by A Sick Frog
Hé Company Commander looked at Qin Ke Xuan in shock. It was already pretty impressive to be able to detect there were concealed sentries, but for her to count them all out one by one, this, this… if she wasn’t entering their SF it would be too much a waste of talent!
The truck reached the entrance of the base very quickly. They were stopped to declare their identification before the sentry opened the electronic gate for them to enter.
The base was furnished similarly as the RS’s base, except the training arenas were more professional and there were all sorts of equipment and facilities. The truck only stopped when it drove to a building and Hé Company Leader brought Qin Ke Xuan into the building. He stopped before the door of a room and gave a military salute. Qin Ke Xuan also followed with a military salute.
“Reporting.”
“Enter.” A low voice sounded from inside.
Hé Company Commander said after he entered: “Wu Lieutenant Colonel, I have brought her.”
“I’ve gotten a rough picture of her circumstances. The family background’s clean and she fulfills all the requirements. As for her abilities, we still need to observe for a while since this job isn’t child’s play.”
Hé Company Commander leaned in and said softly to Wu Lieutenant Colonel by his ear about Qin Ke Xuan’s performance from just now at the military garrison area and then Wu Lieutenant Colonel’s eyes immediately lit up. He shouted out the door: “Qin Ke Xuan, come in.”
Qin Ke Xuan walked in and saw a middle-aged man sitting on a chair looking at her with shining bright eyes. “You think the SF isn’t very up to par?”
Qin Ke Xuan replied without hesitation: “That’s correct.”
Wu Lieutenant Colonel lowered his head and thought. His fingers tapping the table, it was only a while after did he raise his head again to look at Qin Ke Xuan. “If you were to compete against them, who do you think will win?”
“I have already finished seven SF soldiers, including Hé Company Commander, during the surprise attack test. Do you think I will lose?” Qin Ke Xuan asked rather than replying.
Wu Lieutenant Colonel looked at Hé Company Commander in amusement. Hé Company Commander scratched his head awkwardly, faking a laugh. “Slip-up, it’s a slip-up.”
Wu Lieutenant Colonel’s expression suddenly changed, and berated: “If that was a mission, any small slip-up will result in severe repercussions! Run 10000 metres in armour and 500 push-ups and remember the lesson learnt from this mistake!” Actually, he was clear that Hé Company Commander would lose to Qin Ke Xuan regardless of whether he slipped-up or not. He was clearer than anyone about the situation of his soldiers. Looked like this girl couldn’t be underestimated!
“Yes sir!” Hé Company Commander stood at attention and listened to his order.
“Then if you’re compared to a proper SF soldier, which aspects do you think you are unable to compare up to?” Wu Lieutenant Colonel turned back and continued asking Qin Ke Xuan.
“There’s a lot of military affairs I am not aware of. I’ve never gone through your system training here, so other than knowing how to use a gun, I don’t know how to use all the other high-tech equipment.” Qin Ke Xuan replied water-tightly, using the words they used in this world.
“Indeed, from that perspective, you currently are not equipped with the necessary qualifications to enter the SF. However, you can learn this after you’ve been taught, what’s more important is your potential. That’s why, under such pressing times, we are making an exception for you. However, you will not join the SF with your current identity. After all, your age has not reached the requirement. We will give you a second identity. You can enter the Shadow Force in the Tercel battalion—Military Intelligence, Section 6 (MI6). Even though the MI6 is the Shadow Forces of SF, they aren’t actually under any of the Lieutenant Colonel’s command, instead, they directly report to the Department of National Security.”
Qin Ke Xuan raised her brows. Did she unknowingly enter the country’s secret military organisation?
After which, Wu Lieutenant Colonel called and briefly talked about Qin Ke Xuan’s situation on the phone. After finishing, he said to Qin Ke Xuan: “Now I’ll bring you to see your future officer, Xu Division Chief.”
