Chapter 345 - 240: American "Electric Energy Trap
Chapter 345: Chapter 240: American "Electric Energy Trap
Li Xiang and Luo Feifei’s "midnight rendezvous" wasn’t just about *that*, of course. The two also exchanged recent insights from their Cultivation.
Cultivation wasn’t something you could do by shutting yourself off from the world. You needed to frequently communicate, discuss, and learn from each other’s strengths to make rapid progress.
Of course, ordinary people weren’t qualified to "discuss the Dao" with Li Xiang. Only a Cultivation prodigy like Luo Feifei could offer him so much inspiration.
The two of them talked about everything from Breathing Techniques to various Superpowers, and from Superpowers to the eighteen traditional Martial Arts. The more they talked, the more excited and engrossed they became, and before they knew it, the sky had begun to brighten at dawn.
Despite talking all night, neither showed the slightest sign of fatigue. On the contrary, they were refreshed and invigorated. They felt the Spiritual Power in their bodies circulating with a new smoothness and agility, and their understanding of their Breathing Techniques, Superpowers, and various Martial Arts had naturally deepened.
Both felt they had benefited immensely, each seeing the other as a "treasure."
Through their conversation, Li Xiang also got a general idea of Luo Feifei’s Cultivation progress and her consumption of Spiritual Medicine. So, he restocked her with a new batch of "high-end goods," which he laid out on the sofa in a large, clattering pile.
Luo Feifei was speechless. ’Is he trying to keep me with all this Spiritual Medicine again?’
Li Xiang said, "We’re leaving from Shanghai in three days. Just wait for us here." With that, his figure flashed, and he vaulted out the window.
A captivating smile curved Luo Feifei’s lips, but it was quickly followed by a soft sigh. "Sigh... that guy. Every time he climbs in through my window in the middle of the night, this is all he does..."
’Is it because I’m not charming enough? Can’t I mesmerize him?’
Luo Feifei walked over to the full-length mirror and carefully examined the beauty within. ’So pretty. There’s no one else in the world like me...’
She touched her chin. ’Could it be that I’ve gained a little weight recently? Did it affect my looks?’
In truth, she had gained a little weight recently. Her chin was rounder than before, but this touch of baby fat only enhanced her beauty.
「Three days later.」
Li Xiang led his team—Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, Lei Xiaohui, Lei Jiaming, Xu Xuan, and Zhang Youyou—on a flight from Rongcheng International Airport to Shanghai.
They met up with Luo Feifei at the Shanghai airport.
Because Luo Feifei was a celebrity, she would be the center of attention wherever she went in the country. So she wore a disguise—a hat, sunglasses, a scarf, and a face mask, bundling herself up completely.
The weather was freezing, with ice and snow everywhere, so her outfit was perfectly normal and wouldn’t arouse suspicion.
At the airport, the group made contact with a mysterious man and received their work IDs, visas, satellite phones, and other items. Each person got their own satellite phone, which would have a signal even in Antarctica or at the North Pole.
And they were free, to boot.
Of course, Li Xiang didn’t plan on using it often. He would either turn it in or seal it away after the mission. Otherwise, it would be no different from a tracking device.
They saved each other’s numbers.
Afterward, the group of eight "blended in" with an academic exchange team. The entire delegation of sixty-six people was split into six groups to fly to San Francisco on different international flights.
It wasn’t that one flight couldn’t hold them all; a typical international flight can accommodate three to four hundred people. However, when an important team travels, they often avoid taking the same plane.
Otherwise, if something were to happen, the entire team would be wiped out.
Many multinational corporations and foreign-owned enterprises have policies stating that core executives should not travel on the same plane for business trips. This prevents all key personnel from being endangered at once in the event of an accident, which could paralyze the company’s operations.
This practice, in fact, was born from a bloody lesson.
About nineteen years ago, a KJ-200 carrying various experts, plus a crew of six, crashed in the skies above a place called Lishan Village, located in some town, in some county, in some province.
It was a tragic history written in blood and tears, a catastrophic loss. Those experts were all top-tier in their fields at the time.
