Darkstone Code

"...Then it’s decided. We’ll wait for him for half a day at the most. If he hasn’t arrived by 2 PM, we’ll announce this to the international community at 5 PM in the afternoon..."

As he dined, Beigaao reached a consensus with everyone. No matter what, tomorrow they would publicly announce they were a unified, complete government that complied with local laws!

The purpose of doing so was to expel the Federation.

When Mariluo achieves "unification," they can demand Sanchez and Isabella lay down their arms and require the Federation’s military forces to depart from the homeland.

This is also why all the warlords support Beigaao. Combined, most of their forces are no match for the Federation; they have no other choice!

As he raised his glass and looked at the table, some of the prominent warlords were either expressionless or showed some approval, and Beigaao’s face beamed with a special smile.

No matter the case, as a Grand President, a puppet Grand President, he did what he had to do, and today was the pinnacle of his life!

Indeed, today was the pinnacle of his life. He had achieved something many didn’t even dare to dream of—unifying this fragmented country with his own strength.

Despite the external pressures, the core of his success still lay in his own contributions.

Returning to his room, Beigaao found himself too excited to sleep. He paced back and forth, holding the speech he needed to deliver to the international community tomorrow afternoon.

Constantly pondering whether each word in the speech was appropriate, whether it could inspire, and whether it could awaken attention to Mariluo!

He was tireless, as if he had returned to his twenties, filled with endless energy, and even if he didn’t sleep all night, it wouldn’t affect his life the next day!

This will mark a historic highlight!

He told himself this!

Meanwhile, two special operations team members ventured through the sewer, arriving directly beneath the kitchen.

The kitchen was quiet, without a single sound, no lights, and no people.

No one would have thought that someone could sneak into Beigaao Manor in the middle of the night in such a manner; they assumed all threats were above ground.

Everywhere, there were armed men patrolling, in the courtyard, on the walls of the manor, with guards stationed at regular intervals.

Beigaao increased the defensive strength of his manor, worried that the Federation might suddenly attack him, and he used all available armed forces to protect himself.

Armored vehicles and cannons were parked in both the front and back yards.

This wasn’t exaggerated at all; the Federation was truly terrifying.

"There are screws," said the breaker, nudging the sewer grate, then reaching through the gaps with his fingers to feel the screws at four corners.

"Can it be opened?" asked the code-named Inventor, who was behind him, primarily responsible for providing various tools for the team.

He casually handed over a bendable screwdriver; at this time, most screws used worldwide were flat screws, which meant flathead screws.

These screws would take many more years before they were phased out, and their popularity was due to their simplicity; oftentimes, you didn’t need a screwdriver, just any small metal piece would suffice.

Especially in war, usability wasn’t the key; applicability and simplicity were.

Trying it out, the screw began to loosen, and it took nearly forty minutes for the breaker to unscrew all four.

Both arms were almost numb, despite resting twice during the process.

It’s tiring to work with arms raised, and his persistence evidenced his excellent physical condition.

The sewer grate was gently lifted, turned around, and returned to the sewer.

He handed the grate to Inventor, who placed it back at the bottom of the sewer.

Both of them quietly crawled out.

Though they couldn’t get the design plans for Beigaao Manor, they had found many people who had been there.

Before the Federation intervened, Beigaao, as Grand President, appeared kind and friendly, often entertaining foreigners at his manor.

This might sound a bit... unbelievable or difficult to understand, but it’s not that hard.

Beigaao needed to demonstrate a unique character, showing the international community that his approach to foreigners was different from other warlords, thus gaining international attention and even assistance.

No one would help a person or regime that’s hostile to themselves and their citizens. Moreover, hosting foreigners aids in attracting investments, so many came here.

The special operations team members found some people, detained and interrogated them, piecing together a picture of the manor’s public spaces from their descriptions.

The two proceeded, splitting up near the staircase on the first floor.