Following which, the two of them once again boarded the vehicle and it drove out the base and towards the city. The vehicle stopped at a four-levelled building. Qin Ke Xuan followed Wu Lieutenant Colonel in, taking a look around. The MI6 was actually located at such a place?
The furnishing in the building was similar to a normal company. The lady at the counter upon seeing them paused her tapping on the keyboard and looked at them: “Wu Lieutenant Colonel you’re here, please wait for a moment.” And then she tapped on the keyboard for a bit. A man’s portrait appeared on the electronic screen standing before the counter.
“Xu Division Chief, I’ve brought her.” Wu Lieutenant Colonel said to the man on the screen.
“Okay, Xiao Yang, it’s fine.”
“Yes sir.” The lady referred to as Xiao Yang continued tapping on the keyboard, and an elevator door on the side open. “The two of you, this way please.”
Qin Ke Xuan and Wu Lieutenant Colonel took the elevator together up to the third floor. When the doors opened, they saw a man waiting there to lead the way for them. When they reached a meeting room, he opened to door to let them in and softly closed it behind.
When Qin Ke Xuan walked out from behind Wu Lieutenant Colonel, she felt a concealed weapon hurled at her face. She turned sideways and clipped the concealed weapon. It was a card. Taking a look, it was actually her portrait on it, however…
“Xu Le Le?”
“That’s right. From today onwards, your second identity will be this Xu Le Le.”
Qi Ke Xuan turned her gaze to look and saw a tall and straight man in this youthful years walking towards them. A hand stretched out to shake Wu Lieutenant Colonel’s hand, he said smilingly: “Wu Lieutenant Colonel, this lass you’ve found is pretty good; her looks are too deceptive.”
“Hehe, as long as it can help the emergency. I’ve brought her here, as for the specific details, you can explain to her. I still have important matters to attend to so I’ll go first.”
“Okay, okay. I’m also quite busy here, let’s meet for tea next time.” Xu Division Chief opened the door to let the man from just now leading the way to send Wu Lieutenant Colonel out before once again closing the door for a private discussion with Qin Ke Xuan. “From now on, you are my Hua Yu Electronic Technology Company’s worker. Of course, the company and all are just a disguise for concealing purposes. There’s no need to mind the company’s operational situation, what we do here mainly is to take care of missions from the Department of National Security. You will go to school and go to your SFRS training as usual as ‘Qin Ke Xuan’. The MI6 member Xu Le Le just happens to look a lot like Qin Ke Xuan. With regards to this, do you have any queries?”
“No.” It’ll just be that she would live with two identities in this world.
“Just now that was just sounding you out. Your skills aren’t bad. But because of the lack of time, I will not engage in further tests of your skills. I also believe in Wu Lieutenant Colonel’s eye, so don’t disappoint me in your following operation.”
“I won’t.” Qin Ke Xuan was very confident.
“Okay. There are currently two international spies from H country that have seized one of our very vital military classified information. There are too on guard so the people we sent to retrieve that information had been discovered, therefore, we cannot have our people make their move easily. Hence, we need to find a person who is highly skilled and not easily detectable to complete this mission. And you are the most suitable person for this.” It could be said that Xu Division Chief was very satisfied with Qin Ke Xuan. Be it her age, height or weight, she had not reached the publicly known required standard to become an SF soldier but she had some very valiant abilities. The H country’s people definitely wouldn’t think tha
t such a below-requirement Lolita was actually an SF soldier. Even if they thought till their heads broke, they wouldn’t think that Z country would send out such a newbie soldier Lolita to complete such an important mission. He only took this risk as he had run out of choices.
“Cannot easily make their move?” Qin Ke Xuan raised her brows, what kind of people would be able to have that kind of ability? She had been someone who had taken on quite a bit of mission in killing aristocrats, generals and ministers last time. To her, as long as the mission required it, there would not be anyone she could not kill.
