Volume 4 Chapter 3: Missing

Qin Lun straightened his back and sat upright on the soft chair with its wool cushion in a standard military posture, his pupils reflecting only the train window.

“He hasn’t changed his position for over two hours! Captain Bock, are all soldiers like Lieutenant Heinrich, cold as granite?” Baron von Wurdenbeller swirled his glass and asked softly.

“The German mountain troops are the empire’s most elite soldiers!” Bock hesitated, then explained quietly. “See the Edelweiss specimen on Gerthard’s chest? That flower grows on the steepest cliffs of the Alps. No other military unit trains in such places except the German mountain troops!”

Captain Bock had actually learned about Gerthard’s background from Skorzeny and knew his relatives had just passed away. However, the captain didn’t explain this to Wurdenbeller, vaguely attributing it instead to the mountain troops’ military posture requirements.

“I bet Lieutenant Heinrich can keep this sitting position until dinner time!” The Baron joked childishly.

“Baron Wurdenbeller, betting on a colleague is not gentlemanly behavior!” Madame Monica lifted her smooth chin, revealing her swan-like, snow-white slender neck.

A complex light flickered in Grant’s eyes. Of everyone in the carriage, only he understood that the coldness and stiffness on Qin Lun’s face weren’t fake; this was probably the truest reflection of the “Dissector’s” inner self.

Not to mention the “Dissector,” wasn’t he himself the same way! An interrogation expert! The Joker lowered his head to hide his expression, carefully examining his own hands. Before his eyes seemed to appear again those painful, twisted, crimson faces from which he had stripped the skin.

The Moon Night Elf Bloodline greatly enhanced his hearing. Everyone’s whispers reached Qin Lun’s ears without missing a word.

The faint sound of discussion seemed like a melody from another world. Qin Lun moved his eyeballs. For the first time, he didn’t use a fake smile to cover his inner coldness and numbness, yet it was mistakenly attributed to the results of military training.

Was it hard to maintain this posture? In the solitary room of the mental hospital, in the confinement cell of the high-security prison… he had curled up hugging his knees in the corner countless times, able to stay in one position for three whole days without eating, drinking, or relieving himself. Now it was just a matter of stretching out his body and straightening his spine.

“Gentlemen, we’re approaching the canyon bridge ahead. Once we cross this mountain, we’ll enter the plains!” Skorzeny came from the locomotive and reminded everyone, “After dinner, please rest early. Tomorrow morning we’ll reach Hamburg, then set sail directly!”

“Sir, since time is so urgent, why don’t we requisition transport planes from the Air Force?” Bock asked somewhat puzzled.

“Our campaign in France isn’t going well; we abandoned Paris the day before yesterday… The air corridors domestically aren’t very safe!” Skorzeny said worriedly. “Precisely because the mission is urgent and we could gather so few strong individuals, we absolutely cannot afford any more losses!”

“Paris has fallen too?” Everyone was somewhat stunned. Their news wasn’t as timely as Skorzeny’s, so they didn’t know about this latest battle situation yet.

“The Empire’s current situation isn’t optimistic. However, according to intelligence analysis, the Allied nations can’t hold out either. If this unconventional warfare force isn’t effectively integrated, America might withdraw from the war due to domestic pressure!” Skorzeny spoke confidently. “Without America’s powerful industrial strength, we can still win the final victory. Work hard, everyone!”

“Boom!” Just as Skorzeny was speaking passionately, the carriage rudely shook violently, almost throwing all those standing to the floor.

“Enemy attack!” Skorzeny pressed a palm against the floor, his large body jumping up again with mismatched agility, and he rushed to the window to look outside.

“British ‘Spitfires’!” Bock, who came from the Air Force, recognized the warplanes in the sky first. “Has our intelligence been leaked?”

“No, it probably isn’t specifically targeting us. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be ‘Spitfires’ but ‘Lancasters’ or ‘Flying Fortresses’.” Skorzeny waved his hand. “Bock, Gerthard, come with me to the machine gun carriage. The rest of you, go to the armored carriage at the front.”

(The Spitfire is a fighter plane; the Lancaster and Flying Fortress are British and American bombers respectively.)

The expressions on everyone’s faces turned grave. They were right in the middle of the bridge. If the bridge were bombed, no matter how powerful their individual abilities were, they would perish in the canyon’s raging waters.

Qin Lun followed Skorzeny and Bock into the locomotive carriage. As the Lieutenant Colonel pressed the control button in the carriage, the top and side panels of this section slowly opened, revealing four 12.2mm anti-aircraft machine guns fixed to the train’s base.

The armored train carrying the Railway Gun had two machine gun carriages in total, one at the front and one at the back. Behind Qin Lun and the others was the huge Railway Gun. The 650mm caliber shells weighed five tons, but they were useless against aircraft.

“Only two planes. Gerthard, you take the one on the left. Let me see the marksmanship you honed in the mountain troops!” Skorzeny’s blond hair streamed in the strong wind as he shouted boldly at Qin Lun.

