Invasion of America

Chapter 125 Instigating Rebellion
Ernst walked out of Zhou Qingfeng's office with a heart full of joy.

As a retired U.S. Army soldier with no education, background, or connections, he had no grand ambitions and was quite satisfied with his job as a gatekeeper at the 'Ministry of Health'.

He thought he would live a simple life, but the outbreak of the pandemic gave him a completely different choice.

Deep down, he was very grateful to Secretary Oliver Harden for recognizing his talent and was willing to do the dirty work for him as a way of repaying him.

Ernst felt incredibly satisfied, especially when he strangled the four-star general—the superior he used to only look up to could only die a pathetic death at his hands, and that felt amazing.

When Harden ordered the re-conscription of armed volunteers, Ernst left his office full of enthusiasm, his mind preoccupied with how to accomplish the task.
But just then, his phone rang; it was an unknown number.

After the call connected, before he could even say "hello," a rather arrogant voice came through, "Is this John Ernst?"

“It’s me. Who are you?” Ernst asked in return.

"This is Susie Wells, White House Chief of Staff," the voice on the phone said. "You're a member of the Republican MAGA, right?"

Ernst froze, as if his heart had stopped beating. After a long pause, he stammered, "Yes, I'm a MAGA member. What can I do for you?"

"I have a task for you to complete," the chief of staff scoffed. "How about we meet at the White House?"

Upon hearing that the meeting place was the 'White House', Ernst instinctively obeyed. He had no resistance in front of his superiors, and responded like a puppet, "Okay."

The chief of staff was very satisfied with Ernst's attitude, but made sure to give a special reminder: "This is a top-secret mission, and you must not reveal it to anyone else. Not even your superiors."

"Even Mr. Harden can't know?"

"Yes."

Ernst broke out in a cold sweat instantly, realizing what he was being asked to do. He had once again reached a crossroads in his life, one from which he knew not where.
-
At the same time, in a small town called Macon, Georgia, Wayne Herbert, who was in charge of Project X, was not at all as disheveled as a wanted man, and was leisurely enjoying himself as if he were on vacation.

The research facilities for 'Project X' are neither deep underground nor hidden in caves or mountains. This isn't a movie, after all; highly paid researchers aren't willing to live a hard life.

It was built openly in the town, with a sign that read "High-end Private Hospital". It occupies more than ten acres of land, surrounded by barbed wire fences, and usually keeps a low profile, not accepting outpatients from ordinary people.

There was a river in the town. Wayne Herbert was fishing by the river with a net and a fishing rod at an angle—no fish were biting, but his cell phone rang. The caller ID showed 'White House Chief of Staff'.

"Hello, Mr. Wells, good afternoon," Herbert answered the phone with a cheerful smile.

“Not good, not good at all.” The chief of staff’s cold voice rang out. “The situation in Washington, D.C. is getting worse and worse, and the vice president still refuses to step down gracefully.”

"What outlandish ideas do those country folk have?" Herbert asked with a smile.

"He's going around looking for people to arrest you. He's mobilized not only the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, but also Harden from the 'Efficiency Department,'" the chief of staff said.

"Harden?" Herbert asked with a hint of doubt, as if wondering who that name referred to.

The chief of staff explained, "He's a brainless idiot who only knows how to act recklessly and has already caused a lot of trouble. But the information he has isn't very valuable."

"You've wasted too much time and money. When will Project X finally yield results? I can't keep waiting."

These words, ostensibly comforting, are actually a threat.

No one outside knew that the person who truly protected Wayne Herbert and hid 'Project X' was none other than the Chief of Staff, who was ostensibly the most active in the manhunt.

After much deliberation, Herbert said in a deep voice, "We have already achieved some preliminary results. If you have time, you are welcome to visit."

"Be more specific, what kind of results?" the chief of staff asked impatiently. "If it's the same kind of results with an effectiveness rate of less than one in ten thousand as last time, then it's meaningless."

“No, this time we have increased the efficiency to ten percent, and it is highly controllable, with the potential for large-scale use,” Herbert replied.

"One in ten effective rate?" The chief of staff was immediately delighted. "If it's true, I can go and take a look. Let's set the time for the weekend."

"What about Harden, the one you mentioned?"

"Don't worry, even if he finds you, I can take care of him behind the scenes. But if you still can't produce results, someone else will take care of you."
-
Two days later, in the small town of 'Macon' where Herbert was hiding, a small drone flew by at an altitude of three or four hundred meters.

