Chapter 90: An Unexpected Turn of Events

Li Mengdie had disappeared into the jungle without a sound. Several minutes had already passed, and the roar of automatic machine guns had yet to break the silence, which meant Li Mengdie’s method was effective. Zhao Li’s heart, which had been hanging by a thread, settled down for the most part. Now, his only concern was whether Li Mengdie’s act of sabotaging the machine guns would alert those people.

Time ticked away, and with every passing minute, Zhao Li felt his tension mount. The most agonizing part was not being able to see Li Mengdie, leaving him to worry in the dark, constantly muttering to himself, "Please don't let anything happen, please don't let anything happen!" Without realizing it, his palms had become soaked with sweat.

Things had reached this point; the arrow was on the string, and it had to be fired. Zhao Li had no room for regret. Once he returned, he would definitely give Kang Hongyuan a piece of his mind—why did the intelligence report fail to mention such heavy firepower?

The machine guns, which had been under constant rotation, finally showed a change. On the barrel of one of them, a bright green mark appeared. This was the signal agreed upon with Li Mengdie: once a machine gun was neutralized, she would mark the outer barrel. In the dead of night, this mark was invisible to the naked eye, but it was clear through night-vision goggles. Because it was on the outside of the barrel, there was no fear of the people inside the camp discovering it.

One was neutralized, but Zhao Li’s heart didn't settle; if anything, it tightened further. Li Mengdie was now at the edge of the camp, so close to those men that if she were discovered, she would be met with a hail of gunfire. Even with her Grade 8 cultivation and the stealth suit she wore, it was unlikely she could withstand such a concentrated barrage at close range.

The thumping of his own heart sounded exceptionally loud in his ears. He didn't know why he was so worried; he hadn't felt this tense even when facing the jailbreakers earlier. Was it because the one carrying out the mission was Li Mengdie? Zhao Li wished he were in her place, taking on this dangerous task himself.

The second machine gun was marked with green. At least the two automatic guns facing this direction were neutralized. Through the night-vision goggles, it was hard to see exactly how she had disabled them—the distance was too great.

What was gratifying was that the people in the center of the camp were still waiting for the other party to arrive for the transaction. The trade hadn't begun, which gave Li Mengdie ample time. Moreover, those men felt so secure with their automatic machine guns that they didn't bother to patrol. They were lucky these people weren't professional enough, otherwise, the situation would have been disastrous today.

Only when the last machine gun was neutralized did Zhao Li finally let out a deflated sigh of relief. These short ten-odd minutes seemed to have exhausted all his energy, leaving him feeling weak. Despite Li Mengdie being the one on the mission, Zhao Li remained deeply anxious. It seemed his concern and unspoken feelings for her hadn't changed in the slightest, regardless of her status.

He sat on the ground to catch his breath, then opened his communicator and issued the order: "Move into position to surround the camp. Execute according to the pre-planned strategy!"

Just as everyone reached their positions and was about to launch the attack, the pilot’s voice suddenly came over the headset: "Report, radar detected a small transport ship just landing about 500 meters from the target. There is another one parked in the opposite direction."

"Hold the attack!" This must be the party they were waiting for; otherwise, they wouldn't have delayed the trade for so long. Since such big fish had arrived, catching them all in one net was exactly what he wanted.

It was fortunate the pilot reported in time—he had almost forgotten the transport ships these people were using. The military warship’s radar system was indeed formidable. No one dared to easily sell such technology; otherwise, the warship would be discovered first, and the whole operation would fall apart.

In an instant, Zhao Li changed the plan. At least half of his men had to be diverted to deal with the transport ships; otherwise, even if they neutralized the people on the ground, they would inevitably face the ships' firepower.

This would significantly weaken his offensive force, but Zhao Li had no choice. An operation like this could not leave any survivors. Once it became known that government forces were involved in such an affair, their camp would surely be surrounded by a massive force of militants. If that happened, they wouldn't even know how they died.

"In position!" The four men responsible for flanking the transport ships signaled their readiness. Most of the people from the transport ships seemed to have disembarked and were walking toward the center. These people must have had identification cards from the start, or else the first group wouldn't have remained indifferent when they saw the machine guns weren't firing.

"Attention, wait until they reach the center. Do not alert them!" Zhao Li whispered through his throat mic to his soldiers. "I reiterate: no survivors!" As he commanded, he gripped his assault rifle, the crosshairs of the scope firmly locked onto the head of the man who appeared to be the leader.

He silently counted the steps of the man across from him, watching their cautious manner, and couldn't help but feel a sense of luck. It was fortunate that there wasn't complete trust between these drug traffickers and the guerrillas. This atmosphere of mutual distrust provided Zhao Li with a golden opportunity.

As this group arrived, both sides of the trade seemed to tighten their grips on their weapons, whether intentionally or not. It wasn't until the newcomers saw the two large crates on the ground that they hummed in relief. This sound eased the tension slightly. Now was the time!

"Aim for those guarding the crates, fire!" Zhao Li was struck by an inspired idea. With a low shout, he pulled the trigger on the head in his scope.

"Bang!" The massive gunshot rang out clearly in the silent night. From afar, through the scope, Zhao Li saw the man's head instantly explode like a smashed gourd. At the same time, he saw tongues of flame converging toward the group in the center.

In the instant the shots rang out, the group in the center dove for cover or scrambled behind various obstacles. The two trading parties seemed to turn on each other due to the sudden gunfire and their existing lack of trust. At least half of them weren't aiming at the hidden attackers, but were pointing their guns at each other. Moments later, they began firing wildly, unable to distinguish friend from foe.