To commemorate the martyrs, the local government named the crash site "Heroic Martyr Mountain."
Ever since then, teams traveling together have generally avoided taking the same plane.
In fact, this is a lesson that families traveling together could learn from as well. Otherwise, if an accident were to happen, the entire family would be gone.
Fortunately, the journey was tense but uneventful, and everyone arrived safely in San Francisco.
Their flight path didn’t cross the Pacific Ocean directly. Instead, it followed the coastline, first heading to Little Book, then passing over Big Mao, then Alaska and Canada, before finally reaching San Francisco in the United States.
This route is actually shorter, because the Earth is round. If you’ve ever seen a vertical world map, you’d know that Asia and North America are separated by the Arctic Ocean, making the polar route the shortest.
After checking into a five-star hotel in United Square, Li Xiang and the others returned to their rooms to rest—some sleeping, others engaging in Cultivation to conserve their energy. When night fell, around 9:00 PM, everyone simultaneously received a text message containing a secret code phrase in Chinese that a foreigner wouldn’t be able to understand. They then left in separate groups and gathered at Fisherman’s Wharf.
Fisherman’s Wharf is a very famous tourist spot in San Francisco, known not only for its beautiful scenery but also for its variety of delicious food.
At this moment, however, no one was in the mood to sightsee. Following the instructions on their phones, they made their way to a parking lot and found two white SUVs parked side by side.
Both vehicles were fitted with snow chains on their tires.
The white color provided better camouflage in the snow.
There was someone in one of the vehicles. After they exchanged the code phrase, the person got out, completed the handover, and quickly left, leaving two car keys behind.
Li Xiang walked to the back of one of the SUVs and opened the trunk. The others gathered around. Upon seeing the contents, Lei Jiaming couldn’t help but exclaim softly, "Whoa, look at this good stuff."
He had a loud voice, so even his soft exclamation was a bit too loud. In the distance, someone had already started looking their way. Li Xiang couldn’t help but chide him, lowering his voice, "Don’t be so loud. You sound like you’ve never seen anything before."
Lei Jiaming looked extremely ashamed. He scratched his head and said sheepishly in a low voice, "Sorry, sorry. I really *haven’t* seen anything before. You all know I used to live in the boonies."
Li Xiang said, "My mistake. I didn’t train you for this."
That was because, besides the ski equipment, the trunk was also filled with firearms: rifles, submachine guns, sniper rifles, and hand grenades. There were even scopes. Since they were in the United States, it was all American-made gear.
Lei Jiaming had never handled real firearms before, or even seen them up close, so it was normal for him to be excited.
Back home, what man wouldn’t get excited seeing real guns like these?
As for Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, and Lei Xiaohui, Li Xiang had previously taken them for live-fire shooting practice several times. They had handled many types of firearms and fired plenty of rounds, so they were quite calm now.
As for Luo Feifei, she had already recovered most of her past-life memories—not all of them, but at least seventy or eighty percent. In her past life, she had naturally also handled all sorts of firearms.
And it went without saying for Xu Xuan and Zhang Youyou; they owned and operated a live-fire shooting range.
Lei Jiaming really hadn’t seen any before. Li Xiang had some real guns in his Shelter, gifts from Xu Xuan, but they were all non-functional display pieces. They looked convincing hanging on the wall, but they were inoperable if you took them down. You couldn’t even chamber a round, and the triggers were loose.
"We’ll distribute these when we get to a more deserted spot." Li Xiang closed the trunk and went to check the other vehicle. Its trunk was also full of supplies, including body armor and first-aid kits.
Li Xiang handed a key to Xu Xuan, glanced at the group, and asked in a low voice, "Who’s riding with Xu Xuan?"
Yao Yao shifted slightly and said, "Not me. I’m staying with Big Brother." She was Li Xiang’s personal assistant, after all. And though it was just a fake identity, she had really gotten into the role.
Since Yao Yao wasn’t going, Zhao Xueqing and Lei Xiaohui naturally didn’t want to leave either.