The onboard high-definition camera stared intently at the ground, capturing the face of every resident in the town, and the images were transmitted back to a truck several kilometers away.

Inside the truck, 'Grey Shark' transmits the received images back to the 'Efficiency Department's' database for facial comparison, identifying the townspeople one by one.

'Macon' was one of the bases of the 'Undead' in Zhou Qingfeng's memory. Compared to the needle-in-a-haystack search of other investigation results, it was he who noticed this place first.

Beside the 'Grey Shark', the tall and burly Congus stared at his thin 'colleague' in a wheelchair with suspicion and a lot of questions.

After the outbreak of the pandemic, the Congus family was arranged to go to the Bahamas.

Zhou Qingfeng rented an old cruise ship weighing over 100,000 tons, refitted it, named it "Holy Light," and moored it off the coast of the Bahamas.

The cruise ship has a huge amount of space, with food, drinks and entertainment. It even employs many former crew members to maintain the ship's basic operations and upkeep.

While other places were locked down and crying out in despair after the outbreak of the pandemic, Kang Ge and his companions lived a carefree life on the cruise ship, at most watching the suffering in other regions and feeling a chill down their spines.

More than a month later, Zhou Qingfeng gave a call and, using the 'White House Secret Service' label, lured Kang Ge to come over.

The former sheriff arrived at 'Macon' but didn't see Zhou Qingfeng. Instead, he met 'Grey Shark' and learned a great deal from him.

"You mean, in the past month or so, Victor not only got away scot-free, but also infiltrated the upper echelons of the government, becoming the Minister of Efficiency, able to freely enter and leave the White House, and even took down a four-star general?"

Kangus shook his head. "What you're saying is too far-fetched. I don't believe a word of it."

On the computer screen in the carriage, the facial recognition results were rapidly updating. 'Grey Shark' didn't need to look at the screen; he turned his wheelchair with both hands and turned his head to look at Kangus.

“Sheriff, I’ve known you for a year. Back then, Victor was just a penniless young man who hadn’t yet won the multi-billion dollar lottery. Have you ever wondered how he could have such an extraordinary experience?”

For a year, this question had been troubling Kangus. He shook his head. "I don't understand how he did it either. I've given up on finding the answer." "Victor asked you to help, which means he trusts you. I'll tell you a secret too." 'Grey Shark' leaned forward, his face serious, and lowered his voice: "That kid is from the future."

Kangus, also eager to hear the secret, pricked up his ears, his expression focused. But upon hearing "from the future," he burst into laughter, exclaiming, "Damn it, I shouldn't have talked to you. You're a brainless idiot."

'Grey Shark' rarely communicates with people, is not good with words, and does not argue. Instead, he sneers, "Just wait, you will see the evidence."

After saying that, 'Grey Shark' took out another badge from his pocket and tossed it to Congus, saying, "You're now an agent of the 'Efficiency Department'."

"Didn't you say it was the White House Secret Service?" Congus asked, somewhat annoyed. "Where exactly is Victor?"

Just then, the computer in the carriage started beeping.

An MV22 Osprey was landing on the tarmac of the town's medical center when several officials disembarked, and they were clearly captured by a drone hovering nearby.

The facial recognition system detected the results and the software immediately alerted the user, indicating that the person was a high-priority individual requiring close monitoring.

'Grey Shark' glanced at the recognition result, his expression changed drastically, and he quickly grabbed his phone to send a message, cursing, "How did this guy show up?"
-
At this moment, Zhou Qingfeng, disguised as 'Harden', entered the town, casually walked into a small restaurant, ordered a 'hot dog' and coffee, and sat by the window.

The restaurant is located diagonally opposite the town's 'medical center'.

Through the window, one can clearly see a high wall surrounding the building, as well as several tall buildings inside that are marked "No Trespassing," creating a mysterious and oppressive atmosphere.

At this moment, dozens of armed volunteers recruited by Ernst, posing as 'Secret Service' agents, were scattered throughout and around the town.

Once the target location is confirmed, action can be taken at any time.

Zhou Qingfeng personally came to the scene to direct the operation, also wanting to catch the "Undead Huai En" himself and see if the other party had actually produced the weakened version of the "X Enhancer".

If it succeeds, he'll definitely want a share of the profits—it's a pity that the head of the 'Efficiency Department' has no one under him who can handle things independently.

The moment Zhou Qingfeng sat down, he felt that something was off about this small restaurant.

