Chapter 1389
The Missing Major General Duke
Chapter 1389 The Missing Major General Duke
"careful!"
Blake sensed something was wrong and instinctively wanted to turn and shoot, but it was too late.
"Puff puff!"
Four faint gunshots rang out, almost as one.
The sound, processed by the SOCOM silencer, sounds like rapid clapping in a confined space.
Derek was the first to fall.
The bullet struck the carotid artery from the side, and the bulletproof vest around the neck failed to completely stop it.
His eyes widened, his hands futilely covering the bleeding wound, and he fell to the ground with a dull thud.
Quinn was the second to be shot.
He tried to turn and return fire, but the bullet struck precisely in the gap between his helmet and body armor—above his collarbone, on the side of his spine.
He collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
"Enemy attack!"
Victor roared and turned the machine gun barrel around.
But the attackers were prepared.
Two flashbangs, thrown from the shadows at the doorway, exploded simultaneously, followed by a deafening roar.
It's not a regular stun grenade; it's a combination of a stun grenade and a flashbang grenade.
Blake felt the world instantly turn blindingly white and the deafening roar tear at his eardrums.
Completely losing his balance, he stumbled and crashed into the wall, his night vision goggles going black due to overload.
Through his blurry vision, he saw Victor try to fire, but the machine gun had barely spewed fire when he was accurately shot in both hands.
Victor screamed and released the machine gun, then was hit twice in the head, his head exploding like a rotten watermelon.
The entire process takes no more than four seconds.
Four seconds.
When Blake's vision began to return, he saw four more people in the room.
They were all wearing Multicam combat suits, with camouflage paint on their faces, and their weapons were modified HK416s equipped with silencers and PEQ-15 laser designators.
The leader was of Asian appearance, with eyes as calm as ice.
Song Heping!
“Put down your weapons, Blake.”
Song Heping said that the gun was firmly pointed at his head.
"Game over."
Blake's finger was still on the trigger.
They were three meters apart, with their fallen teammates in between.
He had a chance to fire, but the three men behind Song Heping had their guns locked on his head, chest, and abdomen respectively.
Joseph rushed over and pressed the safety device in the hand of the already dazed Maxwell.
In the chaos just now, he was knocked unconscious and couldn't even start.
He was quickly dragged out and thrown in front of Song Heping.
"you……"
Maisul sat on the ground for a while before recovering.
His voice trembled even more as he looked at the newly appeared militants.
"Who are you?"
Song Heping didn't turn around; his eyes remained fixed on Blake: "The people who came to save you. Or rather, the people who came to make a deal with you."
"trade?"
"The evidence you have will be your life in exchange."
Song Heping finally turned his head and glanced at Maisuer.
“I know what happened in Harab Town, and I know what the ‘Sower’ program used. Give me the evidence, and I’ll give you a new identity, a new life, and then arrange for you to leave here.”
Maisu's eyes darted frantically between Blake and Song Heping.
He turned pale.
How...how can I trust you?
“You’re not stupid,” Song Heping said calmly. “All you need to know is that this small team the CIA sent—”
He pointed the gun at Blake.
"I wanted to kill you to silence you. I could have shot you dead and taken your backpack, but I didn't. That's my sincerity."
He looked at Blake again: "I'll give you three seconds. Put down your gun, or die."
Blake's brain was working frantically.
All his teammates were wiped out, and he was surrounded by four guns.
More importantly, he recognized Song Heping.
Musician's defense.
The man who was once ranked third on the bounty list for KB leaders.
“You are Song Heping,” he said. “I didn’t lose unjustly.”
"Honored." Song Heping said expressionlessly, "Three seconds."
"and many more!"
Blake slowly lowered the muzzle of his gun, but did not completely lower it.
“We can talk. My superiors can also make an offer, as long as we discuss it. Eight figures. Let me go, and I can—”
"Two seconds."
Blake gritted his teeth.
He knew that Song Heping would not accept any conditions.
This kind of person only trusts their own gun and their teammates.
Just as Song Heping was about to count to "one", Blake made his final gamble.
He lunged at Joseph, not to attack, but to try and seize the detonator.
But Song Heping was faster than him.
At the same millisecond that Blake lunged, Song Heping also moved.
chi chi-
A short burst of fire.
"what--"
Blake fell to the ground.
