Chapter Eleven: The Eagle Returns to Its Nest

  The mountain top ahead was where they were to rendezvous with the Marines, Yang Wenhong closed the electronic navigation map, grabbed a branch with his left hand and was about to climb up the mountain when suddenly, a red light flashed across the glass lens of his watch on his wrist. This was the laser beam emitted by the laser sight! He quickly dropped down to the ground and heard two "popping" sounds, two bullets had silently entered the earth at the spot where he had just been standing.

  Yang Wenfeng was about to take a peek at the situation when there were two more faint sounds, and he quickly withdrew his head. Two bullets whizzed past above his head! He took out his pistol and fired back twice, then leaped towards another mound of earth. The next two bullets hit just a few centimeters behind him! He lay motionless on the ground behind the mound, and as long as he didn't move, the enemy's bullets would pin him down with precise trajectories. Since the enemy's sniper rifle was equipped with a silencer, it was impossible to determine the enemy's position from the muzzle flash, and his P99 couldn't compete with the night vision scope and laser sight on the sniper rifle.

  Yang Wenfeng was suppressed by the enemy's sniper group and couldn't move. Just as he was in a desperate situation, a crisp gunshot sounded from the mountain top behind him. Yang Wenfeng listened intently and felt thrilled to recognize the unique sound of an 88-style 5.8mm sniper rifle. Accompanied by the rapid firing of 5.8mm automatic rifles, the enemy's firepower was suppressed.

  Yang Wenfeng sprang up and rushed towards the top of the mountain, ignoring the pain in his right arm wound. His two hands grasped the branches without stopping, using them to propel himself upwards as he ran. The enemy's bullets scattered around him, but were soon suppressed by our side's more intense firepower.

  Yang Wenfeng seized the opportunity to climb up the mountain and arrived at our camp, "Captain Bao, Eagle One has completed its mission and reports to you!" Bao Duanzhu grasped his hand with a soldier's hearty enthusiasm: "Eagle One, welcome back to the team!" After finishing speaking, he turned his head to give orders to the signalman, "Call the commander, we are going to withdraw."

  "Eagle Two! Eagle Two! Mission accomplished, return to nest immediately!"

  "Eagle 2 understands!"

  Before long, the hovercraft slid out of the hidden rocky bay and stopped on the beach. Bao Zhu immediately ordered: "Leave four people to guard the position, and the rest of the team will protect Comrade Eagle One and withdraw!"

  "Yes!"

  Apart from Bao Duanzhu and three team members who stayed behind, the rest of the team covered Yang Wenfeng's retreat to the beach. After seeing his teammates retreat to the beach, Bao Duanzhu and the team members each used a magazine of bullets to continuously fire without interruption, completely suppressing the enemy's firepower. After finishing the bullets in the magazine, the four of them alternated covering each other and quickly retreated back to the hovercraft. As the hovercraft was taking off with force, an "Eyeglasses Snake" armed helicopter rushed out from the southwest sky, firing a missile at the hovercraft. The alarm on the hovercraft immediately sounded, and the pilot started the infrared interference system while making evasive maneuvers. Due to the suddenness of the incident, the infrared interference system had not fully taken effect, and the left engine of the hovercraft was hit by the missile, but the hovercraft continued to fly stubbornly after losing an engine.

  The crew in the armed helicopter did not destroy the drone, immediately re-locking the target and preparing to launch another missile. At this critical moment, a woman's figure stood on the southwest mountain ridge, carrying a portable air defense missile aimed at the armed helicopter. The woman pressed the firing button, and the missile flew out of the tube, hitting the armed helicopter. An explosion sounded, and the helicopter turned into a ball of fire in the sky.

  The orange glow of the flames reflected on the woman's delicate face, she gazed at the flying hovercraft and muttered to herself: "What I owed you has been repaid. Bon... voyage!"

  "Hmm, Officer Hu looks like a wife praying for her husband's safe return from a distant voyage at the Wandering Husband Cliff. But the portable missile on your shoulder is quite an eyesore and completely ruins this 'warm and romantic' moment." Along with this voice, a strong beam of light from a flashlight shone on the woman's body, and a man appeared silently behind her, holding a flashlight in one hand and a gun in the other. "Unfortunately, you, Hu Lirong, are standing in the wrong position and showing the wrong emotions. I will now execute you for treason!"

  "Director Zheng must have spent a lot of effort for this moment, right?" Hu Lirong threw down the launcher and turned around to see Director Zheng's ferocious face. "Director Zheng doesn't need to be so tense, the current situation is completely under your control. In such a good situation, don't let me, this traitor, not die, but you die from over-tension instead."

