Invasion of America

Chapter 117 It's just a matter of peeing.
Braving the fierce winds from the rotor blades, the moment Zhou Qingfeng stepped onto the deck of the USS Ford, he fixed his gaze on Admiral Alvin's head.

Unlike Diaz, who prefers to be alone, opportunities to get close to an admiral are rare. And even if you do bump into him, he certainly won't be alone.

Zhou Qingfeng had come to seek an opportunity to assassinate the other party at their invitation, his eyes subtly revealing a chilling aura.

Although the general warmly patted him on the shoulder and greeted him, taking the initiative to lead the way to the party venue set up in the hangar and introducing the various guests who had come to attend, his gaze towards 'Harden' also contained a hint of contempt.

Both of them were the same type of person who hid a sharp tongue in a seemingly gentle manner, and whose smiles were not genuine.

The massive elevator slowly descended, taking the two into the aircraft carrier's enormous hangar.

The first thing that catches the eye is a visually striking scene: a huge American flag hangs like a waterfall at the end of the hangar, its bright red, white and blue colors standing out under the lights.

Below the flag, twelve sleek, futuristic F-35C carrier-based fighter jets are arranged diagonally to the left and right, silent and cold, exuding a strong sense of deterrence.

Around the carrier-based aircraft were twenty or thirty cold buffet tables covered with white tablecloths, filled with exquisite food and drinks, or barbecue stalls.

The air was filled with the rich aroma of champagne, the enticing scent of food, and the hustle and bustle of people exchanging pleasantries.

More than a hundred young men and women officers and soldiers in crisp naval uniforms moved among them, acting as well-trained attendants.

Five or six hundred guests, some dressed in suits and ties, others dressed in flamboyant attire, gathered in twos and threes around the carrier-based aircraft, holding wine glasses and occasionally letting out lighthearted laughter, a stark contrast to the cold, steel warplanes.

Xia Ni, as Zhou Qingfeng's female companion, wearing a floor-length gown, entered the hangar venue arm in arm, and couldn't help but exclaim in genuine amazement:
"Wow...who came up with this idea? Everyone says the military is corrupt, but the 'party' they put on is really extravagant. It looks pretty good."

Xiao Jinlang, acting as Zhou Qingfeng's attendant, followed closely behind, his carefully disguised white face appearing somewhat wooden.

When he saw the F-35C, representing the core combat power of the US Navy, being used as a decoration at the party, he was stunned, his eyes wide open, and he didn't come back to his senses for three to five seconds.

"This is absurd, it's outrageous. If this were exposed in China, the people would probably think the country is doomed."
-
As the rising star of the "Efficiency Department," Harden arrived rather late, yet he became the most eye-catching focus of the evening, immediately attracting small groups of people to gather around him.

"Mr. Harden, I want to thank you." The first person to step forward was a middle-aged woman. When introducing herself, she only gave her name and didn't mention her identity. But her smiling appearance made her seem like someone of considerable importance.

Zhou Qingfeng briefly clinked glasses with him and asked, "What are you thanking me for?"

"Thank you for your cruel and ruthless pandemic policies that killed my father," the middle-aged woman said with an undiminished smile, "allowing me to inherit a considerable fortune."

Zhou Qingfeng stood there stunned, never expecting to be thanked for something like this.

General Alvin, who was accompanying him, laughed heartily and explained, "Harden, you've freed up more than four thousand high-ranking civil service positions in Washington, D.C."

For every high-level position that becomes available, five to eight lower-level positions will be reassigned. Quite a few people are watching this now.

This reminder made Zhou Qingfeng realize just how important his current position was.

He was a high-ranking 'official' personally promoted by the vice president, but his position was not that of a civil servant; rather, he was a staff member, naturally detached from the system.

Experienced bureaucrats would immediately use this detachment to advise the vice president to fill vacant positions with their own people.

No wonder that on the day Zhou Qingfeng took office, a bunch of people called, trying to curry favor with him, but this outsider himself was completely unaware of it.

Even if he knew, he didn't care at all. No matter who tried to probe him, he would only give a perfunctory greeting, neither enthusiastic nor resistant.

General Alvin accompanied him for a while, then made an excuse to leave. After walking a distance, he said angrily to his secretary, "Harden is either an idiot or a bastard."

I personally accompanied him to the event, but he showed no approval whatsoever for the dozen or so people I introduced, and made no promises whatsoever.

Looks like I'll just have someone kill him. He's a bachelor from Tennessee, no power or influence, nobody's going to care if he dies.

A 'party' is just a place for exchanging benefits in private.

