On the other end of the one-kilometer long tunnel was a large iron door. The rust-spotted door had cut the railroad off, also blocking out all light from the other side.
Why would a door like this be built in the middle of a tunnel? No one knew.
When they were two hundred metres from the iron door, Xia Lei’s vision ahd penetrated the door to study the situation on the other side. There was a sentry post outside the door and fourteen terrorists carrying loaded rifles. Two were cooking over a fire by the tracks, two smoking on the tracks, two urinating while the remaining eight sat chatting and polishing their guns.
Xia Lei retracted his gaze. “There is a sentry post at the mouth of the tunnel with fourteen terrorists.”
All the Zodiac Battle Team members looked at him curiously. Although no one asked, they had the same question. How did he know that?
“The guy I interrogated told me this. I repaid him by giving him a quick death, of course.”
All seven arrived at the door silently.
There was no lock on the door but it was closed. This was rather inconvenient because the people outside would notice the moment they opened it. If they started to fire at them, it would be a problem because the gunshots would attract attention even if none of the team members were shot.
All of them knitted their brows at this difficult situation. It was not just a few men outside. They could not kill them all in two seconds. Even two seconds was enough for gunfire to alert other members.
Xia Lei said as he stood by the door, “Relax.”
They looked at him quizzically.
However, the look in his eyes suddenly changed, resembling two black holes floating in space. His aura transformed into one that could not be described in words. All of them followed Xia Lei.
He lifted a hand to push the door open.
There was a loud creak.
The fourteen terrorists at the mouth of the tunnel turned as some grabbed their guns.
Tut-tut-tut!
Tut-tut-tut…
Bullets from different guns flew out of the open doorway, hitting various targets.
Blood splattered as bodies collapsed.
The battle only lasted less than two seconds!
More than ten terrorists in different positions seemed to have been killed at the same time without even a chance to return fire. And the door was still not fully open yet!
“Nice!” said Xia Lei as he walked out of the tunnel.
The six other Chinese Zodiac Battle Team members were still stunned behind him. They were all super fighters and had their own strengths. However, what just happened was not something they should have been able to do. To be able to kill more than ten people before they could return fire required intricate teamwork but they had just emerged from behind a door and had not even been able to see the terrorists or their locations. How could they have been able to shoot at the same time?
And most importantly, all targets were hit.
It seemed a mysterious process but it was just simple energy manipulation on Xia Lei’s part. He could see all the terrorists through the door, then used his powers to control all six of the member’s minds. All six minds technically became one during that two seconds. Since he could see everyone and he was controlling the firing, the battle ended very quickly!
He had invaded their minds and turned them into him!
Xia Lei learned a lot during this battle too, that his energy field had a range of ten to eleven square meters. He did not have an accurate number because it pulsated like waves.
“Boss, did you do anything to us?” blurted Sa’im.
Alessio shrugged. “I think it was just instinct.”
“I think so too,” said Yelena. “He didn’t do anything other than open the door.”
Tsukino Kyoko walked out. “There’s no time to waste, let’s go.”
Ten minutes later, Xia Lei and the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team had dragged all the bodies into the forest and hidden them. They continued their journey ahead along the tracks.
The mountain with the tunnel was more than forty kilometres away from Alliance Mining. It would take hours to arrive at a regular walking speed, three if they ran. However, the number of Boko Haram patrollers increased closer to the destination and the possibility of meeting American soldiers was higher too. They could not travel too quickly.
Along the way, they kept alert. All checkpoints were cleaned out so they could clear a path without obstacles for the Relief Society later.
The American soldiers had jammed all signals to prevent information leakage. However, this was good news to Xia Lei and the rest for it allowed them to barge in as required.
In the afternoon, Xia Lei raised a hand when they arrived at a spot. The speed walking Zodiac Team came to a halt.
There was an abandoned building one kilometre ahead built by the tracks. Just like the building they passed earlier, it was meant for supplies. Xia Lei saw eight people guarding the building but they were Americans, not Boko Haram members. He even saw the triangular sword and lightning emblems on them. They were part of the Delta Force.