The breaker would handle Beigaao, while Inventor would plant bombs.

Inside the building, there were people patrolling, but the number and density were far lower than outside.

The older you get, the lighter your sleep becomes, waking up at the slightest sound at night.

There are too many people patrolling the house, which could disturb Beigaao, so basically, the patrol intervals in the house are very long.

Around two in the morning, the intruder had already figured out the patterns of these people and had found Beigaao’s bedroom.

There was almost no defense; the bedroom wasn’t even locked from the inside, but of course, there’s no one to blame for this.

With so many people arranged outside, if someone really wanted to break in, the people inside the room would be alerted immediately.

Whether the door is locked or not makes little difference.

After the patrol personnel lazily left and, after observing for a while without finding anything unusual, the intruder walked out of a room and headed towards Beigaao’s bedroom.

He reached the door, gently twisted the handle, and the door opened.

Beigaao had been living alone for many years; his wife left him when he was young, and now his children had also left him.

Behind the exquisite and thin bed canopy, one could vaguely see him lying on the bed.

At this moment, Beigaao had just lain down and hadn’t completely fallen asleep.

The desire he had for many years was about to become reality, and this great joy was so stimulating that it kept him awake.

In a daze, he felt someone open the door, and the light from outside made him frown slightly, subconsciously.

Then he seemed to murmur, "Is it dawn yet?"

Once a person falls asleep, they completely lose a sense of time. Sometimes it feels long, especially when you’ve had many dreams spanning a long time, making it feel like a very long nap.

But other times, sleep is so deep that falling asleep and waking up feels like you just closed your eyes for a short while, yet a whole night has passed.

The light in his eyes dimmed again, Beigaao opened his eyes. He was slightly surprised, then his scalp began to tingle, and he broke out in a cold sweat.

A shadow appeared not far from him.

He forced himself to calm down and slowly sat up. He didn’t turn on the light, "Who are you?" he asked.

The intruder was actually startled as well; he had just opened the door, and the light from outside woke the target up...

His hand was already on the gun, ready to retreat at any moment.

Luckily, Beigaao didn’t scream, allowing him to relax a bit.

While he was contemplating the next move, Beigaao asked, "Are you from the Federation? Are you here to kill me?"

Perhaps realizing that his guess was correct, Beigaao suddenly wasn’t afraid, just a bit regretful.

Because in just over ten hours, everything would be different.

Precisely because of these thoughts, a strong will to survive surged from the depths of his soul.

He didn’t want to die, not because he feared death—he was old and could be taken by accident at any time.

He didn’t want to die simply because he was just half a day away from possibly rewriting the history and future of this country; he wasn’t willing to give up.

He forced himself to appear normal as one hand groped for the nightstand, where there was a gun; however, his target was the button beside the lamp.

As long as he pressed the button, the butler would return.

His actions were light and slow. After adjusting to the darkness, his eyes could almost see the shadow in the darkness.

He looked into that person’s eyes, focusing on his eyes, drawing the other person’s attention to himself.

His question seemed to have left the other person somewhat... stunned, maybe because the other person didn’t understand how they had been "exposed."

Almost there, his hand was already at the bedside, less than a foot away from the button; the chance to survive was right there...

At this moment, the intruder suddenly said, "I’m very sorry," and pulled out a gun under Beigaao’s shocked, incredulous gaze.

After the muffled sounds of several gunshots, Beigaao couldn’t even manage to press the button.

He had overestimated his physical skills and underestimated the power of bullets to cause harm!

He collapsed onto the bed, gasping for air, the intruder’s aim slightly off in the dark, failing to hit vital organs.

But all three bullets hit his chest, and each breath now was a painful torment.

It felt as if several red-hot iron rods were piercing his chest, burning painfully!

He wanted to shout, but he couldn’t; his injured body wouldn’t allow him to shout aloud.

The intruder approached the bed, looked at Beigaao, and aimed the gun at his head, "I’m sorry..."