Chapter 159: The Final Strike

Luding’s squad is considered battle-hardened, with some members keeping their guns close even when sleeping.

Upon hearing the explosion, the armed militants in the village immediately grabbed their weapons and found cover, swiftly opening fire.

Their shooting was more about bolstering their own courage.

In Africa, warfare often involves wild shooting, with gunfire serving as the best weapon to overwhelm the enemy.

Luding’s team started firing continuously, following the battle patterns they had been part of before, even though they had no idea where the enemy was.

But this time, they encountered adversaries not like themselves.

In the night sky, it seemed like dark shadows skimmed low, each time releasing a hail of bullets that completely engulfed the hidden gunmen.

When Ikar Khan heard the explosion, he crawled out of his sleeping bag and rushed towards the house where the medical team was held.

His position was actually not far from there, so he arrived quickly.

Seeing the crater near the edge of the clearing in front of the house, he was somewhat surprised.

With his experience, such craters were at least the result of 105mm howitzer bombardments—it’s no wonder the earthen houses dozens of meters away were toppled.

Who were these attackers launching a surprise assault? This level of shelling didn’t seem like a rescue operation.

A flurry of questions and thoughts crossed Ikar Khan’s mind in an instant, but his body subconsciously tried to rush towards the earthen houses.

Suddenly, his finely honed battlefield instincts made him stop abruptly in his tracks.

Not only that, but he also rolled into the crater nearby.

“Da da da…” A salvo of gunfire rained down, covering the very spot where he had just been.

Ikar Khan, breaking out in a cold sweat, looked up at the night sky and saw a huge shadow passing overhead.

Is this… a drone?

He stayed put, not daring to move; playing dead was the only option now.

Suddenly, numerous car headlights came on, all focusing on the earthen house where the medical team was located.

Turns out, vehicles that had stormed in from all around the village had mostly arrived at this central location by now.

The continuous gunfire within the village had ceased altogether.

Warriors, fully armed, rapidly alighted from the vehicles and surrounded the area of the earthen house.

Some had already rushed into the ruins of the earthen house, rescuing the medical team members one by one.

“Who are you?”

A woman emerged from the ruins, asking loudly.

A man, who clearly appeared to be a commander, suddenly saluted the woman and said in well-articulated Tang language, “Ms. Zheng Hailan, hello! I’m Du Jiujiu from Iron Guard Security Company, the commander of this operation, tasked with rescuing you.”

“Iron Guard Security Company?”

Zheng Hailan was baffled, knowing that in the war-torn parts of Africa, mercenary security companies were a dime a dozen.

She had never heard of Iron Guard Security, but she inexplicably trusted them, perhaps because the African commander in front of her spoke such fluent Tang language and even had a Tang name.

“Yes, our company received a request from a client to come here to South Sudan to rescue you,” Du Jiujiu reiterated.

Zheng Hailan realized that someone had paid this security company to send this mercenary force to save the medical team.

“May I know who the client is?” asked Zheng Hailan.

Du Jiujiu replied, “Ms. Zheng, the client is now nearby and would like to meet you. You can come with me to see him.”

Zheng Hailan did not expect Du Jiujiu to directly invite her to meet the client.

She hesitated, and a girl who had just come out of the ruins suddenly ran over, “Captain Zheng, can I go with you? I also want to meet the person who sent someone to save us.”

Zheng Hailan looked at Du Jiujiu and asked, “This is Ms. Zhang, a reporter. May we both meet the client?”

Du Jiujiu hesitated for a moment, then replied, “That’s fine. Please follow me, both of you!”

Zheng Hailan then asked, “Some of my colleagues are injured, do you have medical supplies with you? They need to have their wounds treated promptly.”

“Rest assured, there are people here to look after them. We all carry first aid kits and treating their superficial wounds shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Old Ding, take good care of everyone; I’ll be back soon.”

Zheng Hailan instructed the deputy leader of the medical team, Ding Shengtian, and then followed Du Jiujiu with Ms. Zhang, the reporter, to an all-terrain vehicle not far away.

Through the curtain of light formed by the headlights, Du Jiujiu opened the car door, then circled around to the driver’s side, obviously intending to personally drive the two women to meet the client.

Zheng Hailan was about to get into the car.

“Be careful!” The reporter Zhang, who was following her, suddenly shouted, standing in front of Zheng Hailan, then slowly leaned against her.