The restaurant was small and had few staff; it was mainly frequented by town residents and staff from the 'medical center'. It was supposed to be a quiet and ordinary place.

When the waiter brought the hot dog and coffee, Zhou Qingfeng suddenly realized that he had chosen the wrong place to monitor the restaurant—the location was too good, so good that anyone who wanted to monitor the area would come here.

He grabbed the hot dog and took a bite. As he chewed, he glanced up and around—Old Hammer had taught him a lot of espionage skills, and he himself had a wealth of survival experience. He immediately sensed that something was amiss.

The small restaurant has few seats; half are by the window, and half are not.

There were three or four people sitting by the window, and they all had one thing in common: their eyes were glancing around intentionally or unintentionally—something that normal people wouldn't do while eating.

At a table not far away, a young couple sat talking quietly, sweet smiles on their faces, behaving intimately like lovers.

As Hammer once said, intelligence agencies love to have agents pose as couples for surveillance. This disguise is extremely deceptive, not only making it difficult to attract attention, but also facilitating mutual cover and division of labor.

However, there are always subtle differences between fake couples and real couples.

Their conversations often lack genuine emotion, and their eye contact and facial expressions appear stiff and deliberate. They may also deliberately use frivolous remarks to mask their estrangement from each other.

Even the waitress who had just served the food seemed a bit off. The skin on her fingers was slightly rough, and the calluses on the base of her thumb were unusually prominent.

Those marks couldn't have been achieved by carrying plates for a long time; they were more like marks left from long-term shooting training with firearms.

Just then, 'Grey Shark' sent a text message with a simple sentence: "Terminate the operation. I saw White House Chief of Staff Susie Wells."

He had just arrived at the medical center aboard the Osprey, and facial recognition confirmed his identity. Wayne Herbert was also identified at the same time. The two knew each other.

Zhou Qingfeng felt a chill run down his spine and cursed under his breath. He realized he had been used as a pawn, and there must be some hidden story behind it that he didn't know about.

Considering the unusual behavior of this small restaurant, who knows what kind of trap has been set in this town—and who knows how many spies are nearby? It's best to leave now.

He placed the hot dog down, drank half of his coffee, casually paid fifty dollars, stuffed it under the plate, and then got up nonchalantly to leave.

But as soon as he stepped out of the restaurant's glass doors, the waitress walked to the window, confirmed the direction he had gone, and then gave the pretending couple a wink.

The couple immediately got up and chased after Zhou Qingfeng, laughing and joking. They followed him closely, getting closer step by step, whether to confirm his identity or for some other purpose, it was unclear.

Zhou Qingfeng could hear footsteps getting closer and closer behind him, so he slowed down, took out his phone, and sent a message to Ernst and the others who were waiting in town: "Mission terminated, drive over and pick me up."

The 'fake couple' behind them reacted quickly when they saw their target take out his phone, and immediately quickened their pace to catch up.

One of the women approached and called out, "Sir, can you do me a favor?"

Zhou Qingfeng had already scanned the surrounding area, confirming that there were few people on the streets of the small town. He turned around, already holding a silenced pistol in his hand, the muzzle pointed at the 'fake couple' behind him.

The woman who had spoken was startled, then immediately feigned panic and shouted "no." But the man next to her did the same thing as Zhou Qingfeng, reaching under his arm to draw a gun.

Both guns were pointed at each other at the same time, and they pulled the triggers simultaneously. The gunshots rang out at the same time, and the bullets hit each other instantly.

Zhou Qingfeng felt as if he had been struck in the chest by a heavy hammer, and his body trembled slightly. But he was strong and his grip was steady; the muzzle of the gun did not waver at all, and his fingers kept pulling the trigger.

Three bullets struck the man in the chest, knocking him to the ground. A fourth bullet hit his arm, which was holding the gun, causing him to scream in agony.

The woman next to her was still shouting 'no,' but the moment the gun went off, she too quickly reached for her handbag, pulled out a small pistol, and tried to aim.

Zhou Qingfeng slightly shifted the muzzle of his gun, aiming it at the woman's head. The woman panicked completely, stopping what she was doing and shouting, "Mr. Harden, don't shoot!"

Zhou Qingfeng was immediately puzzled. "At the restaurant, you kept your back to me. When you caught up with me, I wasn't facing you either. How did you recognize me? Did you know I was coming in advance?"

The woman was pale and stammered.
(End of this chapter)