Sitting on the grass in the Honmaru Palace, leaning against towering trees, watching Bai Yaxin's helicopter emit black smoke in the blue sky, slowly descending towards the direction of the Nijo Castle, a feeling of relief welled up in Chongzong's heart.
What is more uplifting than regaining hope after despair?
The hope that had once shattered now shines again.
This battle plan now holds the possibility of success.
Chongzong even finds himself somewhat concerned about Bai Yaxin's life.
But this concern is not for the good of Bai Yaxin.
—"Please don't die, Bai Yaxin."
It is purely in the hope that the operation will be successful.
If Bai Yaxin dies in the Nijo Castle, from the overall perspective of this operation, it would mean a defeat for Chongzong and his allies.
The evildoers must ultimately be brought to justice by the court in order to restore justice to the victims and society to the greatest extent.
If only private justice is used to simply kill Bai Yaxin, then there will be a second, a third Bai Yaxin in the future.
Setting an example, making it public, is the foundation of establishing social order and a virtuous cycle.
—"...This is Uesugi Chongzong, calling Ito Shinran." (Chongzong)
Chongzong put down his gun, held the wireless communicator, relaxed his body, feeling alive again.
Green grass, tall trees, blue sky, white clouds, a gentle breeze, how pleasant.
The battle is not over yet, but Chongzong's fight has already ended.
He doesn't even have the strength to stand up.
The direction of the helicopter's descent, in the courtyard of the Nijo Castle, as far as Chongzong knows, most of the police force brought by the local warlord is there, and Manranyama Souren's forces should also have two or three usable people.
Moreover, the firepower of the tenshukaku can also cover the courtyard of Nijo Castle.
With master archers like Ito Shinran and heavy artillery like grenade arrows, the battle can change at any moment.
Atlas Grizzly Bear, one of Bai Yaxin's important forces, has been left by Chongzong in the Honmaru Palace.
And the girl named Kumo, who Bai Yaxin has already given up on, must also be considered an important cadre.
With two generals missing, the external pressure should be significantly reduced, shouldn't it?
As far as Chongzong knows, the only standout shooter under Bai Yaxin is a man named Zaxi Doji.
"This is Ito Shinran, what's up?" (Ito Shinran)
After a while, Ito Shinran finally answered Chongzong's call.
"My side of the battle is already over, there should be no more enemies inside the Nijo Castle, do you need any help?" (Chongzong)
Although Chongzong asked this way, there isn't much he can actually do now.
"No need, even if I need your help, you can't get out of there, right?" (Ito Shinran)
"With your current physical condition, it will probably cost you your life to jump over the castle wall, swim across the moat, and climb back up." (Ito Shinran)
"I'm not that cruel." (Ito Shinran)
Long ago, Chongzong had heard from Ito Yunai that her father was not very good at speaking.
Now, it seems that Ito Shinran's silence is not just a boast.
These words that make you angry but are indeed true, are truly hard to hear.
Chongzong comforted himself, thinking that Ito Shinran's words were for his own good, out of kindness, not malice.
"Yeah, I'll just rest here, what about you guys?" (Chongzong)
"We're going to continue to support the others in the Nijo Castle." (Ito Shinran)
"The tenshukaku has been exposed, the hit-and-run tactic we just used can't be deployed a second time." (Ito Shinran)
"We have to withdraw now, take care of yourself." (Ito Shinran)
In his heart, Chongzong translated what Ito Shinran said to him as "take care", not as "good luck", this archery deity's language skills are not that good, he may have also been taught language by a Kyudo teacher.
All he can do next is quietly wait for good news from everyone.
"Okay, you take care." (Chongzong)
In the end, Chongzong couldn't bring himself to ask Uesugi Yui about her well-being.
This long day is far from over.
The scene shifts to the side of the helicopter.
The deformed propeller, which prevented the helicopter's main shaft from rotating vertically, caused severe friction between the main shaft and the inner wall due to the deviation of the rotation trajectory, causing the engine to overheat, with some components starting to burn due to the overheating inside the cabin, emitting black smoke.
The black smoke is a minor issue, inadequate engine power is the fatal one.
The helicopter's propeller speed cannot go up, directly leading to insufficient lift to maintain the helicopter hovering, and the altitude starts to drop continuously.
The pilot kept yelling, "It's too heavy! Drop something quickly! Otherwise, the plane will crash!!"
"Anything will do, who the hell is going to get rid of something now?!"
Inside the cabin, two mercenaries who had experienced various scenes immediately began to act.
They threw miscellaneous items from the helicopter directly down below, including the purified water prepared to drink for Bai Yaxin, dried food, replacement clothing, all thrown down.
But the helicopter kept dropping.
What is even more despairing is that at this altitude, even parachuting down wouldn't help.
Before the parachute can open, the person would hit the ground, and it's even possible for the parachute to be caught by the helicopter's propeller, spinning the person out.
In short, there are a hundred ways to die, but not a single way to survive.
"Damn it! Can't you figure something out on your end?!" (Mercenary Captain)
The mercenary captain glared at the pilot and shouted angrily.
The veins on his temples bulged, his fists clenched tightly, and his roaring voice resembled that of a lion's roar.