“Da da da…” A burst of gunfire ensued, and in a nearby crater, Ikar Khan lay with eyes unwilling to close, slowly slumping to the bottom of the pit.

From his mouth came the words, “The final strike, what a pity…”

A group of security personnel rushed over and encircled Zheng Hailan and the others.

Zheng Hailan had already turned around and caught the girl, urgently whispering, “Xiao Zhang, how are you?”

“I’m okay, just feel a bit cold.”

Zheng Hailan, aided by the light from the car, noticed that a more than ten-centimeter long flying knife had pierced the left side of the girl’s back, with at least five centimeters embedded.

Blood was already beginning to seep from the wound as she promptly asked Du Jiujiu, “Do you have any hemostatic bandages? She needs to stop the bleeding at once!”

Du Jiujiu produced a bandage from his combat suit, saying, “This knife must be treated promptly, but we don’t have surgical equipment, and it might not be wise to remove it rashly.”

Zheng Hailan nodded, “That’s right. Dr. Lei from our medical team is a surgeon; it’s best if he handles it.

It’s just that he was just hit in the head by a clump of soil from the roof of the earthen house; I don’t know what condition he is in now.”

“Ms. Zheng, I’m afraid Ms. Zhang will have to stay here for treatment by your medical team’s doctor. Let me take you to the client first.”

Zheng Hailan was not surprised by Du Jiujiu’s somewhat indifferent tone; mercenaries who encounter frequent life-and-death situations have long been accustomed to it.

Zheng Hailan called over Deputy Leader Ding Shengtian, inquired about Dr. Lei’s condition, and learned that his head injury had been initially treated and he was lucid, which relieved her.

“Old Ding, have Dr. Lei treat Ms. Zhang. If it weren’t for her taking that knife for me, I might have fallen just now.”

As she spoke, Zheng Hailan indicated the security personnel around her. “Ask them directly if you encounter any problems.”

Ding Shengtian waved his hand, “Alright, go ahead. Zhang and Leren will be here; everything will be fine.

Go thank that client properly; otherwise, we might all be buried on these plains.”

At this point, several security personnel brought over a stretcher and carried Ms. Zhang toward the center of the field, where Iron Guard Security had set up emergency tents.

Ms. Zhang lay prone on the stretcher while Zheng Hailan held her hand, following along and saying, “Xiao Zhang, you must hold on, Dr. Lei will surely cure you!”

“Please… thank the client for me,” whispered Ms. Zhang weakly.

Letting go of Xiao Zhang’s hand and watching her being carried into the tent, Zheng Hailan knew she could be of no help at this point.

It was better to meet the client sooner; first, to thank them and maybe to seek their help with Xiao Zhang’s injuries.

Zheng Hailan turned and settled into the all-terrain vehicle driven by Du Jiujiu.

The vehicle drove through the village alleys and onto the plains for about ten minutes.

The car stopped; in front of its headlights, there was nothing.

Suddenly, gusts of wind whipped up around them, and dust flew into the air.

A beam of light suddenly projected from the pitch-black night sky, shining directly on the all-terrain vehicle and its surroundings.

Zheng Hailan poked her head out of the car window to look up into the night sky.

A massive shadow hovered hundreds of meters above the ground.

Despite the huge size of the aircraft, its engine noise was quite low; only the sound of the wind could be heard on this silent prairie night.

Looking at Du Jiujiu, who was calm at the wheel, it was clear that the client must be inside that massive flying machine—wouldn’t it come down, though?

Zheng Hailan was puzzled.

At that moment, the huge aircraft slowly descended. When it was still several dozen meters above the ground, seven figures suddenly dropped from its underside.

These figures just jumped from the sky, descending rapidly, but at the moment of landing, they were light as leaves, not even stirring up any dust.

It felt as if these people were like the peerless masters in martial arts novels, possessing some incredible lightness skill.

Zheng Hailan watched this scene in amazement.

Under the light, six of the seven were fully armed, wrapped in silvery metallic armor from head to toe, with no part of their faces exposed.

However, their eyes protruded slightly, perhaps a new type of observational equipment.

The weapons in their hands also had a sci-fi feel and were completely different from those of the security personnel.

The six formed a phalanx, guarding the one in the middle; it was clear that this central figure had been supported by two armored warriors as they fell from the sky.

Under the brightness, the person in the center approached the vehicle wearing a well-fitted Tang suit.

“Auntie, I’m Du Qiu!”