The next day, on the Ecuadorian side of the Putumayo River, at nine o'clock at night.
"Damn bugs!"
The cook stretched out his hand to pinch out an unidentifiable bug from his neck, crushed it into a pulp, and then looked at it under the moonlight.
It was all blood.
Clearly, the little creature had sucked quite a bit of his own blood.
"If you tuck in your scarf better, they'll have a harder ti getting in," Song Heping whispered.
The cook readjusted the scarf wound around his neck and face, trying to improve the seal as much as possible.
In such a primitive jungle, concealnt wasn't much of a problem; there were plants everywhere taller than a person.
It was just that there were too many insects.
So many that it was rather horrifying.
Although they had all applied camouflage oil with a scent to repel insects, it still couldn't completely deter so bugs that, upon slling human blood, fearlessly burrowed into their necks.
"Do you think that Dominic is reliable?" the cook suddenly asked with so concern. "If he can't steal the helicopter on ti, we're probably done for."
Song Heping said, "Once we cross the river, we'll hide the rubber boat. If Dominic really doesn't show up as promised, we'll have to fight a jungle war and then co back here to cross the river in the rubber boat."
The cook said, "That's gambling with your life."
Song Heping replied coldly, "When are we not gambling with our lives in this line of work?"
The cook sighed and blurted out, "I miss ho."
Song Heping turned to look at the cook curiously.
Under the moonlight, the cook's face was covered with strange tranquility, and staring at the moon above, he did indeed seem sowhat hosick.
"Earned enough and thinking of calling it quits?" Song Heping asked.
The cook replied, "No, the day before yesterday a friend back ho called , said there was a good opportunity, and asked if I was going to return to the country."
"What opportunity?" Song Heping grew more curious.
The cook was not one to be sentintal.
If he said sothing like this, it ant he really had other ideas in mind.
Leaving the company?
Could he bear to?
This side was a contract inco of 240 million US dollars a year; although he didn't get that much in his hands, it was still considerable.
"My friend now works at the Kremlin," the cook muttered. "He makes contact with big shots and revealed sothing to ..."
Mid-speech, he suddenly stopped.
Song Heping asked, "What did he reveal?"
This ti, the cook didn't answer, instead falling silent.
Suddenly, he changed the subject, "How much longer do we have to wait, damn it?!"
Song Heping understood.
The cook didn't want to talk about it.
It seed the matter was highly confidential, and he chose to keep it even from himself.
Since the other party wouldn't talk, Song Heping didn't press further.
"Just wait," he said.
Song Heping glanced at his watch.
"The informant's intelligence says that a water patrol boat will pass here at nine forty. After it passes, it'll take another hour to co back. We can take that chance to cross the river."
He paused and then asked, "Can you row a boat?"
The cook shook his head, "I haven't practiced, but isn't it just like this?"
He made a paddling gesture.
Song Heping couldn't be bothered to explain the skills of navigating and paddling a boat; those were things only Special Forces needed to master.
The cook was a guy who had co out of a long prison term; to expect him to pick up too much in a short ti would be too naive.
"Just follow my lead when we paddle. When I tell you to stop, you stop."
"Okay."
The group fell into silence once again, blending into the darkness.
The night in the Amazon Jungle was like a mysterious and terrifying world; the darkness enveloped the entire forest, only the faint starlight filtered through the treetops, barely illuminating the ground.
"Awoo—"
Suddenly, the quiet night was broken by an unexpected sound, the call of so fierce animal.
Although Song Heping had undergone countless wilderness survival trainings and slept in nurous horrifying places, including being instructed by a drill sergeant to sleep in a graveyard where exposed skeletons could be seen,
in the Amazon Jungle, he still felt danger.
The wild animals here were abundant, with all sorts of bizarre creatures that could be lethal.
They road the darkness, searching for food.
Especially snakes.
In the Amazon Jungle of South Arica, there are many varieties of snakes, and many are deadly.
Especially since snakes are creatures that enjoy nocturnal activities, they beco very active at night, which can be quite troubleso.
No one can guarantee that their next step won't land on a venomous snake coiled beneath the rotting leaves—just one bite, and the operation would be dood.
Tut tut tut tut——
Suddenly, the sound of a motor ca from the distance.
"They're coming, everyone, take cover."
Song Heping imdiately issued a warning, and everyone crouched down with light steps, trying their best to lower their posture and hide their figures behind the plants and tree trunks.
Since it was uncertain whether the soldiers on the patrol boat from Ecuador had night-vision gear—even though that country wasn't very powerful—it was still always better to be cautious.
