You're a US police officer, what are you thinking about going back to the East for?

Chapter 228 The Lumberjack Line (6k)

A light drizzle began to fall in Seattle again sometime during the day, its rays piercing through the city's gray, misty rain and extending southwards, reaching deep underground into the Eastern Consulate in Seattle.

This is a place used by the consulate for emergency shelter, but most of the time it is used as a secure room.

The heavy, explosion-proof lead door completely isolates the bustling traffic on the ground from electromagnetic signals.

The walls were covered with sound-absorbing material and anti-eavesdropping copper mesh, and the cool-toned fluorescent lights on the ceiling emitted a faint hum, illuminating the room in a pale and cold light.

The air was filled with a dry smell that was a mixture of ozone and the scent of paper.

A huge metal table was placed in the center of the room.

On the table, a huge military map with contour lines, pieced together from individual sections, is laid out.

The map's area extends northward from downtown Seattle in northern Washington state, crossing the towering Cascade Mountains, dense primeval forests, lakes, and finally reaching the straight and long U.S.-Canada border.

Chen Jianjun, the senior military attaché at the Chinese Embassy in the United States, stood on the left side of the long table.

He was wearing an ordinary dark gray jacket today, but his straight back and buzz cut still gave him a military aura as imposing as a loaded gun.

Shen Weiguo, head of the embassy's intelligence group, stood on the other side of the table.

He was still holding that red star enamel mug with its peeling edges, his brow furrowed, his sharp eyes scanning back and forth between the contour lines on the map.

Chen Jianjun pulled a red drafting pencil from the pen holder on the table.

He bent down, pointed the pen tip at a location in the Seattle suburbs on the map, and then drew a line forcefully northward.

The red pencil made a rustling sound as it rubbed against the rough paper.

This red line bypasses all the wide interstate highways and conspicuous border checkpoints, winding like a red serpent into the vast, sparsely populated national forest park in northern Washington state.

The red line meanders through mountainous terrain with dense contour lines, cutting across the edges of Indigenous reservations several times before finally passing through a gap in the dense forest on the border and entering British Columbia, Canada.

Chen Jianjun straightened up and threw the red pencil onto the map.

"The instructions from headquarters at home have been issued. The sea route is temporarily unavailable. Christopher is seriously injured and cannot withstand further disruption, and we do not have time to wait for the port to reopen."

Chen Jianjun's voice was cold and firm, full of decisiveness. "Director Zhao has made the decision: we'll take the land route. We're going to reactivate the logging line."

Shen Weiguo stared at the winding red line on the map, his fingers tightening slightly as he held the teacup.

"Lumberjack" is not just a random nickname, but a piece of history buried deep in the archives.

Between the 1940s and 1990s, the predecessors of Eastern intelligence agencies used the long, undefended primary forests along the US-Canada border, the complex autonomy of Indigenous reservations, and the secret trails trodden by local cross-border timber smugglers to carve out this absolutely silent underground passage bit by bit.

This route has been completely dormant for the past few decades.

It was sealed in a top-secret file and was originally intended as a trump card for the highest-ranking undercover agents to evacuate in the event of a devastating blow to the intelligence network in Seattle and even the entire North American West Coast.

Normally, it doesn't exist at all.

It is only awakened when national strategic interests are involved.

Now, Christopher's CRISPR gene-editing technology and the latest vector technology are enough to enable the development of innovative drugs in China to leapfrog by five years and break through the patent barriers of European and American giants worth hundreds of billions of dollars. He is absolutely worthy of using this trump card once.

Shen Weiguo put down the enamel teacup and rested his hands on the edge of the metal table.

"Activating the lumberjack route is the current order from above, but I must point out the fatal risks associated with this route."

Shen Weiguo raised his head, looked directly at Chen Jianjun, and spoke in a meticulous tone without any emotional fluctuation.

"First, the unknown nature of road conditions."

Shen Weiguo pointed his index finger at the green national forest park area on the map.

"No one has walked on this route for over a decade. Although state troop patrols on the northern suburban highways are infrequent, that doesn't mean it's absolutely safe."

"The natural and law enforcement environment along the U.S.-Canada border has changed dramatically over the past decade or so."

Did the landslide destroy the hidden bridge from years ago? Did the forest fire alter the landscape?

