War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 2032 Redemption of Prizes
On the night Wei Ran arrived in Kazan, Coco and Marlene, having eaten and drunk their fill, did not stay overnight and hurriedly boarded a red-eye flight to leave Kazan.

In the basement of the library, two groups of Hela girls sat around several sofas, quietly watching Wei Ran standing at the front.

"The rest is up to you."

Wei Ran took the teacup from Liu Bofu and took a sip. "Asma, your team will leave with me first thing tomorrow morning. You will still be responsible for the outer security of Aurora in the future."

"Yes!" Asma stood up and readily accepted the order. It was an easy task, so easy that she was even somewhat disappointed.

"In addition to the outer security, you also need to rotate a group of people to Camp 52 to serve as instructors."

"Yes!" Asma's reply was much louder this time.

"International Students Group"

Wei Ran gestured for the other party to sit down, "You will cooperate with Lola to complete the handover of work and business over the next year."

After your work here is completed, you will also be heading to China. Aurora's business will still need your assistance in the future.

"It is our honor."

These Hella students, who are also about to receive their Kazan University diplomas, answered in unison.

"That's all I wanted to say," Wei Ran waved his hand. "Get some rest."

Before the words were even finished, the Hela girls immediately stood up, lined up in two rows, and walked through the underground air-raid shelter towards the distillery's dormitory.

"Sit down, you don't need to stand."

Wei Ran waved his hand, and Liu Bofu, who had been standing next to him, sat down on the sofa opposite him.

You are still too young.

Wei Ran truthfully stated, "Therefore, you will have a rather long learning and internship process."

“I’m prepared,” Lyubov nodded immediately.

"After your learning phase is over"

Wei Ran smiled and made a promise in the language of moss, "In the future, we will have an independent disciplinary team."

After he finished speaking, Liu Bofu's eyes lit up; she had understood Wei Ran's promise!

"Go and get some rest," Wei Ran said with a smile, waving his hand.

"You should get some rest too," Lyubov said, and immediately got up and left the basement.

Time flew by and it was already the next day. Wei Ran, who had a good night's sleep, didn't get up until almost noon. After washing up carefully, he went downstairs to the lobby on the first floor empty-handed.

He left empty-handed, but the 14 Hela girls who were about to leave with him did not.

Each of them had a huge suitcase, which contained a few of their own belongings, but mostly Sui Sui's clothes and other everyday items.

These were all things that Sui Sui had arranged for them to help pack after Wei Ran left.

She even helped arrange the work visas for these Hella girls.

Besides Sui Sui's various belongings, what they also took with them were the two big-eared foxes that bring wealth and good fortune, Belial who was excitedly stomping his feet, and even the black-faced pet sheep Shaun.

"Come on, let's set off."

As Wei Ran spoke, he, Liu Bofu, and Lola got into the same civilian armored pickup truck. The Hela girls also got into civilian armored vehicles driven by the pink-clad delinquents in pairs.

Inside the Time Library, Kapoor and the others each held a cup of coffee, watching with great interest the extravagant convoy of cars gradually disappearing into the distance.

"Should we be happy or disappointed?" Culp asked, putting down his coffee cup.

“An era has ended,” Kajik said. “Guys, it’s time for you to retire.”

"It's really time to retire."

"We will hand over the studio to Maya to operate in a year," Culp sighed.

"And you?" Apoli asked. "You're not directing anymore?"

"There's no conflict between them."

Kalp smiled and shook his head. "We will temporarily reopen the Red Flag Forest Farm until your student Lyubov reaches a satisfactory level."

"She'll probably find it hard to reach Victor's level."

Apoli downed his coffee in one gulp. "Our era really should come to a complete end."

"What are your plans next?" Culp asked with a smile.

I plan to go home.

As Apoli spoke, he stood up. "I plan to go to Atyrau for a vacation by the Caspian Sea. Until I return, my students will be in your care for the time being."

If anything happens to her or she suffers any injustice, I'll burn your dilapidated forest farm down.

"That's really scary."

Culp smiled and raised his glass. "Apoli, have a nice holiday."

You should wish me a happy retirement.

Before Apoli had finished speaking, he had already walked out of the still closed library.

“I should go back to work too,” Kajik stood up. “What about you, Kalp?”

Anna will be back soon.

Kalp pointed to the coffee bar not far away, "From now on, the coffee business here belongs to us. Also, starting today, the price of coffee will double."

"I'm starting to miss my good student, Victor."

As Kajik spoke, he also walked out of the library.

"I'm going home too."

Kalp muttered to himself as he looked in the direction of the next room, then finally stood up and walked behind the bar, carefully putting on the apron he had made from a Soviet military cloak.

Just then, Anna walked in from outside.

"Welcome home, dear."

