Billionaire's Long Journey of Chasing His Love-Chapter 425 - 372: Your Mom is Calling You Home for Dinner! (Second Update)
One hour later, the forces had assembled. Hundreds of various combat vehicles surged toward the port in an imposing formation.
By evening, Mi Chenxuan led the vanguard team on an advance mission.
By midnight, the main force departed under the escort of aircraft.
Tong Airui sat in the operations command room. After glancing at the images on the large screen, he turned and said, "Lin Zhanpeng, initiate interference. Don’t let those guys keep staring at us like that."
"Yes, sir!" Lin Zhanpeng responded and immediately began typing furiously on the keyboard. "Captain, the other three teams’ signals have been intercepted, but I can’t interfere with Soya’s Ironclads."
"Luo Hongxuan, assist Lin Zhanpeng and give it another try." Tong Airui frowned faintly. "Looks like I really need to send John home early."
"Captain, it’s still not working..." Before Lin Zhanpeng could finish his sentence, the screen suddenly went black. A few large words quickly appeared on the screen: Airui, your mom is calling you home for dinner!
Lin Zhanpeng smacked the table in frustration. "Their computer must be controlled by Prince John."
Tong Airui smirked slightly, pulling the laptop from Lin Zhanpeng’s hands and typing rapidly. In no time, the surveillance screens across the five national forces displayed a new message: John, your wife is calling you home for milk!
Leng Chuting of Z Country saw the two lines of text on the screen and spat out her drink. "These two haven’t even arrived at the destination and are already at it."
Mu Heyang chuckled. "Big Cousin has been holding this in for four years. He surely came this year wanting to vent that frustration."
Leng Chuting shook her head. "I don’t think he’ll be able to vent it that easily."
Mu Heyang frowned slightly. "Wife, why don’t we team up with Big Cousin? Fighting solo against Airui, we might barely stand a chance."
"General He," Leng Chuting shot him a sidelong glance. "Please address me as General Leng!"
Mu Heyang pouted. "General Leng—please consider my suggestion!"
Leng Chuting shook her head. "Losing a solo fight isn’t shameful. But losing as a team-up? Now that’s beyond embarrassing! The biggest taboo in battle is being overly anxious. Big Cousin can’t sit still anymore; defeat is just a matter of time."
"Sigh..." Mu Heyang shook his head helplessly. "You’re the commander. I’ll listen to you."
Leng Chuting glanced at the large screen. "If you’re listening to me, go make those two idiots shut up first."
"I can’t handle that!" Mu Heyang quickly shook his head. "With two experts creating havoc, if I go there, they might just crash our entire system."
"Look at your lack of guts!" Leng Chuting huffed, then sat at the computer and started typing furiously.
Leng Chuting: Quiet down, you two!
John: He set out in the middle of the night. I got worried and wanted to escort him, but he blocked me!
Tong Airui: Nice excuse. If you wanted to know what I brought, you could’ve just asked, and I’d tell you.
Leng Chuting: Get some rest and save your energy for the battlefield!
After Leng Chuting’s message lingered on the screen for three seconds, the displays returned to normal.
Tong Airui chuckled. "That should keep things calm for a while. You two take shifts to rest. If he stirs up trouble again, give me a call."
"Yes, sir!"
Tong Airui turned and left the operations command room.
Lin Zhanpeng winked at Luo Hongxuan. "Can’t wait to find the Fourth Sister-in-Law."
Luo Hongxuan smirked. "Keep your voice down, or Fourth Brother will hear you, beat you up, and leave you handling things solo for the next two hours while I grab some sleep."
"You don’t even have a wife to cuddle; what are you sleeping for?"
"No wife to cuddle, so I’ll hug a pillow to sleep!"
Just as Tong Airui reached his room door, Luo Hongxuan bolted past him down the corridor.
Luo Hongxuan grinned cheekily. "Good night, Fourth Brother."
"Good night." Tong Airui opened the door and entered the room.
It was Yi Luowa’s first overnight stay on the ship. She was a little excited yet slightly nervous. Seeing Tong Airui enter, she sat up on the bed.
"Can’t sleep?" Tong Airui locked the door behind him, smiling as he approached the bed.
"Mm. Everything settled on your end?"
"Just wrapped it up." Tong Airui ruffled her hair. "Wife, I’ve been thinking, if you got pregnant, would I be willing to leave your side?"
