Ten minutes later, a delivery man carrying three pizza boxes appeared in Sun Xuelin’s line of sight.

Sun Xuelin hurried over and greeted him in English.

“Hey, man, do you know where I can buy some cigarettes around here? I’ve been looking for ages.”

The delivery man paused for a moment, then pointed toward the street corner.

“There’s a convenience store over there, but you have to go around the block.”

“Perfect! Could you show me the way? I’m not familiar with this area.”

“I can pay you for your trouble.”

The delivery man thought about it and finally nodded in agreement.

Once the two of them walked away, Pei Zhengnian emerged from the alleyway. Pizza in hand, he walked briskly to the front door of Professor Liu’s house.

The lookouts stationed at the door were distracted by a commotion at a nearby hot dog stand, completely missing Pei Zhengnian’s approach.

Pei Zhengnian walked up and knocked.

Professor Liu’s voice came from inside: “Who is it?”

“Pizza delivery,” Pei Zhengnian replied in a low voice, speaking in Chinese.

The door clicked open. Just as Professor Liu peeked out, Pei Zhengnian slipped inside and shut the door behind him.

Professor Liu instantly tensed up. “Who are you?”

“I am Pei Zhengnian, Commander of the Fifth Regiment of the Huaxia Daliao Military Region. I’ve been ordered to bring you home.”

Pei Zhengnian quickly stripped off his outerwear and handed it to Professor Liu.

“Put on this hat and jacket. Pack your most important documents into this canvas bag and leave everything else behind. We move in three minutes.”

Professor Liu nodded, hurriedly changing into the clothes.

With the hat pulled down and the worker’s jacket on, he looked quite a bit like a delivery man.

Meanwhile, Pei Zhengnian threw on one of Professor Liu’s coats and found a hat in the entryway to put on.

Pei Zhengnian led Professor Liu toward the door.

Through the crack of the door, they could hear shouting from the street corner. It was Yan Ming and the hot dog vendor, aggressively shoving each other. Mustard and sauerkraut were spilled all over the ground. Passersby were gathering around, and the lookouts originally stationed near the stand were fully drawn into the spectacle.

Just then, a truck drove up and parked right in front of Professor Liu’s house.

The driver leaned out of the cab to watch the commotion.

The passenger side door quietly swung open.

Now was the time!

“Professor ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‍Liu, once you step out, walk straight into the alley. Whatever you do, don’t look back!”

“Alright.”

Dressed in the delivery uniform, Professor Liu slowly walked out the front door.

The sniper stationed on a nearby roof couldn’t see the Professor’s face and didn’t think much of it.

Professor Liu slipped away without a hitch.

Three, two, one!

Pei Zhengnian dashed out of the house in a single bound, leaping into the truck parked by the curb.

Bang!

A bullet struck the door frame of the truck.

“Drive, now!”

“Got it.”

The vehicle had barely pulled away when bullets began raining down on the cargo box, echoing with loud thuds.

Before long, two black sedans appeared in the rearview mirror, hot on their trail. The sirens on their roofs flashed red—they were American patrol cars.

Pei Zhengnian quickly stripped off his coat and hat, handing them to another comrade inside the truck.

The comrade swiftly put them on.

The truck sped forward, taking a sharp turn and tearing into an alleyway.

Taking advantage of the blind spot, Pei Zhengnian leaped out of the moving vehicle. He rolled a few times to break his fall, stood up seamlessly, and began walking down the street as if he were just another ordinary pedestrian.

The American patrol cars paid him no mind, speeding past in pursuit of the large truck.

By the time he reached the corner, Pei Zhengnian’s figure vanished entirely.

As soon as Professor Liu entered the alley, he was picked up by Sun Xuelin. The two immediately transferred into a small cargo van filled with goods, which Yan Ming had prepared in advance.

Within minutes, Pei Zhengnian successfully rendezvoused with them.

“Take the back roads to Warehouse 3 at the port. There’s a ship waiting for us.”

The van turned onto a narrow dirt road. The surface was riddled with potholes, causing the vehicle to jolt violently.

Professor Liu gripped the handle tightly, his eyes turning red.

“I never thought… I’d actually have the chance to go home.”

“Hold on just a little longer, Professor. Once we reach the port, we’ll be safe,”

Pei Zhengnian reassured him. His eyes remained fixed on the rearview mirror, staying highly alert to their surroundings.

Fortunately, the rest of the journey passed without further incident.

Pei Zhengnian’s bait-and-switch tactic had successfully drawn away the bulk of the American forces’ attention.

The van headed straight for the docks. From a distance, they could see a freighter moored at the pier. The name Dongfanghong was painted on its hull—it was a Huaxia ocean freighter.

“We’re here. As long as we get on that ship, we’ve practically won.”

Sun Xuelin’s voice was tinged with excitement.

However, their relief was short-lived. Above the docks, two helicopters were circling in the sky, clearly searching for something.

Pei Zhengnian’s heart tightened.

“We go with Plan B.”

“Professor Liu, my apologies for the discomfort.”

“It’s fine.”

Professor Liu was ready to endure whatever it took.

The partition between the van’s cab and the cargo hold had been knocked through in advance.

Pei Zhengnian hid Professor Liu inside two hollowed-out crates glued together. The crates had small ventilation holes so he could breathe.

Once the van came to a complete stop, Pei Zhengnian stepped out of the passenger side.

Sun Xuelin got out as well.

The two of them opened the back of the van and began unloading the cargo, carrying it onto the ship one after another.

“What’s inside these?”

A port inspector approached them.

“Vegetables bound for City G.”

“Open them up for inspection.”

“Sure.”

After checking several crates in a row and confirming they were indeed filled with vegetables, the inspector finally let them pass.

Pei Zhengnian and Sun Xuelin exchanged a quick glance. They lifted the two crates containing Professor Liu straight out of the van and loaded them onto the freighter.

Seeing Pei Zhengnian and Sun Xuelin arrive, the captain immediately ordered the crew to help move the goods.

The loading was finished in no time.

Without a second’s delay, the captain retracted the gangway and set sail.

The American agents in the helicopters found the hasty departure slightly suspicious, but didn’t dwell on it.

…

The freighter smoothly departed from the docks.

Once the port was completely out of sight, Pei Zhengnian and Sun Xuelin hurriedly let Professor Liu out of the crates.

Professor Liu stood on the deck, gazing at the fading skyline of New York. Tears streamed down his cheeks. “I’m going home… I can finally go home…”

Pei Zhengnian leaned against the railing, looking out toward the eastern horizon.

He knew the Americans wouldn’t give up so easily. They might even send ships to pursue them, but with every passing second, they were getting closer to Huaxia.

“Commander, look!” Sun Xuelin pointed into the distance. “It looks like there are boats trailing us!”

Pei Zhengnian looked up and, sure enough, spotted two speedboats giving chase in their wake.

“Tell the captain to go full speed ahead.”

“Pretend we don’t see them.”

And if they managed to catch up…

Pei Zhengnian’s eyes darkened as his hand instinctively brushed against the gun holstered at his waist.

Then he would just have to let blood dye the ocean red!

…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep