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“What’s going on?”

Tiger’s heart skipped a beat, his expression shifting in an instant. He abruptly withdrew his tactical hand signals and instead raised a clenched fist high above his head, signaling everyone to freeze in place.

His wary eyes turned toward the main road leading into the village.

At the same time, he pressed his earpiece and spoke in a low voice, “Calling Trist, this is Tiger. Change your observation angle immediately—I need to know what’s happening outside the village road.”

“Trist here. Give me ten seconds!”

Trist, who was both the spotter and secondary sniper, hadn’t advanced with the team. Instead, he and the sniper, Baldhead, were stationed on the mountaintop on the opposite side of the village, providing long-range surveillance for the team entering the village.

Due to their distance and position, he hadn’t heard the commotion. Only after Tiger’s reminder did he lift his night vision binoculars to scan the area outside the village entrance.

From their elevated vantage point, Trist peered through the night vision binoculars into the distance.

His heart began to pound wildly.

He saw, on the dimly lit, winding road into the village, a motorized convoy stretching over two or three hundred meters, composed of armored vehicles, tanks, and troop carriers.

There was no need to guess their identity.

“Damn it. Hell!”

“What’s wrong?” Baldhead, hearing Trist suddenly curse, lifted his eyes from the sniper scope and teased, “Why do you look so pale? Did your three centimeters get bruised on a rock? Want me to cut off that useless thing for you?”

“Government troops. It’s the government troops—they’ve arrived early. At least five armored vehicles.”

Trist had no patience for jokes now. His face tense, he quickly relayed what he’d seen to Tiger over the comms.

“Government troops?”

Baldhead was equally startled by the news. His usual nonchalance faded as he skeptically swung his rifle around and looked through the sniper scope toward the road outside the village entrance.

A kilometer away, a full mechanized company—at least—came into view.

Baldhead’s face turned ashen.

“Sukablyat!”

Tiger, concealed at the edge of the village, listened as Trist detailed his report. Not only was a full company of government soldiers approaching, but they were accompanied by armored vehicles and tanks.

He was so furious he began cursing in Russian, unable to hold back.

Black Fox and the other PMCs, along with Xing Xiaolong, also heard Trist’s words over the headset. Their faces darkened as well.

The government forces’ early arrival meant that the Kaso tribe had lost the initiative—the emergency rescue plan they’d hastily devised was likely doomed before it even began.

Forcing an operation would be extremely dangerous, but abandoning it would bring unacceptable consequences. So what now?

Even the cunning and resourceful Black Fox was at a loss.

“Captain, we have to fall back. Failing the mission and getting punished is still better than losing our lives. That’s a whole company of government troops with tanks and armored vehicles—we don’t stand a chance.”

The PMC who’d previously been piloting the bionic drone spoke urgently to Tiger, voice low.

“No, you can’t just leave like this. I think if we hurry, we might still have a chance,” Xing Xiaolong protested, unwilling to give up.

“Fuck, if you want to die, don’t drag us with you. Have you ever seen the horrors of war? That’s an entire army!” the lead assault PMC growled. “And they have tanks and armored vehicles. This is way beyond what we planned for. With the light weapons we have, we can’t do anything against those steel monsters. Don’t get cocky just because you’ve got some trick up your sleeve. If you really had the power, why not just conjure up some heavy anti-tank firepower and blast them all? But can you? Of course you can’t.”

Faced with the assault PMC’s scathing retort, Xing Xiaolong wanted to say—

I really could take out the tanks!

But in the end, reason prevailed over impulse. He didn’t say it, nor did he insist on pressing forward. Instead, he leaned helplessly against a nearby banana tree.

Yes, Xing Xiaolong did have something powerful enough to take out those armored vehicles and tanks.

But it was useless now!

These weren’t irregulars cobbled together by Li Leg, armed with nothing more than battered AKs and a handful of RPGs.

This was a full company of regular national army troops. Kazi Hippopotamus Country had once been the wealthiest nation in Africa; even if its military couldn’t rival the major powers, its training and equipment were not to be underestimated.

Tiger and his fellow ex-special forces PMCs, however skilled or accurate their shooting, would be marching to their deaths in a head-on confrontation.

Because there’s one thing in this world—heavy firepower.

No fewer than five armored vehicles and tanks meant at least five tank cannons or heavy machine guns. With a whole company’s worth of light and heavy infantry weapons, if Xing Xiaolong and the others dared reveal themselves, what awaited them would be a barrage of artillery and a storm of bullets.

No matter how poor the aim, sheer volume alone could drown them.

How could anyone survive that?

It would be nearly impossible—like climbing to the heavens.

And that’s without considering the need to rescue two defenseless hostages and escort them all the way to safety in the middle of a firefight.

Tiger and Black Fox were both seasoned PMCs—they understood all this perfectly.

As the ground tremors grew more pronounced and the rumble of tanks and armored vehicles approached, Tiger finally made his decision.

“Retreat—fall back the way we came!”

Hearing Tiger’s order, the lead scout and the tactical PMC both breathed a sigh of relief and immediately turned to leave this perilous place.

Black Fox, thinking bitterly of his unblemished mission record, couldn’t help but cast a resentful glance at the village.

Just as he managed a wry smile, resigned to prioritizing his own life above all, and turned to leave—

“Wait—we still have a chance,” Xing Xiaolong suddenly called out hoarsely from behind.

“Hm?”

Black Fox, already reluctant to leave, immediately turned to look at Xing Xiaolong, his eyes holding a faint glimmer of hope.

Tiger also paused and turned, though deep down he didn’t believe that the tagalong Xing Xiaolong could come up with something better than their team of professionals—it would be humiliating if he did.

Still, what Tiger hated most was being a coward, and he loathed mission failure. That gave him a sliver of hope for Xing Xiaolong.

Both Tiger and Black Fox stopped, while the impatient lead assault PMC and tactical PMC, eager to get away, had no choice but to halt and look at Xing Xiaolong in frustration.

...

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Thank you to “Nightmare” for another Alliance Leader reward and the generous gift of 100,000 coins. Your support is deeply appreciated.

That makes 30 additional chapters owed, all for “Nightmare.”

Once the book is launched, I promise to repay all extra chapters within the week!