Just as Wang Zhuo and the others were marveling, the armed thugs waiting to intercept them were startled by the sound of the helicopter's rotors. They quickly got out of their vehicles, looked up to shade their eyes from the sun like Sun Wukong watching the sky, and for a moment, they failed to connect the low-flying, brownish-yellow helicopter with their mission, treating it merely as a curiosity.

As the aircraft drew closer, the noise intensified. A short young man, just about to step aside to relieve himself by the roadside, suddenly spotted a car that hadn't been there moments before, several hundred meters away. He squinted, forgot all about needing to pee, and quickly turned back to report.

"Brother Tong, look quickly at that car—is that the Nanning business van we’re supposed to block?!"

"What?"

The noise interfered with Brother Tong’s hearing; he hadn't caught what was said immediately.

The short man gestured emphatically and shouted again. This time, Brother Tong finally understood him. Others nearby with keen eyesight had already confirmed the make and color of the vehicle. Just then, the helicopter flew directly over everyone's heads. The group gave up on checking the underside of the chopper and hurriedly piled back into their cars, turning back the way they came.

They had barely shifted into second gear when the driver suddenly yelled out, "Damn it, that plane is landing!"

Indeed, no sooner had he spoken than everyone noticed. After all, an aircraft’s speed was nothing like a car's. In the time it took them to get back in their vehicles, the helicopter had passed overhead. A distance of several hundred meters vanished in an instant; it was already slowing down and descending, clearly intending to land on the highway!

"Ignore it!" Brother Tong urgently pressed the driver. "We have our job to do. Whether the plane lands or not has nothing to do with us!"

The driver, not the quickest thinker, immediately agreed and buried his focus in driving. But being involved in this sort of business didn't mean they lacked intelligence. Someone nearby immediately cautioned, "But Brother Tong, I have a feeling this plane is here to pick up those people from the Nanning car?"

Brother Tong froze upon hearing this, then his face went blank. He cursed under his breath, "Damn it," utterly stumped about what to do next!

...

How loud is a helicopter landing? Wang Zhuo and his group were about to learn the true meaning of the word.

Under that level of noise, you certainly couldn't hear anyone speaking, not even if you shouted. No wonder the personnel on the aircraft were all wearing headsets with communication functions.

This provincial road led directly to Tianlu County, and beyond that, to an even more remote small county town. Due to lagging economic development, very few vehicles used this route.

This was precisely why the opposing side had chosen this location for the rendezvous. Setting up near the county seat might cause unwanted local attention, and besides, Wang Zhuo and his team couldn't just find a spot to climb a suspended ladder onto a hovering helicopter. Therefore, meeting on this sparsely traveled public road was the optimal choice.

While the helicopter was en route to Tianlu, a certain department used satellite positioning to calculate the approximate location where the car and the aircraft would converge. They then transmitted the map data to Wang Zhuo via the network. Wang Zhuo’s group had been driving quite fast and should have arrived at the meeting point early. However, they were intercepted by "Brother Tong" and his gang, which led to the scene where the helicopter flew right over the thugs’ heads.

Coincidentally, the location where Brother Tong’s group set up their ambush was very close to Wang Zhuo’s designated meeting point with the helicopter—less than a kilometer away. If their ambush had been set slightly farther or closer, they might not have spotted Wang Zhuo’s car, or they might have already clashed with Wang Zhuo’s group before the helicopter arrived.

By this time, the helicopter had landed on the highway, its rapidly spinning rotor blades kicking up a cloud of dust. It settled just to the side and behind the business van. Wang Zhuo’s group had already gathered their belongings and were waiting beside the vehicle.

Brother Tong was utterly miserable.

As the van sped closer, he could see the soldiers leaping out of the helicopter. Yet, the group inside the business van didn't try to flee; instead, they walked toward the aircraft. The two parties were clearly associated. With the military involved, the mission was clearly impossible to complete. But then he saw a few reckless young men from another van getting out, carrying hunting rifles, and swaggering towards the military personnel!

"Wang Chenghe, I'll curse your grandmother!"

The usually composed Brother Tong finally lost control, screaming hysterically. He poked his head out of the car window and roared at the tattooed man swaggering at the forefront, holding a rifle: "That’s a military aircraft, you idiot! They have submachine guns! Are you tired of living, you bastard?!"

The van wasn't far from the helicopter—not close, but still about twenty meters away. Wang Chenghe, whose grandmother had just been cursed, had already walked several meters forward. Distracted by the immense noise of the helicopter, he couldn't hear a word Brother Tong was shouting.

The single-minded Wang Chenghe thought Brother Tong was urging him to move faster and was about to sprint forward, but a more perceptive person beside him immediately realized something was wrong. He quickly grabbed Wang Chenghe and yelled into his ear, "Chenghe, Brother Tong wants us to go back!"

Only then did Wang Chenghe stop. Without a word, Brother Tong jumped out of the van, snatched the hunting rifle, and kicked Wang Chenghe into a backward somersault, then shouted at everyone to get back in the car and flee!

Are you kidding? That was the army’s helicopter! Who knew what kind of temper the commander inside had? If they encountered someone short-tempered, they might order the soldiers down to open fire with submachine guns, leaving Brother Tong riddled with holes!