"What brought this up?" Yi Luowa lifted the blanket, beckoning him to join her.
"Pregnancy is tough on women. If the man responsible doesn’t stay by his wife’s side, it just seems cruel." Tong Airui removed his jacket and climbed into bed.
Yi Luowa chuckled softly. "You’re talking about John, aren’t you?"
"Mm. He loves his wife deeply, and she’s sacrificed so much for him. They only just had a child after all these years of marriage, yet he can’t be with her. Earlier, while competing with me, I noticed his actions aren’t as steady as they used to be."
Yi Luowa blinked. "That’s a great opportunity for us. Based on my analysis, the strongest forces among the five nations are Xia Wu, Soya, and Z Country. With John worried about his wife, he’ll surely want to end this competition quickly.
He left a day earlier than us, and Raman and S Country departed half a day before that. By the time we and Z Country reach the battlefield, they’ll likely already be at each other’s throats. Given the strength of those two nations, I’d bet John wipes them out before we even arrive."
"You’ve done your homework!" Tong Airui pulled her into his arms, smiling. "My wife’s clever head would be wasted if it wasn’t assisting me. But let me tell you, things won’t play out exactly as you imagine."
Yi Luowa giggled. "If it’s not how I imagine, then you must’ve meddled!"
"Care to guess what I did?"
"No way I can guess. Just thinking through what I said earlier burned through half my brain cells."
Tong Airui laughed. "I’ll give you a little hint—Old Eight!"
Yi Luowa nuzzled closer to his chest, pondering for a while before hesitantly asking, "Is Old Eight’s vanguard team supporting another force?"
Tong Airui tousled her hair with a grin. "Soya’s Ironclads will take out Raman’s Scorpions first. Then Old Eight will team up with S Country’s Dark Fox to eliminate half of Soya’s Ironclads..."
"Honey, let me interrupt for a moment—S Country’s Crown Princess is John’s biological mother. Are you sure they’d side with us?"
Tong Airui raised his eyebrows. "The Dark Fox this year is led by Lu Jia. He’s never been content with John, so this is a possibility."
Yi Luowa playfully patted his chest. "You really are devious! I’m starting to see your plan. Leaving half of Soya’s Ironclads and S Country’s Dark Fox intact is to deal with Z Country’s Grim Reaper, who’ll reach the battlefield before us."
"Exactly. Tingting isn’t one for rash moves. She’s well-rested and prepared. Once we enter the battlefield, John and Lu Jia are going to have a rough time. The troops Old Eight brought will also be ’sacrificed.’ But before they go down, they’ll make sure to eliminate John from the game."
"After that, it’s a three-way standoff—or rather, a tripartite division. And we hold half the stakes."
"Where are you getting all this intel from?" Tong Airui laughed.
"Books! The moment I knew I’d be joining you in this competition, I started flipping through your military books. If I didn’t understand something, I’d ask Grandpa. But honestly, I only skimmed the surface—not a deep dive."
"You’ve been reading military books? How did I not know?"
"I was afraid you’d say, ’What does a car designer need military books for?’ So, I read them in secret."
"Haha... If I’d known you were reading them, I’d have been so proud! But to handle this group, surface-level knowledge is enough. Going forward, if you don’t understand something, come to me. I’ll teach you. Who knows, one day our Audrich family might produce a female general who stands second to none."
Yi Luowa shook her head, laughing. "Not me. I wasn’t born to be a general. I’d rather quietly stand behind you."
Tong Airui kissed her gently on the top of her head. "I want you to stand beside me."
Yi Luowa giggled. "Standing beside you isn’t feasible because I’m too short."
"You little rascal!" Tong Airui lightly smacked her.
Yi Luowa caught his hand and grinned. "Honey, one last question before we sleep."
"Ask away."
"Everyone knows that the last team to enter the battlefield gains the biggest advantage. So why would they all rush to head out before us?"
Tong Airui smirked. "Clearly, you’ve only scratched the surface with your reading. They want to be the last ones too, but they’re not last year’s champions."
"Oh, I get it now—it’s the champion’s privilege... Hey, keep your hands to yourself! Didn’t we agree, one last question and then sleep?"
"I never agreed to that! All I said was, ’Ask away.’" Tong Airui grinned mischievously.
Master Airui chuckled softly before tilting his head and kissing her lips...
