Considering her ambition was no different from that of a certain capitalist group, Ling Qingyu accepted Tang Ziyi's weird naming.
At least her corporation or group wasn't keen on releasing biochemical threats to the world in order to control and spread influence.
Although subverting the order wasn't any different from Ling Qingyu's ambition. No—she was working for the real people. Yeah, she wasn't selfish.
While Ling Qingyu prepared for the coming reunions in Country A, she had no idea that subtle undercurrents were brewing into storms in the capital of her motherland.
A small fla had been lit, one that was about to explode within a few years—a tiline that no one noticed apart from the higher echelons.
…
Ten hours later, Ling Qingyu's private A380 jet was flying over Country S's airspace. Nightti as the plane flew away from the sunlight to the east. Inside, Xiao Yue grumbled inwardly about how despicable Ling Qingyu was to lie and kick her off to the desert.
Where was the previous promise of showing her the world? Dissatisfied as she was, Xiao Yue understood the stakes involved.
A slight sacrifice today for a better tomorrow. Not to ntion, leaving Tang Ziyi alone to handle such a large group was a big no-no from a strategic perspective.
Her lover might beco soone else's knife—wrapped and manipulated like a puppet by a clever chess player, unknowingly.
Although Tang Ziyi was backed by Athena and Ling Qingyu, without close-proximity assistance, she lacked the insight to determine whether she was being exploited.
Xiao Yue complented Tang Ziyi's weaknesses—the latter's muscle to her brain. Of course, Tang Ziyi wasn't stupid or lacking in talent.
Rather, when it ca to despicable planning and perception of conspiracies, Xiao Yue fared better.
Soon, Xiao Yue received an alert from Athena, notifying her that 20 minutes remained. Standing up, she gestured to the Spirit Fox operators who accompanied her on this trip.
A dozen won followed and equipped their gear as they descended to the lower floor—a cargo space where Ling Qingyu's convoy vehicles were stored.
The decks were isolated from the living area to ensure pressure differences didn't affect the cabin.
One flight attendant followed with trepidation. How could her heart not race? Watching a team fully ard and equipped as if they were ready for war, she couldn't calm down.
She gulped as the others checked their gear and also glanced at the safety belt around her waist.
Yes, Xiao Yue and her girls planned to conduct a HALO operation—jumping from the aircraft and landing at point X. An insane move from a civilian aircraft.
However, Ling Qingyu's A380 was anything but ordinary, comprised of nurous functions and specialized modifications. Hence, the presence of the stewardess behind them was to handle the rear cargo door after the group jumped.
She wasn't truly needed, as Athena could fully control the entire A380 without issue. She was simply an additional assurance.
In the group's HUDs, they received a ten-minute countdown. Athena directly ssaged and communicated with Xiao Yue.
Even though they had no jumpmaster, given Ling Qingyu's slight transfer of experience along with Athena's guidance, the group had no issues.
Five minutes.
The door slid open. Cold wind rushed in, bringing slight discomfort to the poor flight attendant.
Xiao Yue patted the young lady's back in comfort. She had no idea that the attendant was having second thoughts about whether her current line of work was the right choice.
Nonetheless, rembering her boss's kindness and warm, protective behavior—as well as the large numbers in her bank account—her decision beca firm, casting aside her doubts.
She didn't know she wasn't the only one at that mont. Other stewardesses also wondered what they had gotten into as secrets they had never expected ca to light.
If not for Ling Qingyu's genuine gentleness, they would have been terrified of a future where they might be silenced one day. Particularly the two female pilots, who exchanged glances in the cockpit.
After all, they flew an aircraft slightly deviated from the allowed path to assist the operation. Such actions were enough to spark a diplomatic clash if known to the public.
One minute.
The girls signaled one finger to everyone so that they were in the sa page even if Athena projected the warning to the HUDs.
Then, everyone sprinted out like a pile of sandbags tossed out. The stewardess watched the group fall out and hesitantly stood still.
Afterward, the door shut itself under Athena's control before sealing everything again and changing the pressure inside. She returned upstairs, the urge to gossip lingering in her mind.