"You broke your word!" Zhao Li heard this shout during a lull in the gunfire. It seemed that no matter the circumstances, there was never much integrity in this kind of underground trade. No matter how much money the traffickers had, no one would completely trust them during a deal. Furthermore, in this situation, the fact that the automatic machine guns hadn't fired meant the other side must have had people hidden there with identification cards.

A great opportunity. If both sides turned on each other, it would be a huge advantage for his mission. Zhao Li shifted his position and turned his rifle, immediately locking his crosshairs on the head of another gunman.

In reality, the moment the shots rang out, those men lost control. At close range, assault rifles fired rapidly; the sound became a continuous, staccato roar.

In the blink of an eye, over ten people fell. The others found cover in that brief moment. It had to be said that their survival instincts were quite high. With such dense, close-quarters fire, only a dozen had been killed. Conversely, this also showed how poor their marksmanship was.

The gunfire continued, but the direction had shifted—the attack was now coming from the outside in as Zhao Li’s team began their assault. Because Zhao Li ordered the attack on those guarding the crates, the first group immediately assumed this was a planned double-cross and fought back desperately. The later arrivals thought the others were framing them, and they, too, were filled with righteous indignation.

The sudden turn of events made both sides of the trade unwilling to remain trapped in the center, and they began to retreat in an organized fashion.

However, the two large crates left in the middle of the crude base were highly tempting. It seemed everyone wanted to seize them. Even though the bodies piled up thickest around the crates, it didn't dampen the enthusiasm of those men.

It was a beautiful lure, enticing the greedy moths to rush headlong toward those two "beacons." Both sides harbored the same thought: they were determined to haul those crates away.

Unfortunately, the crates were incredibly heavy. Several men had already grabbed them, only to find they couldn't lift them, and were shredded into meat paste by the hidden soldiers or their own disgruntled comrades.

Finally, the few remaining men on both sides began to retreat in an organized manner; no matter how important the crates were, their lives were more important at this moment. Strangely, two or three individuals didn't move much, instead slowly creeping toward the crates.

The direction those men were retreating toward was clearly the location of their respective transport ships. Just at this moment, a sound like heavenly music came over the headsets of Zhao Li and his soldiers: "Report, Ship One is completely secured!" Immediately followed by: "Ship Two is completely secured!"

A smile finally appeared on Zhao Li’s face. In this situation, those people wouldn't be able to escape even if they wanted to. Watching those men struggling in their death throes, Zhao Li issued another final order: "No survivors!"

Gunfire erupted sharply, and the last few people near the crates were struck by bullets, falling around them. In the crude camp, there was no one left standing.

"Don't let a single one get away!" Zhao Li waved his hand, and the soldiers began to chase the fleeing men into the jungle. Everyone knew this was no longer a simple exercise. Those who lived here long enough knew the consequences of letting someone escape. Without Zhao Li having to emphasize it further, they consciously split into two groups and gave chase.

Everyone knew this was no drill, so they showed no mercy. The marksmanship honed by countless bullets in a short time immediately showed its power. Among those fleeing, someone would fall every few steps. By the time they retreated to the vicinity of the transport ships, there were only a few people left on either side.

Unfortunately for them, they were not met with reinforcements from their own people inside the ships, but with even fiercer barrages from the ship-mounted weapons. Wealth had its advantages; although these guys' ships weren't as high-performance as the military's, the weapons mounted on them were truly terrifying. The soldiers in charge of the ships had also succeeded in a single stroke by relying on a surprise attack.

The frenzied rain of bullets drowned out the last of those men's courage and opportunities. A moment later, the men who had run out were silent forever. Even so, the elite soldiers didn't let their guard down; they would find a body, fire a shot into it to be sure, and then count it.

The reported figures, after being tallied, matched the numbers observed from a distance perfectly. Not a single person had escaped. If one didn't count those few high-level experts in the middle, the raid could be considered perfect. These former soldiers-turned-thugs, after rigorous training, had participated in their first small-scale raid of this kind. Judging by the results, it was a successful mission.

One could tell from the excited tones in their voices that they were very happy with the results they had achieved. Back when they were just loafing around waiting for their days to end, they never imagined that one day they would be so imposing and murderous.

"Major Li!" Since all communications were open, Zhao Li couldn't bring himself to address Li Mengdie intimately, so he could only use her rank.

"I'm fine!" The calm voice in his headset made Zhao Li feel much more at ease.

"Wait for me by the two crates!" Zhao Li scanned his surroundings and quickly headed toward the center.

He observed the area once more through his night-vision goggles; there was no one left standing. The gunfire on both sides was still continuing, but he didn't hear any reports of his own men being wounded over the comms. Everything seemed to be going smoothly.

Zhao Li stepped over the field of corpses and slowly approached the center of the camp. Those two crates must have been the object of their transaction and his own spoils for this operation.

He could already see Li Mengdie’s silhouette in the firelight of the camp, walking slowly toward the bonfire. Not far from the fire sat the two metal crates.

As he got closer, he realized the two crates were quite large, about half a cubic meter each. The items inside must be heavy, as evidenced by the ring of handles around them, designed for multiple people to carry them together.

Zhao Li slowly walked toward them, carefully observing his surroundings along the way to see if there were any hidden individuals. He didn't know why, but the closer he got to the bonfire, the more he felt something was wrong, though he couldn't put his finger on what.

He took two more steps, and a thought struck him. In a drug trafficking deal like this, could both sides really be so trusting that they didn't send a single high-level expert along? It didn't make sense.

If there were experts, where would they be? What was the most important thing in a transaction? The leader's life? Or the goods being traded? Looking at the metal crates not far away, and then at Li Mengdie’s calm figure, Zhao Li was suddenly struck by a jolt of alarm.

"Watch out, there's an expert playing dead!" He finally understood what was wrong. Zhao Li didn't have time to do anything else but shout at the top of his lungs, hoping to catch Li Mengdie’s attention.