Iron Blooded Military Soul: The Legend of Cheetah

  This book is dedicated to the Chinese Special Forces who have been born and died for the country's prosperity and national dignity. No matter when, you are the pillars of the state; no matter in what era, you are the most lovable people. Salute, Republicans!

  Adopted son

  The vast forest canopy is layered and dense, with various plants of different genera growing together in profusion, covering the forest floor. The thick and thin vines are intertwined like a spider web, stretching between trees, while the shrubs on the forest floor are lush and thriving all year round.

  On a winter night, the temperature in the forest drops rapidly, and the humid air condenses into a thin mist. In this vast and desolate primeval forest, there is no other life except for small animals that venture out at night to hunt for food. However, on this moonlit and starry night, the chirping of insects in the grass suddenly stops, followed by the sound of rustling through the underbrush, "swish, swish, swish". Amidst this light and rhythmic sound, there is also a clumsy and stumbling footstep.

  Two tall, white men wearing US-style jungle combat uniforms appeared in the jungle. From the thick black camouflage paint on their faces and the AK-47 rifles tightly held in their hands, it can be inferred that they are mercenaries hired to carry out some shady mission in this jungle. The two white men were clearly the vanguard, walking cautiously while scanning their surroundings. Behind them, a stout, middle-aged Chinese man was panting heavily, almost falling to the ground. He leaned against a tree, wiping away the white foam from his mouth with his hand, and begged: "Please... let me... rest for a bit, I really... can't walk anymore."

  The vanguard stopped in his tracks and turned around to glare at him impatiently: "Hurry up! They'll be catching up with us any minute now!"

  However, the middle-aged man sat down on the grass with a plop and refused to get up.

  "What's going on?" Accompanied by a furious low growl, the mercenary captain in charge of the rear guard strode over quickly.

  The scout pointed to the middle-aged man, who was about to speak, when the sniper, holding an M40, intercepted the captain and pulled him aside, saying in a low voice: "This won't do, we came with fourteen brothers this time, and since those two yellow-skinned monkeys were hung from behind, only four of us are left. Moreover, we're carrying this guy, and we can't run fast. Those two yellow-skinned monkeys have been following us persistently, we need to think of a way to get rid of them, otherwise, no one can escape this jungle."

  "Damn it, if it weren't for the intel on him worth five million dollars, I'd have shot him dead! It's all because of this damn traitor that I lost ten good brothers in one go!" The captain spat at the middle-aged man without any courtesy, picked up his binoculars to scan the surroundings, gritted his teeth and made a decision: "Set up ambush mines on the spot, be careful to erase any traces. If those two yellow-skinned monkeys catch up again, let them die with no place to bury their bodies!"

  "Yes." The mercenaries dispersed, setting up tripwires and traps. Their movements were swift and efficient, quickly clearing the surroundings as if no one had ever arrived here before. The captain dragged and pulled the middle-aged man into a dense thicket of shrubs.

  An hour later, two men wearing Chinese army jungle combat uniforms appeared. The two men were tall and burly, with heavy backpacks on their backs that looked like small mountains. They opened up a skirmish line, one in front of the other, and moved quickly through the forest at a speed close to that of wild beasts.

  Suddenly, the person walking in front raised his right hand sharply into the air, signaling to stop advancing. He slowly crouched down in front of a small mountain stream, propping the assault rifle against his leg at an angle, rolling up his sleeves and reaching into the water with his hands to feel for something. The forearm exposed above the water's surface revealed muscles as hard as marble, reflecting a metallic sheen under the rippling light.

  The man walking behind reacted extremely quickly, almost at the moment his teammate raised his hand, he squatted behind a lush bush, holding up his 88-style sniper rifle, vigilantly scanning around, not missing any slight movement in the woods.

