The Almighty Ring

Hidden and out of sight, Jiang Fei and Ariel paced slowly through the cold night and into the base.

There were a number of patrolling Android soldiers roaming around the base premises. Jiang Fei walked with Ariel’s arms clung to his arms like an attention-seeking kitty. As he did so, he noticed several outposts erected in the most unforeseen places. Jiang Fei finally understood why the base was top secret. To have so many outposts and Androids patrolling around, the military base must be keeping something. Something that they did not want the general public to know about. Heck, not even a Mutant could infiltrate the facility.

Even though security was tight, Jiang Fei had alien technology to guide him around. There was nothing to fear with 0541 around. Provided that Jiang Fei had given it permission to use more power than it usually did, 0541’s sensory system was so sensitive that it was possible to detect every single human and Android inside and near the base.

With highly advanced stealth technology, Jiang Fei could trot undetected but he chose to do it quietly instead. However, there was one problem, one simple obstacle that he could not solve without the enemy’s help. Opening the doors. If he wanted to keep his presence undetected for as long as he wanted, he could not open doors!

To locate Han Tianyu, Jiang Fei needed to make his way deep into the facility. Infiltrating the base was simple but moving inside the building would prove tricky as there were cameras around, pointing at doors and corridors. If the guards were vigilant, they would notice if a door suddenly opened without anyone standing in front of it.

He thought he could solve this small problem by having Ariel to teleport him through the doors. However, if she did, she would emit a powerful surge of energy, the likes of which could be detected by Supreme Androids.

Jiang Fei convinced himself to not let his presence noticed by anyone. His main objective of infiltrating the base was to find Han Tianyu, not attacking the military. He cannot let the military know that he was infiltrating their facility or they would declare hostility towards him or worse, the martial artists. Although he did not mind having to make an enemy out of them, he could not do so anytime soon as the martial artists needed help to fight against the Mutants. Alone, he could fight the Mutants, but there was still a chance of him losing to them. Worse, there was still the problem with the US military. That said, he needed to make sure that the relationship between the martial artists and China military stayed friendly.

As such, Jiang Fei decided to wait for the right time. His patience was rewarded soon enough when a military personnel approached the door and opened it. He took the chance and slipped through, with Ariel tugging behind him.

Once Jiang Fei had entered the building, he immediately noticed that cameras were set up everywhere. If he had entered without cloaking his presence, the guards would have already been alerted.

“0541, where is Han Tianyu?” Jiang Fei asked, anxious as he had just overcome the first obstacle: entering the building.

“I’m sorry, Captain. I am unable to detect Han Tianyu in this facility,” 0541 answered, throwing Jiang Fei off.

“Didn’t you traced him back to this facility a while back? How could you not detect him now?”

“It is true that I have traced him back to this location. However, the reason why I am unable to detect his presence now might be because of an isolation system,” 0541 explained.

“Mhm. That would explain everything. He is being imprisoned somewhere in this facility,” Jiang Fei exclaimed, further reinforcing his hypothesis of Han Tianyu being held against his will.

“Do you have any suggestions on how we could find him?” Jiang Fei asked.

“Someone’s here!” Ariel alerted Jiang Fei telepathically.

Jiang Fei stopped moving and focused to heighten his senses. As soon as he calmed down to slow his heartbeat, he could hear the sound of footsteps coming closer to him.

As the sound of trotting approached closer, Jiang Fei peeked out from a corridor and saw a young officer. The young man was unfamiliar and looked like he was Qin Tian’s subordinate.

“We need to follow him,” said Jiang Fei mentally. Ariel, who was listening to Jiang Fei’s thoughts, nodded.

The two followed closely and into a meeting room where the young man entered. The room was filled with empty chairs and a long table and was decorated by thick curtains at all corners. The man pulled down a wide projector screen and powered on a computer.

Jiang Fei and Ariel exchanged looks and made the decision to stay in that room. Even though Jiang Fei’s main objective to infiltrate the base was to find Han Tianyu, his end goal was to investigate and gather intelligence about the military. Being in that room could be helpful for Jiang Fei since he might be able to learn something from the man!

After the man had started the computer, he activated an encryption program before establishing a connection to the internet. Judging from what he was doing, it seemed that he was preparing for a meeting with someone who was not in that room. The man stood up from this chair and left the room, leaving Jiang Fei and Ariel alone.

“We should wait here. I think there’s more coming in and we might learn something here,” said Jiang Fei.

“Yes, dear,” Ariel nodded and responded with a sweet purr.

An hour later, the man returned with Qin Tian and a few other officers.

“Let’s start,” said Qin Tian, sitting down at the end of the long table.

“Yes, general!” said the man Qin Tian was talking to. When everyone was seated, the white projector screen flashed with a bright light before displaying a live feed of Fan Yao and a few other officers, walking away from him.

“Qin, how are the martial artists?” he asked.

“Sir, the martial artists are in Japan. I have reports saying that they have fought the Mutants in separate groups and sustained heavy casualties on both sides.”

“Is there anything that I should know about?” Fan Yao asked nonchalantly, as if he did not care about the martial artists, nor the Mutants.

“Nothing special, sir. The battlefield seems bland. It seems that because of the absence of reinforcements, the martial artists have refused to fight the Mutants. They had chosen to wait until reinforcements arrive. There is something that you should know… The man named Jiang Fei came to the base… looking for me,” said Qin Tian nervously.

“Looking for you?” said Fan Yao, thrown aback. He knew Jiang Fei very well since he was the source of all their alien technology.

“Yes, sir. He came to me requesting for reinforcements. Albeit that is given, I do question the method of how he arrived in China. From what I’ve gathered, there’s no means of transport from Japan to China. Can he fly?” Qin Tian asked, frowning.

“Perhaps he has his own way of walking on water, but who cares. We have our plans to execute for now. Jiang Fei not being in Japan might be a good thing after all. His alien factory might still be useful to us,” Fan Yao stated with great interest gleaming from his eyes.

“Yes, sir! I will make sure there will be no hindrance to the plan!” Qin Tian stood up from his seat and saluted Fan Yao.

“Mhm, I trust your judgment. On a side note, the second batch of Androids is en route. They will be reporting to you shortly,” said Fan Yao.

“That’s great news. Our forces will be stronger with the second batch. When the third batch arrives, we would not need to depend on the martial artist scum!” Qin Tian roared with excitement.