61: Chapter 61 Hope on the Kite String

The sound of artillery fire stopped.

After the deafening clamor receded, a heart-palpitating silence followed.

The river flowed silently in the night; its three-hundred-meter width was like an insurmountable natural chasm.

Everyone remained silent, staring at the pitch-black surface of the river.

Shangguan Zhibiao's face was full of worry. He walked over to Chen Xi, his voice dry.

"Mr. Chen, the Zipline was fired across with the rocket, but this main cable... how do we handle it?"

He pointed at the steel cable coiled like a small mountain at his feet, thicker than an adult's arm.

"It's so thick and heavy. Forget dragging it across; we can't even lift it."

Despair washed over everyone's hearts once again like a tide.

Chen Xi didn't speak.

Under everyone's bewildered gazes, he silently crouched down and pulled something out of that magical backpack.

A children's kite with a Pleasant Goat pattern on it.

Everyone was stunned.

Shangguan Zhibiao's mouth hung open; he couldn't say a single word.

The surrounding Soldiers also looked at Chen Xi and the kite in his hand as if he were a madman.

[??????]

[What the f—... What am I seeing? Pleasant Goat?]

[I'm losing it. Is this a war or a spring outing? Is the streamer shell-shocked?]

[Kill me, just give me a quick end! I don't want to try and guess the streamer's train of thought anymore!]

[Streamer, just stop! It's crawling with Japs out there!]

Chen Xi ignored everyone's stares and the completely chaotic bullet chat in the Livestream room.

He just focused on checking the kite, which looked both ridiculous and pathetic.

Then, he took a roll of string out of his backpack.

A roll of so-called "kite string" so thin it was almost invisible in the night.

2026, "Great Wall" Command Center.

The atmosphere was as heavy as iron.

The main screen was split in two.

On the left was the 1937 battlefield, with Chen Xi and his comical children's kite.

On the right was an overwhelming, complex model composed of countless data streams.

"Reporting to Elder Long! Wind speed in the target area is 3.2 meters per second, wind direction southeast, with irregular downdrafts present!"

"Nanosilk tension simulation established! The theoretical critical value is 300 kilograms, but considering minor damage, the safety threshold must be kept under 50 kilograms!"

"Drone attitude module activated! Battery at 97%, estimated flight time 23 minutes! We don't have a second chance!"

A young technician looked at Chen Xi's calm demeanor on the screen, then at the red data lines representing fatal risks in front of him, and couldn't help but wipe the sweat from his forehead.

This was hardly flying a kite.

This was clearly walking a tightrope thinner than a strand of hair at an altitude of three hundred meters.

Elder Long stood before the screen, saying nothing.

His fists were clenched tight.

He knew better than anyone that this invisible Nanosilk was the Sword of Damocles hanging over everyone's heads.

It was the hope for life.

And a shortcut to hell.

1937, the warehouse rooftop.

Chen Xi firmly tied the nearly invisible Nanosilk to the front end of the main cable.

He turned his head, glanced at the completely stunned Shangguan Zhibiao, and smiled.

"Ever fly a kite when you were a kid?"

Shangguan Zhibiao shook his head subconsciously.

"It's a technical skill."

After saying that, Chen Xi ignored him.

He stood up, facing the river breeze.

With a flick of his wrist...

The kite soared.

The Nanosilk tightened.

It took to the sky.

Carrying everyone's hope and confusion, the kite with the Pleasant Goat pattern slowly flew into the pitch-black night sky.

After a brief silence, the bullet chat in the Livestream room exploded.

[It's up! It's up! The kite carrying all our collective IQ has taken off!]

[F—, I've never been this nervous in my life! Not even when I was checking my college entrance exam scores!]

[I'll lose if that kite string can even pull a piece of yarn! I said it! Even Jesus couldn't stop me!]

[Stop messing around, you guys. This is the mysterious Eastern metaphysical power called 'using four taels to move a thousand catties.' You mortals don't understand.]

The kite—or rather, the Miniature drone disguised as a kite—smoothly crossed the riverbank under Chen Xi's control.

Under the Drone's first-person lens, the river surface looked like a vast, surging expanse of ink.

Below, the Japanese Army patrols moved back and forth like a colony of ants in the dark.

Chen Xi's fingers danced lightly over the invisible virtual controller.

His expression was as calm as if he were playing the simplest flight simulation game.

But in the "Great Wall" Command Center, the atmosphere was entirely different.

"Warning! Japanese Army patrol detected! Forty meters below the projection point! Suggest increasing altitude!"

"No! Increasing it further will enter a lateral wind shear zone! The Drone's attitude will go out of control!"

"Wind speed is increasing! Nanosilk tension has reached 30 kilograms! Danger!"

Cold alarm sounds and the tense arguments of experts intertwined.

Elder Long stared intently at the red curve representing the tension value on the screen, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead one by one.

Chen Xi's finger moved slightly.

The Drone's altitude instantly dropped by half a meter.

It flew past silently, almost brushing against the top of a Japanese Soldier's head.

The Soldier who was smoking seemed to sense something and looked up in confusion.

The night sky was pitch black.

He saw nothing, so he lowered his head and continued smoking.

Sharp intakes of breath filled the Livestream room.

The Drone continued forward.

Ahead, a brilliant searchlight beam, like the gaze of death, slowly swept over.

"Warning! Searchlight approaching! Entering illumination range in ten seconds!"

"Evade immediately! To the left! Evade to the left!"

In the Command Center, a young expert cried out.

"It's too late!" another senior expert's face turned pale. "To the left are building ruins; there's turbulence!"

Everyone's hearts were in their throats.

Just then, a golden bullet chat with the highest priority streaked across the screen.

['Great Wall' Meteorology Group: Updraft in three seconds. Maintain course, pull up vertically!]

Chen Xi saw it.

Without a moment's hesitation, he tapped the controller.

Instead of evading, the Drone maintained its course and flew straight toward the light beam.

Wails of despair filled the Livestream room.

The searchlight beam drew closer and closer.

Three.

Two.

One.

Just as the beam was about to swallow the Drone, an invisible current of air suddenly rose from the river surface.

Carried by this current, the Drone instantly shot up over ten meters.

The brilliant light beam swept past dangerously close beneath it.

A perfect brush with death.

"Whew..."

In the Command Center, everyone collapsed into their chairs as if their strength had been drained.

Elder Long's clenched fists slowly relaxed, his palms drenched in cold sweat.

The Drone safely crossed the most dangerous central part of the river.

The outline of the opposite bank was already visible in the distance.

Victory seemed to be right before them.

The bullet chat in the Livestream room turned from tense prayers into a post-crisis celebration.

[It passed! It passed! I'm f—ing kneeling to the streamer right now!]

[Master Xi is awesome (voice cracks)!!!]

[Who said they were going to eat their phone just now? Come out! I'll gift you a rocket for your medical bills!]

The Drone drew a graceful arc in the air and began to descend slowly, preparing to land on the predetermined target building.

Everything was going incredibly smoothly.

Just then.

Below, a squad of the Japanese Army patrolling by the river stopped in their tracks.

A Squad leader, perhaps having stood guard for too long, felt a bit of stiffness in his neck.

Subconsciously, while rubbing the back of his neck, he raised his head and looked up at the deep night sky.

His gaze swept across aimlessly.

Then, his movements stopped.

His eyes narrowed slightly, filled with confusion.