“Good, that’s very good… In fact, that’s extremely good!”
Mina, with a cold expression on her face, turned and roared as she took two quick steps, and in a flash, delivered a ferocious roundhouse kick. Her technique was perfect as she swiveled on one leg as she turned around and sent her foot right to Xiao Luo’s temple.
The kick was well executed and delivered with an immense amount of power.
Powell, the muscular black guy, reacted immediately. “Mina, stop right there!” he shouted.
WHOOSH!
Mina’s right foot was barely five centimeters away from Xiao Luo’s temple, but she stopped it in an instant. It sent a gust of air that blew aside the bangs in front of Xiao Luo’s forehead.
Xiao Luo glared steadily at this woman without even moving an inch. He would definitely make sure he made this woman regret being born into this world if her leg had moved even an inch more.
“What are you trying to do?”
Sarah shouted at Mina as she pushed her away. Coming to Xiao Luo’s defense, she hurriedly stretched out her arms and placed herself in front of him.
Mina glanced at her coldly and said, “I want him to know that even a woman like me can easily take him down, and there’s no reason for him to tag along anymore. With him around, he’s only going to be a troublemaker for the entire team, and he’s nothing but a burden.”
“Mina, how can you say that?”
Rice had a mocking look on his face. “I’m sure America and Hua Nation are two countries that are on good terms,” he said, “How can you look down on Mr. Mie, who came all the way from Hua Nation? How can you say that he’s going to be a burden? That’s too much–you can’t say such things.”
“He’s right, Mina. You’re way off there.”
“Mr. Mie is a warrior from Hua Nation–how’s he going to be a burden? Warriors from Hua Nation can easily take down ten of us by themselves!”
“That’s right, Hua Nation always finishes first place at the International King of Soldiers Competition held once every five years. Hua Nation is a nation known for producing the king of all soldiers! There’s no way our country can compete against them.”
All the other members had a playful and mocking smile on their faces. They could clearly tell that Vice-captain Rice was just chiming in, from his emphasis on the three words “be a burden.” Besides, the tone that he used was patronizing and was filled with sarcasm.
To be honest, Xiao Luo was not the least bit angry. Instead, he wanted to laugh. Xiao Luo wanted to laugh at how childish these American soldiers were. He wouldn’t do anything to them as long as they didn’t cross the line. But if they crossed it, God help them, for he would send them to meet their Maker without any hesitation.
Sarah stared angrily at the SEAL team. “I’m not leaving with you guys if you dare to mock Mr. Mie again. I’ll see how you report this to your superior officer and what his report to the Michelle family will look like!” she hissed.
The looks on the faces of the SEAL team members changed instantly. They still had to spare a thought for Sarah Michelle’s feelings.
“Cough, cough…”
Powell coughed a little, stood up, and tried to smooth things over. “Alright, alright, Mr. Mie has the same objective as us. We’re all here to protect and make sure that Ms. Sarah leaves this place safely,” he said, “We can be considered as comrades based on this shared objective, and since we’re comrades, we’ve got to stay united.”
“Right, I totally agree with what he just said!” Rice said, raising both of his arms immediately, placating his commanding officer.
The rest nodded their head in agreement, but Mina glared at Xiao Luo and turned her head away from him.
Powell laughed in an attempt to de-escalate the situation. “Mr. Mie, don’t blame her. A few years back, when Mina took part in the International King of Soldiers Competition, she was this close to winning the competition, but one of the soldiers from Hua Nation managed to overtake her. She ended up getting second place instead,” he explained, “She has been brooding over it ever since, which explains why Mina isn’t really friendly whenever she meets a soldier from Hua Nation, but don’t take it to heart.”
Xiao Luo didn’t say a single thing, snorted a little before hopping into his own jeep.
Be it Powell or Rice, or any of the members from the SEAL team for that matter, they were all jackals in disguise and birds of a feather. What unique qualities did they possess that they could so blatantly belittle soldiers from Hua Nation? Let’s play around then, and we shall see who will have the last laugh, he thought.
