Charlie once felt that the search for the specific address of 547’s lineage of dead soldiers might be as difficult as reaching for the sky.The reason for this was that the mysterious organization had extremely tight control over the dead soldiers, preventing them from perceiving the exact time, and also preventing them from feeling external light, temperature, sound, and the changing seasons outside the world. Therefore, 547 did not even know which one of the seven continents he lived in, let alone whether he was in the tropics or the cold zone. Even the only living person could not come up with any substantial clues, so it was even more impossible for outsiders to find this place. However, Merlin accurately found clues that the mysterious organization had no control over.Earthquakes, tsunamis, and typhoons were all powerful natural phenomena. Even if a strong bunker could isolate typhoons and tsunamis, no matter how strong the bunker was, it was simply impossible for it to i
Merlin hurriedly explained, “Young Master Wade, I’m not afraid of taking risks...”Charlie nodded. “I know, and I do not doubt your courage, but as you’ve just said, the contact is mutual, so it’s better to be cautious. If contact is really necessary, it’d certainly be safer for me to make contact instead of you. So, you should just do the preliminary investigation and leave the rest up to me to decide.”Merlin’s purpose was to remind Charlie to be more careful and cautious.When he saw that Charlie had accepted his advice, Merlin felt relieved and said, “Young Master Wade, in that case, I won’t have any worries. I will let you know as soon as I make any progress.”***That night, as Charlie drove back to Providence, Merlin took a Virgin Atlantic flight to Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, via London.After a twelve-hour flight, Porter used a helicopter to pick Merlin up personally and brought him to Ten Thousand Armies’ base in Syria after the plane landed in Beirut. Due to the
Merlin arrived at the core area of Ten Thousand Armies’ base here under Porter’s guidance.The so-called core area is a central area of four square kilometers in the center of Ten Thousand Armies’ base. Although the base was not completed yet, a high wall had already been erected in the core area, and there were a large number of frame buildings of different heights inside the high wall. These frame buildings were all modular building units that Ten Thousand Armies procured from Oskia which could be put to use in the shortest possible time after being assembled quickly. However, these buildings were only a temporary transition. Once the permanent base was completed, these buildings would gradually be dismantled and eliminated. Porter led Merlin to a six-story building. At this time, rapid renovation had been completed in the interior of the building. Although the construction site was still in full swing outside, there were basically no traces of construction inside. A few m
547 had long hated the organization that controlled his destiny, and he had been hoping that Charlie could find the location where his own line of dead soldiers was stationed so that he could rescue his wife, children, and family members at the same time. So, he naturally would provide his full cooperation to Merlin.Merlin nodded, and without talking too much nonsense, he went straight to the point and said, “The immediate task at hand is to find a way to determine the location of your residence on the map. Before that, I wonder if you have any valuable clues that you can share with me?”547 shook his head and said, “Chief Lammy, to tell you the truth, I’ve been thinking about this issue for a while, but the organization is extremely cautious and didn’t leave me with any valuable information at all.”Merlin smiled slightly, took out the major natural disaster data that he had sorted out, and asked him, “547, how old are you this year?”547 hurriedly said, “Chief Lammy, I should pr
“Was the water salty?”547 thought about it for a while and then frowned as he said, “Well... I really don’t remember clearly. After all, it’s been too long, but as far as I can remember, it seems that at that time, there were some white residues on the ground and clothes. Could that be the salt precipitated from the seawater?” Merlin nodded and said, “There is a high probability that’s salt. If so, what you experienced at that time could be the Indonesian tsunami. The reason for the flooding was because the earthquake triggered a tsunami, and many surrounding countries were also affected by the disaster, including your place of residence.”Having said that, Merlin circled two areas on the map and said, “From this point of view, your location may be in the west of South Asia or in the eastern part of Southeast Asia.” Merlin then saw a few more entries of the data and muttered, “The epicenter of the tsunami in Indonesia has also experienced earthquakes in recent years but of a low
“In a coma.” 547 said truthfully, “When we are about to go on a mission, we will first take a medicine that puts us into a deep coma. We will already have arrived at the location when we wake up.”Merlin asked again, “How can you be certain that you took a plane every time you went out, then?”547 explained, “I would ask my wife to help me calculate the time every time I go out on a mission. Although our time is not accurate, the error is not too big with a relatively short timeline.”“Each time I go out on a mission, the time that I can’t grasp is the round-trip distance. I can record the time for the execution of the mission accurately, so every time I go back, I will check the time with my wife and use the time she had recorded minus the time I used to execute the mission to calculate the time spent on the round trip. Under normal circumstances, no matter where we go on a mission anywhere in the world, the time we spend on the round trip would not exceed six or seven days. This s
