Chapter 109: Hover Car

Chapter 109: Hovercar

Seeing that the aircraft from the capital base had truly left, stranding them at the R base, Zhao Tong and the others panicked instantly.

"Come back! You can't leave us! We're residents of the R base, we're citizens of China!"

"We just wanted to bring our families back—what did we do wrong?"

The superpowered individuals shouted at the sky, but the capital base's aircraft had already shrunk to a speck in the distance before vanishing completely.

Soon, fingers were pointed at Zhao Tong. "It was you and a few other superpowered individuals who convinced us to join the protest! You said they wouldn’t punish a crowd, that as long as we had numbers, even if Gu Jinsheng was unwilling, he’d have to give in under pressure!"

Zhao Tong roared, "How was I supposed to know Gu Jinsheng would act so unpredictably? I’m the one who got screwed over the most! None of those hostages were my family—I only got involved because of you hostage families! I did it for you—to help you save your families!"

One of them sneered, "Stop making yourself sound so noble. You were only in it for yourself. We heard your confession in jail—you just wanted fame!"

Zhao Tong retorted, "Even if I had my own motives, you can’t deny I wanted to help you rescue the hostages!"

As they argued, the roar of aircraft engines echoed overhead. Their faces lit up with hope. Zhao Tong said, "See? The capital base wouldn’t dare abandon us. They were just trying to scare us!"

They waved frantically at the approaching aircraft, but instead of a rescue, they were met with superpowered attacks.

Blasted off their feet, they tumbled to the ground in disarray. Only then did they realize—these weren’t the capital base’s aircraft.

The superpowered individuals who disembarked spoke in the R-country language. Though they recognized it, none of them understood it. Soon, they were all dragged into the R base’s dungeons.

Gu Jinsheng made no effort to hide their fate, broadcasting it live on the official terminal website. The comment section was flooded with paid trolls, but the network administrator swiftly exposed their IP locations.

Netizens then discovered that over 98% of the supportive comments came from Country R and Country M, with barely 1% from other countries. Less than 1% were real Chinese supporters. The capital base promptly banned all these supporters.

Gu Jinsheng’s unyielding stance left Kobashi Ichiro panicking.

Even Li Mo, the Commander-in-Chief of the Z base, hadn’t anticipated things escalating this way. Watching Gu Jinsheng show such ruthlessness even to his own sent chills down his spine. He didn’t dare imagine what Gu Jinsheng would do to him once free to act.

Time passed swiftly. As the clock struck midnight, Wan Xueying, Zhou Qin, and others in the know turned their gazes toward the research institute.

Their eyes shone with hope—in that moment, Ji An was their god.

Gu Jinsheng’s gaze also fixed on the institute.

Wan Xueying asked nervously, "Boss, what if it…" She couldn’t even bring herself to say the word "failure." "What do we do? Do we surrender the core tech?"

"No," Gu Jinsheng said resolutely. "Unless Xiao An chooses to, no one can force him to surrender his technology."

"If they want war, then we’ll give them war!"

Zhou Qin reported, "Boss, we’re locked and loaded. Ready to engage at any moment."

"Good," Gu Jinsheng nodded.

As tension reached its peak, the air crackling with tension, the institute doors burst open. Simultaneously, the ringtone Gu Jinsheng had set exclusively for one person chimed on his terminal.

Gu Jinsheng’s icy composure thawed at once, his eyes softening. "Xiao An!"

On the screen, Ji An had a soft but dazzling smile, like light piercing the apocalypse’s gloom.

"Jinsheng, we succeeded!" Ji An’s eyes crinkled into crescents, alight with starlight.

Gu Jinsheng replied, "Xiao An, you’re incredible!"

In stark contrast to the calmness of the two protagonists, Wan Xueying, Zhou Qin, Kong Zhongcheng, and others erupted into wild cheers, their hysterical whooping filling the air as superpowers lit up the air around them. For a moment, it felt as though the success belonged not to Ji An, but to them.

"Ahhh! Big Boss Ji did it!" Wan Xueying roared, shedding her usual cool demeanor.

"I knew Divine Ji could do it!" Zhou Qin shrieked. "There's nothing in this world Divine Ji can't accomplish!"

Kong Zhongcheng burst into laughter. "Divine Ji is a god! The damn savior of the apocalypse!"

Gu Jinsheng sat in the leader's seat, listening to his subordinates' total meltdown while gazing at the love of his life. His eyes overflowed with tenderness—this was his lover, his extraordinary partner!

The commanders’ commotion got so out of hand that some uncontrolled superpowers even shattered the conference room's windows and floor. The superpowered individuals downstairs, mistaking it for an attack on the command center, dropped everything and rushed upstairs.

