Ban Xia instinctively shuffled a few steps to the left, hiding in the shadow of a large tree. The thick birch trunk cut off her line of sight. The girl stood there stunned for two seconds before fear, panic, and bewilderment surged up from her heart like a tidal wave. Cold sweat instantly drenched her back, soaking through her clothes.
“BG, I saw it.”
“It’s on the rooftop.”
“But I don’t know if it spotted me.”
Bai Yang broke into a cold sweat as well.
“Emergency, Type One contact confirmed! Everyone’s attention, Type One contact confirmed!” Old Zhao warned over the channel. “Mission aborted, initiate emergency protocol.”
After a few seconds, Ban Xia recovered her senses behind the large tree. She carefully peeked out, looking up toward the rooftop of the New Century Building.
That dark red eye had vanished.
The girl’s heart skipped a beat.
“BG… I think it might have spotted me…”
“Then what are you standing there for? Hide! Quick, hide—!” Bai Yang practically shouted into his mic. He yanked off his headphones, tossing them onto the desk as he turned and yelled: “Dad—! Come take over for me!”
As soon as he finished shouting, he grabbed his jacket and pushed back his chair to run out. Lian Qiao, who had been leaning against the doorframe, moved even faster – she was already out the door when Bai Yang called out.
Old Bai rushed into the bedroom, taking over Bai Yang’s position.
“BG4MSR attention, this is Old Dad, taking over communications from now, OVER.”
“Everyone’s attention, Type One contact confirmed, initiating Protocol One.” Zhao Bowen turned to glance at Bai Yang while pressing down on his transceiver. “We’re sending people to the scene. All unit’s attention, red alert!”
“Team One copy, switching to Protocol One. Entering triple orbital shift procedure via tunnel two, entering pseudo-synchronous orbit, zenith angle 81°, Purple Mountain Communication Center data distribution, Beijing-Guizhou dual redundancy backup, over!”
“Team Two copy, switching to Protocol One, Blade Runner behavioral model syncing, relative coordinates established, blind spot route filtering in progress, over!”
“Team Three copy, switching to Protocol One, emergency response team entering full combat readiness, over.”
“This is Liuhe Ma’an Airport Air Command Center, helicopter warm-up complete, ready for takeoff.”
In just one minute, the Operation Red East team had shifted their mission objective from reaching Base One to safely retrieving the girl.
Amidst the successive radio responses, Bai Yang hurriedly crossed the living room, not even stopping to change his shoes. He thundered down the stairs in his slippers, and as soon as he exited the building entrance, he was blinded by intense headlights shooting across from the opposite side.
A deep growl of a three-cylinder engine rumbled in the night, like a beast lurking in the shrubbery.
Bai Yang stood stunned.
The beast slowly revealed its true form, like a fire igniting. Streetlight flowed along smooth curves, two fierce headlights beneath clear windshield – quite the deep red… three-wheeled Mazda.
The Mazda stopped in front of Bai Yang. Lian Qiao sat in the driver’s seat wearing a deep red helmet, sharp eyes visible behind the wind visor. She tossed a black helmet to Bai Yang and gave a thumbs-up:
Get on!
“Where… where did you get this from?”
“You mean this little tuk-tuk? Borrowed it from a kind soul.”
Lian Qiao drove Bai Yang out of the Meihua Mountain Villa complex gates, and as soon as they turned the corner, she twisted the throttle to maximum. Before Bai Yang could react, the sudden acceleration nearly threw him off balance. The Mazda tore down Muxu Garden Street like a bolt of lightning, driving with the ferocity of a supercar rather than an electric tricycle. Bai Yang sat in the back wearing the black helmet, forced to grip the seat tightly to steady himself.
“Command! Can you track us?”
Lian Qiao shouted.
“This is Command, we can track you.” The reply came through the earpiece. “You’re four kilometers from the South Library, estimated arrival in ten minutes, but be advised there’s traffic congestion at two intersections on Mingugong Road that could delay you by four minutes.”
“Copy that! I’ll try to keep it under ten minutes!”
