Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
The dark sky was devoid of any light, and the tranquility before dawn at Cloudfall Mountain in Longchuan City’s East Suburb was suddenly shattered by the roar of car engines. A dozen military transport vehicles surged up the mountainside, heading towards a wide open space at the end of the road. Behind this open area lay the Nursery Forest, which had once been a state-owned forest farm. A few years ago, it was contracted by a returning overseas student named Lin Ping, who specialized in cultivating various ornamental flowers and trees for urban greening, making an indelible contribution to Longchuan City’s landscaping efforts. The transport vehicles rushed into the open space, their bright headlights illuminating the area as several fierce dogs in the forest were startled awake, barking incessantly at the metallic beasts.
The dozen military vehicles lined up neatly in the open space. At a command, fully armed soldiers jumped out of the transport vehicles and quickly formed an orderly square in the center of the area. It was then that a military Jeep appeared leisurely at the entrance of the open space. Shen Liwei sat inside the Jeep, a cigarette dangling from his mouth as he squinted at the soldiers' formation. He seemed quite satisfied with the effect he had orchestrated. After tossing aside his cigarette butt and yawning, he jumped down from the Jeep and walked towards the soldiers.
Inside a small building at Nursery Headquarters, a man in his thirties from Heavenly Pride and seven or eight rugged-looking foreigners were observing everything in the open space through binoculars. A burly foreigner clicked off the safety on his KF-59-AMP submachine gun and exclaimed, “Damn! How did we get targeted by Heavenly Pride’s military? Peter, should we retreat or charge out?”
The Heavenly Pride man beside him quickly gestured for him to stop and said, “Don’t be impulsive, David. Let’s assess the situation first.” Peter nodded in agreement with David's restraint because he felt that these soldiers did not seem to be coming after them. If they were truly targeting them, they would have already surrounded the entire forest farm instead of lining up in formation in the open space. However, it struck him as strange that Heavenly Pride’s military had suddenly appeared here. What could they possibly want? Based on events from last night, it seemed that their actions had already been monitored by others; otherwise, how could that man in black have shown up? Although that man had been killed, it couldn’t be guaranteed that he hadn’t sent out information before dying. Was that man in black affiliated with the military? Had Heavenly Pride Military already tracked their movements? Peter was confused and could only wait to see how things unfolded.
Currently, the bodies of that man in black and John were still inside a van parked in the yard of the headquarters. Peter planned to find a secluded spot to bury them after dawn because Heavenly Pride Nation was still a stable and prosperous rule-of-law country. If someone discovered the bodies, the police would undoubtedly trace back to them. Although it might not lead directly to identifying who was responsible, it was better to avoid trouble altogether. This was also why Peter had brought their bodies back; as long as no bodies were found, things wouldn’t escalate.
Shen Liwei approached the front of the soldiers' formation. Someone handed him a handheld megaphone. Shen Liwei cleared his throat into it; however, he found that the sound coming from it was rather strange—this was his first time using such a device and he wasn’t accustomed to it. Normally during training sessions with his troops, he would just shout at full volume regardless of how many people there were until his throat went hoarse; that was how he preferred it. If it weren’t for Xin Yi insisting that he make some noise today, he would have liked to smash this ridiculous megaphone with a bullet—it simply tarnished his image as Commander Shen.
However, since Xin Yi had insisted on this approach, there must be some reasoning behind it. Shen Liwei didn’t know what scheme Xin Yi was concocting by bringing his troops here for such an inexplicable exercise; if it weren’t for Xin Yi promising to spar with him after returning to Longchuan, he wouldn’t have risked disciplinary action by coming here to mess around like this. Clearing his throat again, Shen Liwei spoke loudly into the megaphone: “Listen up! I brought you all here today for some serious weight-bearing cross-country training! Look at you lot lounging around at base eating well—you’re all getting soft! If you don’t lose some weight now, your mothers won’t even recognize you when you return home! So after dawn tomorrow, each Company Commander will lead their teams up to the mountaintop and back down—that’s today’s training objective! Oh, and no taking shortcuts through trails! Everyone climbs straight up from wherever!” Shen Liwei genuinely didn’t know how to explain this operation; he could only ramble on like this. Fortunately, his troops were always disciplined; what he said was law—no one would dare oppose him—and even the political officer was on his side.
After finishing his speech and noticing that dawn hadn’t yet arrived while everyone stood around bored, a sly smile crept across Shen Liwei’s face as he picked up the megaphone again: “Since it’s still dark out, let’s practice some combat skills! Is there anyone willing to come up here and spar with your Camp Commander?”