  Suddenly, the man's tightly pursed lips curled up into a cold smile as he searched the creek. His sharp eyes gleamed with a chilling light under his two thick eyebrows that rose like sharp swords. He cautiously scanned his surroundings and spoke in a low voice into the radio transmitter: "Hawk, they're nearby, set up a sniper point on my left wing rear." After finishing speaking, he pulled out the military dagger hanging from his waist and inserted it into the water, digging at something with force. About two or three minutes later, he scooped out an anti-personnel mine with its fuse removed, and under the mine was tied a 500-gram C4 explosive pack.

  The man called Hawk pulled the camouflage net over his head, crawled into the bottom of a large thicket on the flank of his teammates, set up his sniper rifle, and put his eyes close to the scope, ready to shoot. He bent one finger on the intercom and lightly tapped it, indicating that he was ready for everything.

  The man by the stream threw the landmine aside, grasped his gun and was about to get up when he suddenly stopped. A sixth sense beyond that of a normal person told him: danger is approaching! He narrowed his eyes slightly and looked towards the thicket, less than 200 meters away from him, a leopard cat that had come out at night to hunt "whooshed" past. Just as the leopard cat flashed by, the man suddenly did two consecutive forward rolls, lightly and nimbly landing behind a bush, gun at the ready, vigilantly watching the thicket.

  The leopard cat disappeared quickly, and the jungle returned to its original silence. The man did not relax because of this, he raised his night vision binoculars, searching for potential targets in the jungle meter by meter.

  The bright moonlight filtered through the gaps in the tree canopy, casting dappled shadows on the ground. The man suddenly stood up and quickly took a large step to the right, then darted into another hiding spot he had previously scouted out. Just as he entered his second hiding position, a flash of light streaked across the thicket at two o'clock, caused by the sniper rifle's scope reflecting the moonlight. The earpiece crackled with the Hawk's suppressed low voice: "Leopard, two o'clock, three hundred meters."

  "Understood." The leopard responded with a low voice, and slowly took off the heavy backpack. A gentle breeze blew by, causing the mountain vines and shrubs to rustle and shake. Taking advantage of this rare opportunity, the leopard quickly crawled forward in a high posture, circling around the two points. Just as he was less than 100 meters away from the two points, his right foot stepped out, and the ground beneath him suddenly sank slightly, causing a mountain vine hidden among the withered branches to spring up with a loud noise, pouncing towards him.

  "An ambush!" The leopard didn't hesitate for a moment, its legs forcefully pushing off the ground, and it suddenly leapt upwards. Its massive body curled up into a ball shape with the smallest possible surface area, quickly flipping twice in mid-air, successfully avoiding the sharp-headed club that was swung at him from the other end of the mountain vine. Just as his body was about to land, two points of light reappeared.

  A bullet whizzed past the hunting leopard's steel helmet, revealing the enemy sniper's position. Just as the enemy sniper was about to fire a second shot, the hunting eagle's 88-style sniper rifle, equipped with a silencer, gave a polite cough. The high-speed rotating bullet hit its target, shattering the enemy's scope with a "crack" sound, entering through the enemy sniper's eyebrow and exiting from the back of his head, lodging itself in a large tree behind him with remaining force.

  The leopard's feet lightly touched the ground, and before he could turn around, a strong gust of wind suddenly swept in from behind, carrying a thick killing intent. A large, hairy hand suddenly stretched out from behind, with five fingers spread wide to grab at his eyes. Almost simultaneously, the sharp blade of a combat knife flashed in front of him, and the moonlight reflected on the blade edge stabbed painfully into the leopard's eyes. The leopard suddenly lowered its head, avoiding the opponent's large hand that was grabbing for its eyes, and with both hands exerting all their strength, clamped down on the opponent's knife-wielding hand and twisted it sharply to the right.

  "Ah!" The mercenary captain cursed, his right arm, which was being held down, twisted like a snake at an unimaginable angle as he tried to escape from the leopard's grasp.

