Afternoon today, the rebel army’s vanguard forces had actually made their way to the outskirts of Kabuka. They had confronted Zayad’s army several times as they did.
Zayad understood then that the winds of change had arrived. Truth be told, he had already made the arrangements to run away.
Summoning all the wealthy people of Kabuka tonight was just Zayad’s attempt to get more money before scooting off.
Casting a line one last time before leaving.
Unexpectedly, the rate at which the rebel army took down his outer defences was faster than expected.
Before he could even conclude his looting of the people in the hall, the rebel army had attacked their way into Kabuka City.
At that moment, Zayad was leading a team of guard soldiers and standing guard at a storage warehouse waiting for his son’s return… the storage warehouse was where he kept the assets accumulated through his ten plus years of dictatorship in Kombia.
He had a fleet of vehicles ready for his getaway.
Chen Xiaolian looked on as Zayad Jr. spilled everything – while he might still be concealing something, at the very least, he had gotten the information he wanted.
Chen Xiaolian showed no hesitation and punched Zayad Jr., rendering him unconscious. Then, he threw him out into the street.
There was no need to dirty his hands to kill this fellow.
When this fellow woke up, he would either die in the hands of the rebel soldiers or the angry civilians of Kabuka.
Chen Xiaolian drove the Hummer, speeding his way to the east side.
The warehouse that Zayad Jr. had mentioned was not too far away from the presidential palace.
Kabuka was not a big place to begin with. However, when Chen Xiaolian reached the place, he saw a military fortress-like building at the end of the street. He was unable to stop himself from frowning.
The outer area of the building was a checkpoint manned by guard soldiers. There were sandbags on both sides. He could even see a machine gun outfitted on the left side.
Beyond the barbed wires serving as fence, he could see two loaded trucks and a team of soldiers.
Chen Xiaolian took a deep breath.
…
Zayad nervously checked his watch.
The sounds of gunfire from the distance seemed to be getting closer, causing his heart to throb madly.
After ruling for over 10 years, Zayad was very clear on the fact that he had many enemies. There were countless blood debts!
Now that his army had been defeated, his end would not be a good one!
Zayad was quite the ruthless fellow. He had 12 wives and tens of children, yet he had not called any of them. The only one he took a fancy to was Zayad Jr. – he was his favourite son and was made commander of the army. He was also Zayad’s intended heir.
Even if he was to run away, he must take this sole capable son along.
Living abroad as an exile… he would find a Western country and live the life of an exile. With the amount of money that he had saved up all these years, he would still be able to live a rich and luxurious life.
Who knows? If some changes were to happen in Kombia, he might be able to find some Western powers to hold a discussion with them. If the conditions were right, then he might have the chance to return some day.
At this moment however, there were still no news from the presidential palace, causing Zayad to feel increasingly uneasy!
The soldiers outside were busy as the two trucks were not fully loaded yet – there were many high-value assets here. This matter caused a twinge of regret to form within Zayad’s heart.
If he’d known this would happen, he would have shipped them out early on and placed them somewhere overseas.
Looking at the time once more, Zayad made up his mind!
Whatever, it’s too late now. I’m not waiting anymore!
He stood up, moved away from the window and the room and into the yard.
“Stop moving the things! Everyone get on and be on alert. We’ll leave now!”
Zayad whispered to the military officer who was standing beside him.
At that moment… a loud noise interrupted them!
A Hummer was rushing toward them from the outside!
They were all able to recognize the Hummer – the only one to own that vehicle was the presidential palace! Thus, when the Hummer approached, the soldiers in the checkpoint thought that it was their commander, Zayad Jr. returning. Only when they saw that the Hummer was not decelerating did they feel that something was wrong.
But by then, it was already too late!
The Hummer slammed into the fence encircling the yard and the fellow manning the machine gun was sent flying together with the sand bags before he could open fire!
The soldiers on both sides then reacted and they opened fire.
Even though the bullets struck the surface of the Hummer, the Hummer did not slow down. It continued charging forward into the yard and slammed headfirst into one of the trucks!
The Hummer was filled with bullet holes and one of the officers ordered them to stop firing. He raised his rifle, walked over and opened the door to see that there was no one in the driver seat. The only thing there was a stick fixed on top of the throttle.
He was momentarily stunned before turning around to shout something.
It was at that moment that Chen Xiaolian’s body rolled out from below the Hummer!
Chen Xiaolian raised the firearm in his hand and the officer’s head was blown right off!
At the same time, he tossed out two things…
Flash bombs!
The light from the flash bombs burst out in the middle of the dark night and the surrounding soldiers screamed out. Chen Xiaolian then unleashed a hail of bullets and heard someone scream out as they fell.
Chen Xiaolian showed no hesitation as he executed his next move… he rolled himself back to the bottom part of the Hummer!
