Song Heping rushed to the rendezvous point and saw a group of people gathered around the car.
"Where's Hassan?"
"In the car!"
White Bear pointed cheerfully behind him.
Just as Song Heping was about to order a retreat, a loud explosion sounded in the distance.
Everyone was startled.
Then Hunter laughed, "Oma's bomb went off."
Even from a distance, although they couldn't see the building, the fire illuminated the sky.
The explosion must have been enormous.
"Let's go."
Now Song Heping felt relieved.
The fire could cover everything.
Without any hesitation, everyone got into the vehicle.
White Bear slamd the car door shut.
Oma, who was driving, stepped on the gas, and the van left the alley, heading west.
Within less than five minutes, the car had left the neighborhood.
About fifteen minutes later,
Two SUVs raced to the scene and stopped.
As the doors opened, several mbers of the "Watcher" squad rushed out, quickly ford a periter, and started a swift search.
Another team headed straight for the two cars that were on fire.
Unfortunately, both vehicles were engulfed in flas.
Team B's captain, Wilson, had a grim expression, with his facial muscles twitching slightly.
Grim.
That was the only word to describe the scene.
"Luther! Luther!"
He was calling out to the sniper of Team A in the channel.
He was the only person from Team A that still had a record of communication just ten minutes earlier.
Moreover, according to Team A's operational plan,
Luther was acting and retreating alone.
He was the only hope for survival.
The channel was eerily quiet with no response from Luther.
"Boss, look over there,"
a team mber stepped forward, pointing to a burning building in the distance.
Then he handed over a military PAD.
He pointed to a blinking green dot on it.
"The location indicates Luther is there. That burning building is probably where Luther went to search for the sniper," he said.
Wilson said, "You two go over there and find Luther."
After speaking, he looked down at his watch.
"Complete the search within fifteen minutes. We must find him!"
"Yes, sir!"
Two capable subordinates imdiately dashed toward the burning building.
After the two subordinates left, Wilson walked around the overturned patrol car a couple of tis.
He had lost all hope.
Because there was no chance of anyone being alive.
He squatted down and looked inside the car.
Bits of several charred bodies could be seen inside.
"Find a way to put out the fire!"
Several mbers got the small fire extinguishers from the car.
But even after they sprayed, they couldn't extinguish the flas.
"Damn it!"
Wilson cursed in anger.
He wanted to kill soone.
But he didn't know whom to kill.
Or who to bla.
This wasn't his team's fault.
It was the work of an enemy that hadn't left a single trace so far.
But they couldn't leave their teammates' bodies here, and his squad couldn't stay at this location for long.
"Prepare the explosives."
He made the decision resolutely.
"Blow it all up. Leave no traces. Use two aluminum thermite grenades."
A teammate standing next to him replied after a brief silence: "Yes, boss."
After speaking, he turned and walked behind another team mber, taking a block of TNT from their tactical pack and then reaching out his hand.
The man handed over an aluminum thermite grenade from his person.
The team mber took out another grenade of the sa model from his own pack—
each person carried one of these grenades on them.
They had a simple purpose.
For personal use.
If they were dead and their bodies couldn't be recovered, they'd use aluminum thermite grenades to destroy any remaining evidence.
Soon, an improvised explosive device, with two aluminum thermite grenades taped together, was ready.
"Boss, it's done."
Wilson extended his hand: "Let do it."
The subordinate hesitated, but eventually passed it over.
"Everyone find cover."
With a wave of his hand, Wilsu ordered the others to scatter.
He looked at the bodies in the fire, hesitated for a mont, then pulled the pin and threw the explosives into the fire, quickly running to hide around the corner of the building.
Boom—
A massive explosion sent white flas scattering, and the aluminum thermite hissed.
The bodies were turned to pieces.
The pieces were then coated with aluminum thermite.
A perfect destruction of evidence…
"Boss, we found Luther!"
Voice from his subordinates ca through the headset.
"Let's go! Take a look!"
...
On the outskirts to the east of Blattson,
a Volkswagen van raced down the highway.
Oma, the driver, didn't know how many tis he had looked back.
Every ti he glanced over his shoulder, he would check on Hassan lying on the floor.
Hassan was now awake.
Unable to cry out, he just stared with fearful eyes at everyone, occasionally emitting a low moan or shaking his head violently as if wanting to say sothing.
"Focus on driving!"
Song Heping had to warn Oma.
He turned his head and looked at the desolation outside the car, it seed that they had left the city and entered a rural area.
"Stop the car," he said.
"Huh?"
Oma glanced at the rearview mirror in surprise.
Song Heping repeated, "Stop the car."
The brakes were pressed, and the car ca to a halt.
"Why stop here?" Oma looked around.
"We've just left Trebizond, our plan is to head east. Once we reach the Kurd Region, we'll enter the Alles Mountain Area and from there, return to our country."
Now, every minute was precious.
Since SAD had very strong intelligence support, they would definitely gather so clues about this attack through various channels and would be able to roughly deduce who was behind it.
Furthermore, "Watcher" had lost a whole squad this ti, and they would certainly co out in full force, using all their resources to scour the earth if they had to, in order to find them—his team.
Heading east through the Alles Mountain Area to Persia was almost the quickest path ho after withdrawing from Blattson.
Any intelligence officer with a bit of sense could co to this conclusion.
Therefore, leaving the country at top speed was the best choice.
The sooner, the better.
It was a bet on ti, a bet that SAD wouldn't discover their trail before the squad withdrew from the country.
"I'll go back to Persia through the Alles Mountain Area by myself. You all head south, take the water route, and enter Siria along the Euphrates River," he said.
He took out a map and drew a route on it with the tip of a pencil.