The conference room door was suddenly flung open. Fortunately, the arriving high-level superpowered reacted swiftly, dodging the wild energy blasts. They went into fight mode, only to realize the room held no assassins—just their commanders, who seemed to be the source of the chaos.

Seeing their subordinates burst in, Wan Xueying and the others regained some composure, straightening their attire to put their leader faces back on.

"Dismissed. Prepare and notify all combat personnel—we depart immediately," Wan Xueying said, tucking back her messy hair from all the screaming.

"Yes, ma'am," the subordinates replied, exchanging bewildered glances as they left. "What just happened? Did the research institute's experiment succeed? Were the commanders celebrating or furious?"

"Beats me..."

"Let's head to the institute," Gu Jinsheng said, leading Wan Xueying and the others while notifying all superpowered to assemble via terminal.

But just as Gu Jinsheng descended and retrieved a car from his spatial storage device, his vision blurred—a locomotive-looking thing hovered before him. On guard, he watched as its door slid open, revealing Ji An's face.

Everyone’s jaws dropped. "Divine Ji... weren't you just in the lab?" Zhou Qin stammered.

They had clearly seen Ji An's lab in the background during his call with Gu Jinsheng, surrounded by researchers like Zhou Fanxiu.

Ji An hopped out of the hovercar. "I was."

"How the hell did you get here so fast? Even by car, the lab is over ten minutes away. It hasn't even been five since the call ended."

Ji An grinned. "Actually, this trip’s too short to even flex the hovercar's real speed."

As everyone gaped, his smile brightened. "I promised to bring everyone back, so of course I needed the right transport."

Wan Xueying began to understand. "So... you didn't create weapons, but this hovercar?"

"Correct," Ji An said. "Its speed is 1,000 kilometers per minute."

"What?!" Kong Zhongcheng exclaimed. "That's faster than a plane!"

Zhou Qin shoved him aside, eagerly inspecting the vehicle. "Duh! If it was just plane-fast, what’s the point? Right, Divine Ji?" His tone was uncharacteristically sycophantic, as if possessed by Wu Youyang.

"But... this is some sci-fi bullshit!" Wan Xueying struggled to believe her eyes.

Gu Jinsheng shot her a glance, his flat tone inexplicably dripping with pride. "Since when has Xiao An played by science’s rules?"

"Well... true." Wan Xueying reflected. If she hadn’t seen this crap herself, she'd have dismissed them as hoaxes—just like those suckered foreigners.

Zhou Qin asked, "Boss, we’re taking this to R Country for the hostages?"

"Yes," Ji An affirmed. "Plug in coordinates, and this thing can zip anywhere on Earth."

Kong Zhongcheng rubbed his hands together. "Ji the Divine, let me drive, I'll drive."

Ji An shook his head. "This doesn’t need driving. It has a button—just press it lightly for teleportation."

"Teleportation?" Zhou Qin exclaimed in shock.

Ji An smiled. "Of course. Even for me, every invention must have a scientific basis. The reason this hover vehicle can achieve such speed is by utilizing the principles and technology of spatial abilities—teleportation tech."

"We were crunched for time. If I had enough time to research, the speed could actually be even faster. Teleportation shouldn’t be this slow—it should at least reach faster-than-light speed!"

"Faster-than-light speed?" The group was stunned. Wasn’t the speed of light the fastest? Could it be surpassed? Wouldn’t that mean time travel?

"Ji the Divine, if we exceed the speed of light, does that mean we can travel back to the past?"

Ji An replied, "Theoretically, yes. But in reality, it’s not that simple. Exceeding light speed is just spatial technology, while returning to the past involves time travel—a concept of time mechanics. It’s far more complex and definitely not something achievable just by surpassing light speed. There must be other limiting conditions."

"Ohhh." Zhou Qin didn’t quite understand, but it sounded impressive regardless.

Just then, the combat personnel from the command center gathered at the commanders' entrance. Ji An said, "We don’t need this many people for this trip—just a few will do."

"I’m going! I’m going!" Before anyone could react, Kong Zhongcheng jumped up excitedly.

The superpowered individuals stared at Kong Zhongcheng in confusion, unsure why he was so thrilled. This mission involved clashing with Country R’s superpowered agents—there was a real risk of not coming back. Why did Commander Kong Zhongcheng seem like a kid on Christmas morning, as if itching for a fight? Had Kobashi Ichiro angered him so much that he couldn’t wait to beat him up?

Gu Jinsheng glanced at Kong Zhongcheng. "Fine."

Then, he turned to Wan Xueying and Zhou Qin. "One of you stays behind to hold down the fort."

