127 MI5 (Second Update!)
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Leading his men swiftly through the buildings behind the street, Li Changjiang was stunned by the scene before him.
Batra’s luck truly was terrible.
They were British!
And their equipment was almost identical!
The Russian realized that things had become serious as well. The two men exchanged a glance but said nothing. Until anyone discovered that they had been the ones who killed those few British soldiers, the matter would have to remain buried between them.
God only knew why the British had appeared on the battlefield—and why they were fighting on behalf of the Libyans.
“Boss, what do we do?”
Less than twenty meters away stood a massive building, probably the underground entrance to a shopping mall. It had now been converted into a defensive position, and all of Batra’s men were pinned down at the intersection outside.
There were more than twenty people inside the fortification at the underground parking entrance—the very British soldiers Li Changjiang had seen.
“Batra, do you need support?”
“Damn it! Duke, help me wipe out those bloody Brits!”
Batra’s voice sounded almost frantic. In truth, Li Changjiang did not mind taking on this trouble, but he had other thoughts at the moment.
He wanted to know what these British soldiers were really after.
Li Changjiang was not a professional soldier, but he had his own way of analyzing a situation. These British men did not seem to be mercenaries, as the Russian had claimed.
Unless the Libyans were complete idiots, they would never station an elite mercenary force made up of British veterans in a place that was neither strategically important nor part of the sniper front.
More importantly—
All twenty-odd men were British. There was not a single Libyan among them.
Was that not strange?
“Damn it! Duke, I need support!”
Hearing no gunfire, Batra was growing desperate.
Bang, bang, bang!
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
Boom!
The British firepower was astonishingly strong.
Batra’s men were hiding behind the earthworks in the street. Although they had suffered no casualties, they could do nothing but lie there and choke on dust. They had no chance of returning fire.
“Boss—”
Li Changjiang frowned.
The speaker was Ryan, the British man whose code name was Doctor.
“What?”
“They should be British agents. Perhaps we can negotiate with them.”
“Agents?”
Li Changjiang froze.
How had this suddenly become connected to intelligence agents? And were the distinguishing features of those men really so obvious? Why could he not see them?
He cautiously raised his rifle and examined the opposing force through his scope. Apart from some differences in their equipment, he could see nothing distinguishing them from the British soldiers he had encountered before.
“Li, I remember now. They should be MI5 operatives. Look at the insignia on their collars.”
The Russian handed Li Changjiang his military binoculars and suddenly whispered the information into his ear with an almost mystical air.
Li Changjiang took the binoculars and quickly focused them on the British soldiers.
Sure enough.
There was an extremely faint mark on their collars. Unless one was exceptionally observant, it would be impossible to notice. But these men were far too bold. Wasn’t intelligence work supposed to be secretive? How could they be stupid enough to print their insignia on their clothes?
Li Changjiang suddenly struck his fist into his palm.
He remembered!
“MI5? You mean they’re MI5 agents?”
The Russian and Doctor both nodded, instantly confirming his suspicion.
As Britain’s most mysterious intelligence organization, MI5 was an open secret. Everyone knew it existed, but its operatives were not ordinary employees of the organization.
They were combat personnel assigned to carry out missions. They did not officially belong to MI5. In other words, the few British men he and the Russian had killed earlier might have been agents—or, more likely, agents taking private contracts.
In that case, no one could really blame them.
But Batra, that bastard, was about to cause a major incident.
“Batra! Batra! This is Duke!”
“What?”
Bang, bang, bang!
Inside the earpiece, the continuous rattle of machine-gun fire was painfully sharp. That bastard Batra was still trying to break through the enemy’s suppressive fire.
“Tell your men to stop shooting, for fuck’s sake! They aren’t helping the Libyans.”
“What? Damn it, Duke, are you sure? They opened fire! Look, they fired first, the bastards! Kill them!”
Bang!
Rat-tat-tat!
The gunfire erupted once again.
Li Changjiang was completely dumbfounded.
Sure enough, there were only two kinds of people on a battlefield: comrades and enemies. There was never a third option.
Batra was a seasoned veteran with abundant experience. Naturally, he followed the battlefield’s unwritten rules. Until the other side’s identity was confirmed beyond doubt, he had no choice but to return fire.
“Damn it! Nicholas, can you contact them?”
“God, are you joking? Do you expect me to strip naked and go tell them we mean no harm? Bastard!”
The Russian cursed violently.
“Boss, perhaps I can try.”
Doctor suddenly spoke from behind them.
Li Changjiang immediately turned around and stared hard at him. Without question, he had never trusted this group of men hastily recruited for the mission.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure!”
Li Changjiang exchanged a glance with the Russian and quickly made up his mind.
“Then contact them.”
Under Li Changjiang’s puzzled gaze, Doctor soon pulled something resembling a mobile phone from the combat pack on his back.
“Fuck! Damn British bastard,” the Russian suddenly muttered under his breath.
“That’s a satellite signal transmitter!”
Li Changjiang frowned but said nothing. This was not a good sign. Who knew when this man might sell them out?
Doctor adjusted the device several times, but apparently nothing happened. The atmosphere instantly grew oppressive. Li Changjiang’s expression remained calm as he waited patiently while Doctor continued fiddling with the device, but his palms were drenched in sweat. If the British showed any sign of treachery, he would not hesitate to act.
“Let me do it!”
It was him.
Keyboard.
Doctor looked up at the man, apparently hesitant, but soon handed the device over.
“The password is—”
“The signal is—”
A string of incomprehensible numbers was recited. But Keyboard was an expert in intelligence and communications. He quickly nodded, manipulated the satellite phone a few times, and suddenly a voice came through.
“Hello. We are with the men on the other side. Please confirm your identities. I repeat, please confirm your identities.”
A burst of static crackled.
Inside the underground command center, Clark was startled by the sudden voice that appeared on the communications channel.
Fuck!
Bastard!
How had someone else broken the password protecting this channel?
Damn it!
“Quickly, get Will in here.”
The agent commander called Will soon jogged back in. He had clearly heard Keyboard’s voice as well.
“Mr. Clark, those men on the other side are mercenaries. I think some of our people may be among them.”
“Our people?”
Clark was bewildered.
Damn it, why would our own people be attacking us?
“Sir, they’re probably retired soldiers. You know that the communications channel we’re using belongs to Navy SEAL Team Six.”
After a moment of silence, Clark suddenly picked up the handset and opened the channel.
“This is Mags. Who are you?”
On the other end—
When Li Changjiang heard the voice coming through the receiver, his eyes suddenly lit up.
(To be continued.)