Oma snatched the map to look, and was stunned.
"Are you crazy?! Why take the long way when there's a shortcut?" he exclaid.
No wonder Oma was shocked.
According to Song Heping's route, it was equivalent to traversing the entire length of the country from north to south, a journey of more than six hundred kiloters.
Whereas traveling east, they would only need to cover a little over two hundred kiloters to enter Persia.
Who retreats like this?
Song Heping said, "You have to trust , my judgnt isn't wrong. SAD will definitely mobilize all forces to block us in the Alles Mountain Area. If we go that way, it's a dead end."
"And you think you won't die going there alone?" White Bear asked.
Song Heping showed that surprising calm once again. "Even if there were a few more of you, if we really encountered them, would we certainly survive? Besides, we would still have to deal with this fat pig," he said, gesturing toward Hassan lying on the floor.
"If I go there alone, even if they discover , it will be difficult for them to chase into the mountainous area, especially since there's only one of . The altitude in the Alles Mountain is over a kiloter; using planes to search for won't be easy, and if there are more people, we beco a more visible target," he explained.
The cabin fell silent at once.
Everyone pondered Song Heping's previous words about survival.
They all found his reasoning sound.
But they felt torn about leaving Song Heping behind.
Song Heping called out, "Oma."
"Ah... I'm here..." Oma responded, sowhat absent-mindedly.
Song Heping asked, "Here, can you contact soone to pick you up and follow the route I suggested back to Siria? I know you have good relations with Siria, and you have people there."
"We do..." Oma said. "We still have so operatives in the area; I can ask them for help. It shouldn't be a problem. But..."
He glanced at Song Heping and hesitated.
"But what?" Song Heping asked.
Oma said, "But can you really manage on your own? Don't overestimate yourself."
No wonder Oma was incredulous.
He had never seen anyone so daring.
In all of the Persian special forces unit he had seen, none had the audacity to match that of Song Heping.
Previously, Oma had looked down on Mr. Song.
rcenaries, huh.
Perhaps Avanti was simply using these n for the operation as a last resort, knowing that if it failed, Persia wouldn't be blad.
Unexpectedly, Song Heping's brilliant tactical arrangent wiped out an entire "Watcher" squad in one go...
The "Watchers"!
They were a legendary, covert task force.
In the past, whenever the Persian overseas teams encountered the "Watchers" in secret battles in the Middle East, they had never won a single ti.
"Good, as long as it can be done."
Song Heping got out of the car and went to the driver's side.
He reached out, opened the door, and said, "Get out! Take Hassan and hurry! Ti is of the essence!"
That's when Oma got out of the car.
After getting out, he asked Song Heping, "Respected Mr. Song, may I have a hug as friends?"
Song Heping smiled and hugged him.
Oma said, "I look forward to seeing you again in Persia."
Song Heping replied, "You definitely will."
He went over to Grey Wolf and reached out his hand, "Give two more magazines."
Without a word, Grey Wolf took out seven magazines, leaving only one on his gun and one in his tactical vest.
The rest he handed to Song Heping. "Can you manage the weight?"
Because the Alles Mountain Area was all high-altitude.
Moving there was an extre drain on physical strength.
Carrying weight beca very important.
"Give so food."
Song Heping reached out his hand again.
White Bear quickly passed so individual rations from his backpack to him.
Song Heping, having packed everything, instructed them, "There's no one around here now; hurry and leave the main road, take cover in the nearby woods, Oma, and imdiately contact soone to pick you guys up. Rember, as I said, head south back to Siria, or if that's not possible, enter from Illiguo and make your way to the Madheh Army defense zone, and from there return to Persia."
"Understood..."
Oma nodded several tis in agreent.
"Move your asses now! Why the hell are you idiots just standing here?!"
Song Heping was getting angry.
"If you don't leave now, you're all going to die here!"
Oma and the others quickly turned and began to head south with Hassan.
Song Heping jumped back into the car, seated himself in the driver's seat, and after taking a deep breath, shifted into gear and stepped on the gas, heading toward the Alles Mountain Area to the east.
Surrounded by darkness, Song Heping felt a mix of tragic and exhilarating emotions inside, as if he were back in the days when he was undergoing jungle survival training.
An old radio on the dashboard had a cassette tape inserted, which Song Heping pushed in with his hand.
Soon, lodious music filled the entire cabin.
What he didn't know was that at that mont, in a safe house in Blattson, by the side of SAD's temporary command post table, a man with glasses around fifty years old, white hair, and a white beard, was flipping through a stack of photos in his hands.
The photos were all scene images, including ones from Hassan's villa.
At the end, he flung the photos onto the face of Operation B team leader Wilson with a grim look on his face.
"Group A, six n, five dead, one critically injured and unconscious. And you're telling you couldn't even figure out who the enemy was?! You couldn't find a single trace at the scene?! Are you trying to tell this was the work of ghosts?!"
Wilson stood straight without moving a muscle.
He understood his commander Alvin's rage.
It wasn't unprecedented for the "Watcher" squad to suffer such heavy losses, but it was extrely rare, and whoever was in command of an operation that ended this way would have to resign and live with the sha, a feeling akin to being dishonorably discharged from the military.
"The other side was very professional, they cleaned up too well. We couldn't even find a trace of DNA, not a single shell casing was left behind..."
"Professional…" Alvin let out a mirthless laugh, his face twisted into a snarl. "Are you implying that…"
He glared at team leader Wilson, questioning him word by word, his teeth grinding with a nacing sound, like a tiger sharpening its teeth.
"That we are unprofessional?! Ha!"
In the end, he laughed bitterly out of sheer frustration.
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