Within the jungle, thirty Filipino soldiers moved swiftly towards the reported location.
They were carrying M14 assault rifles and among them, three were carrying light machine guns, three grenade launchers, three rocket launchers and one sniper rifle. Leading the team was a sub-lieutenant who looked in his early thirties. He was not tall but looked very strong.
The sub-lieutenant suddenly stopped when he arrived at a patch of forest, raising his left arm high.
The team stopped. Based on his gestures, they split into two and travelled ahead in two directions.
The sub-lieutenant went in front slowly, with the M14 in his hands still held up. The body quickly entered his field of vision. The body was lying face-down and there was a pool of fresh blood.
There seemed to be something under the body’s shoulder.
He pointed at the body and a soldier stepped forward to inspect it. The soldier extended his M14 assault rifle barrel towards the body’s shoulder, then flicked up. When the shoulder was lifted up, an anti-personnel mine leapt up from underneath the shoulder.
Boom!
There was an explosion and multiple Filipino soldiers had already collapsed on the ground. Some of them had broken arms and legs, some missing a chunk of head. Other than the few bodies, the shrapnel also injured a few more.
This was the power of the mines. Since it exploded mid-air, it could cause damage in all directions. Other than being out of range or hiding behind another body, one cannot escape!
Poof! Poof! Poof!
Despite the lack of gunshots heard, a few startled Filipino soldiers were shot in the head.
“Shooters! twelve o’clock!” The sub-lieutenant crawled on the ground.
Ra-ta-ta!
Three machine guns shot angrily into the forest. However, the dense vegetation proved to be an obstacle for the bullets.
“Go!” roared the sub-lieutenant.
The soldiers on the ground and taking cover behind trees all rushed forward.
Poof! Poof! Poof!
Bullets flew from another direction, hitting multiple soldiers again.
The sub-lieutenant was now panicking. Shooting his M14 towards the direction of the bullets, he yelled at his subordinates, “Eight o’clock!”
The shooters adjusted the machine guns to shoot at the eight o’clock direction. At the same time, a few snipers ambushed from the side. However, as they moved, one of the soldiers stepped on an anti-personnel mine. It leapt in the air and exploded!
“Retreat! Retreat!” The sub-lieutenant no longer had any guts to fight. Before his subordinates retreated, he had already crawled up and ran towards the base.
The rest of the soldiers continued running.
During the few seconds they retreated, a rain of shots came from the military base. The bullets were very accurate. None of them missed.
Someone collapsed at every single shot!
The only person in the world who could do such a thing was Xia Lei.
It was barely five minutes since the beginning of the fight. Five minutes ago, this was a lively troop. Five minutes later, only the sub-lieutenant was alive.
Clack…
The sub-lieutenant pulled the trigger but there were no more bullets in his assault rifle. Tossing away his M14 assault rifle, he pulled out his handgun and fired in front of him. He roared furiously as he fired, “Come out! Come out! Ah!”
He was in a mental breakdown. All his men were dead, yet he still hadn’t seen his enemy’s faces!
Just as he finished speaking, three bullets from three different directions flew at the same time. One hit his right wrist, another his left knee and the last on his right knee. He collapsed on the ground from the immense pain.
He breathed laboriously. A few seconds later, when he had regained some strength, he scrambled for the handgun on the ground with his left hand. Just as he clutched the grip, a large foot stomped on his hand and twisted it cruelly.
“Ahhh!” screamed the sub-lieutenant. He saw a muscular Asian man, who was now staring coldly at him as if he was just a worm. Then, he saw two faces. A young Asian man and a petite yet curvy Asian woman.
There were only three people on the enemy team!
“Boss, why do you always have to leave one alive?” E’er Demutu lifted the foot on the sub-lieutenant’s hand and kicked the handgun away.
Xia Lei said, “I need to ask him about the camp.” Then, he said in Tagalog, “Sub-lieutenant, I’ll give you a chance to live. Tell me how many soldiers there are left in the base, how many Americans and who they are. Tell me this and I’ll let you go. “
“I… I’ll tell you…” The sub-lieutenant did not hesitate for a second. “There is still one more team in the base but they are the special forces. There are eight Americans, two radar specialists and six Navy SEALs. They are there to protect the specialists.”