The general thought he could lower himself and make some underhanded deals with Harden, but the other party didn't respond at all and instead remained cold and indifferent.
-
Zhou Qingfeng had little interest in the lively "party" with its clinking of glasses, and even less interest in being insincere or accepting requests from strangers, as that would only bring him unnecessary trouble.

"Sir Harden, if you are interested in any person or thing, please feel free to ask me." After the general left, a lieutenant colonel adjutant was assigned to stay behind and take on the role of "guide".

"Do you often hold these kinds of gatherings here?" Zhou Qingfeng asked casually, holding his wine glass.

"No, the USS Ford is undergoing maintenance, and its air wing has been temporarily relocated to a nearby air force base, allowing most of the fleet personnel to rest on land."

The lieutenant colonel adjutant began to speak, and it seemed he was showing off to the 'high-ranking officer'. He talked about everything from the gathering in front of him to the operation of the aircraft carrier, from the roar of carrier-based aircraft taking off and landing to the navy's strategic deployment.

He particularly emphasized that after the USS Ford completes its maintenance, it will rejoin the powerful Pacific Fleet.
Together with two other Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, they exert strong military pressure on the Todai, effectively deterring any adventurous actions it may take in the Western Pacific.

Shani clearly had no interest in these military topics, and made no attempt to hide her yawning.

Xiao Jinlang listened with great interest, thinking to himself, "Finding the right platform is definitely better than blindly working hard on my own. As long as I have the right identity, top-notch intelligence is within easy reach!"

The lieutenant colonel's adjutant also noticed Zhou Qingfeng's lack of interest in the noisy gathering. After a moment's thought, he enthusiastically suggested:

"Mr. Harden, would you like to take a look inside the aircraft carrier? The 'Ford' has a full twenty-five decks, and its internal structure is extremely complex and sophisticated. There's quite a bit to see."

Zhou Qingfeng agreed.

The group then slowly descended in the huge hangar elevator.

Below the hangar are, in order, the 'combat command center', the 'power system and engine room', the 'living and quarters', and so on...

Zhou Qingfeng and his companion were quite interested in visiting the aircraft carrier, but when they arrived at the "living and residential area," they found it to be more like a busy construction site.

A dozen or so workers, dressed in work clothes covered in paint and dust, appeared to be busy walking around, but upon closer inspection, they were all lazily slacking off.

The corridors and cabins were filled with cardboard, plasterboard, various building materials, and household appliances and furniture. Dismantled cabin partitions and pipe scraps were piled up haphazardly.

The lieutenant colonel's gaze swept over the group of workers, and something he saw instantly ignited his rage. His face turned ashen, and he roared:
"Hey! You guys! Who gave you permission to operate like this?! This waste is absolutely not allowed to pile up in the corridors and elevator entrances, it must be cleaned up immediately!"

"Where's your foreman? I need to see him right now! Damn it, why is the fire suppression system off?! If there's a fire, you'll all be burned to a crisp!"

Before he could finish speaking, the lieutenant colonel left Zhou Qingfeng and Xiao Jinlang standing there, cursing and scolding the bewildered workers, while demanding that they stop work immediately.

The lower deck was already cramped and the cabins were complex. Once the lieutenant colonel left, he quickly disappeared into the crisscrossing passageways.

As for the workers he had been scolding, they all stopped what they were doing and were driven to other places. The once lively area was instantly left with only Zhou Qingfeng, Xiao Jinlang, and a visibly impatient Xia Ni.

Shani yawned and shook her head, saying, "It's so stuffy here, and there's dust and noise everywhere. It's completely different from what I imagined the inside of an aircraft carrier to be."

I'll go back to the party upstairs. You can come find me when you're done.

After saying that, the young nurse turned around without hesitation and pressed the up button for the hangar elevator.

After Xia Ni left, Zhou Qingfeng and Xiao Jinlang looked at each other in bewilderment.

"What...what do we do now?" Old Xiao scratched the back of his head, looking somewhat bewildered, his eyes darting around curiously, sometimes excited, sometimes sighing.

"This is the heart of the USS Ford aircraft carrier, but it seems there's nothing we can do about it."

If I had known there would be such a good opportunity, I should have reported it earlier; maybe we could have come up with some solutions…

"No, no, no, there's no way there will be any plan. The higher-ups will definitely tell us not to do anything, not to cause trouble, not to take any risks, and to stay safe and sound is better than anything else."

"We've come all this way, are we just going to leave empty-handed? Oh dear, I should have thought of this earlier, why wasn't I prepared?"

Old Xiao muttered to himself for a long time, but the angry lieutenant colonel adjutant did not return for a long time.

Various thoughts spread through his mind like wild grass, but were quickly burned away by the flames of reason.

He cautiously took a few steps around, trying to see what was going on, but apart from the dense pipes and messy construction materials, he didn't find anything special, let alone anyone.

