After speaking, Zhou Ziwei channeled a powerful wisp of soul energy into the minds of the two individuals, instantly controlling their thoughts and putting them into a deep sleep...
This is a type of hypnosis, a pure form of hypnosis.
Recently, Zhou Ziwei has been using hypnosis frequently, and the more he uses it, the more adept he becomes. Normally, it would be very difficult to control experts like Blind Boy and Long Wu using hypnosis.
However, one of the two people in front of them had no wariness of Zhou Ziwei at all, while the other was heartbroken and knew that he could not escape Zhou Ziwei's "poisonous hand". So even when they felt Zhou Ziwei's consciousness invading their sea of souls, they did not put up any resistance. That's how Zhou Ziwei easily dealt with them, and they fell into a deep sleep.
The road back was still long, and the bullets only gave Zhou Ziwei an hour. So Zhou Ziwei didn't have time to lead the two men back to the stronghold on the mountain step by step. He simply knocked them unconscious and then casually released a powerful tornado that swept the two men up into the sky.
Although the blind child had already seen through some of his secrets, Zhou Ziwei still felt that it was better to let them know as little as possible. Otherwise, if they knew too much, the blind child might be overwhelmed by all these thoughts and feel suffocated.
The mountain road stretches for tens of kilometers. If we were to walk it step by step, it would probably take another three or four hours to get back. However, Zhou Ziwei swept them up and flew them directly through the air, which saved a lot of time. In just a moment, Zhou Ziwei flew back with the two of them in one breath. He put away the tornado a few hundred meters away from the abandoned building and with a "thump," he shook Long Wu and the blind boy onto the soft grass.
Although the grass was soft, Zhou Ziwei threw them down from a height of more than a meter, and they landed hard on the ground. They both winced in pain before naturally waking up.
"Are we already dead? Where...where are we?!"
The blind child was the first to sit up, looking around with a blank expression, muttering to himself.
Of course... the blind child's gray eyes can't see anything except for the ethereal soul. In fact, she is more accustomed to observing the world with her ears.
The blind girl had thought that her eyes, which were disabled after death, would no longer be blind, but why could she still not see anything? Was she blind in life and still a blind ghost after death? However, when the blind girl felt Zhou Ziwei standing in front of them, smiling at her, her uncertain heart immediately calmed down.
Blind children are blind from a young age, and over the years they have become accustomed to using their ears to distinguish things in the world. As long as someone is even slightly familiar to them, even if they stand there without moving or speaking, the blind child can still tell who that person is.
This is determined by subtle sounds such as the other person's breathing and heartbeat.
However, only a blind child with amazing hearing can hear these subtle sounds. If it were someone else, unless they were very close to the other person, they wouldn't be able to hear their heartbeat or breathing.
Although he was unsure of his exact location, the blind boy knew that since he had discovered Zhou Ziwei's presence, he was certainly not dead yet.
However, she didn't ask anything. She simply sat up quietly on the grass, silently waiting for Zhou Ziwei's decision.
Long Wu, however, didn't have so many thoughts. After waking up, he immediately cried out in surprise, but when he saw Zhou Ziwei, he calmed down immediately. He didn't care where he was and immediately stood up with a smile, ran to Zhou Ziwei and greeted him warmly.
After this period of deep sleep, the newly absorbed soul power had completely resonated with his soul, instantly replenishing the life force he had previously lost, and naturally he became energetic again.
Zhou Ziwei smiled and nodded, then waved to the blind boy and said, "Let's go! We're almost at the rendezvous point. The operation is about to begin, and if we delay any longer, we might miss it."
After waving, Zhou Ziwei remembered that the blind child couldn't see at all and wouldn't know when he waved. He couldn't help but smile bitterly. Just as he was about to call out to the blind child again, he saw that the blind child had already stood up and walked towards him.
Zhou Ziwei was slightly taken aback, but then he remembered that although the little girl was blind, her hearing was incredibly sharp. She probably heard the faint sound of the wind caused by his waving gesture and could automatically recreate his original action in her mind!
