Do You Want to Hijack a Rocket?

"So what you're saying is that the entire human world only has one hour left?"

"So that's why you want to seize the aerospace launch base and escape on a spaceship?"

Standing before Lin Xu, the man in the skull mask shook his head. The night-vision goggles on his head emitted a faint blue glow.

"Tch... At first, I thought you were just some fanatical anti-technology radical."

"Now it looks like you're simply a lunatic who believes in doomsday theories."

"But it doesn't matter. We take the money and do the job. We don't ask why."

With a click, the man disengaged the rifle's safety and said:

"Drone reconnaissance complete. Security positions confirmed. Prepare to enter."

"Keep up. I'll get you inside."

Lin Xu nodded, pulled down his night-vision goggles, and followed Skullhead.

Skullhead raised a hand over his head and signaled. The other five team members lurking in the darkness immediately spread out. Their electrochromic camouflage activated, concealing all infrared signatures. Through thermal night vision, their figures vanished at once, leaving only the faint flicker of friend-or-foe identification signals.

It was nearly flawless camouflage. In the darkness, no one could possibly spot them.

They advanced in silence and approached the sentry post.

Skullhead signaled another countdown. Three seconds later, four suppressed pistols loaded with subsonic rounds fired simultaneously, and the guards in front collapsed instantly.

At the same time, the support team at the rear had already cut power to the entire base.

"Backup power takes forty-five seconds to come online. Move!"

Skullhead vaulted over the railing by the gate, quickly pushed it open, and Lin Xu followed close behind.

"Establish electromagnetic shielding."

Skullhead gave another order. The next second, the high-powered jamming equipment in the vehicle activated, blocking and cutting off all wireless communications throughout the base.

Bewildered guards rushed out from every corner, sweeping their flashlights around for suspicious targets.

But the moment they exposed themselves, the mercenary squad, already deployed in tactical formation, opened fire. Amid one soft click after another, bullets pierced the guards' skulls one by one. At an unparalleled speed, the mercenaries cleared the route ahead.

"Enter the target area!"

"Prepare to breach!"

At the command, the breacher immediately sprinted forward.

The others followed close behind, taking up standard CQB positions on both sides of the door and preparing to storm in.

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

"Breach!"

"Boom!"

With a thunderous blast, a directional charge blew open the steel door.

Through the thick smoke, a flashbang was thrown inside. Two point men charged into the building first, swiftly shooting the guards within and securing the area.

"Clear!"

"Keep advancing!"

The seven-man squad continued forward. By then, thirty seconds had passed since the power outage.

Fifteen seconds remained.

Lin Xu nervously stared at the second door in the distance. As he hurried forward behind Skullhead, he tapped him on the shoulder.

"Window at ten o'clock!"

Skullhead swung his gun around. Just as the green dot in his holographic sight reached the window, a figure flashed past it.

"Bang!"

After the sharp gunshot, the figure fell.

"Five seconds!"

Skullhead shouted the order. The other team members swiftly deployed in a standard indoor combat wave formation, taking control of the entire factory floor.

Lin Xu rushed to the door in two strides. At that moment, the backup power came online.

The lights blazed on, and the smart lock on the door booted up at the same time.

"This isn't an ordinary blast door. We can't blow it open!"

There was a trace of anxiety in Skullhead's voice. Lin Xu nodded.

"I know."

"But I have the password!"

He rapidly entered a string of codes into the keypad. The words "Password Correct" appeared on the screen. Surprise flashed in Skullhead's eyes, but then the second layer of verification activated.

"Biometric verification required."

"You'd better tell me you cut off an insider's finger beforehand, otherwise—"

"I don't have a finger, but I can use iris verification."

Lin Xu flipped up his night-vision goggles. The moment he aligned his eye with the iris scanner, "Verification Passed" appeared on the screen again.

Immediately afterward, the hydraulic system engaged, and the blast door opened.

"Inside!"

Lin Xu stepped through the blast door, with the six mercenaries following behind him.

Lin Xu locked the blast door from the inside and charged straight toward the main control console.

Without needing further orders from him, Skullhead swiftly directed his men to establish a defensive perimeter.

Watching Lin Xu's practiced movements, he frowned slightly and asked:

"You're an inside man?"

"You move through this place like it's your home! Every step was part of your plan!"

"You could say that."

Lin Xu did not even look up, focused solely on entering one identification code after another into the main console.

Layer after layer of permissions opened up to him. Skullhead looked down and saw a series of authorization notifications appearing on the screen.

"You know every password here?!"

"Obviously. Why else would I come in here?"

Lin Xu answered casually. The next second, however, an icy gun barrel pressed against his head.

"This is a conspiracy."

Skullhead's tone was dark.

"You've already obtained the highest level of authority over this base. There was no reason for you to enter it this way."

"What exactly are you trying to do?"

"What am I trying to do?"

Lin Xu rolled his eyes and asked back:

"Didn't you say you don't ask why?"

"I've put the spaceship into launch sequence. There's only one last stretch left before you can leave."

"Now get me into the spaceship!"

"You're not going anywhere until you explain yourself."

Skullhead did not move his gun.

"Attacking a civilian spaceship launch base is one thing. Helping carry out a large-scale terrorist attack is another!"

"I don't want to spend the rest of my life hiding like a rat."

"Tell me why!"

"I already told you!"

Lin Xu faced Skullhead's gun barrel directly before saying:

"This world is about to be destroyed—I have fifty-seven minutes and twelve seconds left."

"I have to board that spaceship. I have to leave this planet!"

"What kind of joke is that?!"

Skullhead's voice was full of disbelief.

"You really intend to leave on a spaceship? I thought that was just an excuse for you to get in here and steal classified information!"