"Stop shouting at me, if you have a way, you fly instead!!" (Pilot)
The people on the plane, due to the fear of death, fell into hysterical emotions.
When facing death, no one can stay calm.
The only calm person was Bai Yaxin.
Just awakened, he was still very weak, only managing to barely keep his consciousness, not even fully awake.
He looked at the chaos around him as if none of this had anything to do with him.
He was like a spectator, observing everything.
As if his soul had left his body.
Many years ago, when Bai Yaxin was still in the underworld, he sneaked into a movie theater and watched a movie.
In the movie, the protagonist was an old man. After the old man died, his soul left his body and saw his descendants gathering around his body, crying loudly.
The old man suddenly felt at ease because during his lifetime, he always felt that his children were pretending to love him, and their real goal was his inheritance.
But in reality, these children truly loved him.
After a while of the old man's soul peacefully ascending to heaven, the old man's children gradually stopped crying, instead, they began to quarrel about how to divide the old man's inheritance, even turning to violence.
Emotional fluctuations are temporary, but self-interest is permanent.
Now, Bai Yaxin saw so many things being thrown out of the aircraft, yet his biggest "burden" was securely fastened to the seat.
The mercenaries Bai Yaxin initially intended to use as expendables had performed beyond Bai Yaxin's expectations.
—When things are over, bring them in to work for me.
—It's a pity to let them wander outside as contract mercenaries.
As many pawns as Bai Yaxin could have who were willing to risk their lives, he would take.
As for the helicopter currently in descent, and the lives of everyone on board, Bai Yaxin was not worried without basis.
He was not blindly optimistic.
He had confidence in one person in the courtyard of Nijo Castle.
As long as this person is there, he will not die.
This person is the ultimate trump card in Bai Yaxin's hands.
As Bai Yaxin was thinking this, a figure flashed outside the helicopter.
Then, a middle-aged man with a sturdy figure, dressed in a black tight-fitting suit, and carrying a small flying device on his back, rolled into the helicopter.
Entering an irregularly descending helicopter from hundreds of meters in the air.
This is not something an ordinary human can do.
Extraordinary courage, exquisite technique, both are indispensable.
The descending helicopter, the wind pressure from the helicopter, the control of the small aircraft by the executor... countless factors, each requiring extremely precise matching to successfully penetrate into the helicopter.
A slight misstep could lead to a tragedy where the machine is destroyed and lives are lost.
"Wow! This is so exciting!" (Middle-aged man)
The middle-aged man stood up easily in the descending helicopter, looking as relaxed as if he were on level ground.
"Everyone, are you all okay?" (Middle-aged man)
At this moment of life and death, he remained remarkably calm, with a smile on his face. His words were light-hearted, as if he were chatting with hostesses in a cabaret.
The mercenaries looked at him with dumbfounded expressions, while the pilot couldn't even be bothered to turn around, focusing instead on finding a place to make an emergency landing and maintaining the stability of the helicopter.
"Well, nobody's paying attention to me, but that's okay with me." (Middle-aged man)
The middle-aged man didn't care about everyone's reactions. He glanced at the two mercenaries and then looked at the mercenary captain.
"Hey handsome, you must be the captain, right? I'm Longya, Mr. Bai's subordinate, and I'm here to take him away." (Middle-aged man)
Before the mercenary captain could react, Longya, the middle-aged man, had already untied all the ropes securing Bai Yaxin, and then carried Bai Yaxin horizontally.
He carried Bai Yaxin effortlessly, as if he were carrying a little girl.
"Let's go, have fun, guys!" (Middle-aged man)
After saying this, the middle-aged man jumped out of the helicopter with Bai Yaxin in his arms through the cabin door.
The whole process took less than a minute.
All the actions were decisive, without any hesitation.
It was only when the mercenaries and the pilot saw the middle-aged man flying gracefully with Bai Yaxin in the air that they realized what had happened.
"Damn it! We've been played!" (Mercenary captain)
But it was too late.
They had fought fiercely to save Bai Yaxin together, but they had not expected that Bai Yaxin had already prepared a life-saving trump card for himself.
The small flying device equipped by the middle-aged man was a jet propulsion flying device mounted on his back, powered by a lithium-ion battery, allowing him to fly freely in the air with great agility.
This kind of cutting-edge technology equipment was obviously top-notch military products. It was unexpected that Bai Yaxin could get his hands on such equipment.
Now, they could only watch helplessly as Bai Yaxin landed safely on the ground ahead of them, and they had to find a way to survive on their own.
"Look on the bright side, brother, let's just consider it as reducing the weight of one person." (Pilot)
At this moment, the pilot, who had been at odds with the mercenaries just now, tried to lighten the mood and cheer up the mercenaries.
"Will this crappy helicopter be able to fly again?" (Mercenary captain)
The tension in the mercenary captain had eased a bit by his influence.
"It won't fly, but it can land 'gently,' like when you're being gentle for the first time with a woman." (Pilot)
The pilot burst into laughter, quite pleased with his own humor.
"If we don't die this time, let's find a place to drink together." (Mercenary captain)
"You're treating." (Pilot)
"Deal." (Mercenary captain)
Then, after several struggles, the helicopter finally crashed into the turret of the Nijō Castle and fell into the moat.
The battle was far from over.