  The leopard took advantage of the momentum to turn around, one hand tightly grasping the opponent's arm, and with the other hand, it opened its five fingers and stabbed at the opponent's eyes. The opponent was shocked and exerted great force to lean back, and the leopard took the opportunity to strike the opponent's abdomen with a knee. The opponent raised his right leg in time, also striking the leopard's knee cap with a loud thud. After a dull sound, the leopard's falling right leg inserted itself between the opponent's legs, hooking onto the opponent's left leg, and with a swift shoulder movement, it knocked the opponent to the ground. The left foot quickly lifted up, bringing with it a gust of wind, and fiercely kicked the opponent's temple, causing the opponent's face, painted with black oil paint, to instantly lose all vitality, its shocked expression forever frozen in that moment.

  Cheetah's hand reached into the corpse's chest to search for something, just as the earpiece suddenly transmitted the urgent voice of the hawk: "Eleven o'clock, sniper!" Cheetah didn't hesitate and pounced towards the grass thicket beside the corpse. A bullet hit the body with a "whoosh" sound, and before the blood mist had dissipated, cheetah had already rolled over to move behind the nearest tree.

  "Leopard, the sniper is hiding behind a tree at eleven o'clock, unable to effectively take out." The hunting eagle spoke as he slowly moved the gun barrel, changing angles to capture the opponent's shadow in the scope.

  "Understood." The leopard responded in a low voice, poking his head out from behind the tree and raising his binoculars to scan the 11 o'clock position. A cluster of exceptionally lush grass caught his attention, there was no wind, but the grass was swaying slightly, between the leaves, a black stick was moving slowly, apparently, this sniper was also searching for the leopard's location.

  The leopard gave a slight cold smile, suddenly rushed out from behind the tree, quickly moved several steps and slipped into a bush that had been watched for a long time. His tall body was as agile as a monkey, with a speed like a startled rabbit, and powerful explosive force, just like a leopard ready to pounce on its prey.

  The hawk-eyed sniper was intently staring at the enemy's position at eleven o'clock, searching for the perfect moment to fire. Just as he was fully focused, a sharp killing intent suddenly pierced his heart, and he quickly turned his head to look in the direction of the killing intent. Before he could shift his gaze, a rope soaked in tung oil wrapped around his throat, and immediately afterwards, a knee pressed against his spine. The attacker knelt on his back, pulling the rope backwards with all his might.

  Hunting Hawk suppressed the suffocating feeling, pulled out the military dagger from his leg bag with his right hand, bent his elbow backwards, and stabbed the dagger fiercely towards his back. When an ordinary person is strangled like this, they usually use both hands to pull the rope and protect their throat. The attacker obviously did not expect Hunting Hawk to counterattack at this time, and was caught off guard. The sharp tip of the military dagger had already pierced into his right chest cavity along the gap between two ribs, he let out a muffled hum, hastily stretched out his hand to cover his wound, and the rope tied around Hunting Hawk's neck suddenly loosened.

  Hawk rolled twice in a row, and at the same time pulled out the 92-style pistol from his waist. The muzzle was aimed at the attacker without hesitation, and the trigger was pulled. At close range, the bullet drilled into the attacker's head without any suspense.

  The leopard has circled around to the eleven o'clock position of the sniper, tiptoeing and using various objects for cover as he swiftly and silently approaches his target, like a crouching leopard ready to unleash an unpredictable and deadly attack at any moment.

  The mercenary sniper's eyes were fixed on the scope, searching for his target. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of a lithe figure flashing by in the corner of his eye on the right flank. He was shocked and hastily turned the muzzle towards the right flank, firing three shots without even finding the target.

  "Stay behind." The leopard suddenly flashed out from behind the tree, a precise short burst of gunfire, and the sniper's head, already rising, exploded in a shower of blood, falling straight to the ground.

  "Clear, safe!" The leopard whispered into the intercom, searched the corpse for a moment, and didn't find what he needed. He immediately looked around, a cluster of constantly shaking weeds caught his attention, he rushed over with his gun, used the barrel to open the weeds, and a stout middle-aged man crouched in the grass ball, holding his head and shouting loudly: "Don't kill me, don't kill me! I surrender!"

  A cheetah picked up a middle-aged man and threw him to the ground, with the muzzle of his gun pointing at the other's head, saying in a low voice: "Tell me, where did you put the intelligence you stole from home? If you don't say it, I'll shoot you dead!"