Zhou Qin whined, "Boss, that’s blatant favoritism! Why does Kong Zhongcheng get to go while one of us has to stay?"

Kong Zhongcheng had already scrambled into the car, making silly faces at Wan Xueying and Zhou Qin. "Can’t be helped—the boss just spoils me."

Wan Xueying also looked at Gu Jinsheng. "Boss, look at his dumb antics. I really don’t see why you favor him so much?"

She wasn’t convinced either. Gu Jinsheng said calmly, "With him acting like this, would you really trust him to hold down the fort?"

That shut Wan Xueying and Zhou Qin up. Kong Zhongcheng, however, widened his eyes in disbelief. "Boss… am I not your favorite golden child anymore?"

Gu Jinsheng, who rarely frowned, slightly furrowed his brows. He turned to Ji An solemnly. "Don’t listen to his nonsense. There’s never been anything between us. You’ve always been the one in my heart!"

"WHOA!!!"

"OOOOH!!!"

The group erupted into wild cheers, shocked that Gu Jinsheng could say something so cheesy.

Kong Zhongcheng rubbing his gooseflesh said, "Boss, you’ve gone OOC. You can’t be our real boss. Tell us—what demon possessed you?"

Ji An’s face burned flaming red, as if on fire. But honestly… this felt... surprisingly good. He… he kind of liked it.

Wan Xueying and Zhou Qin exchanged glances. Without a word, they played rock-paper-scissors. Zhou Qin won, grinning as if he’d won the lottery, while Wan Xueying’s face dropped a mile.

Ji An could only console her. "Don’t worry. The hover vehicles will go into mass production soon. I’ll make sure you get the first one."

Wan Xueying brightened instantly. "You swear on your title, Ji the Divine?"

The superpowered individuals, tense and uncertain if they’d return, were floored. Why were the commanders in such high spirits, as if this were some coveted field trip?

Silently, they thought, *No wonder we’re not commanders—we just don’t have the right wiring.*

Wan Xueying turned to look at the superpowered operatives at the headquarters and said, "We don’t need this many people for the mission this time. Ten will be enough. The rest can go back."

Over a hundred superpowered operatives, who had been waiting to join the battle and psyching themselves up since receiving the news, looked at each other in confusion, unable to believe their ears.

The squad captain of these superpowered operatives voiced the confusion in everyone’s hearts, "Commander, isn’t our mission this time to fight in R Nation and rescue the hostages? Even with Commander-in-Chief Gu, Zhou Qin, and Kong Zhongcheng, ten superpowered operatives might not be enough. After all, it’s R Nation’s home turf, and they’ve obtained many crystals through zombie-cloning. Their superpowered operatives have an unlimited supply of crystals, so their levels definitely won’t be low."

Wan Xueying smiled and said, "You'll see when you get there. But this mission will be an experience you'll never forget in your military careers!"

Indeed, fighting against R Nation’s people and setting foot on their land—such an experience would never happen again in their lifetimes.

Wan Xueying continued, "So this time, it's your call. All I can say is those who don’t go will regret it. It’ll be a regret it till the day you die!"

The superpowered operatives exchanged puzzled looks, even more confused by Wan Xueying’s words.

However, obedience to orders was hardwired into them. Even though it was voluntary, none of them backed down.

Wan Xueying gave a satisfied nod. "Good. Then let’s decide by rock-paper-scissors showdown. Winners go; losers stay and guard the base."

Thus, a surreal sight unfolded in the headquarters’ square. What should have been a somber send-off turned into a game of rock-paper-scissors.

Before the apocalypse, Sun Qiang had been an ordinary person. After the apocalypse, he awakened his superpower and, due to his excellent performance, joined the headquarters. He worked diligently, never slacking off.

His father had been an ordinary worker before the apocalypse but lost both legs saving him when he was young.

Yet, his father never blamed him. Whenever someone lamented his lost legs, his father would sincerely express gratitude, believing that trading his legs for his son’s life was more than worth it.

Sun Qiang thought he’d never see his father walk on two healthy legs like a normal person again.

But then the med-pod was invented, and due to his merits at the headquarters, Sun Qiang was among the first to receive priority treatment access.

His father, disabled for decades, stood up after just a few minutes of treatment. The overwhelming rush of gratitude was indescribable to those who hadn’t experienced it.

From then on, Sun Qiang vowed to protect the capital base and remain loyal to it.

So when the battle against R Nation arose, Sun Qiang signed up in a heartbeat.

Couldn't tell if Sun Qiang was lucky or unlucky. Despite his chronic bad luck, he won the rock-paper-scissors match in one go, leaving even himself stunned.

