Volume 1: The Fierce Tiger Leaves Its Leash Chapter 5: To Kill or To Save (Part 1)
Ling Tianxiang suppressed the urge to rush in and rescue people. If he couldn't create chaos, there was no chance of taking Wei Daming out without being detected. Even if he managed to kill all the Americans inside the warehouse, he wouldn't be able to take Wei Daming away. He had even less confidence in facing the entire US military camp, plus over 100 "Blackwater" mercenaries. But the explosives and detonators they needed were all inside the warehouse, so how could they get their hands on these things?
After hesitating for only half a minute, Ling Tianxiang decided to go forward and take a look. If things didn't go well, he would have to rescue people first before causing any damage. He looked at his watch again, 2:51, he had already been inside for half an hour, and his trail could be exposed at any time, so he must speed up his actions. Ling Tianxiang stopped thinking and moved forward along the warehouse wall towards the command center. Suddenly, a flash of light caught Ling Tianxiang's attention, and he immediately dodged to the side and hid in the shadows. Then, he saw a mercenary wearing a tactical vest with an M4 carbine slung over his chest jump out of the driver's cab of a truck, with a cigarette still dangling from his mouth.
Ling Tianxiang gazed at the mercenary, and at the same time noticed the truck behind him. It wasn't an ordinary military truck, but a container truck with the logo of "Blackwater" company on it. Suddenly, Ling Tianxiang remembered a document he had read before departure. The American "Blackwater" company was a private defense contractor, although most of the weapons and equipment used were common with those of the US military, they did not directly receive logistical support from the military, but must have their own guarantee system. Now that there were so many mercenaries stationed in the camp, they would definitely need a lot of ammunition and supplies, and that truck was probably used to transport them! With this thought, Ling Tianxiang had an idea.
The mercenaries smoking after getting off the car did not realize the danger, and they didn't even glance at Ling Tianxiang's direction. When he was about to circle around to the other side of the truck for a patrol, Ling Tianxiang swiftly rushed over. The mercenary who met his end felt the danger in the last moment, but it was already too late. An icy dagger thrust into his neck from the right side, severing the cervical vertebrae and cutting off the carotid artery before slicing open the trachea. Due to the rupture of the trachea, the corpse let out a series of "hissing" sounds. Ling Tianxiang felt that he had been a bit too heavy-handed, so he first placed the corpse on the ground before slowly pulling out the dagger, thus avoiding the fresh blood from spraying out of the wound.
After wiping the dagger on the corpse's clothes a few times, Ling Tianxiang took down the M4 carbine and quickly checked its condition before slinging it over his back. He then removed several spare magazines from the corpse. After making sure he hadn't been discovered, Ling Tianxiang crouched and made his way around to the back of the truck. The container door wasn't locked, so after waiting about half a minute for all the lights in the watchtowers to shift away, he quickly opened the door and slipped inside.
Two green light bulbs installed in the corner of the top of the container illuminated the items inside, just as Ling Tianxiang had imagined. This was a truck used to transport military equipment, with gun racks on both sides filled with various types of firearms, including the US standard M4, German-made G36, and SIG. What surprised Ling Tianxiang was that behind a row of AKs, there were also 81-style and 97-style automatic rifles equipped by the Huaxia team. It seemed that "Blackwater" company often did things that couldn't be seen in the light of day either.
Soon, Ling Tianxiang found what he was looking for - a standard M40A3 sniper rifle, almost identical to the one he had used before. More importantly, he found a whole box of C4 explosives and various detonators, most of which were remote-controlled. After finding a multi-channel remote detonator, Ling Tianxiang couldn't help but smile. This was part of the standard equipment for the US military, and although Ling Tianxiang was just a sniper, he knew exactly how to use this standard equipment. The C4 explosives stored in the container were enough to blow up the entire US military camp!
For a special forces operative who is determined to cause destruction, giving him several hundred kilograms of C4 explosives would enable him to turn a small town into ruins. Although demolition is the sniper's "sideline", for Ling Tianxiang, a sniper who has received professional demolition training, it is extremely easy to bring out the destructive power of these explosives to the extreme limit. The simplest way to expand destruction is to install explosives under the fuel tank of a car, turning the vehicle into a bomb. Additionally, by installing explosives in different parts of a building, an entire building can be blown down.
Within half an hour, Ling Tianxiang became a "bomb porter". The fuel tanks of the Hummer jeeps parked behind the barracks were all installed with bombs, and each barrack's outer wall was also installed with bombs. The command center's walls were also equipped with bombs. Of course, Ling Tianxiang did not forget to install several bombs on the mortar position. Finally, he installed a bomb under the fuel tank of the container truck and put the remaining three unused bombs in his pocket. The multi-control remote switch was divided into several groups, and these bombs exploded in batches, achieving the best deterrent and destructive effect.
After doing all this, Ling Tianxiang glanced at his watch, 3:44, he had been in for an hour and twenty-three minutes. What made Ling Tianxiang slightly surprised was that until now, the US military patrolling outside the camp had not discovered the hole in the barbed wire fence. It seemed that the vigilance of the US military was not very high, probably because they had not been harassed by Taliban militants for a long time. Moreover, as far as Ling Tianxiang knew, Taliban militants rarely sneaked into the US military camp. The simplest harassment method was to fire several mortar shells from a few kilometers away, making it impossible for the US military to sleep peacefully. Fortunately, the Taliban militants nearby did not launch an attack that night.
After adjusting his breathing, Ling Tianxiang drew out his combat pistol. Now there was only one last thing to do, which was also the most important thing - to go and rescue Wei Daming. Just as he took his first step, a sudden noise came from the other side of the truck, and it was a rather urgent footstep sound, definitely not made by the drunken mercenaries.
Ling Tianxiang immediately crouched down and opened the safety on his pistol; it was now too late to use a dagger.
"Jack, you're dead, Jack—"
When he turned around, the first thing he saw was a black figure, and then he saw a faint glimmer of light. Before he could react, the .45 caliber ACP bullet had already hit his forehead.
The Blade's Edge, Volume 1, Chapter 5: Kill or Be Killed (Part 1)
