"Here is Team One. Two unidentified vehicles have been spotted." Reported Naoki Kura, the captain of Team One.
"There might be trouble."
"Here is Team Five. No abnormalities."
"Here is Team Six. The smell in the sewers is horrible."
"Don't you like that smell?"
"I'll remember you for that."
"Stop chatting. Everyone, focus on the mission," Elsa interrupted Bob. "Team Zero has completed their mission now. They should be..."
"Boom!" Gunshots rang out like popping beans, a chaotic mix. Screams of panic like a tidal wave of a mob spread almost instantly, and the whole area was engulfed in chaos. Those who didn't know might have thought they were at a crazy concert of some pop star.
"Lu Wanqing, what's going on?" I quickly switched to the team channel.
"Damn it! I was about to ask you the same thing." Lu Wanqing cursed. "I can't see anything from my angle. Shouldn't you be the one answering me?"
"Here is Team One. More than ten unidentified armed men have appeared at the main entrance and are attacking the hospital gate. The defenders' counterattack has failed."
"Intelligence update. The opponents have advanced to the main hall..."
"Team Zero calling Team One. Who are these people?" Hedy Willi replied calmly. "Are they those guys with the red headscarves?"
"No. They look like mercenaries."
"Team Zero calling Team Five," Dongfang Muxue took over the call. "We are expected to return the way we came. Please secure the retreat route."
"Roger that." I replied and then switched to the intra-team channel: "Ye Fan, you watch the vehicles. The rest of you, follow me."
Ji Ling was the first to step out, his thick tactical boots making contact with the scorching hot ground. After getting off the truck, we filed in one by one. The hospital's defenses had been fully redirected to the front entrance, but the situation was still one-sided for the defenders.
I kicked the door open, and Ji Ling, who was waiting on the left, was the first to rush in. After two dull "whoosh" sounds from the silencer, a body fell. The stuffy space was filled with the sulfur smell of gunpowder after being fired, permeating every corner of the air, making one feel irritated when inhaled.
There was only one staircase entrance in the hospital.
Although the strength of Team Zero was unknown, based on the previous encounter with Hedy Willi, it could besurmise that the members of Team Zero were mostly stronger than me. Now that the third party's intentions were unclear, but it was highly likely related to Austin.
According to the report, there were a total of thirteen mercenaries, all equipped with modified tactical AKM or AKMS rifles. Some of them were using 75-round drum magazines produced in China as team fire support.
They were stunned for a moment when they saw Ji Ling, and then they raised their guns and opened fire without hesitation.
"Under attack!" Ji Ling slid into cover with a backhand slide, crouched behind the corner, and the M4A1 in his hand ejected shell casings with a "click, click" sound. The wall dust fell on his helmet from the position he was relying on.
After being under considerable fire pressure, Ji Ling stepped back and patted Liang Dong: "You take my place!"
"Got it." Liang Dong pushed forward unhappily. "Why don't you go full auto and die? Do you think you're playing with a Garand?"
"Watch out for civilians!" I shouted. "And stray bullets!"
Among the different gunshots, the various cries mixed in were especially ear-piercing. The crazy sounds blended together and flooded into our ears.
"Let's go around." Yang Shixiu stood by the small door next to us and beckoned us. "Come here!"
Luo Bing took over to increase Liang Dong's firepower advantage (anyway, she didn't lack explosives). I went with Ji Ling and sneaked into the side path.
This door led from the nurses' station. In the dark and gloomy corridor, I could hear the moans of the patients through the doors. War and disease lingered around them, and there wasn't much difference between the two for them. Death was already within their reach.
Ji Ling lowered his voice and asked Yang Shixiu: "How did you know there was a path here?"
"There's usually one in a hospital. I'm just more familiar with it. This building was built by the Soviets. Look," Yang Shixiu didn't look sideways and just gestured with his head towards the few remaining letters on the wall. "And most of the early Chinese architecture was modeled after the Soviets."
"Is there a traditional Chinese medicine pharmacy here?"
"...What do you think?"
Suddenly, a tall figure appeared at the end of the corridor. The muzzle flashes lit up the wall, and the figure groaned and fell backward. But as a cost, Ji Ling, who was in the front line, was also hit and took a few steps back, bumping into Yang Shixiu.
His injury made me quite nervous: "Are you okay?"
"It's okay." Before I could, Yang Shixiu was the first to unfasten his bulletproof vest and checked it. He also replaced one of his bulletproof inserts along the way: "The threat of 7.62mm Russian cartridges isn't that big."
Ji Ling twisted his body a bit. "Feels okay."
We continued to move forward. When passing by the body, I cleverly kicked away his rifle. But at that moment, I was horrified.
The man lying on the ground opened his eyes, full of mockery and murderous intent in the white and green.