“Mexico?!” After hearing Merlin’s analysis, 547 asked hastily, “Chief Lammy, do you mean that when we go to the United States to perform a mission, the plane will land in Mexico first before entering the United States by land?”“Yes.” Merlin nodded and said, “This is the most reliable method, in my opinion. The other methods are too difficult. Since they are transporting dead soldiers by plane, they must have a landing site. Neither the United States nor Canada will allow the dead soldiers to bypass customs and enter the country secretly, and only Mexico has this condition.”547 asked puzzled, “Wouldn’t the plane need to go through customs when it enters Mexico?” Merlin explained, “A plane has to go through two levels. The first is air traffic control, and the other is customs. Air traffic controls the plane before it lands, and customs controls the passengers and cargo after the plane lands. In the world, no one can hide the whereabouts of a plane completely unless he does not w
Merlin hurriedly said, “Mr. Porter, it’s not difficult to investigate the aircraft entry records, but can you ensure that your investigation channels are a hundred percent safe?”“No worries.” Porter nodded and said, “Ten Thousand Armies’ information channels have a high level of secrecy. In addition, we have many firewalls, so you can rest assured, Chief Lammy.”Merlin nodded slightly and said, “By the way, Mr. Porter, I also need to sort out the information on all incoming cargo planes.”“No problem.”***Soon, a densely packed document was delivered to Porter. This document recorded the information of all flights entering Mexico in the five days before the New York incident. As the majority of inbound flights were small and medium-sized aircrafts, there were only a small number of aircraft accounted for in the range of more than fifteen thousand kilometers. Therefore, there were less than a hundred flights in total after the sorting out. Among the less than a hundred flig
Having lost it all, Jacob really looked like he wouldn't be getting back up.But fortunately, he had a pillar in the form of Elaine.In fact, Elaine would serve to be a container, whipping Jacob into shape if he got too full of himself.But on the other hand, now that Jacob was utterly despondent, she would be forcing him to smile and function in general.Elaine's attitude to the entire issue was clear as well. Even though Jacob had just lost his job, she would make him go shopping with her in Dubai even if he fell into a coma. Even if he was dead, she'd just cremate him and bring his ashes along.Hence, with Elaine's firm grip around Jacob's leash, he went on strolls, going shopping and taking selfies with Elaine everyday, eventually easing the toll on his mood and spirit.-Back at Aurous Hill, Charlie was preparing for Yolden Hart and Matilda Hall's wedding as it approached.Yolden was a schoolmate of his mother, Ashley Layna Acker, as well as Charlie's elder.And while Cha
"See you." As soon as Charlie hung up on Matilda, Don Albert's call came right after.He sounded nervous as Charlie answered the phone, saying, "Master Wade, I think I might have gone too far…""Wait, what's this about?" Charlie asked."Your father-in-law, of course…" Don Albert sighed. "You asked me to leave him hanging for a while, so I did. I even refused when he asked to book a room in Heaven Springs.""Well, that's not a problem, is it?" Charlie shrugged. "He and Zachary ganged up for some real mischief. As you are Zachary's boss, it's right that you refused him because you didn't appreciate what he did.""That's just it. I thought that approach was just right as well," Don Albert quickly said. "I wasn't playing nice when Mr. Bay of the Calligraphy and Painting Association called me either. That's when he said he'd try to save Jacob's position as vice-president, but I told him it's none of my business."I then hung up on him without much thought, only for Zachary to tell m
Meanwhile, Charlie was downstairs in Claire's office, waiting to pick her up and head home.That was when Matilda called him, asking as soon as he answered, "Charlie, do you know how Jacob is doing? He never answered any of my texts—is he going to be alright?""I wouldn't know," Charlie replied. "Both he and Elaine are in Dubai on a trip… What's wrong?""He resigned," Matilda sighed. "I only saw the public statement that the Calligraphy and Painting Association posted this afternoon. It says that he tendered the resignation himself, but it doesn't really feel that way. I wonder if he's at odds with other members of the association…"Charlie was actually surprised to hear that Jacob had resigned.He had told Zachary to expose the truth of the bronze sculpture fraud case to teach Jacob a lesson so that Jacob would understand the meaning of true pain.However, he anticipated that Mr. Bay would at least keep Jacob around with an unimportant job even if Jacob did lose some money and e