The guard soldiers had their sight taken away by the flash bombs. However, they were still able to hear. They heard the sound of gunfire and their own men screaming wretchedly…
These Kombian soldiers who were far from what one would call elite soldiers fell into a state of disorder.
A considerable number of them simply shouted as they opened fire in every direction – since they could not see the enemy, they will first act to preserve their own lives!
It was unknown just who had opened fire first. However, once someone opened fire, the others quickly followed suit and chaos broke out!
The yard was filled with soldiers clutching their eyes and shooting around in a frenzy. At that moment, all of them were thinking of self-preservation!
After rolling into the bottom part of the Hummer, Chen Xiaolian listened to the sounds of gunfire around him. There were also unending screams and cries.
He waited for more than ten seconds.
The disorderly sounds of gunfire continued for a while but it gradually turned sporadic. Chen Xiaolian emerged from the back of the Hummer and saw that the guard soldiers were all acting like headless flies. He took advantage of the darkness of the night and reached for the back of the truck. Opening the door, he slipped inside.
Broom!
After the truck was started up, it charged forward like a wild beast and slammed into the doors of the warehouse!
With a loud booming sound, the truck made its way up the steps. At the back of the truck, many boxes rolled out and fell open, revealing some gold bars inside them.
Chen Xiaolian drove the truck through the warehouse doors, causing both the doors and the surrounding walls to be smashed inside.
There were several soldiers surrounding an African who was running back inside.
Chen Xiaolian saw Zayad!
He looked the same as his pictures. Average height, burly, slightly obese, a droopy nose and thick lips!
For an instant, Chen Xiaolian saw Zayad turn around to look right at him!
Zayad’s expression… was very strange!
There were anger, resentment, panic and also a trace of something… odd.
That oddity … the expression seemed to be saying: As expected, it has come!
After looking at him, Zayad suddenly turned and ran furiously! He ran so fast he actually dashed out from his soldier’s circle of protection. He dashed with all his might toward one of the doors in the warehouse…
Chen Xiaolian jumped out of the truck. Using the truck for cover, he opened fire to take down several of the guard soldiers as he took in his surroundings. Then, he quickly ran forward in pursuit of Zayad!
By now, Zayad’s soldiers no longer cared about loyalty. The big fight outside and the high number of casualties inside the warehouse caused no small number of the soldiers to disperse and desert. Chen Xiaolian finished off several of those soldiers as he ran forward and finally reached the door.
It was an iron fence!
After pulling open the iron fence, Chen Xiaolian was shocked.
The amount of space in this portion of the warehouse was very big!
At the end of the room, Zayad was moving into… an iron box.
How should he put it? That box was like one of those big shipping containers.
Chen Xiaolian watched as Zayad ran inside and sneered… running inside there, did he think there was any place he could run to?
He slowed his pace down and replaced his magazine with a fresh one.
When there were less than 10 metres between him and the container…
An odd sound came from inside the container.
It was… the sound of metal being twisted!
The creaking sounds continued and a metal arm emerged from the torn out part of the container walls! It utterly ripped that part of the wall down! Next, something that was around three metres in height was revealed…
It was at that moment that Chen Xiaolian suddenly stopped in his tracks!
There was utter shock on his face! His pair of eyes stared incredulously at that ‘thing’!
“F**K!” Chen Xiaolian swore.
The thing standing before him was surprisingly…
A human-sized mech!!!
More accurately, it was a type that Chen Xiaolian had seen back in Zero City, the small II-Model Sentinel mech!
In this piss poor country of Kombia that had no air force, tanks or even heavy weapons…
This damned Zayad…
He actually got his hands on a bloody mech?!
Where did he get that from?
As Chen Xiaolian was standing in shock, the Sentinel mech had charged forward! At the same time, it lifted its left arm. The muzzle of the Vulcan auto cannon outfitted upon that arm was pointed at him!
Chen Xiaolian did not hesitate to exert every ounce of his strength to leap to the left!
Bang bang bang bang…
Intense sounds of auto cannon fire rang out and gun flash sprouted forth as the auto cannon bullets shot out furiously!
Chen Xiaolian felt his scalp go numb!
Just now, he felt as though some of the bullets had grazed past his body!
If the bullets fired out by this Vulcan auto cannon had struck him, his body would have been torn apart!
He leapt out with all his might, covering a distance of at least three to five metres. When he landed, he hastily rolled himself away!
Chen Xiaolian then rushed to the back of a column within the warehouse and exhaled. However, he soon heard mechanical footsteps approaching from behind!
A booming sound erupted! An iron fist slammed its way through the column and Chen Xiaolian was forced to rapidly retreat!
Next, the Sentinel mech burst forward, breaking through the column as it charged forward!
…