In the endless, dusty South Texas desert.

Liu Zhan pulled off his iconic denim hat and looked at the low, thorny herdescartes and artemisia bushes stretching out in all directions, adding a touch of greenery to the desert, but instead highlighting the slaughter of the place.

In front of Liu Zhan, a rutted, ten-foot-wide ridge-like path runs through the bushes.

Local Hispanic bulldozer drivers call the trail Kuangqiu, which was originally uneven, and it was they who used the bulldozer to shovel a smooth straight line on it.

On one side of the trail, bright pink plastic flags flutter on low telephone poles, with exactly fifty metres between each flag. A truck staggers down the trail.

Liu Zhan had to steal this big guy.

The first time he went on a stealing mission was in the third year after he left the country, and he stole a Soviet troop transport helicopter from 1949, which was still brand new and shiny.

When the pilot parked it at the military airfield and the key was still on the dashboard and was about to go to coffee, Liu Zhan led someone to touch it, first secretly knocked down several ground crews around him with a tranquilizer gun, and then drove away the Soviet Union troop transport helicopter in front of the air defense battery.

At that time, Liu Zhan did not have the title of Yama now, and he sat in the driver's seat, and could hardly see out of the window of the plane.

Although the whole process was thrilling and he was almost soaking wet, he drove the Soviet troop transport helicopter five areas, and then proudly handed over the keys to the leader at the time.

The boss gave him a reward of $50,000, drove the beautiful woman for a ride, and then began to continue his career as a mercenary.

But the truck in front of you is no ordinary machine.

As he watched, the high-powered machine behind the cab slowly lowered six huge steel plates to the ground.

The machine paused for a moment, and then he heard a low rumbling sound. The steel plates began to hit the ground rhythmically, kicking up a cloud of sand around the truck. He felt the ground shake beneath his feet.

It's a seismic vibrator, and it's a machine that sends shock waves into the earth's crust.

Liu Zhan didn't finish college, he only learned military combat and combat counterattacks, but he was the smartest person he had ever met, and he knew how seismic vibrators worked.

It works in much the same way as radar and sonar.

The shock wave is reflected by the material inside the Earth, such as rocks and liquids, and then bounces back to the surface and is picked up by listening devices such as geophones.

Liu Zhan now works for the team that operates the geophone.

They have installed more than a thousand geophones within a one-square-mile radius, with precise spacing between each machine.

Each time the vibrator operates, the reflected shock wave is picked up by the geophone and recorded by a monitor on the trailer. The trailer in which the monitor rides is called a kennel.

All of the data recorded by the monitors is then aggregated into a supercomputer in Houston to make a three-dimensional map below the surface.

The map will be served to the generals on the other side of the ocean.

The sound of the vibrator is getting sharper and sharper, giving the impression that it is like the noise made by the high-powered engine of an ocean liner when it accelerates; Then, suddenly, the sound disappeared.

Liu Zhan ran along the path to the truck, squinting his eyes so that the billowing sand and dust would not drift into his eyes.

He opened the door and sat in the cab, where sat a stocky brunette man in his thirties.

"Hey, Kai Liu. Liu Zhan said as he got into the passenger seat.

"Hey, Liu Zhan. ”

Before Liu Zhan came to the United States, he specially instructed him to forge a commercial driver's license (Class B), and the name on it was Liu Zhan.

Although the driver's license is forged, the name is real, which is clearly a challenge to the general.

He was carrying a box of Marlboro cigarettes, which was the brand that Liu Kai usually smoked.

He slammed the cigarette case on the dashboard and said, "Look what good stuff I brought you." "

"Hey, man, you don't need to buy me cigarettes. ”

"I'm always rubbing your cigarettes. He picked up the open cigarette case from the dashboard, shook it out, and put it in his mouth.

Liu Kai smiled and said, "Why don't you buy your own cigarettes and smoke?"

"I don't buy it myself, I can't afford to smoke. ”

"You're such a madman, man. Liu Kai laughed.

Liu Zhan diligently lit a cigarette for Liu Kai, he is always good at getting along with others and making others like him.

It doesn't matter if it's respect, affection, humor, or whatever, it's become a habit.

In society, the glue of human relationships is humor: usually sarcasm, occasionally with ingenuity, and sometimes with a flirtatious tone.

Although Liu Zhan has only been here for two weeks, he has already earned the trust of his colleagues.

It's just that he hasn't figured out a way to steal the seismic shaker.

And he's going to have to get it in the next few hours, or tomorrow the truck will be driven to a new location 700 kilometers away, near New Mexico.

He already had an unformed plan in his heart, that is, to take Liu Kai's ride.

It took two or three days on the road, and the guy was traveling at about forty miles per hour.

In the middle of the process, he would find a way to get Liu Kai drunk, or do some other trick, and then steal the truck.

He had hoped that he would have come up with a better plan, but so far, there has been no inspiration at all.

"My car is going to break down," he said, "can you take me to the city tomorrow?"

Liu Kai showed a surprised expression: "Aren't you going directly to New Mexico?"

"Nope. He waved his hand and pointed to the desolate desert landscape in front of him, "I just want to look around," he said, "Texas is so beautiful, man, I don't want to go for the rest of my life." ”

Liu Kai shrugged his shoulders, people who do this business like to walk around and toss around, which is nothing unusual.

