Chapter 19 The Siege in Progress

However, despite the laughter, the current situation is indeed grim.

The smiles on the faces of the people in the hunter's cabin gradually faded.

Once calm, the lurking worry was evident.

"Alright, I know what you're all worried about, but there's really no need to fret."

Hearing Shen Congfei's words, the other four turned to look at him.

"Do you guys know why my codename is 'Spark'?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than he answered his question.

"Though I've lost my memory, there's one phrase that's etched clear in my mind."

Seeing that he had attracted everyone's attention, Shen Congfei finally voiced that phrase.

"A single spark can start a prairie fire."

"And right now, we are that little spark."

"I believe there are many like us in this country, who want to resist as we do."

"They're just waiting for a chance."

"All that we're doing, is awakening the patriotic spirit in these people."

"To make them realize that our enemy is not invincible."

"As long as we can spread this fire across the nation, one day we'll reclaim our homeland and drive away the enemy."

Shen Congfei's passionate speech was resolute and poised.

Besides shaking the other four to their core, they also saw the determination in his eyes.

This made them realize,

Those words weren't just casual remarks.

What they were doing now was indeed the great fight to protect their homeland and awaken the consciousness of the citizens.

Apart from the two young men, whose eyes were ablaze with enthusiasm after the motivating speech, and who were itching to go to fight,

As the only elder among the five, "Doctor" Chen Yuanjia couldn't believe that this student standing in front of her could give such an inspiring speech.

At this moment, even she was feeling an upsurge of passion.

And Xia Wei, watching this familiar person in front of her,

Felt even more estranged at this moment.

But those words genuinely touched her heart.

If before, Xia Wei merely liked this boy she grew up with,

Then now, her feelings had already surpassed that level.

Her face unconsciously revealed an admiring expression.

However, being the person involved, the impassioned Shen Congfei, seeing the reactions of the four, let out a sigh of relief.

He originally thought their morale was too low for action, but it seemed that the boost had an unexpectedly strong effect.

Seems like his stint as a military otaku didn't go to waste.

He chuckled.

...

Meanwhile, just as the morale-boosting speech was ongoing in the hunter's cabin, a black imperial Humvee, fitted with a machine gun, pulled up at the site where they had left their truck.

A man who could be considered Shen Congfei and the others' old acquaintance, stepped off the truck in his military boots.

"Colonel, you're here."

An officer responsible for sealing off the scene hurried over, saluting his superior.

"Hmm, what's the situation here?"

The Colonel's tone was cold, his gaze fixed on the abandoned troop carrier and a corpse covered in a white cloth on the ground.

This familiar scene only evoked more fury in his heart.

"Sir, we've been tracking them to this point. We only found the abandoned truck and this dead body."

"All the checkpoints on the way out of the city have been wiped out."

"We suspect that the enemies who captured the Lieutenant have retreated into the mountains."

"Please allow us to comb through the mountain, rescue the Lieutenant, and annihilate the enemy."

Faced with the request of this officer, who was visibly distraught,

The Colonel turned to his guard: "Have there been any updates from the first squad I dispatched?"

Seeing the guard shake his head, he fixed his gaze on the officer in front of him bursting with combat readiness.

"Alright, I agree. Take your men and ferret them out, dead or alive."

"Yes, sir!"

Hearing his request approved, the Imperial Officer was thrilled, feeling a great battle achievement was within reach. After watching the Colonel drive off, he contacted his adjutant without hesitation, ordering him to summon troops from the city for a sweep mission in the mountains.

Getting such orders, troop carriers began to zip down the city streets.

Citizens who saw this could only worry in private about another impending war.

And among the crowd, one person who witnessed this scene turned pale and promptly left.

He ran, and ran, and sprinted until he reached the zoo.

This was none other than the father of 'King Kong' Tang Ke.

In the staff centre of the zoo, Mrs. Tang offered her breathless husband a towel to wipe off his sweat, asking him,

"What happened to get you so worked up?"

"Phew … all those … military trucks, they've started to leave the city in flocks. I suspect they might be after our son."

Hearing this, Mrs. Tang was taken aback. Dropping the towel, she exclaimed,

"What! We must alert them immediately."

"I know but where are they?"

Mr. Tang exhaled in despair, anxiety written all over his face.

"Hold on, don't panic."

It was then that an idea occurred to Mrs. Tang, and she hurried upstairs.

In a little while, she descended holding a birdcage.

Mr. Tang was speechless. "What are you doing with a birdcage at such a moment?"

"Don't you remember? This is the homer dove you got for our son. It never left his side since we brought it home."

"Remember the day you fed it, it accidentally flew off, but it still managed to find its way to the school to our son."

"We ran around the city worried sick finding the bird, but our son took it home as soon as his school ended."

"You were even jealous, saying even a dove is closer to him than us, his own parents."

"Oh, yeah, you're right, there was such an incident … wait, are you suggesting …?"

Mr. Tang paused halfway, his face tensing up suddenly,

He guessed what his wife intended to explain.

But the idea was mind-boggling,

It was entirely a matter of luck.

Looking at the dove cooing in its cage, Mrs. Tang sighed.

"This is the only thing we can try now, we can only trust this dove."

"But what if it gets shot down by the Imperial soldiers in the sky?"

Mr. Tang's comment earned him an eyeroll from Mrs. Tang.

"Quit speaking ill. Our son is going to live a long life. Let's get started, it'd be too late if we delay any longer."

"Okay, okay."

Then, the two started to work.

First they found paper, a pen, a string, and some bird feed.

After writing their message and wrapping it around a leg of the dove, they tied it securely with the string.

In no time, the two were standing in the zoo, releasing the dove.

The dove flew around in the sky, confused, but soon like it had found its target, it flew off in one direction.

Mr. and Mrs. Tang looked up at the scene, and pressed their palms together to pray, hoping that the dove could safely deliver the message.