416: Chapter 413: Legs Went Soft 416: Chapter 413: Legs Went Soft Gao Yang and his team’s backpacks were mostly 3D bags, except for Glolov and Cui Bo, who carried a sixty-liter backpack each; the rest were a bit small.
After quickly scanning everyone’s backpack, Gao Yang’s eyes lit up when he spotted Kamp’s marching pack.
He immediately pointed at Kamp’s large backpack and said urgently, “Give me that one!”
Kamp’s backpack was nothing more than a pocket with two straps added; it was closed with a drawstring that, when loosened, turned into a large, straight canvas bag with no compartments—and crucially, it was huge.
By volume, it was at least eighty liters and could easily hold over a hundred pounds of dirt.
After Glolov took Kamp’s backpack and dumped out the contents, Gao Yang quickly placed an armor plate he’d pulled from the front of his bulletproof vest into the bottom of the pack.
Cui Bo, who had already prepared himself, started to rapidly fill the bag with dirt.
When the dirt had filled most of the backpack, Gao Yang lifted it and felt it weighed at least a hundred pounds.
He said, “That’s enough, this weight will do.
I’ll deliver the bag to them.”
Glovol grabbed the backpack from Gao Yang’s hand, pulled the drawstring to close the bag, and hoisted it onto his shoulder with effort.
“Notify Worker Bee I’m heading over.”
After leaving these words behind, Glolov carried the backpack over to where Tommy and Sirte were.
Seeing Glolov, Tommy nodded and said, “Put the bag down and get out quick.
I’ll start once you’re in a safe area.”
Glolov said in a grave tone, “I can stay and help.
You can’t press the bag down by yourself.”
Tommy planned to press on the mine’s detonator with a knife and needed someone to help place the dirt-filled bag on the knife.
If the mine exploded, it was game over—no need for further words.
If it didn’t, they would have cheated death.
Sirte waved his hand at Glolov and said, “I can place the bag after moving my foot.
Worker Bee’s hands can’t leave his work, and I have enough time to do that.
There’s no need to risk you as well for a two-person job.
Go now, buddy, don’t waste our time.”
Glolov asked Tommy, “Is that okay?”
Tommy smiled and replied, “Of course it’s okay.
So move it, I can’t start until you leave.”
Glolov turned and ran without hesitation.
Once he had moved a safe distance away, Tommy took out a can of fast-acting, strong glue from his pocket and said to Sirte, “Ready?
I’m starting.”
“Get on with it, buddy.
I’m tired of waiting.”
Tommy opened the glue can and began to drip the glue into the small hole where the safety pin was originally inserted, careful not to get any on Sirte’s foot.
Filling the detonator of a mine with glue works if the mine has not been triggered.
But once the fuse has been activated by pressure, adding glue is only slightly better than doing nothing.
The hole where the fuse activates is tiny and doesn’t allow much glue in, providing at most a psychological comfort.
Mainly, a heavy object needs to replace the pressure of a human body to prevent the live detonator from setting off the mine.
Tommy had only dug a small hole next to the mine; most of the mine’s body and detonator were still buried in the ground.
After filling the hole with glue and feeling it had taken effect, Tommy took a deep breath and said, “Pray for us.
I’m using the knife now.”
Sirte held onto the dirt-filled backpack, closed his eyes, and shouted, “Let’s do this!”
Tommy carefully inserted the tip of the knife bit by bit into the sole of Sirte’s shoe.
As he watched the knife tip enter between the sole and the detonator, Tommy closed his eyes and paused.
After a few seconds, realizing the mine hadn’t exploded, Tommy let out a couple of dry laughs and continued to push the knife forward incrementally, feeling the friction against the hard detonator.
Once the tip emerged on the other side of Sirte’s foot, Tommy stopped moving the knife and quickly filled the small hole with dirt, then pressed down on both the knife handle and the tip under Sirte’s other foot.
Securing the knife firmly, Tommy said with a voice made sharp by tension, “We’re in luck; the first step was a success.