As Culp spoke, already wearing a grey director's hat, "Would you like a cup of coffee?"

"Let's have milk tea instead."

As Anna spoke, she placed a large bucket of fruit-flavored candies produced by the recently established Lake Kaban Candy Company from the neighboring winery on the bar. Then she erased all the prices on the small blackboard and wrote a line of beautiful handwriting in cursive Russian: "Coffee half price today, candy free."

As the elderly couple reopened the library, Wei Ran and his entourage arrived at the airport in a grand procession.

After obediently following the script given by Sui Sui and hugging Lyubov goodbye, Wei Ran led the girls of Hela into the boarding gate and boarded the private plane still being piloted by Ali Li, amidst Lyubov's tearful and reluctant farewell.

Only after the plane took off did Lyubov leave the airport, comforted by the pink-clad girls, and return to the city in an armored vehicle.

"Ali, tell me about our itinerary."

On the private jet, which was still nominally owned by Jima, Wei Ran, sitting in the co-pilot's seat, turned off the internal communication and asked.

"After refueling in Chita, we will fly directly to that airport in China where parking fees are outrageously expensive."

Ali explained, “Our fruit delivery plane will be parked on the adjacent helipad. They will be delivering a batch of mining equipment parts to Kamchatka, and my co-pilot will be waiting for us there.”

"I understand," Wei Ran nodded and put his communication headset back on.

During the somewhat long flight, Ariri chatted enthusiastically with him about the child he and Misha were expecting. Unsurprisingly, this shared godfather had clearly gained another child.

Finally, the adorably ugly little plane landed safely in Chita. After Wei Ran got off the plane alone, he saw the talkative captain Dmitry waiting for him.

“Victor, let me explain the process.”

As Dmitry pulled Wei Ran into the empty transport cabin, he said, "We're flying to the Kamchatka Koryak mining area. After unloading all the mining equipment, we'll wait for about eight hours, then load some equipment that needs to be transported back to Vladivostok."

"So I have 8 hours?"

"That's right, and it happened to be exactly 8 hours in the middle of the night."

Dmitry nodded, stopped, and said, "After you land, you'll get a truck. That's all I know."

“That’s enough,” Wei Ran said, following the other person into the warehouse. He then went straight to the front and chose a seat.

While he waited patiently, the cargo hold behind him was loaded with a considerable amount of mining equipment. After the loading was completed, it immediately taxied, took off, and flew directly towards Kamchatka.

This time, the talkative Captain Dmitry seemed to have changed his personality. He neither came to chat with him nor gave his usual enthusiastic welcome, as if he had forgotten that his boss was sitting in the cabin with only two rows of seats.

During the flight, Wei Ran put on earplugs and a steam eye mask and had a comfortable nap. When he was woken up by the vibrations of landing, it was already pitch black outside the porthole.

Too lazy to calculate the time difference between here and Kazan, Wei Ran ripped off his earplugs and the eye mask he had just lifted, stretched, and waited patiently.

A moment later, the transport plane came to a stop, and Dmitry stepped out alone.

"Victor"

Dmitry said, "My instructions were that you would be driving over in a car, and all I had to do was take you and the car to Vladivostok and get gas there."

After a brief pause, Dmitry continued, "Starting from Vladivostok, wherever you go from here, as long as my Sasha can fly there, I can take you there. But apart from Ulan Batur, I can't help you clear customs at any airport."

"I understand," Wei Ran asked as he walked out. "I'll be back as soon as possible."

"We have plenty of time."

As Dmitry spoke, he led Wei Ran out of the warehouse and into the cab of a dilapidated GAZ-66 pickup truck.

At this moment, a bald, bearded old man who looked to be in his fifties or sixties was already sitting in the cab of the truck.

This old guy not only wore a huge ring with a beautiful pattern on his hand, but also had a gold tooth in his mouth.

"Fasten your seatbelts, we're about to set off." The old man said, taking a swig of vodka.

"You'd better not get into a car accident," Wei Ran reminded him as he fastened his seatbelt.

"Do not worry"

Before the old man finished speaking, he had already stepped on the gas and driven the dilapidated truck away from the airport, slowly driving along the mining truck road in the night.

"We're going to an abandoned mining town."

The elderly man driving reminded him, "There are breathing filters, gloves, hats, and work clothes in the glove box; you'd better wear them."

"no problem"

Wei Ran reached out and opened the already full glove box, putting on the clothes one by one.

"When we return, you should follow behind me."

"No problem," Wei Ran replied again.

Next, the old man, who was drinking as he drove, drove his truck slowly along the highway for about an hour before turning onto a side road. After driving for another half hour, he finally drove into an abandoned town overgrown with weeds.

This place was obviously abandoned because the mineral veins were depleted. There are many such towns not only in Kamchatka, but throughout Russia.

"boom!"