  "In... in..." A middle-aged man's eyes rolled around and suddenly asked: "Brother, what about the terms of our discussion?"

  "Do you qualify to discuss terms with me?" The leopard's eyes emitted a deep, cold glow, and the corners of its mouth curled up in a sneering smile.

  "You're a special forces soldier, right? I know you guys don't make much money. Why not follow me instead? As long as you protect me and deliver the intel to the designated drop point in M country, I'll get $10 million. We can split it 50/50." The middle-aged man held out five fingers, his eyes filled with hope: "Five million dollars! You guys might never see that much money in your lifetime!"

  "Shut your dog mouth, you loser!" The cheetah kicked the man's abdomen with one foot, instantly making him cover his stomach and scream like a slaughtered pig.

  The eagle flew over with a sniper rifle and whispered to the leopard, "I just searched all the bodies, there's nothing we're looking for. These mercenaries have satellite phones, reinforcements will arrive soon, hurry up!" After that, he took cover in the woods with his sniper rifle, taking on sentry duty.

  The cheetah pulled out a handgun, cocked it and pointed at the tree next to the middle-aged man. With a soft hook of his finger, "Bang" went the gun, the bullet deeply embedded in the trunk, still smoking from the muzzle, which slightly moved towards the middle-aged man's head. In a low voice, he growled: "Did you see that? Is your skull thick or is this tree thick? I'll ask you one last time, where is the information?"

  His sharp eyes gleamed with a fierce light, his gaze was sharp and bright, full of wild power, that was the unique gaze of a beast when hunting. Seeing the middle-aged man still wanting to haggle, his lips curled up slightly without any emotion, his right index finger slowly moved to the gun's trigger: "I give you ten seconds, time's up, whether you speak or not, I'll shoot. Ten, nine, eight..."

  As the countdown continued, the muzzle was pressed harder against the middle-aged man's forehead, and beads of sweat rolled down from his brow. When the leopard reached three in its countdown, the middle-aged man finally collapsed completely. "Don't kill me, I'll say it, I'll say anything!" He pointed a trembling finger at the grass nest where he had hidden earlier: "I...I hid the miniature camera there."

  The leopard lifted his stout body with one hand and threw it into the grass nest: "Get it out yourself, I warn you, don't play tricks on me!"

  "I don't dare, I don't dare." The middle-aged man muttered to himself repeatedly, rummaging through the grass for half a day, and when he finally pulled out his hand, it surprisingly held a miniature camera.

  The cheetah took over the precise spy tool, skillfully opened it to check it out. Not bad, it was exactly what he wanted. He put away the camera and looked down at the middle-aged man who kept shrinking: "You treacherous traitor! Is money that important to you? If this important military intelligence leaks out, it will cause immeasurable losses to the country and nation, damn it!"

  "You... you can't shoot, I'm a prisoner of war, the Liberation Army treats prisoners of war kindly!" The middle-aged man looked at his face with an almost ferocious expression, shocked and frightened, and didn't know where he got the strength from, using both hands to support himself on the ground and desperately retreating backwards.

  "Are you a captive? You're scum!" The cheetah looked down at the gun in his hand, and suddenly smiled faintly, with an inexplicable and ruthless smile: "What you said is right, I won't shoot. Dealing with scum like you doesn't need to waste bullets!"

  "Ah——" The middle-aged man shouted and stood up, wanting to escape. He had just turned around when a military dagger flew straight at him with a piercing wind, instantly penetrating his brain from the back of his head to his forehead. His stout body convulsed violently and fell heavily to the ground.

  "Hawk's slightly urgent voice suddenly came from the headphones: 'Leopard, 12 o'clock direction, wolf pack approaching rapidly!'"

  "It came quite quickly. Withdraw!" The leopard whispered, alternating with the eagle to cover and retreat from the battlefield, flashing into the dense thicket, almost disappearing in an instant. The thicket restored its original silence, except for a few more corpses on the ground, as if nothing had happened here.