The blind child cautiously walked to within three meters of Zhou Ziwei, stopped, and stared at him with her large, gray eyes as if she could see him. Then she softly asked, "You really... won't kill us to silence us?"
Zhou Ziwei said with a wry smile, "Of course not, otherwise why would I go to all that trouble to bring you all the way back to our Dragon Group's meeting point? Hmm... But since you know that what happened today is quite important to me, I hope that no matter how many secrets you two have seen or guessed about me, I believe you can keep all the secrets to yourselves and never mention them to anyone else, okay?"
"If Master doesn't want me to say anything, then I will naturally not utter a single word even if both of my legs are broken. Master, please rest assured."
After today's incident, Long Wu has completely become dependent on Zhou Ziwei. Regardless of whether Zhou Ziwei likes it or not, he always calls him "Master" in a very affectionate way...
Seeing that Long Wu had already made his stance clear, the blind boy could only nod in agreement, indicating that he would not reveal any secrets related to Zhou Ziwei under any circumstances.
The blind child is still young, and women don't have a strong natural passion for gossip yet, so even if she buries all the strange things she saw today in her heart, she won't feel uncomfortable.
Seeing that the two had agreed, Zhou Ziwei didn't waste any more words. He waved his hand and immediately walked towards the dilapidated building.
When the three entered the dilapidated building, they saw that the other nine members of the Dragon Group were all fully equipped and ready to go. Each of them had put on their most handy weapons and bulletproof vests.
Seeing Zhou Ziwei and the others enter the small building, Zidan breathed a huge sigh of relief, gently patted her magnificent chest, and said, "It's good that you came back in time, so our operation plan can be further improved."
As she spoke, Bullet pulled a large paper map from behind her back and spread it directly on the table in front of her. Then, she said to the three newcomers, "Our target for this operation is right here..."
Bullet pointed lightly to a spot marked with a red cross in the center of the map, then continued, "This is a building resembling a medieval European castle. On the surface, it's a farmer's holiday villa, but in reality, it's a secret underground research institute. Someone will pick us up in a light transport plane, and then we'll parachute down within a seven-kilometer radius of this area. We'll split into groups of three... Oh, let's shuffle the groups we just formed and reassign them! Spider... you and Ball will be in a group with me, responsible for infiltrating the castle from the west. Prodigy, you'll take Blind Boy and Dragon Five, and the three of you will be in a group responsible for the south. Cannon, you and Mad Witch, the three of you will be in a group responsible for the north..."
In an instant, the bullets rearranged the previously planned tasks.
After all, if Zhou Ziwei and the other two hadn't returned in time, they would only have nine people left, so manpower would be limited. Now that Zhou Ziwei and the other two had finally returned before setting off, all the members of the Dragon Group were present, which would make it perfect for each group of three to be responsible for a different direction.
Just after the bullets were rearranged, a faint rumbling sound of airplanes could be heard outside.
Upon hearing this, the bullet raised an eyebrow and immediately swept up the map on the table with a wave of its hand.
Then, in a deep voice, he said, "This mission is SSS-level, meaning it's a crucial mission concerning the fate of the nation. We must do our utmost to complete it. As long as one member of the Dragon Group is still alive, we cannot give up on this mission. Hmm... As for the mission requirements... I'll reiterate them one last time... Our main objective is those three lotus-shaped plant seeds, which are purple, blue, and yellow respectively. If we can bring these three plant seeds out and successfully return to the country, that would naturally be a great achievement for us. However... if we can't protect these three plant seeds at the last moment, then... let's find a way to destroy them together!"
At this point, Bullet glanced around solemnly, then gently turned the armrest of his wheelchair and said in a low voice, "You should all be able to figure out the shape and size of the mission item, right? Hmm... you weren't back when I described the characteristics of the mission item, but that's alright... Prodigy... it seems the higher-ups meant that you saw the unusual appearance of those plant seeds beforehand. Only if you saw them could you immediately tell the difference between real and fake. If that's the case... I hope that whenever Group One obtains the mission item, they can have Prodigy examine it to reach a final conclusion. Otherwise, my biggest worry is that we risk our lives to complete the mission and escape, only to find out that everything was just a carefully designed trap within a trap."
