Invasion of America

Chapter 86 Old Guy

The police dog circled back and forth on the roof of the apartment building, with its nose close to the ground, and from time to time it looked up and barked a few times at the roof of another house opposite.

The dog trainer stood in front of the fence on the roof, holding the leash tightly with both hands and a frown on his face.

He peered into the two-meter-wide gap between the buildings, scanning the rooftops of the opposite buildings before shaking his head at his superior. "The target escaped and jumped directly onto the building opposite."

A group of pursuing police officers gathered around and stared at a clear half-footprint on the steel pipe fence - the railing was even slightly bent due to the great force of the stepping.

The scene of "flying through the air" appeared in everyone's mind, which was both absurd and magical.

On the rooftop of the apartment building opposite, two "cleaners" stood at the edge of the roof, staring solemnly at several clear footprints on the floor.

The footprints were clearly visible, as if carved into the ground. One of them squatted down, gently stroking the edge of the footprints with his fingers, his brow furrowed tighter and tighter.

"With courage and good luck, it is indeed possible for an adult to step on the roof railing and cross a distance of more than two meters."

A "cleaner" whispered, "But with such a difficult move, who can land without losing their stride? A bloody head is normal."

The marks left on the floor silently refuted this view.

The distance between the footprints was even and the pace was steady, as if the person was walking on flat ground, like a wild horse jumping over a ravine, leisurely and unhurried.

"The man who took Lucy away must have received professional training. His strength and courage far surpass those of ordinary people."

Another 'cleaner's' gaze fell on several smaller footprints on the floor.

The footprints were clearly female, equally clear and steady. They must have been left by Lucy. The woman didn't hesitate at all as she crossed the two buildings.

"This doesn't make sense," the 'cleaner' whispered. "It's okay for a man to be this strong, but how can a woman be so powerful?"

Another "cleaner" walked to the edge of the roof, held the railing with both hands, and looked down.

The roof is less than 30 meters from the ground. This distance is nothing on a flat surface, but it is enough to kill someone on a vertical plane.

The two 'cleaners' imagined themselves leaping between the two buildings, and a chill ran down their spines. "This situation is a little unusual. We need a stronger team."
-
Zhou Qingfeng and Lucy were currently hiding in an apartment a hundred meters away.

Through the window, they could clearly see the local police busy downstairs, with police lights flashing and figures moving around, trying their best to track them down.

"That was a close call," Zhou Qingfeng whispered, "Those military and police mobilized people much faster than expected.

This is definitely not something that ordinary investigators can do. The people who come to investigate have very strong backgrounds and influence.”

Lucy nodded and turned to walk towards the restaurant.

The owner of the apartment was the middle-aged father who had asked Zhou Qingfeng to help "find his daughter".

At this moment, his daughter - a little girl in her teens - was sitting at the dining table, slamming the table angrily and complaining about something with a dissatisfied look on her face.

"I really envy you for having a dad to take care of you." Lucy said softly as she walked to the dining table, her eyes falling on the little girl dressed in colorful clothes.

Her hair was dyed bright purple, her eyeshadow was heavy, and her nose ring was sparkling. She looked like a rebellious girl who had run away from a mental hospital.

When the little girl heard Lucy's words, she raised her head, curled her lips in disdain, and deliberately asked back, "Is your father dead?"

Lucy didn't answer immediately. Instead, she sat down slowly, holding a cup of steaming coffee in her hand, and nodded gently, "Yes, my father died ten years ago."

Her voice was a little low, unable to hide the sadness. "I was the same age as you back then, just as rebellious. I felt like my father was a loser who didn't know how to do anything except control me."

The atmosphere at the table suddenly cooled. The middle-aged father, busy in the kitchen, paused for a moment, but he didn't interrupt and continued preparing dinner silently.

The little girl was still unconvinced and asked provocatively, "How did your father die?"

"I don't know." Lucy's eyes were a little out of focus, "My father is often on business trips, and he's gone for half a month or even several months.

I never knew what his job was until two men in government uniform came to my house one day and told me he died serving his country.”

She paused, recalling the painful experience, "I was taken to Arlington Cemetery for my father's funeral.

Later, they took me to the Langley headquarters building in Virginia, where they pointed to a star on the wall and told me it represented my father.

