Chapter 837 - Face To Face

Right under the eyes of the US military’s F-22 Raptor, He Zhichu’s Whitewater Security Company vehicle fleet began initializing one by one and drove forward. The US military fighter jets didn’t dare to open fire and continued to report back to Admiral Laris’s temporary headquarters. “Reporting! Reporting! He Zhichu’s vehicle fleet has left Little Rock! He Zhichu’s vehicle fleet has left Little Rock!”

Admiral Laris sat cross-legged in the temporary headquarters of the Ovi Air Force Base. There was a short coffee table with a cup of water and a pot of orchids. It looked quite zen. His arms were crossed, his eyes were shut, and his nostrils flared to indicate his uncontrollable rage. “Their cars left just like that?”

“Yes, Mr. Admiral. Mr. He said they’ve already notified Washington, so…” The head of the Ovi Air Base didn’t dare to continue this pursuit, but Laris was a navy admiral. Although they were not of the same military service, his military rank was much higher. Just one rank higher in bureaucracy was a frightening thing, and military ranks were clearly defined, so this point was even more important. The person in charge here already had made up his mind that he would do whatever Laris said, but Laris must leave a handwritten command.

“But Washington never gave me their order.” Admiral Laris opened his eyes and his expression was especially dull; he looked like an honest and reliable Hokkaido farmer. But a flash of light in his eyes indicated this person was angry. “The fighter jets are to force Mr. He’s car to stop. If they don’t obey, open fire.” The corners of Admiral Laris’s eyes twitched uncontrollably. He didn’t believe that He Zhichu would dare to engage with the official US military directly. Laris knew about He Zhichu’s superlative position in the US military world. Not only did he know about it, but he had also put in much effort in an attempt to further his personal relationship with He Zhichu. He even used his own identity as a fellow Asian in an attempt to get closer to He Zhichu. He didn’t expect He Zhichu to refuse to have any private contact with him at all and to ignore all his gestures of goodwill like he didn’t exist at all. Laris had long labeled He Zhichu as “untouchable.” Laris had long seen He Zhichu as an eyesore.

…

Not long after He Zhichu and Little A’s vehicle fleet left, the pilots of the Blackhawk armored helicopters in charge of securing the back end noticed something was wrong and quickly called out to the others, “The fighter jets from the Air Force Base are chasing us down again! They insist we stop! They are beginning to give warnings, count down…They’ll open fire if we don’t stop…”

The veins on He Zhichu’s forehead bulged when he heard this, so he immediately took over the command from Little A and said calmly, “Then you open fire first! What are you waiting for?”

“Roger, Mr. He!” The pilot received the command and immediately turned on the airborne radar to lock on the fighter jet from the Air Force base and pressed the button. A grenade on the armored helicopter whistled out and flew directly at the other F-22 Raptor. The pilot in the other vehicle was shocked, and because the distance was so short, he didn’t even have time to navigate the fighter jet away from danger. He made the quick decision to press the emergency button to eject himself and make an emergency parachute landing to save himself. One F-22 Raptor, which was known as “king of the skies” and had absolute airspace superiority, began to emit black smoke just like that. It hovered in the air before it crashed directly in the mountains near Little Rock. The huge fire quickly grew, and all that remained of the entire fighter jet were the brackets.

Admiral Laris received the news and was so furious he knocked the zen coffee table in front of him. The water and orchids on the coffee table instantly tumbled onto the floorboards.

“Mr. Admiral, are we to continue pursuit?” The head of the Ovi Air Force Base looked uncomfortable by now. Their base had a limited number of fighter jets, and now that they randomly had lost one, how was he supposed to write his report?

“Pursue them! Continue pursuing them for me! I’ll go there myself.” Admiral Laris had completely lost face now. He didn’t expect He Zhichu not to reserve any respect at all for him, so the grief in his heart had accumulated to a critical point, and he was starting to act without regard.

“Admiral Laris, the Joint Chiefs of Staff are calling and asking for you to release Mr. He.” His subordinate brought the expedited top-secret telegram over and leaned in his ear to whisper.

“I have my own judgment. I’ll go explain to the Joint Chiefs of Staff myself.” Laris stood up grimly and strode outside. He got into his vehicle and commanded, “Pursue He Zhichu’s car up ahead.” Admiral Laris’s vehicle fleet immediately went ahead at full speed and pursued in the direction of He Zhichu and Little A’s men.

