CHAPTER 53: CHAPTER 53: DAY 3

Sun Hang walked out of the tower and looked up at the sky—as the special plane of the parliament representatives was escorted by two fighter jets, it slowly landed on the runway of the base.

"Don’t you think that girl is very cute?" Wang Xiyi’s voice came from behind.

"Stupidly cute?" Sun Hang turned his head and asked.

"Very naive, very pure... but she has a courage and ability that many people lack. She’s decisive in action and clear in thought, plus she has a background and starting point that ordinary people can only dream of... If she can sit in her father’s position in the future, she might actually be able to change a few things," Wang Xiyi said.

"You have a high evaluation of her!" Sun Hang had to raise his voice significantly, as the plane made a loud noise while taxiing on the runway.

"I’m just a person waiting for time to pass, but that doesn’t stop me from respecting idealists like her," Wang Xiyi said faintly. "It’s just a pity that I don’t have much time left, and I probably won’t be able to see what she grows into."

"Don’t be so pessimistic. Maybe she’ll die before you do," Sun Hang smiled. "Idealists usually don’t have long lives, especially reckless ones like her."

"What she wants to do is eliminate all the anomalies in this world. What about you?" Wang Xiyi looked at Sun Hang, "What do you want to do?"

"Hiss...you really got me with that question," Sun Hang looked at the comings and goings in the base, thought for a moment, "What I want to do now... is probably to recover my lost memories, and apart from that, it’s just to stay alive."

"Then why did you become a Hunter? Hunters don’t usually live long either," Wang Xiyi asked again.

"I guess I felt that being a Hunter might help me recover my memories faster..." Sun Hang thought for a moment and repeated what Ye Xuan had just said, "If you insist on asking me why, then it’s intuition."

...

In the air force base, soldiers pulled out dozens of field exercise tents from the warehouse and set them up on the open field... However, during the headcount, a new problem arose.

Two hundred and thirteen people were missing in total. Except for the twenty-seven who left the cemetery area and did not return, there should be one hundred and eighty-six remaining, but the soldier responsible for counting counted several times, and even if counting in the parliament representatives who had just gotten off the special plane, there were only one hundred and eighty-four.

Two people were missing.

"The list! Get the Management Committee to send the previous list of missing persons and check them one by one!" Sun Hang rubbed his temples irritably. "Once you find out who’s missing, bring them to me immediately!"

"Us?" The soldier doing the count was stunned for a moment, "Isn’t this something to notify the Management Committee about? At the very least, shouldn’t the Public Security Bureau be responsible? If the military directly goes to arrest someone..."

"I don’t trust those lazy bureaucrats with this matter. I don’t want any more mistakes!" Sun Hang turned his head and said to Yang Lian, "Also, notify the Investigation Bureau to gather all remaining personnel and take over the deployment of the beacons... Remember, no one is allowed to enter the southern cemetery, and maintain a safety distance of at least three kilometers from the boundary line of the anomaly area!"

Before long, a soldier ran over in a hurry and said to Sun Hang, "It’s clear now, the missing two are the children of the Management Committee member Ding Yuanjiang’s family... The two children got frightened in the previous incident, and their fevers wouldn’t go away. The grandparents stood at the door and refused to let Management Committee people in... The two old people are almost seventy, and the committee people don’t dare to take forcible measures, fearing..."

"Can’t we use tranquilizer darts?" Yang Lian frowned.

"Tranquilizers are too dangerous for the elderly; one shot, and they might never wake up," another Management Committee staff member coordinating matters added on the side.

"Have the military doctors drive the ambulance to pick them up, and as for the obstructing elders..." Sun Hang said, "If they continue to obstruct or resort to violence, soldiers are allowed to retaliate."

"Re...retaliate?" The Management Committee staffer’s eyes widened, "Those are two elderly people over sixty, doing this could be deadly!"

"Obstructing military action and assaulting active-duty soldiers are serious crimes. They would not be wronged even if they died," Sun Hang said expressionlessly. "When even the head of the airbase commander was held at gunpoint, do you still care about two stubborn old people?"

Sun Hang paused and continued, "If the temporal anomaly zone appears inside the residential area... how many elders and children do you think will be caught up? Out of those people, how many do you think will survive?"

"But what if the temporal anomaly doesn’t appear..."

"If nothing happens, naturally someone will take responsibility!" Sun Hang glanced up at the high command tower. "It’s not you who will bear the responsibility, so why are you stressing?"

"This...this..." The Management Committee staff was wiping the sweat on his forehead, while the soldier beside him had already headed off with the orders to find the military doctor and ambulance.

...

An hour later.

"Personnel check completed; 186 people expected, 188 present." The soldier responsible for the count ran over to report.

"Why are there still two more?" Yang Lian was taken aback and asked.

"It’s the grandparents of those two kids. They insisted on following us, and there’s nothing we can do..." the soldier said, looking troubled.

"No problem, just let them stay together." Sun Hang waved his hand and then looked at the time displayed on his wristband. "Alright, everything’s ready, just waiting for the east wind."

"Will that ’east wind’ really blow in three days?" Wang Xiyi sat on a crate of shells, legs crossed, "If nothing happens, it’ll be quite amusing."

"From the perspective of the Federation, of course, it’s better if nothing happens," Sun Hang said. "But I have a habit that if there’s the worst possible scenario for anything, I’ll prepare to face it."

"That’s a good habit," Wang Xiyi nodded in agreement.

...

Three days are neither long nor short.

When the time on the wristband jumped from May 18th, 23:59 to May 19th, 00:00, Sun Hang could clearly feel that the air in the entire airbase suddenly became much heavier.

Everyone’s face carried a look of a great enemy approach. In the vast base, only the sound of footsteps and vehicle engines could be heard. The pale searchlight shone on the field, illuminating the area where the temporary camps were located as if it were daylight.

"Five hours until daylight," Sun Hang said.