The little girl's eyes widened in disbelief. "Wait, Langley Headquarters? Your father works for the CIA? He's an agent?"

Lucy nodded, a hint of pride in her eyes, “Not only my father is, but my grandfather is too.

I could have been one of them, but my grandfather said that it would be better to have a normal person in the family.

So, I didn’t go and chose to stay in a small city and be an ordinary person.”

The little girl was stunned, clearly overwhelmed by the shock of this information. After a moment, she retorted even more angrily:
"Impossible! You're lying to me! If your father was a CIA agent, how could he possibly let you live such a miserable life?"

At this time, Zhou Qingfeng walked over from the window. Hearing what the little girl said, he couldn't help but interrupt: "How do you know Lucy is having a miserable life? Maybe she is having a better life than you."

The little girl turned her head and glared at Zhou Qingfeng fiercely, "I don't want to talk to you! You liar, you are not the FBI at all!

No FBI agent is going to catch street gangs and beat them to death like you do. Everybody in the neighborhood knows you're a fake!"

Zhou Qingfeng was choked by these words and was speechless for a moment, with an embarrassed look on his face.

He really didn't expect that because he was too "friendly" and too "helpful", his identity would be exposed so quickly.

Lucy chuckled at this, her laughter extremely teasing.

Since even this little girl had seen through him, Zhou Qingfeng simply stopped pretending, reached out and lifted up the gelatin mask on his neck, tearing off the entire disguise.

"Huh..." He breathed a sigh of relief and rubbed his reddened skin. "This thing is really uncomfortable to wear for a long time. It's not breathable and it's stuffy."

Lucy stared at Zhou Qingfeng with interest, clearly expecting this. Her middle-aged father, who was busy in the kitchen, glanced back, but didn't seem to mind.

The little girl was a little disdainful at first, but after recognizing Zhou Qingfeng's face, she was suddenly extremely shocked and cried out, "You, you, you."

"What?" Zhou Qingfeng glanced at him.

The teenage girl immediately lowered her voice and asked weakly, "Can I take a photo with you? I'll post it on my personal homepage. That would be super cool and would make my classmates envious." Zhou Qingfeng didn't say anything, but looked at the middle-aged father who was busy.

The little girl understood and immediately turned around to hug her father, whispering, "Daddy, please."

The middle-aged father was somewhat at a loss, and asked Zhou Qingfeng with a hint of pleading: "Is this convenient?"

Zhou Qingfeng nodded. "I can fulfill your request when I leave. But it's best to wait a few days before releasing it publicly. In the meantime, you should also think about how to deal with the police if they come to question you."

The little girl nodded like a doll and cheered loudly.
-
The middle-aged father was a taxi driver, working hard every day from morning till night. After dinner, Lucy asked him to take them out of town.

Ever since the military and police arrest, Lucy's attitude towards Zhou Qingfeng has softened, and she agreed to take him to the place where her grandfather was recuperating.

The taxi circled the city and finally stopped in front of a remote country villa.

The two walked towards the backyard of the villa, and Lucy said softly: "My grandfather is here, you will be able to see him soon."

In the night, the crescent moon hangs high in the sky, and the backyard of the villa is surrounded by a circle of hedge trees.

A small lamp was lit in the yard. Moths fluttered around in the light, and crickets chirped one after another, adding a bit of vitality to the quiet night.

Hammer Lee was covered with a thin blanket, sitting in a rocking chair, staring at the night sky with empty eyes, as if he was recalling something, or just killing time out of boredom.

The villa hired a nanny to take care of the old man's daily life. She tiptoed to the rocking chair and whispered, "Sir, your granddaughter Lucy is here with her friends."

Hammer slowly turned his head and his eyes lingered on Lucy's face for a long time before he barely recognized her.

When he saw Zhou Qingfeng, his cloudy eyes lit up and he excitedly sat up straight in his rocking chair, "Victor! You are Victor! I am Hammer, your 'part-time worker'!"

Lucy looked at this scene and said with emotion: "I didn't expect that my grandfather almost forgot me, but he still remembered you."

Hammer tremblingly took out his cell phone, opened the memo, and waved it to show Zhou Qingfeng, "Stinky boy, I remember all the bad things you did!
I've been so bored lately, I've been sitting here all day waiting to die, just reading old records to kill time. Why did you come to see me?