He Zhichu and his men also used the maximum horsepower and highest speed on the road, but Laris was able to use even more resources. When He Zhichu and his men reached a checkpoint at a highway toll station, they were stopped. “Mr. He, should we crash through it?” Little A asked He Zhichu quietly while he discreetly studied the structure of the toll station to find a place to break through it.

He Zhichu looked at the time. There was only an hour before they would reach Salt Lake City International Airport. He shook his head and continued to rest his hand on the magnetic storm grenade gun, “Then we’ll just wait. Admiral Laris has determined that I’m a ‘terrorist,’ so I must give him a statement.”

Ten minutes later, Admiral Laris’s car fleet arrived at the checkpoint. He Zhichu sat in the car without coming out and merely lowered his car window to nod at Admiral Laris, who was standing not far outside the car, “Pleasure to meet you, Admiral Laris.”

Admiral Laris saw He Zhichu’s arrogant attitude of not even coming out of the car, so the anger in his heart was like a pot of boiling water on the verge of explosion. “Mr. He, why are you running if you have a clear conscience?” Admiral Laris couldn’t even keep a calm look on his face anymore as he walked two steps forward and spread his palms. “Or do I need to personally ask you before you’d come out of the car?”

“Admiral Laris, I’m a lawyer. Lawyers act based on ‘presumption of innocence.’ If you want to think that I’m the ‘terrorist’ who attacked your vehicle fleet, then please provide the evidence. You think this the era of the great Japanese Empire, where you can mindlessly arrest and kill people without any real evidence? That your commands are the law?” He Zhichu sneered, calmly looking away from Admiral Laris.

“This is a military control period! Mr. He, you are a lawyer, so you must know what ‘military control’ means?” Admiral Laris lost his escape route with He Zhichu’s sarcastic remark. As a Japanese American, his loyalty to the United States was most often questioned. He believed he was loyal to the United States, but loyalty to the United States and servicing the interests of Japan were not contradictory to him. In his heart, the United States and Japan were allies, so the interests of the United States were the interests of Japan. By the same token, the interests of Japan were also the interests of the United States.

“Ha, ha, Admiral Laris—it’s good enough for you to work hard in your promising job as a navy admiral. Don’t attempt to argue about laws, or about what ‘military control’ is with a lawyer.” He Zhichu’s face turned stony. “I already have authorization from the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, so I’m sure that you received the command as well. Your continuous violation of commands is not like that of a soldier’s actions at all.”

“By the same token, whether I’m a soldier or not is not up to you to question.” Admiral Laris waved his hand. “Everyone get out of the car! Take them away!” Behind him, over a hundred US soldiers wearing balaclavas covering their faces and carrying guns began to swarm. The checkpoint at the toll booth was suddenly in great shock, and the ordinary citizens waiting to pass through the checkpoint were so scared they came out of their cars to personally witness this scene. They also couldn’t determine who the Admiral referred to, if it was all the people there or the people in front of his fleet. The current situation was that all the ordinary civilians got out of their car, yet none of He Zhichu and his men got out of theirs. Because the men didn’t listen to Laris’s commands, they only obeyed He Zhichu and Little A’s commands.

“You want to disobey orders?” Admiral Laris strode toward He Zhichu’s car.

“Stand right there.” He Zhichu’s cold and aloof voice drifted nonchalantly from the car. “I’ll count to three, and if you still don’t stop, I’ll shoot.”

“You’d dare? You’re on American soil! You’d dare to kill a navy admiral in front of all these people?” Viciousness flashed across Admiral Laris’s eyes. He didn’t take threats, and his blood vessels filled with the noble blood of the great Japanese Empire. He wouldn’t bow his head to this person!

“One.” He Zhichu aimed his magnetic storm grenade gun and moved his eye closer to the scope.

“I’m coming over. Go on and shoot!”

“Two.” He Zhichu’s finger rested on the bolt, and a small red dot suddenly appeared on Admiral Laris’s heart. Admiral Laris felt a wave of dull pain in his chest like someone had hit him with a large hammer. It was so painful he nearly couldn’t catch his breath.