The formation fell silent; soldiers in the front row began to avert their gazes nervously while several timid ones had already lowered their heads to stare at their toes.
Shen Liwei scanned over his soldiers’ formation and saw no one stepping forward. It seemed he hadn’t offered an enticing enough incentive yet. He spoke into the megaphone again: “How about this… Anyone who spars with your Camp Commander today—win or lose—can skip tomorrow’s weight-bearing cross-country training! Who’s first?”
Still silence reigned within the formation; not only did no one want to skip tomorrow's training but even if they could avoid future training altogether, no one wanted to fight him either. Shen Liwei had long been notorious within the camp; every soldier knew that while this Camp Commander excelled at many things, he loved finding someone to spar with—but sparring with him wasn’t really sparring; it was just getting beaten up! This Commander Shen was essentially a sadistic fighter; there had been instances where six skilled soldiers had teamed up against him only to suffer disastrous defeats—imagine who would want to train with such a superhuman bully? They would rather endure weight-bearing cross-country training or even wade through water than face him in combat.
Seeing that no one responded again made Shen Liwei sigh in disappointment: “You’re all a bunch of cowards! Forget it!” Upon hearing this statement from Shen Liwei, all soldiers collectively sighed in relief—thank Allah! They finally escaped disaster—but before they could fully express their gratitude to Allah, Shen Liwei spoke again: “First Company Commander, Second Company Commander, Third Company Commander—step forward! If no one dares to spar with your Camp Commander then you come forward!”
Three Company Commanders were on the verge of tears, realizing that thanking Allah was of no use; if they had known earlier, they would have thanked the Buddha or Guanyin instead.
On the open ground, a fierce fight was underway, or rather, it was a one-sided beating. The three Company Commanders were being tossed around like leaves in an autumn breeze by Shen Liwei's powerful strikes. A few people in a small building at the Nursery Headquarters breathed a sigh of relief, realizing it was just a training exercise. Only Peter remained sullen, closely watching every movement on the open ground.
In the nearby woods beside the Nursery Headquarters, four people were hiding: Qin Dali, Topology, Han Yuhe, and Summer Wind, who insisted on coming along to help. After consulting with Xin Yi, Qin Dali agreed to let him join. Xin Yi told Qin Dali, "Summer Wind has great potential. If he gains more practical experience, he might surpass Topology in the future. As long as he is willing, take him along for any operations."
Taking advantage of Shen Liwei's enthusiasm in the fight, the group quietly approached a side gate at the Nursery Headquarters' wall. After observing their surroundings, Qin Dali stepped back to prepare for a running jump over the wall when Han Yuhe gracefully leaped up and placed one hand on top of the wall. With a push, she flipped over and lightly floated inside. Dressed in a tight black outfit, her perfect figure was accentuated by the faint light from the open ground despite the dark early morning. The three men below were almost mesmerized as Han Yuhe opened the side gate and let them in.
The four quickly made their way into the front yard where a Van was quietly parked. Qin Dali glanced around and happened to catch a glimpse of sunlight reflecting off a telescope lens from above. He knew someone was up there—the very person who killed Tian Rui. He wanted to rush up for revenge, but Xin Yi had already warned him not to act recklessly except for retrieving Tian Rui's body. Frustrated with pent-up anger, Qin Dali boldly walked toward the Van. Brother Xin had only commanded him not to act without permission regarding Tian Rui's body; surely self-defense wouldn't count as acting recklessly if they tried to stop him? So he deliberately exposed himself and confidently walked to the back of the vehicle to open the trunk.
The people upstairs heard the commotion and were equipped with Infrared Night Vision Goggles; they noticed what was happening below. David clicked off the safety of his KF-59-AMP submachine gun and aimed it at Qin Dali's figure, ready to fire. Peter quickly snatched the gun from David's hands and sternly scolded him, "Are you trying to get us all killed? You can't shoot now! Let's go down!" After saying that, he led the way downstairs while everyone else reluctantly tucked their guns away and drew their Jungle Combat Knives to follow Peter.
When Qin Dali opened the trunk, a strong smell of blood hit him in the face. He pulled out a mini flashlight and shone it inside to find two bodies lying quietly in the trunk—one was a foreigner with blonde hair, and the other was Tian Rui. Qin Dali felt a lump in his throat and choked out, "Tian Rui, my good brother! I'm here to take you home!"
Comment 0 Comment Count