Compared to the old man's excitement, Zhou Qingfeng had a cold face, and his tone was full of questioning: "Hammer, I really don't want to come to you in this form.

You helped me get rid of the Chris family, and I gave you half of the assets I got from them as a gift.

I thought I was very generous and that even if the person who took the money didn't give anything in return, he shouldn't bite me back.

But what happened? This gift bred a vicious dog.

I want to know, who is Diaz from the Tree of Justice? I paid him money, and now he wants to kill me."

Hammer fell silent after listening to Zhou Qingfeng's description. After a while, he sighed and whispered, "Diaz...he is indeed capable of such a thing."

"First, tell me, who is that bastard?" Zhou Qingfeng pressed. "I'm also the founder of the 'Tree of Justice', so I have the right to know who's in the organization."

Hammer hesitated for a moment, then finally opened his phone, searched for it, and said, "His real name is Steve Noam.
He is a senior intelligence officer in the National Protection and Programs Directorate within the Department of Homeland Security, responsible for risk management and analysis. Dias is his code name.

Victor, you're not going to kill him, are you? That guy's in Washington, commuting like a corporate slave every day, under absolutely tight protection.

I think there might be some misunderstanding between you two. You can talk about it. If you two start fighting, it will not benefit anyone."

"Misunderstanding? How could there be a misunderstanding when someone wants to kill me and take my property?"

Zhou Qingfeng sneered and took out his cell phone. He quickly sent Steve Noam's name and identity to Gray Shark, who then passed it on to Thomas in the Efficiency Department.

The moment Thomas received this message, he shouted "Yeah" on the other end of the phone and looked extremely excited.

Seeing this, old man Hammer asked in surprise: "Victor, who are you contacting?"

"Government Efficiency Department." Zhou Qingfeng replied calmly, "Since Diaz wants to trick me, don't expect me not to fight back."

"How could you contact those 'dogs'?" Hammer said angrily, with dissatisfaction and anxiety in his tone.

"Don't contact outsiders. Let's handle our internal affairs internally. I'll call Diaz right away and stop him from doing anything stupid."

Lucy immediately stepped forward and stopped him, saying, "Grandpa, you can't contact Dias directly."

"Why?" Hammer asked in surprise, very dissatisfied. "We are patriots and must unite."

"Because he probably wants to kill you too." Lucy said in a heavy tone, and then briefly recounted the situation when a stranger came to her house today.

"Apart from Diaz, I can't think of anyone else who would go to such great lengths to find me and even mobilize the local police department."

Although Hammer suffers from Alzheimer's disease, he is not confused when his thinking is normal.

He soon realized his situation - he had become a "redundant person" and Diaz did not want him to continue living.

The old man's expression gradually grew solemn, a mixture of anger and helplessness. He slowly lowered his head and muttered, "It seems... I'm really old, so old that I've become a negative asset."

After a moment of silence, he opened his eyes again and shouted fiercely, "I founded the 'Tree of Justice', why should Dias take control of it?
He is not qualified to make decisions for me, nor to take my life. He is not the only one who has the final say in the organization."

The angry Hammer began to search his mobile phone, firstly to call friends and find out how powerful Diaz's power was; secondly to report the information and consolidate his position.

The old man prioritized finding "patriots" who were in the same situation as himself. By simply talking about Diaz's autocracy and the threat of losing control, he could make many people seriously consider their position.

As the saying goes, 'An old man in the family is like a treasure', as long as Hammer performs normally, he can easily become the backbone of the team, and the communication cost is much lower than that of Dias.

It only took a dozen phone calls for those within the 'Tree of Justice' who were originally dissatisfied with and afraid of Diaz to unite.

"Victor, book your flights. We're going to Washington tomorrow. I should also introduce you to some senior members of the Tree of Justice to expand your network."

Believe me, if you were an American, I could easily send you to be a congressman, or if not a congressman, a state legislator."

The old man spoke with such vigor and enthusiasm that the difficult problem seemed to be easily solved. Just when Zhou Qingfeng thought that the problem was about to be easily solved, he went into the toilet and squatted for half an hour.
Zhou Qingfeng felt something was wrong.

Sure enough, when the old man came out, he stared at his granddaughter with a confused look on his face, "Lucy, is that you? Why did you suddenly grow up? Who is that silly boy next to you?"

(End of this chapter)