Chapter 46: The Base (1)

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  "Of course not, how could the US government allow us to build a base on their soil? We are a very powerful non-governmental armed force, darlings of war! Besides, all sorts of anti-mercenary laws do not allow the US government to openly support and cooperate with us. The concealment of the base is also something we need to consider, if it's exposed, that would be disastrous!" Torlse said matter-of-factly.

  I exchanged another glance with Kim Ji-joon, and we both had a strong interest in this mysterious base. "A very powerful non-governmental armed force" and that mysterious mercenary, where would they build their base? What would it look like? The Pacific Ocean? The Pacific Ocean is too big!

  "Alright, if there are no questions, you two can go to the hotel to collect your personal belongings. At 10:30, just head straight to the rooftop of the building," Torles said.

  We stood up together and shook hands with Tolst, walked out of the office but didn't go to the underground parking lot for that car. We went straight out of the building and hailed a taxi ourselves.

  Things were packed up quickly, but actually there was no need to pack at all. The simple luggage consisted of just one suitcase with a few changes of clothes. Once we arrived at the base, these clothes would probably be useless anyway. Every day was spent running around, and a single camouflage uniform was enough. In less than five minutes, Kim Jiwon appeared in my room carrying similarly simple luggage.

  "Let's go!" I patted Kim Jee-joon on the shoulder with my luggage and headed out. At 10:10, the taxi we were in stopped in front of the company's office building. After paying the fare, the two of us took the elevator to the rooftop. Like almost all high-rise buildings in the world, this one also had two helicopter landing pads on its rooftop, but since it was still early, there was no one around.

  Just as we had put down our luggage and exchanged a couple of sentences, Tolstoy and his blonde secretary appeared on the rooftop. At the same time, the sound of a helicopter engine could be heard in the distance. A black civilian helicopter turned around a building and appeared in the distance, slowly flying towards the building where we were.

  After the helicopter stabilized, we bid farewell to Tolst and the secretary who came to see us off, carrying simple luggage onto the rotor still spinning. With a roar, the rotor spun faster and faster, and the helicopter slowly left the helipad and rose into the air, turning its head to fly away in the distance.

  The helicopter flew for more than three hours before reaching its destination - a small island in the Pacific. It was already two o'clock in the afternoon. Tors had thought of everything, and food and drink were ready for me, lunch being sandwiches and hamburgers that I had munched on during the flight.

  The pilot, after parking the plane, was munching on bread while taking out spare oil cans from the plane to refuel the helicopter. After everything was settled, he threw a sentence "we've arrived at our destination" and drove the helicopter away. I and Kim Ji-hoon were rubbing our butts in frustration, watching the helicopter disappear into the distance, then carefully examining the small island we were on.

  What a desolate place this is, on a small island of over a thousand square meters, weeds are growing everywhere, some trees have lost all their leaves, and solitary trees are scattered about, not even a human shadow can be seen.

  "Are we being played?" Kim Ji-joon's face was filled with gloom.

  "Huh?" I didn't understand, and my hands were still slapping my butt and thighs.

  "Look around, they won't leave us here on purpose and starve us to death, will they?"

  "No way, it can't be..."

  The word "ba" had not yet left my mouth when a sudden movement came from the thicket next to us, something's up! Kim Ji-hoon and I both rolled to either side in the first instance, during which the hand that was always tucked into my waistband already grasped the gun, and as soon as we steadied ourselves, the muzzles were swiftly trained on the thicket.

  The bushes shook again, and a white man in military uniform walked out from inside. The man looked at us dazedly, nodded his head in satisfaction, and asked, "372923, 372924?"

  I and Kim Ji-joon were both stunned for a moment before suddenly remembering that this was our soldier ID number, and we replied in unison: "Yes!"

  The man patted the wolf head patch on his shoulder and said, "Put down your gun and follow me." Then he turned around and walked into the woods.

  It was one of our own people, I let out a sigh of relief and quickly put away my gun. I grabbed my luggage and followed Kim Joon-oh in a hurry. After walking for several hundred meters, what appeared before us was a patch of tall grass that reached up to our waists. In the middle of it stood an AHL armed helicopter covered with camouflage nets. No wonder we hadn't seen anything from the sky earlier. Although the helicopter's rotor created a huge gust of wind when landing, causing the surrounding grass to lean outward, it wasn't easy to spot them from a distance in the air, especially on this kind of terrain where tall grass grew everywhere.

  I still lack the ability to carefully observe at all times.

  The man pointed to an empty space under a crooked neck tree, where some food and water were placed: "Sit down and rest for a while, depart at six o'clock."

  Kim Ji-joon looked at his watch in surprise and said, "Why six o'clock? It's only a little past two now. Are we going to wait for someone?"

  The man ignored us and sat on a stone under the tree, took a puff of his cigarette before saying: "Cut the crap, execute the order!"

  The two of us stuck out our tongues at each other, sat down under the tree with our luggage, picked up the food and water on the ground, and started eating in a listless manner.

  Time passed quickly, and at six o'clock, no one had arrived yet. The old man's sense of time was indeed strong, just one second past six o'clock, the military uniformed man suddenly stood up and shouted: "Time is up, pack up your things and set off!"

  We hastily stood up and picked up our luggage, the man pointed to the food on the ground and the used packaging, cigarette butts and other miscellaneous things: "Clean them all up."

  During training, the instructor told us that as a special forces operative in non-large-scale warfare, we generally have to infiltrate deep into enemy territory and face enemies ten or even a hundred times our number. Concealment is our only advantage. So at any time, don't leave anything behind that could let the enemy discover your whereabouts; otherwise, you'll have to confront the enemy head-on and lose all advantage. You'll have to use your body to dodge dozens or hundreds of bullets fired simultaneously.

  Without saying a word, the two of us picked up all the food, water bottles, packaging bags, and the cigarette butts that the military-clad man had smoked, and packed them away. At this time, the military-clad man had removed the camouflage net from the helicopter and was folding it on the ground. The cool body of the armed helicopter was exposed in front of us, forming a strong contrast with the surrounding landscape. The art of war lies in combining all kinds of feelings such as beauty, destruction, and shock into one unique artistic beauty. If I had to express that shocking feeling in words, I could only utter one word from the bottom of my heart - "cool"!

  I and Kim Ji-joon ran over, looking at the trash in one hand, exchanged a glance, with a sly smile on our faces, we quickly stuffed everything in our hands into the narrow gap under the helicopter seat. Then we threw our luggage into the helicopter, and then went to help the military man fold up the camouflage net and load it into the helicopter, before finally boarding the helicopter.

  A man in military uniform put on his helmet and started the helicopter, which quickly rose into the air and flew towards the depths of the ocean. As the sky gradually darkened, the sun was setting over the sea, and I saw the most beautiful sunset of my life! The afterglow of the sun turned the entire horizon red, and the evening glow at the point where the sky and earth met was so beautiful that it made people's hearts drunk. The helicopter flew proudly in this fiery redness, its entire body glowing bright red, even inside the cockpit, I felt as if I were sitting amidst the sunset! Looking at Kim Ji-hoon, who was also staring blankly, I knew he too had been conquered by the beauty of nature!

  Slowly, the sun put on its evening attire, and the vast Pacific Ocean slowly sank into darkness. The weather tonight may not be very good, with no moonlight. Outside the cabin, it was pitch black, and nothing could be seen. After taking off, the helicopter flew low over the sea surface all along, just ten or so meters away from the sea surface. It was pitch black outside the cabin, and I didn't feel the helicopter climbing at all.