---
**"Chew, chew, chew..."**
Three silenced rifles fired simultaneously, and the barrage of bullets surged toward the alley outside.
With the support of their formidable individual combat capabilities, the first round of bullets from the three men resulted in kills, each knocking down 1 to 2 enemies.
The soldiers of the Lionheart King's army had poor military quality, but they made up for it with sheer numbers.
The few soldiers charging in the front were knocked to the ground, but those behind showed no signs of fear. They continued to rush forward with their guns aimed at the dark alley, firing wildly with various outdated weapons in strange positions.
Fighting at night without the aid of night vision goggles, the soldiers of the Lionheart King's army had almost no visibility. The alley in front of them was pitch black, and even with some help from the lights and moonlight, they couldn't spot any targets.
However, this didn't seem to matter to them!
Regardless of whether they could see the target or if the bullets would hit, they just fired blindly at the area ahead while charging forward.
Despite being outnumbered by nearly ten times, Jason and his companions didn't feel much pressure.
Thanks to their infrared night vision goggles, the three of them had an advantage in the night fight. Their accuracy was far better, and their firepower seemed much fiercer.
In less than 30 seconds of gunfire, nearly ten men from the Lionheart King's army had already fallen at the entrance of the alley.
The officer in charge of the Lionheart King's forces sensed something was wrong. The enemy's combat strength far exceeded his expectations, so he issued new orders.
The remaining soldiers all retreated into the houses by the alley, using them as cover to close the distance.
The Lionheart King's soldiers poured into the houses in large numbers. With so many buildings lining both sides of the alley, they could pop out of any window or door and fire.
Jason realized it was too dangerous to stay in the alley and quickly moved into a sturdy house.
Using a solid brick-built house as cover, the heavy machine guns from the armed pickup trucks couldn't pierce through. The three of them could fire from different positions, coordinating their efforts to counter the Lionheart King's forces trying to enter the building.
Close-quarters battle (CQB) in urban environments tested teamwork, which was something the Lionheart King's forces hadn't trained for.
Behind the cover of the house, Jason and his companions resisted. Their offensive tactics became more sluggish as they had no choice but to take cover and exchange fire from behind it.
They also notified their base to send reinforcements, including rocket launchers and other heavy weapons.
When they couldn't match the enemy technologically, they tried to compensate with firepower.
"That's enough. Prepare to move up. Cover me."
Sunny noticed that all of the Lionheart King's soldiers had been distracted by Jason and his team. He said this while making two quick hand gestures toward Long Zhan.
"Okay, got it."
Long Zhan made a return gesture in response.
Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Sunny quickly rose from behind the wall, bracing his rifle on it and aiming at the armed pickup below.
At nearly the same moment, Long Zhan stood as well, targeting the infantry near the pickup to prevent them from interfering with Sunny's attack on the truck.
However, as Long Zhan lowered his scope, a familiar figure appeared in his sight.
"Clay? What is he doing there?"
A big question mark popped up in Long Zhan's mind. At the same time, he suddenly came up with a great idea based on Clay's position.
It became clear why Jason had called for Clay earlier.
The guy was playing lone wolf again!
"Wait, Sunny, something's wrong."
Long Zhan immediately shouted at Sunny, pulling him back behind the wall.
"What's wrong? We don't have much time. We can't afford to delay."
Sunny spoke the truth. If the second wave of Lionheart King's troops arrived, there would be enough of them to encircle them from both the front and rear.
At that point, even if Team B was strong, breaking out would be incredibly difficult.
"I see Clay, right next to the pickup. I don't know why he's there, but if we can coordinate with him and get our hands on that heavily armed truck, leaving here will be a lot easier," Long Zhan quickly shared his thoughts.
Despite his surprise at Clay's appearance, Sunny knew they couldn't afford to waste time wondering why.
He quickly assessed the situation, analyzed Team B's retreat challenges, and arrived at a clear solution.
Although risky, it was highly feasible—worth the gamble.
"Alright, do it your way. You contact Clay. I'll take care of the machine gun target. He can handle the threats inside the cab. After we take the truck, we'll meet at the alley exit."
Sunny's plan was designed to protect the pickup truck.
If he were to fire from a distance at the cab, he could kill the enemies inside, but there was also a high chance of damaging the truck's control systems and engine, turning the vehicle into useless scrap.
Letting Clay approach and fire from close range greatly reduced that risk.
"Okay, give me 20 seconds!"
Long Zhan responded to Sunny, immediately pressing the team's comms. Like Jason, he called Clay twice, hoping to make contact.
The result, however, was the same—Clay didn't respond.
"This bastard is doing it on purpose? He was already messing around in the basement," Sunny fumed, his opinion of Clay sinking fast.
"His comms equipment is probably broken. Looks like we'll have to use the emergency plan. Let's hope he figures it out."
At this point, Long Zhan had no choice but to take a gamble.
He hoped that Clay's mind was sharp enough. After all, they had spent so long together in the Green Team, building enough tacit understanding.