Starting from South America, speeding through the world

Chapter 201 Adrenaline
The weather was cold and gloomy, with dark clouds looming overhead, and the streets around Capitol Hill had been closed for some time.

Zhou Yi stood in the slowly moving crowd, his face showing the same tension as the other participants.

He wore an identification badge from the Department of Energy on his chest, and his briefcase hung in the crook of his left arm.

Beneath the grey wool coat, her shoulders drooped slightly.

"Dr. Ben Stafford?"

A security guard in a dark gray uniform with an OPS-SYS badge on his chest walked quickly over.

The man glanced at the handheld device, then checked the identification and temporary mission card presented by Zhou Yi, and nodded.

"This way, Doctor." The tone was calm, yet left no room for argument.

Zhou Yi didn't say anything and obediently left the group.

The two followed the cordon and turned into an inconspicuous gray metal door on the right.

It also has security screening equipment inside, but the process is more efficient.

The briefcase was placed into the X-ray machine.

Zhou Yi took off his coat, raised his arms, and stood inside the surround detector.

A few seconds later, the green light came on, and the terminal displayed no abnormalities.

"pass."

"Please come in."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yi picked up her briefcase again, put on her coat, and followed the man into the underground area.

The ceiling lights were a stark white.

The halo of light shone on my body, casting irregular shadows.

Zhou Yi's speed was not fast; the soles of his shoes occasionally dragged across the ground, making a soft "shh-shh" sound.

The man walked ahead, glanced back at him twice, seemingly urging him to catch up.

"Is today's plan a little special?"

Zhou Yi's gaze swept over the camera in the corner, and he asked in a calm tone.

"I didn't set the order. The tasks were assigned from above. You're the expert; I was just responsible for guiding."

The man was clearly unwilling to say more and gave a perfunctory answer.

They continued eastward, passing through a corridor covered with fire blankets.

Warning signs were posted on the walls, and a new layer of insulation was applied.

I could hear the low-frequency vibrations of the central fresh air system in my ears.

“That’s power distribution point A3,” the man said. “This time, we’re only allowing passage up to the southeast.”

Zhou Yi hummed in agreement and slowly followed him into the right-hand passage.

The light dimmed a bit.

In energy-saving mode, the sensor lights turn on one after another.

"Why can't we go to the West Wing?" Zhou Yi asked casually, as if he were just mentioning it offhand.

The man was still walking ahead: "You're not on that section of the list."

"Wasn't it supposed to be a full-area inspection?"

"Only the southeast; the west is under lockdown now." He paused. "You didn't authorize it."

"No authorization," Zhou Yi said softly. "...Is it because of that speech?"

"what?"

The man didn't hear clearly and finally stopped walking.

"I mean, is it because of that speech in the House of Representatives?" Zhou Yi said, walking up to the man and casually looking up.

At the top, three red-painted fire hoses are exposed.

The white base, originally intended for installing surveillance equipment, was now sealed off with cables and completely empty.

A perfect blind spot.

The man wasn't particularly wary.

After all, he had personally witnessed the other party pass through two verification checks.

There's no way anything could go wrong.

Moreover, this person is not young.

He was hunched over and walked slowly, as if he had knee problems.

They're not threatening when they talk; at most, they're a bit gossipy or curious.

“This is not something you should know,” he said impatiently.

"Please forgive my professional curiosity," Zhou Yi chuckled twice.

"But that place, two floors above, is where he's supposed to give his speech, right?"

Upon hearing this, the man was taken aback, and his expression changed slightly.

However, before he could even open his mouth, the other person nodded and said "thank you".

The next second—

Zhou Yi made a move.

He took a half-step to the side, exerted force with his left shoulder, and delivered a precise upward elbow strike to the throat.

The man suddenly felt a sharp pain and was terrified.

He staggered back two steps and instinctively reached for the pistol at his waist.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

Zhou Yi had already moved close, grabbed his right wrist, and then moved behind his back, his left arm digging into his carotid artery.

Immediately afterwards, their center of gravity shifted, and the two crashed into a structural depression on the left.

With a dull thud, the man's head slammed into a metal pipe connector, and his eyes glazed over instantly.

Zhou Yi continued to apply pressure for several seconds until the target completely lost consciousness before releasing his right hand.

Then, he held the man's chin, adjusted the angle, and twisted it in one smooth motion.

"Click."

Joint dislocation.

The man's body twitched twice, his muscles relaxed, and he lost his support.

Zhou Yi stood there and sighed.

The silicone camouflage became increasingly stuffy and hot during strenuous exercise.

He bent down somewhat awkwardly and pulled the pass from the corpse's chest.

The headset was still hanging on his head, with the cable running through his collar.

Zhou Yi glanced at the radio body, and after confirming that it was not a frequency-hopping system, he removed the battery compartment and stuffed it, along with the cables, into his briefcase.

After finishing all that, he straightened his coat and hurried back.

The fire door leading to the right wing was tightly closed, with the slot embedded in the steel plate.

Zhou Yi quickly approached and placed the documents on it.

"Di."

The green light flashes, verification successful.

There were no unexpected second-tier authorization requirements.

As far as the eye can see is another long corridor.

The width narrows and the height decreases, clearly indicating that it has entered the internal maintenance area.

A gray inspection door is located at the end.

The metal sign reads "Power Support - Southwest Section".

In accordance with the structure of Capitol Hill, it is located directly below the podium in the House of Representatives chamber.

Zhou Yi looked around; there was no one there.

The camera is located three meters away at the corner.

Instead of rushing in, he first went to the base of the bracket, took out an infrared disturbance film, and attached it to the edge of the lens's IR sensor.

The patch is transparent and does not block light, but it can disrupt the focus path at certain angles.

This way, the system won't immediately trigger an alarm.

After finishing, Zhou Yi turned around, pushed open the door, and went into the room.

The area here is not large, about six meters long and less than three meters wide.

Three sets of old-model distribution cabinets and relay control boxes are placed against the wall.

The metal casing was covered with faded maintenance labels.

Only now did Zhou Yi feel a belated sense of tension.

Adrenaline surged.

His pupils constricted, his fingertips trembled slightly, but his thoughts remained unusually clear.

He forced himself to take two deep breaths to calm the rising excitement.

Then, with a thought, the pitch-black box appeared out of thin air.

"Click."

The latch is released, and the cover is flipped up.

Zhou Yi put on gloves, removed the device cover, and exposed the tail fuse interface.

The component consists of three parts.

The detonation control unit, the redundant safety selection wheel, and the timing module.

This is the most old-fashioned configuration, and also the safest configuration.

Zhou Yi inserted the component into the interface and confirmed that the connection was established.

The light is not on, and the indicator remains in the "safe" state.

My heart started racing uncontrollably again.

It triggered waves of dizziness.

Zhou Yi stopped what he was doing, took a deep breath, and then began the next steps.

Unscrew the safety wheel.

Connect the detonating capacitor.

Rotate the countdown start button.

Instantly, the number "twenty" appeared in the miniature fluorescent display window.

It kept jumping.

It cannot be interrupted, nor can it be remotely controlled.

Zhou Yi's mind was clearer than ever before.

He lowered his head and gently pushed the entire weapon into the shadows.

At this moment, there are 19 minutes and 53 seconds left until midnight.

Zhou Yi turned and left quickly.

　Zhou Yi is kind-hearted and believes that detonating underground is more humane.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)