"Most importantly, has U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) installed any hidden electronic sentries or mobile checkpoints near those smuggling routes?"

"We currently have absolutely no access to this intelligence."

Chen Jianjun nodded with a somber expression.

The worst thing you can do in intelligence work is to be blindly optimistic. Any unknown physical obstacle could lead to a tragedy of vehicle destruction and loss of life during an evacuation operation.

"Activate the silent personnel at the lower levels." Chen Jianjun issued the first instruction without hesitation.

He looked at the map at several border towns that were right next to the forest park.

"We planted a few nails in a small town in northern Washington state."

"They've been sleeping there for over a decade."

Shen Weiguo immediately understood Chen Jianjun's intention.

Those people are the foundation of the intelligence network at its very bottom.

They might be an elderly white man who has run a repair shop in town for fifteen years, a long-haul truck driver who travels the forest roads year-round, or a ranger who earns a meager salary and patrols the mountains with his hunting dogs every day.

They had no access to any core secrets and didn't even know who their superiors were.

They lead the most ordinary and mundane lives of the American working class, paying their taxes on time, going to church on weekends, and having beer and barbecue with their neighbors in their backyards.

Their files were so clean that even the FBI's background check system couldn't find a speck of dust.

Their sole purpose is to go to a specific location and take a look at it the moment they receive instructions.

"The wake-up procedure must be absolutely unidirectional."

Shen Weiguo took over the conversation and began to refine the execution details.

"You cannot use any electronic communication devices, you cannot have a phone call, and you cannot have encrypted emails. This could trigger the National Security Agency's (NSA) interception system."

"Use the old method."

Chen Jianjun pointed to a Seattle local newspaper on the corner of the table, "Tomorrow morning, buy a few of the cheapest small-format newspapers in the GG category of community newspapers in several small towns in the north."

Chen Jianjun rapidly constructed the wake-up code.

"Used car sale, GG. Selling a 1998 Ford F-150, red, 200,000 miles, scratches on the right door, urgent sale, price negotiable. Contact: Old George." (Added a permanently disconnected number.)

"When they're eating breakfast and reading the newspaper every day, if they see a used car with a specific year, color, and defect, they'll know the lumberjack's identity has been activated."

Chen Jianjun placed his hands on the table, his eyes cold.

"Their only task after being awakened is to drive their beat-up pickup trucks, with shotguns and beer, under the guise of hunting or fishing, and take a trip along that route."

"Use your naked eye to check if there are any new CBP patrol vehicles along the route, any washed-out dirt roads, or any newly installed cameras."

"Then write the information on waterproof paper and stuff it into the dead mail box at the gas station outside town."

Shen Weiguo nodded, went through the exploration plan in his mind, and confirmed that there were no logical flaws.

"After the road conditions are resolved, the next biggest problem is the electronic monitoring network."

Shen Weiguo moved his finger away from the forest area and tapped heavily on the intersection of several main roads leading to the border on the map.

The first half of the "loggers'" route must traverse the highway network. And the United States has spent massive budgets on border drug interdiction and counterterrorism over the past decade.

Shen Weiguo provided a detailed analysis of the terrifying surveillance system along the US border.

"ALPR systems have been installed on traffic light sensors, speed cameras, and even in the hidden bushes along the roadside."

"ALPR (Automatic License Plate Recognition System) can scan and recognize 60 license plates per second, directly connecting to a federal database."

.

"The system will automatically trigger an alarm if there is anything unusual about the license plate of our evacuation vehicle, or if it appears at a time and place it should not be."

"Not to mention the military thermal imagers and drones that CBP has deployed along the border."

Shen Weiguo frowned. "Christopher is a seriously injured living person. The heat radiation he emits is as conspicuous as a torch in the dark under the infrared lens."

"We can't possibly transport him there in a regular SUV or sedan."

After hearing about these obstacles, Chen Jianjun did not show any sign of backing down.

He turned around, walked to the whiteboard in the confidential room, picked up a marker, and drew a simple square on it to represent a truck.

"The best way to counter electronic surveillance is to integrate yourself into the surveillance system."

Chen Jianjun tapped the whiteboard with his pen, "We don't need to conceal our vehicles; we use the most legitimate vehicles—normal cross-border logistics trucks crossing the US-Canada border."

Chen Jianjun turned to look at Shen Weiguo.

