Operation Red Book

The waves of the Thames River rippled in the dark night like the bloody mouth of a beast, howling angrily as if it wanted to devour everything on the shore.

Ivy staggered towards the water against the wind, her body about to reach its limit.

Beads of sweat dripped down, wetting both sides of her cheeks.

The palms of my hands were also slightly sweaty, and the explosives were slippery and difficult to catch like loaches.

"Huh...ha..."

Ivy was breathing heavily, the tips of her ten fingers were white and numb. The clearly vertical and horizontal river banks in her sight were winding like river waves, making her dizzy.

The hustle and bustle was fading away from her, and the faint sounds of the piano seemed like a sedative, giving her rare nutrients and energy.

The ticking of time rang in her ears and almost became a part of her world. Perhaps because it was too familiar, she was no longer so startled when she heard this fatal ringing sound again.

"Ugh!"

Just a few steps away from the river bank, Ivy's legs went weak and she suddenly fell to the ground.

A few drops of cool river water splashed on her face, which was a gentle comfort.

Without the time to cry out in pain, Ivy crawled forward holding the explosives in one hand and the ground with the other, shouting at the endless black water at the top of her lungs:

"Zhao Minghua! Zhao Minghua!"

"Come out quickly! Come out quickly!"

"Zhao Minghua!"

The last loud sound suddenly became hoarse, and she felt a trace of sweet blood flowing into her throat.

"Um... Zhao... Um... cough cough..."

Ivy coughed dryly a few times in pain, and pink saliva dripped onto the bluish-white stone slab, which was shocking to the eye.

She lowered her head and looked at the dial. There was less than a minute and a half left. Perhaps she could find a place farther away from the ship.

However, the riverside of the Chinese wharf was almost full of small wooden boats used for dredging or fishing. In order to minimize the impact of the explosives, they had to rely on the help of the mermaids.

"Zhao Minghua... come out quickly!"

The time quickly came to 1 minute and 15 seconds. Ivy's voice was hoarse and she kept shouting loudly towards the water in front of her.

But after shouting a few times, the only response she got was the whistling of the wind and the clatter of boats colliding.

She was about to despair...

Just lie down and be done with it...

This place is quite a distance away from the square, which can save the lives and souls of most people, but she herself can't run away...

As she thought about it, Ivy struggled to kneel by the water and reached out to touch the cold water surface.

For a moment, the chill was so strong that it penetrated my heart...

She calmed down, and with the mentality of giving it one last try, she leaned over and shouted loudly towards the water:

"Zhao Minghua! I have something to talk to you about!"

"Tick tock..."

Five simple seconds passed, and still no response.

Ivy was completely disheartened. She gritted her teeth, picked up the explosives and probed forward again.

She wanted to throw the explosives overboard; it would at least be better if they exploded in the water than on shore.

Thinking of this, she held the dynamite in both hands and suspended it above the water.

But the next second, a large black bubble suddenly emerged from the water surface corresponding to the explosives.

Before she could react, there was a sudden sound of water and a sudden wave of water. A half-naked dark-skinned young man broke through the water and quickly jumped a full circle in the air.

The moonlight shone on the colorful fishtail, temporarily blinding Ivy's eyes.

Zhao Minghua shook his long black curly hair, and the splashing water splashed on Ivy's face, scaring her.

"Thank you for your child saving Beichen."

He spoke slowly, his eyes were stern but his voice was gentle.

What Beichen? Is that the little mermaid that Luna, Xiaoqi and Xiaojiu caught?

Ivy kept thinking about it in her mind, but now was not the time to dwell on it.

The pointer was moving quickly on the dial. Now there were only 40 seconds left. It was almost too late!

"Brother Minghua, listen to me carefully!"

Ivy knelt on the shore and spoke quickly to Zhao Minghua who was perched on the water, her voice trembling uncontrollably.

"Ah."

"This is a time bomb. It will explode in 30 seconds. By then, the entire Chinese wharf will fly to the moon and keep Chang'e company. Do you understand?"

"Oh."

"I want you to throw this bomb into the center of the river within 30 seconds. Remember, you must throw it into the center of the river within 30 seconds! Okay, now it's 28 seconds..."

"Okay." Zhao Minghua nodded and agreed readily.

But Ivy was still a little nervous. She placed the explosives on the hands that Zhao Minghua handed over and kept nagging:

"You must not get hurt. It doesn't matter whether you are in mid-air or in the water. Just stay away from the river bank and away from you!"

"Ah."

Zhao Minghua did not hesitate. He agreed and quickly dived into the river.

Ivy was still kneeling on the shore, watching the black object under the water sailing away into the distance like a speedboat.

Her heartbeat echoed the sound of the wind, she bit her thumb nervously, her lips trembling.

She didn't know whether Zhao Minghua heard what she said, nor did she know whether he could come back safely within the limited 25 seconds.

He is the person Mr. Zhu cares about the most, whether before or after becoming a mermaid.

Likewise, he was Ivy's partner at the Chinese dock. She didn't want to see anyone injured by explosives. She meant anyone...

I don't know how long it took, but a big bulge suddenly appeared on the black water in the distance. After a while, the agile mermaid broke out of the water like a crescent moon, and soared several meters into the sky.

Before Ivy could exclaim in surprise, Zhao Minghua quickly swung his arms and threw the explosives into the sky.

Then, two half-naked mermaids jumped into the air in the distance. The middle one had exceptionally long arms, and it caught the explosives in the air.

He turned over quickly in the moonlight, and used the force of turning to throw the explosives to the other side again.

In this way, the explosives were passed one after another and soon reached the center of the river.

Calculating the time, it was less than five seconds before the explosives exploded.

The mermaid at the end also flipped in the air with the explosives, and then quickly threw the explosives towards the water, looking like an NBA main forward.

"No! There's a boat coming over there!"

Suddenly, Zhao Minghua's anxious voice came from a distance, instantly freezing the smile on Ivy's face.

Ivy squinted her eyes and tried to look towards the black hole-like fog, only to see a small steamship slowly approaching from the fog with a few dim yellow lights on it.

It's bad. The dock is connected to the shipping route, and we thought there would be no ships passing by at night, but no one knew that an accident would happen at this moment.

The flipped mermaid did not notice the approaching ship. He hit the flaming red explosive hard, causing it to rush quickly towards the black water.

No! This range is too close, it will affect the ships!

Ivy was at a loss for a moment. She wanted to shout loudly, but she was shocked to find that the time was up...

"boom!"

In the final silence, Ivy saw a small figure rushing out of the water, waving its tail and hitting the explosives in the air again dozens of meters high.

Less than a second later, the explosives exploded as they rose high into the sky, and the orange-red flames illuminated half of the sky and the blurry surface of the water.