Sha Qing

Chapter 25: The Devil King & The Cavalry (2)

Nearly 20 minutes later, twelve police cars arrived with shrill sirens, together with the FBI commandos. Wearing combat uniforms and bulletproof vest, and armed with sub-machine guns, they jumped out of the car and surrounded the quiet, old warehouse.

After the restricted area was enclosed by the police, an ordinary Ford car drove slowly and stopped by an old building 100 meters away. The man in the driver's seat wore a dark gray hooded sweatshirt and the large hat that shaded his head and upper half of his face, and left his eyebrows in a dark shadow.

He took out his phone and dialed a number. After it rang for the 8th time, the line connected. He lowered his voice and said, "Blue Star Tarantula, it's been a while, buddy... I have some have business again ... I need the accurate position of a certain person who should have been hijacked by two men around 20 minutes ago in an old warehouse named 'Reano Waste Steel Recycling Factory' located in the Englewood district, southern Chicago. Their transport vehicle may be a silver Land Rover Aurora...... Oh, come on! I know you did something to the 'Homeland Security Network' when you helped the DHS (US Department of Homeland Security) upgrade the system two years ago."

"Millions of surveillance probes in public areas across the country are in your 'spider web', aren't they?... don't say that you have destroyed it, you want me to believe that a 3rd rank super hacker in the world doesn't leave some back-up for the programs he handled? This is an urgent matter- move back all orders you currently have on hand.... I want you to give me all the possible places, wherever that is.... Okay, you set the price.... Yes! I will transfer it to your account tomorrow, but I want you to give me the data as quickly as possible. I'll wait for your reply." He hung up the call, put the phone within his reach, and then waited as he held the steering wheel.

Five minutes later, the phone rang again. He started the car while listening to a series of addresses, and instantly disappeared within the tumultuous streets. The location of the person being tracked was moving, but it doesn't matter. This is a public place controlled by the state machine, and the eyes of surveillance are everywhere.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

When the traces of his consciousness began to coalesce, Leo felt like he had been pried out of the solidified cement paste. Vertigo and nausea firmly entrenched in his brain, and the pain from all his wounds bit his nerves- a clear reminder of his current situation as a captive.

He found himself lying on the cold concrete floor, tied up by parachute cord using military techniques- he was bound from the shoulders, arms, chest to hips. The fingertips behind him could not touch each other, and there was no possibility of breaking free with his bare hands. The rough rope was even pulled between his leg, and the full shape of his buttocks was clamped behind him. He tried to struggle a little and his private part felt pain from being rubbed by the rough rope.

Damn rope trap! Leo cursed at the bottom of his heart, kept his unmoving position, and slightly raised his eyelids to peek at the two big men in front of him.

'Cavalry' was sitting on a chair without a backrest, and was using a trident knife to cut open his long-sleeved T-shirt, revealing the dark, muscular, but tattered body. He clenched his teeth as he use the tip of the knife to remove the foreign debris embedded in the flesh. Each piece of broken metal was pulled out of the muscles and made a soft sound when it fell on the floor. The black man never groaned from beginning to end, he just kept breathing cold air.

The tilted angle allowed Leo to clearly see the two tattoos on his muscular arms; the upper left arm was a sword with two raised wings holding a half upper skull and below the tip of the sword is a shield marked with lightning figure. On the upper right arm is a ribbon inside of which are the blood-colored words: "Rangers Lead the Way"