Era 2137, USA, New York, Solar System Federation Committee Premier Building
At this moment, the militant leader sat in the command room of an underground base, looking utterly despondent. He looked exactly like the World War II demon he worshipped—Hitler sitting just like this when the Soviet army stormed Berlin. His subordinates, much like Hitler's, stood beside him with their heads bowed. They seemed to have already visualized the scene that would follow: the militant leader would surely start screaming curses, just like in that old movie Downfall. However, this was not a movie, and this demon-worshipping militant leader would certainly not easily offend the god in his heart.
In reality, they had already been surrounded by the Solar System Federation Secret Police, just like that war demon had been.
"Hahahahaha!" Joseph laughed like a madman. He stood on the tank's top hatch, holding binoculars in one hand and clutching the handle of a heavy machine gun with the other, his index finger tight on the trigger. Although the enemy had been almost completely encircled and outflanked, if a hidden militant were to rush out with a rocket launcher and fire a shot at their tank, the enemy's mission might be accomplished. It was always right to be cautious.
Of course, the enemy had anticipated this as well; a cannon had long been prepared to greet them.
Naturally, they never expected the enemy to be behind them.
At that moment, the enemy fired a shell, but fortunately, it only hit their rear fuel tank. Thanks to the tank's excellent fireproof coating, it could definitely handle it. However, they were certain that the enemy would fire a second shell in five minutes.
As expected, the enemy's second shell came quickly, but this time, due to range issues, it failed to hit successfully.
However, by this moment, their artillery had already locked onto the enemy.
Would just their single tank open fire with full force?
Impossible!
If only their single tank fired, and the enemy had other cannons in the rear, the enemy might actually complete their mission. At this moment, three tanks opened fire simultaneously, giving that firepower point absolutely no chance to react. It was instantly concentrated upon and blown up.
At this moment, the militant leader knew the situation was hopeless, yet he was still unwilling to leave his base, just like those stubborn Nazis. It wasn't just that WWII demon; even the Nazi Party Chancellor during the rebellion launched by Ernst when he established the Tomorrow Party had displayed the same paranoia as him.
"You f***ing...! Those damned **!" he screamed in rage. The officers on either side of him were still persuading him to leave New York, but like a child who had made a mistake and refused to repent, he stubbornly refused to listen to their advice. However, his subordinate officers were not as foolish as he was; they surrendered or fled, falling apart until he didn't have a single helper left.
There were, however, many diehards around him, and quite a few committed suicide for their beliefs.
But this militant leader was not as heroic as they were. He had long planned a retreat. What his subordinate officers didn't know was that he actually had a reserve force in New York, and the base was extremely hidden. Without an intelligence network as vast as the militants', an organization like the Solar System Federation Secret Police would find it impossible to locate his base quickly. He only needed two days to complete the reorganization of this reserve force.
Now was the best time for him to flee.
At this moment, the Solar System Federation Secret Police rushed into his underground base, but they found nothing. Almost all documents and data had been burned. Furthermore, if their vanguard unit hadn't been wearing gas masks, they might have all been poisoned to death within two minutes of entering. The main force behind them, lacking gas masks, couldn't enter at all.
By this time, the militant leader was already on his way to the new base. He was traveling in a basic civilian vehicle; passersby could never tell that he was the leader of the militants who had just been fighting the Secret Police.
Within ten minutes, he arrived at the new base.
Joseph, however, had no interest in this base. His thoughts were aligned with Edward's. Since they hadn't found any useful information in the base, their only trophy from this battle was the recorder the militant had lost. Joseph had read the data and information in this recorder last night. He hadn't looked at it closely, and had only seen a very small part, but the amount of information contained within was enough to shock him.
However, what shocked him the most was a doubt that arose. Based on the information in the recorder, a terrifying question formed in his mind:
Is the leader of these militants really a bad guy?