The reason I conquered her was because I wasn't with her.

Chen Diao came over from the tarmac and happened to see Yu Chaoxian laughing. His laughter sent a chill down his spine. For the first time, he admired Yu Tang. This young lady had the boss completely outmaneuvered.

However, Chen Diao felt relieved. If Yu Tang could really escape, she should never come back. Disappearing from each other's worlds would be the best ending.

As time goes by, even the deepest hatred will fade away, and even the most unforgettable love will be forgotten.

Yu Chaoxian gazed at the dark sea, carefully recalling the question Yu Tang had asked him, and then walked towards the helicopter: "To California."

Chen Diao wanted to ask his boss why he was so certain Yu Tang would go to California. After all, his math teacher had said that if you think in the wrong direction, you'll never get the right answer. But seeing his boss's gloomy face, Chen Diao didn't dare to ask.

Asking the question seemed to question the boss's self-assured confidence in Yu Tang.

It's not that the boss's decisions are flawed; it's just that Yu Tang is the biggest variable. When it comes to her, the boss is wrong at least nine times out of ten.

As Chen Diao's thoughts were wandering, he suddenly met Shangyu Chao Xianfeng Li's gaze. Chen Diao had the illusion that he had been seen through, and he shivered and quickly lowered his head.

The CIA building in the Americas at the same time.

The phone in Chief Carson's office rang suddenly, its shrill ring echoing sharply. He stared at the red, encrypted phone, took a deep breath, and slowly picked up the receiver.

“Chief Carson.” A hoarse yet authoritative voice came from the other end of the phone, as if it came from the depths of hell. “Does the Chief still remember Commander Berenson?”

Carson suddenly sat up straight. Berenson, the commander who had experienced World War II, had led his team to complete countless missions, but after discovering the collusion between the police and the underworld, he was eventually discharged from the army by his superiors on the grounds of mental problems.

Berenson didn't need Carson to remember; he only needed Carson to convey his demands to the American government: "The government must pay five billion green dollars within 48 hours as compensation for firefighters who died or fell ill while rescuing the wounded in the terrorist attack, as well as compensation for the families of team members who died in the secret mission, and to grant them titles."

Seemingly anticipating Carson's refusal, Berenson directly threatened, "Don't even think about refusing. I have fifty-eight University of California students as hostages. If the government refuses or attempts to land on the island, I will work with my men to eliminate the hostages and immediately launch X9 gas missiles from the island towards the capital. You know me; I mean what I say."

“Berenson…” Carson gripped the phone tightly, “Are you crazy! Do you know what you’re doing?”

“I know perfectly well.” Berenson’s voice was eerily calm. “Within 48 hours, five billion green dollars will be transferred to the account I designate. Otherwise, the capital of the Americas will become history.”

The camera pans to the hostages—close-ups of their terrified faces are magnified, their fear clearly visible. In the upper left corner of the shot, a strikingly pale, dark-haired girl stands out.

The island was shrouded in dark clouds.

Fifty-eight students were separated into small groups and locked in the dormitory of the abandoned hospital, where fear spread silently. The students sobbed softly, their faces pale. Standing all around them were fully armed special forces soldiers—their eyes held both the coldness of soldiers and an indescribable sorrow.

Locked in the dilapidated room, Yu Tang clenched her fingers, forcing herself not to tremble. Just a few hours earlier, she had been on a bus with this group of people heading to the city, but the next second the bus was hijacked by a group of masked men with guns, and she was taken to this isolated island.

Now, they seem to have become bargaining chips.

Yu Tang was unaware of their intentions, and even less aware of why she was imprisoned on this unknown island.

The brown-haired girl beside him was sobbing softly, tears streaming down her dirty face.

"I want to go home, I miss my uncle..." the girl sobbed, her voice barely audible, her lips turning purple with fear.

Upon hearing this, Yu Tang paused, a pale smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She shifted her body and gently nudged the other girl with her shoulder, offering some comfort. The girl then hugged Yu Tang and began to cry.

Moonlight streamed in through the high window, illuminating Yu Tang's dirty face. Gazing at the faint light, she thought of her empty contacts; she hadn't even saved Mo Fei's number on her new phone yet. At least the girl beside her still had someone waiting, a phone number she could dial.

"The police will definitely get us out of here," Yu Tang whispered, trying to comfort him. She leaned her head against the cold wall. That was all she could say to comfort him; having some hope was better than having no hope at all.

But this time, apart from the police, probably no one will come to rescue her. Yu Chaoxian was furious when he found out she had run away, so why would he even think about looking for her?

That's fine, a clean break, so that life and death are no longer related to each other.

Berenson stood on the high observation deck, overlooking everything.

His adjutant reported in a low voice: "The missiles have locked onto the capital."

Berenson didn't answer, he just clenched his fist.