"Through the several peripheral logistics companies we control, heavy trucks carrying timber, seafood, or industrial parts pass through Seattle and head north to Vancouver every day."

"The license plates, driving routes, and driver backgrounds of these trucks are all on the whitelists of customs and border patrol." ALPR

The system will simply allow them to pass if it detects them.

Chen Jianjun drew a small compartment inside the truck on the whiteboard.

"We made extensive modifications to one of the refrigerated trucks. We added a dark compartment with lead plates and insulation material to the inside of the cold storage."

"The extremely low temperature of the refrigerated truck itself and the huge heat source interference of the refrigeration unit are enough to shield CBP's long-range thermal imager."

"The truck started normally from downtown Seattle, taking the interstate and overcoming obstacles along the way. Until it reached the vicinity of the cut-off point of the logging route."

Chen Jianjun walked back to the map and drew an X on an abandoned logging site at the junction of the highway and the forest with a red pencil.

"The truck made a brief stop at this abandoned logging site, pretending to check the tires or add water."

"In this blind spot, we transferred Christopher to a pre-prepared all-terrain vehicle, which was then driven by a support team into the 'loggers' primeval forest to complete the final physical crossing."

Shen Weiguo looked at the intersection on the map, his expression turning serious.

"This involves another risk factor: the social environment along the route."

Shen Weiguo pointed out the complex underground forces in the area: "The northern part of Washington State, which borders Canada, not only has dense forests, but also large areas of Native American reservations."

"These reservations have a great deal of autonomy, and state police don't even have the right to directly enter and enforce the law."

"This led to the area becoming a lawless haven for smugglers, drug dealers, and Indigenous gangs."

"Indigenous gangs survive by charging exorbitant tolls to drug smugglers or undocumented immigrants crossing the border."

"Once our evacuation convoy enters that no-man's-land, without any cover, it is very likely to be targeted by local indigenous gangs or armed smugglers."

"They don't care who you are. As soon as they see an unfamiliar vehicle, their first reaction is to double-cross you, detaining the person and the vehicle together to extort ransom."

"Buy the way. Buy the way in the primitive way."

Chen Jianjun offered a solution in a cold tone.

"Notify Uncle Chen's Jubaozhai and have him immediately withdraw 500,000 US dollars in non-consecutive old banknotes from underground banks. We need to use this cash to feed those indigenous chieftains."

"Not only do we need to buy the roads, we also need to hire them."

"We paid to hire two smuggling convoys of indigenous people."

"Let them drive pickup trucks loaded with contraband cigarettes and alcohol or ordinary smuggled goods, making high-profile crossings on different sections of the road half an hour before and after our evacuation vehicles enter the forest."

"If CBP patrols or drones happen to sweep through that area, these two Indigenous convoys would be the perfect bait."

"Border patrol officers will have all their attention drawn to them, while our core personnel will quietly cross the border while law enforcement forces are distracted."

Shen Weiguo mentally meshed the gears of the entire evacuation plan together, confirming that every link was perfectly aligned.

From physical wake-up to scout, to refrigerated trucks for cover, to hidden compartment transfer, and finally to paying for passage with cash and using bait convoys for cover.

Finally, Shen Weiguo's gaze traveled from the border down the map to the southernmost point of Seattle.

He looked at the red dot that represented the western district branch and the area of ​​activity in Lyon.

"How is the initial transportation process handled within the city?"

Shen Weiguo looked at Chen Jianjun and brought up the most crucial part of the whole plan: "Christopher is currently being housed in a high-end safe house that Lyon arranged."

"How do we manage to transport an old man with a broken leg, who might be secretly targeted by Pfizer, out of the city center and hand him over to our refrigerated truck without anyone noticing?"

Chen Jianjun stared at the Seattle cityscape on the map, his brows furrowed deeply.

He rested his hands on the table and remained silent for a full half minute.

The only sound in the secure room was the faint hum of the fluorescent lights overhead.

"The shipping process must be completely cut off, just like before."

Chen Jianjun looked up and said, "Lyon absolutely cannot personally escort the target to the border, or even leave downtown Seattle."

Shen Weiguo did not respond immediately; he understood Chen Jianjun's strategic considerations in making this decision.

"The situation is not much different from when we transported old Bill and Arthur to the port last time."