Luo Feifei was even less inclined to leave.
Luo Feifei glanced at the three girls, unconcerned. ’Li Xiang hasn’t even made a move on an unparalleled beauty like me,’ she thought. ’Would he really fool around with these three, who are a step down from me?’
She had to admit, the three of them had gotten much prettier, but there was still a considerable gap between them and her. In terms of looks or power, they couldn’t shake her position.
Lei Jiaming looked around and finally said, "I guess I’ll go, then."
The SUV was a five-seater. With Li Xiang driving, Luo Feifei in the passenger seat, and the three girls squeezed into the back, Lei Jiaming had no choice but to go and ruin Xu Xuan and Zhang Youyou’s private couple time.
Fortunately, Xu Xuan and Zhang Youyou were like an old married couple and didn’t mind. Besides, this was a mission, not a vacation.
Soon, the two white vehicles slowly drove out of the parking lot, heading in the direction of Nevada.
Normally, Lei Xiaohui would have been the one driving, but the seating arrangement was awkward now. With Li Xiang being the only man with four women, he chose to drive.
Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, and Lei Xiaohui were closer with each other anyway, so it was fine for them to sit together in the back.
Li Xiang took the lead, driving in front, while Xu Xuan followed behind with Zhang Youyou and Lei Jiaming.
San Francisco is on the Pacific Ocean and has a Mediterranean climate, which is relatively warm. In the past, its winters were mild and rainy, with average temperatures between 10°C and 14°C, while summers were hot and dry.
But with the current global cooling, San Francisco’s climate has been significantly affected. It had already snowed three times this year, with temperatures dropping as low as minus seven or eight degrees Celsius. The past few days had been better, however, with only light snow.
Within California, especially in the Bay Area, the road conditions were still decent.
But once they left the Bay Area and got closer to Nevada, the road conditions deteriorated.
Their itinerary was to start from the California Bay Area, follow the highway for about three hundred kilometers, pass through Reno City, and then reach Nix, the town closest to the Black Rock Desert.
In Nix, they would refuel and, depending on the road conditions, decide whether to continue driving or to park the vehicles and proceed on skis.
After about two hours of driving, Lei Jiaming couldn’t take it anymore and asked Xu Xuan to pull over.
It was late at night and cold, and the highway was nearly empty except for them. In the United States, few ordinary people dared to wander around late at night—weren’t they just asking to be robbed?
Xu Xuan pulled over to the side of the road, and Li Xiang, seeing this in his rearview mirror, stopped as well.
There were no cameras, villages, or houses nearby, nor any passing traffic. The group began to distribute the equipment.
They each picked out body armor that fit them. The logistics team had prepared well; the eight vests were all tailored to their individual body types.
Then, they each chose the firearms they preferred.
In reality, Li Xiang had plenty of firearms in his system’s inventory, but no one else knew. Besides, he didn’t need these guns, so he let everyone else choose first.
When Luo Feifei saw that Li Xiang wasn’t picking one, she didn’t either, as she had no need for one.
But the others were only Tier One Transcendents, so firearms were still very useful. Each of them picked a gun, and they also distributed the hand grenades and ammunition. They all put on their body armor, with Lei Jiaming being especially excited, starting to play with his gun right there in the car.
Of course, he was being careful, keeping the muzzle pointed down to prevent any accidental discharge.
When there was something he didn’t understand, he sincerely asked Xu Xuan and Zhang Youyou for help. The two of them were more than happy to teach, constantly giving him pointers and passing on their knowledge of firearms and shooting techniques.
「Meanwhile」
Two to three hundred kilometers away, in a small Nevada town called Tonopah, several hundred American soldiers were setting up a trap.
An Electric Energy Trap.
They, too, had discovered that the Exotic Beast liked to devour Electric Energy. Thus, in a case of "great minds thinking alike" with Li Xiang, they had laid this Electric Energy Trap to lure the beast in.
Not only did they have the "bait," but they had also prepared a large number of alloy nets and a superweapon: a vehicle-mounted electromagnetic pulse cannon! A true high-tech weapon.