He didn't want to kill, but he had no choice. His government not only abandoned them, but also offered no compensation. His men, crippled in the war for national glory, were struggling to survive, yet the government remained indifferent.

Berenson is patriotic and even supports his children becoming firefighters to continue serving the country. However, his only child developed lung cancer due to dust pollution, and he has already gone bankrupt trying to treat his child. Yet, the government coldly stated that the firefighters' cancer caused by dust pollution has nothing to do with the government.

He was forced into this situation.

In the distance, the indicator lights on the missile silos flickered faintly.

Meanwhile, Berenson stood in the control room, watching the countdown on the screen—

39:59:59

39:59:58

39:59:57

...

Time is passing.

Pentagon, emergency meeting.

"Berenson has gone mad!" The Defense Secretary slammed his fist on the table. "We must never compromise with terrorists!"

“But he has X9 poison gas missiles!” an officer said, frowning. “One of them is enough to destroy half a city! Nobody will dismantle an X9 missile.”

“Yes.” Carson paused for a moment before finally speaking, “I know someone who can dismantle the X9 gas missile.”

"who?"

Carson closed his eyes and said, "The captain of the SAS search and rescue task force, codenamed Shark, is Yu Chaoxian."

Upon hearing Carson's words, the Secretary of Defense vaguely recalled: "The team that rescued the president before?"

Previously, the president was kidnapped and taken to an abandoned hospital on Shutter Island. He was strapped with an X9 bomb, which Yu Chaoxian successfully removed at the last moment.

“It was him.” Carson was an absolute patriot. He knew that only Yu Chaoxian would be able to disassemble the chemical missile, but Yu Chaoxian would never get involved in this matter.

If we want Yu Chaoxian to participate, we must have a reason why Yu Chaoxian absolutely has to go.

The reason is now in the video the other party sent.

There's a familiar-looking girl in the video.

Carson had a photo of Yu Chaoxian and the girl taken at the last funeral. The girl in the photo was identical to the girl in the photo sent by Berenson.

Most importantly, the girl had a necklace around her neck, which was the shark's amulet. It was unexpected that the shark valued this girl so much that he gave her the amulet.

Carson was unhappy that the CIA had abandoned the pursuit of Yu Chaoxian and instead focused all its efforts on capturing the terrorist leader, Qahani. Now was a golden opportunity to put Yu Chaoxian to death; even fate seemed to be working in his favor.

That kind of place is extremely dangerous; if Yu Chaoxian can't dismantle the missiles, then the B-2 bombers will bomb everyone on the island, including the hostages.

Even if the missiles are dismantled, he can still send someone to assassinate Yu Chaoxian on the island immediately after the mission is successful.

In short, once Yu Chaoxian lands on the island, there will be no return.

At 6 p.m. local time, Yu Chaoxian landed in California and used his connections with the president's chief of staff to get the California State Police to find him.

At this moment, Chen Diao handed over the phone, "Boss, the other party says his name is Carson, and he's looking for you."

Upon hearing Carson's name, Yu Chaoxian's eyes darkened. He was extremely displeased at the thought of having been allowed to live for two more years.

Upon faintly hearing Carson's voice, Mingming immediately confirmed that Carson was the employer who had leaked the location of Yu Chaoxian's team to them.

“Shark, don’t get angry yet. The American government wants you to carry out a mission to rescue hostages and dismantle a poison gas missile…” Carson sensed Yu Chaoxian’s impatient tone and immediately cut to the chase. “You shouldn’t refuse. I’ve sent the videos and photos to your phone. I’m sure they’re not fabricated. Whether you believe them or not is up to you. But I don’t think you’d risk that girl’s life. You don’t have much time to think about it. You have less than twenty hours left. If the X9 poison gas missile isn’t dismantled, the government will send B-2 bombers to blow up this island.”

The streetlights outside the window cast cold, harsh shadows on Yu Chaoxian's face. He opened the video and immediately spotted the pale face in the upper left corner, with the bullet necklace still neatly worn around her neck.

Chen Diaohe clearly felt the air pressure inside the car suddenly drop, but the boss's face did not show any change in expression, though his eyes were as cold as if they were covered with ice.

Yu Chaoxian knew, of course, that Carson wasn't helping him, nor did he have the kindness to care about the hostages, and he was well aware that Carson had ulterior motives.

However, Yu Chaoxian could not wait.

Although he had become so weary of the mission of saving lives after leaving the SAS that he was numb to life, when Yu Tang was close to him, her hot and vibrant heartbeat stirred his numb heartbeat.

Or rather, Yu Tang was his beating heart.

"Time waits for no one. If you agree to carry out this mission, come to the government air force base. I'll be waiting for you here..."

Yu Chaoxian, too lazy to listen to Carson's nonsense, hung up the phone, got up and strode out, instructing Chen to prepare the helicopter.

