Chapter 145: 087 Assault on the Mall [Part 3]
The loose defenses set up by the rebel forces posed no challenge for Yang Ming; a single stealth boat could handle it.
The real difficulty of tonight’s assault lay in the skyscraper stronghold of the New Federation agents.
Lulian had chosen the location of the stronghold with great care.
The buildings surrounding the skyscraper were low, and from its vantage points, they could sip coffee and survey much of the city with a few primitive binoculars.
They surely carried out surveillance operations round-the-clock, covering every angle.
[According to preliminary findings from Lyu:]
Most floors of this commercial building were empty, with hotels, supermarkets, large shopping malls, and food streets—all complex terrains, now closed for business.
Several floors lower, hundreds of specialized tactical team members were stationed, armed with various individual weapons, guarding each escape route and entrance.
The parking deck at the top and middle levels of the building was filled with their vehicles, carriers, and escape airships.
With tight defenses, elite Federation soldiers, and all kinds of sophisticated technology, the place had become an impregnable fortress.
At the slightest sign of trouble, Lulian and his team could retreat in no time, break into smaller groups, and hide everywhere.
However, even the most rigorous defenses had weaknesses.
The lowest level of the underground parking lot, with its winding ventilation ducts, just wide enough for a person to crawl through, was a surveillance blind spot.
Lulian had covered these so-called blind spots with visor scanners.
But deceiving such scanning equipment fell precisely within Yang Ming’s professional expertise.
Yang Ming was now like a gecko, stealthily crawling through the ducts using special material ‘webbed gloves’ on his hands and feet.
He continuously placed small red-indicator-lit discs—remote-controlled explosives—at key points along the duct.
Yang Ming glanced at his watch.
It was four fifteen a.m. on Ilando Star.
Guard Corps’ third and fourth brigades would, in half an hour, mount an aerial assault on the skyscraper using transports and assault boats and aided by dozens of miniature unmanned gunships.
They aimed to suppress all building exits with firepower, eliminating any humanoid life forms attempting to escape.
To help them successfully establish a blockade, Yang Ming had to complete a very complex task alone.
Installing remote-controlled explosives in the ducts was just the ‘appetizer’ of this task.
Yang Ming gradually approached a somewhat low garage area.
The area was extremely open, with just two armored hover cars in the corner. Inside were squads of ten tasked with guarding two heavily wrapped communication lines as thick as thighs.
Even the finest equipment needed infrastructure support.
These two lines directly tapped into the planet’s main communication artery, occupying an untold amount of resources without having to pay the carriers.
Yang Ming waited a while in the ventilation duct, and a light green checkmark appeared on his watch.
From the side pocket of his backpack, he took out a ‘ring box,’ opened the lid, and released a nimble mechanical insect only a few millimeters long.
Accompanied by a faint buzzing, the mechanical insect flew out of the ventilation grid, zigzagged in the air, and cautiously approached the two armored hover cars.
Yang Ming held his breath, fixating on the simplified image on his watch screen.
If the tiny contraption was exposed, his position would naturally be compromised, and given the enemy’s alertness, his operational plan would fail.
Yang Ming listened intently.
Inside the armored car with its air filtration system on, three men in New Federation uniforms were dozing.
In the driver and passenger seats, two agents discussed the troubles brewing on Ilando Star.
They hadn’t expected the Wind royal family, typically passive, to suddenly take such swift and vigorous retaliatory actions. These two still had a bit of conscience, praying for their colleagues on the head star of the Wind, though their chuckles were a bit restrained.
The mechanical insect neared the communication lines.
The two agents noticed nothing unusual.
Although they occasionally glanced outside or scrutinized the instrument panel, their ongoing conversation distracted most of their attention.
Three meters, overhead, two meters, one meter.
Without making a sound, the mechanical insect adhered to the communication duct, folded up its thin wings, then slowly moved sideways into the crevice between the wall and duct.
A slender metal needle emerged from the tail of the mechanical insect, slowly piercing into the duct.
Yang Ming exhaled softly.
Worth every one of the several thousand New Federation Coins for this ‘hard’ gear—although it was Lyu who insisted on purchasing it while Yang Ming always thought it was a bit pricey.
A line of small text appeared on the watch face.
[Connected to the adversary’s independent network, estimated fifteen minutes to breach the enemy’s firewall.]
[Able to intercept their external communications.]
[Previously undiscovered coordinates of agents on Ilando Star have appeared, coordinate map updated, data synchronized to Ilando Star Guard Corps Command.]
[“Boss, the first step is complete.”]
Yang Ming shifted again, navigating the terrain in a circuitous route, silently moving through the ventilation ducts.
For the next half hour, Yang Ming was incredibly busy.
He also wished he could “put on sunglasses and care for no one,” sweeping through the Federation soldiers and agents here.
But such a scenario was destined only to happen in movies.