“I’ll get in Mr. Mie’s vehicle!”
Sarah chose to ride with Xiao Luo. She promptly opened the door and got into the passenger seat.
“Colonel, this guy from Hua Nation is pretty arrogant. Should we find an opportunity to teach him a good lesson?” Rice whispered to Powell.
Powell shouted at him, “Don’t mess around. We’re not fighting against Hua Nation yet. What are you trying to do here, trying to strike the flint that sparks a war?”
“Aren’t you over-exaggerating a little here? Why would the Hua Nation go to war with us over one soldier?” Rice responded.
Rice disagreed and went on to say, “I bet they won’t have the guts to do it. They’re only capable of criticizing others on the international stage.”
“You know nothing. The Hua Nation now is not the same state that was influenced by fascism back in the past. They’re no longer a country that will allow their dignity to be trampled on. They’ve already awoken from their unrealistic dreams that have lasted over a thousand years. You can’t belittle this country no matter what,” Powell retorted.
“Yes, of course.”
Rice paid lip service, but deep down, he disagreed with what he just said.
“You should not have stopped me earlier. I wanted to make sure I embarrassed the crap out of him,” Mina scowled.
“Mina, trust me, I feel the exact same way towards the soldiers from Hua Nation as you do. But sometimes we can’t be too hasty. So what if you embarrass him here? All you’re doing is satisfying your angst and making you feel slightly superior. This time, our objective is to protect Sarah Michelle, and nothing is more important than completing our mission. So right now, we have to put aside any ill-feeling and work together with him,” Powell said.
Mina found it a little bit hilarious. “What, work together with him? The eight of us here have to work with this one guy?” she cried.
“No, don’t underestimate him. This Hua Nation soldier called Mie isn’t as simple as he looks,” Powell answered.
Just thinking about how he gave Xiao Luo a tight grip earlier on, but yet Xiao Luo had gripped him tighter, he just couldn’t seem to comprehend what was going on. He couldn’t understand how such a weak-looking guy could have the brute strength of a beast.
…
The SEAL team had two military vehicles with them, and to avoid being exposed, they had decided to hide them inside the forest. Now that they were heading towards the coastal base, they would need the vehicles, and on top of Xiao Luo’s jeep, they would have three vehicles.
Xio Luo looked at the SEAL team as they boarded their vehicles–ballistic helmets, night vision goggles, bulletproof vests, assault rifles, silencers, 45MM sidearms, M79 grenade launcher, combat knives, a Gatling gun, and an exhaustive list of American-made weapons.
Xiao Luo thought to himself, just here to complete this mission, and they’ve already brought all their household belongings with them–how interesting!
Being armed to the teeth only gave them the appearance of being well-prepared, but in actual fact, they were just making it much more troublesome for themselves to travel around. The situation on a battlefield could rapidly change, and for soldiers to successfully infiltrate their target zone, being lightly armed and mobile were the most crucial factors.
“Mr. Mie, why did you say that we could ignore Khun Sa and his mercenary corps earlier?” Sarah asked Xiao Luo when she got in the car, for she had been curious about this for quite a while now.
Xiao Luo laughed smugly as he looked straight ahead while driving. “They’re all dead. Do you think dead men can still come to find trouble with us?” he said.
What?
They… they are all dead?
Sarah’s eyes were opened wide in shock, and she looked at Xiao Luo with an incredulous look on her face. She was sure that Xiao Luo was not lying to her, and the reason why Xiao Luo came back to Brule City last night was so that he could kill Khun Sa–she should have seen this coming right from the start. Sarah had already known that it was the case when she saw Xiao Luo returning back alive. It was just that she found it hard to believe that Xiao Luo could actually pull it off.
The notorious Khun Sa Mercenary Corps was known as the strongest squad in the entire East Africa battlefield, and yet they were taken out by this Hua Nation soldier right next to her. There was no way anyone could believe this. Who could actually believe that to be true?
