Chapter Twenty-Two: Ambushed

  Bang! Bang!

  After the convoy turned out of the house where Lava was in, Chu heard several gunshots from behind, full of warning.

  It is undeniable that this was not Li Ran's first encounter with Somalis, but it was absolutely the first time she had encountered an extremist armed faction. A very clear fact told Li Ran that things were really not calm here.

  Brazen extortion further illustrates that such behavior has become the norm, as if it were a matter of course.

  However, Li Lan is also a stubborn master with a strong personality, destined to never compromise under coercion.

  "Ahmed, have you figured out the situation?" Since the other side had already shown signs of forceful threat, Li Ran naturally wouldn't just sit and wait for death.

  "The basic situation has been figured out." Before Li Lan and others arrived, a mobilized soldier under Ahmed, who followed the Somali messenger, had already infiltrated to gather intelligence on the other side.

  "It's up to you now." At this point, Li Lan could only take the initiative. He was very clear that once the order was given, bloodshed would inevitably occur and many people would die. If he didn't feel his own life was threatened, he might have been more cautious about such an order. However, after a brief conversation with Lava, he no longer had any concerns.

  "Understood." Ahmed nodded, then picked up the intercom and said: "Second squad, third squad, bring heavy weapons and get off at the next intersection. First squad, remain on high alert and escort the commander back to the hotel."

  At the next intersection, the convoy stopped and a dozen soldiers jumped off the truck, with several carrying long boxes on their backs. Several soldiers also got out of the armed off-road vehicle with Ahmed.

  "Be careful and try to bring them all back." Li Ran couldn't help but instruct before Ahmed and the others left.

  The fleet set off once again, but with two-thirds fewer people in it.

  "My friends, what are they going to do?" Muhanmudi, who had been uneasy in his heart all along, was now full of doubts. "And do you know that it's extremely unwise for you to be at odds with Lava like this? They can do anything."

  "Don't worry about me, I'm not a soft persimmon that anyone can pinch. If I back down this time and hand over $100,000 obediently, what about next time?" Looking at the ruined buildings along the street, with bullet holes all over the walls, Li Lan's determination towards her decision was unwavering.

  "But...," Muhanmu Di seemed to want to persuade him further.

  "There's nothing good to say, you asked me before about my identity, just like my answer, it won't be long before you know. And I don't think Lava really has that much ability either. It's hard to say who will win or lose." Li Lan said.

  "Could it be that they are going to...," Muhanmudi heard Li Lan's words and suddenly reacted, exclaiming: "Oh God above, you can't be thinking of having those twenty or so people who just got off the car go take out Lava?! This is too crazy, Lava has an armed force of three to four hundred men under him, with just those twenty or so people, it's absolutely a death sentence. My friend, listen to me, immediately turn back and call them back, hoping everything can still be made right."

  "Three to four hundred people, but it's not necessary to kill all of them. Their target is only Ravah alone." Li Lan was unmoved by Muhammad's persuasion.

  "You just saw it yourself, there are many armed men around Lava, they will die," Muhannad continued to persuade.

  "My friend, I trust my soldiers. However, I am more concerned about the safety of our journey, it may be very bumpy." Ahmed and others' safety was not what Li Lan was worried about, even if they couldn't kill Rava, she believed they could still escape. But Rava's words full of ominous meaning just now made Li Lan feel that danger was ahead.

  This time, Mukhammad also shut up, although he still had many questions, but didn't know how to express them. Although the relationship between the two was already very good, the more they stayed together with Li Ran, the more mysterious this Chinese person seemed.

  However, Muhannad fell silent, but another voice rose up. First, a few intense gunshots scared away pedestrians on the street, followed by a rocket-propelled grenade exploding in front of the convoy.

  An explosion was accompanied by a screeching brake sound, and for a moment the entire place was filled with flying dust.

  Faced with the sudden situation, Li Lan did not hesitate to lie down on the seat, armed off-road vehicle, the window does not have bulletproof function, but the steel structure of the car body can withstand bullets.