“Enh. They are H country’s super idols. They have fans not only in H country but also in ours. They’ve come to our country for a concert tour. If they were to get into an accident in our country, I’m afraid it will incite anger among the populace. Not only will that ruin the image of our people and country, it may also affect the relationship between the two countries. If it’s serious, the negative consequences could be more than just these.” And so, they were very frustrated with the mission this time. The last stop for their concert tour was in City B, and so, the mission to capture them landed on the shoulders of MI6. The superiors had instructed that if they were to let the two of them bring the classified information out of the country, they need not continue working in MI6.
“That’s easy to solve. As long as that accident does not happen in our country then all these problems won’t be problems.” Qin Ke Xuan said calmly.
Xu Division Chief frowned. “It’s easy to say, but once outside our borders, we will not be able to continue pursuing them. Not only so, they are neither armed nor are they engaging in any actions that encroach on our county’s rights and benefits, so we are unable to attack them. Hence according to the procedures, we need to provide evidence and apprehend them as suspects.”
“So, you’ll just watch their country’s spies just get away with it like that?” Qin Ke Xuan was beyond shocked. In the world she had come from, once spies were discovered, they would be hunted down and finished even if they escaped to the other end of the world.
Xu Division Chief slammed the table, gritting his teeth: “But what can I do?!” He seriously wanted to whip the two sanctimonious idols several times!
“Then what do I do now? How to do it?” Qin Ke Xuan, who did not bear the same sentiments of resentment as him, asked calmly.
“Tonight, they will carry out their last concert. Two days after the concert ends, they will board the plane and fly back to H country. We must succeed in today’s operation. We will have our people acting as fans in the concert; they will carry tapping devices on them. You, on the other hand, will handle the job of sneaking into the hotel they live in, finding the classified information they have seized and bring it back.”
Chapter 40 - Eavesdrop Unsuccessful
The darkness of the night had just descended. Lots of people were crowded outside the city’s Black White Concert Hall; they were all fans that had come in advance for the concert. Everyone was an excited expression on his or her faces. Some of them had even held Shao Ji Boys (SJBoys)’s posters. There were still three hours left before the concert started yet they were already outside waiting for their idols.
Qin Ke Xuan sat in a vehicle parked a distance from the crowd of people. As she heard the team leader explaining the details of this operation and all the various things to note, she looked at the anticipating fans, puzzled. They were just two actors of lowly and petty status, why were they granted such respectable treatment?
“Did you memorise all the stuff I’ve said?” The team leader, the young man who had leader the way for her and Wu Lieutenant Colonel, Xu Tian Xian finished his talking.
“Enh.”
“Then good, we will now officially enter a state of alertness.” Xu Tian Xian pressed a button on the inside of his shirt and adjusted the intercom he had stuffed in his ear. “Condor* Team A, start operation!”
* 秃鹰 = tu ying; bald eagle/condor
“Roger!” Five voices, including Qin Ke Xuan’s, sounded in the intercom simultaneously.
“Xu Li Mei, report your current position, over.” Xu Ti Xian as the Xu Tian Mei who was responsible for playing the role of a fan that had mixed into the crowd of people.
The codename of every member in the MI6 was their second identity, and all had the surname Xu. The five members in Condor Team A were the team leader Xu Tian Xian, team members, Xu Le Le who was Qin Ke Xuan, Xu Tian Mei, Xu Qiang and Xu Wu. In the operation this time, Xu Mei Li was responsible for fixing on a tapping device, Xu Qiang was responsible for monitoring the target’s movements while the other three were responsible for retrieving the classified information.
“I am already standing by the railings. Once they appear, I can move over immediately. Over.”
“Okay, take note not to be the first one to rush over to avoid being seen as suspicious by them. Over.”
“Received. Over.”
“Xu Qiang, report your monitoring situation. Over.”
“They are still in the hotel. No strange movements. Over.”
“Okay, continue monitoring. Over.”
“Received. Over.”
As time passed slowly, Qin Ke Xuan sat in the vehicle leisurely and closed her eyes to rest her mind. All sorts of the team’s instructions and reportings sounded in her ears. Her time to perform was some time in the later half of the night. She would only move when the targets had ended their performance.