The old man driving pulled out a TT33 pistol and fired a bullet out the car window. Instantly, under the dim headlights, various wild animals scattered in panic.

Finally, the truck stopped in front of a factory that looked like a mineral processing plant.

The item is inside.

As the old man driving spoke, he opened the car door and got out carrying a pair of hydraulic shears.

"I won't go in. You can go and see for yourself, and then decide for yourself whether you want to drive the car out."

As he spoke, the old man had already cut the chain on the gate. After casually tossing aside the hydraulic shears in his hand, he continued, "If you choose to just take a look, this warehouse is secure enough to preserve the contents permanently."

"What if I take it with me?"

“If you take anything from here, this place will be demolished first thing tomorrow morning, and what you take will never be able to come back here.”

"Let me go in and take a look first."

As Wei Ran spoke, he took the flashlight handed to him and pushed open the rusty iron gate.

"Bang!"

Before he could even see his surroundings clearly, the iron gate behind him was firmly closed by the people outside, and he could even hear the sound of chains winding around.

Ignoring the commotion behind him, Wei Ran held up a powerful flashlight and looked towards the center of the factory building.

There was a car parked there, covered by a canvas cover. The top four corners of the cover were suspended from the ceiling by chains, so he could only vaguely make out its outline.

What's this? A red veil?
Wei Ran smiled and lifted the canvas car cover, revealing an MZKT-7930 heavy truck.

He tugged at the rubbery twigs on the tire and was almost certain that this was a new car that had been delivered here not long ago.

I held up a canvas and walked around to the back of the vehicle. Behind it was a shipping container, the same color as the vehicle. No, perhaps it should be called a closed cargo warehouse.

The warehouse was not only unlocked at the rear, but there was even a ladder set up there.

As Wei Ran climbed the ladder into the warehouse, he felt dizzy upon seeing the contents.

This isn't just a warhead; it's a complete Tochka tactical missile—a complete missile equipped with an A232 chemical agent warhead!
His only relief, and also his only disappointment, was that it was just a missile without a launch mechanism.

But what's truly outrageous is that, according to the handwritten Russian markings on the missile body, this missile not only had its solid rocket motor removed, but also had its warhead's "explosive charge" increased, and it was also modified with a remote-controlled detonation device.

Based on the amount of explosives on this, one Novichok pill is equivalent to at least five regular ones!

Damn, you're insane!

Trembling all over, Wei Ran gently closed the hatch behind him. After carefully inspecting the inside, he finally placed his hand on the "missile's" cold yet fiery body.

The next second, the missile disappeared—the last time he defended the Great Wall historical instance, he used Helya to complete the final act's brutal killing quest, but the reward he received was an empty vortex.

Although that living father and that tattered notebook are no longer here, the promise is still valid.

After easily putting away the insane dirty bomb, Wei Ran gave the sealed warehouse a final inspection, then turned and crawled out, closing and locking the door and sealing it with a lead seal.

Still lifting the car cover, Wei Ran walked around to the front of the car, opened the door, and turned the key.

With a deep, powerful roar from the engine, the door that the old man had just locked shut reopened.

Without much communication, Wei Ran maneuvered the somewhat clumsy monster away from the location concealed by the car cover, carefully drove it out of the workshop, and followed the truck in the direction they had come from.

Next, they'll probably have to pull off a feint attack while secretly advancing.
With uncontrollable laughter, Wei Ran drove back to the airport and drove the heavy truck into the empty cargo hold of the Il-76 transport plane without any hindrance.

While waiting for takeoff, he took out his phone and dialed Brother Liu, who was nominally his boss.

"What's up?" the other person asked directly as soon as the call connected.

"That... Boss Liu"

Wei Ran's smile grew wider. "Isn't there a policy in our family that allows overseas students to bring a car back to China?"

"There is such a policy, so what?"

On the other end of the phone, Brother Liu thought he had guessed the reason, "You mean your flashy civilian armored pickup trucks?"

"No, a little bigger."

"How big?" Brother Liu on the other end of the phone became more alert.

“MZKT-7930”

"Fuck."

Finally, Brother Liu on the other end of the phone couldn't hold back and blurted out a curse, "You..."

"It's been converted into a campervan, but it won't be on the road. It'll just be sitting in my grandma's yard, purely for decoration," Wei Ran quickly explained.

"Really not going on the road?"

"After sending him back to my maternal grandmother's house, whoever goes on the road will have to go and get his foreskin checked a thousand times."

"If you've got guts, when are you arriving?" Brother Liu on the other end of the phone asked the question Wei Ran most wanted to hear.

"Soon, after dawn!" Wei Ran gave a slightly hurried answer with a cheerful smile.

As for where the warhead disappeared in the middle of the journey, there was no warhead at all.
(End of this chapter)