Chapter 85 Chapter 85 “No need,” Elio said…
When Elio woke up, the countdown hanging over his head had naturally shortened again. He still unconsciously stroked the golden card hidden in his pocket, but to his own surprise, he didn't feel nervous at all. He even felt a little stiff in the neck.
I'll never sleep on a plane again, Elio thought as he rubbed his neck.
His temporary teammates were each calmer than the others, as if the next challenge facing them wasn't a formidable one. Ethan Hunt, former IMF team leader and now the world's most wanted criminal, put down the blueprints for the water-cooled data center. "I'll jump in, find the card storing the identity information, and replace it."
"Switch it to mine," added Elio Smith, a top-ten assassin on the global wanted list. "And then I just walk in, take the USB drive, and walk out."
"The rest is up to Benjy and me," Ilsa said.
"That's it," Benjy said optimistically. "It's very simple."
All in all, apart from the fact that Ethan had to move underwater for three minutes without oxygen, and Elliot had to sneak into the local heavily guarded secret factory and take away a secret USB flash drive through the prescribed channels, this mission was quite simple and clear at a glance.
"So what are we waiting for?" Elio asked.
Ethan looked around at them and made the final decision, "Let's get started."
The mission started off smoothly, at least from Elio's perspective. Benji watched the surveillance cameras and guided him, and within two and a half minutes, Elio had successfully reached the checkpoint where the USB drive was stored, much faster than he could have navigated with Eagle Vision himself.
"Okay, now you have a triple combination lock in front of you," Benji pointed. "Stand a little closer. Right there. The surveillance cameras won't see your little movements."
Elio obediently turned his back and pulled out the high-tech toy Benjy had slipped him. The surveillance video showed him standing in front of the combination lock, seemingly pressing a key. But Elio blinked briefly and saw the tabs emerging from the lock nimbly slide into the slots, quickly comparing the combination. In the blink of an eye, thousands of combinations raced through, and then, with a click, the combination was correct.
'High-tech.' Elio thought as he walked inside. 'The Brotherhood really needs to catch up with the times.'
If such high technology was available, Arno Dorian probably wouldn't have hidden thirty-five lock-picking tools in his master suit.
The double combination lock was also solved in the same way. Elio, who barely passed the unlocking check, walked in smoothly. Beyond that was the gait analysis system. The two clerks sitting at the front desk looked up and glanced at Elio. He glanced back, and like all workers, they exchanged a smile.
'How's Ethan? ' Elio wondered.
Ethan was changing his ID card underwater, unable to speak. Elio had no idea of his progress; only Ilsa and Benjy were monitoring Ethan's oxygen level.
"Are you nervous?" Benjy asked suddenly.
The gait analysis system was activating, lights flashing one by one, approaching Elio. Due to the staff beside him, Elio remained silent, simply glancing upward at the surveillance camera. Benji smiled into his headset. "Don't worry. That's Ethan Hunt. He's never messed up a mission!"
'Okay,' Elio thought.
The gait analysis system was activated. Elio hesitated, catching a glimpse of the staff watching him from the corner of his eye. He composed himself and walked inside. Cameras followed him from side to side, like predatory mechanical tentacles. Elio felt a chill running down his spine, like Link on his first visit to the bird's-eye viewpoint, ready to be snatched away at any moment. He nearly lost his footing. One second, two seconds, three seconds, and the cameras finally moved, but retreated inside, the lights flashing a safe green.
'That's too good to be true,' Elio thought.
He resisted the urge to let out the breath he'd been holding, letting it out slowly. Without any further hindrance, Elio's feet flew by, and only when he took the USB drive and held it in his hand did he feel alive again.
"Great!" Benji cheered, the murmur of the receiver mingling with his headset. "Hurry up, hurry up, go back the way we came! We're leaving!"
Elio almost couldn't help laughing. His cheeks puffed up, and just as he carefully suppressed it, he heard a sudden clamor of confusion from Benjy's side.
"What's wrong?" Elio asked in a low voice.
"The water cooling system has restarted!" Benji switched between systems on the screen. "Oh no! The maintenance passage is also locked, and Ethan is still in there!"
Elio listened carefully and actually heard the sound of water rushing through his headset. His eyes flickered, and he immediately thought of Ethan's current situation: turbulent vortex, the maintenance tunnel that was originally used as an evacuation route was locked, and...
"His oxygen is exhausted!" Benji was even more anxious. "It must be someone in the power plant who restarted the system. Only they have higher permissions on their computers than us. Wait, wait, I'll hack in again--"
"Leave it to you, Benjy." Ilsa said decisively. Benjy subconsciously looked up and saw her take off her coat and jump into the huge whirlpool with a splash.