The whole process was so fast that it was over before anyone else even had a chance to react.
Blake tried to roll to his feet, but the cold muzzle of a gun was already pressed against the back of his head.
"Now," Song Heping's voice came from above, "Do you have any last words?"
Blake lay on the ground, his cheek pressed against the cold cement.
He smelled blood, gunpowder, and the sour smell of his own sweat.
“Tell me,” he hissed, “how did you know we were coming? How did you know the timing of the operation?”
Song Heping said, "You don't need to know."
Blake was stunned.
He knew that resistance was pointless, so he raised his hands.
"I lost."
I accept my fate.
That also shows a man's courage.
Joseph bent down and quickly and skillfully tied Blake's hands behind his back with cable ties.
"Take him to the temporary camp," Song Heping told his team. "The rest of you clean up the site."
Two team members stepped forward and helped Blake up.
He suffered a penetrating wound in his right leg, and every step he took was excruciatingly painful.
Before being dragged out of the room, he took one last look inside: Derek and Quinn lay in pools of blood, their eyes still open; Maisul slumped beside a cabinet, being examined by another team member; Song Heping was squatting on the ground, opening his canvas backpack.
The backpack contained several encrypted hard drives, a roll of microfilm, a stack of yellowed photographs, and a small glass bottle sealed with wax containing a dark red soil sample.
The soil of Harab Town.
The town that was chosen as a testing ground by the "Sowers" program, where people were massacred with biological weapons and then framed by the Silja Hafez regime.
"You..." he hissed as he was dragged down the corridor, shouting at Song Heping, "What do you plan to do with the evidence? Go public? Extort me? You've got the wrong target! You have no idea who your opponent is!"
Song Heping looked up and glanced at him.
"The White House? The President? Or your entire United States?"
He smiled as he said this.
"We've faced each other before, and it wasn't a good match."
Blake wanted to say something, but a black cloth was blindfolded over his eyes.
He felt himself being lifted up, shoved into the car, and the engine started. The vehicle bumped and jolted away from the oil field.
The entire mission, from beginning to end, was within someone else's script.
He was merely a character whose role was about to be overturned.
At the same time, in the equipment room of the control building.
Maisul trembled as he allowed the medic to examine him.
His eyes remained fixed on Song Heping.
"Who...who exactly are you?" he finally asked.
Song Heping carefully packed the hard drive and film into the shockproof case: "I'm just a mercenary leader."
"You just said you know about the town of Harab..."
“I know more than you think.” Song Heping closed the box: “I know about the ‘Sower’ program, I know about your operations in Celia, and I also know that the company responsible for transporting your supplies is a shell company called ‘Alpha Logistics’.”
Maisu's face turned deathly pale: "How is this possible..."
"Nothing is impossible. There's an old saying in my hometown: 'There are no secrets that stay hidden forever.'"
Song Heping stood up, looking down at him: "Cooperate, or die. Choose one."
Maisu stared at Song Heping for several seconds.
"Cooperation."
Finally, he lowered his head.
Song Heping nodded and made a gesture to the team members.
The two men helped Maisul up and quickly left the room.
The traces of the explosion were clearly visible in the corridor.
Shrapnel was embedded in the walls, and the air was filled with a mixture of gunpowder smoke and blood.
Song Heping walked at the back, pausing briefly as he passed the bodies of the members of Black's squad.
Victor is still alive, but seriously injured and in a coma.
Derek and Quinn were no longer breathing.
Song Heping sighed, drew his pistol, and fired a shot at Victor's head.
bah—
Victor stopped moving.
For an operative in a secret service like him, being seriously wounded and captured was worse than death.
Death is a kind of liberation.
The squad quickly passed through the control building and left through the back door.
Outside, the oil field's security guards had been frightened away by the explosions and gunfire, and the entire area was deathly silent.
Three disguised Toyota Land Cruisers were waiting at the designated location.
Song Heping shoved Maisuer into the back seat of the middle car and sat down next to her.
"drive."
The engine growled, and the vehicle drove into the darkness.
Song Heping looked out the back window at the receding outline of the oil field. The flames were still burning, turning the night sky an eerie orange-red.
"Where...where are we going?" Maisul asked in a low voice.
“Let’s be safe,” Song Heping said. “Then, we’ll see how things go. We still have a lot to do.”
"what's the situation?"