A huge force burst out. After Ji Ling was kicked, he fell on me and even took Yang Shixiu at the end with him, and we all tumbled on the hard concrete floor.
Looking at the opponent who was full of vitality as if he hadn't been shot at all? Damn it, we fell for it?
Ji Ling, who was hit again, lay on the ground unable to get up. The opponent pulled out a Nepalese kukri and lunged at me. Due to the conditioned reflex formed by many trainings, my right hand reacted first and pulled out the black SOG - S37. When the tactical knives clashed, there were no sparks flying everywhere as described in novels. But the opponent's powerful arm strength made my tiger's mouth numb, and my knife almost flew out.
I leaned back to avoid the fatal slash at my chest. Then I lunged on the ground, rolled with my waist as the axis, and clamped the opponent's legs with mine, trying to break them.
The man reacted instantly and also fell to suppress me. The Nepalese kukri came down from above. I raised my arm, and there were sounds as the Western tactical craftsmanship and the ancient hunting machete alternated. Under the disparity of strength, I watched the blade getting closer and closer to me.
"Ge upp. (Give up.)" The man made a growling sound like a bear in his throat. I gritted my teeth and didn't say a word. In my ears, the dull moan of my heart due to the excessive load was echoing:
Thump, thump, thump...
Thump, thump, thump...
"Bang!"
The man's head exploded like an egg. His body lost control and immediately lost all its strength, falling on me. The warm blood flowed down my neck like a thin snake.
With effort, I pushed the body away and gave Yang Shixiu a thumbs up, lying on the ground panting heavily. Yang Shixxiu remained on guard and quickly moved to Ji Ling's side and crouched down.
"I think my bones are broken," Ji Ling covered the area just below his waist and groaned.
"Impossible. The bones in this position can't be broken." Yang Shixiu helped him up. "You didn't learn physics well, did you?"
"Will it affect me finding a wife?"
"...What are you thinking?"
I took the lead to open the way. Ji Ling walked while gritting his teeth in pain. "I'm just a tank."
"Which kind? The kind with five road wheels like Team Five or the 36D kind?"
After passing through the corridor, we could directly enter the hospital lobby. The moment we showed up, they noticed us and immediately turned their guns towards us. The AKM spat out deadly tongues of fire.
Ji Ling took a half step forward and crouched, leaning his upper body forward and shootingextreme popularity. I threw a grenade in return. It caught their attention as soon as it left my hand. A hot bullet grazed my arm. The staircase entrance was right in the middle between us and them. After successfully suppressing Liang Dong, they ran into us instead.
"I'm injured!" I retreated to the cover and pulled out the IFAK medical kit on my chest.
"Captain, we are being suppressed and can't attack."
"Change the magazine," a voice came through the earpiece. The web of fire interlaced, painting a scene of bullets flying everywhere. The opponents were already stronger than us in terms of combat power. Holding the line was already the best we could do.
The deafening gunshots echoed in the narrow room. Unexpectedly, a wave of dust burst out from the stone pillar cover in front of us. Yang Shixiu let out an "ah" and fell. Before I could react, a second bullet pierced through the wall and I fell to the ground with him.
The bullets didn't penetrate our FAST helmets after passing through the cement. The blood flowing from my forehead blurred my eyes. In the intense pain, I tried to hold on but couldn't grip tightly, only letting out a few groans from my throat.
After noticing our miserable state, Ji Ling showed his reaction advantage. He skillfully used tactical rolls to avoid the sniper's subsequent attacks and threw a smoke grenade. After the opponent's probing attacks, he dragged us laboriously, one in each hand, into the corridor.
"Team Five, I observed smoke rising from the staircase entrance. Report to me what happened."
"Enemy has a sniper. Two of our members are out of action," I replied weakly. "So we used a smoke grenade."
"Unnecessary." Hedy Willi replied coldly.
I suddenly noticed that there was an eerie silence around. There was no gunfire. The white smoke started to spread into the corridor. Ji Ling also noticed something and slightly raised his rifle—
A figure rushed out from inside!
There was no expected gunshot. The newcomer reached out with his index finger and placed it behind the trigger to prevent the first assault man from pressing it.
"Solider," Hedy Willi said. "Keep your toys in check."
After speaking, he opened the safety and pushed the rifle back into Ji Ling's arms with a backhand. Under the force, the young man hugged the gun and took a few steps back.
I asked hoarsely: "Where's Austin?"
"Dead." Dongfang Muxue walked out from behind Hedy Willi carrying a corpse. The beauty of the young girl contrasted sharply with the terrified and hideous face of the corpse when it died. "Poisoned by something from the Apocynaceae family."
"Maybe the sniper team saw something." Katerina's voice followed closely.