This is really just an ordinary living and residential area inside the aircraft carrier.

"Oh dear, Xiao Zhou, what should we do? Do you have... Holy crap! What are you doing?!" Xiao Jinlang turned around and suddenly widened his eyes.

Zhou Qingfeng, seemingly oblivious to everyone else, opened his crotch and began urinating on a pile of building materials in the corner.

He had drunk a lot of beverages at the hangar party, and now he was urinating very urgently and forcefully, making a loud spitting sound in the corner of the cabin.

After finishing his urination, the guy shook himself and said, still not quite satisfied, "Now all I need is a pen."

"What do you need a pen for?" Xiao Jinlang was completely speechless.

“Write 'Zhou Qingfeng was here'.”

Old Xiao was so angry he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Do you think you're Sun Wukong?"

"Why don't you take a piss too? This is a historically significant piss."

"Come on, what historical significance does this have? I wouldn't do something like that." Old Xiao quickly waved his hand, looking disgusted.

Not only could he not do it, but he also had to carefully keep watch for Zhou Qingfeng, looking around warily, afraid that the angry lieutenant colonel adjutant would suddenly return and witness this scene, which would be truly embarrassing.

To cover up the evidence, Lao Xiao quickly found some scattered construction waste and haphazardly covered the corner of the wall where he had urinated—for fear that the pungent smell would spread.

A good ten minutes later, the lieutenant colonel returned, his face still grim, and said wearily and apologetically:

"I'm sorry, Mr. Harden, those workers are just too difficult to manage. I have to keep a close eye on them, otherwise they'll definitely cause all sorts of trouble."

The lieutenant colonel sniffed, and upon smelling a foul odor, he became even more furious. "Are those foreign laborers from India? They urinate everywhere. I'm going to deduct their payment for the project."

Zhou Qingfeng and Xiao Jinlang looked embarrassed and lost their interest in sightseeing, so they simply left and returned to the still lively hangar party.

Not long after they left, several short-circuit sparks hissed from the pile of waste that had been urinated on; a copper wire that had been exposed during renovations had short-circuited.

The workers who originally worked there never returned.
-
Zhou Qingfeng spent more than two hours on the 'Ford', getting to know most of the people present, but he didn't remember any of them.

As he was leaving, General Alvin came to see him off again, and said that there would be a more private gathering in a few days, and he hoped that Mr. Harden could attend.

Zhou Qingfeng did not refuse and verbally agreed. He then took Xia Ni and Xiao Jinlang onto the helicopter, which took off from the aircraft carrier deck and returned to Washington, D.C.

Inside the cabin, Xia Ni leaned lazily on Zhou Qingfeng's shoulder and sighed, "If only all of this were true."

"What do you mean? This gathering?" Zhou Qingfeng asked.

“Power, fine wine, flattery, spectacle—everything tonight is quite intoxicating.” Shani rolled her eyes at the man. “This is what I’ve always dreamed of, and I’m worried I’ll become addicted.”

“If you’re not willing to take the risks with me, I can give you some money and arrange a comfortable place for you to live a peaceful life,” Zhou Qingfeng suggested.

Xia Ni remained silent, but there was a hint of interest in her eyes.

The helicopter was supposed to return in about an hour, but less than half an hour after takeoff, a red light suddenly came on in the cabin, accompanied by a rapid beeping sound.

The pilot, wearing earmuffs, suddenly shouted into the cabin: "Sir, the helicopter is in trouble. The hydraulic system of the control system is not working. I have to make an emergency landing."

Zhou Qingfeng was startled and rushed into the cockpit. Looking at the dashboard that was beeping incessantly, he asked urgently, "What is our altitude now?"

"Altitude 600." Large beads of sweat appeared on the driver's forehead, and his grip on the control stick became loose and powerless.

This is almost certainly the fatal consequence of a complete failure of the hydraulic system and the complete leakage of hydraulic oil.

A fall from a height of 600 meters would generate enough force to turn even a steel body into a twisted pile of scrap metal.

The pilot was trying his best to save the helicopter, but he was completely unable to stop it from going out of control—it was falling at a speed of more than ten meters per second, and faster and faster, like a falling lead weight.

Inside the cabin, Xia Ni was deathly pale, and Xiao Jinlang was at a loss.

The shrieking of the rotors grew increasingly piercing, and the aura of death surged into the cabin like a cold tide.
-
A few minutes later, Admiral Alvin, who was still on the aircraft carrier, received a message from his subordinates: "Harden's helicopter has disappeared from the radar screen."

The general sneered coldly, "What a pity that the minister, who had only been in office for less than a week, was involved in a plane crash. This is the result of not having a powerful backer; even his own life is not guaranteed."

(End of this chapter)