Sun Xuelin got into the car, and the sedan slowly drove away from the airport.
Half an hour later, the car pulled up beneath an old apartment building. Yan Ming was already waiting inside one of the rooms.
"Captain Pei, we've been eagerly waiting for you!"
Yan Ming grasped Pei Zhengnian's hand, his expression filled with excitement.
"The apartment building where Professor Liu lives has two lookouts each at the front and back doors. There are also two disguised as street vendors nearby."
He handed over a folded kraft paper map, on which Professor Liu's address was marked in red ink.
Pei Zhengnian unfolded the map, glanced at it for a few moments, and handed it to Sun Xuelin.
"Go and scout it out first."
"Understood, Boss."
Sun Xuelin took the map and quickly vanished.
Pei Zhengnian stood by the window. Through the gap in the curtains, he began to observe a red-and-white building diagonally across the street in the distance.
That was precisely where Professor Liu was being kept under house arrest.
"Director Yan, are there any shops nearby that we can get close to? Like a restaurant or a grocery store?"
"Yes! Diagonally opposite is Tony's Pizzeria, run by an Italian. They deliver lunch and dinner every day and can park right below the apartment building."
Yan Ming quickly added,
"There's also a hot dog stand on the corner. The owner is Greek and knows our people."
A sharp gleam flashed in Pei Zhengnian's eyes.
Excellent!
Ten minutes later, Sun Xuelin finally returned.
"Boss, there are five people in total."
"Two are disguised as street vendors nearby. Two others are hiding at the front and back of the house respectively. And there's one more hiding in the shadows on a rooftop, a sniper."
Compared to what Yan Ming had found, there was an extra person, the sniper.
It seemed the US was prepared to shoot Professor Liu dead rather than let him return to China.
It was highly unrealistic to expect to bring Professor Liu out of the house quietly without alerting the enemy.
A frontal assault, on the other hand, would attract far too much attention.
However, Pei Zhengnian had already thought of a plan.
He looked at Sun Xuelin,
"In a moment, go to the pizzeria and say you want to order three of their largest supreme pizzas, and have them delivered to Professor Liu's residence in half an hour."
"Remember to chat with the staff for a bit. Find out exactly what time the delivery guy leaves and what he's wearing. Then, borrow two sets of uniforms and buy three identical boxes of pizza to bring back."
"Understood!" Sun Xuelin turned and left.
Yan Ming looked at Pei Zhengnian and asked in confusion, "Captain Pei, do you want him to disguise himself as a delivery guy to get in?"
"Not only do we need to get in, but we also need to distract the lookouts."
Pei Zhengnian tapped his fingertip on the location of Professor Liu's house.
"Three minutes after I go in, have the extraction team drive a truck swiftly to the front door."
"At the same time, have someone pick a fight with the hot dog vendor and flip the stand over to draw the attention of the other lookouts."
Yan Ming nodded and turned to leave.
Sun Xuelin returned quickly, holding a red pizzeria uniform in his hand.
"Boss, it's done! The clerk said the delivery guy leaves in ten minutes. Here are the clothes."
Pei Zhengnian took the uniform, quickly changed into it, and pulled a black beanie from his bag, putting it on and pulling it low over his forehead.
"Let's go. We'll wait in the alley opposite the apartment building."
That alley happened to be a blind spot for the surveillance.
Pei Zhengnian continued speaking to Sun Xuelin,
"When the delivery guy arrives, go strike up a conversation with him and lure him over to the hot dog stand. I'll take the opportunity to deliver the pizza."
"If that doesn't work, just knock him out."
"Got it."