Volume 3, Chapter 1 – Operation “Hello China”
One week later.
06:33. Wednesday. Operation: "Hello China."
The wind blew from all sides. The sun was already rising, relentlessly warming my back. Before me loomed a twenty-meter wall stretching to the horizon.
Pex approached me while Alpha and Bravo Groups set up the base.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
I kept staring at the smooth wall of gray metal alloy, admiring it. Silver, tungsten, ruthenium, iridium, and several other metals unknown to us. The entire structure was smooth and perfectly fused — due to its properties, it completely absorbed magic, and any presence within a hundred-kilometer radius, whether mages or Argo, led to death.
"I'm fine..." I replied, touching the cold metal. As the sun rose, it transformed into a dazzling white metal with a deep "steel" sheen.
"Task: durability test," Pex said and handed me a toolbox.
We started trying to drill into it. The wall didn't even scratch, holding its shape. Diamond tips shattered with a crack.
Shots from the Paladin SPG and Abrams created a massive shockwave that bounced back from the wall toward the tanks and us. At the impact point, a polished spot appeared — not a scratch, not a dent.
Nothing. Even the Tomahawk only left a huge soot stain — and sent back a wave that flipped one tank onto its back.
I rushed over to the tank in surprise.
"Is it broken?"
"No. Just damaged. We'll fix it," Paladin replied calmly.
Hoo-oo-oh. I felt relieved. I wouldn't care if it were an ordinary tank — but this was part of Paladin, and losing it through stupidity was the last thing I wanted.
"Let's go up top."
Lelik appeared cheerfully and summoned a helicopter — a few seconds later, we were standing on the wall.
Amazing how cold and bright this metal was. But from here, the view in both directions was identical — for a hundred kilometers, just desert.
Emptiness. A solid monolith in all directions. Not a single crack. Nothing. How do you take samples from something that's literally immune to everything?
I walked along the wall and kept walking. Rifle at the ready, helmet on. Beneath my feet, white metal casting a giant sunbeam along its entire length. I had no ideas. And since Pex and Base were silent, no one had any ideas.
Fine. No ideas. It'll remain a mystery. For now. I'm glad I even got to come here and see all this.
I sat down on the edge of the cold metal and watched what was happening below. BREM was flipping the tank and loading it onto a trailer to be taken away.
Maybe I should try meeting some inhabitants of this world again? But they're far away. And would they even want to talk? After all, the Duchy of Yanski Malevych hadn't exactly greeted us warmly. Or maybe that kingdom Clarence mentioned?
"Where is the kingdom of Dvarikon?" I turned my head to Pex.
"According to Base data, that kingdom doesn't exist in this world, nor does the Mountain Cleft location. The Mountain Cleft was presumably at the junction of the ocean and mountains. But tectonic plates shifted, and the Ocean Sea appeared next to the mountain range."
"And did you tell him?" I asked sadly.
Pex thought for a moment and sat down next to me on the wall's edge.
"Yes. He's been locked up for three days, praying to all known Archons — including you. He asks to turn back time and let him see those he lost," Pex said, adjusting the patch on his shoulder: "SERAFIM DEMOCRACY" [Nuclear Mushroom].
"Yeah... I can't do that..."
"And who are you?" some old man shouted, walking along the wall.
Pex immediately armed himself, and two groups — Alpha and Bravo (three hundred soldiers) — moved along both edges, slowly surrounding the old man on the wall. His beard dragged slowly across the cold metal.
[Pex]: Base. Humanoid detected. Contact.
[Base]: Pex. Radars — zero. Do not engage.
I stood up in surprise, adjusted the strap on my shoulder, and slowly walked over to Pex.
"Hey? Little ones. Spirits. And..." — the old man noticed me. — "And... And... Come on, introduce yourself, for the Archon's sake!"
"Oh! I'm Seraphim," I snapped out of it.
The old man walked through the soldiers and thought for a moment, stroking his beard.
"Seraphim... Hmm... Uh-huh... And what the hell are you doing on the wall?" he said displeased.
(He looks like a psy...)
"Hey! You can't think about old people like that!" the old man invaded my comfort zone, sticking a thin, bony finger in front of my nose.
(He reads my th...)
"Ting Correct. Let's wrap this up and get going," he flicked me on the nose and turned around.
(Who do...)
"I'm the Keeper. And this place is not for children," he flicked me on the nose again.
"Hey, sto... ting ...-p it..."
"Come on! Pick up your little spirits and get out," he shooed me away like a stray cat.
(Seems like all my ideas have failed. This Keeper probably isn't kicking us out for fun.)
"Fine. Okay. We're leaving," I stepped back, and all the soldiers — Alpha and Bravo — vanished.
"You've strayed from your path? Planted a tree? Found love?" the Keeper decided to dig into my head and started pressing me.
"What?" I stepped back from him, nearly falling off the wall. "I'm following my own desires."
"Desire not to use your power? But are you strong enough for this world, little one?" the Keeper moved closer and lightly pressed his finger against my chest, pushing me toward the edge.
I glanced over my shoulder. Death below... No!
I grabbed his arm and sharply pulled myself forward.
"I will become independent. And the officers can do whatever they want in this Silent Silence," I objected and aimed my pistol at him.
The old man laughed softly.
"Admirable. But prove it..." — the Keeper pulled two rapiers made of the same material from the wall. — "Prove it with action."
