All it took was one bullet. The SEAL member with his MK18 assault rifle did not even get to see his enemy’s face before he died.
Bang bang bang…
Gunshots echoed.
The Zodiac Battle Team and the Filipino soldiers from the military base started to fire at each other.
The best soldiers on this island were the six SEAL members guarding the radar and the Harpoon anti-ship missiles which were ‘taken care of’ by Xia Lei. The Filipino special force soldiers were ‘settled’ by the rest of the Zodiac Battle team members. This was the most logical distribution of work. Pitting the strongest against their strongest.
Two SEALs were killed in just under a minute. Xia Lei quickly left his first position and moved sideways towards the right side of the radar.
He travelled across four hundred meters in just the blink of an eye. The forest in front grew sparse and there were fewer obstructions to his vision. It was not a benefit nor disadvantage for him because he could see his enemies behind obstacles while they couldn’t see him. However, there were only four of them so he did not mind this tiny disadvantage. At Dawang mountain, he had faced a hundred enemies. Four SEAL members were nothing!
As he was about to rush out of the forest, Xia Lei suddenly stopped and leaned with his back against a tree trunk. A flurry of bullets flew past him just as his body went behind the trunk. The trunk shook as splinters flew and rained down on him.
“He’s there!” One SEAL member used his MK18 to restrict Xia Lei’s movements as well as alert his partner.
Not just his partner, even the two SEAL members on his left also fired towards Xia Lei while running towards him.
Four MK18s were fired manically at Xia Lei’s hiding spot. Their response and teamwork were seamless. Two people fired while two people reloaded so they completely trapped Xia Lei with their shots. Under such a rain of bullets, exposing himself would only mean certain death! He couldn’t run faster than bullets!
The tree trunk quickly cracked under vigorous fire as if it would collapse at any second.
Bang! A SEAL member fired a grenade at Xia Lei’s hiding spot.
Boom! The trembling tree trunk crashed into the ground along with the explosion.
All four SEAL members shot at the space revealed by the fallen trunk.
None of the bullets hit anything because Xia Lei was not behind the tree.
Bang! Bang!
Two gunshots rang out as the two SEALs still searching for Xia Lei collapsed. They did not understand how Xia Lei could have escaped their sight and circled next to them.
The two left started firing at his direction but their opponent suddenly disappeared into the forest like a ghost! It seemed as though he was faster than their bullets!
But no one in this world can run faster than a bullet. Xia Lei’s brain merely calculated the best route to escape the enemy’s sight, where to attack and at what moment to dodge the bullets. It was as if he had a cheat sheet in a game!
Just as the SEAL members lost their targets and were preparing to hide, Xia Lei flew out from behind a tree trunk.
Bang! Bang!
The viper handguns in his hand fired two consecutive shots, each bullet burying itself right in their foreheads. It was as if the shots had been measured with a bullet because they were fired at exactly the centre between their eyebrows.
When the two bodies hit the ground, Xia Lei landed on the ground. Supporting himself with both palms, he flipped himself upright and stood on the ground. The moment he landed, he sprinted towards the radar’s control room.
The radar control room was built sturdy but had a wooden door.
Within the control room were two engineers. One stood by the door with a gun in hand, ready to shoot any enemy who opened the door. Another was calling for help through a satellite phone. “They’re going to reach us! When are the planes arriving? What? Half an hour? Be patient? How the fuck are we supposed to be patient under these circumstances?!”
Xia Lei, who had arrived at the door, took the XL2500 assault rifle off his shoulder and lifted it horizontally. He aimed the barrel at the engineer standing by the door.
“How many of them? How would I know? Just send someone to save us?” The engineer was having a mental breakdown.
Not many in this world could withstand the looming threat of death.
Bang! With one gunshot, the XL2500’s bullet punctured the wooden door and then the engineer’s chest. Due to the powerful momentum, his chest was torn open and his body thrown up in the air and flung several metres backwards.
Xia Lei kicked the wooden door open.
The engineer on the call tossed the satellite phone away and extended an arm to grab a gun on the table.
Bang!
The last engineer collapsed. At such close range, a shot at the stomach would’ve been fatal, let alone the heart.
The radar control room was now cleared.
Xia Lei picked up his communication device and said, “I’m done over here.”
