War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 2033 Goodbye
At Baiyangdian, the maternal grandmother's house of a well-known historian was greeted by a huge object early that morning.

Under the bewildered gaze of the four elderly people from both families, a four-axle, eight-wheeled special truck that had been airlifted in the early hours of the morning was personally driven off the flatbed trailer by Wei Ran amidst the roar of its engine, and then carefully driven into the yard.

Before he could even raise the hydraulic hoe to support the massive vehicle, the flatbed trailer that had brought them had already turned around and left the village.

Before he could finish his work, the two elderly people locked the gates of their courtyards, blocking the curious gazes of the surrounding neighbors.

Fortunately, they finally let Brother Liu, who had come with Wei Ran, in.

"You brought back such a behemoth just to convert it into a campervan?"

Brother Liu waited until Wei Ran turned off the engine of the large car parked against the wall and jumped out of the heavy door before asking the question he had been holding back all the way.

"Perhaps?"

Wei Ran first greeted Shuangfen'er's maternal and paternal grandparents, and then put his arm around Sui Sui who came closer and started rambling, "When I first went to study in Russia, I always dreamed of being able to get a motorhome to live in. Now that I've finished my studies and returned, I have to fulfill my old wish."

"That's right!"

Without thinking, Sui Sui began to testify, "I've already contacted the design team, and they'll be here by noon today to take measurements and start the modifications."

"Really?" Brother Liu became increasingly suspicious.

"You checked the car inside and out, and I gave you the film reel."

Wei Ran shrugged. "If Brother Liu is still worried, why don't we call that cart back and take it away for a second inspection while it's still relatively untouched?"

"That won't be necessary."

Brother Liu shook his head. "Remember what you said, this car is not allowed on the road, not even in your village."

"Don't worry, don't worry"

Wei Ran readily agreed, "If you're worried, you can have someone dismantle the engine later."

"That won't be necessary."

Brother Liu didn't press the matter further. He politely handed over the gifts he had bought along the way to the two families' elders, declined their invitation to stay for dinner, and left the farmhouse.

"what did you just say?"

Outside Leningrad, on Fish Island, Uncle Chab with big ears looked at Dalia in astonishment. "Where did he take that car? To China?"

"That's right"

As Dalia spoke, she opened Wei Ran's WeChat Moments, showing a family photo taken five minutes earlier by Wei Ran, Sui Sui, and the four elders from both families, with that large truck as the background.

Is he an idiot?

Big-eared Chabu stared blankly at the photo on the screen. "He just handed that warhead over to the authorities so easily? He..."

"He was a student of mine, as well as Principal Nikolai's."

Dalia put away her phone and continued preparing breakfast, saying, "He won't do anything stupid."

"But now many people probably already know that the warhead has been handed over to China."

Big-Eared Chab paused halfway through his sentence, then looked at Dalia, "Sister, those who know about that warhead probably won't ask whether they've managed to slip one into one of your good students."

"They will not only not ask, but they will also pretend that nothing happened."

Dalia stopped cooking. "But everyone knows that you've already destroyed one of your trump cards."

But that card is still there.

Big-Eared Chab revealed a murderous smile. "I'm starting to wonder how he managed to convince them."

"I suspect that thing might have already been switched in Vladivostok."

Dalia sat down opposite him. "However, instead of guessing where the trump card is hidden, let's gamble on whether he will use it."

"He's crazy, but he's definitely not stupid. He won't use it easily."

"A trump card is one that's well hidden," said Chabudo with an air of certainty.

“Then let’s give him some trust,” Dalia said, and resumed her work.

Are you going out again?

In her grandmother's courtyard, Sui Sui, sprawled on a recliner, was holding half a watermelon, eating it with a spoon while asking questions.

Not far in front of them, a motorhome design team introduced by Qin Qi was taking measurements for the special vehicle.

"I need to go out one last time."

Holding the other half of the watermelon, Wei Ran nodded. Just now, he had whispered the identities of the Kajenka sisters to them.

"Where are you planning to go?" Sui Sui scooped out a large spoonful of watermelon flesh.

"I need to go back to Vladivostok."

"When are you coming back?"

While asking this question, Sui Sui kept poking at the watermelon flesh she had just scooped out with a spoon.

"At most three days"

"Ok!"

Sui Sui scooped up the watermelon flesh that was almost shoved into pieces and put it in her mouth again. "After you leave, I'm also planning to go to Hangzhou to check out the film and television company. When you come back, just fly there."

"Okay!" Wei Ran knew that the other party was worried about him, but this trip was still one he had to go.

"When do we leave?" Sui Sui asked a new question.

We'll set off this afternoon.

"Okay, I'll go. No, I won't see you off." Sui Sui keenly sensed something.

