Invasion of the United States

But now comes the most critical and difficult step of this operation: finding the 'Marine One' helicopter, or more precisely, the first Marine helicopter squadron.

The men exchanged glances and all turned to the Marine pilot, Orno. His face suddenly darkened, and he said to the crowd seeking escape:

"Gentlemen, I haven't been honest with you. I actually worried you wouldn't take me along, so I made up an excuse to join you."

Upon hearing this, everyone's faces changed dramatically.

Orno continued, "Actually, I can't get the Department of Homeland Security's special pass, nor can I take you close to the South Lawn of the 'White House.'

'Marine One' is usually on standby at Andrews Air Force Base, which is seventeen kilometers away from us. It's not in Washington D.C. at all.

The airplane we truly need to fly is right above us."

Zhou Qingfeng looked confused and thought he might need to resort to violence. It was Old Hammer who reacted first, "Your idea is to fly those old planes from the National Air and Space Museum?"

Orno nodded heavily.

The United States National Air and Space Museum has 24 exhibition halls, with a display area of 18,000 square meters.

It exhibits various aircraft, rockets, missiles, spacecraft, and other flying-related artifacts that are significant in the history of flight. Note! f.ro%m the ed&i^to%r:% A$l%w+a#ys c@heck M*V+2#LEMPYR for c!orr$ect.io.n+s.-

Exhibits include the earliest 'Flyer I' to Germany's 'V-2' missile, from the 'Boeing 747' passenger jet to the 'Apollo' spacecraft, and much more.

The others in the escape team were very upset, "Orno, you really didn't plan to avoid the capital's air defense fire control radar?"

Orno shook his head, "I admit this is very dangerous because the large drones flying over Washington D.C. are equipped with radar and missiles.

But flying low, skimming the ground at a hundred meters altitude for a few minutes, can travel fifty kilometers. Now, with the pandemic so severe, there are surely gaps that can be exploited.

As long as we fly out before the National Guard responds, we can slip away."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qingfeng thought, "Knowing this plan, I would rather have Chen Rui outside bring 'Holy Light I' over, take off and land vertically, and take me away."

But on second thought, 'Holy Light I' flying over would easily be detected by high-altitude radar, making it even more dangerous. It's indeed better to take off suddenly within Washington D.C.

"Can those old planes in the museum still fly?" Zhou Qingfeng asked again.

"Some can't, but some can." Pilot Orno nodded heavily, "Especially some old planes, museum staff cherish them and won't dismantle them indiscriminately.

Trust me, as long as we refuel, most old planes are easy to fly, almost as easy as driving a car."

The escape team was both irritated and helpless toward this idea. But at this point, they could only accept.

Zhou Qingfeng scanned the parking lot filled with various vehicles and thought, "Good, the fuel problem is solved too. Let's do it."

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

Emergency lights in the tunnel flickered every twenty meters, casting a cold glow over the smooth tracks.

Yeager raised his hand to signal the team to stop advancing and asked the operator beside him, "Any response from the mechanical dog?"

A National Guard soldier stared at his handheld device and shook his head, "The thermal image is clean, but there's a lot of debris around the corner ahead, likely leftover from an explosion."

Having learned from Lux's previous failed assassination attempt on Zhou Qingfeng and Hammer's lesson, Yeager brought two remote-controlled mechanical dogs from the US Military to scout ahead.

With the mechanical dogs present, accompanying National Guard soldiers felt more at ease. If they encounter trouble, at least they would have a warning.

But precisely because of deploying these two mechanical dogs, Yeager delayed about half an hour.

After finding the 'J-12' maintenance tunnel blown open by Zhou Qingfeng, they were delayed another half hour. The tunnel was too stuffy; while waiting for ventilation, the mechanical dogs were sent to scout first.

During this slow progress, with no rail cars to hitch a ride on, all soldiers had to walk through the tunnel on foot.

By the time Monica and others emerged from the other end of the tunnel into the underground parking lot, two hours had passed.

Seeing the parking lot marked the National Air and Space Museum, the pursuers had an epiphany— the escape team's goal was clear, it was the museum's aircraft.

Yeager cursed, "Fuck, whose idea was this? Victor, that lazy kid, surely isn't someone with this kind of brain."

The ground in the parking lot showed clear oil stains; many fuel car tanks had been opened, and the ground was littered with used jars, obviously served as containers.

Some cars even had their windows smashed, who knows what was taken away.

"Get up there, into the exhibition hall, that kid hasn't escaped yet." Monica glanced at the 'muscular black man' behind her, "Your turn, go up there and take him out, then I'll let you go to Africa as president."

The 'muscular black man' from Niger excitedly shouted and, hugging his M240 machine gun with ammunition box, looked like a headless fly searching for a way to the exhibition hall.

Yeager frowned and quickly suggested to Monica, "Miss, better have this monster follow behind you. I'm worried that once he goes berserk, he won't distinguish friend from foe."

Monica, with a dark face, refused to admit her command mistake, and instead turned to the accompanying National Guard soldiers, ordering them, "Follow him, show the monster the way."

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Under the dome of the United States Air and Space Museum, Zhou Qingfeng yanked the steering wheel, causing the electric cart to skid in a thrilling drift on the smooth marble floor.

Though clearly a slow-moving vehicle, its tires screeched piercingly against the ground, echoing loudly through the solemn hall of spacecraft exhibits.