Anjum Khan’s voice came from the communication device. “Boss, those were six SEAL members, how are you so quick?”
“How many left on your side?” Xia Lei started to control the radar.
“Three more… Bang…” After the gunshot, Anjum Khan said, “Two more.”
With the three Zodiac Battle team member’s intelligence, plus the four knights, thirty special force soldiers were not a problem.
“Meet me at the radar after you’ve killed everyone. Over.” Xia Lei kept the device. A map of the sea around the island appeared on the screen. It showed that one ship was approaching the island.
Boom!
A bomb fell from the sky, causing a patch of the forest surrounding the base to erupt. Smoke and fire shot up into the air as the entire island shook!
Xia Lei zoomed in on the satellite map of the island. The Rajah Humabon was currently firing at the island. Based on the satellite input, the Rajah Humabon was also deploying armed patrol speedboats. There were around a hundred soldiers heading toward them.
Boom!
The Rajah Humabon fired at the island again. The second bomb landed at the forest outside the camp once more. It was an explosive designed to alarm for it was obvious the commander did not want to hurt his own people or the radar and Harpoon anti-ship missiles. He guessed that the enemy should be around the military base and his cannons should be able to kill off a few!
Boom!
The third shot was fired.
Xia Lei ran to a workbench. It was the controls for the harpoon anti-ship missiles.
—
The bridge of the Rajah Humabon.
Boom!
The fourth explosion.
The captain studied the island with his telescope but could not see anything other than the dense vegetation.
“Captain!” said the subordinate, “Do we continue to fire?”
“Of course! Kill them all!” The captain was furious. “How dare they invade our military base. I need them to know that provoking the Filipino military is a stupid thing to do!”
“Yes, Captain.” The subordinate grabbed a communication device. “Continue to fire! Increase your fire rate!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
They increased the frequency of shots as if with the intent of sinking the island!
“Sir!” gasped a crew manning the radar. “This is bad. We’ve been targeted!”
“Who targeted us?” roared the captain. “Is it the Chinese ships? I’ll sink anyone who dares come here!”
“No… It’s…”
“What is it?” roared the captain.
“It’s the Harpoon anti-ship missile on the island!” The crew at the radar was drenched in a cold sweat.
“How… How is that possible?”
Whoosh! A harpoon missile shot up into the air from somewhere in the centre of the island and then flew towards the Rajah Humabon.
Within the ship’s bridge, all the crew and officers’ faces paled. Their minds blanked the moment they saw the missile!
The missile approached them in the blink of an eye. There was no time even for the ship to activate their anti-missile mechanisms or to intercept it.
“No…” The captain’s eyes widened with fear and hopelessness.
In the next second, he watched as the missile flew towards the windows of the bridge and plunged itself inside this ship.
Boom! The entire bridge was torn apart. Forget about survivors. There was not even a single body that remained intact!
Rumble! The entire Rajah Humabon was ripped in half. The soldiers who managed to get on the armed speed boats were not ready for any battle, many jumping into the ocean to save themselves. The injured ones wailed on the deck, begging for their mates to bring them with. It was chaos.
Within the radar control room, Xia Lei left the harpoon missile workbench. He entered the spy satellite interface once again and noticed a new target. A fleet of aircraft flying from Malacca. The two leading planes were the most advanced F35 planes in the world, with six Hornets behind. Every one of them was armed to the teeth with explosives!
The main stars of the show were finally here.
The Filipino military? They were not Xia Lei’s target nor opponents at all. His true opponent was the American Seventh Fleet.
Tsukino Kyoko appeared at the door. “Boss, we’re done. We should retreat now!”
“Boss! Did you fire a missile at the Filipino ship?” Anjum Khan appeared too, his response different from hers. He looked very excited and emotional.
Yelena, E’er Demutu and the four knights arrived too.
None of the Zodiac members were injured. They were only slightly dishevelled or dirty.
Xia Lei knew they were waiting for his decision so he said, “No, we are not retreating. I want to fight the American Seventh Fleet here. They need to experience our pain…”
“You’re already bombed their ship and the rest are fighter planes, what can we do?” said Anjum Khan.
Xia Lei replied, “Bring a stool outside and watch the show.”
Anjum Khan stared with wide eyes at his boss.
