096 A New War (Fifth Update!)

Libya.

Thunder rolled through the clouds.

Because Tripoli lies close to the Mediterranean coast, the climate there is strongly Mediterranean: hot and dry in summer, mild and rainy in winter. Yet it was already mid-June, the beginning of summer, and a downpour like the one outside was exceedingly rare.

In a small town on the outskirts of western Tripoli, a concrete road cut straight through the settlement. The roar of rain drowned out every other sound. The low houses stood empty. With a dull thud, a dark shape slipped under cover of the rainy night and darted into a house with astonishing speed, followed at once by a second shadow, then a third.

"Go! Go! Go!"

"Snyder, take the left side!"

"Hu Lin, clear every obstacle!"

"Quick!"

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

The room was empty.

The assault team immediately fixed its attention on the last door.

It was a black wooden door, covered with strange patterns, but that would not stop them from searching whatever lay beyond it.

Very soon, the leader made a series of rapid hand signals for a direct breach. The team split at once, then lunged forward. One man slammed a hard kick into the wooden door, and the force drove it wide open.

But the scene before them froze them in place in an instant, and then sent terror ripping through their hearts.

"****!"

"Bomb!"

"Down!"

Boom!

There was no time left. After the deafening blast, the shockwave tore the entire building apart. Stones flew in all directions, and the churning smoke and tongues of flame looked fiercely bright even in the black rain-soaked night.

At a street corner not far away, a dark figure quickly pulled his hood low and vanished into the rain.

The next morning, far away in Nanjiang Province.

Li Changjiang had just finished breakfast and was sitting in the main room, idly switching through the channels one by one. It happened to be the morning news, and he very sharply caught two familiar names.

Libya.

Tripoli.

"According to local television, at 3:00 a.m. local time, another explosion occurred in Tripoli, the capital of the North African nation of Libya, which has been engulfed in civil war for months. The cause of the incident is currently under investigation.

"Local television reports that the explosion took place in an abandoned house in Tari Market, about twenty kilometers from the outskirts of Tripoli. At present, the fire triggered by the blast has been extinguished. The Libyan military has recovered six charred bodies from the ruins. Their identities are unknown. Other details regarding the explosion are still under investigation.

"Please see our follow-up coverage for more details. Next--"

Snap!

He switched off the television abruptly. Li Changjiang's breathing grew noticeably tight. His face flushed red, his heartbeat quickened, and even the nerves in his brain seemed to become unnaturally active.

He knew very well that he was not ill. It was simply that Libya and Tripoli were too sensitive to him. The moment he heard those names, the violent impulses hidden inside his body would surge up of their own accord.

And then they would begin to ferment furiously.

He walked around for a while in the field behind the house. Only then did the uneasy guilt in his chest gradually settle, but Li Changjiang had a strange premonition that he would very likely return to that place again.

The next morning.

Li Changjiang had just come back from a run. Before he had even had time to change out of his soaked clothes, he heard a horn sounding at the village entrance. Then he saw a black SUV drive straight toward his front gate.

Behind it, Li Lin and Liu Fen were jogging after it in visible haste.

They were afraid.

Afraid that it had come for their son Changjiang.

And that was indeed the case.

The car door opened, and two young men got out. Their expressions were very friendly, and if not for the obvious tan lines on their faces and necks, they would have looked like nothing more than ordinary young men.

But Li Changjiang was no longer the inexperienced youth he had once been. At a glance, he recognized who they were. Without question, they were soldiers.

Real soldiers, not mercenaries and not police.

"Hello. Are you Li Changjiang?"

Sure enough, they had come for their son. Seeing him nod, Li Lin and Liu Fen immediately grew tense and hurried over to stand in front of Li Changjiang.

"Who are you people? What do you want with our Changjiang?"

"Mom, let them finish speaking first."

Li Changjiang took his mother Liu Fen's hand and smiled, easing the tension a little. But from the corner of his eye, he had already glanced at the men's hands. The calluses were obvious. The skin had split and peeled back, and the knuckles on the backs of their hands were covered with pale, dead skin.

There was no doubt that these were not the hands of ordinary men. They were the result of frequent, even prolonged, weapons and combat training.

"I am Li Changjiang. Who are you?"

His gaze settled on their faces.

"Could we speak somewhere privately?"

"Of course."

When they reached a more open patch of woods in front of the house, the two men stopped. In truth, aside from not wearing uniforms, they seemed to make no attempt to conceal their identities at all. Li Changjiang naturally guessed that they meant no harm.

"You two are from the military, aren't you? What are you looking for me about?"

Li Changjiang still felt some unease. After all, if what had happened in Libya were placed in a peaceful setting, he would have been worthy of being shot dozens or even hundreds of times over. But back then, it had all been for survival.

"You have a sharp eye. No wonder the chief wants to meet you so badly. We are from the National Special Operations Command Center."

The soldier on the left gave the name of an organization so long and full of official sounding titles that Li Changjiang was slightly taken aback. He knew it was a special military agency, and he could not help wondering why they had come looking for him. But he asked nothing further.

The state intelligence services must already know something about what had happened in Libya. The Americans had made such a massive move that it was impossible to conceal entirely. The key was how much they had uncovered.

"Can I refuse?"

Li Changjiang asked a question whose answer was obviously no.

A moment later.

At the Li household.

"You want to go to the northwest? What for? No, absolutely not. You only just came back and it hasn't even been a few days before you want to head off again. Have you forgotten what happened last time? If anything were to happen to you, what would your father and I do?"

What was especially troublesome was that Liu Fen's attitude had also turned unusually firm, as if she had sensed something was off. She refused to let Li Changjiang go, no matter what. The two soldiers were so awkward they did not know what to do with their hands or feet.

They were good at dealing with enemies, but dealing with ordinary people was another matter entirely.

Li Changjiang had no choice but to signal the two men to go outside, then ask his father Li Lin to step out as well. Soon only he and Liu Fen remained inside, the latter sitting there in a sulk, and the atmosphere grew somewhat delicate.

"Mom! Those two men are from the army! If you don't want me to go, then I won't go. But I can't hide at home forever, can I? This trip might even let me join the army and become a soldier. Don't you think I should go?"

"Really?"

Liu Fen's reaction caught Li Changjiang completely off guard.

(Preview of the next installment: 097, A Good Man Does Not Become a Soldier. It's noon now, so after lunch I'll keep writing. I don't know whether I can manage another chapter. For now, please give me a monthly vote and a subscription!)