The radar officer soon arrived at the commander’s office and approached the lieutenant colonel, the officer in charge of the alert detachment.
"Sir! We have an unidentified contact heading toward New York!" the officer said as he saluted the commander.
The commander looked up from the boring daily report he had been checking.
"What kind of contact?" the commander asked.
"We don’t know, sir," the radar operator said solemnly as he handed him the printed readings.
"The radar signature is roughly man-sized. Its speed is estimated at Mach three."
The commander stared at him.
"Say that again?"
"Man-sized object. Mach three, sir."
For a moment, the commander frowned as he simply looked at the radar readings.
"Are you sure the radar isn’t malfunctioning?"
"Yes, sir. I already checked it twice. I also cross-checked it with the secondary radar. We’re getting the same result."
"You’re certain?" the commander asked once again.
"Yes, sir."
"Lead me to the radar room," the commander said.
He stood up and followed the officer to the radar room.
The two soon arrived at the radar room, and the officer quickly showed the commander the data they had detected. His comrades, who were responsible for tracking the unidentified object, were still monitoring it.
On the screen, the unidentified contact was still moving at an incredible speed.
A man-sized object traveling at Mach three was already something that should not exist under normal circumstances.
The commander was only a lieutenant colonel. He did not have any connection to the people handling the guests from the other world, nor did he have a high enough position in the military to know the classified information surrounding them.
Therefore, from his perspective, the rational response to an unidentified object moving at Mach three toward New York was to treat it as suspicious and potentially hostile.
And now this potential threat was heading toward New York.
"How long until it reaches New York?"
"ETA, seven minutes, sir."
The commander immediately picked up the communications handset nearby.
"Get me an interceptor. I want visual identification. We need to know exactly what we’re dealing with," the commander said through the communication device.
"Understood," the voice from the other side responded.
The commander paused before continuing.
"And notify the sector. We have a potential threat heading toward New York. ETA seven minutes... No, it’s six minutes now."
"Yes, sir!"
The voice on the other side quickly acknowledged the command.
Within minutes, the alarm blared throughout the base as the crews began preparing the fighters.
Two F-16s were scrambled from the base and rapidly climbed into the sky.
Unknown to Wei Chen, he was now tagged as the potential threat. He was still heading toward New York toward the familiar neighborhood.
At the base, the F-16s were closing in on the unidentified object when the radar signal suddenly disappeared.
"Sir! The unidentified object suddenly descended and disappeared from radar!" the radar officer reported to the commander.
"Tell the F-16s to patrol the area and see if they detect anything unusual. If there’s nothing, have them return to base."
"Yes, sir!"
The radar officer quickly relayed the order to the F-16 crews.
As for the commander, seeing the unidentified object suddenly disappear like that, he couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on.
"Ugh... How am I supposed to explain this to the higher-ups?" the commander muttered as he massaged his temples.
— Meanwhile - New York —
On Wei Chen’s side, the moment he arrived above the familiar neighborhood where he used to live, he immediately descended and used his concealing technique to observe the neighborhood.
He was standing atop a building near his old home, looking at the familiar house. Yet this home felt so distant in his memories, as if those memories had come from centuries ago, or perhaps even longer.
But the stirring in his heart was still there, despite the fact that he did not feel any unbearable longing for home like someone who had been away from home for years.
It was like looking at an old picture of himself. He might feel nostalgic about the scenery in the background of the picture, but he would never feel the urge to actually go back there.
The house, the lawn, and even an unwashed red mark on the wall where paint had been thrown by the hater were still the same.
This was his home...
No, it used to be his home.
This was the home where he had lived with his parents when he was a child, and where he would occasionally visit them after he moved out and started working as a nuisance streamer.
Wei Chen looked at the mark, and a strange feeling welled up inside him. He did not know how to describe it.
A deep, nostalgic longing, but not an uncontrollable one.
And mixed with it was a sense of regret.
As he continued looking at the mark, the feeling became clearer and clearer.
Wei Chen decided to sneak into the house. He checked the door and found that it wasn’t locked.
It seemed that his parents were inside.
He walked in through the back door and looked around the house, taking in every part of it and every piece of furniture. Some things had changed, but most of them were still there, in the places where he remembered them.
He walked deeper into the house, passing through the kitchen and into the living room.
He saw his mother, busy with her phone as she smiled and talked to someone.
"Susie, you wouldn’t believe it! The other day...!"
His mother continued speaking into the phone.
Susie was the name of his mother’s friend, a good friend who had helped them with the supplier for the diner where his father worked as a chef. She was also someone his mother would often chat with when she was bored.
Speaking of the diner...
Wei Chen wondered why his mother hadn’t gone there today.
Was his father working there today?
Wei Chen then took out his phone to check the day.
It was Wednesday.
On a weekday, his father should have been working as a chef. Had something changed?
With that in mind, Wei Chen left the house and walked toward the diner, which was not far away.
He noticed that the place was full of people. There were many new faces working there, such as the cashier and the waitresses, but he also saw some familiar faces.
Tommy was working as a cook in the kitchen, helping his parents. Even though he was an employee, he was a cool guy who was always good to chat with.
Among the customers, there were many familiar faces as well.
For example, Paul, a cop who usually ate at the diner and often stayed there after finishing his patrol.
Paul was also a family friend. He was the guy who had helped his family when the hater’s harassment had gotten out of hand.
Wei Chen unknowingly smiled when he saw Paul.
The guy looked like a deadbeat cop, but he was actually a decent man for a small-time patrol officer who had spent ten years behind the wheel, chasing thieves and troublemakers.
Nobody expected Paul to solve earth-shaking cases involving major corruption scandals or anything like Watergate.
He was just an everyday cop.
But when it came to everyday neighborhood problems, such as the harassment case or the bullies who had been bothering his family, he was surprisingly reliable.
"Hey, Jack! Isn’t it time already!? Just get out of the kitchen and go already!" Paul shouted toward the kitchen.
Jack was his father’s name.
Jack Carter.
A simple name.
Wei Chen’s eyes turned toward the kitchen as he walked through the door, passing by the customers who were coming out.
There, he saw him.
His father had just come out of the kitchen with a smile on his face.
It’s good!
It seemed like both his mother and his father had already moved on from his death.
"Oh! Thanks, Paul. Is it time already?" his father asked as he took off the cook’s hat he usually wore to prevent his hair from falling into the dishes while he was working in the kitchen.
"Yeah! It’s time already. You want me to send you and Mary there?" Paul asked, pointing toward his patrol car parked just outside the diner with his thumb.
His father nodded.
"Thanks for the offer, but we’ll drive there ourselves! It shouldn’t take long."
"Okay! Take care, Jack. Just tell me if there’s anything you need help with!" Paul said as he waved his hand to Jack.
"Will do, Paul. Thanks again."
His father then shouted toward the kitchen as he opened the door.
"Tommy! After this batch of customers, you can clean up the kitchen! We’ll close early today!"
"Thanks, Boss!" Tommy shouted from inside as the sound of cooking leaked through the gap in the door.
Is his father going somewhere?
Wei Chen wondered as he quietly slipped out of the diner through the gap in the door his father had opened, following him from a distance.
His father walked toward their home with a smile on his face. It seemed like today was a good day, or perhaps something good had happened.
Wei Chen wondered what it was as he continued following his father.