Zhou Ziwei nodded slightly upon hearing this. He already knew about this matter; it was explained to him personally by the old commander.
It turns out that the two main plant seeds Zhou Ziwei brought back from the pilot plane, which were also the only raw materials for producing water-decomposing catalysts—the seeds of the Water Sprite—were accidentally leaked during their artificial cultivation at a military biological research institute near Beijing. An American agent who had been lurking in the institute stole three Water Sprite seeds that had just been placed in the cultivation tank and secretly transferred them out of the country that same day.
Although Zhou Ziwei brought back a number of water sprite seeds from the pilot plane, it wasn't a small number either, and losing three or five seeds wouldn't have a significant impact.
However, if these three or five are just damaged, it's not a big deal. But if they fall into the hands of other countries or organizations, then the trouble will be considerable.
It is conceivable that future water splitting technology will play a significant role in both military and civilian applications, serving as the starting point for a new energy revolution.
The key to whether China can become far ahead of the world lies in whether it can monopolize the core technologies in this field.
Ultimately, the core technology of water splitting lies primarily in the water splitting catalyst. If a water splitting catalyst cannot be produced, then all other technical theories are merely theoretical.
Therefore, as long as China firmly controls the cultivation technology and seeds of the water-soluble crop and prevents them from leaking out, the water decomposition technology will forever belong to China.
Unexpectedly, before the project had even begun large-scale research, the three water sprite seeds were stolen. This infuriated the old commander, who immediately ordered the military to either retrieve the three water sprite seeds or destroy them on the spot before the other party made any research results on them.
The most suitable special forces unit to carry out this plan is naturally the elite Dragon Group among special forces.
Zhou Ziwei hadn't originally planned to get involved in any trouble or join any special forces team. However, when he heard from his old superior on the phone that the Dragon Group was going to carry out such a mission in the United States, he suddenly couldn't refuse anymore.
Volume 3, King of the City, Chapter 517: Parachuting
When Zhou Ziwei heard the old leader mention that three of the rare water spirit seeds he had painstakingly retrieved from the pilot plane had been stolen before he could even begin cultivating them, he was speechless and furious. He unabashedly berated the bureaucrats and incompetent behavior of certain personnel involved, without even giving the old leader any face.
However... despite the criticism, the matter still needs to be resolved.
If the cultivation technology for this water splitting catalyst were leaked, or even if the US government were to develop it first, it would be a significant loss for Zhou Ziwei.
You see, he had already negotiated with those bigwigs and secured the exclusive development rights for a civilian product and the exclusive quota for water splitting catalyst. But if the US devils started producing this stuff in the blink of an eye, then his damn exclusive development rights would be worthless.
Without a monopoly, there are no exorbitant profits. Zhou Ziwei was hoping to build a huge business empire with this technology. If water splitting catalysts were sold off like cabbages, his dream would be impossible to realize.
Therefore, although only three water sprite seeds were lost, their profound significance should not be underestimated. Zhou Ziwei must personally participate in this operation no matter what.
If he didn't know about this, that would be fine. But now that he does, he's bound to come. Although the Dragon Group members are all incredibly skilled, Zhou Ziwei knows that there are some strange and unusual experts involved. Not to mention anyone else, if even one of the top three assassins in the world were to randomly appear and hide at the target location of this operation, it could very well lead to the complete annihilation of the Dragon Group.
Furthermore, if one or two figures of Ono Yuko's caliber were to appear, it would absolutely make the Dragon Group suffer.
Therefore, Zhou Ziwei would never feel comfortable letting the Dragon Group carry out this mission alone. He would rather participate in person, even if he knew that he had been tricked by the old leader again, he had no choice but to accept it.
The rumbling sound of airplanes grew closer and closer. With a slight wave of his hand, all the Dragon Group members immediately and quickly checked their equipment before heading out of the building one by one.
Only Spider remained by Bullet's side, helping him push his wheelchair until he was the last to emerge from the small building.