After snapping out of it, thinking about the suicide mission ahead, Sun Qiang’s eyes welled up. He pulled out a handwritten letter from his pocket and handed it to a teammate. "If I don’t come back, please give this to my father. Tell him... tell him I died serving our country—that it was honorable, that it was brave..."

"And tell him that all these years, he’s suffered raising me alone. Now that his legs are healed, the money in my account and the compensation for my sacrifice should be enough for him to live comfortably for the rest of his life. He should find someone to spend his days with and forget about me—as if I’d died long ago."

His teammate, also teary-eyed, nodded. "I’ll pass along every word."

Turning away, Sun Qiang wiped his falling tears and steeled himself and boarded the hovercar.

Once everyone was inside, Ji An brought up the hovercar's display, projecting a screen visible to all.

Kobashi Ichiro, unwilling to wait any longer, had already started a live broadcast in the dead of night.

His ugly face appeared on the stream, with the same execution ground behind him. Crowded behind him were even more Chinese people than in the previous broadcast.

Kobashi Ichiro taunted, "Commander-in-Chief Gu Jinsheng, are you watching? There are more people behind me this time. Don’t thank me too much—I specifically had our superpowered operatives conduct another door-to-door search to ensure every single Chinese person stranded in R Nation was found. You’re welcome!"

Gu Jinsheng remained silent. Ji An, as the terminal’s developer, understood its functions better than anyone. After a series of operations on his terminal, he smiled and nodded at Gu Jinsheng—confirming he had successfully locked onto Kobashi Ichiro’s terminal coordinates. Kobashi Ichiro’s terminal was currently on his wrist, broadcasting live.

Gu Jinsheng returned the nod. Ji An locked onto Kobashi Ichiro’s location and pressed the spatial transfer button on the hovercar.

Everyone inside felt their bodies compressed to the extreme, as if turned into flat images. The surrounding space warped into streaks of light, impossible to discern.

Kobashi Ichiro was unaware of Gu Jinsheng's situation. Seeing that Gu Jinsheng's location displayed on the terminal was at the Jing City Base, he assumed Gu Jinsheng was still there, failing to notice the increasingly blurred background behind him, as if the connection was glitching.

However, sharp-eyed netizens caught it. Some even noticed that Gu Jinsheng's IP address was rapidly changing, hopping locations every few seconds. At this speed, it might jump to the R Base in just three minutes.

"Did you see that? Gu Jinsheng's IP address keeps changing!"

"Yeah, probably just network lag. Otherwise, the location couldn’t shift that fast!"

"Seriously, Jing City Base couldn’t care less about its people. Their past actions aside, but at this critical moment—the final negotiation—even if they refuse to hand over the technology, they should at least ensure a stable connection. The connection glitching now just proves Gu Jinsheng’s indifference."

At the same time, nearly all superpowered around the world, regardless of their country, received coordinates sent by the Jing City Base, calling all Chinese citizens to rally at the nearest marked spot as soon as possible. Vehicles dispatched by the Jing City Base would arrive shortly to pick them up.

Chinese abroad who saw this were overjoyed. They had thought the Jing City Base had abandoned them, but no—they were sending help.

Chinese citizens abroad rushed toward the coordinates, spreading the word. Of course, some remained skeptical, arguing logically, "The situation between R Country and the Jing City Base is tense. Everyone knows M Country backs R Country. Other countries might let us go, but you think M Country’s gonna play nice?"

"Haven’t you noticed the increased presence of M Country’s superpowered around Chinese neighborhoods lately? No doubt they’re watching us."

"Even if the Jing City Base sends planes, M Country also has terminals. Knowing the rescue attempt, they’d tighten air security. Those planes wouldn’t stand a snowball’s chance."

"But we have to try! Seven years—this is our only hope. Aren’t you tempted?" Feng Jiancheng asked.

"Tempted, but it’s a lost cause. I advise against reckless moves now, or M Country might make an example of you."

Feng Jiancheng replied, "I’m done with M Country. I want to go home—even if it’s a trap, I’d die trying!"

"Anyone willing to join me? If so, let’s go together," Feng Jiancheng asked.

Plenty took the gamble and joined him.

Feng Jiancheng led the group, carefully evading M Country’s superpowered surveillance, inching toward the coordinates.

These coordinates seemed meticulously chosen—located in the busiest areas of each base city, whether bustling supermarkets or crowded commercial streets, ensuring not only many Chinese but also plenty of locals.

Charles and Dewitt also received the notice but dismissed it.

Charles said, "Lock down the skies. Not a single fly gets through. If the Jing City Base thinks they can airlift Chinese from our HSD, they’ll get a crash course in wishful thinking!"