Vol 17 Chapter 10-1 (2/2)
On the edge of a tiny forest far from Zheng’s camp was HongLu’s group. They backed off further from the fortress due to a lack of a psyche force user in the group. YinKong was proficient in hiding so there was no need to worry about being discovered. They sat by a small campfire and ate some simple foods.
“… So the CD is confirmed to have inserted into the black box?” HongLu asked for the third time.
YinKong nodded. “Yes. It was indeed inserted into the black box along with Xuan’s program and your program.”
HongLu let out a sigh of relief. “Then does Xuan know? Have you told him about the CD?”
YinKong raised her head and glanced at him. Her tone remained calm. “I didn’t say anything unnecessary. We cooperated a few times before. Do I seem like someone who would talk more than needed?”
HongLu laughed. “Relax. I am only being so overly suspicious because I want the plan to succeed too much. Haha. There’s nothing to worry since Xuan doesn’t know what I did. Tomorrow is the beginning of the fifth day. Just wait. Wait for the arrival of the hydrogen bomb.”
HongLu was a cooperating partner for YinKong before she met Xuan. Although they wiped in Resident Evil, she had just as much trust in HongLu as she had in Xuan. However, since Xuan had proved himself to be one step ahead of everyone, she decided to remain neutral in this competition.
Back in the Shelter, HongLu told her his plan in full. She weighted the pros and cons of the plan then decided to help him. There were almost no cons for HongLu’s plan. In contrast, it would lower the danger they would face if it worked. HongLu wrote another program in Xuan’s CD that would activate three hours after the hydrogen bombs launched.
“It’s just a small trojan. Xuan’s program can break through the firewall and bypass the network password. So the code of this trojan is fairly small. It’s main function is to issue an attack order… To the American army on standby outside the steel fortress. The time is three hours after the nuclear strike!”
HongLu wanted to compete with Xuan but he wasn’t going to doing anything harmful to the team. He merely wanted to show Xuan that he wasn’t weak. Maybe not as strong as Xuan but he could think of things that Xuan didn’t think of, such as using the American army.
“Information exchange is crippled due to the loss of satellites and cities. Only a few military communications lines are preserved. They can still send Morse code telegrams but this method is too slow. I left the president a message before leaving, telling him we have a bacteria that accelerates the rusting process which counters the Transformers. Once we found their main base, we can annihilate them. However, I am an American troop in the future and want to leave the U.S. with some useful technology and the AllSpark. So he needs to surround St. Louis with the army. Once we destroyed the robots with the bateria and obtained the AllSpark, the army could detain us.
“The truth is to have the American army surround St. Louis. Three hours after the nuclear strike, the trojan will issue an order to attack the fortress in the name of the military base. Xuan’s virus will destroy the central computing system afterward. No one can stop the American army from attacking at that point. This is my plan, to have the army become our bait! While they fight the Decepticons, Zheng’s group can easily sneak into the fortress and steal the AllSpark! Xuan, wait and see. I am not weaker than you! My plan is designed with you in mind!”
The sun rose on the horizon. Dawn of the fifth day came. Over half a million soldiers surrounded St. Louis in the past few days. They were awaiting for the order from the base. This was the last full army of the U.S. They would attack into the main base of the Decepticons.