The end of the battle was welcomed by an eerie silence. The inhabitants of this area had fled as soon as the first round of gunshots were heard.
Qian Jun returned to Xia Leu’s side, holding an unfamiliar Russian sniper rifle in his grip. That was his prize. While it wasn’t as good as the XL2500, it was sufficient for a street battle.
“You run really fast,” commented Xia Lei.
Qian Jun nonchalantly replied, “The faster you run, the higher chances of living.”
A simple sentence like that had let Xia Lei realize the pain, hard work and countless fights that shaped Qian Jun.
“What do we do now?” Anjum Khan asked.
Xia Lei quickly surveyed the scene and arranged his strategy. “Strip the bodies clean. We disguise ourselves at them. Then, we destroy the rest of them!”
“Very well, that’s a great idea.” Anjum Khan seemed pleased.
To disguise as the enemy and kill them after blending into their crowd was a common tactic among terrorists. Now, the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team was about to use the same technique
In the next two minutes, everyone had managed to snag their clothes. Even the opponent’s black turban and green bands were not left behind.
The only one that didn’t join the disguise was Sa’im’s lover, Yaada. There was no need for her to do that because she was already donning a traditional burqa that covered her from top to bottom.
“Yaada, you need to leave this place fast. Arrange a boat for us to get to Egypt,” instructed Sa’im.
“I’d need an hour for that. I’ll call you when everything’s settled.” With that, Yaada turned and left.
“Will she be alright?” Xia Lei couldn’t help but be concerned.
Sa’im answered, “Trust me, she’ll be alright. All of my women are skilled.”
Xia Lei hummed. “That’s good to hear. Let’s head to the harbour.”
“No, we’re going to leave through a fishing village named Green Pearl. I’m familiar with that place. We need to get you there,” said Sa’im. With a quick work of his fingers, his multifunctional wristwatch displayed a satellite map. He zoomed in and showed Xia Lei the Green Pearl fishing village he was talking about.
At the same time, all the members of the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team had received the same satellite map from Sa’im through their wristwatch. The navigation function was triggered at that instant. While the multifunctional wristwatch had cost a hefty two hundred thousand USD, it was good value for money.
Confirming their destination, Xia Lei led them away from the main street to weave through the narrow alleys.
The Gaza armed groups quickly mobilized their members. They had no plans on sparing their targets. Under their watch, their targets were not going to leave their turf alive!
“You! Bring your men over to the east and seal the exit! You! Bring your men to guard the exit at the south! You! Bring your team to…” An important figure of the Gaza armed group barked out instructions. “As soon as you find the target, kill everyone else except the Native American man!”
Things had already progressed to this stage and yet money was the only thing on their minds.
After receiving instructions from their leader, team leaders began to usher their members towards four different directions. The Gaza armed group had dispatched about five hundred members for this operation! Even if the Israeli ground forces had entered the Gaza Strip instead, there was no way they would operate on such a scale in these areas.
Five hundred armed members after six targets. That would mean that each one of Xia Lei’s team members had to fight off a hundred men!
They were incredibly outnumbered. Judging from that, the Gaza armed groups were bound to achieve victory. There was literally no chance for them to escape their grasp.
But was that set in stone?
A team of nearly one hundred armed men infiltrated the eastern zone quickly. Under the instructions of their team leader, a dozen armed pickup trucks blocked all exits within the zone. There were people stationed everywhere, from the alleys to the streets even around the manhole covers of the sewer!
Pleased with their efficiency and speed, the team leader relaxed slightly. He brought out a stool and a pot of milk tea from someone’s house. He placed the stool in the middle of the street and sat on it. The man helped himself to a steaming cup of milk tea leisurely as his communicator reported real-time situations of other areas.
“Even if Mossad comes here, we’d still have to go on. The targets had dared to kill our people. Once we extort enough money out of him, I’m going to behead him personally.” The team leader said to his assistant beside him.
The assistant turned to him. “Our men had relayed a message from Jerusalem. The bastard had tricked them. There was no safe left behind in Sheraton Hotel. They used this lie to distract them and killed off our members. That fucker isn’t going anywhere. I’m going to have him suffer when we…”
Before he could even finish his sentence, a stray bullet was shot through his opened jaw. It exited through the back of his skull cleanly.