Yu Chaoxian drove the car to the tarmac, speeding so fast that Chen Diao and Mingming felt nauseous.

Chen calmed his stomach and naturally objected, "We absolutely cannot go to this island. The X9 poison gas missile—even a drop the size of a little fingernail, or even just a whiff of it, will kill you within three minutes. Boss, what's the difference between you going there and committing suicide?"

Mingming didn't say anything, but looked at Yu Chaoxian, who was also silent. Both he and Yu Chaoxian had been to that island and knew how harsh the environment was, making it difficult to get in and out.

Yu Chaoxian ignored Chen Diao's nonsense and quickly made arrangements: "Call Mickey and the other two to come over immediately, and Mingming should arrange for a drone to circle around the flying island."

Mickey and Ajin work at a drone company in Virginia, while Ivan is at the base. It will probably take them ten hours to get to California.

I calculated the time and it was just in time.

Mickey quickly called back: "Boss, or we could negotiate with them, pay a ransom to get Miss Yu out, but that would let them know Miss Yu is special..."

"No way." Yu Chaoxian refused without even thinking.

The fact that no one knew about Yu Tang's relationship with him made it the safest place. Berenson's group was wiped out by the squad he led.

Mickey knew Yu Chaoxian wouldn't agree when he spoke up. Special forces soldiers like them, who had completed countless bloody missions, had seen far too many shameless acts; knowing someone's weakness would surely lead to brutal torture. Because their leader understood this, he wouldn't agree to any situation that might threaten Yu Tang.

Although the other option was life-threatening, Yu Chaoxian was the one that was chosen.

Although some of the drones that were supposed to be sent out were detected by radar and quickly destroyed, there were a lot of drones, and they still managed to transmit data back before being destroyed.

Sure enough, that slender figure could be seen in the full-view video.

Air Force base.

Carson was followed by several armed police officers, who stood next to the Minister of Defense, waiting for Yu Chaoxian to arrive.

Carson was initially rejected by the SAS because of Yu Chaoxian, who was too old to join the army at the time, while Carson was the most eligible. However, his father greatly admired Yu Chaoxian's abilities and became increasingly disappointed in his own son.

When Carson's father was injured in a mission, Yu Chaoxian carried him back instead of abandoning him. Carson's father held Yu Chaoxian in even higher regard and even wanted to adopt him as his godson. However, Yu Chaoxian had a strong aversion to the word "father" and refused.

Carson felt that Yu Chaoxian's rejection was not only ungrateful but also humiliating. It was precisely because of this that Carson's resentment towards Yu Chaoxian deepened.

Even on his deathbed, his father still felt that Carson was a disappointment and that he still needed Carson's connections to secure a position for him in the CIA.

Carson's feelings towards Yu Chaoxian went from initial admiration to jealousy, and finally to a completely distorted mindset. Instead of thinking about improving his own abilities, he believed that as long as Yu Chaoxian died, his brilliance would be discovered by everyone.

Back in the squad, he didn't just want to kill Yu Chaoxian. To secure his ranking, anyone who stood in his way was silently eliminated. After all, his teammates couldn't believe that the knife had been stabbed into their most trusted comrade from behind, and no one suspected anything.

Unfortunately, Yu Chaoxian had sharp eyes, and Carsons was always the first to discover the bodies of his fallen comrades. Yu Chaoxian knew this was no coincidence, so when Yu Chaoxian was investigating the cause of death, Carson, in order to protect himself, had no choice but to reveal the location of Yu Chaoxian's squad, who had completed their mission, and then hired mercenaries to secretly deal with Yu Chaoxian. Unfortunately, Yu Chaoxian still managed to escape alive.

Carson always felt that it wasn't that he wasn't good enough, but that Yu Chaoxian was too fond of showing off.

"Shark, long time no see." Carson is now the director, and most importantly, he no longer has to hide in the gutter for fear of Yu Chaoxian's revenge, because Yu Chaoxian will definitely not be coming back!

Given his current status and position, no one can look down on him, not even Yu Chaoxian!

Kokason is no match for Yu Chaoxian in terms of appearance, physique, or temperament.

As soon as Yu Chaoxian walked over, the ladies in the base immediately followed him, with Yu Chaoxian as the dividing line, and the rest of them becoming mere background figures.

Wait a minute, the man following Yu Chaoxian is not bad either, at least he's better looking than the men in the base.

Carson was burning with jealousy, remembering how he had liked a nurse who had bandaged his wounds, only to find out that the nurse liked Yu Chaoxian!

Yu Chaoxian glanced at Carson out of the corner of his eye, then ignored him.

Without a word or a move, the man's mere glance was enough to make Carson feel suffocated by his intimidation.