In the completely dark night sky, a pitch-black military transport plane hovered there, looking as ferocious as a beast waiting to devour its prey.
This military transport plane was certainly not a Chinese aircraft, but a military plane belonging to the US. It seems that it was successfully hijacked by our agents who had infiltrated the US military.
However, these agents will likely be completely exposed after this incident. If they cannot withdraw in time after the mission, the only outcome will be...
A rope ladder was lowered from mid-air, and without waiting for further instructions from the bullet, the cannon, motor, and others immediately began to climb up one after another, all in silence yet in perfect order.
Zhou Ziwei glanced around and saw that among these people, it seemed that the guy with the pinball was having the most trouble climbing. After all, that guy's weight was terrifying. When he climbed up the rope ladder, it felt like the plane above was being pulled down slightly by him, which made everyone who was climbing up the rope ladder in the middle feel like they were sinking down with him.
Zhou Ziwei followed behind the blind child. He originally wanted to help the blind child, but the blind child completely ignored him. He stretched out his two little hands and accurately grabbed the swaying rope ladder. Then he climbed up quickly step by step without making any mistakes because he couldn't see.
Zhou Ziwei originally wanted to help Zidan climb up, but Zidan didn't give him the chance. He waved his hand coldly, indicating that Zidan should go up first.
Seeing this, Zhou Ziwei naturally couldn't say anything more. He figured that since Zidan was acting this way, she must have her own methods. Besides, she had Spider by her side, so they must have worked together before and had a good understanding of each other.
On the contrary, Jiang Chunshui was actually hoping that Zhou Ziwei would also show her some affection, even if he didn't carry her up the mountain, he could at least be there for her, hand in hand or something... Unfortunately, Zhou Ziwei, that blockhead, was only thinking about taking care of women with disabilities, and he completely ignored the longing look in her eyes, this stunningly beautiful woman. Jiang Chunshui's flirtatious gaze was wasted, and she was secretly itching with hatred.
To Zhou Ziwei's surprise, Zidan was the last one to climb the rope ladder, even Spider was ahead of her. Zhou Ziwei had thought that Zidan might not be participating in this operation herself, otherwise... even if she could climb the rope ladder, what about her wheelchair? Without that, she couldn't move freely, and with such a large wheelchair, how could she climb such a high rope ladder?
In fact, this was clearly not the first time she had encountered such a situation. After all the Dragon Group members had climbed up the rope ladder, she immediately grabbed one of the horizontal axes of the rope ladder with one hand and her body was immediately suspended in mid-air.
She quickly turned around with her other hand and grabbed the wheelchair beneath her, giving it a sharp shake... Then, as if it were a Transformer, the wheelchair, propelled by the force of the bullet's shake, cracked and snapped, instantly transforming into something folded up like a backpack. She then lifted it onto her back, and using her two strong arms to alternately exert force, she climbed up at a speed no less impressive than the other members of the Dragon Group.
Although it was pitch black all around, the plane wasn't hovering very high, and everything was still under Zhou Ziwei's soul power's monitoring. Seeing Bullet's swift and skillful movements, Zhou Ziwei couldn't help but sigh inwardly. This woman was truly determined... In truth, as the captain, and a disabled person without legs, what difference would it make if she wanted to enjoy some privileges? He believed no one would look down on her for that. But this woman clearly didn't want to gain any advantage because of her disability, and Zhou Ziwei couldn't help but admire her for that...
Once everyone boarded the transport plane, they saw that it was filled with all sorts of military supplies. It seemed that the plane was on a mission and had turned around to come and pick them up.
Zhou Ziwei didn't quite understand at first. He wondered if it was a waste for the pilot of the plane to expose himself after going through so much trouble to infiltrate the M army for such a mission.
It's just a matter of attacking a secret research base. These people could walk, buy a few cars, or steal a few cars, wouldn't that make all the difference?
However, Zhou Ziwei only understood the situation when he later saw that the castle-like secret research base was actually built on an island in the middle of a very large lake.