  "You're almost dead, yet your mouth is still so venomous. Don't provoke me, or you'll beg for life but won't be able to get it! You'll beg for death but won't be able to get it!" Zheng Changrong said harshly, but his mouth was greedily inhaling the fresh air. He had been holding his breath all along while following her earlier, and this made him feel suffocated. The large amount of oxygen that filled his lungs made him feel refreshed, and he suddenly became alert. His eyes were fixed intently on Hu Lirong's hand as she was drawing her gun. "If you don't want to die, then don't make any rash moves! You can take out your gun, but you have to throw it over here obediently. I'm warning you, if you dare to play any tricks, don't blame me for not being polite!"

  "How dare I!" Hu Lirong smiled slyly and pulled out a handgun, carefully holding the handle with her thumb and index finger.

  "! You're still so...!" Zheng Changrong cursed in his heart, involuntarily swallowing a mouthful of saliva. "Throw the gun over here!" He focused the strong light of his flashlight on Hu Lirong's hand holding the gun.

  "Yes, sir!" Hu Lirong said, and with a flick of her wrist, she tossed the gun over. She was indeed cautious, the angle and speed at which the handgun flew over were just right, and all he had to do was reach out to catch it.

  Zheng Changrong subconsciously hesitated for a moment, it was destined to be the most foolish thing he had done in his life. He actually reached out and caught the PPK that Hu Lirong had thrown over. A sly cold smile flashed across Hu Lirong's face, and then she rushed over with swift movements... Zheng Changrong secretly cried out: "Not good!" Just as he paused for a moment, he immediately raised his gun to shoot, but his right chest was heavily struck once, and then he heard a gentle whisper in his ear: "Commander, let me send you off."

  Zheng Changrong suddenly felt his whole body go soft, a strong drowsiness made his reaction a bit slow, but his thinking hadn't been interrupted. Just as he pulled the trigger, a heart-wrenching pain quickly invaded his brain, and his thinking became somewhat disordered. As he trembled and turned the flashlight towards his chest, under the light shining up from below, an extremely terrifying fear appeared on his face. This was because he saw that a dagger had already been inserted into his chest!

  Terror drove Zheng Changrong's instincts to let out a desperate cry, but a surge of blood rushed up his throat and pressed against his vocal cords. He tried to swallow the blood back down, but the strong pressure in his chest cavity made his efforts futile. A mouthful of blood spurted out of his mouth... "You... traitor, dare to... conspire against... your superior, I won't... let you off... even as a ghost, I won't... let you off..." He finished speaking his final words and could no longer support his sturdy body, falling straight down.

  Huli Rong turned around and picked up the launcher, she carefully wiped it with a tissue. After wiping it clean, she placed the launcher next to Zheng Changrong's body, took his stiffening hand and pressed his fingerprints onto the launcher, finally inserting his index finger into the firing button. Having done all this, she thought for a moment, then picked up the fallen flashlight and placed it next to Zheng Changrong's body, "Officer, let this beam of light accompany you on your journey to the underworld."

  Zheng Changrong watched all of this, listened to all of this, but was powerless. The intense pain had numbed his body and spirit. He was too tired, didn't want to close his eyes, yet couldn't help but close them.

  The warning lights and alarm sounds flashing in the cockpit of the aircraft stimulated everyone's adrenaline, with hearts tightly strung, the atmosphere was extremely tense.

  "Autopilot failure, now switching to manual control. Report damage situation?" The captain asked the co-pilot through the intercom.

  "Forty percent, thirty-nine percent, thirty-seven percent, thirty-five percent!! The fuel tank is damaged and leaking oil. Be careful to slow down! Excessive vibration can cause the damaged fuel tank to crack further."

  "Understood." The captain replied while exerting force to stabilize the control stick, with the left engine damaged and the main controller malfunctioning, the lack of computer assistance made manual flying more physically demanding.

  "Captain, this is extremely exhausting..." The co-pilot looked at the beads of sweat on the captain's forehead and said, "In order to distribute our physical strength reasonably, I request that we switch drivers every five minutes."

  "Refuse the request. I can do it!" The captain said stubbornly.

  The co-pilot smiled wryly and then called headquarters. After a conversation with headquarters, he immediately reported to the captain: "Contacted HQ, this is the revised satellite navigation route sent back, just follow the new route."

  "Ah, I see!"

  As the tense atmosphere eased slightly, Yang Wenfeng asked: "Co-pilot, what's the status of the terrain-following aircraft?"

  "Left engine damaged, right engine normal, can fly but must sacrifice speed to slow down. Fuel tank hit by shrapnel, leaking too much oil, not enough fuel to return to base. I've already reported to HQ and they have ordered our submarine waiting 10 nautical miles ahead to pick us up, now guiding us there."

  "That's great!"

  Yang Wenfeng and Bao Duanzhu exchanged a smile. The captain turned his head to look at them, squeezed out a smile and said: "You can rest assured, I will safely send the comrades back."