Fortunately, just like the informant had said, the Ecuadorian soldiers were sowhat perfunctory in their patrol of the border river.
Too many ard organizations and drug trafficking groups were active in the area.
The soldiers weren't paid much, and it wasn't worth risking their lives for such little money.
The patrol boat swiftly passed by, breaking the calm surface of the river and churning up the algae in the water, which glinted with specks of fluorescence under the moonlight.
This made the patrol boat look as if it was dragging a silken silver ribbon behind it, very beautiful.
About five minutes after they had passed, Song Heping gave an order over the radio, "Disaster Star, bring the boat over."
Soon, there was the rustling of grass and plants from behind, as Disaster Star and a few others carried the rubber dinghy to the water's edge.
Song Heping picked up a stick, tested the water's depth, and then led the way into the river.
"Get the boat into the water."
Several people set the rubber dinghy on the water's surface.
However, the water here was too shallow, and it would only be possible to paddle when they dragged it into deeper water up to their waists.
The group dragged the dinghy toward the deeper water, each person tightly gripping the rope along the dinghy's edge, since nobody knew the condition of the riverbed below—if they happened upon a hollow, holding onto the rope would at least allow them to pull themselves up, preventing them from being swept away by the swift river currents.
"I've heard that there are eels in the Amazon's rivers that can even electrocute crocodiles..."
Hunter kept a wary eye on the water around them.
Grey Wolf said, "You should be more worried about crocodiles than about electric eels."
Everyone was alert to potential dangers in the water when suddenly, the cook said, "The scariest thing isn't that. I've heard there's a tiny creature in these rivers that can swim up there... and then slither into your body, that's what's truly terrifying... Crocodiles you can see, but that thing you can't..."
"What you're talking about is the parasitic catfish..." Song Heping corrected, "It's very small, indeed, and it can swim up there. Once it does, it gets stuck and can't be pulled out without surgery..."
His words sent a chill down everyone's spine.
Song Heping then reassured them, "Actually, don't panic, we're all wearing trousers..."
Grey Wolf instinctively covered his crotch, then said, "The water's deep enough now, let's get on the boat."
At his words, everyone swiftly agreed.
All nodded, "Right, let's get on the boat, we can paddle now."
"Exactly, the sooner we're on the boat, the better."
Without any further ado, they climbed onto the craft, grabbed the oars, and began to row toward the opposite bank.
This section of the river had been chosen by Song Heping, located not far from a bend in the waterway.
Fording a river is usually done near such bends, because the current there isn't too strong; but one has to be careful, as there could be undercurrents and whirlpools around these bends.
This stretch wasn't very wide—in fact, in so areas of the Putumayo River, it was even possible to walk across during the dry season. But now, in the rainy season's high waters, the river spanned more than thirty ters in width.
This distance was not a challenge for them.
Quickly, they reached the opposite bank.
Once ashore, they worked together to pull the dinghy into the forest to hide it, then took out a GPS to mark its location, covering it lightly with plant stems and leaves for camouflage—actually, hiding a small dinghy in the rainforest wasn't difficult at all.
Actually, the river crossing wasn't the hardest part—it was the twenty-plus kiloters through the jungle that lay ahead.
Song Heping took out the GPS, compared the coordinates, then pulled out a raincoat to cover his head. He ducked inside to turn on a flashlight and look at the map, verifying his position with a compass. Only after double-checking did he confirm the final direction and location.
The reason for such caution was that GPS devices can experience interference in the jungle, especially in tropical rainforests and so areas with complicated terrain.
Sotis the displayed coordinates and position can be inaccurate, so a manual positioning check is necessary to provide reassurance.
"We go this way."
Song Heping pointed in the direction.
"I'll lead the way. Those of you without night vision, follow the person in front of you closely. Don't get lost. The person in the front needs to pay attention to whether the person behind is keeping up. Cook, you take the rear."
"No problem!"
The cook flashed an OK gesture and moved to the back of the line.
There were only three sets of night vision gear—Song Heping leading the way as Vanguard, one set; the sniper Queen, one set; and the cook taking up the rear, one set.
The biggest issue was the shortage of night vision equipnt.
This was a major headache for Song Heping.
Therefore, he scheduled the rescue operation for around five in the morning.
At dawn, there would still be a certain degree of concealnt, so visibility, and it was a ti when people were still half-asleep, an appropriate mont to act.
Of course, the best ti would actually be around three o'clock, when people are most tired. Unfortunately, due to limitations, this was the best they could do for now.
In the darkness, they ford a single file line, staying about three ters apart, and silently blended into the night.
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