Lian Qiao’s eyes locked straight ahead as Muxu Garden Street came to an end. One foot on the brake, one hand on the throttle, the front wheel turned left! With a sharp screech, the three-wheeler became airborne as it tilted.
“Holy shit—!”
Bai Yang yelled.
The Mazda pulled a dragon tail drift from Muxu Garden Street onto Zhongshan Gate Street, tires smoking against the asphalt until Bai Yang could smell the burning rubber.
Passersby had likely never seen a Mazda charging so desperately before, unsure if its rear was on fire or if it was racing to put out a fire somewhere else, all while frantically blaring its horn.
Soon Lian Qiao spotted the traffic jam ahead. It wasn’t quite 8 PM yet, still rush hour. When city traffic got congested, the intersections on both sides of Mingugong had traffic lights and crosswalks. Driving through would require waiting regardless, but Lian Qiao couldn’t afford to wait.
“Car! Watch out for the car!”
Bai Yang warned from behind as a car stopped ahead, but Lian Qiao didn’t slow down one bit.
She looked ready to ram straight into the car’s rear end.
“Relax, your big sister here is a double champion in both electric tricycle and electric wheelchair cross-country rallying!”
Lian Qiao swerved the front wheel as the Mazda shot straight onto the sidewalk. The curb jolted them so hard it nearly shattered Bai Yang’s tailbone. He let out a howl, but before he could curse, he saw greenery, lamp posts, steps, and pedestrians rushing toward them. His concern for his tailbone immediately transformed into fear for his life as they charged wildly down the sidewalk, their style even more savage than an old man’s electric cart. The drivers stuck in traffic on the main road could only watch as a red Mazda overtook them all via the sidewalk, high beams on, hazard lights flashing, horn blaring earth-shatteringly loud.
A trail of sparks and lightning – this sister’s driving style was truly jaw-dropping.
“Red light!”
Bai Yang warned again.
“Don’t worry, this thing has no license plate!”
Lian Qiao said through gritted teeth.
The Mazda blazed through under the red light, bold as brass.
“Where are we now?”
“Panda Building!” A fleeting glimpse and Bai Yang caught two buildings whizzing past the window. “We’ve passed Yixian Bridge!”
“How much further?”
“Less than a kilometer!” Bai Yang answered. “Two minutes!”
Lian Qiao twisted the throttle to maximum again, the engine roaring beneath them.
Amid the deep rumbling, a helicopter swept low over the city, beneath it a sea of glittering lights, every road a luminous river. That deep red Mazda ran so fast, like a flame cutting through waves of traffic and crowds, as if a girl was waiting at the South Library for it to come to save her.
Ban Xia was currently hiding in Building A of the New Century Plaza opposite the South Library. After spotting the big eye, she immediately ducked into the building. However, she wasn’t sure where the big eye was now – it could appear from any direction, any angle. With the enemy hidden and herself exposed, Command advised her not to move rashly, but to hide well and observe.
She believed the big eye had spotted her. No evidence, just intuition telling her so. The moment she saw the big eye, that feeling of being watched returned, leaving her body rigid and mind blank.
All around was silent, not a sound, and pitch black, too dark to see her hand in front of her face.
No wind, quiet enough to hear her breathing and heartbeat. Ban Xia had temporarily switched off her radio, maintaining radio silence.
The command had warned her not to be rash no matter what – better to hide for an extra hour or two, even until tomorrow morning or tomorrow night.
Based on the big eye’s observed patterns of activity, it wouldn’t stay in one place for long. If it couldn’t find its target around the South Library area, it would prowl elsewhere.
So Ban Xia stayed hidden in the building, curled up under a counter, radio off, waiting patiently.
Suddenly fine dust fell on her face.
The girl opened her eyes. She knew something was here – it had caused an almost imperceptible vibration.
Soon she could feel the vibration herself, subtle tremors transmitted through the floor. The girl pressed against the smooth marble floor, hearing a “click-clack, click-clack” sound that grew louder and louder until Ban Xia could hear it without pressing her ear to the ground.
She faced upward, seeing through the wooden counter above her head, through layers of brick and tile, glass and reinforced concrete, through the dark void – Ban Xia could see that thing was crouching right above her head.