"What can I do?" Elio said. "Benjy, I'm still inside the power plant."
"What can you do?" Benjy wiped the sweat from his face hurriedly. "Uh, we can't contact Ethan. Ilsa just jumped out, but the maintenance passage is still locked-"
But his permission to unlock the maintenance tunnel had been overridden. If they couldn't open the tunnel, Ethan and Ilsa would both perish underwater. Benjy's face was covered in sweat as his hands worked rapidly, momentarily forgetting about Elio. But as he fumbled through the system, a blueprint popped up that Benjy hadn't intended to use.
Benji swiped over, then suddenly thought of something and his eyes lit up.
"Benjy," Elio said at the same time, "is there any way to open that maintenance tunnel from inside the power plant?"
"Yes, yes!" said Benjy excitedly. "I'll show you the way. Just keep going straight ahead, and then..."
Under the control of Benji, the god of logistics support, all the doors were opened to Elio. The assassin first walked, then trotted, and then ran, rushing through unimpeded. Benji saw it all clearly from the surveillance video. He wanted to slow him down to avoid attracting attention, but he glanced to the left and saw that Ethan's oxygen concentration was zero and the red light of fainting was flashing. Ilsa, who was underwater, was also out of contact. The sound of waves scraped through the headset. He was in a state of panic and dilemma. Finally, he had to remind Elio, "Be careful, the monitoring room has called for help!"
"It's a piece of cake," Elio said. He stopped and pushed the door of the data center control room. It opened wide and slammed heavily against the wall.
There was a surprised silence in the room.
"...So many people?" Benji gasped.
Elio looked around and quickly determined that no one here could fight, so he breathed a sigh of relief; only the researchers behind the computers in the rows looked at him in surprise, and the researchers holding clipboards in the aisle also turned their heads, but before they could react, two gunshots exploded on the ceiling.
"Maintenance access to the water-cooled data center," Elio said simply. "Open."
Benji held his breath, his eyes darting back and forth across the screen, anxiously waiting for the maintenance tunnel to reopen. Ethan's red light flashed faster and faster, and it seemed like it was almost too late. Ilsa grabbed Ethan, whose face was turning purple, underwater and swam hard in the turbulent water towards the maintenance tunnel. Elio's eyes flashed with gold, and he strode to the second row of computers, picked up the researcher, and put the gun to his head, "Now!"
Underwater, Ilsa's pale hand reached for the maintenance passage.
On the water, Benjy prayed silently.
In the data center control room, the researcher tapped the keyboard with trembling fingers.
With a click, Ilsa opened the maintenance door, grabbed Ethan, and slid out like a nimble fish, following the rapidly flowing water.
"It's open!" Benji was overjoyed when he saw the system prompt and quickly started packing up. "Hurry up, hurry up, we really have to leave this time, they're out -"
"I know," Elio said calmly.
He turned his head and glanced at the corridor outside the wall. Guards were pouring in, and Elio suspected they might have discovered what he had taken, but no matter what, he couldn't just walk away in the situation he had just faced.
"See you later," Elio said.
"Are you sure you can handle this by yourself?!" Benji frantically shouted into the headset, "No, no, no, let me help you close the door first, you can still hold on for a while, wait for us-"
"No need," Elio said. "I'm a professional."
He turned off the headset, removed the magazine, and reloaded the two bullets he had just fired. The researcher squatted on the ground, trembling, muttering something under his breath. Elio picked him up again, took a closer look, and said, "Take off your clothes."
The researcher stared at him blankly.
Elsewhere, Ilsa, carrying Ethan, was running out of the maintenance passage, quickly putting him to the ground. A series of hurried footsteps echoed on the nearby stairs, and Benjy rushed down in two steps, carrying something, and ran to their side.
"How is he?" asked Benjy.
Ilsa tried to feel Ethan's breath and immediately frowned, "He's not breathing."
Benjy pressed Ethan's carotid artery at the same time, his face turning pale. But he didn't hesitate, nor did he waste precious time, quickly digging out the defibrillator from his bag. Seeing this, Ilsa also hurriedly opened Ethan's diving suit and helped him apply the electrodes to his chest.
The sound of electricity.
Ethan convulsed violently. When he weakly opened his eyes, he saw Benjy, who had thrown away the defibrillator, sitting on the ground. Ilsa, still dripping, was also sitting beside him, looking at him with relief.
"You were dead just now, Ethan," Benjy said. "Really, for about half a minute."
Ethan couldn't help but smile. He wanted to say, "I know," but after slowly looking around, his expression turned confused. At this moment, Ilsa, remembering something, also raised her head and looked at the stairs behind Benjy in surprise.
"Where's Elio?" she asked.
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The author has something to say: I am much better (climbed out of the word document)
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