Chapter 38: Operation Angry Dragon (Part 3)

The squad formed a single-file line, advancing rapidly along the tall and wide sewer. Relying on physical endurance and speed that pushed human limits, and constantly pausing to set up explosive charges, they covered over thirty kilometers within a single hour.

"We have arrived!" Lei Dong made a hand signal, motioning for the team members to halt.

Ahead lay a massive exit, pitch-black beyond, its exact destination unknown, with only the occasional flicker of dim yellow lights.

"This is the outer drainage system of the Kyoto urban circle," Lei Dong said, glancing at the underground tunnel schematic. "We must capture this place and plant enough bombs within half an hour, or we won't be able to complete our assigned mission!"

Every team member understood Lei Dong's meaning.

Located in a subtropical humid climate and bordering the coast, Kyoto City had always been abundant in rainfall. Due to its low-lying terrain and the ongoing process of urbanization, the region was frequently plagued by typhoons, floods, and severe waterlogging. To alleviate the massive urban flooding issues within the sprawling, skyscraper-filled Kyoto metropolitan area—which held critical economic and political importance—the Jepen Empire invested billions of US dollars between 1992 and 2006 to build this ultra-large underground drainage system. In the very year of its completion, the number of flooded houses in the basin dropped from a peak of 41,544 to 245, and the flooded area decreased from 27,840 hectares to 65 hectares, playing a monumental role in flood control and drainage for the Kyoto metropolitan area.

According to previously obtained intelligence, this drainage system was built according to the terrain. Floodwaters from surrounding medium and small rivers converged here, connected by sewers with an inner diameter of about 10 meters to five large vertical shafts, each about 70 meters deep and around 30 meters in diameter. The floodwaters imported into the first four shafts flowed through the sewers into the final shaft, concentrating in a massive reservoir supported by fifty-nine towering pillars 18 meters high and weighing 500 tons each. This enormous reservoir—measuring 177 meters long, 78 meters wide, and 50 meters deep—was known as the "pressure-regulating basin." Finally, four ultra-high-power water pumps driven by aircraft engines discharged the water into the Ryuko River, a primary river of the Jepen Empire, which ultimately emptied into Kyoto Bay.

The total capacity of this single drainage system alone exceeded two million cubic meters. Combined with over two thousand rainwater collection systems scattered around the periphery of Kyoto, it ensured that Kyoto City would remain free from flood disasters, no matter how heavy the precipitation.

Yet, the massive flood-regulation role of this system was undoubtedly a formidable obstacle to the squad's subsequent operation. Without destroying it, even if they successfully raided the Moshikawa Reservoir, the impact on Kyoto City would carry a high degree of uncertainty regarding whether it could achieve optimal results.

Before Lei Dong could give the order, Bei Shiliang had already set up the anti-surveillance and thermal imaging systems. Less than half a minute later, Bei Shiliang began reporting continuously: "No surveillance equipment, no wireless signals. Twenty meters below, five hundred meters to the left, three active personnel. Three hundred meters to the right, two active personnel. Eleven o'clock, seven hundred meters ahead, seven personnel, stationary."

Lei Dong nodded, cautiously extending his head out of the exit to look down.

Directly beneath the exit was a straight passage leading deep underground. Along the wall, about two meters above the ground, ran a ring of strip lights. The illumination was not bright, but Lei Dong's sharp eyes clearly made out a vast hall. The floor was made of marble, flat and smooth, reflecting a hazy glow.

In the center of the hall stood tall, thick pillars, each exceeding five meters in diameter. At the top of the pillars was a reinforced concrete flat surface, roughly level with the exit where Lei Dong stood. A faint, steady sound of flowing water drifted up from within—that should be the pressure-regulating basin, the core of the drainage system.

Five individuals wearing ordinary work clothes and holding large flashlights were patrolling back and forth in two groups among the massive pillars. Their rubber-soled work boots made dull thudding sounds against the marble floor.

