After killing Mina, Xiao Luo did not loiter. He turned to leave and continued on with his hunt. If these Mei soldiers wanted him dead, well, then he was afraid that he’d have to send them on their way to their Maker.
An eerie sense of bloodlust permeated the forest!
Some of the Mei soldiers were blown up into bits and pieces as many tripwires attached to grenades had been laid across many paths. While some of the others had been left strangled in the air by the vines that dangled from trees, and some had their throats slit by Xiao Luo who came at them out of nowhere.
These were gruesome deaths, and a company of more than a hundred people was soon reduced to just a few dozen-strong within less than half a day. And still, they were not any more aware of the whereabouts of Xiao Luo.
He was a phantom and the worst sort of enemy.
Powell was on the brink of breaking down. He had struck on his own without any authorization. If he managed to kill Xiao Luo, it was undeniable that this would earn him a promotion. However, if he failed, what he would face was a court-martial, and this was why there was only had one path open to him, and that was to kill Xiao Luo.
But the situation now was growing increasingly bleak.
“That Hua national is the Grim Reaper!. There’s no way we can defeat him, no way at all…”
Rice was on the verge of a mental breakdown. Mina’s death, as well as the deaths of his many comrades, had pushed him into a bottomless abyss of fear. That man was not human at all; he was the collector of souls who had walked out of hell with his scythe in hand. They were mere human beings, so how could they be a match for that Grim Reaper?
“Shut it, you b*stard!”
Powell’s face was contorted in a fury. With both of his hands, he grabbed Rice’s collar in a death grip, as savage as a demon. “There’s no turning back for us here, so it’s either he dies or we die. To hell with all your bullsh*t about grim reapers—I’ll take him out, even if he’s God himself!”
He was just like a madman who had fallen too deep into insanity.
“You’ve gone mad. If it weren’t for your ridiculous order, we would have already been back at the shore base, and it wouldn’t have been long until we returned home. We didn’t have to provoke such a terrifying beast. Mina’s dead, everyone’s dead, and this is all your fault, Captain!”
Being pushed to the very edge of terror triggered adverse reactions. Rice did not resent Xiao Luo for being cruel and savage, and he blamed Powell. Were it not for the fact that he gave out such an absurd order, things would not have ended up like this.
“You b*stard!”
Consumed by his rage, Powell kicked him to the ground. He brandished his pistol and took aim at Rice before emptying the clip.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
All the bullets lodged into some part of the ground near Rice’s head, and the sound of the bullets whistling past his ear paralyzed the man with fear. He could not help but shriek in horror, and by the time the gunshots stopped ringing in his ears, tears were already rolling down his face as he glared at Powell in disbelief.
Thomas stood by the side silently as he shook uncontrollably.
“I’m not crazy, you’re just too much of a f*cking coward!”
Powell bellowed, his eyes glowering with fury. “That man is a tiger raised by the Hua Nation, and if we don’t get rid of him now, he’ll come back to devour us and turn us into nothing more than a pile of bones,” he screamed. Turning his head, he glared at Thomas and scowled, “Contact the headquarters right now and tell them to make sure this entire area is leveled by artillery fire, and make sure they don’t miss a single blind spot. I want that damned Hua man to turn to dust in the barrage.”
Thomas staggered and almost fell to the ground when he heard this. “C-captain, our men are still in there…”
“I’ll request the highest of honors for them…” Powell said, “That’s an order!”
This man was the devil. He had gone insane!
Thomas and Rice were astounded by Powell’s state of mind. That manic look in his eyes, the way he did not care about how cruelly his own men had died–this was not at all the same Captain Powell they knew.
“What the f*ck are you doing just standing around? I said that’s an order, hurry and move!” Powell growled, kicking Thomas so hard the man was sent sprawling.
Thomas immediately scrambled up and saluted. “Sir!”
And then he ran into the truck and hurriedly contacted the headquarters at the shore base, requesting for artillery fire and providing them the coordinates.
There was the sound of gunfire breaking out every now and then, and suddenly a frantic voice called through the walkie-talkie requesting for backup. All of this seemed very much like signs of defeat. They had been a company of more than 100 soldiers, and yet they could not handle a single Hua Nation man. It was both terrifying and deeply disappointing.
“Captain, headquarters has responded. They will lay down artillery fire in five minutes!” Thomas rushed to report to Powell, leaping out of the vehicle as soon as he contacted the shore base.
“Excellent, let’s go! Let’s leave this place!”
Powell chuckled coldly. And then he grabbed Rice, who had been lying on the ground, and pulled him up by his collar. He kicked the man in his butt and bellowed, “Get in the vehicle if you don’t want to die!”
Obviously, Rice did not want to die. After he returned to his senses, he rushed into the vehicle as quickly as he could.
The three of them drove off and headed toward the road outside the forest. As soon as they hit the straight road, there was the shrill, hair-raising sound of something tearing through the air. They looked up and saw a flight of guided missiles that looked like mini rockets. There was a tail of flames trailing behind each of the missiles as they streaked through the air, plunging toward the forest.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The earth-shattering explosions resounded and rang in their ears. Tons of earth and trees were blown up and turned into nothing more than dust. The earth shook, and the entire forest was buried in the sea of flames. No living creature would be able to make it out of the explosions alive.”
“Haha, haha…”
Powell laughed uproariously and manically. His smile was savage and horrifying, but at the same time, there were still traces of pain and insanity in his expression.
Thomas and Rice were dealing with their own mental breakdown. There were still dozens of their own men in there, and now they were trapped in the strike zone. Nobody would be able to return alive, and they would all be blown up there, their bodies never to be recovered. They were completely devastated, and this was taking a toll on their conscience as well.
A few minutes later…
After the barrage of guided missiles stopped, there was the thick smell of explosive fumes that permeated the air. The forest in front of their eyes had been thoroughly leveled and destroyed, and the roaring flames were leaping fiercely, feeding off all the wood. There were no two ways about–nothing could survive this.
“Is… is he dead?”
Thomas’s gaze was wavering as he stared at that area in a trance. The entire area had been bombed by the guided missiles.
Powell and Rice were both awed by the devastation. “What person in there would make it out alive?” Powell said.
“That’s right, who would survive? Our own men are all dead,” Rice muttered. His gaze was blank and listless.
“As long as Mie dies, then all the sacrifices would have been worth it.”
Powell calmed down a little. He patted Rice on the shoulder and consoled him. “I have no doubt that you’ll be thanking me once we go home and receive our commendations and promotions.”
Rice laughed, a derisive sort of chuckle. No matter how he looked at it, rising up the ranks by sacrificing his own men was unacceptable.
“Argh!”
Suddenly, Thomas screamed in shock and collapsed onto the ground. His eyes were wide as he stared ahead in shock.
“What the f*ck you are screaming for?” Powell roared.
Thomas raised a trembling hand and pointed into the distance. “He… he’s still alive…” he mumbled.
