Despite the distance in the universe and the obstacles of thousands of mountains and rivers, Xu Le did not hesitate to kill his way over. In the end, at the last moment, he was blocked by a glass door that looked very thin and brittle. That last step. Heaven and earth could not block his eyes. The glass door in front of him was extremely clear, but it cast a layer of haze over his heart.
The continuous shots left clear marks on the smooth glass door, but the glass door did not show any signs of shattering. He did not know what material it was made of, but it was so sturdy.
Xu Le and Macklin looked at each other calmly through the glass. This was the first time they had met in person, but the moment they saw each other, they were going to fight to the death.
This was a safe house. In the official residences of the real political leaders of the Federation, they would often design such a place of last resort. However, most of the safe houses were mainly designed with high-strength alloys. Very few people would use transparent polymeric materials. Did this mean that the owner of this safe house had some kind of psychological abnormality?
It was said that there was such a safe house in the white president's official residence in the capital special district. That safe house had an independent life-support system and extremely strong defensive capabilities. It could directly resist the shots of battleships' main cannons outside the atmosphere, or nearby super-strong explosions. It could also ensure that the president, who was hiding in the safe house, could live alone and safely for seven days.
Senator Macklin's safe house inside the foundation building should not be more powerful than that one. However, without powerful heavy firepower, an ordinary assassin would never be able to take a step forward.
Xu Le had just arrived in front of Councilman Macklin after crossing mountains, rivers, and corpses. Was she going to be stopped by this layer of glass?
This was the first time he saw Macklin in reality, but at this time, he did not look at the old statesman's demeanor or the last scene behind the glass. He just glanced at him and walked to the side of the glass door, stabbing the bayonet into the wallpaper.
With a click, Xu Le pried open the safe house's assembly control system. His blood-stained hands started to move, quickly separating the data cable from the power cable in the box and then connecting them. He was so focused that he did not hear the gunshots that were getting louder and louder from behind the building.
Macklin, who was behind the glass door, narrowed his eyes slowly. He did not know the killer outside, but he was very familiar with the young man's face. He was the nobody named Xu Le.
"Although you are a genius engineer, don't expect to be able to open the safe house from the outside."
His voice came out from the communication system in the corner of the safe house. His voice was slightly distorted. "Okay, okay. Okay. Okay.
Xu Le did not pay attention to what he was saying and continued to focus on his work. He had obtained enough information from Green Dragon Mountain in advance to enter the Golden Foundation building single-handedly. Naturally, he would not forget this safe house.
Although the speed of his advance was much slower than he had planned, allowing Macklin to successfully hide, Xu Le did not feel any despair or resentment in his heart. He had already made sufficient preparations.
…
…
"I've always been very curious about who would come to kill me, but I really did not expect that it would be you alone."
Behind the glass door, Senator Macklin gently stroked a pen in his hand and sighed.
He did not know how many life-and-death struggles he had experienced in his life, whether it was the expedition against the Empire, the internal purge of the anti-government forces in Green Dragon Mountain, or the guerrilla warfare in the mountains later. If it were not for some kind of providence protecting him, he believed that he would have died long ago.
Xu Le, who was outside the glass door, did not pay attention to him. He was still busy with his own work. Macklin narrowed his eyes as he watched this scene. He actually felt some appreciation for this extremely calm guy. Of course, it was more of a faint uneasiness and anger.
Today, S1 was holding a presidential inauguration ceremony. As a politician without any family background, Macklin had spent most of his life taking a circuitous path in order to be able to ascend to the position of vice president.
Yes, vice president. Because the vice president was also the chairman of the Federation Management Committee, only the Federation Management Committee could truly get close to the mysterious Bureau of Proclamation.
Macklin narrowed his eyes. At this moment, he thought of many things that had happened many years ago. If he had not gone to Bermuda, perhaps he would still be a hot-blooded and upright veteran in the eyes of the Federation people. However, destiny was destiny after all, and this was something that no one could change.
He did not think that he had failed. He believed that in the history of the universe, no one had been more successful than himself. Although he had not been able to ascend to the highest political throne in the Federation, after operating in the Federation for so many years, he had already obtained what that person had asked for his help to obtain many years ago.
Macklin narrowed his eyes and looked at Xu Le, who was silently busying himself outside the door. He knew that the other party could not come in at all. As long as the backup forces inside the building or the Federation government's army rushed over, he would definitely be safe.
However, he did not feel too much joy at surviving because in the original plan, he was supposed to take advantage of the inauguration ceremony in the capital to go to the faraway West Woods to visit the frontline soldiers and then quietly disappear into the universe.
All of this had been forcefully delayed by the small-eyed man outside the glass door. Thinking of this, a self-deprecating smile appeared on Macklin's lips. No one in the entire universe could really see through him. If it was the Federation who had discovered his secret, if it was the Bureau of Proclamation who had discovered his secret, perhaps he could accept it a little more. However, it was obvious that Xu Le, who was outside the glass door, did not know anything …
The mission that he had used his whole life to complete was going to be ruined by the stubbornness and impulsiveness of a young man who did not know anything. Macklin could not help but touch his white hair and sigh in his heart.
