Tel Aviv, Mossad Headquarters.
Director Levin stord back to his office with an action report, slamd the door shut, and picked up the secure phone to call CIA Deputy Director Pence.
"Pence."
As soon as the call connected, Levin began his tirade.
"Have you figured out who this Song Heping really is? All the people I sent to Egypt are dead! Including those watching Senid and Senid himself! They all died last night!"
"Was it Song Heping?"
"Who else could it be!?"
"Didn't you send two teams to ambush him? What happened? Couldn't you take him down?"
"They are all dead!"
Levin's tone was filled with barely contained rage.
"So I want to figure out who this guy really is!? He is absolutely not just a simple PMC company boss! I sent elite operatives! And they all died! Do you understand?"
"Calm down. This person's background is very mysterious. We investigated, but even our spies in China couldn't find any information on him. We know he was in the Special Forces, did very well, was supposed to be promoted to officer status, but suddenly after a training session, he asked to retire and go ho. Besides that, we have no other information."
Pence tried to soothe Levin.
"He has tangled with the Elder Council. Even if we don't make a move, they will send soone to take Song Heping out."
"The Elder Council... Ha, those old tycoons... Wait!"
Levin suddenly realized.
"So you an from the beginning, this wasn't an internal CIA pursuit, it's the Elder Council who wants him dead?"
"You could say that…" Pence explained: "But he is still our target; he is a must-eliminate target."
"I get it." Levin sneered: "Initially, you never told clearly this was an Elder Council operation. In Beirut, you had us intervene directly to assist your actions, leading to this current situation. Pence, you are using our cooperative relationship and friendship."
"My old friend, using each other is mutual. Haven't you used us? How much have we done for you in the Z-East region? Do you need to list it all one by one?"
The argunt between the two finally reached a point where their relations were about to break.
If Song Heping saw the two intelligence chiefs fighting over him, he might laugh out loud.
The phone line fell silent.
The two intelligence heads cald down at the last mont.
Suddenly, they simultaneously realized sothing.
They almost fell out over a nobody.
"Pence..."
Levin finally ca around.
"I think there's no need for us to fall out over this. Let's find a way to deal with him."
After a pause, he continued: "Because of this, both our reputations are at stake. Your Secret Action Departnt head is still lying in the hospital, right?"
Pence remained silent on the phone.
When it ca to Kelly, he wasn't actually angry.
Because Kelly ended up in the hospital as a vegetable, he shifted all the operational errors to her, making her the scapegoat.
In the xico operation failure, the tragic death of undercover Barrett, and the setback with Illiguo I5I5 organization, soone had to take the bla.
If you don't take it, and I don't take it, who will?
Kelly, in her current condition, was the best candidate to take the fall.
"Pence?"
Levin saw no response and asked in perplexity: "Are you still there?"
"I'm here."
Pence coughed twice and continued: "Do you have any traces of Song Heping on your side now?"
"No! Since he left the Bedouin camp and returned to Cairo, where he took out our surveillance team on Senid, he went silent. None of my intelligence agents could find his tracks."
"Hmm... I haven't found him either."
Pence pondered for a mont and said: "You know our presence in Africa is not as extensive as in other places; this matter may require cooperation with the French or British."
"Didn't you say the Elder Council wants him dead?" Levin said: "They have sufficient resources there. These old tycoons have deep-rooted connections with Europe. Using their resources to find Song Heping in Africa shouldn't be hard."
"Let handle this for now. In the Sahel Region, we already have so resources."
Pence's response clearly didn't satisfy Levin.
Coldly, he said: "I don't know about you, but I am very anxious. Do you know this matter has already spread? Do you realize how much it damages Mossad's intimidation when people find out we can't handle a young PMC boss?"
"Since you are in such a hurry, you can also take action, I won't stop you. I have my thods. Now, let's find him first. We don't even know where he is."
"Africa, what a hellish place!"
Levin cursed angrily.
While the two intelligence heads were discussing how to kill Song Heping, the latter was in a jeep in the eastern part of the Southern Sudan Region.
Currently, Song Heping's identity was a diamond trader.
Coming to Africa to collect diamonds, a profession many European gem traders hold.
Companies like De Beers have legitimate offices here, but in recent years, the blood diamond issue has caused uproar. These cunning old European tycoons, for the sake of political correctness and their reputation, withdrew most of their agencies, replaced by so jewel rchants. They roam every diamond mine and country, collecting enough diamonds and handing them to smugglers who ship them to Daishe Bird Country, then process and ship them to Europe.
This is an industry chain very familiar to Africans.
After entering Sudan, Song Heping rented two jeeps and ostentatiously hired four local bodyguards, claiming to need their escort to Ethiopia, emphasizing Sudan's ongoing conflicts, necessitating local guides and bodyguards for safe passage.
The excuse was absolutely dignified.
But the guides and four local bodyguards probably didn't realize they were the ones who needed protection.
Traversing Southern Sudan's war zones on bumpy roads, Song Heping and Nura's team seed thrown into a torn world—one side engulfed by raging war fires, the other side desolate yet grand in its primitive wilderness.
This land, where smoke and mist intertwined, gunfire and birdsong coexisted, ford an absurd yet weighty survival panorama.
Along the way, ruins of burnt-out villages were visible, burnt earthen walls scattered with bullet shells, occasionally disheveled won rummaging for food amid the rubble.
Seeing Song Heping's convoy approaching, several won and children extended their hands by the roadside, faces written with pleading expressions, like drowning people reaching for rescue.
Nura said: "We have food in the car, let's..."
"Don't ever do that! Ard militia often set ambushes here, stay cautious, don't give food to these people. If you stop, none of us might get out alive." The guide rudely interrupted Nura.
After speaking, he urged the driver: "Speed up! Don't delay here!"
The two jeeps accelerated, ignoring the starving figures, continued south along the dirt road...
Shortly after leaving the village, gunfire suddenly erupted ahead.
Bang, bang, bang——
Bang, bang, bang——
The dense gunfire instantly tightened everyone's nerves.
The guide grabbed the walkie-talkie and shouted: "Pull over! Take cover!"
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