Qin Lun leaped into the machine gun position, grasping the machine gun’s handles with both hands, but he inwardly sighed. Gerthard’s memories did include how to operate the anti-aircraft machine gun. However, using anti-aircraft guns against planes relied half on luck; it really didn’t have much to do with marksmanship.

“Rat-a-tat-tat!” The sound of the anti-aircraft guns intertwined with the roar of the Spitfire fighters.

“Clang! Clang! Clang!” The machine gun shield in front of Qin Lun rang like rain hitting plantain leaves. Watching the shield deform quickly, bulging with two rows of bullet dents, two trails of sweat involuntarily dripped down Qin Lun’s face. If hit by the plane’s machine gun bullets, wouldn’t it be the same whether it was a Law Body or not?

The armored train’s front and rear machine gun carriages wove a tight web of fire in the sky. The Spitfire fighters’ small bombs failed to hit the bridge. After strafing twice, they climbed and departed.

Returning to the luxury carriage, everyone was somewhat silent. Six months ago, enemy fighter planes rarely appeared over Germany, but now it had become commonplace. This realization made everyone feel the heavy responsibility of their mission.

After racing for a day and a night, the armored train finally reached Hamburg station the next evening. Just after entering the hotel used for cover, Skorzeny received very bad news.

“Missing? How could he be missing?” The Lieutenant Colonel roared loudly at the German military police who came to report.

Besides combat personnel, the special operations team’s “Heracles Plan” required an expert who could understand the Allied nations’ high-tech materials. Dr. Keller, who was to join them from Berlin, belonged to the German secret research troops. Not only was he an outstanding biochemical expert, but he was also quite accomplished in physics and mechanical engineering. He was the most indispensable core member of this operation.

But now, this Dr. Keller had disappeared along with his assistant from the villa residence, vanishing without a trace right under the noses of numerous German military police.

“Lieutenant Colonel, let us go check that villa. Maybe we can find some clues!” Baron Wurdenbeller said, his smile undiminished.

“Take us to the Doctor’s villa!” Skorzeny ordered with a cold face.

The German military police led the special operations team to a villa on the outskirts of Hamburg. This garden villa looked unremarkable from the outside, but underneath was a secret German research facility in Hamburg. After arriving in Hamburg, Dr. Keller had briefly stayed here, waiting to join the others.

“Lieutenant Colonel, the Doctor was here last night. We thought he was reading in the study.” The villa’s military police captain said dejectedly. “It wasn’t until this morning that we realized the Doctor was gone. We searched the entire villa but couldn’t find him or his assistant. It was as if both vanished into thin air!”

Everything in the study was in perfect order. Books were neatly stacked on one corner of the desk. A notebook lay open on the table, next to a pen and a cup of cold coffee. It showed that the owner hadn’t struggled or been entangled much before leaving, as if he had been called out of the study and then disappeared into the air.

“Besides the Doctor and his assistant, were there any other missing personnel?” Monica lifted the hem of her skirt and walked to the desk, flipping through the notebook’s contents. However, she soon gave up; it was mostly notes on scientific research, useless for finding the Doctor.

“Two military policemen are also missing, but they were the most loyal German soldiers…” The military police captain hesitated, then replied.

Qin Lun suddenly felt a stir and turned to look in a certain direction. Skorzeny, Grant, and Baron Wurdenbeller did the same.

After exchanging glances, the Baron frowned, stepped in front of the fireplace, crouched down, and stirred the ashes. On the unburnt charcoal in the hearth were mottled, damp, dark stains.

“It’s human blood!” Wurdenbeller rubbed the damp ash between his fingers. He had just stuck his head into the fireplace when he pulled it back lightning-fast, his face unpleasant as he pointed at the fireplace chimney. “The two missing military policemen have been found…”

The military policemen dragged the bodies of their two comrades from the blood-smeared chimney. They had been hung inside the chimney using the fireplace poker for stirring coals.

“I know who did this!” Skorzeny’s face turned livid, the knuckles of his iron fists cracking.

“Does the Doctor have any personal clothing items still here?” After hesitating briefly, the Lieutenant Colonel asked the military police captain.

“Yes!” The captain took a pair of white gloves from a subordinate and handed them to Skorzeny. “These are gloves the Doctor wore.”

The Lieutenant Colonel brought the gloves to his nose, sniffed hard a couple of times, a sharp light flashed in his eyes, and he vaulted over the windowsill, jumping directly from the third-floor study. His sharp shout came from outside: “Everyone, follow me!”

“Haha, the Lieutenant Colonel is really swift and decisive!” Wurdenbeller twirled his cane, walked to the window, and elegantly flipped backward out of it.

Qin Lun and Grant exchanged glances, smiled wryly, curled their bodies, and jumped out the window. With their physical constitution, a height of over ten meters wouldn’t injure them.

“This is really too unsightly!” Monica covered her face with her hand and shook her head helplessly. She was wearing formal attire and couldn’t imitate those rough men jumping out the window, so she lifted the hem of her skirt and took the stairs.