“What else do you know?” said Xia Lei.
“I… I know that when we arrived, the Americans had already called their troops over.”
“The Seventh Fleet or the tanks from the military base on land?”
“It’s the one from the Bautista Air Base.”
“Fighter planes or helicopters?” asked Xia Lei.
He shook his head. “I don’t know… I really don’t. You’ll let me go, right? You promised.”
Tsukino Kyoko looked at Xia Lei, who nodded.
With one wave of her arm, the short knife in her hand glinted.
The sub-lieutenant collapsed, clutching his throat.
“Boss, do we continue to invade?” E’er Demutu looked at Xia Lei, his eyes filled with bloodlust.
Xia Lei looked at his watch and said, “Kyoko, greet Yelena and the rest at the beach. They must have arrived by now. Quickly bring them to me and E’er Demutu. We’ll both go to the base first.”
“No problem,” said E’er Demutu, thirsting for a battle.
“Go back to the beach, Yelena and the rest should be here already. We need more people to take the base down.”
Tsukino Kyoko turned and sprinted towards the beach.
After she left, Xia Lei did not immediately head towards the centre of the island. Instead, he took out his laptop to survey the place through the satellite surveillance system.
Within the military base, the special forces team was moving fast. Some entered sturdy, fortress-like structures while others set up their sniper rifles after climbing up tall trees. The SEALs wore disguises and dispersed around the radar and Harpoon anti-ship missiles. If Xia Lei hadn’t gotten to observe their hiding process in time, it would have been much more difficult.
E’er Demutu did not see anything peculiar in the area. To him, the base was completely silent. He did not know that the young man had used the powers in both his eyes to survey the entire place.
Xia Lei focused his attention on the surface of the ocean.
The Rajah Humabon escort ship was set to arrive at noon. This gave them twenty minutes. News of the battle here might have reached the Filipino military system and the American military bases in the Philippines. That meant that reinforcement was coming in three directions.
This was why the Filipino special forces team and the SEALs were not willing to show themselves. They only had to hold on for twenty more minutes and the Raja Humabon escort ship would arrive, plus the fighter jets from the Bautista Air Base. To them, their enemies would be dead in half an hour.
Xia Lei surveyed the beach and saw a fishing boat by the shores. Yelena and Anjum Khan were already on the beach while the four knights were wading through the waters with two hostages.
He then snapped the laptop shut and put it in his duffel. He got up and travelled towards the base.
“Boss, what kind of woman do you think suits me best?” asked E’er Demutu suddenly.
Xia Lei looked at him in surprise. “Are you alright? Why are you asking that now?”
E’er Demutu looked very serious. “Boss, this place will become a sea of fire later. I don’t know if I’ll get to go home. Give me a suggestion, I just want to be able to imagine my wife.”
“A woman like Fan Bingbing, I guess. Suits you,” said Xia Lei.
“Really?”
“Someone like Liu Yan suits you too.”
“You must be joking?”
“Hehe, what’s the use of thinking about this now? I’ll introduce one to you when we get back. There are many pretty girls in my company.”
“That’s a promise, don’t you dare lie to me.”
Behind them, at the beach, Tsukino Kyoko appeared on the beach.
“Kyoko, what about Boss and E’er Demutu?” asked Yelena, slightly anxious.
Tsukino Kyoko said, “They’re going to invade the military base on this island. Follow me, we need to go help them and quickly take over this island.”
“Huh?” Anjum Khan’s eyes widened. “I thought the plan was that we arrive, they get on our boat and we leave. What happened?”
“Shut up and prepare to fight,” said Yelena.
Giovana kicked David’s butt and roared, “Hurry!”
David fell clumsily into the sand, turning around to glare angrily at Giovanna.
One second later, Theresa’s middle finger was stabbed into his left eye.
“Ah!” David yelped.
Theresa said, “Anymore glaring and my finger will be a knife!”
Tsukino Kyoko waved. “Stop fooling around, follow me!”
Rosa pointed a gun at Kane’s back and roared, “Run now! If I overtake you both, I’ll send you to hell!”
Kane sprinted.
David too.