"Um"

Wei Ran nodded, finished eating the small watermelon the other person was holding, then said goodbye to the elders of both families, drove alone to the high-speed rail station, and then to the airport.

Shortly after, he boarded a budget airline to Vladivostok, and after landing and entering the country, he turned around and got into a ground service vehicle, followed him to the tarmac, and became a navigator on the transport plane to Papua New Guinea.

While Wei Ran was busy on his journey, Sui Sui had already arrived in Hangzhou with her entourage.

"Have they been notified?"

When Sui Sui arrived at the headquarters building, she took the opportunity to ask while riding the elevator to the top floor.

"Notification has been given."

Anfisa immediately replied, "Everyone will be here by noon tomorrow at the latest."

"Sister Aurora, are you really going to do this?" Anfia pressed.

"I've already made up my mind, and it's too late to regret it now." Sui Sui said this with a confident smile on her face.

The next morning arrived in the blink of an eye, and Coco, her new partner Marlene, and Olena took a plane to Hangzhou.

I'll only say one thing.

In the relatively small conference room, Sui Sui spoke up, "Olena, who's playing in the mud, I'm going to establish a private hospital in the Wartsai Autonomous Prefecture, where you're about to enter politics. Do you have any objections?"

"Of course not, and besides, I'm not some mud-playing Olena."

As Olena spoke, she took the statue she had carved herself, which Wei Ran had deliberately forgotten to bring back, out of her suitcase and placed it on the conference table.

"Coco, do you want to invest?" Sui Sui continued to ask.

"certainly"

Coco agreed without hesitation, then asked, "Which hospital?"

"Cosmetic surgery hospital"

Sui Sui looked at Marlene, whose eyes were shining, and said, "How about we invest in your name?"

“No problem!” Marlene immediately agreed.

"Then it's settled."

Sui Sui clapped her hands. "Our, no, Marlene's hospital will be a members-only, high-end private cosmetic surgery hospital."

"Sui Sui, you called us all over the world just for this?"

Coco asked while yawning, "I just got back to France from Kazan and then received the news, so I rushed over immediately, but only for a hospital?"

"Snapped!"

Sui Sui snapped her fingers crisply, "That's right! It's all for a plastic surgery hospital!"

"Alright alright"

Coco yawned again. "This is really a big deal, so where should we go next? I want to eat those kinds of pastries again."

"Let's go now!" Sui Sui decisively ended the meeting, which had lasted for less than ten minutes.

"Coco, I think that hospital might not be as simple as it seems."

Marlene whispered something in Coco's ear in French.

God knows what she said, but Coco's eyes widened. "You mean..."

"We'll find out when the time comes," Marlene said, standing up and walking out of the conference room.

While Sui Sui was entertaining her friends, whom she had invited in a somewhat capricious manner, Wei Ran had already left the airport by hiding in a mezzanine of a container full of generators and arrived unimpeded at the underground parking lot of a banana plantation not far away.

As the surrounding staff were cleared out, Lu Xinda's brother, Aige, also opened the sealed container door after cutting off the power supply to the entire building.

“Mr. Dima Allah, come with me!” Egger called out in a low voice.

Soon, Wei Ran, wearing a motorcycle helmet and gloves, stepped out of the container and jumped off, refusing Aiger's help.

"Today, because of the power maintenance, I gave everyone on the plantation a day off, including those bastards who were sent here for labor correction."

As Aiger led Wei Ran toward a security door at the end of the underground garage, he explained in a low voice, "They're having a celebratory dinner at the plantation's packing plant today."

After a brief pause, Egger continued, "Tonight, a batch of freshly harvested durians will be transported to Eastern Europe by plane, just as the power maintenance is about to be completed."

After saying that, Aiger stopped in front of the security door and unlocked the mechanical lock with a key. "You can rest here for a while. You can leave tonight."

After saying that, Aiger waited for Wei Ran to go inside, then immediately closed the security door and locked it again.

At the other end of the security door, Wei Ran rode an electric scooter parked against the wall and rode along the narrow but bright underground tunnel for about a kilometer before being blocked by a blast door.

After parking the electric scooter and pressing the doorbell on the side of the explosion-proof door, the heavy explosion-proof door opened a crack with a "click" shortly afterward.

Turning his head to look behind him, Wei Ran opened the blast door, went inside, and closed it from the other end.

After locking the first door, he rode his second electric scooter for a while and finally stopped at the second blast door.

This time, the explosion-proof door opened before he could even open the kickstand on the electric scooter.

Behind this door stood the deceased Gorman and his wife, Mrs. Uma.

"Good child, we've finally met again."

Gorman and Wei Ran took off their helmets and immediately gave him a warm hug.

"Old man, who did your plastic surgery? You've become much more handsome and younger."

While teasing the other party, Wei Ran also gave Mrs. Uma a cheek kiss.