Xu Le, who was outside the door, seemed to have heard the sigh in his heart. He lowered his head and carried on with his work seriously. Suddenly, he opened his mouth and said, "There's something I've been wanting to ask you face to face."
It was strange to say that the heroic and cold assassin, the scheming target, had a temporary peace because of the glass door. They could even have a conversation that was extremely difficult to imagine.
Macklin looked at him with a smile. "Please ask."
Xu Le lowered his head and quickly answered. Without looking up, he asked, "You were the one behind the incident in Linhai and the concert, right?"
Although countless evidence had already proven that Macklin was the cold-blooded and terrifying mastermind behind the scenes, Xu Le still wanted to ask this person face to face.
"Yes."
Macklin climbed up from the bottom. He was able to obtain the support of countless people in the Federation. He was able to walk the line between the government and the anti-government army. He was also able to obtain the help of countless higher-ups in the Federation. To be able to make someone like Zhang Xiaomeng follow him to death, he must have a very outstanding side and his unique personality.
Therefore, when Xu Le asked this question, Macklin smiled and gave an affirmative answer without thinking.
Xu Le still lowered his head and asked, "Can you face your conscience?"
Macklin, who was behind the glass door, after hearing this seemingly naive and childish sentence, became strangely silent. He thought of the factory and the companions he grew up in since he was a child. He thought of the comrades who bathed in blood with him. But then he thought of the indescribable loneliness and the lofty sense of mission in his heart all these years.
He was surrounded by others. What an unbearable life this was.
"Conscience is when we realize the existence of the moral court in our hearts. Look at the planet under your feet. It's still rotating. " Macklin's slightly inflected voice came from beside the glass door. "What I do is in accordance with the moral court in my heart."
…
…
Hearing this sentence, Xu Le did not say anything. He silently completed the connection of the safe house's assembly system. He raised his wrist and said softly to his watch, "Can you hear me?"
Cracking the safe house's password required a powerful computing platform. In the plan, this task should have belonged to the high-level workbench at the mountaintop, and the person operating the workbench should have been Magnolia.
Secretary Bai's soft but reassuring voice did not come through the earpiece. Xu Le's heart gradually turned cold. During the later part of the assault, Magnolia at the mountaintop disappeared. He did not think that Secretary Bai had betrayed him at the most critical moment, because Magnolia had an excellent opportunity to do so. Xu Le was only worried that something might have happened to Magnolia at the mountaintop.
Without the workbench to remotely decode the code, how could he open the safe house? Xu Le should have confirmed this before the connection. Otherwise, it would have been a waste of time. But strangely, he did not seem to have such knowledge. Instead, he directly reconnected to the assembly system.
With a soft beep, the eight hidden buttons on the glass door outside the safe house were all locked. It was harder to break than before.
He dragged his injured leg back to the glass door, raised the pistol, and narrowed his eyes to aim at the circle left by the bullet on the glass door. He pulled the trigger again.
His heart was a little heavy and anxious.
He was very confident in the glass door in front of him. However, at this time, the reinforcements had yet to arrive. The people from the Second Military Region had yet to arrive, and the helicopters had yet to arrive. The spaceship in the distant spaceport was still waiting for him. Would he be able to board the spaceship that did not require a ticket today?
His heart was also a little heavy and anxious.
…
…
Who knew how many light years away, in the star sector outside the Federation, there was a person whose heart was heavier and more anxious than Xu Le and Macklin, who were on the brink of death.
Lin Banshan, the top figure in the second generation of the seven major families in the Federation, the most famous rebel, and the one who could break the marriage alliance between the two families, was looking out of the glass window with a melancholy face. The glass window reflected his thin and cold face, which overlapped with the street view of the first administrative planet of Bermuda outside the window. It was somewhat unpredictable.
The living environment of the Bermuda Star Sector was much more dangerous than that of the Federation. Even though it was the number one administrative planet, the four seasons were much harsher. For example, it was late winter outside the window, and the temperature had dropped to minus 30 degrees Celsius. The smugglers who should have been wandering on the streets had no choice but to return to their lairs or spaceships.
Lin Banshan should have been in South Kezhou at this time, eating meat and drinking with his most trusted right-hand man, Zhang Xiaohua, while watching the presidential inauguration ceremony with a smile. But as early as ten days ago, he quietly left the Federation and came to Bermuda alone.
He, who was evaluated by Lady Tai as a hero in troubled times, left his roots and subordinates so easily, and took the risk to secretly come here. Naturally, he had something important to do. Many years ago, he also came to the dangerous Bermuda alone like this and built his own empire in this chaotic land. In these ten days, he was going to rely on the foundation he built back then to investigate the suspicious case from decades ago.
Even Lin Banshan couldn't help but feel heavy and anxious when he thought of the suspicious case. He stood in front of the window, waiting for the results of the interrogation. His shoulders felt like they were cut by a knife, and he felt a little overwhelmed.