Both female pilots knew everything from the display screen as well as CCTV footage. They scrolled to fix the bearings and returned to the real flight path, heading toward the dical Island belonging to their boss.
The trip would take a while. They couldn't turn around all of a sudden without valid reason, right?
The island beca their transit point before linking again with their boss. Plus, the boss had given them a few days off to reset themselves before taking off again.
Now that they had the ti to spend days on the island, Ling Qingyu had ordered them to have a thorough checkup again. Anyway, the state-of-art examination completely differed from their prior conventional checkups.
…
In the air, the tumbling formation stayed tight together as they relished the beautiful sight of pure darkness. Perhaps city life was rare here, allowing their eyes to truly enjoy such divine scenery.
Under Athena's guidance, the group flew toward point X and opened their chutes one after another at low altitude.
Taking a few gentle steps to bleed off the montum, Xiao Yue and the girls imdiately packed the large canopies and buried them under the soil, while a few maintained overwatch.
Although Athena's satellites were monitoring from above, nothing was more reliable than one's own eyes.
"Girls, welco to the sandy dunes. The beauty of desert and mountain."
Tang Ziyi's chatter ca through the comms. Xiao Yue wasn't surprised. The mont they touched the ground, Athena should have already paged her.
"Good to be in touch. Our position is likely 5 km away from you," Xiao Yue radioed back. "Have we alerted anyone?"
"Negative, I see no movent here. Athena shows no warning," said Tang Ziyi.
Xiao Yue carefully checked the map on her HUD. They were in the Kurdish region of Country S, intentionally quite close to the base affiliated with the YPJ.
The YPJ had been chosen by Tang Ziyi since they were an all-female militia, catering to her preferences. Their achievents in rescuing communities at risk of genocide suited her ideals and ford a strong foundation for becoming allies.
Furthermore, as a similarly female force, Tang Ziyi didn't want to hassle with local commanders over gender issues on the battlefield, having to prove themselves and waste ti during the initial stage.
Therefore, Xiao Yue and Ling Qingyu agreed with Tang Ziyi's choice and supported her heavily without question.
"Do you want to pick you girls up?" Tang Ziyi asked.
"Scratch that. We'll infiltrate their base and HQ," Xiao Yue replied after a while.
"Won't you be risking a firefight?"
"Do you doubt your students?" Xiao Yue shot back. "No firefight necessary. With Athena, I guarantee we can bypass them easily and pop up directly in front of the commander's face. Your job now is to occupy her ti and facilitate our next eting."
"Wow, Little Yue, you're already giving her a show of force."
"It's a necessary step," Xiao Yue said and nodded to her teammates to move out.
Racking the bolts of their SCAR rifles, they did a final check of their equipnt—night vision, magazines, and the rest.
"Understood, just page your progress. See ya soon. Out."
"Move out, girls," Xiao Yue ordered.
Everyone spread out and trekked toward their destination. Deploying chutes and landing just 5 km away was pretty gnarly.
It also proved the vulnerability of the militia—they were cooperating. Of course, getting close and infiltrating deep inside was a totally different matter.
Nonetheless, Xiao Yue had confidence, provided their own sisters deployed earlier weren't guarding against them tonight, which was impossible when Athena and Tang Ziyi would have notified everyone of their plan.
The reason why Xiao Yue chose such a dramatic appearance was to deter and mystify themselves in the others' eyes. Nothing was deadlier than a silent, ninja-like entry.
Even though Tang Ziyi and the other operators had already secured their reputations and gained trust through battles alongside them, Ling Qingyu's idea to position themselves above their allies still required a show of force.
The militia might cater willingly to their great sponsors and even exchange favors when Tang Ziyi provided them with weapons and supplies. But commanding deeper respect and fear demanded more.
They might notice Tang Ziyi's group's ferocity and capable fighting power, but they would never truly feel it.
Only by understanding what they stood against would they willingly adhere and bind themselves to Ling Qingyu's interest group.
Fortunately, their lack of experience in desert and mountain didn't pose too much difficulty with Athena's presence in terms of navigation and pathway choice.
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