The CIA agents followed closely behind Adolf Hillman, and surrounded Xia Lei instantly when they got to him — two on the left, two on the right, and two behind. Their hands were at their waists too, prepared to draw their guns at any time. 

Xia Lei could still take them on if it were just these six agents, and have a high chance of getting out of this place unscathed. However, there were even more CIA agents around the house, plus the German Special Forces soldiers, all armed to the teeth and equipped with heavy weaponry. All of these factors made his chances of escaping alive practically zero. 

The CIA had failed to capture him several times, and they had made sure to make complete preparations. It was not possible for there to have any more holes in their plan. Besides, they still had Long Bing, Tang Yuyan and Liu Zhengnan in their hands.   

“Do not alarm the guests,” said Adolf Hillman. “Come with us.” 

Xia Lei spoke then. “I’ll go with you, sure, but let my companions go. I’ll leave with you only after I confirm that they’re safe.” 

Adolf Hillman scoffed. “It seems you’re still not aware of your situation, Xia Lei. You have no right to negotiate with us. Come quietly with us, and your companions won’t suffer as much.” 

Xia Lei’s voice was cold. “Well, then I’m sorry, but you guys can only take my corpse if my conditions are not fulfilled. I can also guarantee that at least half the people here will die, including you.” 

Adolf Hillman shot a look at a CIA agent behind Xia Lei. 

The agent behind Xia Lei then drew his gun, raised it, and brought the butt smashing down on the back of Xia Lei’s head. The other five agents stuck out their arms in bear hugs at the same time, aiming to take Xia Lei down, and take him away by force. 

Xia Lei seemed to have a pair of eyes in the back of his head. He twisted his head to the side sharply, and the descending gun grazed past his cheek to hit air. 

Xia Lei raised his left elbow abruptly, slamming it viciously into the Quchi acupressure point on the outside of the elbow of the agent behind him. It was a numbing acupressure point, and could make the arm numb for several minutes with just a light touch. In those minutes though, the owner of the arm would find it very difficult to even hold chopsticks, much less hold a gun and shoot. Furthermore, Xia Lei had used the hardest bone on the outside of his elbow to make that attack! 

The agent who had tried to quietly bash Xia Lei’s head in gave a grunt, and the gun dropped from his hand to fall to the ground. 

Xia Lei grabbed it before it fell below waist-level. He raised his arm, and the deep black of the gun muzzle was pressed to Adolf Hillman’s forehead.    

The other five agents had only managed to get close to Xia Lei, and had not managed to make any moves to capture him.

However, those five CIA agents reacted quickly too. They drew their guns at almost the same time, and pointed their guns at Xia Lei’s head. 

The living room burst into panic, and screaming. 

The people in the living room wanted to flee from the house, but the CIA agents outside the door wanted to charge in. It was a scene of chaos. 

Xia Lei suddenly grabbed Adolf Hillman by the collar before any of the five agents surround him could make his next move, and yanked him into his clutches. He then took the opportunity to turn around, position himself behind Adolf Hillman, and start moving towards a wall.    

Adolf Hillman snapped back to his senses then. He was scared, and his forehead was dotted with cold sweat. “Mr Xia, d,don’t do anything hasty. You won’t be able to get away. Surrender, and we won’t hurt you,” blabbered Adolf Hillman. 

Xia Lei’s arm tightened around Adolf Hillman’s neck, and his voice vanished. His face turned red too, from the lack of air. 

The guests ran out the door, fleeing in a panic.

Xia Lei had cruelly said that he would kill half of the people in the living room, but he had not fired at the guests in the end, nor stopped them from fleeing. He was not a deranged criminal, and he could not do evil deeds like killing innocents. 

The guests soon escaped, some even jumping out of windows. 

Sylvia was the last to escape. For some reason, she seemed hesitant, and even looked back at Xia Lei as she went out the door. 

To her, Xia Lei looked like an unrivalled hero in comics. He was surrounded by massive military forces, but he showed not a trace of fear in this desperate situation. He was calm, relaxed, and had a look of firm determination in his eyes.  

The CIA agents poured into the living room once the guests had fled. The German Special Forces soldiers posted themselves at the windows of the living room too, and pointed their guns at Xia Lei. 

Xia Lei had a hostage, but this hostage didn’t bring him much of a guarantee of safety. The reason was simple — the important people of the AE Research Center would definitely not come here to spring the trap. Adolf Hillman was just a person they had sent to do the dirty work. He might have some standing in the AE Research Center, but it was not one that was high up. 

“Let him go.” A burly golden-haired man walked over. He looked to be in his fifties, and the look in his eyes was quite unusual, like the gaze of an eagle. 

Xia Lei held the muzzle of the gun firmly to Adolf Hillman’s Taiyang acupressure point in response. 