Chen Jianjun tapped heavily on the location of Seattle with his finger. "After the bloody battle in the industrial zone, in order to quell the political turmoil, Director Sterling and the city hall have forcibly elevated Lyon to a pedestal."

"And now, even more things have happened."

"Leon is now hailed as a nationally recognized anti-terrorism hero."

"The Seattle media, the politicians in the city hall, the corrupt cops within the police department, and the vultures in the Department of the Interior and the FBI were all watching him like vultures, searching for flaws. Everyone's eyes were on him."

Chen Jianjun's voice was as cold as ice, "If he were driving a car with a Pfizer researcher on the way to the northern border."

"If you get pulled over by any oblivious state trooper on the way, or if the FBI's surveillance network detects your unusual movements..."

Chen Jianjun paused for a moment, his gaze sharp as a knife.

"That destroyed not only Christopher, a researcher worth hundreds of billions of dollars, but also Lyon, an undercover agent within the American system who was close to the high-level power struggle."

"Alex's hard-won intelligence line will also be uprooted."

"The risk-reward ratio is completely unbalanced. We can't gamble with an agent of extremely high value and growth potential on a single lucky break on a suburban highway."

Shen Weiguo nodded in deep agreement.

Lyon's current identity is a sharp double-edged sword.

This aura allowed him to roam freely in the West End, enabling him to exploit police resources to gather intelligence without restraint. However, it also acted as an invisible cage, confining him firmly to the urban landscape of Seattle.

He's too conspicuous; he's not suited for long-distance escort work.

"Set the handover location in the suburbs of Seattle."

Chen Jianjun picked up a pencil and drew a circle around an industrial park on the northern edge of Seattle.

"For example, an abandoned warehouse area or a closed car scrap yard."

2

"The terrain needs to be complex, with multiple entrances and exits, and free from municipal surveillance coverage."

Chen Jianjun outlined the boundaries of Lyon's mission: "Lyon's mission was simply to use his undercover privilege as the head of the West District Police Department's ACU team, as well as his extremely strong counter-surveillance capabilities, to safely and discreetly transport Christopher from his upscale apartment in the city center to this suburban transfer station."

"In the city, he has police radios, the right to legally carry firearms, and can even flash his badge to deter patrol officers when stopped for questioning. This is his home-field advantage, and he can be absolutely certain of success."

"Once the target arrives at the transfer station, Lyon's mission will end immediately."

"He has to turn back to the city immediately to deal with the mess left by those gangs, continue playing the role of his anti-terrorism hero in front of the media, and create a perfect alibi."

Chen Jianjun put down his pencil and dusted off the graphite powder on his hands.

"As for the subsequent handover and cross-border transportation, the consulate will dispatch its most elite armed field team to take over the entire process."

"Our field staff would disguise themselves as logistics company employees and wait at the transfer station in that modified refrigerated truck."

"Once the target gets on the bus, we will bear all the consequences and risks. We absolutely cannot involve Lyon."

After listening to this meticulous cutting plan, Shen Weiguo took a deep breath.

He knew that this plan was not only to protect the technical staff, but also the most substantial protection that the top leadership of Eastern Intelligence had for Lyon, a lone soldier on the front line.

"I see."

Shen Weiguo picked up his enamel mug, took a sip of the long-cold strong tea, and his eyes became unusually determined.

"I will immediately arrange the wake-up procedure for those few low-level silent personnel, and the newspaper announcement will definitely be sent out tomorrow morning."

Shen Weiguo then recounted the next steps in the operation.

"At the same time, I will contact Uncle Chen to prepare $500,000 in cash. The modification of the refrigerated truck's dark compartment can begin tonight in the secret workshop."

"Most importantly, I will immediately contact the headquarters in China via encrypted satellite line and have them coordinate with the intelligence network on the Canadian side to prepare a special plane to pick them up and a medical team from the East."

"As soon as Christopher crosses the border, cut off all traces and fly straight back home."

Chen Jianjun did not speak again.

He placed his hands on the huge contour map, leaning slightly forward.

Those deep, soldier-like eyes stared coldly at the red "Lumberjacks" border line on the map.

"Go and do it."

Chen Jianjun's voice echoed in the underground secret room, carrying an air of composure and determination.

"Let's fit this last piece of the puzzle in perfectly. We are here, together with our ancestors who were here before."

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