He turned back and walked to his desk. The light screen that had not been turned off for a day and a night was constantly playing a video on loop. The video was obviously very old, and the picture quality was quite blurred. Bermuda was not like the Federation, which had the support of The Glory Of The Charter. It did not have the support of the huge database of the central computer. It had to be said that Lin Banshan was extraordinary to find this video from many years ago.
Lin Banshan sat in a chair, squinting at the video, motionless. In the video, the respected old senator was just a young man who had just retired from the army. The two people who were talking to him, one was a young fat man, and the other had a delicate face, but gave a strange feeling, as if he was wearing a mask.
A file appeared on the light screen. Lin Banshan pinched his tired eyebrows and opened the file.
The file was the result of the analysis by a professional lip analysis expert. Lin Banshan looked at the dialogue in the file, and his eyes gradually narrowed. An extremely cold chill appeared in his eyes.
"Night Scorpion, Gary Corridor …" Lin Banshan murmured and repeated the two nouns, confirming something. He suddenly got up, pushed open the bookcase behind him, walked into the secret room, and said coldly to the confidential secretary, "Connect to the Bureau of Proclamation."
The confidential secretary nodded. While operating, he replied, "The synchronization will take seven minutes."
"Don't worry about synchronization!" Lin Banshan coldly scolded, "Now!"
Whether it was in the Federation's underground society, or traveling the universe, this most famous prodigal son of the Federation was always so calm when dealing with his subordinates and partners.
Especially the people in this room, they had followed him for many years, but it was the first time they saw him so cautious. No one dared to say anything, and quickly started their work, connecting to the distant Federation Bureau of Proclamation.
The door in the other corner of the secret room was pushed open, and a middle-aged man in black walked out, exuding a cold aura. The middle-aged man's face was pale, and he was wiping the blood on his hands with a handkerchief.
Before the door closed automatically, a person could be vaguely seen hiding in the chair behind the door. That person was extremely fat, and his hair was white. Looking at his old face, it seemed to be similar to the fat man in the video that Lin Banshan had been paying attention to. However, at this time, this old fat man was covered in blood, and his hands hanging weakly by the chair looked like skinned willow branches. No one knew how many cruel punishments he had suffered.
"He's confessed." The middle-aged man in black walked to Lin Banshan's side, and an unhealthy blush appeared on his pale face. His voice trembled slightly as he spoke excitedly.
This black-clothed middle-aged man had come to Lin Banshan's side with Zhang Xiaohua. Lin Banshan trusted this partner very much. He knew that his partner's subordinates loved to cruelly extort confessions, but the result of today's extortion made even him feel excited and nervous. Lin Banshan thought of the answer that was about to be revealed, and his eyes narrowed slightly.
The middle-aged man in black lowered his voice and said faintly, "The other person in the video was the Empire's Prince Norton."
Even though he was mentally prepared, even though Lin Banshan was probably the first powerful figure in the Federation to suspect Macklin, when he heard this name and confirmed the answer to the riddle he had been painstakingly searching for for a long time, his mountain-like body couldn't help but tremble slightly.
Prince Norton, the current Emperor of the Empire!
…
…
The information connection with the Bureau of Proclamation had been completed, and all the staff in the secret room had left, including the middle-aged man in black. Lin Banshan stood in front of the light screen and looked at the motionless portrait on the screen. He said in a deep voice, "The information is not synchronized, you just need to listen."
"In the 27th year of the 37th constitutional calendar, Macklin's father died. He received a grant and entered the Faculty of History and Economics of the Capital University." Lin Banshan looked down at the information in his hand and said, "The Central Computer found the grant to Bermuda, so you asked me to come and help you."
"I don't have evidence to accuse Macklin of anything now, but I can confirm that in the spring of the 27th year of the constitutional calendar, Macklin went to Bermuda, and under the arrangement of the pirate leader, he met a person. That person could be the Empire's Prince Norton."
"Which is the current Emperor of the Empire. I don't know why an Emperor would take the risk to come to Bermuda, and you should know that Macklin was just a small figure back then."
"But today, Macklin is a big figure." Lin Banshan lowered his head and said, "He has operated in the Federation and the anti-government army for so many years, I'm worried that the coordinates of the two space passages in the Night Scorpion Nebula and Gary Corridor …"
"The things we want to protect should still be in his hands. Within the Federation, he can't send these things away. All these years, he hasn't left the Federation even once."
Lin Banshan raised his head and looked at the motionless light screen. He said firmly, full of murderous intent, "My suggestion is that we don't need evidence … Find Macklin and kill him."
"I'll remind you one last time, this matter has nothing to do with politics, it only has to do with the Federation," he said with a sullen face, then turned off the light screen and walked out of the office without looking back.
"Get ready, we'll return to the Federation immediately," Lin Banshan said gloomily. As the top talent of the seven major families in the Federation, he knew better than anyone the pedantic and dangerous politics of the Federation. He was very worried that Macklin, an enemy with full political wisdom, would use the historical inertia of the upper echelons of the Federation to find a gap that could be exploited.
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