His body slumped onto the ground, blood began to pool from his mouth and the back of his head.
The pot of milk tea in the leader’s grip crashed onto the ground. With a shock, he peered forward but could not catch anyone in sight.
One second later, he leapt from the stool and pointed at a probable direction where the bullet might’ve come from. “Fire!”
Two gunners began to fire from the armed pickup trucks that blocked the street.
Thud thud thud!
Thud thud thud…
The heavy machine gun roared into the air, sending countless fifty-gram bullets forward. With each bullet, the rock walls broke and debris flew.
“Kill them! Kill off those heretics!” The team leader screamed with maddened excitement.
Poof! His voice fell, stopped abruptly. One bullet escaped a gust assault rifle and plunged itself into his forehead and blasted off his entire skull. His head soared across the air.
Their leader was dead. The machine gunners didn’t know what to do. They didn’t know where their enemies were and they didn’t know which direction they should shoot. They had a heavy machine gun that offered a superior shooting range compared to regular sniper rifles. Yet, the enemies were hidden. How were they supposed to continue this fight?
Thankfully, they wouldn’t need to be bothered by such worries.
Poof! Poof!
The gunners both received a headshot and fell off the truck.
Two substitutes quickly clambered onto the truck but as they settled under the weapon, a bullet hit one of the oil tanks of the trucks.
Ka-boom!
A deafening boom rang across the battlefield. Shards of the pickup truck and used bullets pushed towards all directions like a violent storm. The armed men who did not have the luck of escaping in time were dismembered and flipped onto the ground.
The east was cleared just like that.
Half a kilometre away, Xia Lei kept the gust assault rifle in his grip. Beside him, Qian Jun placed the Russian sniper rifle down onto his lap.
In the episode earlier, Xia Lei had taken care of the team leader, his assistant and one of the gunners. Qian Jun, on the other hand, had gotten rid of the other machine gunner and shot the oil tank of the pickup truck.
“Not bad!” Xia Lei praised.
Qian Jun returned a slight smile. “Not as good as you. I’ve never seen anyone use an assault rifle as a sniper rifle.”
“I designed this gust assault rifle, my company produces these. If you like it, I can gift you one,” offered Xia Lei.
Qian Jun merely nodded. So he was the kind of man who found it difficult to express his gratitude verbally.
Xia Lei could feel that the battle and exchange was bringing him and Qian Jun closer.
“Do we go through this street now?” Qian Jun asked.
Xia Lei watched the other three directions. “No, the survivors of this wing have hidden in the houses. We’d be ambushed if we exit through this street. We’ll head north. The team in the north is rushing to the east. They’d assume that we’re retaliating in the east, so we should get to the north.”
“You’re…” Qian Jun looked at him weirdly. “Guerilla warfare…?”
Xia Lei chuckled, “Specifically, it’s a combination of guerilla warfare and street battle.”
The edges of Qian Jun’s lip twitched.
Bang! Another gunshot rang. From the roof, a sniper fell to the ground, only one-third of his skull made it through.
Anjum Khan had shot him. The Indian man kept away his XL2500 sniper rifle and sent a thumbs up towards Xia Lei’s direction.
Yelena flashed her middle finger at him.
Anjum Khan could only helplessly shrug his shoulders.
All of the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team members began to gather towards Xia Lei. Following that, they moved to the north. Xia Lei led the team in the very front, acting as a human radar. All of the armed members hiding inside the buildings could not escape his sight. Even if their enemies were two kilometres away, Xia Lei could still see them all.
Xia Lei was the king of snipers.
Now, he had achieved another title. The king of street battles.
In the deserted streets, those who did not have time to retreat peeped at the team heading to the north through their windows and the gaps of their doors. Despite that, no one had suspected them to be invaders because the armed group that dominated the area was just like them.
Any enemies encountered along their way to the north would be killed.
Though the size of the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team was significantly smaller than the armed group, their killing efficiency would leave no more than ten who had seen them!
This was the advantage posed by their weapons. Firearms manufactured by the Thunder Horse Organization were the world’s best. Regardless of the gust assault rifle of the XL2500 sniper rifle, they were both aces in their field!
When a shot was made, a corpse would litter the ground.