Although there were only eight of them, they looked more difficult to deal with than all the Boko Haram members they had met combined.
Xia Lei deviated from the tracks and climbed up a tall tree like a monkey. Looking out, he saw a flat valley ahead. There was a building within the valley and it belonged to Alliance Mining of the Vientiane Group. He estimated it to be five kilometres away, yet he could clearly read the Chinese characters at its gates stating ‘China Alliance Mining’.
As his body developed, his visual span increased too.
Xia Lei turned to look at a mine at the foot of a mountain left of the building. There was mining equipment there but no workers working. At the mountain’s peak, there was an unnatural structure that looked like a radar but it was eight kilometres away so he was not sure.
He now had a new understanding of his visual capabilities too. His visual span was almost eight kilometres.
Xia Lei descended the tree and squatted on the ground, sketching a simple diagram on the ground with a twig. “Alliance Mining is about five kilometres ahead. There’s a sentry point one kilometre ahead but it is guarded by the American Delta Force, not Boko Haram. There are eight of them- two on the roof, two on the tracks, four in the building.”
Alessio pursed his lips. “I think I’ll be happy to kill them.”
Xia Lei replied, “As usual, don’t let them fire. There are many enemies here and we do not know how many American soldiers were dispatched. We cannot alert them.”
Qianjun knitted his brows. “Killing them is not difficult but doing it in a way so they wouldn’t fire will be tricky. The Delta Force is the best task force team in the world after all.”
If a person like Qianjun frowned, that meant it was a very difficult task indeed.
“Let me go then,” volunteered Tsukino Kyoko.”Let me try.”
She was a ninja, the assassin of the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team. But she was not a hundred percent confident in the mission either.
Xia Lei offered, “You go with me. Qianjun, Sa’im, you two enter from the left of the tracks and snipe the two on the tracks. Anjum Khan and Alessio, you all enter from the right and kill the two on the roof. Yelena, you keep time. Six minutes later, signal us with a whistle. Qianjun, Sa’im, Anjum Khan and Alessio will attack at the same time. Leave the four in the building to Kyoko and I.”
“No problem.” Yelena looked at her watch. “The timer starts in ten seconds… Let’s go!”
Xia Lei and Tsukino Kyoko left the tracks and slipped into the forest. They sprinted quickling among the trees, as agile as two foxes.
The ninja looked gorgeous as she ran, her breasts bouncing left and right beneath her clothing, up and down like waves.
Eight hundred metres within three minutes. Covering about five metres per second, it was no exaggeration to say that they ran like the wind.
When they were close to the building, Xia Lei stopped abruptly. “There are land mines here. Follow me.”
She did not ask any questions, following his footsteps as they crossed the mined zone.
Both of them arrived at the building with one minute to spare.
He looked past the walls to study the insides of the building, then pointed at a room. “There’s one in that room. He’s yours.”
She nodded and crept over to the room’s window like a cat.
He went to another room. There were three people inside enjoying a smoke break.
The eight special forces were divided into two shifts, four per shift.
There was a sudden shrill whistle.
On the tracks, Qianjun, Anjum Khan, Sa’im and Alessio fired at the same time. The four Delta forces on the tracks and roof collapsed.
The three soldiers in the room tossed their joints and scrambled for their rifles. However, that was all they had time to do. In a second, their brains suddenly seemed to short-circuit.
Xia Lei appeared at the window, pointing his Viper pistol at them. Two Delta Forces were killed effortlessly while his energy field penetrated into the one remaining survivor, stealing information stored in his brain.
At the same time, Tsukino Kyoko appeared at another window. The Delta Force soldier inside grabbed for his pistol frantically but he was too slow. He had just taken his gun out when a blade had cut through his forehead.
She did a flip into the room to retrieve her knife. Then, she left to assist Xia Lei only to see two bodies and a person standing like a wooden sculpture. This person seemed to be paralysed with fear.
Xia Lei pulled the trigger.
Poof!
The last Delta Force soldier collapsed.
He had already given Xia Lei all the information stored in his brain. He was now useless.
“Let’s go,” said Xia Lei.
“That was so cool.” Her eyes sparkled with admiration.