At the eleven o'clock position, about five meters above the ground, was a row of small rooms. The rooms were built on a protruding platform, connected to the ground below by a spiral cast-iron staircase. The door signs read "Workshop," "Control Room," and "Lounge." Seven people were lying inside the lounge; in Lei Dong's spiritual perception, their even breathing could be clearly felt as they rested.

Since the rainy season had not yet fully arrived and the drainage system was not yet operational, these workers must have been performing routine maintenance.

The sewer exit where Lei Dong stood had a slight upward angle. This annoyed Lei Dong somewhat. After calculating the angle, he realized that if a sniper rifle were mounted here, there would be a considerable blind spot in the hall below, making complete control impossible.

"Damn it!" Lei Dong cursed softly to himself, retracting the bipod of his 80 sniper rifle. He assumed a kneeling firing stance, pressed his eye gently against the scope, slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, and ordered:

"A2, three on the left; B1, two on the right. Units 1 and 2, assault the lounge. Execute!"

The four team members moved with lightning speed, climbing swiftly along the interior ladder and dropping silently onto the ground.

In barely a minute, all team members were in position.

Wuyun and Lang Tianyu concealed themselves behind separate pillars, while Song Jingang and Luo Haoran moved like civet cats, slipping past the pillars and silently advancing toward the spiral staircase leading to the row of rooms suspended in mid-air.

The entire hall was dead silent. The maintenance workers' rhythmic footsteps echoed on, growing closer and closer.

Wuyun gently clenched his fist, then relaxed it, sensing the distance of the approaching targets in his mind.

Three maintenance workers walked past the pillar where Wuyun was hiding with casual indifference. Their dim flashlights swayed ahead as they muttered something to each other. However, just as the last man's body cleared the pillar by a single stride, Wuyun—who had moved like a ghost from the other side of the pillar to get behind them—suddenly erupted. His fingers formed a blade, and with lightning speed, he chopped at the carotid arteries of the rear two workers. The two men collapsed limply to the ground without uttering a single sound.

The foremost worker, having just heard a trace of imperceptible noise, hadn't even had time to turn around when a large hand tightly clamped over his mouth. Immediately afterward, a tremendous force constricted his neck, plunging his vision into instant darkness as he lost consciousness.

On the other side, Lang Tianyu and Wuyun executed nearly identical movements. The two maintenance workers noticed nothing and had no time to react before silently crashing to the ground.

"Cleared!"

"Cleared!"

Wuyun and Lang Tianyu's voices sounded simultaneously.

At the very moment the two men launched their surprise attack, Song Jingang and Luo Haoran also moved. Leaping into the air simultaneously, they used a slight push off the spiral staircase to propel their bodies like eagles soaring through the void, rushing onto the platform and kicking open the lounge door. Several muffled thuds echoed from inside. Immediately afterward, a naked fat man wearing only a pair of briefs flew out of the doorway, crashed heavily onto the ground with a thud, and fell completely still.

"Cleared!"

***

Apologies and Acknowledgments:

Lately, I’ve had to juggle business trips with sorting out my son's schooling, and on top of that, I suffered from heatstroke and fell ill for several days. I barely had any time to go online, let alone write. I sincerely apologize for the delayed updates.

This situation will persist until mid-September, after which things will return to normal. Extremes like going ten days without a peep should no longer happen, sigh...

As I've said before, no matter what, I will tell this story well.

However, upon returning today, to my surprise, my follower count has increased again. Even though it's only a few, it still warms my heart. Thank you all!

Also, thanks to the reader Loser Gene for the repeated tips, constructive feedback in the review section, and words of encouragement. While deeply moved, I feel a sense of unease, and alongside that unease comes even greater gratitude. My only recourse is to strive to tell this story well to repay this stroke of fate.

Let me reiterate: due to limitations in ability and time, the updates for this book might be very slow, but it will definitely not be abandoned!

Thank you!

Bowing!