Suddenly, crazy screamings sounded from outside the vehicle, and Qin Ke Xuan opened her eyes to look out. A car that was heavily surrounded halted. The car doors suddenly opened and out walked two guys wearing glinting bright clothes—they were their targets tonight.
They smiled as they waved at the fans that were crazily screaming, and then under the protection of a group of bodyguards, they walked down the little way the guards holding back the fans made out, ready to enter the Concert Hall.
However, the fans that had waited for three hours weren’t waiting for nothing. They excitedly pushed and jostled against the guards, wanting to get past the blockade and go nearer their idols even for a little bit. The Xu Mei Li who was acting as a fan was screaming along with the other fans. While the guard before her was so busy he was not looking at her, her elbow slammed into his abdomen. The guard pressed against his stomach in pain on reflex and his hands that had been open to block the fans was suddenly retracted. Xu Mei Li quickly pushed a fan on her side out the hole made. The fan that had been pushed into the blocked out path was still a little stumped, but she quickly reacted and dashed towards the idols excitedly.
The other fans upon seeing that all crowded around this hole made, wanting to squeeze through. The scene immediately became chaotic. By the time the guards closed up the gap made, there was already a group of fans that had encircled the idols asking for signatures and handshakes. Xu Mei Li was among them.
She held her notebook and very strategically squeezed over to the outer circle of the bodyguard protecting the targets. She stretched her hand that was holding the notebook and pen and handed it over to the target to sign. The idols that were being surrounded by the fans were rendered unable to move, hence they had no choice but to take those notebooks and sign it one by one. Those notebooks included one from Xu Mei Li.
As Xu Mei Li took her notebook back from the idols, she got too “excited” and her hand trembled. And so, before she could take back her notebook and pen, they fell to the ground. How could that do? She immediately bent down and pushed aside the legs of the bodyguard. As she stretched her hand in to retrieve her notebook, a miniature tapping device was already held in her hand. She pressed one of the target’s shoes and slipped the tapping device into the crevices on the soles of that shoe along the way. After finishing her series of movement, she immediately picked up her notebook and stood up, shouting excitedly: “I touched SJBoys’ shoes! I touched it!” Goodness knows how repulsed she was feeling inside, who the hell would want to touch the enemy country’s spy’s pig tro
tters! When she got back, she was going to thoroughly scrub her hands!
Everything happened too suddenly. With the bodyguards as well as the two targets facing the flocking and very touchy fans, Xu Mei Li’s reaction was not very prominent, so they didn’t think much about it. What they had to do now was to shake off these fans so they could enter the concert hall.
In the end, with the efforts of the bodyguards, they finally managed to send the two super idols into the concert hall without hurting the fans. Meanwhile, Xu Mei Li, as well as the other fans, was blocked off. She slowly backed away, and while no one was looking at her, slipped away.
Before long, someone opened the door and boarded the vehicle. That person was the Xu Mei Li who had succeeded and returned. She sat in the last row where tapping device instrument was placed, picked up the large headphones and wore. After checking the sound, she gave everyone in the vehicle an OK sign.
“Okay.” Xu Tian Xian, too, picked up a large headphone and wore it. Pity that even though he was fluent in English, he didn’t understand H language, and so, he could only let the Xu Wu who had learnt H language before to do the eavesdropping.
Qin Ke Xuan’s eyes remained closed as she leisurely rested her mind. In her opinion, there was no need to invest in such troublesome measures. Wouldn’t ambushing at the target’s hotel, locating the targets and knocking them out and retrieving the classified information be much more convenient? After being ambushed and snatched of the classified information they’d stolen from Z country, they wouldn’t dare to make noise about it. These people were too concerned and afraid of everything, to worry even about creating disputes between the two countries. Probably before the dispute was even created, the country’s classified information would have been completely stolen!
“Oh no!” The Xu Wu who was eavesdropping suddenly shouted.
Qin Ke Xuan opened her eyes and looked over. Xu Tian Xian asked anxiously: “What happened?”