**Indoor combat is the bread and butter of special forces, and for Bravo Team—the elite among elites—CQB (Close Quarters Battle) night raids are their forte.**
Despite escorting three experts, the seven-member team's combat efficiency remained unaffected.
"Ray, Brock, Sonny, left. Trent, Long, and I, right. Trent, hold position and protect the experts."
The entrance hall branched into two corridors, one on each side. Jason quickly assigned specific combat tasks to everyone using tactical hand signals instead of verbal commands. This avoided alerting the enemy to their presence.
"Understood!"
The six operatives acknowledged the orders with gestures, splitting into two action groups. Under Jason and Ray's leadership, each group maintained a three-person CQB formation, advancing methodically down their respective corridors.
While a four-person squad is considered the most efficient and secure configuration, a three-person team sufficed without major issues.
Long Zhan had previously formed a three-person squad with Bravo Team during an HVT (High-Value Target) capture mission. This time, the process felt second nature.
"Pop-pop-pop-pop…"
As the two groups advanced, sporadic gunfire echoed in the hallways. The remaining four security personnel were eliminated in succession.
Intelligence indicated only six guards in total. After clearing both corridors and accounting for the gate guards, the number matched perfectly.
The CIA, the world's premier intelligence agency, had indeed proven its worth in information gathering.
The hospital consisted of a single floor. After completing the sweep and confirming the area was secure, Jason found no trace of the chemical weapon samples they sought. The facility appeared indistinguishable from an ordinary hospital.
"Spread out and search. We must find the samples," Jason ordered Long Zhan and Trent.
The three began meticulously searching each room.
Since the TV series they had studied didn't provide a precise map, Long Zhan had no specific knowledge of the production site's location.
But that wasn't a problem for him.
Although it had been over seven years since he last watched the series, his enhanced memory—gained after his transmigration—allowed him to recall crucial details.
He remembered that the production site was in the basement, with the entrance located behind a room resembling an abortion operating theater. A narrow passage led to their target: a tightly sealed iron door.
With these memories as his guide, Long Zhan, despite visiting the hospital for the first time, held a distinct advantage over the others.
Within two minutes, he located the iron door from his recollections and immediately reported to Jason:
"Bravo One, this is Bravo Six. I've found something—left wing, fourth room. Proceed forward to the corridor's end."
"Bravo One, copy. On my way."
Jason, who had been searching patiently, felt a surge of excitement upon hearing the report. He added a rare compliment: "Excellent work, Bravo Six."
"Copy that!" Long Zhan accepted the praise without hesitation.
Jason arrived at Long Zhan's position in less than 20 seconds.
Illuminated by his tactical flashlight, the sealed iron door immediately caught Jason's attention. Given the CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear) nature of the mission, he was nearly certain of its significance.
What made it even more suspicious was the door's appearance—rusted yet with fresh traces of rust peeling around the seams, as if tampered with in the last couple of days.
Highly unusual.
"Bravo Two, new discovery. Bring your team over. Bravo Four, hold position."
Hearing Jason's command through his noise-cancelling earpiece, Ray immediately led his squad to the location.
Bravo Team regrouped. Jason affixed a gas detector to the door.
"Beep… beep… beep… bzzzt!"
Unlike the results from the main entrance, the detector emitted faint alarms, and the indicator light turned red.
Jason's expression grew serious as he turned to the team, giving a thumbs-down gesture—a signal of danger.
He then mimed putting on a gas mask by running his hand down his face.
Gas masks and head-mounted night vision goggles (NVGs) are incompatible, as both occupy significant facial space. This was why the team carried gas detectors and tested every new environment.
Now that the detector indicated the presence of toxic gas, Bravo Team had no choice but to don their gas masks, meaning NVGs were no longer an option.
The team quickly adjusted their gear using supplies from their tactical packs.
Long Zhan removed his tactical helmet entirely to properly fit his gas mask. Once the mask was secured, he replaced the helmet and used the helmet-mounted tactical floodlight in place of NVGs.
Floodlights illuminate a wide area within a 120-degree field of view but have a limited range of less than 10 meters—essentially mirroring human eyesight.
While effective for indoor close-quarters combat, floodlights are unsuitable for outdoor use, as they turn the user into a walking spotlight, easily visible to enemies.
To compensate for the lack of NVG capabilities, Long Zhan also activated the high-intensity spotlight mounted on his rifle. Unlike floodlights, this spotlight illuminated only a small area but could reach much farther, clearly lighting up targets 20–30 meters away.
Additionally, Long Zhan switched the IR laser designator on his weapon to a visible laser, as infrared was useless without NVGs.
The rest of Bravo Team followed suit, replacing their NVGs with external lighting systems. The once-dark operating room became brightly lit, revealing every detail, including the lock on the door.
With preparations complete, Jason signaled for action. As always, Sonny handled the breaching, using the bolt cutter Long Zhan carried.
"Click… screeeech—"
With the grating sound of rusted metal hinges, Long Zhan pushed the heavy iron door open.
What lay beyond was a staircase made entirely of concrete, spiraling downward into a basement.
Bravo Team now faced a new objective.