Song Heping did not answer.
He took out his satellite phone and dialed Duke's number.
However, no one answered the phone even after the line was disconnected.
Song Heping frowned and replayed the video.
Still no one answered.
"Something's wrong..."
He had a bad feeling.
At 0:47 a.m., a safe point on the Iraqi-Syrian border.
This is a natural cave deep in the desert, with a hidden entrance and enough space inside to accommodate three vehicles and more than ten people.
The camp was only dimly lit by emergency lights, and the air was filled with the smell of dust and engine oil.
Song Heping leaned against the hood of a car, inspecting the items he had taken from Maisu's backpack.
Joseph came over and handed him a cup of instant coffee.
"What about casualties?" Song Heping asked without looking up.
"Two people sustained minor injuries, all superficial wounds, which have been treated. Approximately 40% of the ammunition has been used."
Song Heping nodded, his gaze falling on the soil sample: "This stuff contains degradation products of VX nerve agent."
Joseph asked, "Is it to be given to Duke?"
"We can't get in touch with Duke."
Song Heping took a sip of coffee, the bitter taste spreading in his mouth.
He turned to look into the depths of the cave, where Maisul sat in a corner, wrapped in a blanket, clutching a cup of hot tea tightly in his hand.
Blake was tied to the opposite side, his hood removed, his eyes fixed on Maisul.
"Did he speak?" Song Heping asked. "I want his recording."
“Blake? No. A typical tough guy, he only said his name, not a single other word.”
There are no 100% tough guys.
Song Heping walked up to Blake and squatted down.
"Have you figured it out?" he asked.
Blake looked up, his eyes gleaming like a wolf's in the dim light: "Understand what? Understand that you've messed with someone you shouldn't have?"
Song Heping said, “I understand that your team members died for nothing. I understand that the people you risked your lives for may not care about your lives at all right now. Look, you’ve been out of contact for so long, what do you think they’re doing? Maybe they’re thinking it would be better if you died.”
He pointed to Masour across from him.
"Just like him back then, isn't he?"
Blake gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his neck.
“I know you are from the ‘Witness’ department, but I want you to admit for yourself who gave you the orders and what those orders were,” Song Heping said.
Blake remained silent for a long time, then suddenly laughed, the laughter echoing through the cave with a hint of madness.
"You think you've won?" He stared at Song Heping. "You think you can bring those people down just by getting that evidence? Do you know how many people are involved in Project Sower? The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, board members of at least three major defense contractors, and—"
He stopped and took a deep breath.
"And the Clinton family and the Democrats, right?"
Song Heping's expression remained unchanged, but Blake's face visibly stiffened.
Seeing that Blake was still defiant, Song Heping continued, "You keep reminding me of my current situation, but I must also remind you of yours. Remember, people like you can't stand the light of day. I know you well. Once the mission fails, you'll be discarded pawns, liabilities in the eyes of those big shots. You and Maisu'er will probably be targeted for assassination as well."
Blake remained silent, but his expression clearly changed.
Song Heping pressed his advantage, saying, "You've heard of me, haven't you?"
Blake nodded, which was taken as an admission.
“Then you must have seen my background check,” Song Heping said.
Blake nodded again.
Song Heping said, "Then I'll give you a chance, a chance to live. If you cooperate with me and give me what you want, I can guarantee you will live. I can protect you, and you can even work in my company."
Blake was taken aback at first, then broke into a mocking smile: "You? Just because you're a PMC company, you think you can protect me? Song, you're incredibly arrogant!"
Song Heping said, "Guess how many intelligence agencies had bounties on my head at my peak?"
Blake paused slightly, but didn't say anything.
Song Heping continued, "Remember, you have no way back now. You can only gamble on me winning, because only if I win can you live. Even if I let you go now, do you believe that when you call the emergency number and someone comes to pick you up, you won't be met with an outstretched hand, but with a flying bullet?"
Blake was startled.
He realized that the Easterner in front of him was not lying.
Not at all.
That seems to be true.
He was absolutely right.
but……
His innate fear of the organization made him hesitate to speak.
"Think it over carefully. You have some time to think about yourself for now. There will probably be a lot going on, and I won't have time to take care of you. Maybe..."
Song Heping smiled.
"I really will let you go."
Asking for a monthly ticket! Asking for a monthly ticket!
(End of this chapter)