Carson's Adam's apple bobbed, a bead of cold sweat trickled down his forehead, and he unconsciously took a half-step back to make way. After he stepped back, he cursed himself for being so spineless, for being afraid of Yu Chaoxian.

The Minister of Defense was a veteran of countless battles, having participated in wars large and small. He recognized Yu Chaoxian at a glance; he knew Yu was the man he was looking for. If Yu was willing, he hoped Yu would stay and serve the country after the mission was completed. However, this seemed unlikely; otherwise, he would have stayed after the president's rescue mission, but Yu chose to disappear without a trace.

Yu Chaoxian skipped Carson and spoke directly to the Minister of Defense: "Tell me your plans first."

Carson, feeling ignored, was about to speak when the minister looked over, and Carson shut up. As for Chen Diao, who was behind Yu Chaoxian, he had long disliked Carson, and if the occasion hadn't been inappropriate, he would have definitely dealt with Carson.

The minister preferred communicating with intelligent people because it was effortless and they understood immediately: "According to our intelligence, there are at least eight people on the island, in addition to Commander Berenson and an ace pilot with aerial combat experience. Therefore, you need to use your fighter jets to draw their attention in the air and disperse their forces. Our people will then take the opportunity to infiltrate the seabed and land. As for how you will rendezvous with the team in the submarine, you need to seize the right moment. You must be able to rendezvous without alerting the people on the island; otherwise, the consequences could be..."

The minister didn't say the word "death," but he knew Yu Chaoxian understood it too.

At this moment, a four-man squad arrived. "They will assist you. However," the minister's sharp eyes fixed on Yu Chaoxian, "if they cannot rendezvous with you within an hour before the missile launch, they will retreat. The retreat is the signal, at which point the B-2 bombers will bomb the island and destroy everything on it."

After all, the government wants to abandon the people on the island, but it can't do nothing. If the people on the island expose the incident to the media, it will inevitably cause public opinion and be very detrimental to the government's image.

So Chief of Staff Shaw kept pressuring him to rescue all the hostages on the island by any means necessary!

The minister handed over the installed signal flare: "Release the signal when the missile is removed, and the order to bomb the abandoned hospital will not be carried out."

Yu Chaoxian sneered. The so-called American government doesn't care about the lives of ordinary people. After the B-2 bombing, not only will the people on the island die, but the nearby residents will also die from the X9's gas leak.

The original missile launch target, the capital, was safe, and the high-ranking officials hiding behind it survived.

"And this too." The minister took out a syringe. "If you are accidentally exposed to poison gas, inject it into your heart within one minute. It can save your life."

Chen Diao, who had been as quiet as air, widened his eyes. A needle nearly ten centimeters long, injected into the heart—was this saving a life or killing someone? One injection could probably kill someone!

Yu Chaoxian glanced at the minister. Whether it was one injection or ten, it didn't matter; if one injection was useless, ten injections wouldn't be useful either. Nevertheless, he took two.

As the four-man squad passed by Carson, Carson gave a subtle nod.

The base personnel dispersed, leaving only Chen Diao beside Yu Chaoxian.

Chen Diao had complete faith in Yu Chaoxian's abilities, but he was also keenly aware that his boss's journey was fraught with peril.

Is it worth it for Yu Tang? Even Chen Diao could tell that Carson deliberately got his boss involved in this search and rescue mission.

That Carson is clearly no good bird, and a one-eyed bad bird at that.

Chen Diao's expression was solemn. He couldn't understand why his boss not only gave Yu Tang the life-saving necklace but also risked his life to save her time and time again. He finally couldn't help but ask, "Boss, you knew it was a trap, so why did you go there? They just wanted to use Miss Yu to lure you there. Was it really worth it?"

Yu Chaoxian had already changed into his anti-G suit. He turned his head to the side, his gaze sharp behind his goggles: "She's there. Isn't that reason enough?"

Let him go; one Yu Tang is enough.

“I’ve never seen you so aggrieved. If it weren’t for Yu Tang, you wouldn’t have been ambushed in Taicheng, and you wouldn’t be risking your life for her now!” Chen Diao believed he was right. The boss would just snatch the business he wanted, kill anyone who blocked the road, and eliminate anyone who stood in his way. He didn’t even show mercy to Uncle Yu. So why did he have to fall for Yu Tang? He compromised again and again and was manipulated.

“You know I never wrong myself,” Yu Chaoxian retorted calmly. “So where did you get the idea that I’m wronging myself? And how do you know I’m not enjoying it?”

Yu Chaoxian turned around, put on his oxygen mask, entered the F-22 cabin, and left with a final remark:

"The reason for everything is that I am not with her."

Chen Diao suddenly realized that emotion is the conquest of ruthlessness by the mindlessness. Ruthless was Yu Tang, and mindless was Yu Chaoxian.