Falling apart in both mind and spirit, Jacob was crying as he disembarked and took a cab to the hotel.Elaine, who had been lying around for 24 hours, was stunned speechless as she watched him enter, crying like a child.In contrast, Elaine looked like a mother to Jacob just then as he threw himself into her arms and bawled, "Darling… That prick Mr. Bay screwed me over… I have nothing left now…"Taken aback for a moment that Jacob would bawl in her arms like that, Elaine soon came to her senses and patted his back as she comforted him, "Oh, stop crying already. Who cares about some Calligraphy and Painting groupies? We certainly don't! Just hear me out and don't ever go there again!"Jacob kept sobbing, "But I care… I want to go…"Annoyed, Elaine's hand that had been patting Jacob a moment ago slid down to his hip and pinched him viciously before he noticed."Ow!" Jacob yelped in pain, and he demanded indignantly, "What was that for?!""Shut up!" Elaine snapped, glowering. "I wa
Jacob couldn't even be bothered by the looks others were giving him, and he called Mr. Bay immediately.Mr. Bay had already gone home and was seated on the couch with his wife, watching his phone and waiting for Jacob to call and demand an explanation.Mr. Bay knew that he had to answer for this and that if he avoided Jacob, it may well be a confession that he had screwed Jacob over.So, to avoid unnecessary trouble, he decided to come clean with Jacob.Naturally, by coming clean, he meant passing the buck as his wife had suggested.Hence, as he answered Jacob's call, he immediately sighed in embarrassment, "Hey, Jacob. I'm so sorry about that…"However, Jacob was so furious he immediately started bellowing, "Mr. Bay! Are you fucking with me here?! You said that the resignation letter was more of a formality, but you just made it public instead! So, all those things you said about helping me were just a trap, was it?! You're despicable! And to think I've been so good to you, even
The repeated flights had left Jacob tormented.Even before he actually had the time to enjoy Dubai, he had already gotten sick of the place and didn't want to ever return.And on the flight, he couldn't stop his thoughts from going astray.Now that he was not getting back the money he had lost, his only hope was Mr. Bay.Fortunately, Mr. Bay was serious about his promise that he would at least save him a job as department head. That was why, despite his thoughts running astray, he never considered the thought that he would be kicked out of the Calligraphy and Painting Association.As soon as his flight landed, he didn't wait to turn off his phone's flight mode, waiting for the internet connection to return so that he could ask Mr. Bay about the meeting.Once he did, he received a ton of messages from public accounts to acquaintances—many had already found out that he had resigned from the post of administrative vice-president and wanted to ask how he was doing.And Matilda was
The Calligraphy and Painting Association was certainly efficient—soon after the meeting was dismissed, the news that the administrative vice-president had resigned was posted on their official page and social media.The notice was simple and never mentioned what Jacob had done, only that the administrative vice-president had asked to resign for personal reasons. The request had since been voted upon, and all members had agreed to it.And that was how a simple and short message kicked Jacob out of the Calligraphy and Painting Association entirely.In the city, other associations closely connected with the Calligraphy and Painting Association were the various cultural societies and circles of antique enthusiasts and the Senior University. In fact, most fans of the public page of the Calligraphy and Painting Association were from the Senior City, and every lecturer, student, and even guest lecturer were subscribed.As a matter of fact, that was entirely Jacob's doing. After his lect
There weren't that many members in the Calligraphy and Painting Association—just a handful over twenty.Hence, at Mr. Bay's request, everyone showed up at the conference at 1 pm.He chose the afternoon as there were a handful who were away on outreach, including Walker, who was subbing for Jacob's lectures.Once the entire Calligraphy and Painting Association save for Jacob was informed of the mandatory meeting, every member was there on the hour, seated primly and in attention in the huge conference room.Mr. Bay didn't waste his breath on the preamble either—as soon as he saw that everyone had arrived, he announced, "Everyone, I've gathered you here today because our administrative vice-president, Jacob Wilson, has been alleged to be involved in a certain malicious scheme."Last night, Mr. Wilson submitted his resignation to me, and after a discussion with my vice-presidents, we've all decided to hold a vote. It will be open to every member in the association as we will be decid
Having sent his resignation letter, Jacob had no idea that it would be the catalyst for his dismissal.He didn't sleep well at the rundown motel either and had dark circles under his eyes as he rushed to the airport early the next morning.Clearing the checkpoint and boarding his flight, everything went smoothly until his flight to Dubai lifted off at 10 am.-Meanwhile, the other vice-presidents of the Calligraphy and Painting Association had arrived at Mr. Bay's office.They all had the same goal—pressure Mr. Bay and get Jacob kicked out of the association no matter what it took.Naturally, they knew that Mr. Bay most definitely would have to help Jacob since Jacob was close with Don Albert. If Mr. Bay insisted on protecting Jacob, they shouldn't insist, or Jacob would hear about it, and the man would bear a grudge.Even so, as the vice-presidents entered Mr. Bay's office and closed the door behind them, one of them couldn't help asking, "So, Mr. Bay—how do you intend to deal