Chapter Fifty-Nine: The Three Brothers Who Controlled Electricity in Afghanistan

The call from CIA headquarters came swiftly, informing them that the tracker had stopped at a nearby intersection, the map showing it to be a private farmstead. Belgrade relayed this information to the special agents and the local police, requesting their support.

Liu Yunfei and his team soon arrived at their destination. The countryside was vast and open, and to avoid falling into an ambush, Belgrade parked the car at a distance. Liu Yunfei, anxious for the safety of Owari and the old prince—knowing that every minute’s delay could mean greater danger—did not hesitate. As soon as Belgrade stopped the car, Liu Yunfei started running towards the farmstead.

Surprisingly, he encountered neither gunfire nor resistance as he approached, not even a single soul in sight. The entrance to the farmstead was unlocked. Judging by the time, their adversaries should have just arrived and ought to be on their guard, or perhaps they had abandoned their vehicle and fled? Pushing open the heavy iron gate, Liu Yunfei saw several cars parked on the lawn in front of the main building, including a police car and the black Mercedes from the Knights’ Castle. The vehicles were deserted, and the vast courtyard was eerily silent, not a shadow stirring in the dark.

Liu Yunfei hurried forward, scanning the surroundings, but still met no obstacles. The door to the main building was closed, its upper half made of glass, through which moonlight spilled into the hall where a small fountain stood. The scene was tranquil.

He opened the door and was about to step inside when, suddenly, a white figure leapt from behind the fountain, accompanied by a dazzling white orb of light. Before Liu Yunfei could react, he was struck, his body jolted by an electric shock and flung backward.

Rising from the grass, Liu Yunfei saw three elderly men in traditional Arab robes emerging from the main building. The trio were identical in appearance, height, and build, but unlike Saudis—who wore headbands to hold their headscarves in place—these men wrapped their scarves in layers around their heads, reminiscent of bin Laden, with deep-set eyes, large noses, and beards covering their mouths.

“We are the Afghan Electric Brothers. You little wildling, who is your master?” the leader growled.

Although Liu Yunfei could manage basic conversation in Arabic, the old man's thick Afghan accent, coupled with rare words like ‘electric’ and ‘wildling,’ left him baffled as he stared at the three elders.

The Afghan Electric Brothers were famous locally, triplets born to the same mother, who had encountered extraordinary fortune early in life and studied under a renowned master. For decades, they had been celebrated figures among the gifted in Arab nations, undefeated wherever they went. Usually, the trio taught at their hometown school, living comfortably, but they could not resist Hardina’s persuasive rhetoric, which invoked Arab righteousness, and thus, even at over seventy, they ventured forth once more.

The old man, seeing Liu Yunfei’s youth, guessed his abilities were modest, but after delivering a blow at half strength and seeing Liu Yunfei unharmed, deduced that his powers were of the resilient type. He intended to intimidate the youth into retreat by announcing his name, but Liu Yunfei not only failed to recognize him, he didn’t even understand Arabic. If reason wouldn’t work, fists surely would. Concentrating his power, the old man struck again.

Liu Yunfei had never faced such an opponent. The old man’s hand moved, and another white flash struck him. Even if the opponent had been armed, Liu Yunfei could have dodged upon seeing a movement, given his agility. But electricity was different: the speed of light and electricity in air were nearly the same. As the saying goes: “To fight me is to fight electricity!”

This time, the old man used a dispersed electric blast instead of a concentrated orb, so Liu Yunfei wasn’t thrown back, but suffered a stronger paralysis. He felt every hair stand on end, his fingers trembling uncontrollably, until his shoes finally gave way—two sharp cracks, their fronts split open, black smoke rising, the smell of burning permeating the air. Liu Yunfei thought, thankfully, his feet weren’t odorous, or it would be worse, but it was a pity to lose his new wild crocodile skin shoes—costing twelve hundred euros, enough to pay an ordinary worker’s wages for half a year back home.

“Old man, you owe me a new pair of shoes!” Liu Yunfei shouted, lunging at the leader with a swift Tai Chi punch.

The electric powers had their weaknesses. The body’s natural charge was weak; through years of training, these gifted individuals increased their internal electric capacity by absorbing energy from air particles and converting it via unique organs into bioelectricity. They weren’t perpetual generators—otherwise power plants would have closed shop. To unleash a powerful electric orb or lightning, they needed time to accumulate enough internal charge, which highlighted their advantage as a trio: while one gathered energy, the other two could cover, rotating as their energy reached the required level.

When Liu Yunfei was knocked down by another electric orb, he noticed the ground trembling, the frequency rising. Overhead came a roaring sound, growing fainter and more distant. Though he couldn’t see it, he guessed it must be a helicopter.

“Damn, they’re moving the hostages!” Liu Yunfei abandoned the elders, summoning his cloud to chase the helicopter receding into the distance.

“Trying to leave? Not so easily!” The three elders launched a barrage of lightning, knocking Liu Yunfei to the ground as he tried to fly.

Now Liu Yunfei saw through their scheme: they knew he would arrive, knew who he was, and couldn’t stop him, so they placed no guards inside or outside the farmstead, leaving only the three elders at the door to delay him while the kidnappers escaped with the hostages. He bitterly regretted not flying straight to the rooftop.

“You only know how to discharge? I’ll become an insulator and see what you can do!” Liu Yunfei congratulated himself on his cleverness, transforming into a massive wooden post before the elders.

The elders circled the post twice, astonished by the ability to change shape at will, but soon shook their heads—not because they were at a loss, but because they thought Liu Yunfei foolish. How would a wooden log fly?

Liu Yunfei, realizing the flaw, considered transforming into a wooden rocket or plane. The elders simultaneously unleashed their power, a ball of dazzling light in the darkness, like a miniature sun, which exploded before Liu Yunfei, sending his wooden form flying across the lawn. The elders laughed boisterously.

Belgrade watched from afar, observing the farmstead. He had expected the Prince Awashid to be like other young Saudi royals, squandering oil wealth in Europe. But today’s events surprised him. From the moment Liu Yunfei appeared in his car’s back seat, he knew the prince was a gifted individual. The CIA possessed extensive intelligence, monitoring people with special abilities for decades. Recently, the CIA had recruited many gifted individuals, forming a special combat unit known as X-Man. Those unwilling to join were watched by dedicated departments, lest they become a threat to national security.

What astonished Belgrade more was the prince’s formidable powers: first, his sudden appearances—likely some form of invisibility—perfect for reconnaissance, theft, infiltration, and sabotage. Then, the incident on the highway, even more incredible—the prince was impervious to bullets, AK rounds bouncing off him and compressing into copper discs, far beyond the capabilities of any body armor. If such a person could be recruited to the CIA, his extraordinary abilities would equal adding an entire airborne regiment or a Delta Force unit to America’s arsenal.