Invasion of the United States

Even some overseas institutions have confirmed this matter.

Domestic research teams are already going crazy, eagerly trying to develop the vaccine.

But the academicians responsible for the 'X' project have issued multiple warnings, stating that this virus has an extremely strong ability to self-iterate and escape immunity, and a global outbreak could very likely occur within a month.

Speaking of this, Xiao Jinlang stood up, "I have to go, your blood needs to be sent back as soon as possible, maybe it can accelerate the development of the vaccine..."

"It's useless." Zhou Qingfeng gave the most pessimistic answer, "In this globalized era, the most effective way to deal with the 'X' virus is just one...

High-efficiency isolation, strict disinfection, plus 'shelters'."

Xiao Jinlang stood there dumbfounded, after a long while he suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Zhou Qingfeng's hand, "Xiaozhou, how do you know all this?

What secret can't you tell? One word from you might save many people."

But Zhou Qingfeng shook his head coldly, with a deep sense of helplessness in his eyes, "It can't be saved."

This sentence extinguished the last hope in Xiao Jinlang's heart like a bucket of cold water. His hand slowly released, and he stepped back a few paces as if all his strength had been drained.

"Take care." Old Xiao glanced at Zhou Qingfeng, turned around, and left the safe house, walking into the unknown darkness outside.

-----------------

At night, Thomas from the Ministry of Efficiency drove home, in an extremely bad mood.

Yesterday, he presented a set of detailed data to his superiors, proving that the United States had seen 'excess deaths' in the past three months and hoped to gain enough resources and authorization to conduct an in-depth investigation with his subordinates.

The superiors were greatly surprised at the time, praising Thomas for achieving a 'milestone' result.

However, all this beautiful fantasy shattered completely in less than twenty-four hours.

This morning, the superiors suddenly changed their faces, assigning him to investigate the Pentagon's auditing issues, without mentioning a word about the 'excess deaths' case.

The U.S. Department of Defense has failed to pass the fiscal year audit for seven consecutive years, and those military leaders are fearless about it.

Every year, seven or eight hundred billion US dollars in military spending, where exactly did it go? No one knows.

Assigning Thomas to investigate the Pentagon was no different from throwing him into an abyss. Either to send him to his death or to subtly warn him not to meddle in matters he shouldn't.

"Why don't they let me investigate the 'excess deaths'?" Thomas kept replaying his superiors' cold eyes and perfunctory tone in his mind, his inner fury growing more intense.

He joined the Ministry of Efficiency to become a 'dog' agent just to pierce through the darkness shrouding this country, only to find darkness within the Ministry itself.

Filled with resentment, Thomas finally returned home. He pushed the door open, only to be met with an unusual atmosphere.

The living room lights were dim, his young wife sat on the sofa, appearing tense. Her eyes were filled with panic, seemingly warning him about something.

A man was sitting on the sofa with his back to Thomas, burly and relaxed, as if he were at home.

"Damn." Thomas instinctively thought Zhou Qingfeng had come again, striding over and cursing, "Victor..."

When the man slowly turned his head, Thomas's heart sank.

It was a completely unfamiliar face—black skin, a robust build, and a vicious look. He grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, making him look particularly sinister.

"Who are you?" Thomas's tone instantly turned vigilant, his right hand subconsciously reaching for the gun on his waist.

But before he could complete the motion, he froze mid-action.

The burly stranger held a black gun with a silencer on the muzzle, steadily aiming at his wife sitting on the other side.

Thomas's heart felt like it was gripped by an invisible hand, his eyes moving back and forth between his wife and the burly man, his mind racing for a solution.

At this moment, a crisp sound of high heels came from the direction of the dining room.

A seductive woman emerged from the shadows, holding a cup of ice cream, and greeted contemptuously, "Good evening, Mr. Thomas. I'm Monica, from the Department of Homeland Security."

Thomas instantly recognized the woman's identity, but forced himself to remain calm, "Why is someone from the Department of Homeland Security here?"

Monica smiled slightly, stirring the ice cream gently with a spoon, "Don't play dumb, I'm here for one thing—where is that bastard Victor?"

