The desert night was eerily quiet…
Kindewike's camp was located near an abandoned oil well in central Darfur. There was a well here, along with the workers' barracks left behind decades ago. The camp's main buildings consisted of a long row of two-story buildings, a newer independent brick structure on the eastern side, and an independent warehouse on the western side.
Qiao Jia turned off the vehicle's lights and, under the cover of darkness, advanced to within 500 meters of Kindewike's camp without being detected. After adjusting the direction of the pickup truck, Qiao Jia and Carman loaded all the 80mm rockets into the launcher.
Following Nisi's instructions from the truck bed, they pushed the pickup forward a bit. Then, Nisi said, "Here. The hostages are held on the west side. If we move eastward from this spot while firing the rockets, we can completely cover their camp."
Since the launcher couldn't move left or right, they needed to move the vehicle to fully cover Kindewike's camp.
Nisi put away the laser rangefinder, marked the ground, and moved about 80 meters eastward. After measuring, she made another mark on the ground.
Eighty meters, forty rockets—one every two meters.
Qiao Jia wasn't sure how effective this would be, but he knew the firing could be adjusted based on the enemy's position, as long as they moved between the points Nisi marked.
Once the rockets were in place, Qiao Jia noticed Carman rubbing his hands together eagerly. Qiao Jia smiled and said, "There are still two MON-90s and five MON-50s left. You're the most experienced among us, so you handle it. Just let us know where you place them."
Carman nodded enthusiastically, grabbed the two 25-kilogram MON-90 large directional mines, slung the five MON-50 small directional mines over his back, and disappeared into the darkness.
The old man moved almost silently. If Qiao Jia hadn't been watching him, he would have lost sight of him after 100 meters.
Through the night vision binoculars, Qiao Jia saw Carman place the directional mines 200 meters from the camp. The two larger ones were in the middle, spaced 25 meters apart, with the smaller ones on either side. If anyone in the camp charged in their direction, they'd have a nasty surprise waiting for them.
As for the hostages? Well, Qiao Jia hadn't even considered the idea of rescuing them quietly—it was simply impossible.
After Carman had carefully retreated, Qiao Jia signaled Dorian to come over. Drawing a rough map of the camp on the ground, he pointed to the warehouse where the hostages were being held and said, "You go there. Sneak in and tell the hostages to stay close to the western wall. My rockets aren't super accurate; we don't want to hit them by mistake."
Dorian looked shocked, pointing at himself. "Me? You want me to sneak in?"
"Of course, you," Qiao Jia replied matter-of-factly. "What did you tell me earlier? Oh, that you're a top-notch infiltrator, skilled in using the MP-7 for covert operations. We don't have an MP-7 for you right now, so make do with the AK-74. If you manage to sneak into the cell and protect the hostages during the fight, you'll be their savior. Those people are high-ranking company executives. Do you think they'll be stingy with their money?"
Qiao Jia pulled out a wad of cash and stuffed it into Dorian's pocket. "I'm a man of my word. I said I'd give you 5,000, and I'll make sure you get it. But if you take the money, you follow my orders. That's the rule, isn't it?"
Dorian, feeling the money in his pocket, borrowed Qiao Jia's night vision goggles to survey the area. After a moment, he shook his head and said, "If I try to sneak in, I'll definitely alert Kindewike's men. Can you cover me?"
Qiao Jia nodded. "As long as you make it into the cell and don't get hit by a stray bullet, I guarantee no one will bother you."
Dorian nodded, dropping his extra gear on the ground and taking only the AK-74 with six magazines in his tactical vest. After crossing himself, Dorian nodded at Qiao Jia and quietly disappeared into the darkness, circling westward toward the independent warehouse.
When Qiao Jia saw that Dorian was close to the warehouse, he grabbed his HK416 and moved forward 150 meters, lying in a small depression.
At a distance of 350 meters, Qiao Jia would be deadlier and quicker with the HK416. His promise that no one would attack Dorian wasn't just empty talk.
Nisi found her own position, while Carman was in charge of driving the pickup and sweeping the entire camp with rockets.
As Dorian approached a dozing sentry, he quickly snapped the man's neck. When another guard heard the noise and moved to investigate, Qiao Jia opened fire…
"Pop, pop, pop…"
The silenced HK416 made little noise, but with each sharp report, guards dropped to the ground.
Dorian shoved open the warehouse door, rushed inside, and slammed the door behind him. Waving frantically at the hostages locked in the cells, he shouted, "Move back! Get against the wall!"
As Dorian yelled, a deafening gunshot rang out.
"Bang!"
A large-caliber bullet hit a man who had come out of the dormitory to check the situation, cutting him in half.
That shot was like kicking a hornet's nest. Terrorists in the camp poured out of their rooms, guns in hand.
Seeing this, Qiao Jia pressed his throat mic and said, "Dragon Lizard, rockets."
With Qiao Jia's order, the pickup truck began to move, and the 80mm rockets launched in an instant, streaking toward the camp.
Because the pickup was moving, the rockets covered a wide area. The terrorists, who had burst out of their quarters without even spotting their attackers, were stunned by the bombardment.
But the worst was yet to come. Qiao Jia hadn't noticed that one of the vehicles parked in the yard was a fuel truck.
When the fuel truck exploded, a terrifying firestorm spread throughout the camp, setting most of the buildings ablaze.
The rockets had wiped out the first wave of terrorists, and the camp was engulfed in flames.
The last surviving terrorists, now desperate, gathered together under the command of a few leaders and charged out of the camp.
Carman, having completed his task, appeared beside Qiao Jia with a satisfied grin. When he saw several terrorists trying to flee eastward into the desert, he pulled out a remote and pressed it.
"Boom, boom!" The two directional mines exploded, shredding the terrorists and stopping the dozen or so who had tried to escape in that direction.
Finding the east blocked, the remaining terrorists turned west, only to face three more directional mines and Dorian, who was firing from the warehouse windows.
After losing another dozen men, the terrorists couldn't stand the flames any longer. They gathered together and charged straight toward Qiao Jia's position.
Unfortunately for them, they chose the hardest route. The two MON-90 mines exploded with a deafening roar, their 2,000 steel balls sweeping across the 200-meter space in front.
Qiao Jia no longer stayed prone. He crouched and calmly picked off the remaining terrorists one by one.
No excitement, no hesitation—it was like a game on easy mode. The 300-strong camp was wiped out in minutes.
Just as Qiao Jia began to wonder if the fight was really that easy, a military jeep emerged from behind the independent building on the east side and sped off into the desert.
Reacting quickly, Qiao Jia fired at the jeep, leaving a trail of white marks on the windows. As he stood up, frustrated, and prepared to chase after it, a large-caliber bullet blew out one of the jeep's tires…