I caught the second rapier with my other hand and looked at him in surprise and fear. I don't know how to fight with swords — but I have a pistol...
"You think I'm going to fight with swords to prove something to you?"
"To yourself. And I can only be defeated with the same material," the Keeper deftly braided his beard into a ponytail and tucked it into his robe.
"Just hold it like a knife and make thrusts like you're bowling. Keep moving. Watch the leading hand and notice when they're about to strike. Dodge left and right. Use all parts of your body," Pex gave a quick briefing, as if I could learn to use a rapier in a second.
I swung the rapier. Unfamiliar. (Why should I fight him? I've already proven everything to myself... Haven't I?)
"You'll prove it now. Only to yourself. You're hiding. But in this world, hiding will lead you to a cliff," the Keeper spun his rapier in different directions, cutting the air.
"I'm not hiding! I'm living!" I shouted, pointing the rapier at him.
"Life in confinement... Philosophy..." the Keeper knocked my rapier aside. Then another rapier sprang out of the wall, and I managed to catch it.
I attacked him again, but he kept knocking rapiers out of my hands — they kept springing out of the wall, giving me endless chances to attack. The Keeper lazily deflected with one hand.
"Life is life! No philosophy!" I shouted, trying to hit him.
"Life is freedom," he parried both with words and with the rapier, pushing me back to the edge of the wall.
The Keeper slowly stepped on my stomach, pressing me against the surface.
"What have you been training for? You're weak for this world. And independence — this is you right now. You're alone. No one," he slowly ran the rapier across my body armor — and it split apart like butter.
But I won't die!
I looked him in the eyes.
Boom.
A bullet from my pistol flew past the Keeper's ear, and he stepped back.
I got up.
"If that's how you want it! Then... Lelik, all Apaches... Fire!" I shouted, and behind me, eight helicopters slowly rose, aggressively aimed at the Keeper.
I took a step back and fell down.
Lelik jumped after me, grabbed me, and a Black Hawk appeared, taking its place in the line facing the Keeper.
Rockets flew over his head with deafening whistles and explosions. I held down the machine gun and fired all around beneath his feet.
Rapiers shot out of the wall toward the Apaches — Lelik dodged, pulling Apaches into his pocket and bringing them back.
The fire stopped. The Keeper emerged from the smoke, covered in soot.
I glanced at Lelik, and he smiled.
—
The Black Hawk transformed into an E-4B and rammed the Keeper at full speed, knocking him off the wall. The Boeing switched to a helicopter, and we fired at the falling Keeper, surrounding him with rockets.
Rapiers flew into the helicopter — Lelik expertly maneuvered, making the helicopter disappear; I fell with Lelik, and then the helicopter reappeared.
We landed in front of the Keeper at the base of the wall.
"This is what you call independence?" he smiled, and a row of two-meter golems emerged from the wall.
I stepped back from them.
"Have you ever held a hundred thousand tons on your shoulders?" I asked.
The golems charged at me.
"I summon Gerald Ford."
BOOM.
METAL SCREECHING.
Seventy roars of fighters launching from the aircraft carrier.
Absolute night.
I walked under the screeching carrier that had sunk into the ground up to its waterline.
Click.
The carrier disappeared, and at the bottom, the Keeper and the golems lay crushed.
The Keeper got up. Behind me, Abrams tanks appeared with unique M-BOPS rounds (based on new magical depleted uranium).
In the sky, a flock of fighters circled like birds.
I picked up a rapier from the ground — there were millions scattered around. I ran to the tanks and shoved rapiers into their barrels. In the distance, Paladin SPGs were also loading rapiers.
The Keeper and the golems emerged from the crater.
"Hi."
Silence...
Boom! Boom!
Shells, along with rapiers, hit the Keeper.
Pex with Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Paladin deployed all the equipment that could fit rapiers — ninety units aimed at the Keeper.
Rapiers shot out of the walls. The Keeper was hit shell after shell. Hundreds of rapiers flew toward me.
WHAM-WHAM-WHAM — 71 times.
Fighters flew overhead, blowing the rapiers into the ground, sending them tumbling.
Meanwhile, I found myself in a Bradley, wearing headphones.
Silence...
The fighters took to the sky. The tanks had spent all their shells. Everything went quiet.
I stepped out of the Bradley and looked at the Keeper.
Click — all the equipment vanished.
The Keeper stood covered in soot and blood in a new crater, surrounded by a pile of rapiers.
The Keeper got up, and a hundred-meter golem emerged from the Wall.
"Proven?" the Keeper smiled.
"Almost... I'm threatening you with B61-12."
And the Keeper saw before his eyes what could happen — how he would die at a temperature of one hundred million degrees Celsius. How a crack would form in the Wall.
"Proven," the Keeper conceded.
Clang-clang — we dropped the rapiers.
"I understand. This is my home. And you can't sit at home all day. I understand who I am. Thank you for that," I thanked him.
The Keeper restored his appearance and untied his beard.
"We both got a philosophy," he said, slightly frightened.
And I remembered the mission.
"We're taking the rapiers."
The Keeper nodded and disappeared, along with the golems.
And a massive collection of rapiers began — transported by helicopters and trucks to K-1-ZZ, which was actively under construction.
Operation "Hello China" completed. 13:27. Wednesday.