"What makes me younger is, of course, my Uma," Gorman replied matter-of-factly as he relocked the blast door.

"No wonder"

Wei Ran gave a very polite, seemingly enlightened response, and then followed the couple into a meeting room located in the basement.

"How have you been lately?" Wei Ran asked with a smile as he took the coffee Uma handed him.

Life here is very peaceful.

Gorman put his arm around Mrs. Uma, who was sitting next to him. "Thanks to Anfia for helping us hack into the Mackar family's surveillance system, we can see our children anytime, even though it's a bit unethical to do so."

"We didn't see anything we shouldn't have seen."

Uma said with great interest, "When Makar took the group of tourists that Aurora brought to the Great Barrier Reef for diving last time, we also took a boat to that area and looked at it from a distance with binoculars."

To be honest, Makar has lost a lot of weight, but it makes him look much healthier.

"Don't you plan to see him again?" Wei Ran pressed.

“Makar is an adult now, and a qualified father.”

Gorman said calmly, "He has his own family and life, and he is no longer at the age where he needs his father's love the most."

So we're not going to disturb his life anymore; we're quite content with things as they are.

Is there anything else I can do for you?

Wei Ran breathed a slight sigh of relief and asked, because he was genuinely worried that Gorman might have a sudden urge to say "the whole family should be together," which would definitely kill a lot of people.

"There's nothing more to do, this is good enough."

Gorman ended the conversation with satisfaction. "I heard you're preparing to graduate? Have you run into some trouble?"

"I received the Friendship Medal."

As Wei Ran spoke, he took the medal out of his pocket and showed it to the other person.

“This thing might have been custom-made in Yiwu, China,” Gorman said with a smile and a hint of disdain after just one glance, before returning it to Wei Ran.

“It doesn’t matter”

Wei Ran took the medal and put it back in his pocket. "I just wanted to say that the retirement of your friends has been taken care of. For them to have a peaceful old age, my return to China is the best choice."

"It is indeed the best choice. Russia can't protect you, and neither can that piece of scrap metal, but China can."

As Gorman finished speaking, a smug smile appeared on his face. "I'm starting to wonder how much of a headache those people who wanted to do something to you are having right now."

I'm curious too.

Wei Ran shrugged. "So here I am, Professor Gorman. You should know that when I put myself in a safe enough position, someone else is going to be unsafe."

"Of course, of course."

Gorman smiled and said, "It's our turn to challenge them. Tell me, what do you want to do?"

“Under non-essential circumstances, I don’t need Kombu molecules,” Wei Ran wrote down the major premise. “But I do need hunters, hunters whose origins cannot be traced.”

Come and see our results!

As Gorman spoke, he stood up and led Wei Ran to a room next door where the walls were covered with surveillance screens. This time, Mrs. Uma did not follow.

"These are the cicadas that have been growing for 17 years."

Gorman pointed to the first screen and said, "They'll need some more time."

"Take your time, time is the one thing we have plenty of."

"These are all here"

Gorman pointed to the content on the second screen and said, "These mixed-race children from Japan and South Korea will be hunters; they always thought they were being trained in Guatemala."

"That must be them."

Wei Ran nodded. "Hela will provide them with sufficient intelligence support."

"Are you trying to start a war?" Gorman asked abruptly.

"of course not"

Wei Ran shrugged. "I already said, I have no intention of cultivating Kombu molecules."

"It seems like an Eye of Horus has recently appeared?"

"It has nothing to do with me"

"What about Charon, who was incorporated into the army?"

What is Charon?

"So these hybrid hunters need a code name, right?" Gorman asked with a broad smile.

"Let's call it the Avengers then."

"No copyright fees are required, right?"

"Anyone who dares to accept this should prepare for revenge."

Wei Ran also made a small joke, "Now that we've created enough public opinion, it's time to let the seeds of hatred sprout."

"How about we call them fertilizer?"

"Anything is fine, you can call it whatever you want."

Wei Ran glanced at the screen one last time, then turned and walked out of the room he had never been to before and would never come back to.

"Victor," Gorman suddenly called out to Wei Ran.

"What's wrong?" Wei Ran turned around and looked at the other person.

"I hope you will always live in the sunshine from now on," Gorman said with great seriousness and sincerity. "Never end up like Uma and me."

"Don't worry, old man." Wei Ran gently patted the other man's shoulder.

"Should you leave now?"

"yes"

Wei Ran nodded. "I should leave now, but I guess we'll definitely have a chance to meet again in the future."

“I think so too.”

Gorman and Wei Ran shared a bear hug. "I have to say, you are the best student I have ever met."

“You are also the best teacher I have ever met.” Wei Ran shook hands with Gorman at the end. “Goodbye, Mr. Gorman.”

"Goodbye," Gorman said, watching Wei Ran turn and walk back the way he came.