As they turned to escape, Captain An, the pilot, had already made contact with Wang Zhuo. After confirming Wang Zhuo’s identity, his first question was: Was it necessary to execute the thugs on the spot?

To confront an active military aircraft while holding a hunting rifle? That was practically asking to die! Modern helicopters are equipped with the most advanced camera systems; the moment the thugs approached the aircraft with their guns had already been recorded. If Captain An ordered their execution, this footage would serve as indisputable evidence, and he would bear no fault!

But Wang Zhuo was not a bloodthirsty person. Moreover, if the military truly eliminated these individuals, the situation would certainly spiral beyond his control. After only a moment’s thought, he shook his head at Captain An, simultaneously smiling as he raised a small DV recorder in his hand.

Captain An then realized that Wang Zhuo had quietly filmed the entire exchange using a pocket-sized DV recorder, no bigger than a mobile phone. He couldn't help but reassess Wang Zhuo, greatly admiring his calm and composed demeanor.

Brother Tong and his crew had just walked past the gates of hell and back. After being soundly beaten, Wang Chenghe finally understood the magnitude of his mistake. Brother Tong had explained that a single missile fired from that helicopter could level the tallest building in Tianlu County. My God, it was terrifying!

Captain An’s orders were to extract Wang Zhuo’s party and ensure their safety. Orders were orders and had to be followed, but the specifics required negotiation.

"What about your car?" he asked Wang Zhuo, pointing to the business van nearby.

Wang Zhuo glanced back, shook his head with a smile, "It's not worth much; just leave it."

Though the driver felt a pang of regret, he certainly had no objections. After witnessing Wang Zhuo’s capabilities, he wouldn't have cared if it was the company’s vehicle or his own—he wouldn't have minded losing it. Boss Wang was a man who valued others; he would surely be richly rewarded upon their return, so why worry about a beat-up car?

"How about we sling it underneath?" a young soldier beside Captain An suggested enthusiastically.

The subordinate was met with a glare from his superior. A business van dangling beneath a helicopter flying overhead? Let's not be that flashy, alright?

"Is he suggesting hanging it from the plane? I think that’s a great idea!" Siyuan, standing nearby, chimed in with interest at the suggestion.

The noise inside the aircraft was much lower. Although her voice wasn't loud, Captain An still heard Siyuan. However, he pretended not to have noticed and quickly changed the subject: "If there are no other issues, shall we take off now?"

Wang Zhuo nodded in agreement. Siyuan pouted in dissatisfaction. The driver cast a reluctant look back at the van by the roadside. Fu Xinran looked up at the propeller, which had blurred into a disk of light and shadow, seemingly lost in thought. Meanwhile, Lu Weimin was inwardly calculating how much gasoline was being wasted by keeping those rotors spinning so fast while they waited.

The helicopter shuddered slightly upon lifting off the ground, then flew forward smoothly. Occasionally, when encountering low-altitude air currents, it tilted or swayed, which felt novel to Wang Zhuo and the others, who were riding in such a craft for the first time.

"Are you alright? Is the seat hurting your leg?" Siyuan asked Fu Xinran, who was sharing the seat with her. Although the seating space in the helicopter was larger than they had anticipated, sharing one seat was still cramped, so Siyuan was temporarily sitting on Fu Xinran’s lap.

"It's fine," Fu Xinran smiled warmly at her. Regardless of the outcome of this trip, Siyuan had been a tremendous help, and she felt deep gratitude for the frank and straightforward girl.

"I think I'll sit on Instructor Wang’s lap instead; he has a sturdy base and great load-bearing capacity," Siyuan said with a grin, placing one hand on Fu Xinran and shifting her body toward Wang Zhuo.

Fu Xinran harbored no suspicion toward Siyuan. She helped Siyuan move, completely missing the brief, subtle moment when Siyuan took the opportunity to appreciate her 36D figure.

Captain An handed everyone a headset at this point. Siyuan lost the chance to whisper to Wang Zhuo, so she gave up on that idea but suddenly conceived a bold plan: she took out her phone and sent a text message to Fu Xinran.

The helicopter was flying at a relatively low altitude, and they could still occasionally pick up cell signals. Soon after, Fu Xinran received the text.

"Sister Xinran, are you still [that way]?"

Such intimacy from a shallow acquaintance! Fu Xinran was deeply stunned, especially since Siyuan's gaze looked so "innocent and pure." After a moment of speechlessness, Fu Xinran decided to overlook the young girl’s "childish candor" and nonchalantly turned her face toward the window.

But the second message arrived quickly: "Are you or are you not?"

Then came the third: "ye, r, n?"

The fourth: "No answer means denial!"

Fu Xinran finally couldn't stand her relentless questioning. She opened the drawing function on her phone and hand-wrote a string of characters, holding it up for Siyuan to see.

Wang Zhuo had already noticed their subtle movements. He had been covertly using the folding function of his X-ray vision for quite some time, understanding their exchange perfectly, even while appearing to be deep in conversation with Captain An.

Upon seeing the written characters, Siyuan gave a wry smile, and Wang Zhuo felt equally speechless. She had written a string of Russian—who could possibly understand that!