"No problem, I'll drive you tomorrow. "It's against the company's rules to carry passengers, but Liu Kai always does it, "You wait for me at the garbage dump when the time comes." ”

Liu Zhan nodded, and the dump was a desolate valley filled with rusty pickup trucks, tattered televisions, and moth-eaten mattresses.

The location is on the outskirts of the nearest town.

At that time, no one will see Liu Kai come to pick him up, at most there will be a few children there to shoot snakes.

"What time is it?"

"It's just six o'clock. ”

"I'll bring coffee. ”

Liu Zhan needs this truck.

He felt that all the hope of his plan was pinned on this truck.

He wanted to grab Liu Kai immediately, throw him out, and drive the truck away himself.

However, there is no benefit at all in doing so.

First of all, Liu Kai is a Chinese compatriot like Liu Zhan and Liu Zhan, and then, now that Liu Kai is driven away, the general will soon notice that Liu Zhan has come to the United States.

Second, the theft had to remain unaware for a few days, as Liu Zhan needed to drive the truck to California and hide it before police were alerted and sent in to find the stolen seismic shaker.

There was a beep on the radio, indicating that the monitors in the kennel had looked at the data from the last vibration and found nothing out of the ordinary. Liu Kai lifted the steel plate, started the truck, and drove forward fifty meters, stopping right next to the next pink flag.

Then, he lowered the plate again and sent the ready signal.

Liu Zhan observed carefully, just like the previous times. He did this to make sure he could remember the order in which Liu Kai manipulated the lever and pulled the switch.

If there's anything you don't remember later, there's no one to ask.

They wait for a signal from the kennel to start the next round of vibration.

Truck drivers can make their own decisions, but monitors generally prefer to keep the right to call the shots and remotely control the start of the vibration process.

Liu Zhan finished smoking and threw the cigarette butt out the window.

Liu Kai nodded at Liu Zhan's car, which was parked on a two-lane asphalt road a quarter of a mile away. "That's your woman?"

Liu Zhan looked in the direction he nodded.

The vibe had come out of the filthy pale blue Honda Civic, reclining on the bonnet, fanning his face with a straw hat.

"yes. Liu Zhan said.

In order to hide his identity, he and Feng Feng had to make such a disguise.

They had been following the geological exploration company that sold dog meat on the head of a sheep for two weeks, and the general's idiot didn't seem to be sure of the exact location of the Omega Archives, which undoubtedly gave Liu Zhan the possibility of being one step ahead.

"I'll show you a picture. Liu Kai took out an old wallet from the pocket of his jeans, took out a photo from it, and handed it to Liu Zhan.

"This is Kaisha. He said proudly.

Liu Zhan saw a beautiful Mexican girl in her twenties, wearing a yellow dress and a yellow headband on her head.

She was holding a little baby, and next to her was a shy little boy with dark hair. "They're your kids?"

He nodded: "Jiahao and Beauty."

He gave the child a Chinese name.

Liu Zhan suppressed his impulse, "He looks so good." ”

"Where do they live?"

"In Mexico City"

In Liu Zhan's mind, a thought was beginning to sprout: "Do you often go back to see them?"

"Nope. ”

Liu Kai shook his head: "I've been working non-stop, brother. I'm saving up to buy them a house. I wanted to buy a nice house, the kind with a big kitchen, and a pool in the yard. They deserve it. ”

At this time, the thoughts in Liu Zhan's mind had already begun to take shape.

He suppressed the excitement in his heart and continued to chat in a relaxed tone: "Yes, a good house, with a happy family, right?"

"That's what I thought. And then the radio came over again, and the truck started to vibrate. The noise is like rolling thunder, but it's a little more regular than thunder.

It starts out with a deep bass bass, then it gets higher in pitch. Exactly fourteen seconds later, the sound stopped.

As everything quieted down, Liu Zhan snapped his fingers and said, "Anyway, I have a good idea, but..., forget it." ”

Liu Kai couldn't help but ask curiously, "What's the idea?"

"I don't know if it's going to work. "

"What, brother, what's your idea?"

"You know, I just think it's not right that your wife is so beautiful and your children are so cute, and you can't see them often. ”

"That's what you were thinking?"

"It's not. My idea is, I can help you get this truck to New Mexico, so you can go back and be with them, that's all. Liu Zhan told himself not to appear too enthusiastic, "But I don't think this method will work." He added with a tone of "who cares about him".

"yes, man, it can't be. ”

"Maybe it's not impossible. Think about it, if we leave early tomorrow and drive to the city together, I can drop you off at the airport there, and maybe you'll be in Mexico City at noon.

Then you can play with the kids, eat with your wife, spend the night, and fly the next day.

"Can I pick you up at the airport, how far is the airport from the city?"

"Ninety, maybe a hundred kilometers. ”

"We might be there that night, or the next morning at the latest, and no one will know that you didn't drive all the way there. ”

"But didn't you say you wanted to go to the city?"

'Oops. ’

Liu Zhan hadn't thought about this issue yet, and going to the city was just a temporary nonsense for him.

"How can I say it, everyone is Chinese, and it is fate to meet in such a place on the other side of the ocean, all in all, I just want to help you!"

"You're driving all this far, just for me?"