Ha-ha, ha-ha.”
Sulta also laughed dryly, swallowed hard, and asked, “Can I lift my foot now?”
“Wait, wait, let me get ready.
Remember, after you move your foot, you have to gently and slowly place the bag down, no rushing.
Our lives are in your hands now.”
“I’ll be careful, F**k, I’ll be very careful.”
“Okay, get ready, lift your foot!”
After Tommy had spoken, Sirte slowly, ever so slowly, lifted his foot, and after the foot reached the ground, both he and Tommy closed their eyes.
The terrifying sound did not come; they had already completed two steps, only one last step remained.
After gently placing his foot back on the ground, Sirte clenched his fists, gnashed his teeth, and shook his head violently in front of his chest to vent the excitement in his heart.
But it was just a short moment before Sirte grabbed his backpack, took a long breath, and said, “I’m going to start putting down the bag now.”
Tommy took a few rapid breaths and said in a deep voice, “You can put it down now, slowly, gently, take it easy…”
Having aimed for the right spot, Sirte very softly and slowly placed the bag onto the knife that Tommy was pressing down on.
As the weight on the knife gradually increased until Sirte had completely put down the bag filled with soil, the landmine did not detonate.
After having put down the bag completely, Sirte said with a trembling voice, “I’ve put it down.”
Tommy also spoke with a quivering voice, “We’re about to make it, you go first, after you leave I’ll let go, hurry up.”
Sirte’s laughter was uglier than crying as he said, “Stop joking, buddy, let go.”
Tommy took a deep breath and then suddenly retracted his hand that had been firmly pressing on the knife.
Sirte experienced a tranquility he had never felt before in his life.
No sound, no sound of bouncing mines or of landmines exploding beneath the surface, which meant they had succeeded.
After chuckling dryly twice, Sirte said to Tommy, who was lying on the ground, “Buddy, you did it, now let’s get the hell out of here quickly.”
Tommy said in a grave tone, “Buddy, I can’t stand up, my legs are too weak, I can’t move, I probably can’t walk either, could you drag my legs and get me out of here?”
Sirte took a few gentle steps forward, then squatted down and grabbed Tommy’s ankle, who was still facedown, and dragged him several meters back and forth.
“It’s okay, you can pull me up now.”
Sirte let go of Tommy’s ankle and then reached out to pull Tommy up from the ground.
It was difficult for Tommy to stand up, and his legs trembled like a sieve.
Sirte pointed at Tommy and laughed, “Look at your legs, they’re still shaking.
How embarrassing, buddy.”
Tommy’s hands were also shaking, he glanced at Sirte, snorted, and said, “Before you talk about others, take a look at yourself.”
Sirte looked down and then he realized that his own legs were also shaking, and the tremors were no less severe than Tommy’s.
After hovering on the brink of life and death, their highly strung nerves began to relax, and the intense fear response finally arrived; it was an unavoidable human instinct.
“Fantastic, I didn’t pee my pants in fright, and my legs are only now turning to jelly, fantastic.
Thank goodness I could still stand earlier.
If I had trembled, buddy, both of us would have been blown to the sky.
Alright, I’ll support you, we need to get out of here quickly, I don’t want to stay here for one more second,” he said.
After speaking, Sirte, who couldn’t walk, extended his hand to support Tommy, who was also weakened at the knees.
The two men supported each other and gradually made their way to where Gao Yang and the others were lying in wait.
When Gao Yang saw Tommy and Sirte supporting each other within his field of vision, he sprang up, and a group of people cheered as they ran towards the two men.
An extremely excited Gao Yang ran up to Tommy and Sirte and punched Tommy in the chest, then shouted, “I knew you could do it, damn!
I knew you guys wouldn’t die!”
Tommy fell to the ground with a thud, then rubbed his chest with a wry smile and said, “F**k, don’t hit me so hard, I was already scared to death and can barely stand.”
(To be continued.
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