Thomas shook his head calmly, "I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know any Victor."

Monica's smile turned into a sneer. She nodded slightly towards the burly man standing up from the sofa.

The next second, a muffled gunshot broke the silence of the living room. A bullet whizzed out from the silencer, precisely hitting Thomas's wife in the forehead.

"No..." A hoarse scream erupted from Thomas's throat, his world collapsing in that moment, his previous composure shattered. Part of a series hosted by My Virtual Library Empire (MV&LEMP&YR).

He immediately tried to draw his gun to retaliate, but before his hand could touch the gun handle, the burly man's gun swiftly turned and fired another shot accurately.

The bullet hit Thomas's arm, breaking his ability to fight back desperately. He clutched his arm, stumbling and screaming in agony.

"Mr. Thomas, as a government official, you actually collaborated with a wanted criminal who murdered a governor. Do you think the Department of Homeland Security can't track you down?

Of course, it wasn't easy to find you.

Who would have thought that an agent from the Ministry of Efficiency would be an insider? If you hadn't suddenly wanted to investigate 'excess deaths', we wouldn't have focused our attention on you.

Now, tell me, where is Victor? How do you contact each other? Who are the other accomplices? What conspiracy are you plotting behind the scenes?"

Thomas tried to rush out but was punched back by the burly man, instantly feeling excruciating pain in his lungs, unable to cry for help.

He tried to use his other hand to take out his phone and call the police, but the phone was snatched by the burly man as soon as it was unlocked.

Monica took the unlocked phone, mocking mercilessly, "You wouldn't be foolish enough to save that guy's number directly in your contacts, would you?"

Just as Monica opened the contacts to check, Thomas rushed towards the home alarm installed in the corner of the living room.

Monica lazily said, "Stop him."

The burly man was obedient and quick, his finger squeezed the trigger, and the bullet blew out Thomas's head.

The body fell with a thud, blood splattering on the walls.

Monica was immediately enraged, "You Niger pig, I told you to stop him, not to kill him. I haven't finished questioning him yet."

The burly man was stunned for a few seconds, then widened his eyes and retorted in a muffled voice, "It's you... you didn't make it clear. You can't blame me."

At this moment, Monica truly felt she was communicating with a brainless pig.

-----------------

The next day, Zhou Qingfeng first received an email from Marco.

Last night, Old Ma, after being introduced by someone from a lobbying company, had dinner with Congressman Harrison of the 'Dongda Issues Special Committee' at a hotel in Washington.

The two sides fully exchanged opinions on 'Electric Flight' business in the U.S. and the issues concerning Zhou Qingfeng's accounts in U.S. banks.

Congressman Harrison agreed to exert influence, first to unfreeze the 'Holy Light Foundation' account.

The foundation still had about 270 million US dollars in funds, which would be donated to several charitable organizations designated by the Congressman.

Secondly, there was Zhou Qingfeng's personal account, with about 800 million dollars frozen—the Congressman stated that as long as these dollars were used domestically in the United States, they could be conditionally unfrozen.

However, when Marco mentioned some details about the 'Tree of Justice', Congressman Harrison was evasive and did not give a clear answer, obviously still having concerns.

In the email, Marco described every detail of the meeting with the Congressman, recording all the words as they were to ensure there was no ambiguity or misinterpretation.

Zhou Qingfeng couldn't understand the ambiguous literature of the officialdom, but Hammer could understand, confirming that the money could be unfrozen, but resolving the 'Tree of Justice' issue still required more manpower.

Just as the old man planned to take Zhou Qingfeng to meet some more 'acquaintances' in Washington, 'Gray Shark' sent a message...

A senior agent of the Ministry of Efficiency, due to work pressure, killed his wife at home last night and then shot himself in the back of the head.

Seeing the name of the deceased, Zhou Qingfeng was silent.

Old Hammer patted his shoulder, "This line of work is so dangerous, you can be eliminated by your own people at any time.

But it's too late for you to quit now, let me teach you how to become a qualified spy."