"How are you supposed to get a spaceship off the ground by yourself? Do you think it's a bicycle you can just pedal and ride away on?!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Xu's eyes widened.

"Man, did combat fry your brain?"

"Do you think this is still twenty years ago? It's 2045!"

"Watch the news sometime. Spaceship launches have been one-stop service for ages!"

"The one I'm hijacking is the Skyward Journey. It's a sightseeing spacecraft!"

"As long as I get on board, it can launch!"

"Now stop talking nonsense. I'm out of time!"

Skullhead hesitantly lowered his gun. He stared into Lin Xu's eyes for a long time before finally speaking.

"You're definitely insane. I've robbed banks, casinos, even the White House, but I've never hijacked a spaceship."

"Let's go. Where next?"

"That's more like it!"

Lin Xu nodded in satisfaction and said:

"The door opens in thirty seconds. We'll rush out."

"Watch the entrance. There's a sniper with an anti-materiel rifle behind a pickup truck one hundred and eighty meters outside the building. Take him out first once we're outside!"

"How do you know that?!"

Skullhead raised his hand and looked at the drone feed on his personal computer. In the drone's view, he could not see anyone.

"There's nobody there!"

He frowned.

"You think only you have electrochromic camouflage? Just aim where I told you."

"Ten seconds until the door opens!"

Lin Xu walked to the door. Skullhead raised his gun and stood in front of him. The hydraulic system activated again, and the blast door slowly opened.

A smoke grenade was tossed through the gap, and the mercenaries burst outside.

Through the already-open first gate ahead, Skullhead trained his sights on the distant pickup.

He pulled the trigger, and gunfire rang out.

"Bang bang bang—"

"Bang!"

After a burst of controlled fire, a wayward large-caliber bullet blasted chips from the concrete wall behind him.

There really was a sniper there!

"How the hell did you know?!"

"This isn't my first time here!"

Lin Xu crouched behind Skullhead and followed him onward.

"Turn left after we get out! The launch tower is twelve hundred meters from here. We need a vehicle!"

"Where are we getting a vehicle? We don't have one!"

"There's an unlocked SUV in the parking lot on the left. Take one man and escort me there. The rest stay behind and provide cover!"

"Fuck... You're calling the shots!"

Skullhead changed direction and found the SUV, its door still open, following Lin Xu's directions. He sprang into the front passenger seat, only to discover in astonishment that Lin Xu had taken the driver's seat.

"You're driving?!"

"Of course!"

Lin Xu slammed down on the accelerator. Before the mercenary in the back seat could steady himself, a large-caliber bullet shattered the glass and punched straight through his spine.

Blood sprayed everywhere. The deflected bullet grazed past the back of Lin Xu's head.

If Lin Xu had been sitting in the back seat, he would already have been decapitated.

"Can you see the future?!"

Skullhead was shocked.

"I told you already, this isn't my first time here!"

Lin Xu yanked the steering wheel. The SUV soared high off the slope before crashing back down hard.

"Bang!"

The pursuing enemies were held back by the mercenaries left behind. Skullhead calmly asked:

"How long until launch? I need to arrange for my men to withdraw!"

"They need to hold out for six minutes. After six minutes, they can retreat."

Lin Xu calmed down as well.

Only one final step remained.

At the main control console, he had already used the spacecraft's systems to complete all self-checks and orbital calculations.

All he had to do now was enter the spacecraft cockpit and press the ignition button. Then he could leave this place.

He had traveled this short stretch of road more times than he could count.

Likewise, he had lost count of how many times he had failed, been forced to remain on the ground, been struck by that Doomsday Flash, and died in unimaginable agony.

And now, it was finally about to end.

No matter what awaited him next, at least it should be a new storyline, right??

Lin Xu took a deep breath. The twelve hundred meters vanished in an instant.

He slammed on the brakes, then rushed toward the launch tower and climbed onto the elevator.

The final thirty meters.

He crossed the skybridge in a few strides and entered the spacecraft quietly docked at the launch tower.

Just as he shut the door, Skullhead suddenly squeezed inside.

"I've already ordered my team to retreat."

"I suddenly wanted to see what it feels like to ride in a spaceship."

"Then sit tight."

Lin Xu sealed the hatch, fastened his seat belt, and pressed the ignition button without hesitation.

The linked systems activated instantly. The restraining arms on the launch tower swung open, the rocket ignited, flames erupted, and massive plumes of white smoke billowed upward.

Then, the spacecraft slowly lifted off.

More than ten Mach rings propelled the spacecraft rapidly upward, and the intense G-forces slammed him hard against his seat.

"This... fucking... hurts..."

Skullhead grimaced and pulled a photograph of a woman from his chest.

"Will I ever see my wife again?"

"You're better off not seeing that wife of yours. This is emergency launch mode—hang on!"

Lin Xu drew in a breath as best he could, then said,

"I really didn't expect you to come along. This is different from how it went the previous times."

"What do you mean... previous times?"

Skullhead asked in shock,

"You really can see the future??"

"I told you, it's not seeing the future. I've already gone through this many times."

"We're finally entering the next stage... Take a deep breath. The dizziness is normal. It'll be over soon!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the spacecraft's acceleration increased further.

The ground grew farther and farther away, while the stars drew closer and closer.

This time, it should have worked, right?

Lin Xu let out a sigh of relief.

...But at that very moment, a flash of light suddenly streaked before him.

Again??

No.

It wasn't time yet.

The flash drew closer and closer, and Lin Xu suddenly realized something was wrong.

Fuck.

It wasn't that Doomsday Flash.

It was a fucking surface-to-air missile!

The next second—

"Boom!"

Flames surged upward.

His consciousness gradually blurred.

Lin Xu gritted his teeth.

Damn it.

Failed again!