  Muhanmudi was also stunned for a moment, fortunately his reaction was not slow, and he followed Li Ran's example, lying on the seat and muttering to himself.

  At this time, a dense gunfire sounded on both sides of the street, and the dense bullets hit the convoy. The sound of bullets hitting, the sound of shattering glass, rose and fell in succession.

  The gunfire on both sides of the street came and went quickly, but the counterattack sounded suddenly.

  The mobilized soldiers hiding in the vehicle took advantage of a brief gap and began to counterattack.

  Three vehicle-mounted heavy machine guns roared with anger, large-caliber bullets continuously suppressing the armed personnel hiding on both sides of the street. The driver of the convoy started the car again and quickly drove towards the hotel under the cover of the vehicle-mounted machine gun.

  When the armed men on the street found that the machine gunner had stopped, the convoy was already far away, leaving only the dust smoke brought by the wheels.

  "What's going on?" Li Ran, who was sitting in the car with a pale face, couldn't help but ask the mobilized soldier in the driver's seat after hearing that the gunfire had stopped.

  "Report to command, we have shaken off the enemy."

  "Are there any casualties?"

  The driver picked up the intercom and exchanged a few words with the cars in front and back, then replied: "It seems that the other party did not play a deadly hand, and there were no casualties."

  "That's good, be careful and try to walk a bit faster." Li Lanxin said with lingering fear.

  "Yes."

  Recalling the sudden burst of gunfire, Li Lan still has lingering fear. This was his first time hearing gunfire at such close range, and his mind went blank for a moment. Even though he had imagined this scenario many times during his month-long stay in Somalia, when it actually happened, he still felt the fear rising from within.

  To put it bluntly, before coming to Somalia, he was just an ordinary person, and the sound of gunfire was only experienced in movies. However, no matter how realistic the movie is shot, when you are in the midst of it, it's a completely different feeling.

  Li Lan didn't wet his pants, which was already pretty good. Just now in that situation, if another rocket had been launched, they wouldn't have been able to escape at all.

  Perhaps due to the intense gunfire just now, for the rest of the trip, it was very difficult to see pedestrians on the side of the road. Many shops that had just opened when we came over were also closed. Apparently, these Somalis felt a bit out of place.

  It's normal to hear gunfire in Bossaso, and explosions are also frequently heard. However, every explosion is always accompanied by a lot of trouble. Either armed clashes or attacks, Somalis tend to stay as far away from these things as possible, whoever gets involved will be in big trouble.

  Li Ran, who was trying to calm himself down, kept thinking in his heart whether there would be any more ambushes on the road ahead.

  It's okay, the rest of the journey was very quiet, and others who saw the bullet-riddled convoy also tried to avoid it. The ten-kilometer journey took only five minutes.

  When the fleet entered the hotel's gate, Li Lan's heart finally put down. After five minutes of relaxation, whether it was her complexion or her tense mood, both got a lot of relief.

  After Li Ran walked out of the car door, her face and expression had returned to the same as before she left, calm and composed.

  At this time, Farah was already waiting at the hotel entrance. Seeing Li Ran get out of the car, she walked up to him with a concerned face and said, "Thank God, it's really great that you're okay."

  Looking at Farah's concerned face in front of her, no matter whether it was genuine or fake, Li Ran felt grateful: "Thank you for your concern, I'm fine."

  "Friends from the East, rest assured that you can sleep soundly here tonight, no one will come to disturb you." Farah didn't ask what had happened, not that he already knew, but even if he hadn't known, he wouldn't have asked. This was one of the rules to be followed in chaotic Somalia: don't ask what shouldn't be asked.

  Li Ran nodded and didn't say much, directly walking into the hotel, he now needs a good rest.

  Farah was still standing at the hotel entrance, looking at the mobilized soldiers who were cleaning up the shattered glass in the car under the twilight, and her mind was thinking about something.

  PS: Two consecutive chapters, another one later tonight. The internet has been down since 9pm yesterday and it's still not back on, this is beyond my control. The previous chapter seems to have some issues, needs to be reviewed!!!