The burly, golden-haired man spread his hands, and a faint sneer appeared on his face. “Mr Xia, do you really think that the hostage you have can guarantee your safe escape from this place? Could you be more sensible about this? I can sacrifice an aircraft carrier for you, much less a person.” 

Xia Lei was calm as he said, “I was not thinking of escaping. I have just one condition. Let my companions go. I will go with you when I confirm that they are safe.” 

“You’ll only give up if you see them suffer, is it?” The burly golden-haired man raised the walkie-talkie in his hand and said, “Bring in those two female Chinese agents, and that electrical engineer.” 

So Long Bing and Tang Yuyan had been captured by the CIA after all. 

Xia Lei was in despair before he even saw them. He used to be able to use his abilities to get himself out of a sticky situation before, and avert disaster. He had been secure in the knowledge that he had backing too, back on the yacht when he had been surrounded by the armed Japanese speedboats, because he knew that Princess Yongmei would help him solve his problem. 

This time was different, however. He had been entrapped, but Princess Yongmei had disappeared, and could not get him out of danger like the last time. 

“Surrender. Don’t do anything stupid. What’s important is to stay alive.” Xia Lei’s arm had relaxed a little, and Adolf Hillman started urging him to surrender again.  

“Shut your mouth, or I’ll bust your balls with the gun. You should be very aware that they won’t shoot at me even if I kill you,” said Xia Lei coldly. 

Adolf Hillman wanted to urge Xia Lei to surrender again, but he swallowed his words. Xia Lei could wrest control of a gun, and hold him hostage while being surrounded by six elite CIA agents, so how difficult would it be for Xia Lei to shoot his balls off? 

The golden-haired man in the doorway spoke then. “I’ll introduce myself first. I am the director of the CIA’s European branch, Sean. Remember my name, because this operation to capture you was orchestrated by me. You have quite a legendary life, but I’ll be ending it.” 

“I came here because of an agreement with the German government. You are ignoring the agreement between China and Germany. You will have some trouble too,” said Xia Lei. 

“We have some trouble? Heh heh.” Sean laughed. “Are you referring to those Germans? Don’t worry, they’ll come home in the end. We understand your Chinese culture very well, and we also know about the situation on your side. ‘Weak countries are underprivileged in diplomacy’, as one of your politicians said. China won’t be able to hold out for long under the combined pressure of Europe and America. China is now in a strategic encirclement, and we just have to pick some excuse to have those Germans returned.” 

Weak countries are underprivileged in diplomacy. These words hurt Xia Lei, and the dire situation he was faced with made him sorrowful.  

“Did you really think that we would not know about you trying to exchange the Eurofighter Typhoon engine technology for other technologies? We knew about this from the beginning. China is in great need for advanced fighter plane engines, so we fulfilled your need. Through all our past interactions, someone mentioned that your weakness is women, but I think your greatest weakness is your love for your country. This was why you came here for the sake of obtaining advanced fighter plane engine technology, isn’t it?” said Sean. 

“Why did you pick now to make your move? I am here in Germany, and you could have captured me at any time, even if I hid in Rheinmetall AG.” Xia Lei held back the flames of anger in his heart. 

“Blame the excellence of the XL2500 sniper rifle and the Gust assault rifle you designed. You probably don’t know this, but the Germans will make a copy of the production lines, and the Thunder Dragon intelligent lathe you’ve built in Rheinmetall AG, and build them for us. Your coming to Germany is like stepping into a prison. We were patient, waiting for you while you toiled away in prison, for the time you finished your work, so we could make our move and capture you. You’ve been under our surveillance anyway, and there’s no escape for you,” said Sean. 

At that moment, three agents escorted Long Bing, Tang Yuyan and Liu Zhengnan over. 

“Don’t bother about me! Find some way to escape on your own!” These were the first words Long Bing said to Xia Lei when she saw him. 

Tang Yuyan smiled. “Don’t be in a rush to get married in your next life. I’ll look for you.”    

*

“Shut your mouth!” Sean suddenly punched Long Bing in the underbelly. 

Long Bing folded. 

A CIA agent smashed the butt of his gun into Tang Yuyan’s back, and she staggered, almost falling to the floor. 

Liu Zhengnan was hit too, but it seemed he had not been hit as hard as Long Bing and Tang Yuyan. He fell to the floor, his face pale with fright. He did not beg for mercy, however, and did not make any pleas for innocence. 

Sean drew a gun, and pointed it abruptly to Long Bing’s head. “I’ll give you a minute to put down your weapon and surrender, or I kill her immediately. Do not test my determination, nor my patience. One minute. I will shoot immediately after this one minute.” 

Xia Lei released Adolf Hillman immediately, then pointed the gun at himself. He laughed as he said, “Fine, then I’ll give you 30 seconds to consider this — let my companions go, and I will go with you, or you take my corpse with you.” 

Tears burst from Long Bing and Tang Yuyan’s eyes in that instant. 

They were deeply moved, and their love for him overflowed, spilling out for him like their tears.

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