The island in the middle of the lake is quite large, and the entire lake surface is nominally private property, so it has long been completely sealed off. There is only one boat on the entire lake, which is moored on the other side of the island.
If Zhou Ziwei and his group hadn't come by plane, then the only way they would have been to dive across the lake. But that distance was far too great; even among the Dragon Group members, who were generally quite strong, few would be confident they could swim all the way to the island in one go.
Moreover, the other party must have already done some work on the lake, at least by setting up protective nets or alarms. Unless they can actually dive all the way through the deep water, anyone swimming on the surface will likely be spotted immediately. And diving underwater... is probably not safe either. If they raise a group of ferocious fish like piranhas in the lake... then anyone who dares to swim to the island in the middle of the lake will probably all die!
Military transport planes roared over the island in the middle of the lake. As soon as they reached their designated target location, Zhou Ziwei and the others jumped off the plane one after another with their parachutes on their backs, drifting and landing on various corners of the island.
At this moment, all the Dragon Group members had changed into uniform clothing on the plane, all dressed in black from head to toe, and their parachutes were also all black. Tonight happened to be a bit cloudy, with no stars or moon, which provided them with excellent cover. Although more than a dozen people were descending from mid-air at the same time, before they reached the ground, even if someone craned their neck to look up at the sky, it would be difficult to spot these surprise troops descending from the sky.
However, since these people jumped from the plane at almost the same time, the distance between the parachutes was a bit too close, and the parachutes could easily get tangled together in mid-air, which was quite dangerous.
However, the plane only flew over the island in the middle of the lake for a brief moment, and they had no time to create a safe distance, so they had no choice but to take the risk.
This was Zhou Ziwei's first time skydiving. He had never had any training in this area before. However, since he was already capable of flying, he was not worried about his safety. Even if his parachute suddenly failed to open, he would definitely not be killed by the crash. What was there to be afraid of?
Zhou Ziwei jumped down relatively late in the order. After jumping, he didn't rush to open the parachute. Instead, he used his spiritual power to scan the people who jumped down in front of him, trying to maintain a safe distance from them before considering opening the parachute.
However, just as he had rapidly descended about halfway down, he suddenly saw a dark figure in the air quickly adjusting its angle and swinging towards him with all its might.
Zhou Ziwei was slightly taken aback, then realized... the person swinging towards him was Long Wu. Perhaps he noticed that someone hadn't opened their parachute and thought there was a problem with it, so he tried to catch the falling person in mid-air...
Zhou Ziwei couldn't help but smile wryly, and quickly pulled the rope buckle, opening the parachute on its own.
With a soft "whoosh," a huge black umbrella rose from behind Zhou Ziwei, instantly enveloping the air and causing his rapidly falling body to shudder slightly, making him feel somewhat unsteady.
Long Wu below breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the person above finally open his parachute. However, seeing that the guy above was about to step on his parachute if he continued to descend, he had no choice but to adjust his direction and swing to one side.
Unexpectedly, Long Wu swung too fast and collided with the bullet. The parachute lines of the two men quickly became tangled together, and both parachutes immediately became crooked.
Both Bullet and Long Wu's faces immediately turned extremely ugly. Right now, only the parachute ropes were tangled together. If the umbrella itself got tangled up, it would be dangerous. And right now, Long Wu was suffering so much that it was almost as if Bullet was sitting on his butt... Fortunately, Bullet didn't have legs, otherwise... the position would have been even more ambiguous.
Finally... when the descent reached an altitude of over 300 meters, the two intertwined parachutes were suddenly blown completely tangled together by a gust of wind. The canopy contracted rapidly and could no longer support the combined weight of the two people. It pulled them down at several times the normal descent speed, slanting towards a puddle on the edge of the lake island below.
At that speed, landing on the beach, even if they were half-dead, given their skills, they shouldn't be in mortal danger. But unfortunately, that beach was where the only ferry on the island in the lake stopped. There were clearly guards on and off the boat. Their tangled fall there would immediately alert the guards, and countless bullets would likely turn Long Wu and Zidan into pincushions.
The expressions on both of their faces turned grim in an instant, but neither of them said anything more.